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NZ Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- NZ Herald
All Blacks v France: How weakened touring side cheats rugby out of a proper contest
Strategically, leaving so many of their frontline troops to rest and recover in the French summer may ultimately prove to not be an effective form of cheating. Not taking the opportunity to test themselves against the All Blacks in a three-test series may turn out to be an opportunity lost – a blown chance to galvanise a team that was looking frighteningly good by the end of this year's Six Nations. Ireland showed the value of going all-in, when they brought every man and his dog to New Zealand in July 2022, won the series and then embarked on a 17-test unbeaten streak that ended in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final. French coach Fabien Galthié is bringing a weakened line up into the first test. Photo / Photosport Maybe it will prove to be the masterstroke coach Fabien Galthié hopes it will be – a way to preserve the mental and physical vigour of his best, while finding the odd gold nugget buried deep within his squad here in New Zealand. Whether resting so many players this July helps or hinders France is not the point, though. This shouldn't be happening. It contravenes the goodwill agreement between the top-tier nations about the respect they show for international rugby and while the term cheating may be harsh, it is accurate. It is cheating the system of reciprocity – damaging its credibility and integrity. The deal is that international rugby is best v best, and what France have done is turn up to the All Blacks' house party with a bottle of unremarkable Côtes du Rhône when they promised to bring Saint-Émilion. They will still have the temerity to expect the All Blacks to bring something splendid from the Gimblett Gravels next time they are due in Paris. It is cheating the All Blacks out of the contest they wanted. It is cheating New Zealand Rugby out of the marketing story it needs and hampering its future ability to sell tickets. And it is cheating the fans as it's a dupe: a straight consumer case of not being sold what was advertised. The punishment for France will likely be a difficult three weeks in which they battle to contain an All Blacks team that should have too much pace, power and experience for them. It could get embarrassing – scorelines that run away on them – but obviously the French aren't overly worried about that, or they wouldn't have selected the way they have. They have come with a mindset that they have nothing to lose as they threw the series away the instant they picked the squad they did. Now they believe they only have a potential upside to think about which is the possibility of this rag tag group of good but inexperienced players finding a way to punch way above their weight. All Blacks coach Scott Robertson during the squad naming for 2025, held at the Coastal Rugby Club in Taranaki. Photo / Dean Purcell All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has sidestepped making any pronouncement on the issue, preferring instead to frame the series as what his side can gain from it rather than focusing on what they have been denied. But then what else could he say or do? This whole business is above his pay grade and he will be judged just the same as he would have had the French brought the heavy cavalry rather than the light infantry. His goals remain unchanged, but the ability to achieve them has unquestionably become significantly easier. This is now a series in which the All Blacks can get their scrummaging honed – the timing fractionally more precise and the all-important art of adapting to the referee and adjusting to his interpretations improved. It's a series in which they can lift confidence in their driving maul and their ability to defend it, and it's a series in which they can build familiarity with their attack patterns while tinkering with their midfield and back three set-ups. There will be the illusion of this being the big time – but on the field there will be a fraction more time for the All Blacks to pass and catch, a little bit of naivety to exploit at set-piece, a little bit of leeway to make the odd mistake and not be harshly punished for doing so. It all sounds great, maybe even a good thing that the All Blacks can open their season with a tough but underpowered opponent to give them a challenging but not overly intense means to feel their way into 2025. But again, whether playing France Lite is indeed a better way for the All Blacks to start their campaign, is a moot point. The French have cheated everyone. Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand's most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport. For live commentary of this weekend's All Blacks v France test, go to GOLD SPORT or iHeartRadio.
Yomiuri Shimbun
07-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yomiuri Shimbun
The MAGA Faithful Celebrate the End of the Trump-Musk Bromance
Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk on May 30 inside the Oval Office. 'Boooooooooooo CYBERTRUCK!' Raheem Kassam stood on a sidewalk in the Capitol Hill stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, pulling a Hestia cigarette from a pack and preparing to light it. He had spotted the truck, a heap of matte silver and sharp angles, parked on the street nearby. It was the uninvited guest to an unofficial party celebrating what the MAGA faithful here view as the end of Elon Musk's influence in President Donald Trump's Washington. The festive mood Thursday night came after an hours-long public feud between Musk and Trump that captivated Washington and appeared to mark the dissolution of the two men's bromance. Musk spent tens of millions to help elect Trump last year before heading up a controversial cost-cutting effort over the past five months known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. But Musk turned on Trump this week over the president's massive deficit-busting tax and spending plan. 'We're popping bottles tonight,' said Kassam, who had just set down his tin of caviar and pearl spoon before stepping outside for a smoke break. So goes the sentiment at Butterworth's, the French-inspired bistro on Capitol Hill that has become something of a MAGA clubhouse in Trump's second term. Kassam, the editor in chief of the National Pulse, a right-wing populist news site, is one of the investors. And 'MAGA' – Make America Great Again – is the operative adjective here. Over plates of lamb tartare and generous pours of Côtes du Rhône – perhaps the only liberal thing here – diners said their loyalties would be to Trump in the high-profile breakup. 'This is a lesson the MAGA right needed to learn right now,' he continued. The establishment Republican Party had already gone through something similar, Kassam said, when the tea party 'got bought out by the Kochs,' referring to two wealthy brothers who funded traditionalist conservative causes. 'I was very worried for a time that MAGA would be bought out by the oligarchs, too,' he said. 'And it's just so satisfying to see that that is now no longer the case.' All evening, acerbic tones of a Musk-inspired diss track could be heard across the bar. 'What people need to remember is that, you know, this is President Trump's movement,' said CJ Pearson, a Gen Z MAGA influencer. 'The least-surprising thing I've ever seen,' said Matthew Boyle, the Washington bureau chief of the conservative news outlet Breitbart. 'We were all ready for this from the beginning.' Butterworth's is a haunt of Stephen K. Bannon, the 'War Room' podcast host and former Trump adviser, and his political sympathizers. Bannon never cared for Musk, who embodied the tech right and ultrawealthy interests; the two routinely clashed over the direction of Trump's second term, with Bannon pushing a more populist, nationalist agenda. The attacks often veered into name-calling: Musk called Bannon 'a great talker, but not a great doer'; Bannon called Musk a 'truly evil person' and a 'parasitic illegal immigrant.' Bannon wasn't at Butterworth's on Thursday – he had spent much of the evening on the phone with reporters and allies, reveling in the moment. Phoning in to The Washington Post as a reporter was perched at the bar, Bannon said federal officials should investigate whether Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa, had legally entered the country and should deport him if he hadn't followed all proper procedures. The Post reported last year that Musk worked illegally in the United States as he launched his entrepreneurial career after ditching a graduate studies program in California. And Bannon said Trump should sign an executive order to keep Musk from interfering with government work that his companies have contracts on. Federal officials should take over Musk's businesses, at least temporarily, Bannon said. 'The government should seize control of SpaceX tonight through the Defense Production Act,' Bannon said. He was referring to Musk's declaration Thursday that he would decommission the spacecraft tasked with delivering supplies to the International Space Station – a threat he later retracted. And he said the government should seize Musk's Starlink satellite company while they're at it. 'He's an unstable individual who has a history of massive drug use,' Bannon said, referring to a recent New York Times report. 'He should not be in charge of essential national security programs.' What about that tantalizing tidbit Musk dropped on X – that Trump is 'in the Epstein files?' The claim referred to convicted and deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Musk threw it like a match on his way out the door. 'He is a national security threat,' Bannon said of Musk's claim against Trump and his declared support Thursday for impeaching the president to replace him with Vice President JD Vance. This evening at Butterworth's, technically, wasn't supposed to be about Musk. It was supposed to be about a plaque – specifically, one about the size of a hot dog bun, mounted near a floral pattern sofa by Butterworth's entrance. 'THE AMBASSADOR'S SOFA,' it shouted in bronze. The diplomat in question was British ambassador Peter Mandelson, who had fond notions of being served lobster thermidor 'sprawled out on this sofa here.' That's what he would prefer to talk about. But he indulged The Post's queries about Trump and Musk, too. 'Honestly, I genuinely don't know what Elon has said,' Mandelson said, when confronted about Musk's recent social media posts about Trump. 'But I think the office of the president should be respected at all times.' If Butterworth's is the safe space for the Trump faithful, the X social media site that he owns – formerly known as Twitter – is Musk's. Pearson, the influencer, has seen MAGA influencers taking Musk's side. 'It's completely economically motivated by some of these people who are, honestly, grifters,' Pearson said. 'These are folks who depend on Elon bucks to pay their rent, and now they're betraying their values and their principles simply because they need to make ends meet.' Bart Hutchins, Butterworth's chef and resident bon vivant, stood behind the host counter, turning to tend to a customer waiting to check in for his reservation. Hutchins, like Musk, has gone through more liberal and conservative phases – and Hutchins has liked Musk through none of them. 'Elon Musk is an insufferable nerd, and I hope this marks the end of his engagement with public life,' Hutchins said. 'He's an aesthetic nightmare,' he added. 'Like, he doesn't have anything interesting to say.' Back on the sidewalk, Kassam was twirling a cigarette between his fingertips. He was thinking aloud about Musk's fights with conservative leaders on the international stage, such as Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's Reform Party whom Musk had harshly criticized. (Kassam, an associate of Farage, said Musk 'went crawling back to him, by the way, and apologized.') There was also Peter Navarro, Trump's longtime trade adviser and a top champion of aggressive tariffs who, like Bannon, served prison time after being found in contempt of Congress in connection with investigations of Trump. After the president announced his 'Liberation Day' tariff plan, Musk posted on X that Navarro was 'truly a moron.' 'Dr. Peter Navarro went to jail for the movement and for the president,' Kassam said, while admitting he is 'not even a huge fan of him personally.' 'But he's a made man. You don't get to pick fights with Dr. Peter Navarro,' Kassam continued. Kassam paused before lighting his cigarette. 'What's also really funny, what Elon doesn't realize, is all of his DOGE people leak all around town,' Kassam said. 'They talk to everyone – they talk to reporters, they talk to MAGA people, they talk to Bannon world people, they talk to everyone, because they're not political people. 'They don't know how to work in this town. And so as I stare at his Cybertruck,' Kassam continued, looking at the vehicle parked on the street a few doors down, 'his greenness has finally come back to bite him. … And good riddance.'
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
Our wine expert reveals the best red wines to serve chilled this spring, including a £7 supermarket pick
It's not just light Beaujolais or Pinot Noir wines that benefit from a gentle chill – many reds come alive with a short stint in the fridge. It brightens fruit, lifts floral notes and brings balance. For medium to full-bodied styles give it 20 minutes, double that for lighter reds. As summer nears, freshness is key; cloying reds lose their charm. Be mindful when chilling robust reds with high tannins, as this can accentuate their bitterness. Specially Selected Côtes du Rhône Villages 2023(14%), £7.49, Aldi. Here's a superbly priced Côtes du Rhône Villages, with dark cherry and savoury, meaty notes, all wrapped in an enveloping, smooth texture. A BBQ banger. £7.49 Shop
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Trump's 200% EU Wine Tariff Won't Save American Winemakers
Trump leading a champagne toast (Photo by) If you're hoping to pluck a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet off the wine list to impress clients tonight, or simply want to pick up a modest Côtes du Rhône on your way home, you may want to take a long look at your receipt. It could be one of the last times European wines come at anything close to a reasonable price in the U.S. President Trump's proposal of a 200% tariff on all wine and spirits imported from the European Union has been positioned as a patriotic reset—a way to boost American-made wine by squeezing out its competition. "Great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.," he wrote on social media, despite, of course, Champagne only being produced in France. But behind the all-caps posturing lies a dangerously flawed premise: that isolating American wine from the global market will somehow strengthen it. It won't. Not for producers. Not for restaurants. Not for retailers. And certainly not for the consumer. Why, you ask? Let's start with the idea that these tariffs would benefit American winemakers. On the surface, it's textbook protectionism: make European wine unaffordable, and buyers will pivot to U.S. bottles. But the wine industry doesn't operate in a vacuum. Importers, distributors, and restaurant wine directors rely on a diverse portfolio of bottles to run sustainable businesses. Strip out the entire EU's offering overnight, and you're not left with more room for domestic producers—you're left with less stability. Take a mid-sized distributor in Illinois who imports Beaujolais, a few Californian Pinots, and perhaps a small Oregon pét-nat for natural wine shops. These distributors, which make up the majority of the American distribution network altogether, rely on the breadth of their catalogue to stay afloat. If half of their imports are suddenly slapped with 200% duties, their profit margins collapse. And if that distributor folds, so does a vital pipeline for U.S. producers trying to get their wines on lists and shelves. Worse, tariffs like these can strain the very relationships that make wine work. Hospitality teams build wine lists that balance Old and New World, budget-friendly and premium, familiar and experimental. Telling a sommelier in Chicago or Charleston that every bottle of grower Champagne they've carefully selected now costs triple means one of two things: they're forced to pass the cost on to customers, or gut the list. Neither is sustainable. Oenophile consumers aren't prone to swapping out Bordeaux for Sonoma just because the price tag shifts, either. Instead, they recoil. They down-trade. They drink less wine overall. And that hits everyone—including American producers. The reality on the ground is that the U.S. wine industry is already under strain. Domestic demand has softened as younger consumers pivot to other drinks entirely, vineyard oversupply has led to grape gluts in California (with some growers ripping out vines altogether), and climate volatility has battered harvests—2020's wildfires destroyed millions in inventory and smoke-tainted fruit alone, only worsened by the wildfires last month. Adding economic disruption on top of environmental and generational headwinds is not just careless; it's strategically nonsensical. It also ignores history. During the last major tariff scare in 2019, when the Trump administration imposed a 25% tax on French, Spanish, UK and German still wines under 14% alcohol, importers were forced to eat costs or pull shipments entirely. Many cut staff. Others shut down entirely. The American wine industry didn't magically flourish in that gap—it suffered. Hence the tariffs' 2021 suspension. These new tariffs wouldn't just hit Burgundy and Barolo, either. They'd apply to 'low-tier' European bottles too—the $12 Picpoul de Pinet, the $15 bottle of Montepulciano, the reliable Prosecco keeping your local oyster bar afloat. These are the bottles that underpin everyday wine drinking in America. And if they vanish or skyrocket in price, it's not high-end Napa that fills the void—it's more likely canned, chemical-laden cocktails, beer, or nothing at all. And that's the risk assuming there's no retaliation. In reality, if we slap tariffs on EU wine, the EU will almost certainly retaliate on American goods. Bourbon. Whiskey. U.S. wine. Because none of this ever plays out in a vacuum. U.S. producers, retailers, sommeliers, and consumers all operate within a fragile, interdependent ecosystem. To imagine that American can 'win' by shouting over it, taxing it into silence, or walling it off with tariffs is not only wrong, but economically suicidal. What the American wine industry needs right now is investment, resilience, and reach—not artificial advantage. We need better infrastructure for distribution. We need meaningful sustainability support as climate change reshapes agriculture. We need policies that encourage younger consumers to explore wine, not penalise them for trying to buy it. And yes, we need our wines to stand proudly alongside the best of Europe—not because Europe has been pushed off the shelf, but because we earned our place next to them. That's how you grow an industry. Not through tariffs. Through excellence.
