Andrew Gourdie: I'd take an America's Cup win over a Lions series victory

Russell Coutts and Dean Barker celebrate New Zealand's America's Cup defence in 2000 (Photosport)
Russell Coutts and Dean Barker celebrate New Zealand's America's Cup defence in 2000 (Photosport)

OPINON: If I had to choose one sporting success over another in the coming weeks, I'd take an America's Cup victory for Team New Zealand over an All Blacks series win against the Lions.

I'm not a yachtie. I'm not against rugby, either. But this has everything to do with the impact on both sports if faced with the opposite.

The action on the water in Bermuda this week has been incredible. The boats are fast, the racing's exciting, the niggle between the skippers has been riveting, but most importantly, the competition is fierce. Anyone can beat anyone on their day, and as all of the skippers have pointed out at one stage or another, it's the team who makes the fewest mistakes who wins the race.

I don't like to give Jimmy Spithill any more credit than he deserves, but the Oracle skipper summed it up best when he said, "Everyone here has the resource. Everyone here has the talent, and everyone here has the technology. So there are no excuses. That means you've got very competitive teams. You only have to look at the racing, who's won, who's lost, to see that."

Anyone who's watched the racing would agree.

Andrew Gourdie: I'd take an America's Cup win over a Lions series victory

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Anyone who's watched international rugby in recent times knows that's not the case for our national sport. The All Blacks are completely and utterly dominant. We expect them to beat the Lions, just as we've come to expect them to beat every other team they face.

Take the results of a poll of 1000 Kiwis this week which revealed 78 percent of us couldn't name a single player in the Lions' 41-man touring squad. Not a single one. Cast your mind back to the last time the Lions hit our shores - they brought household names like Johnny Wilkinson, Brian O'Discoll, Gareth Thomas - a host of legends, and World Cup winners.

This Lions squad has quality, but it lacks star power. The result of this poll suggests we're not that worried about the Lions. We're looking forward to the games, but we don't think they have the players to threaten the All Blacks.

The poll didn't come as a great surprise to me, and I reckon if you asked the same question about the Wallabies or the Springboks, you might get similar results. As a rugby nation, we've become apathetic to our opponents. We fear no one, and care about them even less.

If the All Blacks were to lose this series, that might all change. In fact, it might not be a bad thing for the international game at all. But a series loss wouldn't change a whole lot. The All Blacks would continue on.

But if Team New Zealand can't regain the Auld Mug in Bermuda, then their future is far from certain. It would likely depend on the continued hard work of people like Grant Dalton to find the money to fund another campaign. Could he go again? Would we simply be priced out of the game?

I'd be gutted if we could no longer be part of the America's Cup. Our participation in this event has become part of who we are. Red socks, Sir Peter Blake, Black Magic - not to mention all that taxpayer money - what would it all be for if we were no longer battling for the oldest trophy in sport. That'd be harder to take than a Lions series loss.

Hopefully we won't have to choose. I reckon we might just win 'em both. 

Andrew Gourdie is the co-host of Sunday Sport on RadioLIVE