Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Elliott Smith: Rugby Editor and ZB voice of rugby joins from Chicago ahead of All Blacks v Ireland

Transcript

Elliott Smith: Rugby Editor and ZB voice of rugby joins from Chicago ahead of All Blacks v Ireland · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, So the All Blacks Grand Slam Tour gets underway
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: this weekend with arguably the toughest test. They'll be back
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: at Chicago's Soldier Field on Sunday morning, taking on Ireland.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Of course, we all remember the last time these two
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: met in Chicago twenty sixteen. We're famously Island recorded its
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: first win over the All Blacks. Our voice of Rugby,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Elliott Smith, is in Chicago and he joins me, Now.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Hi Francesca.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: What's the vibe like? Is everyone amped and looking forward
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: to a game of rugby?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: It's quite interesting. I mean it sold out and months
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: ago as well, sixty one thousand capacity for the game,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: but barring a few lampost flags, you probably wouldn't know
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: it's on. And that's fine. Look it said, it's one
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: of those things in a big city that sometimes these
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: things don't break through. And it's a sport that isn't
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: one that is widely popular in the masses. And you know,
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I think Chicago's probably more focused on the Chicago bullside,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: which have started four and zero to start the NBA season.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Then this test for having said that you don't sell
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: sixty thousand by accident and there'll be plenty of fans
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: and you know a lot of Irish people in Chicago,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: and a lot of expats coming through from both nations
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: and those also coming from the countries flying in for
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: the game. So promises to be a special occasion, even
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: if it's not tearing the headlines off the front pages
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: of the paper.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: At the moment, considering the All Blacks Rugby Championship, are
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: you confident that they can take Ireland?
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Look, I think they can take Ireland. Island coming in cold.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: They haven't played as a group since the Six Nations.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Andy Farrell, their head coach, wasn't head coach on that occasion.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: He took a break to focus on his lines duty.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: So it's been a while. In fact, last year's end
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: of year tour with the All Blacks hand success over Ireland.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Since that they were all together as a proper group,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: with all the management and all the players in the
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: right place. So they come in a little bit cold
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: to this test matcher. They've had a diet of urec.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: They played each other in a derby a lot of
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: these players last weekend, so they've had a bit of
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: a hitout internally as well as my understanding, but they
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: come in a little bit cold. But the All Blacks,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: you know, they're right in the middle of the season,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: in the back end of their season. The Rugby Championship
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: fills you probably with not a great deal of confidence.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: They beat the Wallabies obviously to finish it off, but
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: that heavy loss to the spring Box and Tina losing
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: in Buenos Aires as well gives you the sense that,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the old Forest Gump analogy, you know,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: all backs. At the moment, you just don't know what
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: you're going to get. And it could be a win
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: this weekend, they could set themselves on to a Grand Slam,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: or it could be a defeat to you know, the
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Irish and the Grand Slam's gone at the first hurdle.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: So look, there's a lot of improvements needed by the
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: All Blacks and that starts this weekend.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: What would losing again in the US do to the
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: All Blacks brand because we are playing there purely for
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: commercial reasons for the advertisers.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they need to keep up appearances by winning,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: and you know that's where they drive a lot of
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: their revenue. Is obviously their historical record and the record
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: over the last few seasons hasn't been good enough, So
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: you've got to deliver on that. You've got to show
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the sponsors that are backing us. That's got you know,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Gallagher is the name rite sponsor on the back of
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: their shorts, but also for the fixture itself. You know,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: they expect success. So it's you know, it's contingent on it.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: And the more you lose, the less commercially lucrative you
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: are potentially to some of those overseas markets where you're
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: selling the success story of the All Black So I
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: think it's imperative that they do pick up these wins,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: especially when they are, you know, in America and trying
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: to tell the rugby story and and the all black story.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Elliot, thanks so much for your time. Appreciated.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: to News Talk set Be from five am weekdays, or
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.