2022 in Review: July
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By Aiden McLaughlin
The Commonwealth Games begin in Birmingham. The flag bearers for New Zealand during the opening ceremony are Tom Walsh and Joelle King. Early gold medals in the velodrome are won by Ellesse Andrews, Aaron Gate, Bryony Botha, the men’s team pursuit and women’s team sprint.
Ireland continue their tour of New Zealand, with the first test taking place at Eden Park. Despite taking the lead, Ireland concede four first half tries as the All Blacks win 42-19 to take a 1-0 lead in the three test series. A week later, Ireland take their victory against the All Blacks in New Zealand, as they deservedly win 23-12. The series concludes in Wellington the week after as Roger Tuivasa-Sheck makes his debut for the All Blacks. Unwanted records are the order of the day for the home side however, as the visitors clinch the series with a 32-22 win. This was the first time since 1994, and just the fifth in history, that New Zealand lost a home test series and he first time since 1998 that New Zealand lost back-to-back home test matches. Ireland clinch the number one spot in the World Rankings and, after an unsuccessful end to their tour in late 2021, head coach Ian Foster comes under even more pressure. A couple of weeks later, forwards coach John Plumtree and backs coach Brad Mooar depart the set-up, with Crusaders and Fiji forwards coach Jason Ryan coming in. Joe Schmidt also comes in to work with Foster on overall strategy and attack play, on top of his original role as selector.
The Farah Palmer Cup season gets underway as Waikato beat Manawatu 33-24 in Hamilton.
The Warriors confirm that Andrew Webster has signed a three-year contract to be the club’s head coach from 2023. Later in the month, they announce young superstar Reece Walsh is to be released from the final year of his contract on compassionate grounds. Canberra fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is signed as his replacement.
England win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 Final in front of over 87,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, defeating Germany 2-1 after extra time.
Novak Djokovic successfully defends his men’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Nick Kyrgios in the final. Elena Rybakina becomes the first Kazakhstani player to win a major title, defeating Ons Jabeur in the women’s singles final.
Australian Cameron Smith wins the 150th Open Championship, at St Andrews, with an 8-under 64 in the final round. His five straight birdies to start the back nine on the final day help to hold off runner up Cameron Young by one shot. Rumours abound that he will shortly join LIV Golf.
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