This is edition 2026/017 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Hi all,
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
My response to Alice Soper discovering America is bad (again) & calling for a boycott
Ani O'Brien
- 🗞️ The author reacts angrily to a New Zealand Herald article, inviting readers to say whether they’re tired of critiques targeting the Herald.
- 🏃♀️ Alice Soper is accused of repeatedly claiming “sport is political” and chasing fashionable moral panics for attention and clicks.
- 🇺🇸 Soper’s argument: the All Blacks playing South Africa in the US makes rugby complicit in American immigration enforcement and state violence.
- 🐛 The critique labels this reasoning “vibes-based,” selective, and emotionally driven rather than logically consistent.
- 🌍 The All Blacks play in many countries with histories of violence, repression, or harsh policies—yet none triggered similar outrage.
- 🇫🇷🇬🇧🇦🇺🇦🇷🇯🇵 Examples are listed (France, England, Australia, Argentina, Japan) to show double standards and selective concern.
- 📅 The All Blacks (and Black Ferns) have played in the US multiple times under Obama, Trump, and Biden, all with deportations and enforcement ongoing.
- 🧾 Obama’s record as “Deporter in Chief” is highlighted to challenge claims that today’s situation is uniquely immoral.
- 🎭 Linking ICE-related tragedies to a rugby fixture is called opportunistic, fear-mongering, and misleading.
- ❓ The phrase “is it worth the threat of violence?” is mocked as so broad it could cancel all international sport.
- 🏉 Comparing modern America to apartheid-era South Africa is described as absurd and historically illiterate.
- 📢 The author criticises activist sportswriting for chasing outrage over nuance, urging moderation, perspective, and emotional self-control.
- 🧠 Final message: the All Blacks aren’t endorsing US policy—they’re just playing rugby—and the outrage is trend-driven and tedious.
