Indholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2021 i NZ Rugby World

A new date but the same remit for organisers of Rugby World Cup 2022. Postponed from September this year, the tournament, to be held in Auckland and Whangarei, will now be staged from Saturday, October 8th 2022 to Saturday November 12th; a time frame tournament director Michelle Hooper believes will allow them to “supercharge the women’s game globally”; the basis of New Zealand Rugby’s original ambition in hosting the tournament. After the decision was taken in March to postpone this year, Hooper is relieved to have a plan and believes the new date brings with it a handful of exciting spinoffs. “The extra time means we can make a better tournament, it’s not just cut and paste from this year to next year, it’s what improvements can be made and…

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‘YOU REALLY TAKE YOUR PLAY TO ANOTHER LEVEL WHEN YOU PULL ON THAT GREEN JERSEY … IT GIVES YOU A POWERFUL FEELING AND I MISS IT’. When it comes to commonplace off-field observations, Faf de Klerk is famous for a couple of things. The obvious one is his flowing blond hair, while stripping down to a Speedo in the colours of the South African flag after the World Cup final added to his rugby poster-boy status. Off the field, De Klerk is also famously down to earth. There is no pretension or posturing when chatting to the World Cup-winning halfback, who is one of the most well-paid and highly-regarded players in world rugby. After all, such status in the game is a far cry from his early days on the…

Jono Willis used to be a senior first five with the Dunedin club in his uni days, but now he calls the front row home in Auckland’s under 85kg grade. He’s packing down at hooker despite being the same weight he was when he pulled in the No10 jersey. The 34-year-old Auckland lawyer lines up every weekend for the College Rifles Raiders, and says the pace of the game is what attracted him to commit most of his career to the weight restricted grade. “It’s a bit harder, it’s a bit soft in that open-weight stuff,” he says, cheekily, after a two-hour long training at the Remuera-based club. He showed up a decade ago and quickly decided that a positional switch was on the cards. “I jumped straight into the…

The front office of Moana Pasifika is the back room in Kevin Senio’s Auckland home. Sometimes it is the Sandringham Road cafe three doors away where coffees go on his tab and the staff greet him with “hey, back again, that was quick”. As we settle over a coffee he is wearing a Moana Pasifika polo shirt that’s left over from last year’s match against the Māori All Blacks. Senio is Moana Pasifika’s only paid employee (he is the Director of Rugby) and he is, for now, on secondment from his job as a players services manager at the New Zealand Rugby Players Association. He hopes, of course, that it becomes a full time gig but that depends on Moana Pasifika securing a licence to play in an expanded Super…

1 TOKA NATUA 2 FIAO’O 2 FA’AMAUSILI 3 TRACY WATERS 4 ELOISE BLACKWELL 5 MONALISA CODLING 6 MELISSA RUSCOE. 7 LINDA ITUNU 8 ROCHELLE MARTIN 9 MONIQUE HIROVANAA. 10 ANNA RICHARDS 11 PORTIA WOODMAN 12 KELLY BRAZIER 13 HURIANA MANUEL 14 VANESSA COOTES. 15 CARLA HOHEPA…

WITHIN minutes of stepping into the victorious East Coast dressing room after the 1999 Third Division final it was obvious that this was a provincial team like no other. Thirty minutes earlier and East Coast had made history; claiming their first piece of NPC silverware after beating neighbours and arch-rivals Poverty Bay 18-15 in nail-biting fashion at Whakarua Park. While the focus of most Kiwi rugby fans was on the following day’s Rugby World Cup quarter final between the All Blacks and Scotland at Murrayfield, 5000 people packed into the humble heartland venue for the biggest match in East Coast’s history. ‘THE ‘THIRD HALF’ OF ANY CLASH ON THE COAST IS CARRIED OUT IN THE KITCHEN.’ A first time visitor to the region, I had headed down to do a…

Alun Wyn Jones launches himself into the air. The Principality Stadium clock has ticked beyond 80 minutes and the match is won. A late try wouldn’t even give England a losing bonus point, such is Wales’ advantage at 40-24. Yet still there is that determination, that focus, from Jones to win the restart, to secure possession so that his side can close out the victory on their terms. He rises higher than Maro Itoje and gets both hands on the ball. Game over. It’s a moment from the Six Nations that epitomises Jones, as are his three tackles in 30 seconds in the 78th minute of the crazy Test in Paris that ultimately ended hopes of another Grand Slam. Relentless, consistent, driven… These are all words that have been used…

‘STRAIGHT BACK, EYES FORWARD, NEXT TO MY DAD, THE ADVENTURE THROUGH ALL BLACKS EXPERIENCE WAS SURREAL.’ The first thing you see when you walk into the All Blacks Experience is a captivating mural that shows New Zealand rugby as a scrum with wild animals. It’s an indication of what’s to come. A room created to hold an important All Blacks pounamu shows the strong connection between the team and Māori culture. A tribute that caught my eye was the use of koru figures on the wall. James Allen, the first All Black (alphabetical order applies) started a long list of names carved across the black walls that shadow the entire tour, all 1192 players. New Zealand rugby test matches are represented by coloured studs on the wall, dating back to…

A new wave of professional rugby players is on the rise. A strong collective force of young Pasifika players knowing their own worth, taking control of their own story and not being afraid to have their voices heard. And as he’s shown throughout his career, both on and off the field, Ardie Suemalo Savea is leading the way. The All Black loose forward is in a mature stage of his career, where he feels comfortable to speak on matters that may not have been seen as ‘the norm’ for rugby players in earlier times. And he believes there is going to be a shift in other players speaking up. “I think there's going to be a new wave,” says the 27-year-old, who has captained teams from First XV at Rongotai…

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was early April 2006. An unknown number appeared on my mobile. I usually never answer but for some reason I did. “Hello is that Bailey?” The voice sounded familiar, very familiar. I respond, yes, yes it is. “Graham Henry here.” I froze. Like most New Zealand males getting a call from the All Blacks coach is beyond comprehension. I had dreamt about this day my whole life. Finally selected in the All Blacks was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream! This was also set against the fact I had a serious lack of talent or that I wasn’t even playing club rugby at the time! “I was given your number by (my old schoolmate and All Black at the time) Rico Gear…

After the Lions had pummelled the Springboks in the first Test at Newlands in 1974, Dr Danie Craven, the high-handed patriarch of South African rugby, could barely contain his temper. His anger bubbled over at the post-match function when he presented the six debutants with their Springbok blazers. ‘It hurts me to be giving you these because you have not earned them,’ he said with barely disguised fury. ‘I have to present a cap and a blazer to [Bok wing] Chris Pope, who created a record by becoming the first Springbok ever to play for his country without touching the ball.’ Craven wasn’t done. Peter Whipp, the centre, was his next victim: ‘At least he did better than Pope. He touched the ball once.’ Next came big lock forward Kevin…

You won’t find a signpost directing you to All Blacks legend Grant Batty when you reach the one-pub village of Wallabadah amid the prime cattle and grain properties of northern NSW. The bloke who runs the general store played a bit of rugby in his day so he’s your best bet to point you towards the acreage on the creek just out of town. It just so happens his son is best mates with the son of 1970s Wairarapa Bush halfback Laurie Karatau. Rugby’s six degrees of separation is still a better GPS than any phone navigation when you want to locate something. The grateful faithful 15km down the road at Quirindi Lions Rugby Club might happily pass on Batty’s phone number too after the locals were coached by rugby…

“I was born in Te Awamutu…” When Tim Finn sang that line for Split Enz, not only did I love it because so was I, but it also gave my hometown a much needed boost. It was always in the shadow of leafier, fancier Cambridge. Yes “TA” had a better cinema, a bigger dairy factory, more cars on lawns, and an actual train station (which has since been wiped from the face of the Earth), but it was also deemed perfect for a nearby prison and psychiatric hospital. Still, life in Te Awamutu was idyllic in a Middle America kind of way. Neighbours had swimming pools, kids could roam free, it had active sports clubs. Wrestling was big. Now it’s BMX and cycling. And even though I was a soccer and…