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9 November 2015
I travelled to the eighth Rugby World Cup in Great Britain as an Ambassador for Williment Sport Travel of Wellington, New Zealand; I made it to into Cardiff at the quarter-final stage. Before that I posted a regular Rugby World Cup blog. Read more »
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23 September 2014
*By Keith Quinn (from his book Quinn's Quips)* Early in my broadcasting career by 1969 I was deemed sound enough by the bosses of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation to be the regular studio host of the Sports Roundup radio show. It was quite simple broadcasting work and therefore very good for a young bloke to be involved with. But one day I think I played a major role in New Zealand winning a cricket test match! Read on... Read more »
By Keith Quinn Read more »
*This Story by Keith Quinn for keithquinnrugby.com:* The discussion of the end of All Black Keith Murdoch's life has recently become been a cheerless one to absorb. The beginnings of the demise of the tough prop forward's playing career is very well known. Read more »
The small New Zealand town of Te Kuiti, in the aptly-named King Country turned out in June 2017 for what was to be the last public outing for the districts legendary rugby star, the great Sir Colin Meads. I was honoured to be MC for the day and later wrote this story for 'NZTODAY.' Read more »
I watched a lot of Colin Meads playing on the rugby field. I am of the age that can say that. Shamelessly I can say I loved the way Colin Meads changed the game for previously lumbering second row forwards, which I was myself, albeit at a club level only. Meads showed us all another way to play. Read more »
This story first appeared in the excellent *NZToday* Magazine's June-July edition. The author knows it is true as he remembers it. Some family members doubt his recall. Read more »
'To prepare for a really big match you don't have to be in a good mood, or even a bad mood...you just have to be in the right mood!'
He lived most of his life in the far flung East Coast of the North Island but grew to be honoured all over the rugby world.
ANDURAN, JOE
Universitaire de France and France
1 international for France 1910
This player is another of rugby’s unusual internationals from early in the twentieth century.
Joe Anduran, an art dealer, was in his shop in Paris one day when a taxi pulled up outside and several officials of the French Rugby Federation climbed out. Apparently they had just seen the French team depart from the railway station as they headed off to play Wales in Swansea on New Year’s Day, 1910. But only 14 Frenchmen had gone on the train; the 15th was held up in Bordeaux while doing his military service.
So the officials were sent on an urgent errand around Paris to find another forward for the game to be played next day. Their search eventually took them to Joe Anduran’s art shop. Anduran was a useful club player in Paris but nothing more, and at first he thought it was a joke when the strangers asked him if he wanted to play for France the next day. He was persuaded to leave immediately, but he soon found his first obstacle in making the trip to Swansea was not so much the booking on the cross-channel ferry, but his wife!
Madame Anduran, it seems, did not share her husband’s pride in being selected to play for France – she had made arrangements for Joe to do some family visiting with her the next day. However, soon Joe Anduran was on the train for Swansea, where the next day he ran on to St Helen’s field for his debut for France.
Wales won the game by the handsome margin of 49 points to 14. Not surprisingly, Joe Anduran was one of those who was axed by the French selectors in their reshuffle of the badly beaten team and he was never seen again in the French colours.A good story for the history books though!
In which town or city was the first international rugby match played in Wales?
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