The Crusaders set themselves up for a fifth Super 12 rugby title by crushing the hapless Hurricanes 47-7 in Christchurch on Friday. While the Crusaders started favourites for the semifinal at Jade Stadium, few would have predicted such a one-sided affair, with the hosts scoring six tries and very nearly keeping a clean sheet.
A state of emergency remained in force in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand on Thursday as authorities and residents started counting the cost of flash flooding that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people and destroyed or damaged dozens of houses.
All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw will lead the Canterbury Crusaders in their Super 12 rugby semifinal against the Wellington Hurricanes at Christchurch on Friday. He was confirmed in the Crusaders’ starting line-up on Wednesday, taking the place of Johnny Leo’o, who scored two tries in the win over the Hurricanes.
New Zealand will bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup after the rugby union secured government backing, New Zealand Rugby Union chairperson Jock Hobbs said on Wednesday. Hobbs said the New Zealand bid, which will be lodged with the International Rugby Board before Friday’s deadline, will be ”comprehensive and compelling”.
A beachcomber called police to report a grisly find while walking on Auckland’s Eastern Beach at the weekend — ”what appeared to be a set of severed male genitalia, including penis and testicles”, as the police log recorded it. In fact, the Dominion Post newspaper reported on Monday, the suspected male appendage was found to be a form of marine life.
An aluminium police baton wielded by the leader of a New Zealand police riot squad during mass demonstrations against a South African rugby tour in 1981 has been sold at an auction for more than NZ 000 (Â 600), it was announced on Friday.
The New South Wales Waratahs and Wellington Hurricanes will face traditional stumbling blocks as they attempt to secure play-off places on Friday in Super 12 rugby. The 11th — and second-last — regular round of the competition serves up a number of derby contests that will determine how the six teams in play-off contention compress themselves into four semifinal places.
The ACT Brumbies’ chances of remaining Super 12 rugby champions could end in this weekend’s 10th round. The injury-hit Brumbies, on a four-game losing streak and with 20 points from eight games, are tied for sixth place on a crowded championship table. They play the fifth-place Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday.
A teenage soccer player almost froze to death during a club match at Featherston, 70km north of the capital Wellington on Sunday, a newspaper reported. Azim Sheikh (19) suffered severe hypothermia and had stopped breathing when he reached hospital after the match between Wairarapa United and Featherston.
A British police officer investigating allegations of child sex abuse on Pitcairn Island tried to extract information from an islander by getting him drunk, judges in New Zealand have been told. The evidence was given during a sitting in Auckland of the Pitcairn Supreme Court, which is hearing appeals by six islanders against their convictions last October for rape and other sexual offences against underage girls.
The Otago Highlanders hit the Wellington Hurricanes with an early bluster to score two tries within 15 minutes and then hung on for a 26-16 win, which improves their chances of making the Super 12 play-offs. The Hurricanes, 14-6 down at half-time, got within reach before a late drop goal by Nick Evans put the result beyond doubt.
A New Zealand teenager was stopped three times for drunk-driving last weekend but police had no power to confiscate his licence, a report said on Wednesday. Police Sergeant Tony Mumford told the Waikato Times newspaper the licence confiscation laws were aimed at offenders with more than twice the legal blood alcohol limit and not at repeat offenders.
New Zealand ended a miserable 12 months of Test cricket when they comprehensively outplayed Sri Lanka to win the second Test by an innings and 38 runs inside four days in Wellington on Thursday and take the series 1-0. The win was set up by a magnificent 224 from Lou Vincent.
A magnificent double century from Lou Vincent put New Zealand firmly in command of the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka at stumps on the third day. Vincent’s 224 was the seventh-highest Test innings by a New Zealander and provided the backbone of New Zealand’s 522 for nine declared.
An evangelist church pastor in New Zealand has apologised for making flippant remarks about Pope John Paul II to parishioners during his sermon on the day he died, The Nelson Mail newspaper reported on Tuesday. Pastor Brent Liebezeit, of the Annesbrook Church, in the South Island city of Nelson, said: ”He looked pretty much dead when he was speaking for years, really.”
Wallabies fullback Mat Rogers missed the conversion of Phil Waugh’s last-minute try to allow the Wellington Hurricanes to hang on to a 26-24 win over the New South Wales Waratahs on Sunday. The Waratahs remained without a win in Wellington in the 10 years of the Super 12 but left the match with two bonus points.
The Chiefs left the Sharks floundering in Hamilton on Saturday and hammered the South Africans 40-5 in their Super 12 rugby match. The Chiefs scored six tries and posted their second win of the season to lift themselves off the bottom of the table. While the Sharks shored up their defence after the break, they rarely threatened and were rewarded with just a solitary late try to Jaco Gouws.
The Highlanders continued their winning streak and consigned the ACT Brumbies to a third straight defeat with a nail-biting 19-18 Super 12 rugby win in Dunedin on Friday. A late Brumbies assault on the Highlanders line wasn’t successful and their poor record at Carisbrook continued, as did their faltering season.
All Black and Auckland Blues lock Ali Williams lost his appeal on Thursday against his six-week ban handed down for stomping on Canterbury Crusaders captain Richie McCaw during a Super 12 match on March 19. Blues chief executive David White called the six-week ban against Williams ”excessive”.
The Stormers have made four changes to their Super 12 rugby team to play the Hurricanes at Palmerston North on Friday. Coach Gert Smal on Wednesday announced two changes in the outside backs and two in the forwards as his team chase their first win in the final match of a four-game overseas tour.
The Northern Bulls ripped apart the form book as they scored their first win of the season with an upset 21-12 victory over the previously unbeaten Wellington Hurricanes in New Zealand on Saturday. There were two tries apiece but the difference was with the intensity of the Bulls’ defence.
All Blacks pair Doug Howlett and Tony Woodcock will make their first Super 12 rugby appearances of the season for the Blues against the Chiefs at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, on Saturday. There are two other changes from the team who sneaked an 18-15 win over the Queensland Reds on Friday.
The Auckland Blues appear likely to continue with their no-frills, conservative game plan as they attempt to rebuild their reputation in rugby’s Super 12. The Blues used a notably restrained — free of their typical razzle-dazzle — when they beat the Otago Highlanders 30-14 in the tournament’s opening round last weekend.
New Zealand failed to make the most of their good start in the one-day cricket series against Australia, after an 84-run opening stand by Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming ended with the side all-out for 233 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Tuesday.
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/ 28 February 2005
Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his New Zealand counterpart Stephen Fleming came to the defence of speed bowler Brett Lee on Monday over allegations of dangerous bowling. New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum was involved in an angry exchange with Lee during Saturday’s match in Auckland after he was struck on the arm by a waist high full toss from the Australian.
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/ 23 February 2005
South African teams have yet to break the Australasian lock on the Super 12, and 2005 offers a final chance before the southern hemisphere’s premier provincial rugby championship expands. A year before a fifth African franchise and a fourth from Australia join the competition, South Africa’s outlook on this Super 12 campaign is tinged with optimism.
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/ 17 February 2005
An environmental protester facing indecent exposure charges arrived at Auckland’s District Court naked — but dressed before he entered the courtroom on Thursday. Computer technician Simon Oosterman (24) was charged during the Auckland Naked Bike Ride last Sunday, an event he organised to protest society’s dependence on the car.
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/ 16 February 2005
Backless panties that do not show above the rear of low-rider jeans have been invented by a woman in Australia, news reports said on Wednesday. Jan Digney, originally from New Zealand, said she was ”blown away” by reaction to her scrap of an invention, which was featured on New Zealand television.
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/ 9 February 2005
Former All Blacks manager Andrew Martin on Wednesday claimed New Zealand rugby’s binge-drinking culture threatens to undermine the national team’s physical conditioning. Martin, a former colonel with the Special Air Services, said he was astounded by the amount of drinking among the All Blacks when he was the team’s manager.
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/ 7 February 2005
The Cook Islands appeared to have escaped the worst of Cyclone Meena despite earlier fears of widespread destruction, the New Zealand high commissioner to Rarotonga said on Monday. The cyclone battered houses on the islands, cut power and brought down trees but there were no reports of injury.
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/ 6 February 2005
Tourists and citizens on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific headed for emergency centres and high ground on Sunday as Cyclone Meena bore down on them packing winds gusting to 255kph, officials said. An alert from the Fiji weather centre warned of waves up to 11m high striking areas round the main islands.
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/ 4 February 2005
Veteran Springbok Sevens player Fabien Juries, who missed the first two tournaments of the current IRB Sevens Series because of an ankle injury, scored his 100th try against Scotland in South Africa’s 31-7 victory in the opener at the Wellington tournament on Friday.