Tag Archives: new zealand rugby

In a cruel twist of faith, Tyler Bleyendaal’s Munster career ended in the same way that it started, with a neck injury.  The 29-year-old Christchurch native sadly called time on his professional rugby career this week after a long-suffering neck injury forced him to retire. Bleyendaal suffered a prolapsed disc in his neck while playing against Waikato for Canterbury in …

After five weeks of Rugby World Cup action, we finally know who will be contesting the final on November 2.  England will meet South Africa where both sides will be hoping to lift the Webb Ellis trophy for the first time since 2003 and 2007, respectively. This will also be a repeat of the 2007 final. The dreaded third-place playoff …

Owen Farrell and his teammates have explained why England lined up against the haka in a V shape immediately before kick-off in today’s World Cup semi-final.  As Ireland learned last week, taking a step forward against the haka doesn’t always result in an inspired performance but England decided to take a different approach for their clash with the reigning champions. …

The All Blacks’ dream to win a third successive Rugby World Cup came to a shuddering halt on Saturday as England produced a performance for the ages to completely dominate their opponents and emerge with a 19-7 victory.  The scoreline doesn’t do England justice as they should have won by much more and they will now look forward to a …

England 19 All Blacks 7 England have reached their first World Cup final since 2007 after producing a performance for the ages to beat the reigning champions 19-7 at the Yokohama Stadium. England were completely deserving of their victory and in truth, it should have been by a greater margin as they absolutely bested their southern hemisphere opponents in every …

England have named their team for Saturday’s crunch World Cup semi-final with the All Blacks at the Yokohama Stadium.  This weekend’s encounter looks set to be a memorable one and head coach Eddie Jones has made one big change to the side which eased past Australia last time out. George Ford returns to the starting XV at out-half which means …

The All Blacks have made one change to their starting XV from the team who beat Ireland 46-14 for their World Cup semi-final with England at the Yokohama Stadium on Saturday.  Steve Hansen has brought in Scott Barrett for Sam Cane. Barrett will start the game at blindside flanker which means that Ardie Savea moves to openside. On the bench, …

World Rugby have confirmed the referees who will take charge of this weekend’s semi-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.  Nigel Owens (Wales) will take charge of England versus New Zealand on Saturday (17:00 JST) with Romain Poite and Pascal Gaüzère (both France) as assistant referees and Marius Jonker (South Africa) as TMO. Jérôme Garcès (France) will referee Wales versus …

Just like the 2015 exit at the hands of Argentina, the latest in Ireland’s long run of Rugby World Cup quarter-final failures will leave a sour taste in the mouth for some time.  After they promised so much in 2018, Ireland became a shadow of that side in 2019 which ultimately culminated in a 46-14 thrashing by New Zealand in …

With one try, one assist and 21 carries to his name, Beuaden Barrett was named man-of-the-match following New Zealand’s humbling of Ireland in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash in Tokyo. The eldest of the three Barrett brothers was in scintillating form at full-back as the All Blacks swatted aside the Irish challenge. The 46-14 win now sets up a …

Steve Hansen spoke incredibly well in the aftermath of New Zealand’s thumping 46-14 win over Ireland at the Tokyo Stadium. Ireland’s World Cup ended once again at the quarter-final stage and it was also the last time that Rory Best and head coach Joe Schmidt will be involved in the Irish set-up. Best will now retire from professional rugby while …

New Zealand 46 – 14 Ireland Ireland are out of the 2019 Rugby World Cup after being completely out-classed by a rampant New Zealand side. In every facet of the game, Ireland were second best and they could do very little as the All Blacks ran in seven tries. Here are our player ratings on a devastating day for Irish …

All Blacks back-row Ardie Savea will become the first player to wear goggles at a Rugby World Cup as he battles vision problems. A key player for Steve Hansen’s side, Savea was unstoppable in their opening round victory over South Africa. However, the loose forward is apparently fearful of going blind after the vision in his left eye became blurred …

The recent weekend of international rugby has had a major bearing on the latest World Rugby rankings.  The last few days have seen a welcome return to top international rugby as countries around the world prepare for the upcoming 2019 Rugby World Cup. Australia’s emphatic win over the All Blacks in the opening match of this year’s Bledisloe Cup saw …

The Wallabies put on a scintillating display to emerge 47-26 winners over the All Blacks in the opening match of the 2019 Bledisloe Cup.  Michael Cheika’s side showed their intent early on when they made a number of linebreaks in the opening minutes but they couldn’t convert that pressure into points on the scoreboard until the excellent Christian Lealiifano slotted …

Wales are going into the 2019 Rugby World Cup in pretty good nick.  Warren Gatland’s side is currently on a 14-match winning streak which coincided with a Grand Slam victory in the Six Nations earlier this year. It all began with a win over Italy in last year’s Six Nations and continued throughout their summer tour, the Autumn internationals and …

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 …

Have England finally got the reality check they needed to propel them to new heights?