The Swinehound of a Sports Quiz
2By The Spotter
Test your knowledge against the following- the ‘swinehound’ sports quiz. Why swinehound? And it’s fair enough that you ask. It’s derived from German, it was the first thought I had to describe a difficult quiz, and it seems to fit as an expression of frustration.
No cheating please with any excursions over to Google. I will post the answers later on today (or tomorrow, depending on the response) in the Comments box at the bottom of this piece.
If you happen to get them all correct I would guess that you would be over 35 years-old and have a sporting book collection similar in size to a small public library. By the way, the questions are completely NZ-centric and a bit bygone.
‘THE SWINEHOUND’
- Which NZ rugby side played nine and won all nine of its provincial matches in 1972? (the answer might well surprise you)
- Which NZ team athlete won the Women’s High Jump at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games?
- Which NZ Rugby League star of the 1980s was known as ‘The Finisher’?
- Which two NZ foaled (and NZ raced) horses were first and second in the 1998 Melbourne Cup?
- Which NZ batsman’s final test cricket innings was ingloriously ended when he was adjudged run out by the then-recently introduced third umpire camera in the early 1990s?
- How many points shy of Don Clarke’s points-scoring record was Wellington’s Allan Hewson when he was dropped permanently from the All Blacks in 1984?
- Colin Meads’ daughter was the Goal Shoot for NZ vs Australia in the 1983 World Championship Netball final, played in Singapore. What was her name?
- Which NZ team played (and won), in front of more than 50,000 people at Wembley Stadium in the 1970s? (The morass inside my brain is saying it was in 1977- I used to have it on an old video clip).
Good luck. As far as correct answers go: About 3 right is not too bad at all. 4-5 correct is damn impressive. 6-8 is mastermind/walking encyclopedia territory.
Post your answers in the comments.
Paul (talltree@xtra.co.nz)
Unreasonably difficult? Was I a bit of a bloody fool for making it that hard? Yes, and probably.
That aside, am extending the timeframe. I’ll post the answers on Monday. Is anyone brave enough to post their answers here?…
Ok, the answers:
1. The All Blacks. In ’72 those flat track bullies were pitted against the might of teams like Mid-Canterbury and Wanganui in a 9-match itinerary. The following year, a 4 match internal tour resulted in a loss to the NZ Juniors (the Under 23 team) and a President’s XV- featuring a long-since retired Colin Meads. They then went and lost the only domestic test of that season, to England- who in turn had lost all their provincial lead-up matches. Not a good season!
2. Tania Murray 3. James Leulu’ai 4. Jezebeel & Champagne 5. John Wright 6. Six points (201 to 207)
7. Rhonda (Help, Help me Rhonda- it didn’t work. They lost.) 8. The NZ Women’s Hockey team (Jenny McDonald scored the winner).
I’ll run another one in the near future. I don’t give up easily..!