Italy stun in Six Nations, new mouthguard troubles, the return of Super Rugby and a mankini mishap

Chris Rattue rates the best and worst from the sporting weekend.

Super Rugby is often great rugby. The athleticism, skill and flow are terrific. The <>href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/rugby/chiefs-v-crusaders-result-super-rugby-opens-in-style-as-chiefs-win-late/SFUHZM7LVBBUZEWTXBWHADGZS4/">Chiefs v Crusaders was a fantastic opener.

New All Blacks coach Scott Robertson must feel so encouraged.

But Super Rugby is also a terrible professional competition for so many reasons, led by the exodus of stars to a rugby backwater like Japan.

The problems don’t stop there.

The rivalries have become fake in the professional era because much of the sport is manipulated by Rugby HQ.

Fans don’t care about the results the way fans in other professional sports around the world not only care about their teams but revel in team lore.

In Super Rugby, the flow of news is heavily controlled by rugby itself, people from within the game are scared to express their opinions, the chief broadcaster Sky TV has positioned itself as a soft-serve branch of New Zealand Rugby, the punditry being lazy and timid.

I will offer this comparison.

After a recent English Premier League match, Manchester United goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel ripped into the current team, even though they had won. He pointed out their deficiencies with fearless clarity.

Anyone who has watched the famous Manchester United this season would know that win, lose or draw, they are unconvincing and a long way short of the standards being set by Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Schmeichel has no problem detailing that.

Revealing analysis from famous observers isn’t an optional extra. It is the lifeblood of great professional sports coverage. New Zealand rugby has never been able to achieve this.

Sadly, I would say that the standard of our sports coverage is getting worse.

During international cricket recently, a bloke and a microphone were constantly sighted doing pap pieces among the crowd and with food vendors. The chit-chat between the cricket commentators has become rampant.

What planet are we on, sports fans?

Coming out of the blue, smart mouthguards sounded like a hasty, stupid idea.

Inevitably, players in the Six Nations and Super Rugby have been left confused and bemused after being ordered from the field for head tests - which they passed - because of information being relayed from their mouths about collisions that don’t seem to have taken place.

Then again, smart mouthguards aren’t principally there to protect the players, in my humble opinion.

They have been introduced to protect rugby, which is quietly freaking out over problems with concussion and the spectre of massive lawsuits.

Rugby must be seen to be doing something. Hey presto - smart mouthguards.

There are issues here, including … will players, for instance, instinctively start holding their heads in unnatural positions to try and negate the errant technology, something that could be dangerous?

Relying on technology that doesn’t seem to work properly is dangerous in itself.

And players should question the turning of protective gear into tracking gear.

The idea that a sports organisation can force players to put a tracking device inside their bodies, without any debate, does not feel right.

The rugby authorities could try to explain each incident from the weekend, pointing out what incidents triggered the questionable data.

The players should be ringing their unions though.

En masse they should consider hurling those mouthguards away and putting the old ones back in, demanding that their careers not be put at risk through intrusive, experimental technology.

There was a lot to like about the Crusaders, even though they lost to a Chiefs side who are many pundits’ favourites this season.

Playing away from home, the severely depleted champions hung on through the initial Chiefs onslaught and almost pipped them at the post.

Given that they also have a new coach, with Rob Penney replacing the legendary Scott Robertson, it was encouraging in many ways.

But the famous Crusaders No. 10 factory may have ground to a halt.

A skittish Rivez Reihana looked underdone at first five-eighths. It could be a big problem area for Penney with another contender, Fergus Burke, injured.

It’s early days, but a long-time Crusaders hallmark is that new players enter the Super Rugby fray primed for the step up and fully versed in the systems.

The Crusaders midfield also misfired badly against sparkling, dynamic Chiefs opponents.

Damian McKenzie was wondrous at times.

Shaun Johnson running off a Roger Tuivasa-Sheck break was a sight to behold as the Warriors won a pre-season game against the Dolphins.

An NRL.com report confidently predicted: “The Warriors are going to host a preliminary final this year.”

In terms of combining firepower, toughness, depth and coaching prowess, this is the best Warriors squad I’ve seen in their three-decade journey.

As a regular Warriors naysayer, I don’t recall being this confident about their prospects.

Shaun Johnson, Dylan Walker and Tohu Harris give them outstanding playmaking skills and experience, and coach Andrew Webster has this side choreographed to perfection (a very strange business indeed for a Warriors team).

But as everyone knows, this is a very tough competition. The Australian oddsmakers have the Warriors making the playoffs but don’t believe they will make the top four again, which is an interesting reality check.

They drew (and could have won) in an away match against recently mighty France in the Six Nations, which is a win considering Italy’s awful record in the competition.

It’s a big-brother head game that has been going on for a long time. We are spooked by the mighty Australians.

Chris Rattue has been a journalist since 1980 and is one of the most respected opinion writers in New Zealand sports journalism.