The injured All Blacks midfield pairing of Luke McAlister and Conrad Smith will miss the rest of the Tri-Nations series.
New Zealand named a revamped side on Tuesday for their opening rugby Test of the season against Ireland, selecting only six of the team who lost last year’s World Cup quarterfinal to France. Winger Anthony Tuitavake is the only new cap in the starting line-up, with three more new faces on the reserves bench.
All Black coach Graham Henry fired a parting shot at retiring flanker Jerry Collins, saying the tough loose forward was in poor form and would not have made the first New Zealand squad of the season. Henry named a 25-man squad on Tuesday to begin preparations for mid-season Tests, excluding players from the Crusaders.
Injuries, coaching concerns and travel fatigue loom as significant factors in the Super 14 rugby semifinals when the Crusaders, Waratahs, Sharks and Hurricanes front up on Saturday. Competition leaders the Crusaders are at home to the Hurricanes in the first knock-out match, followed by the second-placed Waratahs hosting the Sharks in Sydney.
The Wellington Hurricanes and Auckland Blues kick off a climactic final Super 14 round on Friday in which six teams have a chance of joining the Canterbury Crusaders in the final four. The make-up of the semifinalists is unlikely to be decided until the final match of the weekend when the Sharks play the Chiefs.
The Stormers scored a fifth win in six matches when they beat the Wellington Hurricanes 20-12 to move into fourth spot on the Super 14 log on Saturday. While both teams scored two tries, Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant enjoyed more success with the boot, which ultimately separated the teams at the end.
An early four-try scoring blitz fashioned a 50-22 Super 14 triumph for Wellington Hurricanes over title holders Northern Bulls on Saturday. ”We were shocking,” was the blunt assessment of scrumhalf and captain Fourie du Preez as the Bulls returned to their home ground after a dismal four-match Australasia tour.
New Zealand high-performance referee coach Colin Hawke has questioned the performance of referee Paul Marks in the Hurricanes and Sharks’ Super 14 rugby game on Saturday. Hawke said he was surprised the Australian did not use all the aids available to him in the controversial Wellington game.
The Hurricanes and the Sharks battled to a 13-all draw in a controversial Super 14 rugby match played in atrocious conditions in Wellington on Saturday. Australian referee Paul Marks handed out a red card, a yellow card and awarded a penalty try, before ending the game without reacting to Hurricanes centre Conrad Smith being taken out of play in a potentially try-scoring move.
New Zealand’s Wellington Hurricanes stretched their winning streak to four games with a 33-15 Super 14 smashing of the ACT Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on Friday. The Hurricanes blew away the weakened Brumbies by five tries to two and condemned the Brumbies to their first home defeat in seven matches.
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/ 1 December 2007
Jake White’s last match as coach of world champions South Africa ended with a defeat as the invitational Barbarians beat the Springboks 22-5 in a non-cap international at Twickenham on Saturday. The Barbarians outscored South Africa three tries to one with Australia’s Matt Giteau, Wales flanker Martyn Williams and Wallaby forward Rocky Elsom all crossing the line.
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/ 27 November 2007
Johan Ackermann joined South Africa on Monday as cover in case injured lock Bakkies Botha was unavailable for the Springboks’ season finale against the Barbarians this weekend. Botha hurt his ankle in the Boks’ 34-12 win over Wales at Cardiff on Saturday.
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/ 29 September 2007
New Zealand finished the World Cup pool stage in style with a spectacular demonstration of running and passing to demolish Romania 85-8 on Saturday. The All Blacks racked up 13 tries, three coming from flying winger Joe Rokocoko, as they blew away their opponents with some dazzling rugby to the delight of the packed crowd at the Stade Toulouse.
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/ 15 September 2007
Odds-on World Cup favourites New Zealand brushed aside a spirited but hopelessly outclassed Portugal 108-13 in a Pool C game on Saturday, but it was not all plain sailing for the All Blacks. Portugal, the last of the 20 teams to qualify for the World Cup and with only three professionals in the match-day squad of 22, never gave up in the blistering heat at Stade Gerland.