Let’s be honest – sport is competitive by nature. It’s even more competitive when you’ve got years of underlying rivalry to let out. We’re going to take you through some of the biggest sporting highs and lows between Australia and New Zealand on this installment of The Relationship Across The Ditch.
Rugby Union
Collectively speaking, rugby is definitely a Kiwi-Aussie specialty. The Wallabies and the All Blacks have had a grueling history of world cup showdowns, with the most recent being the Rugby World Cup grudge match played out in 2015.
Despite the 34-17 win to New Zealand, it was always going to be a good game. Even further back, Australia and New Zealand hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1987, where New Zealand took the title.
Australia obliterated the competition in the 1991 (New Zealand placed 3rd) and 1999 though, so there’s certainly an even playing field. Who will take out the title in Japan 2019? Who knows – but if history is anything to go by, we’re likely to see at least one member of the Trans-Tasman partnership in the final.
Australia enjoyed a pretty strong win in the 2003 semis, but New Zealand is still upset, so we won’t dwell on that. New Zealand has held the Bledisloe Cup since then to quell that pain.
Cricket
While accustomed to playing cricket in our backyards, both Australia and New Zealand are strong contenders on the worldwide cricket stage.
Most recently, Australia and New Zealand hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015. In a bit of a switch to the 1987 Rugby World Cup, Australia took this one out by storm.
Then there are the things that still aren’t talked about. Like the underarm bowling incident of 1981 in the One Day International of the World Series Cup.
If you haven’t heard, here’s what transpired: With just one ball of the final over remaining, Black Caps batsman Brian McKechnie was at the crease and would have been required to hit a six to tie the match.
On this final ball of the final over, the Australian team decided to throw an underarm pitch to the Black Caps (which technically was legal, but absolutely terrible sportsmanship). But for the sake of fairness, we won’t dwell on that.
Rugby League
Australians have pretty well always been strong contenders in the Rugby League World Cup, having won a substantial number of the tournaments since 1957 (with the occasional Great Britain win).
Though when it came time for Australia to host the cup in 2008, New Zealand broke Australia’s six-win streak despite 20:1 odds. Australia then mounted an impressive comeback in the 2013 World Cup.
What will the 2017 World Cup, hosted by Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea bring? Another Australian win? A New Zealand title steal? Or a UK surprise?
Who knows!
Netball
The New Zealand Silver Ferns have always given the Australian Diamonds a run for their money. The 2014 Commonwealth games saw Australia take out the title, with New Zealand in second place. At the time of writing this, the two teams have each seen a win against each other in the Constellation Cup battle, where the Silver Ferns equalised in Launceston to the surprise of many (other than 2012, Australia has been fairly dominant in this competition). The two teams also have a long history of the INF World Cup – where the teams have traded wins since 1983. Australia hosted and won the tournament in 2015 but The 2019 INF World Cup in England is anyone’s game.
The sporting relationship between Aussies and Kiwis will always be a friendly competition. If you’re looking to put the sporting rivalries aside and want to transfer currency between Australia and New Zealand, OrbitRemit can provide you with everything you need. Click on the Send Money Online button on the top right hand side of your screen – we promise that it does something cool.