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All Blacks Squad for 2011 Tri Nations

Written by Mike on July 12th, 2011. Posted in Rugby Union News, Tri Nations

All Black coaches Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith have named their thirty man squad for the 2011 Tri Nations against the Australian Wallabies and the South African Springboks. However, they have named an additional four players to remain with the squad as injury cover.

Israel Dagg, Hosea Gear, Isaia Toeava and Tony Woodcock remain under injury clouds, so Ben Smith, Cory Jane, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Wyatt Crockett have gained temporary reprieves and a chance to push for selection.

The features of the squad are Colin Slade as the much anticipated back up to Dan Carter…

Ma’a Nonu gets 50 Test Caps for the All Blacks, finally.

Written by Mike on August 8th, 2010. Posted in International Rugby, Rugby Blog, Rugby Union News

Ma'a Nonu (R) celebrates his try with Dan Carter Photo via Newscom

Last night in Christchurch Ma’a Nonu became the 35th player to play 50 tests for the All Blacks. It’s an amazing achievement for a player with such a chequered history with the black jersey.

It’s taken him seven years to make 50 test caps. That’s a long time in the modern game. To put it in perspective, Brad Thorn debuted a week after Nonu and has now played 44 tests, but he didn’t play for the All Blacks at all for four years, from the end of 2003 till 2008. Ma’a Nonu, on the…

Peter Duckworth

February 3, 2012 | #

I agree entirely, I would even go so far as to say that, based on form & dubious refereeing through the competition the French didn’t deserve to be in the final in the first place. All credit to them that they did so well in the final but at the end of the day the All Blacks did better & fully deserved the win.
Mike

February 1, 2012 | #

Thanks for your comment Jock. Yes, Parks does seem like a player limited to one type of gameplan (which I thought he did quite well?) but that must be frustrating considering some of the talent available on the outsides.
Jock Mitchell

February 1, 2012 | #

As long as Parks is part of Scottish set-up we can forget about playing attacking rugby. It is so sad to see backs that have potential being wasted because the stand off does not know how to carry ball and attack opposition. iT IS LAUGHABLE TO KNOW THE OPPOSITION ARE REALLY PLAYING WITH AN EXTRA PLAYER AND THEY KNOW THEY DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT STAND-OFF.
We need to move on and change our style of playing. Henry critisized England and had no comment about Scotland. A small country like N.Z. can loose Carter and tthen have no shortage of top class reserves.We must encourage young players and give them hope.I have no idea how Townsend can't see a problem.
They want to take players into academies later when they see their real potential in club rugby.(I could make comments about players selected for academies but I will resist)
elsmido

January 31, 2012 | #

Which Irish fans are these? I think we will cope just fine without him and are probably second favourites for the championship. It’s always tough losing a player of his calibre but there is plenty of young talent coming through. Our provinces are riding high in the Heineken Cup. The only question now is whether Declan Kidney and his staff can fashion victories out of that.

Careful with your generalisations.
Elmer

December 29, 2011 | #

I’m from South Africa and have lived in the UK for 10 years now. Since I arrived here I have watched quite a lot of UK rugby league on TV and the NRL stuff too. It’s a completely different game to me and at first I thought it was a joke with those scrums, no lineouts etc…I used to laugh. It all seemed very one dimensional with very direct running and some offloading occasionally with a predictable grubber after the 5th tackle. I’ve changed my mind now and accepted it for what it is. It’s a different sport and a good tough one. I really enjoy the big games and the internationals and really enjoy watching the Sam Tomkins of this world play. Rugby Union is a far more technical game and tactical game and caters still for just about every shape. I can see why rugby league fans say Union is boring, because some games particularly a couple of years ago were dominated by kicking which was and is dire. At its best, Union should be a combination of kicking, scrum and forward phases and clever running by the backs.

Obviously RU is a more popular global game and is my favourite with Cricket second. Rugby league has its own place in sport though. It’s a good tough and entertaining sport and is certainly a better code than the round ball with all its cheating, diving and crowd violence/behaviour. I look forward to watching more rugby league!