RIVALS: Sport’s Greatest Battles

by Phil Gifford

Sport by its very nature breeds competition, and competition breeds rivalries that become the stuff of legend.

In Rivals: Sport’s Greatest Battles, award-winning broadcaster and sports writer Phil Gifford explores famous battles between New Zealand sports people and their international competitors, as well as great rivalries on the international stage. 

Gifford compares the drama that publicly unfolds in great sporting rivalry to that of the tragedy (or comedy) of a Shakespearean play. Certainly, the dramas he touches on in Rivals have become almost as famous – or infamous – as the works from the Bard’s quill:

Athletics: Sebastian Coe v. Steve Ovett – In the British press they were the Tough and the Toff, ‘two gladiators with matchstick legs’, and although they only raced against each other at international level seven times, both set world records and left a mark for the ages on middle distance running. ‘Coe shook hands [with Ovett] as if he’d just been handed a turd.’

Rugby: South Africa v. New Zealand – from cheating allegations, foul play, massive protests, a flour bombing plane and a mythical waitress called Susie, the All Blacks playing the Springboks has long had an epic quality. ‘Most of them were pretty square-headed pricks. We just really wanted to beat them.’

Cricket: Australia v. New Zealand – Since the first game of cricket was played between Australia and New Zealand, New Zealanders were always considered the underdogs, and until 1973 Australia would not play a test against the Kiwis. In the 1980s things started to change and, in 1981, New Zealand was enough of a challenge for Australia to pull out the most unsporting action in the history of the game. ‘It was an act of cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow.’

Chess: Bobby Fischer v. Boris Spassky – ‘Thirty years on their rivalry still rings down the ages’, said the Observer Sunday newspaper in England when it placed Fischer v. Spassky as No. 1 in a list of 10 greatest rivalries in the history of sport, ahead of Senna–Prost, Borg–McEnroe and Celtic–Rangers. ‘I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.’

Yachting: Dennis Conner v. all of New Zealand – The story of how the rivalry between Conner and New Zealand became so bitter. ‘You’re full of shit. You’re a loser.’

As sports fans, says Gifford, we can live vicariously through other people’s struggles and achievements. In this book are some of the most extraordinary people and athletes in sport, and their amazing battles are living proof that truth is so often stranger, and more exciting, than fiction.

Phil Gifford is an award-winning broadcaster, sports journalist, speaker and author. Creator of satirical rugby character Loosehead Len, Phil has hosted No. 1 radio shows and won 14 radio awards over three decades in New Zealand and Australia. He is the author of 17 bestselling sports books.

NZ RRP $39.99 |  Trade Paperback - Harper Collins  |  Publication Date – 3 August 2012