Subscribe
Rugby
NZR accuses Players Association of sabotaging Silver Lake deal
New Zealand Rugby has reacted angrily to a players association proposal for a public share float which the association believes is better than the Silver Lake deal. The Rugby Players Association and investment company Forsyth...
Super Rugby: Where feast of tries between Hurricanes and Waratahs ranks in the record books
Friday night’s extraordinary feast of tries between the Hurricanes and the Waratahs in Sydney was still 25 points short of breaking the record for most points scored in a Super Rugby match. That 137-point milestone, set in 2010 when the Chiefs edged the Lions 72-65 in a staggering contest in Johannesburg, looks insurmountable. Nevertheless, the...
All Blacks legend Richie McCaw ‘scared’ by NZ Rugby’s Silver Lake deal
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has questioned New Zealand Rugby’s approach to their planned private equity deal with US investment giant Silver Lake. McCaw said NZR’s ‘take it or leave it’ approach over the controversial deal left him wondering, while he’s received feedback on private equity which “scares me”. Talking to NZME, the two-time...
Forsyth Barr reckons Kiwis would jump at the chance to buy rugby shares
Investment company Forsyth Barr has suggested New Zealand Rugby could sell 5 per cent of its commercial operations on the NZX in an initial public offering (IPO). Here’s why and how it might work. NZ Rugby has proposed selling 12.5 per cent of its revenue stream to American private equity firm Silver Lake to bring...
Fijiana 15s coach still looking for players
The door to the Fijiana XVs remains open with head coach Senirusi Seruvakula on the lookout to select the best available players who will make history when they participate in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 for the first time. World Rugby has released the dates for the rescheduled event which will be held in...
Club rugby not just about the players’ wants
Our stroppy black cat would turn up her nose when fed anything but the cheapest jellimeat. So there was no need to change her cuisine. Then why did the Manawatū rugby union change 135 years of habit by giving senior teams an unprecedented Saturday off last weekend? It led to widespread displeasure among club rugby...
Super Rugby: Former Chief Richard Kahui has a lot of ‘what ifs’ in resurrected career
There are so many ‘what ifs’ in the rugby career of Richard Kahui, but definitely no regrets. And now, beyond the former All Blacks World Cup winner’s wildest dreams, here he is in his twilight years, with a body that is now not constantly failing him, back in Super Rugby. More unimaginable for the Tokoroa...
Silver Lake: Stoush between NZ Rugby and Players’ Association gains heat
How has it come to this? Tensions between two of New Zealand rugby’s most powerful organisations have finally surged into the red zone. It’s starting to get untidy. Perched in one corner is NZ Rugby. Glaring back at it is the NZ Rugby Players’ Association. We all knew there had been simmering tension, but the...
Super Rugby: Highlanders thump Reds in reality check for Australian rugby
The Highlanders have reminded Australian rugby that Super Rugby Trans-Tasman will be a different and potentially much more painful ball game with a six-try, 40-19 win against the Reds in Dunedin. In the Highlanders’ first game with Clarke Dermody in charge and head coach Tony Brown in Japan, the Highlanders’ forward pack stepped up against...
Super Rugby: Teams rack up a cricket score as Hurricanes win 17-try thriller against Waratahs
Befitting one of world cricket’s most famous venues, the Hurricanes and Waratahs racked up a century on Friday night. In a helter-skelter, mind-boggling Super Rugby Trans-Tasman opener on Australian soil, the Hurricanes powered away for a 64-48 victory with the oval ball at the Sydney Cricket Ground as defence was sometimes optional for both sides....
Super Rugby: Clayton McMillan hoping for happy homecoming in ‘battle of scrappers’ in Perth
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan is hoping his side’s long trek to Perth can make for a happy homecoming in what he terms will be a ‘battle of the scrappers’ against the Western Force on Saturday night. With a hideous schedule, compounded by making the final of Super Rugby Aotearoa, which will see the Chiefs play...
All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Kieran Read in hunt for Japan Top League rugby title
All Blacks greats Beauden Barrett and Kieran Read remain in the hunt for a Japan Top League title while coaches Steve Hansen and Robbie Deans will clash in the semifinals. Deans’ Panasonic Wild Knights will meet Toyota Verblitz – where Hansen is director of rugby – in one playoff on Saturday, while Barrett’s unbeaten Suntory...
14th May
Reds, Blues and the cultural spectrum in between
Now the Super Rugby Aotearoa final has been won, almost inevitably, by the Canterbury Crusaders, New Zealand can sit back and reflect on a unique season of pandemic-affected … just kidding. The Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition – a planned but somewhat rushed sequel – kicks off on Friday night with the Otago Highlanders playing the Queensland Reds in Dunedin, and...
Changes to help Fijiana
Fijiana XV coach Senirusi Seruvakula has welcomed World Rugby’s decision to increase the tournament window for the women’s Rugby World Cup from 35 to 43 days. The RWC 2021 was initially scheduled to be played in Auckland and Whangarei, New Zealand from September 18 to October 16 however it has now been rescheduled to be...
Welfare, the priority for Flying Fijians
The Fiji Rugby Union is excited about the Flying Fijians facing the New Zealand All Blacks twice this July but the parent body’s main focus right now is on complying with the government restrictions and supporting the policies in place for the COVID-19 pandemic to keep the virus under control. World Rugby has released the...
Rugby loses a great player
Fiji has lost another rugby great who has left behind memories and teachings for his family, peers, community and the church to carry on through these hard times. Josaia Taqirinavatu (Taqiri), 71, died in the early hours of Tuesday. The Nabukelevu-i-ra, Kadavu, native was part of the Fiji Rugby Union touring team to Australia in...
Super Rugby: New Zealand teams could give Aussies taste of bad medicine
Here’s hoping this competition isn’t a dud. The pressure is on the Aussie teams to perform in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, because nothing makes New Zealand fans pinch their noses and run for the door faster than the prospect of another lop-sided result. Watching Super Rugby Aotearoa each weekend was like being served up crayfish, salmon and...
NZ Rugby alleges players association attempting to destroy $387.5m Silver Lake deal
New Zealand’s rugby players have ramped up their campaign backing an alternative to the $387.5 million offer from American equity giants Silver Lake to buy a 12.5 per cent stake in the Kiwi game, leading the NZR to lash back alleging a breach of trust. A memo from the New Zealand Rugby Players Association has...
Changing face of NZ poses big challenges for the future of rugby
The state of our national game, and what is best for its future, has generated a lot of recent debate. But there are some contributing factors that might not have had the attention they deserve. The demography of New Zealand is changing, with major implications for rugby, especially for player participation. The impacts of immigration and...
Who will dominate Super Rugby trans-Tasman?
That was the big question surrounding Super Rugby trans-Tasman ahead of this weekend’s opening round. Following the completion of domestic competitions in both countries, the combined version kicked off amid much interest in how the teams from across the ditch will fare against their All Black-laden counterparts in Aotearoa. Prior to leaving to rejoin the...
Black Ferns star Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate’s mother’s ‘death stares’ helped inspire fearsome haka
As a young girl, Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate became far more fearful of her mother’s “death stares” if she didn’t get up and lead a Waiata or Pōwhiri than performing the rituals in front of crowds. So when she was asked to lead the Black Ferns haka for the first time in 2014 – the same...
Highlanders drop All Black amid assault investigation
All Blacks loose forward Shannon Frizell has been omitted from the Highlanders’ Super Rugby Trans-Tasman opener against Australian champions Queensland on Friday amid a police investigation into an alleged assault at a Dunedin nightspot. Highlanders Chief Executive Roger Clark said the investigation involving Frizell was a “distraction” for the team but his omission was not...
Black Fern Kendra Cocksedge the latest to suffer mental fatigue
Black Ferns halfback Kendra Cocksedge admits she’s among the high profile athletes battling “mental fatigue” ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup. The rescheduled event in New Zealand will likely be Cocksedge’s international swansong. The former World Rugby women’s player of the year believed lifting the world cup trophy at Eden Park in November next...
13th May
Wellington club rugby player in hot water for ‘kicking opponent in the head’
A Wellington club rugby player is in hot water after he allegedly kicked an opponent in the head in an “ugly” on-field incident. Johnsonville club chair Blair Hannah said he saw a Stokes Valley lock kick one of his team’s players multiple times, “including one big boot to the head”, as the Johnsonville player went...
The history the Australian teams are up against in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman
When the Brumbies take the field at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch this weekend, they will be trying to do something they haven’t done since May 2000. Beat the Crusaders on their own patch. The night before, when the Reds play at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, they will be looking for their first away win...
Fiji rugby’s traditional champion – The glory days of Hakwa Nadro
The Stallions had an empty trophy cabinet last year. In 2019, Nadroga had the Farebrother-Sullivan Trophy, which Namosi snatched from them from Lawaqa Park last year in round two. The Stallions then lost the golden opportunity to regain the Farebrother-Sullivan Trophy from Namosi after going down at Ratu Cakobau Park. The Stallions then lost to...
Dad snags second shot at rugby dream for seriously injured ex-NZ schoolboy
It’s no wonder Damon Abraham landed a spot on 2nd Chance Charlie, the television series which gives rugby hopefuls another shot at the big time. The powerhouse prop’s story is virtually made for it. A former first XV standout who played in the same New Zealand Secondary Schools side as All Blacks duo Caleb Clarke...
Super Rugby: Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith heaps pressure on Reds: ‘They’ve just won a comp’
Aaron Smith has lit the fuse for what could be a feisty encounter between the Highlanders and Reds on Friday, dismissing the Reds’ claim to be underdogs as standard Australian mind games but also questioning whether they can “get back up” after winning Super Rugby AU last weekend. Reds flanker Fraser McReight told Australian reporters...
Super Rugby: Crusaders couldn’t squeeze Hurricanes-bound Owen Franks in
The Crusaders would have welcomed back franchise great Owen Franks with open arms if they had space on their 2022 roster. Franks will instead play for the Hurricanes next year, a done deal the Wellington-based franchise is set to confirm in the coming days. Crusaders coach Scott Robertson confirmed they’d had discussions with the 33-year-old...
Black Ferns gain new perspective on haka as Rugby World Cup comes into focus
If opposing teams want to get a sense of what it’s like to face the Black Ferns when they arrive in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup next year, they can now pay a visit to Federal St in downtown Auckland. A recording of the national women’s rugby team performing their haka, Ko Ūhia...
