Paul Thomas2018-01-24 2017 Sports QuizJan 24, 2018 | Featured, Sports There’s more to sport than high shots, low blows and fine lines. Test your familiarity with sport’s rich tapestry by tackling this quick quiz of the 2017 sporting year. What was unusual about UK website Planet Rugby’s Team of the Year? It was entirely made up of British and Irish players. It consisted of 14 British and Irish players and token All Black Beauden Barrett. It included a woman. What did rookie Australian batsman Matt Renshaw do that prompted former skipper Al Border to snarl, “I hope he’s lying on the table in there half-dead.”? Get massively on the grog the night before a vital test match. Interrupt his innings to go to the toilet. Crash into the sightscreen while joyriding on a motorised drinks cart. Who was then Prime Minister Bill English referring to when he said it was “hard to understand that a guy has to behave differently than the rest.”? Multi-sport human headline Sonny Bill Williams. Horseman Andrew Nicholson who has been at odds with the sport’s governing body since 2014. Former senior club rugby player Winston Peters. According to a survey commissioned by the New Zealand Herald, what percentage of Kiwis regard themselves at rugby fans? 66% 46% 26% What does Aussie tennis great Margaret Court, winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, regard as the biggest problem facing women’s tennis? Predatory lesbians. The fact that most of the players on the circuit are tall, blonde Eastern Europeans with unpronounceable names and the casual follower can’t tell one from another. The hideous noises some players make every time they hit the ball. Which of the following statements did British former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury actually make? Apropos of nothing in particular: “I’d hang my sister if she was promiscuous.” During the prolonged weigh-in stare-down between his cousin Hughie Fury and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker: “Whoever looks away first is gay.” When the rival entourages got involved in a scuffle: “Nut him, Hughie.” All of the above. Where would you expect to come across a “sawn afferdavided”? At a wood-chopping competition. At a poker tournament. In a Facebook message from All Black halfback Aaron Smith. Match the French-based former All Blacks to these offences: Domestic violence - Drink driving - Buying cocaine Dan Carter - Byron Kelleher - Ali Williams Dan Carter - Ali Williams - Byron Kelleher Byron Kelleher - Dan Carter - Ali Williams Byron Kelleher - Ali Williams - Dan Carter Ali Williams - Byron Kelleher - Dan Carter Ali Williams - Dan Carter - Byron Kelleher To what did the Daily Mail attribute England all-rounder Ben Stokes’s “confrontational manner” after he got involved in a street brawl, the protracted fall-out from which led to him missing the current Ashes series? His New Zealand ancestry. His partiality for the amber fluid. His red hair. What, according to Kiwi halfback Shaun Johnson, was the positive about New Zealand being knocked out of the Rugby League World Cup by Fiji? It brought down the curtain on an annus horribilus for New Zealand league. It was the outcome that, deep-down, New Zealand’s hyper-critical media and fans really wanted. It demonstrated that league is making some progress towards being a genuinely competitive international sport. Who said the following about NFL players “taking the knee” during the pre-game playing of the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality against minorities: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired.’”? Fox News’s Sean Hannity. Breitbart’s Steve Bannon. President Donald Trump. According to a Roy Morgan research survey, Australian rugby union’s playing numbers have declined by 63% over the past 15 years to the point that the code now has roughly the same number of participants as which sport/activity? Train-spotting. Ballroom dancing. Pigeon racing. Who patronised their opposition thus: “It’s great to see a bit of fight out of these boys.”? Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling at the Americas Cup regatta. Kiwis coach David Kidwell during the Rugby League World Cup. Italy manager Gian Piero Ventura during the qualifying stages for this year’s FIFA World Cup. What defence/explanation did Kiwi captain Jesse Bromwich and senior player Kevin Proctor offer for being in the company of a drug dealer at 5am after a disastrous loss to the Kangaroos? They were too drunk to remember whether or not they’d taken cocaine. Every second person you meet on the streets of Canberra at 5am on a Sunday morning is a drug dealer. They were asking for directions to the nearest church. How did England wicketkeeper/batsman Jonny Bairstow introduce himself to local cricketer Cameron Bancroft when they met in a Perth nightclub? He kissed Bancroft’s hand. He gave him a signed copy of his recently published autobiography "A Clear Blue Sky". He head-butted him. Time's up
