News Comment

MY TAKE ON SOME OF THE RUGBY NEWS STORIES WHICH COME INTO MY WORLD.

Recognition is coming at last for our 'Great One' from the IRB Hall of Fame

9 August 2014

This is great and appropriate really; our great All Black, Sir Colin Meads, for years had been a member of the privately owned International Rugby Hall of Fame - but after the IRB opened up its own website in 2006 Colin was strangely, always ignored. This irked a number of reporters in New Zealand (I can hold my hand up here) who asked 'what was going on?' Read more »

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How the Youth Olympic 7s will work

8 August 2014

The men’s and women’s rugby sevens competitions at Nanjing 2014 will be held at the city’s Youth Olympic Sports Park on 17-20 August, with 72 players taking part in each. Read more »

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The 'Titch 15s All Blacks' - Just How Many Have There Been?

These days life is all about FAQ's; so to clear the air for those people who have often asked me just 'how many 15s All Blacks have first come through the Gordon Tietjens sevens coaching teams?' here is the full and definitive list. Note; While it is true Gordon has been coaching the New Zealand sevens team since 1994 his first involvement with a national sevens selection actually came a year earlier in 1993. Read more »

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Every day there is Rugby History 14 June 1987

Click to show Wales is beaten by 49-6 and NZ go into the 1st Rugby World Cup final.

NZ had to go to Brisbane for this Sunday game; the ABs scored 8 tries to 1! Winning the first World Cup was now only a week away!

A-Z of Rugby

Click to show INTER-HEMISPHERE MATCH

INTER-HEMISPHERE MATCH

This match idea, perhaps for annual playing in the three non-World Cup years, between teams from the Northern and Southern Hemisphere countries, was mooted first in 1999. The fixture, though originally thought to be a good one, had a checkered history in attaining an identity and a date on which to be played. The planned first game, heavily endorsed by the IRB, was originally set down for November 2002 at Cardiff though the venue was later changed to Twickenham.

The game was finally postponed in 2002 without having been played. Though the major nations of the world officially endorsed the principle of the game much informal quibbling emerged about its merit and placement.

The idea resurfaced in 2004 as a fundraiser to assist the United Nations World Food programme to support its work aiding victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Representative sides of the Northern and Southern hemispheres played at Twickenham in London in May 2005. The final score was Northern Hemisphere 19 – 54 Southern Hemisphere.

[A privately organised game between Northern and Southern Hemisphere teams had earlier been played in Hong Kong in March 1991. The Northern Hemisphere team, captained by Gary Whetton of New Zealand beat the Southern Hemisphere, led by Gavin Hastings of Scotland by 39-4]