Chris Rattue’s watchlist: The best sport to watch this weekend and beyond (ranked)

Chris Rattue ranks the best sport to watch this weekend and beyond.

The Crusaders might be sinking but not toworry - Christchurch has a new game in town.

The Russell Coutts extravaganza arrives in Lyttleton, where Peter Burling’s New Zealand team will aim to consolidate a place in the all-important top three and thus get to race for mega bucks in San Francisco.

The foiling catamaran series isn’t on the same ocean as the America’s Cup in terms of profile despite the big names – Ben Ainslie, Jimmy Spithill et al. – being involved.

It’s the nearest thing sailing will come to a demolition derby which gets a few headlines, but the America’s Cup association is what really keeps it afloat.

Day one in Lyttleton will also be covered live on channel Three, but this free-to-air coverage is delayed on Sunday.

Waikato basketball prodigy Charlisse Leger-Walker is so good she earned an honourable mention in Associated Press’s All-American team of the year.

And if you negotiate the Sky/ESPN app bizzo, Leger-Walker can be seen in action for Washington State in the famous NCAA tournament, also known as March Madness.

The 21-year-old guard has led the Cougars to new heights this season and they enter the 64-team finals seeded fifth for their region.

Leger-Walker is already being touted as a second round WNBA draft pick for 2024 in a major breakthrough for Kiwi basketball.

Some of the men’s and women’s tournament is covered on Sky’s standard ESPN2 channel.

Given current trends, something remarkable will happen in this Wellington cricket test on Tuesday evening. Pity the free-to-air deal didn’t begin this season.

Ideally, this should be the game of the week. But the All Whites are so disappointing, with the goalless performances mounting.

Star striker Chris Wood is in doubt for the opening match at Mt Smart Stadium, the new home of football (said tongue in cheek) with a new A-League team mooted to be based there.

Wood is battling a thigh injury, and it would be both disappointing and interesting if the All Whites are without him.

Or to put it another way, maybe the shock of running on the field without him will magically break the goal-scoring lethargy.

On that note, Wood has come in for criticism from former striker Stan Collymore since his EPL transfer from Newcastle to Nottingham Forest.

Collymore says modern rules should help a genuine centre forward like Wood, and claimed he was not throwing his body into the battle.

China, meanwhile, will present mysterious opposition. They are ranked 80th in the world, to the All Whites’ 105, and appear to be a fairly young side of unknown, domestic players.

The second game is three days later in Wellington.

Another chance to stare in disbelief at English rugby. All that money…

England will need a minor miracle to get within 20 points of the title-chasing Irish, who have reached a new level under Andy Farrell.

Ireland overcame adversity against Scotland, while England created it against France.

They will try to bounce back from the humiliating defeat at Twickenham, but their lack of breakdown energy suggests it is a squad devoid of belief.

Apart from that, there are also a few impressive Kiwis in the Irish backline to drool over, including bench halfback Jamison Gibson-Park whose form makes you wonder about the competency of the All Blacks development machine. He would walk into the All Blacks squad.

NRL grudge matches won’t come any better than this in 2023. The clubs are hardly best of mates anyway, and a spiteful 2022 encounter has put the antipathy into overdrive.

The Rabbitohs are the best side in the NRL to watch when they are in the mood, but playmaker Cody Walker can be niggled off his stride.

Victor Radley and Kiwi enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves are back from injury for the Roosters – look out for some tasty action involving the latter.

This game pips the England-Ireland rugby test as the most tantalising sports watch of the weekend.