Super 15 Logos: New Zealand Edition

The previous review of the Australian Super 15 team logos and mascots, can be found here, so now we move onto New Zealand. Let's get this out on the open. I lived for a time in New Zealand. It's a beautiful country, but being mocked constantly for having a stupid accent by people who sound like they are talking underwater isn't fun. Not even the considerable boon of 'The Flight of The Conchords' and whale-watching can offset that. Having said all of this, I will try to keep this as objective as possible. Again, I've been to all these cities. Let's start at the north and work our way down. Just like lovin'... The review will be the same as before, a review of the city, the logo, and the mascot, before they are all ranked. Enjoy.

1. Auckland Blues

City (Auckland): Before I moved to New Zealand, Auckland was a bit of a running joke because it had a blackout which had lasted like 3 months throughout the city. As it is, it's ok, it's got a nice harbour, some fun bars and the sky center provides interesting views. Some parts are a bit rough, especially the South of the city, but you avoid that if you come along as a tourist (which I did).

[source]

Logo: Pretty boring really. The logo, and a circle with the sea and a mountain. Really lacking in imagination. Lame.(Ranking: 5th)

Mascot: Bluebeard the Pirate

[source]

The very definition of 'god, those wacky New Zealanders...' it's a pirate, on a segway, firing fireworks out the back. Mildly amusing, I suppose.

2. Waikato Chiefs

City (Hamilton): Is weird. Almost nothing to do there. Shopping is bad, bars close really early, and other than the rugby stadium, there seems to be no real entertainment. Also, wherever we went a group of Maori children followed us around, it was creepy. However, this was in about 2002, so I'm not quite sure if it's gotten better since then. You would certainly hope so.

[source]

Logo: A muscular Maori fella, holding up a Maori weapon. A good logo, and a good team name too, though the team itself has never won the thing. (Ranking: 1st)

Mascot: The Waikato Chief?

[source]

This is a little frightening. It's unnamed, and is created by putting a giant, scary head on top of a regular guy in Chiefs uniform. Unsettling, especially the dead eyes and empty rows of seats in the background. One thing's for sure, its mother didn't survive childbirth.

3. Wellington Hurricanes

City (Wellington): Where I lived for three years. A Cool, bustling, and quirky downtown is matched by sprawling suburbs, isolated valleys and surprisingly constant earthquakes. A lot of bits are pretty rough, particularly when you get to the Hutt Valley, north of Wellington centre. Wainuiomata in particular is weird, a small city in its own right, in a hard to access valley, its population is nearly all Maori or Pacific Islanders, and as a result has produced any number of giant rugby players, league players and bouncers. All in all, it's ok.

[source]

Logo: Wellington is an unbelievably windy city, so it makes sense to be called the Hurricanes. This logo though, looks like something a bored high school student came up. Pretty lame (Ranking: 4th)

Mascot: Captain Hurricane

[source]

Another quite frightening mascot. This guy looks like Mario's evil brother Wario (is he the twin? I'm not sure). A WWI era pilot with a hugely malformed head, and on occasion, a plane he walks around in. I'm sure he works well to get the crowds pulses up.

4. Canterbury Crusaders

City (Christchurch): I only visited before the earthquake which ripped the city a new one, so can't really say anything about it since then. As ever with New Zealand, an odd mix. Quiet, lovely parks, nice architecture, good food, but this is offset by packs of wannabe gangsters who we saw fighting on the street throughout the day. One tried to steal my jacket (which was a maroon, or gang colour) but they left when the police arrived, leaving us to a peaceful day of eating and shopping in some cool stores. Odd.

[source]

Logo: Half of a Crusader next to the word 'Crusaders.' Not particularly inspiring, but the team is the most successful of all. They have won the competition numerous times, so people will come regardless of the logo. However, it's probably not very popular in the Arab World. Not great logo, but better than at least two others in the New Zealand conference (Ranking: 3rd).

Mascot: Larry the Lamb

[source]

I'm pretty sure I've seen guys on horseback, dressed as Crusaders, ride on the field, but this is much better. A freaky lamb (because nothing says tough like a lamb), with human arms and padded legs - or two casts from broken legs? - still, this is stupid rather than scary like the Chiefs and Hurricanes, and I can imagine it buoying the crowd up.

5. Otago Highlanders

City (Dunedin): Aside from the fact that it's so isolated and southerly, it's pretty cool. A small, university town with some demented museums and galleries, cool shops, and fun bars. As well as being surrounded by cool beaches and penguin habitats, there's also a chocolate factory, so the whole town smells of diabetes. Also, the seafood is excellent. It is small and isolated though, for example, there was a buy one get one free thing in a CD shop, and the crowds gathered were going wild. Cool, but definitely wouldn't want to live there.

[source]

Logo: An almost definitely anachronistically dressed Scottish Warrior. Still, looks cool, and suits the location well, It's in a mountainous area (where in New Zealand isn't?) and Dunedin itself Scottish influence, thanks to the climate, and the attitude of the poeple (a lot of the early settlers were Scottish). (Ranking: 2nd)

Mascot: The Highlander

[source]

I don't know why he's talking to a bunch of children here, but I suppose as far as mascots goes, it's ok. It could use a name, and they would have to hire one of the musclemen who aren't any good at rugby to play him, but that's fine too, I guess. New Zealand mascots are a bit ordinary really.

In conclusion: New Zealand is rugby mad, which explains why they don't need to put as much effort into logos and mascots as the Australian teams do. While Australian teams have to compete with cricket, basketball, soccer and at Rugby League and Aussie Rules, New Zealand teams get crowds by playing attractive rugby, in cities with not much else to do, especially sportswise. Still, the Chiefs, Crusaders and Highlanders have good-ish logos, while the Hurricanes, Blues, and Chiefs all have scary mascots. That's this feature done, I would do the South African ones, but a) I've never been to South Africa, and b) finding the mascots and logos is much more difficult because it doesn't have electricity.

Take care, P.