Tag Archives: All Blacks

Former All Black, Israel Dagg has opened up the mental health struggles that almost forced him out of the game. The 30-year-old former Crusaders player who retired from rugby last week due to a chronic knee injury claims to have entered into a severe mental health battle after missing out on selection for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Speaking to …

The New Zealand All Blacks have been dealt a huge blow with the news that Damian McKenzie has ruptured his ACL and is ruled out of the upcoming Rugby World Cup. The Chiefs player suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while on club duty at the weekend against the Blues with All Blacks head coach, Steven …

All Black Israel Dagg has announced his retirement from rugby due to ongoing injury issues which have forced him to withdraw from the game.  30-year-old Dagg has faced a lengthy period on the sidelines due to an ongoing knee injury and it is based on medical advice that he hang up his boots. Dagg made his debut in 2006 for …

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has revealed some of the mind game techniques he utilises on opposition coaches.  Hansen was speaking at a Circa Theatre fundraiser on Monday night where he was interviewed by former television presented Ian Fraser. When Fraser raised a comment from former Wallaby Mark Ella that “Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks to victory”, …

Former England second-row Geoff Parling believes that Ireland have shown that the All Blacks are beatable and that “they’re just 15 blokes on the pitch”.  Parling, who is set to take over a coaching role with the Melbourne Rebels for the coming Super Rugby season and was part of the last England side to beat the All Blacks, reveals his …

New Zealand captain Kieran Read is reportedly close to agreeing a short-term deal to take him to French Top 14 side Racing 92 after next year’s World Cup. French publication L’Equipe is reporting that Read is close to inking a seven-month contract with the French club and that he is keen to test himself in the Top 14. They also …

The All Blacks will persist with a two-pronged attack against Italy on Saturday, despite coach Steve Hansen ringing the changes after last week’s loss to Ireland. Hansen retained fly-half Beauden Barrett and fullback Damien McKenzie in a starting line-up featuring 11 changes from the side that ran out in Dublin, resisting calls to start the in-form Richie Mo’unga. Instead, Mo’unga …

There aren’t too many who can say they’ve had the chance train on the hallowed Croke Park turf. Even fewer can say they’ve done it alongside Dublin GAA and the All Blacks. This, however, was an opportunity that was afforded to 160 school children from across Dublin city, including the inner city area around Croke Park, as part of  AIG …

Brought to you by Vodafone, the official sponsor of the Irish rugby team As the dust begins to settle on Ireland’s 16-9 victory against New Zealand on Saturday, an assessment and analysis of Ireland’s performance in all facets of the game is being undertaken to determine how and why Joe Schmidt’s side toppled the world champions. Ireland excelled in many …

Over one million people tuned into Ireland’s historic 16-9 victory over the All Blacks on Saturday, figures released today have confirmed.  883,700 was the average audience figure on RTÉ 2 who were the Irish television broadcaster for the match on Saturday, this accounts for more than half (57%) of the television audience share. At its peak, over one million people …

Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium.  Steve Hansen was a clearly disappointed figure when speaking to the media after his side’s 16-9 loss to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night.  He saw his side lose out on the possession and territory stakes as Ireland produced a superb defensive display to come out with a stunning victory. Hansen …

Ireland –  16 New Zealand – 9 Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium This game was billed as a decider to which team is the best in the world and Ireland can certainly feel they deserve that tag as they produced a performance which the All Blacks had no answer to.  Everyone expected New Zealand to respond to last …

Kieran Read spoke to the media during the All Blacks’ captain’s run this afternoon at the Aviva Stadium and he believes that his side will need to produce the best performance of their season if they want to get a victory over Ireland.  It’s been a long season for the All Blacks. They played a three-Test series against France during …

Rory Best doesn’t believe Ireland have been disrupted by injuries as he spoke at today’s captain’s run just moments after the gathered media were informed of Dan Leavy’s injury.  Ireland informed the media that Leavy was not 100% and that he has general tightness, a term which was used by head coach Joe Schmidt at Thursday’s team announcement. Josh van …

After two years and on paper at least, Joey Carbery finds himself in a very similar position – named on the Ireland bench ahead of a Test match with the All Blacks.  Of course, much has changed for Carbery in the 24 months since; he has continued his career trajectory to see himself established as international out-half while he has …

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has defended Bundee Aki amidst the extra attention being put on him from the New Zealand media and the All Blacks camp. Last weekend, much was made of the All Blacks facing off against England’s Brad Shields as up until the summer, he would have played all of his rugby in New Zealand with the …

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has said he is expecting a “fairly spiky contest” against the All Blacks at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.  In the build-up to this eagerly-anticipated fixture, the two games in 2016 at Soldier Field and the Aviva Stadium have been dissected and studied to a great degree. The victory for the All Blacks two weeks …