NZ Rugby Back at #1
You might not know it from the reaction of local fans, but the All Blacks are No.1, at least according to French Centre Thomas Castaignede in the Guardian. “They have the perfect mix.” With England No.2 the Aussies…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
This is Your Life: Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu is lost for words when Michael Aspel accosts him at rugby training in England with the red “This is your Life” book, before taking him to the BBC studios. A long list of rugby…
Exporting Ex-All Blacks
Josh Kronfeld and Craig Dowd are expected to make a big impact in British rugby.
This Glorious Tradition
Respect: The Sydney Morning Herald offers solace to the demanding expectations of AB fans and puts a recently balanced ledger in the context of the history and aura of the All Black tradition: “Now you know…
The Lion Doesn’t Sleep Tonight
‘If you must know, I woke up at two o’clock. My mind was racing. I tried to read for a bit, dropped off and woke again at four thirty. Mind racing again.” Lions coach kiwi Graham…
Times Past
It was fourteen years ago today that Captain Kirk got the boys to play, winning the inaugural Rugby World Cup at Eden Park.
Tough Fight
New Zealand Maori “arguably the most committed and technically sound rugby race on the planet” threaten world champions Australia on their home turf. Also, NZ Maori match a focus for Sydney’s Maori community.
Founder Found
The lost grave of Denis Hoben, founder of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, uncovered in Sydney.
Pinetree Speaks
Colin Meads on touch judges: “Boy do they give you a gut ache. Last year when there was a bit of a fight in a test match a touch judge ran on the field to break it…
Bachelor of the Game
Training? How about a degree in rugby (Certificate in High Performance Athlete Management) from Massey University and the New Zealand Rugby Academy.
Not Thick-skinned Enough
Rugby players who feel invincible because of protective clothing are more likely to be injured than their non-padded co-players says Otago study.
Strange Happenings in Rugby
“Somewhere in the depths of the very European Six Nations Championship, two New Zealanders have been having some pretty bizarre experiences.”
Doubtful Honour
Big Norm Hewitt’s in-yer-face rendition of the All Black haka and English hooker Richard ‘Cocky’ Cockerill’s gracious eyeball-to-eyeball acceptance makes the Guardian’s list of the “top-ten sporting feuds”.
Never a Softie
Colin Meads played 55 games for New Zealand, with “not a soft match in his entire 14 years at the pit face. No wonder the legend lives on”.
First in Sevens
The sevens boys had the Hong Kong final all wrapped up, taking them to the top spot in overall series standings.
Pinetree Growl
“Colin Meads, the grim, great New Zealand lock, was once asked why British and Irish forwards were inferior to those produced by the southern hemisphere – especially the forbidding, beetle-browed men produced by New Zealand. “Too many…
World’s Greatest Sports Brand?
Brandchannel reviews “one of the most distinctive international brands in the history of sport.” “The All Blacks are a team not a brand” insist the NZRFU. “The team’s values are absolutely about winning, whereas the brand’s values…
Down Right Funny
“I’m sure New Zealand has its own sense of humour. I know so, because I once wrote a preview of the rugby world cup for a satirical magazine here, a piece which represented what I hoped…
Kingsley Link
Phil Kingsley-Jones manages Jonah – his son, Kingsley Jones, has been likened to All Black Josh Kronfeld.
Awards of Merit
Controversial clergyman and academic Lloyd Geering carried off the highest honour in the New Years’ list, Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Colin “Pinetree” Meads, All Black 1957-71 and all-time greatest AB, is one…
White Flight = All Black
British journalists fear reverse colonisation as staunch Polynesian men flex their muscles on the rugby field.
Tumeke Te Nana
Karl Te Nana picked up Man of the Tournament and R10 000 after New Zealand’s winning sevens effort in Durban.
Rugger Scrum
Recent south-north tests have created a scrum among sport journalist, players and coaches over playing style and rule reform SMH likes the running game, French coach describes losses as “no-brainers“, Welsh coach Kiwi Graham Henry has…
Gulf Rugby Shock
The Arabian Gulf 7s team are rather daunted by the thought of meeting New Zealand at the World 7s Series. “When I heard the draw I was lost for words,” said Arabian coach Darryl Weir. …
Goldie Rides Again
The prodigiously talented Jeff Wilson – in this age of professionalism, perhaps the last person to be an AB and a Black Cap – has returned to rugby after a year’s refresher. “I’m sure he will…
Well-ing-ton!
Wellington took out the NPC, beating a Canterbury side that fielded 12 AB’s in the starting line up. International stars did their bit for the Lions, with Lomu scoring twice and Cullen setting up for Inoki…
Cullen a Keeper
Christian Cullen has resisted overseas contracts to concentrate on winning the World Cup for New Zealand in 2003 (which will be held in Australia and New Zealand). “The World Cup is the only thing I haven’t won…
Jonah Joins the Kids
Eighty school children from around the world joined in the “Forever Sports Challenge” during the Olympics. Some major sporting metal flew in to assist with the challenge, including Jonah Lomu as specialist warm-up coach.
Rugby: Brits Gush About All Blacks
“To watch the sheer brilliance of New Zealand’s opening passage of play against the Wallabies, and then to have that followed by the marvellous fightback which took Australia to level pegging—and for that quality to be sustained…
As Good as It Gets? Back in Black!
“The jagged edge is back to New Zealand’s game, the legal violence of execution beneath the blades of the All Black harvester,” writes the Sydney Morning Herald. We couldn’t have said it better. Shell-shocked Aussie captain John…
“The Greatest Game Ever Played? This One’s the Winner”
A world record crowd at Stadium Australia witnessed what was acclaimed as one of the great test matches. A waltzing Jonah scored the winning try in injury time in a miraculous end to a thrilling match,…
“Absence of Cutting Edge” Proves Scots Undoing
The All Blacks proved the theory and continued with breathtaking conviction to erase uncomfortable memories when they trounced Scotland 48-14. As Andy Nicol, the Scotland captain remarked later, “that is as ruthless a team as I…
Graham Henry First Non-British Coach of the Lions
Call it post-colonial, call it usurping, but New Zealander Graham Henry will be charged with giving the British Lions Rugby-Union team a new roar for their tour of Australia next year. Citing his will to win…
Dallas Cowboys in the Super 12?
Rugby, the sport of choice in countries like New Zealand and Australia is gaining a strong foothold in the States, and particularly in Dallas, Patricia Lowell finds out why. “Rugby may have a reputation for being…
All Black’s Blunt Edge in 95 World Cup Final Attributed to Poisoning
A former major in the South African Police has backed up claims that the All Black team was poisoned on the eve of the 1995 World Cup final, “I only have the evidence of my eyes but…
New Zealand No.8 Legend Farewelled
He changed the rugby ball in the same crazy way that Kiwi farmers altered fencing wire. “The career of Zinzan Brooke, a singular player in a uniform age, ended at Twickenham yesterday amid a sea of points…
Jonah the Barbarian: Tackled by Media Frenzy
“Images of him snarling, smiling and sneering as he tore through defenses like a crazy cartoon character were the most memorable of the tournament and his performance has gone down as one of the the most almighty…
They Shoot Horses Don’t They? Crusaders Put Down the Brumbies
The Canterbury Crusaders beat the ACT Brumbies 20-19 to win the Super 12 rugby union series for the third year running. New Zealand teams have now won all five editions of the Super 12…
Superstar Jonah Shows that He’s got Grass-roots
Rugby superstar Jonah Lomu, shows he still knows what the game’s all about in the professional era, and will play for a local club in the Wellington second division club rugby competition.
Jonah and a Large Fish: a Biblical Sports Story?
Rugby Superstar Jonah Lomu joins Anna Kournikova and David Beckham to star in Adidas global advertising campaign. The ad was shot in New Zealand.
Kiwi Powerhouses Overwhelm Aussies to Seal Women’s Rugby Title
New Zealand, strengthened by a full national side for the first time, thrashed fellow antipodeans 36-10 to win the Hong Kong Women’s Sevens for the second year running yesterday.
Kiwis Claim Hong Kong
New Zealand enhanced their reputation as stars of the sevens game with a crushing victory over the defending champions Fiji in the final of the Hong Kong Sevens.
