Bismarck du Plessis
A New Zealand Herald and DigiPoll survey has revealed that precisely 70.4 percent of Kiwis believe that the All Blacks will win the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2011.
Once again New Zealand have been the all-conquering, supremely dominant force in world rugby yet even a Tri-Nations clean sweep and a European grand slam are viewed as a mere warm-up for the ultimate validation in 2011.
All Blacks lock Ali Williams has been familiarising himself with his new temporary home in England, the Nottingham Rugby Club.
According to the allblacks.com website, Williams, who is recovering from a second Achilles tendon rupture, is to play up to four games for the side as he attempts his recovery ahead of the Super 15 season in New Zealand.
Richie McCaw looks unlikely to join the expected exodus of top New Zealand players to cash-flush European clubs after next year’s World Cup on home soil.
Speaking to the Sunday Star Times, McCaw revealed that he is in talks with the New Zealand Rugby Union about extending his contract beyond 2011.
Mils Muliaina and other All Blacks are sought-after commodities as they come off contract after the 2011 World Cup.
Muliaina, who will be 31 when the World Cup ends and a veteran open to a better pension, has had numerous offers from European clubs and is in the good position of being selective and likely to be well recompensed.
New Zealand boss Jock Hobbs’ battle with cancer has taken a turn for the worse and he has stepped away from rugby to start a new, more aggressive, course of treatment.
It was announced on Friday that Hobbs has stepped down as chairman of both the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) to focus on his health.
After the All Blacks’ astounding successes in 2010 which has left them well and truly perched on the top of the world, their coach Graham Henry fears burn-out as they prepare for the 2011 World Cup.
Henry told the media: “Our biggest challenge is that they’ve got to be reasonably sharp mentally coming into the World Cup and the Tri-Nations prior.
Much has been made lately of the ‘style’ of rugby different nations play. It is a topic I always found interesting because this moves away from the general rugby analysis we are used to and touches on the very thing that makes us uniquely South African. Continue reading
Argentina face the daunting task of joining the top three rugby union teams in the world, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in an expanded Tri-Nations from 2012.
All Blacks and Crusaders captain Richie McCaw has been named the International Rugby Board Player of the Year for the third time.
The 29-year-old flanker is the first player to receive the prestigious accolade three times, as well as in consecutive years, cementing his position as one of the greats of the Game.
The accolade completes a hat-trick of IRB Awards for New Zealand announced , with the All Blacks named IRB Team of the Year 2010 and Graham Henry unveiled as IRB Coach of the Year for a record fourth time.
Graham Henry believes that new laws and a faster paced game mean that players would be better served by having two referees in control.
Wales (9) 25 / All Blacks (13) 37 (Final Score)
Walas hosted the All Blacks at the Millennium Stadium at 19:15 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
The All Blacks scored 5 tries before conceding a lone Wales try when the clock was already past 80 min.
The All blacks achieve their Grand Slam AGAIN, beating Wales by 37 / 25
They didn’t quite collide with his hairline, although Richie McCaw’s scarred eyebrows still twitched when told his old mentor Robbie Deans had accused the All Blacks’ scrum of “trickery” and manipulation of the referees this week.
Three down, one to go, but Wales are looking more like a damp squib than a tour finale as the All Blacks head down the home stretch.
Toby Robson
Ireland (13) 18 / All Blacks (19) 38 (Final Score)
Ireland hosted the All Blacks at Landsdowne Road, Dublin at 19:30 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
The Irish came with a dogged and determined approach and initially traded penalties with the All Blacks, but the black machine changed a couple of gears late in the first half, scored a try and in the first part of the second half really punished the Irish.
Ireland was not done yet and threw everything at the All Blacks.
Final score was All Blacks 38 / 18, with Dan Carter only missing the last conversion when time was already up.
For this time of year there is a lot of rugby to be seen on TV in SA This weekend.
Scotland (3) 3/ All Blacks (28) 49 (Full Time)
Scotland hosts the All Blacks from New Zealand at Murrayfiled, Edinburgh at 19:15 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match is broadcast live on SuperSport 2 & CSN on TV in SA.
New Zealand hooker Keven Mealamu has had his ban for headbutting England captain Lewis Moody reduced from four weeks to two weeks, following an appeal hearing on Friday.
The All Blacks can be hypocrites at times and the outrageous claims of injustice around the Keven Mealamu Twickenham headbutt are a further example of that.
Mark Hinton – Stuff
All Black Hooker, Keven Mealamu, has been cited for a headbutt on an England player and could be ruled out of the rest of New Zealand’s end of year tour.
England (3) 16 / All Blacks (17) 26 (Final score)
England hosted the All Blacks at Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time on Saturday 6 November 2010. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The Match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
In a hard match, and not all going the All Black way, they toughed out a win with England giving it their all in the last 10 minutes and the All Blacks under immense pressure.
The All Blacks scored 2 tries against 1.
Final score All Blacks 26 / 16.
England host the All Blacks at Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time on Saturday 6 November 2010.
We look at how this match will unfold.
Early action Today. ITM Cup final from New Zealand at 08:20 – 10:45.
ITM Cup: Final – Canterbury v Waikato shown on Supersport 6 on DSTV in SA.
The All Blacks have named rugby league convert Sonny Bill Williams to make his Test debut against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Williams was one of four changes from the side beaten by Australia in Hong Kong last weekend, and will form a physically imposing partnership with Ma No’nu at centre.
All Blacks (17) 24 / Wallabies (12) 26 (Final Score)
The All Blacks and Wallabies went toe to toe in Hong Kong in their last Bledisloe Cup game of the year at 10:40 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 6 and SSHD on DSTV in SA.
The Wallabies snatched a win after the hooter with a James O’Connor try and pressure conversion, what a game!
The Wallabies will hope that the change in scenery will bring about a similar change of fortune and see them avoid a whitewash in the fourth and final Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks in Hong Kong on Saturday.
10:25 – 12:40 Supersport 6 Bledisloe Cup New Zealand v Australia
Injuries and form fluctuations have ensured Graham Henry has named the same All Blacks starting XV for Saturday night’s test against the Wallabies as the one which walloped the Aussies 49-28 in Melbourne on July 31.
THE Wallabies’ running might be back to its best before this week’s All Blacks Test, but skipper Rocky Elsom says spring tour success will hinge on the set-piece.
Popping a sleeping tablet was not the only reason Graham Henry grabbed some decent shut-eye during the 9144km flight between Auckland and Hong Kong yesterday.
Sonny Bill Williams is the only new All Black, while there are recalls for Hika Elliot, Hosea Gear, Andy Ellis, Isaia Toeava, Daniel Braid and Stephen Donald in Graham Henry’s 30-man end-of-year touring squad named tonight.
All Black Team
10 July 1976 – SA Invitation XV 24 / All Blacks 31
Newlands, Cape Town. Weather, fine, dry, cool in the shade. Crowd 35 000.
The referee: Steve Strydom (Orange Free State).
The SA invitation XV side was assembled or finalized just two days before the match and was a blend of formidable players eight of which would later become Springboks. Continue reading
30 June 1976 – Border &North-Eastern Cape 0 / All Blacks 24
The match was played in perfect weather conditions at the Buller Rugby Union Ground in East Londen and attended by a crowd of 10 000 people. Continue reading
Glory be to the All Blacks, hallowed be their name, who with a year to go to a Rugby World Cup tournament are once again considered to be the best team on the planet.
It’s familiar territory for the All Blacks being all-conquering in the years between the World Cups only to come a cropper when they tournament takes place.
The All Blacks coaches are to increase their involvement in New Zealand’s five Super Rugby franchises next season, helping them with strategy and also player management in the crucial World Cup year.
It looks like Joe Rokocoko has sewn up one of the wing spots for next year’s Rugby World Cup, with the Aucklander on Friday committing to stay in New Zealand until the end of next year.