News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Sean Maitland: Scotland Rugby’s Newest ‘Kilted Kiwi’

Sean Maitland: Scotland Rugby’s Newest ‘Kilted Kiwi’

Sean Maitland, ex-Canterbury Crusaders and now Scotland rugby winger has one of his two wishes. He’s just been selected for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. Whether he gets the other…

Pat Lam Relishes Leading Connaught Rugby

Pat Lam Relishes Leading Connaught Rugby

Pat Lam is looking forward to coaching Connaught, one of four Irish teams in rugby’s Heineken Cup, writes Gerry Thornley, in The Irish Times. In Galway for only eight days, Lam told Thornley he…

Sonny Bill Eyes Up World Cup

Sonny Bill Eyes Up World Cup

Sonny Bill Williams, New Zealand’s most versatile sportsman, may be available for New Zealand for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup says Brad Walker, in The Age. Williams plays for the Sydney Rooster rugby…

On the Wing for Scotland

On the Wing for Scotland

Tokoroa-born Sean Maitland, 24, made his Scotland debut against England in the RBS 6 Nations Championship opener against England on 2 February at Twickenham, scoring the first try of the match.  Maitland qualifies for…

Player Of The Year

Player Of The Year

All Black Dan Carter has been named player of the year in London at the 2012 International Rugby Board (IRB) awards, with Steve Hansen winning coach of the year and the All Blacks the…

Foiled By Fourth Best

Foiled By Fourth Best

New Zealand, the world’s No 1-ranked side, was defeated by England 38-21 at Twickenham, bringing the All Blacks’ unbeaten run of 20 back-to-back wins to an end. It was England’s first win over New…

Murdoch Memorialised

Murdoch Memorialised

Before taking care of business in Wales, the All Blacks made a pilgrimage to the hotel where one of their own went down fighting before disappearing without trace, the Daily Mail reports. They went…

Our Inimitable All Black Captain

Our Inimitable All Black Captain

Captain “fantastic” Richie McCaw has led the “all-conquering All Blacks” to a 20th successive match without defeat beating Wales 33-10 at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. No player in world rugby is better in…

When in Rome

When in Rome

The All Blacks continued their European Tour, taking on Italy in Rome on Saturday. Despite winning by a comfortable 42 points to 10 the Italians made the All Blacks work hard for the win,…

All Blacks Kick the Scottish

All Blacks Kick the Scottish

The All Blacks have enjoyed a great start to their European Tour, beating Scotland 51-22 at Murrayfield on Sunday. Despite a competitive Scottish side, the experienced All Blacks team played in a different league,…

Impressive Role Reversal

Impressive Role Reversal

On 10 November New Zealander Glen Jackson will jog out at Twickenham to referee England’s opening autumn Test versus Fiji. It will be Jackson’s first tier one international and represents one of sport’s more…

Super Swap for Winger

Super Swap for Winger

Canterbury Crusaders winger Sean Maitland, 24, has signed a contract with Super Rugby side Glasgow Warriors and could be eligible for the national team immediately due to his Scottish grandparents. “We’re delighted to be…

Farewell to a Favourite

Farewell to a Favourite

Sir Wilson Whineray, who captained the All Blacks 67 times between 1957 and 1965, has died in Auckland, aged 77. Judged by renowned rugby writer Terry McLean as the greatest of All Blacks captains,…

Even Harder on Himself

Even Harder on Himself

“It would be hard not to describe McCaw as one of rugby’s greats,” Emma Stoney writes for The New York Times. “He is the captain of the most successful team in…

Women Enter Sevens Fold

Women Enter Sevens Fold

The success of New Zealand’s rugby teams will create high expectations on the country’s women as they embark on the first International Rugby Board (IRB) women’s sevens world series in November, coach Sean Horan…

Southern Hemisphere Champs

Southern Hemisphere Champs

The world champion All Blacks routed Argentina 54-15 to secure the southern hemisphere’s inaugural Rugby Championship with a game to spare. New Zealand outscored the Pumas by seven tries in La Plata, all coming…

Art of Rugby

Art of Rugby

Examining the All Blacks 21-11 win against his national team, the Springboks, Brumbies coach Jake White writes in The Citizen’s sports column: “The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands,…

Win After Dark

Win After Dark

A blackout at Wellington’s Stadium “was an apt metaphor” for the All Blacks versus Argentina game, “with few highlights to speak about as both sides battled driving rain and swirling gale-force winds”, the Buenos…

Bledisloe Trouncing

Bledisloe Trouncing

For the first time in 50 years the world champion All Blacks kept the Australians scoreless, beating the Wallabies 22-0 at Eden Park and retaining the Bledisloe Cup for the 10th consecutive season. The…

Solving the Problem of Concussion

Solving the Problem of Concussion

Thirty-five-year-old former New Zealand, Blues and Auckland scrum-half Steve Devine, who was forced to retire from rugby in 2007, knows all too well how debilitating the long-term effects of concussions can be. In the…

First Win of the Series

First Win of the Series

The All Blacks have won their first post-World Cup tournament against the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship opener beating the Australians 27-19 in Sydney. Australia must win at its Eden Park graveyard on 25…

Devastating ABs Stifle Irish

Devastating ABs Stifle Irish

All Blacks Sam Cane and Sonny Bill Williams each scored double tries to inflict a record 60-0 defeat on Ireland and sweep their three-Test series. “We knew we had to start well and we…

Savea Does Us Proud

Savea Does Us Proud

The All Blacks trounced Ireland 42-10 at Eden Park in the first test since winning last year’s World Cup, with 21-year-old winger Julian Savea scoring three tries in his debut for New…

Flair on the Field

Flair on the Field

“If you are in search of a player that encapsulates a sense of flamboyancy, and something just a little out of the ordinary then, Sonny Bill Williams may just be your man,” Kate Rowan…

All Black Across the Board

All Black Across the Board

New Zealand Maori and the national men’s sevens team will be rebranded and known as the Maori All Blacks and All Blacks Sevens, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) has said, with a change…

Thorn Garners Further Prestige

Thorn Garners Further Prestige

Mosgiel-born lock Brad Thorn, 37, has become the first player to clinch a global three-title sweep of World Cup, European Cup and Super 15 honours, completing the triple when he helped Leinster retain their…

Pumas Sign Henry

Pumas Sign Henry

Sir Graham Henry has signed with the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) as a part-time consultant with a particular view to improve coaching at Argentina’s high performance centres. The World Cup-winning coach will help fine…

Home Match For Crusaders

Home Match For Crusaders

One major symbol of regeneration in Christchurch is the construction of a temporary stadium in Addington that will be used by the Crusaders Super Rugby team Emma Stoney explains in The New York Times. “The…

All About Winning

All About Winning

Hamilton-born Warren Gatland, 48, the current Wales National Rugby Club Coach, speaks to Meet the Boss TV presenter Padraig Hyland about his ambitions as a coach and for the Welsh team. His greatest satisfaction…

Invaluable Coaching Insights

Invaluable Coaching Insights

World Cup-winning All Black coach Graham Henry, 65, has signed a part-time contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to help develop New Zealand’s coaching talent. Henry had been interested in working for…

On Track For Tenth Crown

On Track For Tenth Crown

New Zealand has won the fourth leg of the IRB Sevens World Series beating arch-rivals Fiji 24-7 in Wellington. The withering burst of 24 unanswered points in five minutes gave New Zealand a victory…

Rugby Rules In North Carolina

Rugby Rules In North Carolina

New Zealander Geoffrey Maw, who lives in North Carolina’s Elizabeth City, is starting a rugby club for high school-age players in Elizabeth City and Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties. Maw — a real estate agent…

Hansen Replaces Henry

Hansen Replaces Henry

The New Zealand Rugby Union have appointed 52-year-old former policeman Steve Hansen as their new coach, replacing Graham Henry who stepped down after winning the World Cup. Dunedin-born Hansen was widely tipped to get…

Physicality Earns Top Award

Physicality Earns Top Award

All Blacks loose forward Jerome Kaino, 28, was named New Zealand player of the year at the Steinlager Rugby Awards held in Auckland. Kaino played all but 55 seconds of New Zealand’s seven World…

Recapturing the Glory Days

Recapturing the Glory Days

Papakura-born fly-half Stephen Donald, 27, who signed a two-year deal with Premiership club Bath in August, says he wants to help the team recapture their “glory days”. “They’re very ambitious. I’d love to contribute…

Playing Egg-Ball In France

Playing Egg-Ball In France

“Like many of his contemporaries, Blair Stewart is a valuable commodity: a New Zealand rugby player,” Tadhg Peavoy writes in a profile of Christchurch-born Stewart, 28, for RTÉ Sports. “Stewart began his career playing…

Jaw-dropping Triumph

Jaw-dropping Triumph

Player agent New Zealander Tyran Smith, 37, knows he’s set himself a tough benchmark by brokering perhaps the NRL’s most extraordinary contract — a two-year deal worth A$1.7 million for 19-year-old Will Hopoate who…

Winning Irish Debut

Winning Irish Debut

New Zealand World Cup winner prop John Afoa, 28, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Ulster. Auckland-born Afoa came on as a replacement in New Zealand’s wins over Japan and Argentina in the…

Roosters Snap Up Otahuhu Star

Roosters Snap Up Otahuhu Star

Auckland schoolboy 18-year-old fullback/winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been snapped up by the Sydney Roosters. Tuivasa-Sheck has starred in both rugby codes at schoolboy level and recently represented New Zealand’s national schoolboy rugby union team…

All Blacks World’s Best Rugby Team

All Blacks World’s Best Rugby Team

“New Zealand is always the team to beat. You talk about rugby, you talk about the All Blacks,” says actor Mickey Rourke in The New York Observer. Rourke and writer Jenna Sauers watched the World…

All Hands on the Webb Ellis

All Hands on the Webb Ellis

“Twenty-four years of Rugby World Cup pain and misery melted away for New Zealand” on 23 October with the All Blacks beating the French 8-7 in a nail-biting final at Eden Park. “It was…

Outback and Living Life

Outback and Living Life

“Somewhere in regional Australia lives a man whose tale has gone into New Zealand rugby’s folklore,” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Georgina Robinson writes. “He is Keith Murdoch, the towering All Black who hit a…

Wowing the Wallabies

Wowing the Wallabies

All Black legend Jonah Lomu surprised Australia’s players by dropping in on a training session ahead of their World Cup third place victory match against Wales. Auckland-born Lomu, 36, who was recently discharged from…

Semi-Final of Brutal Beauty

Semi-Final of Brutal Beauty

“This was the All Blacks as they would love the world to see them: tough, mean, committed and ruthless in every department,” the Guardian’s Robert Kitson wrote after New Zealand smashed Australia with “brutal…

Weepu Does us Proud

Weepu Does us Proud

New Zealand has secured its place in the Rugby World Cup semifinals with a comfortable 33-10 victory over 2007 third-placed team Argentina at Auckland’s Eden Park, which was packed with a crowd of 57,912….

Qualifying for English Squad

Qualifying for English Squad

Dannevirke-born Rangi Chase, 25, has been named Super League’s Man of Steel as the competition’s best player, ahead of inclusion in England’s Four Nations train-on squad. The Castleford star has opted to qualify for…

Tempting Players Back Home

Tempting Players Back Home

“New Zealand’s incredible dominance of rugby league in recent years is paving the way for a second team to enter an expanded NRL competition,” Daily Telegraph sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield says. “Exactly 10…

Warriors Prepare for Battle

Warriors Prepare for Battle

The Warriors have touched down in Sydney in preparation for Sunday’s NRL grand final having defied the odds to win against the Storm last weekend. Despite claims the team is favoured to win the…

Revelling in Rugby Fervour

Revelling in Rugby Fervour

“International commentators have revelled in New Zealand’s embracing of the , calling for the small nation to get a chance to host again — regardless of the financial drawbacks for the International…

Milestone Made at Eden Park

Milestone Made at Eden Park

“After being awarded a special commemorative cap for becoming the first man to reach 100 All Black caps, captain Richie McCaw told over 60,000 fans at Eden Park that now French demons have been…

Soccer Challenges the Union

Soccer Challenges the Union

“You don’t have to follow rugby to know that the national team of New Zealand, the All Blacks, are the undisputed kings of this sport,” Wall Street Journal reporters Lucy Cramer and Jonathan Clegg…

Pass Mark Against Blossoms

Pass Mark Against Blossoms

All Blacks coach Graham Henry has given his team a pass mark following their 83-7 thrashing of Japan in the Rugby World Cup Pool A match on 16 September. Henry said the…

Worldwide Audience Wowed

Worldwide Audience Wowed

“New Zealand were impressive in spots as they got their Rugby World Cup off to a winning start,” according to the Guardian’s Barry Glendenning who gives an in-depth minute-by-minute analysis of the All Blacks…

Understanding Sporting Passion

Understanding Sporting Passion

Award-winning Wellington-born filmmaker Julian Shaw’s “emotive” 211 documentary Cup of Dreams is recommended to Australians so they may gain some insights on how the All Blacks can be beaten in the Rugby World Cup….

World Cup Road Trip

World Cup Road Trip

“Ox and his mates are hitting the road to watch their beloved All Blacks play in the Rugby World Cup, making a trip they’ve been working on for months,” Nick Perry explains. “Shortages of…

Towering Leader at Inside Centre

Towering Leader at Inside Centre

Tana Umaga is named at inside centre for the Telegraph series ‘Greatest Rugby World Cup XV’. “ status as a towering leader is not in doubt, as he captained the side to 19 wins…