KeithQuinnRugby
Thinking and talking about rugby every day for 50+ years
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MY TAKE ON SOME OF THE RUGBY NEWS STORIES WHICH COME INTO MY WORLD.
8 November 2014
Aftermatch Report; New Zealand v England; November 8 2014 Read more »
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6 November 2014
ALL BLACK'S "ENGLISH" TEAM Read more »
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26 October 2014
When I was a skinny kid growing up in the King Country the national radio rugby commentator Winston McCarthy was as well known in our country as the All Blacks themselves or other newsworthy personalities like the Prime Minister, the Governor-General or Olympic athletes. Winston became my broadcast hero... Read more »
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22 September 2014
All of this 'media speak' about the Aaron Cruden late night drinking incident in Auckland last weekend already smacks of not everything about its background being told to we of the rugby public. While it could be said - do we fans have a right to know the full facts - I for one would like to think the full facts ought to come out. They would have in the old days of the media. Now it seems everyone, both NZRU and the media, are often together in on a game of 'shoosh - if we only whisper about this, it won't be as bad as it might be.' Read more »
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10 September 2014
Silly me. I know I should be totally delighted that the All Blacks and Samoa have agreed to play a rugby test in Samoa in July 2015 (and I am) but I heard and saw so many comments from the press conference comments in Wellington which still leave me doubtful that the New Zealand Rugby Union is REALLY as committed, as much as they say, to rugby in the Pacific. Read more »
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2 September 2014
While I was away in Nanjing in mid-August I gather the media in New Zealand radio and rugby gave Pete Montgomery of Newstalk ZB in Auckland a good send off at the end of his sports broadcasting career. Read more »
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The All Blacks began their defence of the William Webb Ellis Trophy...by beating England at Twickenham by 18-12.
VAN VOLLENHOVEN, TOM
Northern Transvaal and South Africa
7 internationals for Sth Africa 1955–56
Acclaimed as a man who might have become South Africa’s finest wing, van Vollenhoven indeed fashioned a reputation as a great try-scoring wing – but it was for St Helen’s at rugby league.
His international rugby career was cruelly brief. After his debut as a centre against the 1955 Lions, van Vollenhoven moved to the wing and promptly became the first player to score three tries in a test in South Africa. In the second test in Australia the next year, he kicked a dropped goal – it was only the second time he had ever attempted one – but his form fell away in New Zealand and while he played eight of the first nine matches, he played only the third test.
The crew-cutted van Vollenhoven was reckoned to be inconsistent, but there was nothing unreliable about him in the matter of scoring tries. In his 19 matches on that long tour, van Vollenhoven scored 16 tries, but was such a natural and instinctive player that selectors found him difficult to fit into a team pattern.
He certainly proved them wrong, or misguided, with St Helen’s.
How many players of Samoan-birth or Samoan heritage have captained the All Blacks in tests? Name them.
What do you think?
Click here to show the answer.