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'Really crazy stuff': The streaker who stole the show before getting smashed by Crusaders star in Blues clash
Braydon Ennor was one of the Crusaders stand-out performers in last night’s 26-15 win over the Blues in Christchurch, but made one tackle he probably wished he didn’t have to.
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In the 55th minute a streaker, wearing just underpants, raced onto the field at Orangetheory Stadium and was stopped in his tracks by Ennor.
Ennor, who helped spark the Crusaders second-half comeback by charging down a Blues conversion, held the pitch invader down until the security guards removed him from the field.
“Oh, wow. A streaker has just been taken out by Brayden Ennor,” said commentator Brian Ashby on Gold AM.
“He’s making a real nuisance of himself this guy. This guys just doesn’t want to go. He’s holding up the game but was cleaned out well by Ennor. Good job.
“That is stupid, really stupid of him,” said commentator Lesley Murdoch. “Really crazy stuff.”
Meanwhile, a fan who streaked at Forsyth Barr Stadium last month said it was “the best feeling” despite having to show up in court later that week.
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Kenny Flintoff, who was one of three men charged with offensive behaviour after pitch invasions at the Super Rugby Aotearoa opener between the Highlanders and the Chiefs in Dunedin, said the decision to streak across the field started with a dare from his mates.
“It was a bit of an in-the-moment kind of thing where someone called me out and told me ‘you wouldn’t streak’ and that was it for me,” he told the Daily Debrief.
Flintoff was unofficially christened the first post-Covid streaker in world sport in what was the first top class rugby match to be played with crowds since the worldwide sporting shutdown.
Speaking to Daily Debrief hosts Marc Peard and Nathan Rarere, Flintoff recalled his infamous moment under the lights.
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“Ever since a young kid I’ve always been streaking here and there. But this was probably my big break – first time to crack the big scenes. It was a good opportunity to get out there with the boys,” he joked.
“It was a bit wet on the ground. It was a bit hard on the pitch. A few of the red badgers ran over and I had to give them a fat left plant and put them in my dust you know. I went for the gap first then one came over and I just gave him the inside outside and he was done.
“There was an opening right in the corner which I was aiming for but I did trip right at the end and got jumped on by about three red badgers. It wasn’t my best effort.”
He says the hardest part was braving the Dunedin winter in the cells overnight with nothing more than a thin set of overalls.
“They gave me these nice blue overalls to wear for the night. It was a bit cold. It was better than the towel they gave me at the stadium but yeah it wasn’t the best thing [to wear].
“I came out clean – just a bit cold in the cells for the night.”
Even his family has come around and found the lighter side of the incident.
Comments on RugbyPass
It will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to comments