A NEW YORK LOVE AFFAIR

I ended up in the United States because rugby wasn’t any fun for me anymore. I’m not blaming rugby, but I had been involved in it some way or another since reporting on the 1981 Springbok tour and it was time for a change. We just needed to start seeing other sports, it wasn’t you rugby, it was me.

It was a bit like having your favourite meal most days for 40 years, you start to look forward to broccoli every now and then. (Editor’s note Salizzo still eats spaghetti ragu most days of the week).

I realised it when I covered the All Blacks to Ireland and Italy in 2018. The endless top table press conferences were a bit soulless compared to the fun that escaped in the amateur days and the early days of professionalism.

No one seemed to be really having much fun even through the bright and shiny lens of social media. The good times seemed to be restricted by the fun