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Alex Chapman: ABs absences, Warriors questions & headbands for Thorpey
Alex Chapman • August 4th, 2025 2:54 pm
Ethan Blackadder shakes Scott Robertson's hand in 2024 | Photo: Photosport
It’s an All Blacks Rugby Championship squad which has four new faces and a few missing or bracketed for various reasons, with perhaps who isn’t there the most eyebrow-raising aspect.
Let’s start with the new faces.
Simon Parker’s inclusion is further proof that Scott Robertson wants to have loose forwards who have size (1.97m and 119kg) and power on both sides of the ball. He’s the only one named in the actual squad, with Leroy Carter, Kyle Preston and Tevita Mafileo among the half a dozen in as injury cover.
The inclusion of both Cam Roigard and Noah Hotham you’d hope bodes well for their availability in the latter part of the tournament, despite not travelling to Argentina.
Peter Lakai’s recall and Wallace Sititi’s comeback from injury are welcome returns though make for discussion points for who’s missed out.
You can't help but wonder what Ethan Blackadder has done to no longer be in the squad. Are his ongoing injury struggles that much of a concern?
Meanwhile, Christian Lio-Willie can count himself unlucky after solid outings against the French.
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Nonpareil NPC
The NPC isn’t for everyone, largely it seems due to the high-scoring affairs or the snobbery over the “quality of play".
But it really should be, given the quality of THE play that has already drawn so many in.
Because, that’s what it felt like, wasn’t it? A play. Like something from Miller, Williams or even old mate Wiremu. It was like it had been written and refined and performed.
Throughout the weekend there were ebbs and flows, games that felt one-sided before teams woke up and momentum shifted, and sometimes back again. Yes, there were those games with the one-sided dominance that infuriates many and has them questioning its existence.
But, as it often does, the NPC delivered finishes and results that few competitions can.
Just look back at the opening game. Lima Sopoaga is now a cult hero in Waikato colours, and who knows how his status will grow over the next three or so months.
Though it was the celebration that said it all. The arms outstretched and the shrug as if it say, 'oh, have you not seen that one? Have you not read that one? Are you not familiar with that performance?'
Meanwhile, the competition favourites got pumped as one of a couple of upsets, while lesser-known names announced themselves to the audience.
If the weekend is the curtain raiser of what’s to come, the line is growing for tickets to a play that very few can write.
Where To Now For The Wahs?
It seems there are more questions than answers with the Warriors at the moment.
What happened on Friday? Where are they really at? What needs to be done to win again? How tall are the tasks still required to be completed and has the reality of that changed in the last few weeks, week or even couple of days?
The telling and maybe the most worrisome part for Warriors fans is that a loss on Saturday, and wins for the Panthers, Broncos and Sharks, will see them slip to seventh.
Many thought that 32 points would be the cut off for the finals, though 34 may now end up being the magic number given the congestion of the ladder, with just six points separating fourth from 10th.
The unfortunate irony of the loss to the Dolphins is those little moments - the ball juggles, taps, hands in the right place, desperate tackles - all felt like they were falling the Warriors' way. Perhaps that’s the positive to take out of it.
Elsewhere, it was fantastic seeing the Wahine get back to winning ways against a Cowboys team that was looking for three in a row.
As for the trainer controversy in the Penrith NRL win - well, drinks, runners and trainers across all sports just urgently need to be sorted out. It’s become farcical.
Warriors players dejected after Round 22's last minute loss to the Dolphins | Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport
Blackcaps Dominate
Blackcaps = good, Zimbabwe = not as good.
Series = pointless.
Honestly, that’s it. No need for further analysis at this stage.
Headbands and Heroics
Given the theatre of this England vs India series, it feels fitting that it will - for the fifth time in as many Tests - go down to the final day.
As Joe Root, the main protagonist or antagonist depending on your leaning, said after day four; "it was always going to happen like this, wasn’t it?”
But it was Root’s century salute to his mentor and mate that served as the most poignant moment of a series that has served up an array of emotion.
Many words have been said about Graham Thorpe over the last year. In the past few days, those sentences, paragraphs and pages have been added to, with the release of the coroner’s report which has detailed findings and failures.
Then there's the enormous courage of his widow, Amanda, to speak of the impact of his loss. Her various interviews have been equally heartbreaking and crucial, as the education and mahi continues to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.
Even the surliest and most stubborn would have fought to keep a dry eye, as England’s greatest tonned up before pulling Thorpe's trademark headband out of his whites, and donned it like, as was described in commentary, a man who “meant so much to him.”
Root said of the salute that “it’s just really great to see the love that there is for him”, which is the unbelievably sad part of it all, as it’s in those times of darkness and despair that all love and hope seem so lost.
But as Amanda Thorpe said on BBC’s Test Match Special, “it’s okay to not be okay” and to ask for help.
Check on your mates. Tell your people you love them. Keep having the conversations.
Tune into Alex Chapman on Sport Nation Mornings, 9am to midday on Thursdays & Fridays.
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