Indholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2022 i NZ Rugby World

Marcus Kennedy would love to meet the young fella who took the mickey out of him when he said his career goal was to work for Sky Sport. Roped in to speak at a careers expo while he was studying journalism, Kennedy, barely 18 at the time, was asked where he wanted his career to go. “I said I wanted to work for Sky and this kid said, ‘well that ain’t going to happen’. To be fair, I probably agreed with him.” They were both wrong. Kennedy has been at Sky for 18 years, steadily working his way up the ranks to now be the executive producer of live sport. His finger print is on all the live sport we see on the telly, especially in rugby, which is his…

NZ RUGBY WORLD CAUGHT UP WITH A FEW ALL BLACKS TO FIND OUT THEIR EXPERIENCES ABOUT NURA, THE OFFICAL HEADPHONE OF THE ALL BLACKS. NURA OFFER REVOLUTIONARY PERSONALIZED SOUND SO WE WANTED TO ASK A FEW OF THE GUYS ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH NURA AND FIND OUT WHO HAS THE BEST PLAYLIST ON THE TEAM. CHECK OUT WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY. RICHIE MO’UNGA Q: WHAT SONG DID YOU FIRST PICK TO TEST OUT YOUR NURA HEADPHONES? A: “The first song I picked was ‘Sicko Mode’, due to the fact that I wanted to test a range of the bass, the treble in the headphones. I knew it was a song that had a bit of everything so I thought - that will give me some good feedback on the…

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Home will be the easiest part of the bold leap into the unknown for rookie head coach Mick Byrne and his Fijian Drua. The Drua will be the nomads of Super Rugby Pacific. They will not play a game within 2000km of the tropical sun or fanatical crowd in Suva to spur them on. That makes the warmth of their small-town base in Australia at the surfers’ mecca of Lennox Head all the more important for the next seven months. For “Mick the Kick”, as Byrne’s often been tagged, this is the most searching examination of his coaching career in rugby after high profile stints with two World Cup-winning All Blacks sides and the Wallabies. As a respected skills coach for both outfits, the wins and losses were always beside…

There was 15 minutes to go. The All Blacks' one point lead in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final is under real threat as French replacement Francios Trinh-Duc attempts a 48-metre penalty kick. From our seats at the back of Eden Park’s Upper West Stand my eleven-year-old son Ben and I are in perfect position to judge its accuracy. If only we’d had the courage to watch it. Having worked at three previous World Cups including the gut-wrenching semi-final loss to France at Twickenham in 1999 and the disastrous quarter-final loss, again to the French, at Cardiff in 2007, here we were again. In prayerful silence, we sat, The Father, The Son and the Rugby Ghost. Trinh-Duc missed, but the relief was short-lived. Those final, excruciating minutes were in stark…

By most other country’s standards the All Blacks have had a good year They played 15 tests and won 12 of those. That’s an 86% win rate for the year. During it they smashed Six Nations champions Wales 54-16, beat Australia in three consecutive tests to retain the Bledisloe Cup, and won the Rugby Championship beating Argentina twice and sharing the spoils with World Champions South Africa. They did most of that on the road with the All Blacks playing 10 tests outside New Zealand from September 12 through to November 21. Along the way we witnessed the rise of Dalton Papali’i and Ethan Blackadder as test-standard loose forwards, the return from injury of Sam Cane and Dane Coles, and the emergence of the attacking class of Will Jordan and…

It took a while but they’ve got there. Some 30 years since their first official test the Black Ferns have finally played their 100th, and although the heavy defeat to England was far from the result or performance we’ve come to expect, the milestone gives cause to reflect. The history may be comparatively short, but it is compelling as generations of women fought for the right to play and be recognized. The first official test was against Canada at the 1991 World Cup in Glamorgan, a side captained by Helen Littleworth and featuring the now legendary Anna Richards. However, the year before a precursor to the World Cup was held in Christchurch, featuring New Zealand, The Netherlands, Soviet Union, USA and a World XV as well as a club competition…

Aaron Mauger has a bit to prove. As head coach of a start-up franchise he needs Moana Pasifika to do well in Super Rugby’s revamped Pacific competition, but not just for the sake of the franchise. Mauger needs to succeed as a head coach too after being let go by the Highlanders, having earlier been sacked by England club Leicester. So there is a bit resting on this new gig with Super Rugby’s new boys, not that Mauger is worried. “Moana Pasifika is the only head coaching job I would have taken on at this stage of my life,” he says. “I’ve been involved in rugby all of my adult life and it is demanding. The game has been awesome to me and I owe everything to the game. “It’s…

I arrived at a rugby club in the middle of a cold winter evening, ready to deliver a coaching workshop, where I witnessed a scenario that may explain why rugby numbers are slowly declining across the country. The local Under 11 club team were practicing. They were in two queues, approximately 10 deep, practicing their rucking technique. You know how it goes. The two Dad coaches Daryl and Steve (not their real names - bless their souls for taking up the coaching reigns – no one else would put their hand up) were each holding hit shields. Each kid (weighing about 40kg) at the front of the line then launched themselves 5 meters to ruck Coach Daryl and Coach Steve (each weighing about 100kg) past the ball. Daryl was heard…

In the realm of political science, powerbrokers are those who work away behind the seat of power, exerting influence, organising voting blocs or favours in exchange for financial benefits and even more power. Rugby has reached a crossroads with the realisation that the traditional outlets of power - wealthy white men sitting around a boardroom table (“old farts” as Will Carling might call them) - have limitations in their vision and ability to grasp new ideas. To that end, private equity has started to pour into the game as it seeks to conquer new, digitally focused, worlds. Luxembourg-based giants CVC Capital Partners have made heavy investments in European and South African rugby, American outfit Silver Lake are looking to do the same in Australasia. It is against that backdrop that…

With hands clasped behind his back and a slight lean towards the huddle, Allan Bunting circles the outside of his playing group, resisting the urge to have a say. He trusts his players, trusts that his leaders know what needs to be focused on at halftime. They’ve never given him and co-coach Cory Sweeney any reason to doubt it’s the wrong approach. It became a familiar sight for any observer of the Black Ferns Sevens over the past six years. Bunting and Sweeney, quietly watching and listening as the likes of Sarah Hirini, Tyla Nathan-Wong and Ruby Tui helped guide them to win after win. Having started as a talent scout for the Go For Gold programme when sevens became an Olympic sport, to assistant coach, head coach and co-coach,…

This year’s Steinlager Series was worth more to rugby than the scoreboard. In July we saw the Māori All Blacks, All Blacks, Manu Samoa and Tonga put on a festival of Pasifika rugby. While COVID-19 impacts meant we couldn’t be treated to a full-strength Tongan side, the opportunity for Pasifika players to come up against the All Blacks is incredible for the longterm growth of rugby. The emotion from Tongan captain Sonatane Takulua after the match against the All Blacks showed the challenges faced by our Pasifika teams to play Tier One nations to grow and develop their rugby, but also the passion and just what it means to come to New Zealand and play the best team in the world. Considering they had 13 debutants in their squad, the…

Clarke Dermody didn’t plan on being a coach. In fact, he didn’t even plan on being a professional rugby player. “I was always going to be a rugby player, I just didn’t know it was going to be a career.” But it’s how life has played out for the former prop; opportunistically, accidentally. “The Highlanders and Southland have given me everything really,” he says. “Roger Clark [now Highlanders CEO], when he was boss of Southland, offered me and Jimmy Cowan contracts. It was absolutely nothing financially, but it was ‘gee, how cool’s this?!’ I’d just left school as an 18-year-old and I didn’t even know what a contract was. But it gave us the chance to delve into rugby. And then the Highlanders gave me opportunities as a player, and…

John Sturgeon didn't want it. Having a rugby ground with his name on it didn't sit well with the down to earth former miner. One of the great givers to the national game, Sturgeon said for many years the best recognition he would want to receive were approaches from players he had previously coached or managed as young men still wanting to catch up with him for a cuppa or a chat. And it was only after rugby officials pulled on his provincial heart-strings that the heartland hero agreed that West Coast’s much-loved home of rugby would carry his name. Since 1931 the venue in suburban Greymouth had been called Rugby Park. But in 2018 – three years after the West Coast Rugby Union celebrated its 125th jubilee – it…