16 years of All Blacks Tri-Nations history

FAREWELL Tri-Nations , Hello Rugby Championship We take a look at the Tri-Nations' most successful team, New Zealand, which has won ten of the 16 championships on offer, ahead of the maiden season of The Investec Rugby Championship. It has been a remarkable period for the All Blacks since 1996, winning more

Wallabies name team to face All Blacks

14/08/2012 A second Test starting role for Dave Dennis, a move from the side to the back of the scrum for Scott Higginbotham and a return to a starting midfield position for Anthony Fainga’a, represent the only changes to the Qantas Wallabies starting side for this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup opener in

Currie Cup still has a kick

12-08-2012 Cape Town - The Currie Cup is like the boxer who takes a terrible pounding but, fuelled by astonishing levels of pride, simply refuses to crash to the canvas. Why, we may have seen just enough quality in the first round of the compressed, increasingly marginalised 2012 competition to suggest that

All Blacks two from two in training games

The All Blacks got two wins from two games at ECOLight stadium tonight, beating Counties Manukau 12-0 and following this up with a 14-5 victory over Auckland. In an unusual, but highly successful night, the All Blacks players got just the hit out they needed before the Rugby Championships, while the

New Magpies Coach Craig Philpott has named his 32 man squad

With a mix of some exciting young local talent interspersed with a large group of experienced Magpies, this is a very balanced and competitive squad. The squad features the inclusion of 13 players who have experienced Super rugby including Hika Elliot, Ben Tameifuna, Andrew Horrell and Tino Nemani who were all

Aussies defend ‘weak’ Cooper

Aug 10, 2012 Quade Cooper's fellow Wallabies have leapt to his defence after former All Blacks coach Graham Henry called him the team's "glaring weakness" at last year's World Cup. In his recently released biography The Final Word, Henry said: "Quade Cooper was plainly the weakest link. Coach Robbie Deans had taken

SANZAR REVEALS THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

August 9, 2012 The Rugby Championship will be one of the world’s premier international rugby competitions and the new trophy that will represent the ultimate symbol of Southern Hemisphere supremacy has been revealed by SANZAR. The exciting new evolution of the Tri-Nations kicks off on 18 August with the Rugby Championship featuring three

Wellington fend Manawatu in ITM Preseason

08/08/2012 Wellington have survived a spirited Manawatu challenge to run away with a 38-24 win in their ITM Cup preseason match at the Hutt Recreation Ground today. Both sides would have taken plenty from an entertaining match that saw ten tries scored despite slippery conditions. Wellington No 8 Genesis Mamea put his hand

Otago gets new look for ITM Cup

Wed, 8 Aug 201 Otago backs Buxton Popoali'i (left) and Glenn Dickson show off the new Otago playing strip. Photo by Peter McIntosh. Otago will be sporting new threads this season.The Otago side has been provided with a new strip by union apparel supplier Canterbury and it has a slightly different look

Pocock, Hooper, Gill in Wallabies squad

August 7, 2012 Having gone from a famine to a feast of openside flankers, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is giving thought to including two of them in his matchday 22 in the upcoming Rugby Championship. Acting captain David Pocock was joined in the 30-man Wallabies squad for the competition named on Tuesday