Indholdsfortegnelse for August - September 2018 i NZ Rugby World

IT’S HARD NOT TO SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD when it comes to Super Rugby. Hard because the competition has been in trouble for the better part of the last decade and the problems that appear evident to everyone else, don’t yet seem to have registered with the people charged with running the competition. This year’s playoffs made for slightly depressing viewing. Not the games – they were good entertainment especially the quarter-final in Sydney which went down to the wire. The depressing part was the thousands of empty seats everywhere. There was one whole empty stand in Christchurch when the Crusaders played the Sharks. There were plenty of unoccupied yellow seats in Wellington and there were certain camera angles that made it look like there was actually no one…

PLAYER OF THE SERIES SCOTT BARRETT There were three Barrett brothers involved in the series and not many people would have picked that middle brother Scott would be the family’s star performer. But he was and not only that, Scott was also the best All Black of the series. He never quite managed to nail his work last year, but a decision to think about things less in 2018 has paid off. By the third test he was making huge tackles, covering the ground with ball in hand, making deft passes and seemingly all over the field. “Probably his best game in the jersey, I think,” All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said of Barrett’s third test performance. “He has been working hard on not trying to over-think things and just…

BLUES SEND FOR COVENTRY DISASTER WAS THE THEME OF THE BLUES 2018 CAMPAIGN, BUT THEY HAVE AT LEAST MANAGED TO PROVIDE A TOUCH OF OPTIMISM ABOUT HOW THINGS MIGHT PLAY OUT IN 2019. Not only have they managed to capture the imaginative and e_ ective attacking brain of Leon MacDonald, they have also persuaded the hardnosed, hugely driven Tom Coventry to join the coaching team with a view to drilling the pack. Coventry, as one current All Black suggested, is a “game-changer” for the Blues. The former Hawke’s Bay coach came to national prominence in 2012 when he played a major role in transforming the Chiefs alongside Dave Rennie, Wayne Smith and Andrew Strawbridge. Coventry was instrumental in turning the pack into a ruthless, well organised highly capable unit both…

WE NEED TO TALK. About referees. Being a rugby ref is not the easiest of jobs. Try working from a law book that makes A Brief History of Time seem like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, every tweak opening a fresh can of worms. You get barked at by players, hounded by coaches, abused by fans and subjected to forensic examination by the TV coverage. If you’re reffing a school or club match, you might even get belted, or at least get your hand crushed by a coach pretending to thank you for the game. We keep hearing we can’t have a game without them, and yet every year we make life more difficult for them. Fair to say they’re not always blameless. I can think of a couple, long retired,…

There’s a good chance Ben Smith is going to make two significant marks in history. The first, and it is almost guaranteed, is that he will become the oldest outside back ever to play for the All Blacks. He turned 32 a week before the first test against France in June, which is positively ancient in New Zealand where so many outside backs have failed to hold their test place beyond their mid-20s. It’s rare indeed for any outside back to have hit their 30s and still be in the All Blacks frame. The second big landmark, and this is only a maybe and even then that might be overly optimistic, is that Smith could become the All Blacks highest try scorer in history. It is a long shot. Coming…

2003 – The Young Colt Emerges One of the things many people forget or never knew about Jerome Kaino is that he began life as a fullback. He was wearing No 15 for Papakura High School when he was noticed by St Kentigern College. The South Auckland private school offered him a rugby scholarship and switched him to the blindside where he made an immediate impact. By 2003 he was on the national radar and won a place in the New Zealand Colts side. He was in the same team again in 2004 and it was here that he was noticed by the All Blacks selectors as he was named New Zealand’s best junior player of the year. 2004 – A Star is Born Kaino, despite dominating age-grade rugby and…

THE MOST FASCINATING STORY in the world of Northern Hemisphere rugby is not the injury-induced retirement of Sam Warburton or England’s continuing travails under Eddie Jones. Those are, of course, hugely momentous and interesting developments in the world of British rugby, but the tale that has people in this neck of the world chatting in dark corners concerns a Kiwi who has gone so quiet that you could be forgiven for wondering whether he’s gone off-grid. In short, what the hell has happened to Dave Rennie? When the big man headed northwards and landed in Glasgow, the gameplan seemed a fairly simple one. Fresh from the remarkable achievement of guiding the free-running Chiefs to the Super Rugby title, he had signed a two-year deal to succeed Gregor Townsend at Glasgow…

1 KARL TU’INUKUAFE New Zealand 2018 Even All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said he hadn’t heard of Karl Tuinukuafe when the big prop was called up by the Chiefs in February. And four months later Hansen was picking Tu’inukuafe in his All Blacks match day squad to play France. 2 SCHALK BRITZ South Africa 2018 The veteran hooker retired from test football after the 2015 World Cup but carried on playing with Saracens. He was going to retire from all rugby in 2017 but the English club persuaded him to stay for one more year. Which he did and then, unbelievably, at the end of that the Boks asked him if he would be willing to come out of retirement and help them against England in June. He said yes…

▪ One of the great rumours of the modern age broke out with speculation rife that Ma’a Nonu is heading back to Super Rugby. ▪ The rumour mill couldn’t quite make up its mind whether Nonu would be heading to the Chiefs or Blues…but who cares…it was all a big hoot thinking about either possibility. ▪ Come on, Nonu back at the Blues? ▪ How incredibly weird yet compelling that would be. ▪ Quick reminder in case anyone doesn’t know – Nonu came to the Blues in 2012 when he was fired by the Hurricanes and no one else wanted him. ▪ The Blues even let him take a sabbatical in Japan before he joined them. ▪ They couldn’t have been any nicer to him and so he repaid by…

AT LAST THE BLEDISLOE. That’s not been a frequent rugby thought in recent seasons but there’s a feeling there may be a little more bite than normal about this year’s trans-Tasman contests. Let’s hope that’s the case because the All Blacks’ hold on the famous trophy has stretched to 15 years and too often the outcome has been apparent before the series kicked off. In several series the Wallabies have been either desperately unlucky or the All Blacks blessed but the overall record is overwhelmingly in the All Blacks favour since they regained the silverware in 2003. That superiority stands at 33 wins for the men in black, six for the Wallabies and two stalemates - a results chart which delivers the verdict that Australia has struggled consistently to make…

1: The All Blacks haven’t lost a Rugby Championship game since July 2015. 2: They have played 33 Rugby Championship games and won 30, lost two and drawn one. 3: Kieran Read has not yet lost a Rugby Championship game as skipper of the side. 4: The All Blacks have won more bonus points than Argentina have won total competition points. 5: The All Blacks have not lost a Rugby Championship game in New Zealand. 6: In both 2016 and 2017 the All Blacks had been crowned champions before they played their fourth game. 7: In 2016 the All Blacks secured a perfect 30 points – the absolute maximum available meaning they picked up a bonus point in every game. 8: In 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017 they won all…

They have played 41 tests at Eden Park since they last lost to France on July 3, 1994 and have won 39 and drawn two. It is the most astonishing record and one worthy of further examination ahead of the All Blacks playing the Wallabies there this month. Should the All Blacks win, it will ensure their record extends to 25 years and no other nation has ever enjoyed such a prolonged undefeated run at one particular venue. Eden Park by THE NUMBERS 86.3 The percentage of tests the All Blacks have won at Eden Park since they first played there in 1921. 11 The previous record for consecutive wins by the All Blacks at Eden Park which came between 1986 and 1994. 41 The number of consecutive tests in…

WHAT A GREAT JUNE SERIES. Watching the All Blacks develop new leaders, new talent, new options, new tactics and then watching them fail fast, learn fast and fix fast. Watching Joe Schmidt become a real contender to replace Steve Hansen post World Cup – while at the same time watching Ian Foster step up on the media side to solidify his credentials – and watching Wayne Pivac compete against Dave Rennie and Scott Robertson, and win the Welsh gig post Gatland in 2019. All brilliant news for All Blacks rugby. Having a strong complement of successful coaches to pick from is our biggest single competitive advantage. I also loved watching Rassie Erasmus inspire the Springboks to build on their sevens successes, and add speed, flexibility and creativity to the traditional…