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It is awards season, the time of the year where outstanding contributors are recognized for jobs well done in 2016 and perhaps supplying some impetus for similar accomplishment in 2017. In New Zealand, that means the All Blacks, or in the case of the Super Rugby League, the Hurricanes, for which Dane Coles occupied a … Keep Reading “Major 2016 Contributors to New Zealand Rugby”

Are England and Australia guilty of cheating in the scrum? That seems to be the tone of the war of words taking place betwixt Red Rose coach Eddie Jones and Australia’s coach Michael Cheika. England will face Australia in the final Test of 2016 at Twickenham and accusations of illegal scrummage are flying back and … Keep Reading “War of Words Prior to England/Australia Test Rugby”

Higher expectations will be the order of the day when the All Blacks began training camp for 2017. Forty players will be in attendance for a January 2017 training camp that be used to create a road map for the next six months that hopefully will avoid some of the pratfalls in 2016, such as … Keep Reading “All Blacks Schedule January Camp to Avoid 2016 Pratfalls”

The New Zealand cricket squad will be sans the services of paceman Trent Boult for the second Test against Pakistan due to a knee injury. Boult’s absence meant a promotion for Matt Henry, who will share the bowling duties with Tim Southee. The rest of the New Zealand side will not be divulged until Friday’s … Keep Reading “Second Test New Zealand v Pakistan Potential History”

Efforts to secure funding necessary in order to make Joseph Parker’s heavyweight title fight in Auckland December coming have fallen short, with the result being that some of the funding is coming from the nation of Samoa. The government of New Zealand and the local authorities in Auckland did not feel favourably disposed to fund … Keep Reading “Samoa Major Source of Funding for Parker/Ruiz WBO Title Bout”

The most recent rumbling in New Zealand had nothing to do with subterranean shifts of tectonic plates, rather, it was the aftershock of not simply a Four Nations defeat of the All Blacks by the Kangaroos, but one that would have to described as total humiliation, worse perhaps than the Chicago debacle that saw the … Keep Reading “Kangaroos Reclaim Top Spot in Rankings with All Blacks Defeat”

All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen, perhaps engaging in a bit of coach-speak ahead of the rematch betwixt his side and the Irish conquered that ambushed the Kiwis in an international played in Chicago, winning 40 – 29, after having managed nothing better than a draw in the history of play between the two teams, has … Keep Reading “All Blacks Coach Hansen Pessimistic About Irish Match”

The Fijians, perhaps taking a page from the Democrats protesting the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, have expressed their “concerns and disappointment” to the honchos of World Rugby after winning none of the major team awards presented at the annual ceremony Monday past. Most galling for the Fijians, perhaps, was being neglected for … Keep Reading “Fiji Sulks After Being Ignored for Major World Rugby Awards”

There must be a surplus of sighs of relief when the Kiwis were the beneficiaries of an Australian defeat of the Brits in Four Nations play, as they are going into the finals of their third tournament after the 36 – 18 win by the Aussies in London. They had found themselves in the rare … Keep Reading “New Zealand Into Final in Four Nations Play”

There is more to New Zealand sports than the All-Blacks and one of those more things was the 2016 New Zealand Trotting Cup. Lazarus won by a huge margin of 10 lengths to post one of the greatest wins in the 113-year history of the Group 1 race. Lazarus had a world record time in … Keep Reading “Lazarus Destroys Field in Group 1 New Zealand Trotting Cup”