> The obvious examples that come to mind would be sports. NZ excels in Sailing, Cricket and Rugby against much larger countries.

Those are niche sports, very popular in that part of the world. They're not major sports, though.

Cricket is sort of a major sport, but it's also very culturally concentrated. Outside of UK & some former UK colonies, almost nobody plays it/watches it.

Does New Zealand have any famous footballers, basketball players, athletes, etc.?