Watch Live Rugby
Welcome back!
I have been checking out where you can watch live rugby on the net lately and I have found what I believe to be the best service available.
As any sports fan, or rugby fan in particular will know there is nothing quite like watching live rugby. Well at RugbyZone you can do just that. For a nominal fee you can check out live rugby from the Currie Cup in South Africa to the Air New Zealand Cup, Tri-Nations, Six-Nations, Bledisloe Cup etc.
All these live Rugby matches can we watched and enjoyed. If you want to just watch one game you can do that or if you want to see a range of matches you can watch a whole season of Rugby such as watching the Six Nations live or Tri-Nations live.
I have attached a link below to check out as I cannot recommend this site any more highly, they even feature free rugby footage.
Do yourself a favour and check it out today and signup to watch your favourite rugby. I have.
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 - New Zealand 28 Australia 24
The All Blacks came from a 17-7 deficit early in the second half to storm home to win 28-24 in a sensational Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup decider.
The All Blacks were near dead and buried with the Wallabies leading 17-7 until coach Graham Henry inspired the All Blacks with three key positional changes bringing on Weepu, Donald and Mealamu. The masterstroke changed the tide of the match as the All Blacks through fresh legs scored three tries in a row through sheer weight of possession and dominating the breakdown.
The All Blacks were dominating and the Wallabies had no answers only bringing on fresh legs in the last 10 minutes. at this stage the match was virtually gone. The Wallabies scored a late Ryan Cross try and with less than two minutes remaining the Wallabies trailed 28-24. The Wallabies were deep in attack but the ball was turned over at the breakdown and the match was lost.
The All Blacks had recliamed the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup for 2008.
The match started promisingly for the All Blacks with an early lead 7-0 through a Mils Mulieana try. The Wallabies dominated possession in the first half as Carter and McCaw were neutralised. It was not until just before half-time that the Wallabies scored with a fantastic try to Adam Ashley-Cooper. The Wallabies went into the break 10-7 leaders.
Apart from the first few minutes of the second half where the Wallabies looked like they could have runaway with the match the All Blacks soon upped a few gears and eventually took the match out with a greater degree of tactical nous and determination at the breakdown.
On a losing side George Smith did everything to nullify McCaw and did but ended up on the losing side. The Wallaby forwards were sensational, Sharpe and Horwill were exceptional and Richard Brown who replaced Palu in the first half has a long future with a great performance off the bench with a high workrate and hard running. Ryan Cross and Adam Ashley-Cooper constantly challenged the defence with direct running and evasive skills.
The All Blacks were well served by the replacements Weepu, Donald and Mealamu who added zest off the bench. Kaino was also strong with some massive hits and constant involvement. It was hard not to be impressed with the team effort from the All Blacks, what makes them different to other teams is they know how to dig deep and play for each other. The All Blacks were deserving winners on the night.
The less said about the pathetic effort from the referee Kaplan the better.
New Zealand 28
Tries: Mils Mulieana, Tony Woodcock, Piri Weepu, Dan Carter
Goals: Dan Carter 4 conversions
Australia 24
Tries: Adam Ashley-Cooper, James Horwill, Ryan Cross
Goals: Matt Giteau 3 conversions, penalty
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.
Elsom sits out Wallabies training
Rocky Elsom sat out training today after being hit with a virus. Instead of Elsom training he spent his time back at the hotel but team management assure that he will be ready to take his place at the side of the scrum for the Wallabies in his 39th test on Saturday.
Hugh McMeniman took his place but come game time it will be Elsom back in action in what will be his final appearance for the Wallabies in the near future as he will move to Leinster after the match.
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
Wallabies Profile - Richard Brown
RIchard Brown, 24, was born in August 1984 and made his first class debut against the Brumbies for the Western Force in 2006. Brown is 189cm tall and weights 101 kgs. Brown has collected 32 Super Rugby caps in his three years with the Western Force.
Brown is a tough and uncompromising flanker who can play anywhere in the backrow. His height makes him a lineout candidate and his aggressive tackling and hard running has made him one of the best at the Western Force. 2008 was his breakout year and provided Richard Brown with a call-up to the Wallabies training squad in May.
Brown will make his debut for the Wallabies off the bench against the All Blacks in the final Tri-Nations match of the summer and is likely to represent Australia alot more over the coming years.
Live Text Rugby - Australia vs New Zealand
The Ruck and Maul is looking at covering the Rugby test between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane on saturday night at 8pm in the form of text updates every couple of minutes.
As it is not always possible to see the match around the world and most sites i have seen on the net seem to just give update the score without giving you any form of commentary then it is hard to judge how the game is going.
I am interested in you our readers and if this is something that you would be interested in. Email me at wes@theruckandmaul.com or add a comment to this post. If I get a few responses then I will provide Live Text Rugby in the form of updates on average every two minutes, it will look something similar to below;
10th Min - Wallabies attacking on All Blacks goal line, 3rd phase, defence line looks weak, Wallabies on a roll.
12th Min - Wallabies score in corner on 8th phase, GIteau try, Wallabies dominating breakdown.
13th Min - Giteau converts from sideline. All Blacks look exhausted.
If you like me covering the match like this then let me know and I will cover the match for those that can’t watch. If I don’t get responses it won’t happen so let me know.