Does Rugby have a Superstar?
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@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
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@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
my wife knows the "underpants man" by sight, not that Jonah character. I don't think she knows or cares much about his rugby ability.
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I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet Handré Pollard, currently the best paid player in the world, or Owen Farrell, currently the second best paid player in the world.
Super tight modern defences and censorious officiating have put a premium on hard-tackling, goalkickers above spectacular, charismatic try-scorers.
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@nostrildamus said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
my wife knows the "underpants man" by sight, not that Jonah character. I don't think she knows or cares much about his rugby ability.
David Beckham? He's a footballer. Or was.
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@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@nostrildamus said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@Catogrande said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Without going into the merits of his attractiveness or not, Carter is only Dan in NZ, everywhere else he is either Dan Carter or "who" on non rugby playing nations. Jonah Lomu is simply Jonah, more or less everywhere.
my wife knows the "underpants man" by sight, not that Jonah character. I don't think she knows or cares much about his rugby ability.
David Beckham? He's a footballer. Or was.
Dan Carter. But she knows Beckham because of the phrase and the movie.
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@nostrildamus Not his underwear modelling then?
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@mariner4life said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
Oh to be so good looking that Dan is seen as normal
Met a pommy bird in a bar about 13 years ago in thailand and when she found out im from nz she went on to tell me a story,
A girl at her work used to brag she is good friends with an All Black and would introduce her , she was all excited visualising a Dan Carter type,
When she got to meet him she was a bit disappointed and underwhelmed,
I asked do you know his name ? she said Anton Oliver
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Guys like TT can certainly become cult figures and very recognisable but superstars? I just can't see him being the face of anything other than maybe KFC or MacDonalds.
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Out of interest and aside from rugby - has New Zealand ever had a sporting superstar? Someone who couldn't walk down the street in multiple countries.
I see Israel Adesanya is by far the most popular on social media - ahead of Little Kane - who probably can't walk down the street in India.
Sir Ed is probably the most famous ever in terms of name recognition, but most people outside NZ probably wouldn't have recognized him. I guess he was probably massive in 1953.
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@Chris-B said in Does Rugby have a Superstar?:
I see Israel Adesanya is by far the most popular on social media - ahead of Little Kane - who probably can't walk down the street in India.
Google trends is another way of judging that too
Adesanya in blue, Kane in red, worldwide searches in the last 5 years
Or by region who has more searches
I suspect no NZ sportsman would come close
The All Blacks as a team beat him
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@Duluth I suspect Adesanya has everyone in NZ covered - not just sportsmen.
I've tried a few of the most famous NZers I can think of - and he's well ahead.
He gets beaten by someone like Taylor Swift, but he's competitive - or at least, not completely dwarfed!
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