The hilariously cheeky move comes as the ‘Silver Aussies’ struggle stake a claim on Olympic gold, scoring a single gold medal in the women’s relay.
With a week to go, the Telegraph seems to have decided to co-opt their neighbour’s winnings in a bid for unity in a time of sporting struggle.
In this revised table, Aus Zealand takes a respectable place at #9 in the medals table. Good on yer, Aus Zealand. The newly-founded country, which was referred to as Team Oceania by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“…the Kiwis who, with three gold medals (all from rowing), were perched seven places higher than Australia on the medal table. Which, in time-honoured tradition, will prompt us to embrace the spirit of great Australasians Neil Finn, Russell Crowe and Phar Lap and to note that, with four gold medals, Team Oceania is doing quite well,” said columnist Richard Hinds of the Herald.
Hinds also commented on Team GB’s overwhelming weekend of Olympic success, saying “…with Australia so often second best, the jubilation of the Brits was becoming a touch hard to stomach…with even traditionally demure BBC commentators bellowing their support, the change of sporting fortunes between Australia and Britain seems complete.”
The New Zealand Herald reported that Kiwi success led to Channel 9 in Australia responding in an unsporting fashion by only showing the top nine places in the Olympic medal table, cutting off New Zealand who were at the time in tenth place.
The medals table was the source of humour last week when the Herald Sun renamed North and South Korea ‘Nice Korea’ and ‘Naughty Korea’.
So, how do you feel about your newly christened country, Aus Zealanders?
Main image: Sydney Daily Telegraph
