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/ 14 December 2011
The All Blacks and Canterbury Crusaders’ Zac Guildford has been banned from the first Super 15 game next year after a drunken spree in November.
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/ 16 November 2011
The New Zealand Rugby Union will give Zac Guildford external counselling to help him overcome his alcohol problem after a drunken rampage.
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/ 14 November 2011
Zac Guildford has apologised for a drunken binge that ended with him staggering naked and bleeding into a bar, and then assaulting two people.
Graham Henry has quit as coach of the All Blacks after their World Cup win, ending one of the most successful rugby coaching careers of all time.
The International Rugby Board responded to a possible New Zealand withdrawal from the next World Cup by saying "everyone is replaceable".
New Zealand rugby fans have overwhelmingly rejected a campaign urging them to give up sex as a way of supporting the All Blacks during World Cup.
New Zealand’s All Blacks sealed an agreement with a Maori tribe on Thursday to ensure the team can continue to perform the <i>haka</i> before matches.
The New Zealand Rugby Union will not back a proposed replacement competition for the Super 14 rugby that excludes South Africa.
All Blacks enforcer Jerry Collins announced his retirement from New Zealand rugby Monday but said he had made no decision on joining the exodus of top players overseas. The announcement had been widely expected, with rumours circulating the 109kg Samoan-born flanker was destined to join the nine other All Blacks from last year’s World Cup who have signed for foreign clubs.
All Black coach Graham Henry is planning to stick with experienced players for next month’s Tests against Ireland and England despite the defection of some high profile candidates overseas. Henry also backed the New Zealand Rugby Union’s policy of picking only domestically-based players for the All Blacks.
An expanded United States conference-style Super rugby series is being touted by the New Zealand Rugby Union as a way of reviving the flagging Super 14 rugby tournament for the 2010 season. NZRU officials have begun a nationwide tour of all the franchises and provinces to divulge their concepts, which then need to be accepted by Sanzar partners.
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will look at introducing experimental law variations (ELVs) for this year’s Tri-Nations tournament. The International Rugby Board said on Thursday that 13 of the 23 ELVs, many of which are being trialled in this year’s Super 14 competition, would be adopted for a 12-month global trial from August 1.
Star All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter was Saturday staying quiet about a reported deal with French giants Toulouse that would make him the world’s highest-paid rugby player. Britain’s Daily Mail reported on Thursday that Carter would sign a £750 000 deal for one season with Toulouse, although the club has denied they are about to sign the 26-year-old.
Lack of game time, weak opposition and poor refereeing were all to blame for the All Blacks’ failure to win the Rugby World Cup last year, according to an independent review released on Thursday. The 47-page review detailed a catalogue of reasons why the team failed to live up to their billing as the world’s best.
Sunderland manager and former Manchester United star Roy Keane plans to complete his coaching badges with the All Blacks. Keane is studying for his European Football Association pro-licence, which is an obligatory qualification for managers in the English Premier League. As part of the course, students are required to spend time in another sport.
New Zealand Rugby Union boss Steve Tew was forced into the role of moderator on Thursday as Australian counterpart John O’Neill espoused a radical plan to revamp Super 14 rugby. O’Neill said ”high level discussion” had begun on a plan to expand the tournament to six-and-a-half months from February to August.
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/ 9 February 2008
All Blacks coach Graham Henry said he thought his international career was over after his team’s shock elimination from the Rugby World Cup last year, a newspaper reported on Saturday. In his first interview since being reappointed in December, Henry said he only stood for re-selection because of the public support he had received.
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/ 15 December 2007
New Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says he arrives in the job with no ”historical baggage” to revive Australian rugby’s declining fortunes. The 48-year-old New Zealander, appointed on Friday for four years, is the first foreigner to coach the Wallabies, in a decision which has received almost universal acceptance within Australian rugby.
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/ 9 December 2007
Unsuccessful All Blacks coaching candidate Robbie Deans has been granted a late interview for the vacant Wallabies job, the Australian Rugby Union said on Sunday. Deans, who missed out on the All Blacks position when the New Zealand Rugby Union decided to reappoint incumbent Graham Henry on Friday, had now asked to be considered for the Australian job.
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/ 7 December 2007
Graham Henry defied history on Friday when he was reappointed as All Blacks coach despite holding the reins during the team’s worst-ever World Cup performance this year. The New Zealand Rugby Union has traditionally been an unforgiving employer and no previous coach has survived a failed World Cup campaign.
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/ 6 December 2007
All Black coach Graham Henry attempted to save his job on Thursday during a grilling by New Zealand rugby officials in the wake of the team’s quickest-ever World Cup exit. In the past All Black coaches have quickly been discarded after failing to secure the World Cup. Henry has surprised commentators by choosing to fight to stay on.
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/ 4 December 2007
Next year’s Super 14 competition will trial several law changes designed to make the game faster and more exciting to watch. The decision to introduce the Experimental Law Variations was taken at a South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby Unions meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.
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/ 27 November 2007
Four candidates have been shortlisted to coach the All Blacks but the real contest is expected to be between incumbent Graham Henry and Robbie Deans of the Canterbury Crusaders. The New Zealand Rugby Union said on Tuesday that Henry, Deans, Wellington Hurricanes’ Colin Cooper and Waikato Chiefs’ Ian Foster would be interviewed next week.
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/ 26 November 2007
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has re-applied for his job following the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) decision to make the position contestable after the team’s failed World Cup campaign. Henry (61) had until 5pm on Monday to apply for the job after the NZRU rejected a proposal to reappoint his coaching team.
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/ 21 November 2007
All Black winger Doug Howlett was found guilty of serious misconduct by the New Zealand Rugby Union on Wednesday following an alcohol-fuelled incident in London. The 29-year-old apologised last month after he was seen jumping on two cars outside a hotel at Heathrow Airport after drinking with teammates in the wake of the All Blacks’ shock World Cup quarterfinal loss to France.
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/ 15 November 2007
The All Blacks coaches have blamed English referee Wayne Barnes for their World Cup failure, it was reported on Thursday as the New Zealand Rugby Union deliberated on the future of the coaching panel. Head coach Graham Henry and his assistants Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith have maintained a diplomatic silence about Barnes’ performance in the World Cup quarterfinal.
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/ 31 October 2007
Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans has confirmed the worst-kept secret in New Zealand rugby — he is keen to take over as All Black coach from Graham Henry. Henry is likely to be replaced following the All Blacks worst-ever World Cup showing this month when they were knocked out by France in the quarterfinals.
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/ 26 October 2007
The World Cup last week then the EDF Energy Cup this? Not quite, but Butch James will barely have time for the Springboks’ victory tour of South Africa before he is back on a plane heading for Europe. After signing a two-year contract with Bath this summer, the flyhalf is expected to be in the squad when the Heineken and European Challenge cups start on November 9.
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/ 20 October 2007
Dejected All Blacks were reported on Saturday to be undergoing grief counselling to help them come to grips with their shock loss in the rugby World Cup quarterfinals. New Zealand Rugby Union chairperson Jock Hobbs said it was imperative steps were taken to ensure the players were able to move on mentally as soon as possible.
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/ 10 October 2007
New Zealand coach Graham Henry admitted the All Blacks were scarred for life by their agonising World Cup exit as the team received an unexpectedly warm welcome home on Wednesday. About 1 000 fans broke into chants of ”All Blacks, All Blacks” as 17 of the 30-man squad arrived at Christchurch airport.
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/ 10 October 2007
All Blacks winger Doug Howlett was arrested in London and may face charges after an incident at the team’s hotel near Heathrow Airport, the New Zealand Rugby Union said. The union is investigating the incident at the Hilton Hotel in which two cars were damaged.
Club rugby in the northern hemisphere has long been derided as the poor cousin in world rugby. But the post-World Cup exodus of a raft of top-flight internationals from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will help confound that long-standing belief.