Munster to be without Irish stars for All Blacks
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The All Blacks will take on a Munster side without their Irish international stars after the Irish Rugby Union announced that Munster will not field their Irish stars due to the competing matches involving the Ireland team.
Ireland are due to play Argentina several days after the Munster clash and with a host of players likely to come from Munster it would put undue pressure on the Ireland team in the lead-up to a key clash.
The All Blacks will be slightly pleased with the decision as Munster remain the only Irish team to ever beat the All Blacks and while the All Blacks would go in overwhelming favourites Munster are not the Heineken Champions for nothing.
Munster are more than capable of pulling a rabbit out of the hat, but that job is made much with the non-inclusion of their Irish stars. The All Blacks will take on a Munster side with former All Black Doug Howlett who has been in sensational form. No doubt Howlett will be keen to remind the All Blacks just how good he is in the heat of battle.
Auckland Blues sign Ali Williams
Ali Williams has returned to his former stomping ground of Auckland after playing 2008 for the Super 14 championshi winning Canterbury Crusaders.
Williams left Auckland after the 2007 Super 14 competition due to a major fallout with then Auckland coach David Nucifora, now the Australian High Performance coach. Williams had been with the Blues for six seasons at the time.
The departure of Robbie Deans and Dan Carter from the Crusaders may have played some part but as Williams regards Auckland as home he was always likely to return as some stage. Williams will link with new Auckland coach Pat Lam.
Philips walk away from All Blacks Sponsorship
Philips will end their sponsorship deal with the New Zealand All Blacks on 31 January 2009 after 15 years as an All Blacks sponsor. The departure of Philips from the All Blacks sponsorship is a blow to New Zealand Rugby as Philips have been a huge supporter of the All Blacks.
Philips will focus their attention on larger markets such as the emerging developing nations of Brazil, Russia and China.
All Blacks accuse Wallabies of spying
One of the more farcical things to come out of the afterwash from the Tri-Nations final was the claims by Steve Hansen that the Wallabies were spying on the All Blacks training session on Thursday last week.
Hansen claimed that Channel Seven, the local free to air provider of Rugby in Australia were spying on their training session and provided this to the Wallabies. Hansen said we know this because the Wallabies told us. The Wallabies have denied this but Channel Seven were indeed kicked out by All Blacks security for filming as this footage was shown on Channel Seven news.
I think this is typical of Steve Hansen, the guy is paranoid and if the Wallabies did see and use the footage, perhaps they would have won the match. Plus what is so special about training runs and drills. We know all the solid tactics are determined behind closed doors. Just paranoia from the All Blacks.
What do you think, are the All Blacks paranoide or right to protect their training from prying eyes?
All Blacks retain Tri-Nations & Bledisloe Cup: Video Highlights
The All Blacks were too good for the Wallabies 28-24 last night reclaiming the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup. The Wallabies who have not won the Tri-Nations in 7 years has their chances but were unable to seal the victory with the All Blacks surging home and the Wallabies employing inferior tactics when they were leading 17-7.
Watch the match highlights from Fox Sports below.
Tri-Nations: Australia vs New Zealand Preview
Brisbane will stage the final of the Tri-Nations tomorrow in a match that will decide the winner of the 2008 Tri-Nations series between the Wallabies and All Blacks.
Brisbane has been a bit a fortress for the Wallabies but the last team to beat them here was a Richie McCaw inspired All Blacks in 2006 that triumphed 13-9. The match will be a tough uncompromsing encounter with the All Blacks keen to retain their silverware and the Wallabies wanting to claim it.
The Wallabies have been critised heavily after their defeat to the Springboks 53-8 and the critism has stung them, they will not repeat the disaster at Ellis Park. Robbie Deans has worked on the mental issues within the team and will have them primed for the match.
Graham Henry knows all about pressure, he has been under it since before the World Cup loss in 2007. Henry has a team that on their day can blow anyone of the park and they have McCaw. McCaw is the best player in the game and is always virtually unstoppable. If McCaw and Carter the next best player in the game get on a roll then the All Blacks will win.
The Wallabies will need to shape up in the forwards, without a solid platform the Wallabies will be beaten. The battle of the backrow will be perhaps the highlight, the winner will take the Tri-Nations Trophy. THe big battle is Smith vs McCaw. McCaw can’t be stopped but his influence can be reduced.
If the Wallabies run continually at McCaw and get him involved in alot of tackles they have a chance to stop his involvement through fatigue. This has worked against McCaw in the past, it will not stop him but the more tackles he has to make then the less his involvement at the breakdown will be.
The All Blacks will look to dominate the scrum hoping to dent the Wallabies front row. If they dominate early the Wallabies will not have a platform to go forward. The Giteau, Mortlock, Cross combination is another area that will have plenty of runners heading their way. The All Blacks will aim to exploit this new combination and will heavily pressure Giteau’s kick all night.
The Ruck and Maul Verdict: Maybe I am crazy but I reckon the Wallabies will win by 5. George Smith will play the game of his life and will control McCaw as best as possible and Ryan Cross will do all the damage.
Australia
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Peter Hynes, Ryan Cross, Stirling Mortlock, Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau, Sam Cordingley, Wycliff Palu, George Smith, Rocky Elsom, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Al Baxter, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson.
Reserves: Adam Freier, Matt Dunning, Hugh McMeniman, Phil Waugh, Richard Brown, Brett Sheehan, Drew Mitchell.
New Zealand
Mils Muliaina; Richard Kahui, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu; Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan; Rodney So’oialo, Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino; Ali Williams, Brad Thorn; Greg Somerville, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Keven Mealamu, John Afoa/Neemia Tialata, Anthony Boric, Adam Thomson, Piri Weepu, Stephen Donald, Isaia Toeava.
All Blacks 2009 Test Schedule
The New Zealand All Blacks announced their 2009 Test Schedule today. The good news for All Blacks fans is they get to see their team all over the country with 2 matches to be held in Wellington and one each in Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland and Hamilton.
The real winner of the 2009 schedule is Hamilton who missed out on an international this year and will be keen to impress next year.
Sat 13 June - All Blacks v France - Carisbrook, Dunedin 7.35pm
Sat 20 June - All Blacks v France - Westpac Stadium, Wellington 7.35pm
Sat 27 June - All Blacks v Italy - AMI Stadium, Christchurch 7.35pm
Sat 18 July - All Blacks v Australia - Eden Park, Auckland 7.35pm
Sat 12 Sept - All Blacks v South Africa Waikato Stadium, Hamilton 7.35pm
Sat 19 Sept - All Blacks v Australia Westpac Stadium, Wellington 7.35pm
All Blacks unchanged for Brisbane
Graham Henry has predictably named an unchanged side to the team that beat the Wallabies and All Blacks in recent weeks. The All Black stars Richie McCaw, Brad Thorn and Sitiveni Sivivatu have all been ruled fit and are looking forward to taking on the Wallabies in this make or break Tri-Nations clash.
The inclusion of McCaw is a huge boost to the All Blacks, he is a proven winner in his 64 tests and has an amazing 89% success rate, superior to that of Dan Carter on 86%. The impact McCaw has on the game is trememdous and will give the All Blacks a massive boost this weekend.
The New Zealand All Blacks team is;
Mils Muliaina; Richard Kahui, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu; Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan; Rodney So’oialo, Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino; Ali Williams, Brad Thorn; Greg Somerville, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Keven Mealamu, John Afoa/Neemia Tialata, Anthony Boric, Adam Thomson, Piri Weepu, Stephen Donald, Isaia Toeava.
Rugby World Cup 2011 announce venues for finals
The Rugby New Zealand CEO Martin Snedden announced today that Christchurch and Wellington would each host two quarter-finals at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and confirmed the previous plans for the semi-finals and final.
Martin Snedden, the former New Zealand cricketer, now CEO of Rugby New Zealand announced the good news today that Christchurch and Wellington will both host two quarter-finals.
The news has been met with great excitement particularly in Christchurch and is a clear indication of the commitment to ensuring the major rugby destinations outside of Auckland get quality rugby matches at the business end of the tournament.
Snedden, went on to confirm Eden Park in Auckland would host the semi-finals, 3rd placed match and the final. Eden Park was chosen on the basis of it being the biggest available stadium and was a clear choice for the major tournament matches.
The four quarter-finals will be played on the weekend of 7-9 October while the semi-finals will be played on the weekend of 15-16 October.
The bronze final will be staged one or two days prior to the final which is scheduled to be played on the weekend 21-23 October 2011.
The bases for the 20 rugby teams will be announced late in 2009, so watch this space for where your favourite team will be based.
All Black Tuitavake out for six weeks
New Zealand All Blacks winger Anthony Tuitavake has been ruled out rugby for six weeks after suffering a fractured cheekbone against Samoa yesterday.
Graham Henry had initially given the all clear for the All Blacks after the clash but scans revealed the worst for Tuitavake. The fractured cheekbone is also likely to affect cost him a role in the remaining Air NZ Cup matches for his team.
Scans have revealed that Tuitavake fractured a cheek bone in the All Blacks victory over Samoa in New Plymouth on Wednesday.