France coach Bernard Laporte said his battered young team had learnt a painful but valuable lesson about the reality of international rugby following their record 61-10 loss to New Zealand. Laporte selected an inexperienced squad for the two-match tour because it clashed with the French club championship and the result was a massacre.
New Zealand inflicted the heaviest defeat suffered by France in more than a century of international rugby when they strolled to a 61-10 in the second test on Saturday. Inspired by a dominant forward display, the All Blacks followed up last week’s 42-11 win in Auckland with a ruthless nine-try demolition.
The All Blacks are poised to break the world record for consecutive home-Test wins when they play France on Saturday, but a spiteful war of words is threatening to take the gloss off the performance. If, as expected, the All Blacks beat the seriously under-strength French side it will stretch their unbeaten home run to 23 Tests.
France have accused All Blacks coach Graham Henry of showing disrespect by criticising them for playing negatively in their 42-11 first-Test loss. ”We’re going to show them on the pitch that we deserve a bit more respect than what they give to us,” French fullback Thomas Castaignede told reporters on Wednesday.
France coach Bernard Laporte was full of praise for his young team despite their comprehensive 42-11 loss to New Zealand in the first Test at Eden Park on Saturday. The odds were heavily stacked against the French after they had to field an under-strength team because most of their senior players stayed home.
World Cup favourite New Zealand confronted its worst-case scenario when it lost flyhalf Daniel Carter to an injury while beating France 42-11 in a rugby union international on Saturday. Carter, principal cog in the All Blacks’ Cup machine, did not return to the field for the second half at Eden Park.
New Zealand’s players have been warned not to overplay their hand in Saturday’s first Test against France at Eden Park. Assistant coach Wayne Smith has ordered his players to curb their natural instincts so as not to give away any secrets before this year’s World Cup.
The All Blacks put their World Cup credentials on the line against a below-par French rugby side in Auckland on Saturday when the controversial reconditioning theory faces its first Test. Anything but an emphatic All Blacks victory is certain to provoke a highly vocal backlash in a country frustrated at not having won the World Cup for 20 years.
The All Blacks on Tuesday named one of their strongest combinations for their first Test of the year as second-string France arrived in New Zealand admitting they would rather be somewhere else. Despite most of France’s top players staying home to complete club commitments, All Black coach Graham Henry chose most of his top players.
A New Zealand man is now sleeping peacefully after years of living with an infestation of mites in his ear finally came to an end. Paul Balvert’s ”noisy nightmare” went undiagnosed for two years before it was discovered by a nurse at a specialist clinic.
New Zealand effectively outlawed smacking children on Wednesday by removing a statutory defence for parents. A private Bill sponsored by a Green Party lawmaker, which removed an existing legal defence of ”reasonable force” to correct a child, was passed by an overwhelming majority.
All Black lock Ali Williams said on Wednesday his playing future next year in New Zealand is uncertain after being sent home in disgrace by the Auckland Blues. Williams arrived back in New Zealand from South Africa late on Tuesday after the team management and senior players from the Blues decided to banish him ahead of their Super 14 semifinal against the Sharks.
The Sharks and Bulls will host semifinals — the first playoff matches in South Africa in six years in Super rugby — after sealing first and second places on Saturday with massive last-round wins. The Sharks beat the Stormers 36-10 to finish atop the Super 14 standings with a 10-win, three-loss record, while the Bulls crushed the hapless Queensland Reds by a record 92-3.
Australia international Lote Tuqiri scored his first try in Super 14 rugby in 12 months to help the New South Wales Waratahs to a 38-14 win over the Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday. Tuqiri’s try in the 46th minute was his first in a Super 14 match since May 4 last year and his first in any rugby since August, breaking an embarrassing drought for the Australian Rugby Union’s high-profile signing.
A bonus-point try in injury time on Saturday gave the ACT Brumbies a glimmer of hope for the Super 14 play-offs as they scored a historic first win over the Otago Highlanders 29-10. The Brumbies needed the fourth-try bonus and at least a 10-point winning margin to get into the top four on points differential over the Waikato Chiefs.
All Black winger Sitiveni Sivivatu scored two tries and flyhalf Stephen Donald kicked 20 points as the Waikato Chiefs beat the Canterbury Crusaders 30-24 in a Super 14 rugby match on Friday. The Chiefs strengthened their claim to a place in the tournament semifinals and weakened Canterbury’s grip on a home play-off advantage as they won at Jade Stadium.
The Canterbury Crusaders, riled by a ”soft” tag, lead the Super 14 field this weekend into a high-stakes final round before the play-offs with six teams still in contention for the last four. The ”soft” jibe was fired by Waikato Chiefs skipper Jono Gibbes ahead of their crucial showdown on Friday which the fifth-placed Chiefs which they must win to keep their hopes alive.
All Black winger Sitiveni Sivivatu has been found guilty of serious misconduct by the New Zealand Rugby Union over an assault on his wife. Sivivatu was discharged without conviction by a New Zealand court over the assault last month after pleading guilty, with the judge saying the publicity surrounding the case was sufficient penalty.
The Waikato Chiefs cemented their position in the Super 14 top four and defended New Zealand’s honour with a 35-27 win over the Coastal Sharks in a high-octane rugby match on Saturday. Importantly for the Chiefs, they closed within three points of the third-placed Sharks as both sides came away with four-try bonus points.
The Canterbury Crusaders lead the Super 14 field into a weekend dominated by do-or-die local derbies that will effectively determine the true contenders for the play-offs. Five of the seven matches will have a distinct bearing on the outcome of the competition, and three involve crucial domestic clashes in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
Normal order was restored in the Super 14 rugby competition over the weekend as perennial favourites Canterbury Crusaders muscled their way to the head of the table. The Crusaders took control of the logjam at the top of the championship when they beat the Otago Highlanders for their fifth consecutive bonus-point win.
Angry Auckland Blues coach David Nucifora has blasted referee Stuart Dickinson for the manner in which his side was dislodged from the top of the Super 14 table by the Coastal Sharks on Saturday. Nucifora risked censure after he had words with the Australian at halftime and then criticised the referee at a post-match press conference.
All Blacks forwards Chris Masoe, Jerry Collins and Jason Eaton each scored tries as the Wellington Hurricanes beat South Africa’s Cheetahs 37-15 in a Super 14 rugby match on Friday. The Hurricanes rushed to a 24-3 first-half lead but the Cheetahs fought back with tries to Gavin Passens and captain Juan Smith.
The Auckland Blues have relegated three frontline All Blacks to the bench for Saturday’s heavyweight Super 14 clash with the Coastal Sharks in a surprise move as the competition intensifies. The Blues head into the weekend on 36 points, four clear of defending champions the Crusaders, with the Sharks third a further two points back.
One of the most heated rivalries in rugby’s Super 14 –- annual matches between Australian sides New South Wales and Queensland — will likely be a playoff for last place when it’s played Saturday in the 11th round. Queensland’s Reds have only seven points from nine matches this season and are mired in an eight-match losing streak stretching back to round one.
Cheetahs fullback Bevin Fortuin was banned for two weeks on Tuesday after being found guilty by a Super 14 rugby judiciary of dangerously playing an opponent without the ball. The charge arose from the South African team’s match against the Auckland Blues at Auckland on Friday.
Centre Isaia Toeava had a hand in three tries as the first-place Auckland Blues moved nine points clear in Super 14 rugby with a 26-8 win over South Africa’s Cheetahs on Friday. Toeava’s clean line breaks created tries for Steve Devine in the third minute, Doug Howlett in the 36th and Anthony Tuitavake in the 49th.
All Blacks winger Doug Howlett became the leading tryscorer in Super 12 or 14 rugby as the Auckland Blues beat the Waikato Chiefs 18-11 in an often-bitter match on Saturday. Howlett’s 61st-minute try was his 58th in 97 matches, carrying him past the record mark of 57 tries previously held by Wallabies wing Joe Roff.
Stopgap flyhalf Piri Weepu kicked four goals from five attempts as the Wellington Hurricanes beat South Africa’s Bulls 17-9 in a Super 14 rugby match on Saturday. The All Blacks scrumhalf, assigned the number 10 jersey as the Hurricanes voted no confidence in their two specialists in the position, landed all four goals in the first half, including a 48m effort into a swirling breeze.
The Otago Highlanders kept their Super 14 rugby semifinal hopes alive on Friday after stopping a late charge by the Central Cheetahs for a 21-17 victory. With eight minutes remaining the Highlanders, previously languishing at 10th place on the table, were cruising towards victory with a 21-10 lead after dominating possession and territory.
A New Zealand university researcher has won a government grant to study the lifestyle habits of head-banging heavy metal fans. The $68 000 grant over three years to student Dave Snell will allow him to carry out his study, entitled "The Everyday Life of Bogans: Identity and Community Among Heavy Metal Fans".
The pressure is on the table-topping Auckland Blues and second-placed Coastal Sharks this weekend as they take to the road with neither yet guaranteed a home Super 14 rugby semifinal. The Sharks have the tougher assignment, playing five of their last six matches away, starting with the Western Force in Perth on Friday.