Yes it is about rugby - watch it all the way through.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
New season brings new websites
Hello for 2010. The start of the All Blacks season is coming up fast. Most of the All Blacks are now playing in the Super 14 competition to gear themselves up for another punishing year.
I have decided to create some new websites to allow maximum exposure to the All Blacks and rugby brand in general. These sites will be dedicated to bring you, the rugby supporters, high quality products at good prices.
The two new websites are as follows:
New Zealand Rugby - http://www.new-zealand-rugby.com
Rugby Jerseys - http://www.rugbyjerseys.co.nz
Both websites are packed full of rugby jerseys, rugby shirts and rugby merchandise in the lines of the All Blacks, Super 14, Rugby Girl, Aroha Clothing and of course the Rugby World Cup range.
I hope you will enjoy these sites.
I have decided to create some new websites to allow maximum exposure to the All Blacks and rugby brand in general. These sites will be dedicated to bring you, the rugby supporters, high quality products at good prices.
The two new websites are as follows:
New Zealand Rugby - http://www.new-zealand-rugby.com
Rugby Jerseys - http://www.rugbyjerseys.co.nz
Both websites are packed full of rugby jerseys, rugby shirts and rugby merchandise in the lines of the All Blacks, Super 14, Rugby Girl, Aroha Clothing and of course the Rugby World Cup range.
I hope you will enjoy these sites.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
That's it for the year
Image via Wikipedia
Well the final game in a, once again, very busy year for the All Blacks has ended. The game against the Barbarians wasn't the result we were looking for heading into Christmas, but it was a great chance for the new breed of All Blacks to get some match time. The Barbarians won 25 to 18.
Out of a very busy 14 test match year, the All Blacks won 10 and lost 4. The losses were 1 to France on the 13th of June (not a good start to the test season) and the other 3 losses were against a very strong South African side.
There have been some great improvements over the year and some new talent to get excited about. Zac Guildford will be in the All Blacks for some time to come I predict. Unless of course he is injured which will be a shame, but that boy has got talent and speed. Isaac Ross was another "newbie" to shine this season. He wasn't picked for the end of year tour as he was told he needed to do some strength training. In some respects it is a good thing but there is no better way to gain match and test experience (and game strength) while playing against strong opposition, rather than in the gym every day. Still, he will be another one that will be around for quite some time.
Yes, I will be the first to admit, the All Blacks did not have a vintage year. The best game this year was against France in Marseille. The All Blacks looked like the All Blacks of old. Passes were held onto, kicks (when there were any) were accurate, and the hits were hard. Once again, it came back to the lack of kicking where aimless kicks just gave the precious ball away to the opposition. The current rules have something to do with this but as we saw from the game agianst France, if you run with the ball in hand, you will create opportunities resulting in tries. I would much rather see our score go up in 5's and 7's rather than in 3's - boring!
It is now time for the coaches and the players to give rugby a rest for a couple months. Yes, the Super 14 starts again on the 12th of February. Crickey, that's still cricket season! But I believe that most of the All Blacks will be rested for a few weeks to give them a decent break.
Let's hope the All Blacks don't peak too early and once again miss out in the Rugby World Cup. Speaking of the RWC, I have a new web site devoted to the Rugby World Cup which will be held here in New Zealand. The web site is here: New Zealand 2011 Rugby World Cup. I hope to see you there.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Final test...best performance by far!
The All Blacks played France on Saturday 28th of November and finally showed what being an All Black is all about. The All Blacks won 39 - 12.
The handbrake was finally let go as the All Blacks showed what the critics and the rugby fans wanted to see - TRIES! And they were good quality tries too. At times, it looked like a vintage All Blacks team with passes sticking, players finding the gaps and wingers that actually looked fast. The scrums were under pressure again but it went both ways. One scrum resulting in an All Blacks try.
Sitiveni Sivivatu once again showed his speed off the mark, waltzing through the French defence and with a bit of slight of hand, allowed Mils Muliaina over for a try.
In the forwards, big bad Brad Thorn played over 1000 minutes for the the All Blacks this year. That man is a machine! Another bug performance from the big man.
And again, it is congratulations to Richie McCaw for taking out the IRB player of the year. Well deserved yet again.
One final game this year for the All Blacks. Not a test match but a big game none the less, against a Barbarians side. If the All Blacks play like they did against France, then the Barbarians have got a lot of work to do to match or even better a side that looked the goods...and then some.
The handbrake was finally let go as the All Blacks showed what the critics and the rugby fans wanted to see - TRIES! And they were good quality tries too. At times, it looked like a vintage All Blacks team with passes sticking, players finding the gaps and wingers that actually looked fast. The scrums were under pressure again but it went both ways. One scrum resulting in an All Blacks try.
Sitiveni Sivivatu once again showed his speed off the mark, waltzing through the French defence and with a bit of slight of hand, allowed Mils Muliaina over for a try.
In the forwards, big bad Brad Thorn played over 1000 minutes for the the All Blacks this year. That man is a machine! Another bug performance from the big man.
And again, it is congratulations to Richie McCaw for taking out the IRB player of the year. Well deserved yet again.
One final game this year for the All Blacks. Not a test match but a big game none the less, against a Barbarians side. If the All Blacks play like they did against France, then the Barbarians have got a lot of work to do to match or even better a side that looked the goods...and then some.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
All Blacks looked dangerous
The All Blacks played England on Saturday and the All Blacks won 19 points to 6.
Firstly, I must say that Jonathan Kaplan the ref made a good job policing the whole game. He was in control from start to finish but was not in the limelight like Stuart Dickinson last week.
The All Blacks were looking dangerous at times especially Sitiveni Sivivatu, who constantly ran past the England players like they were standing still. I think the English were concentrating too much on Dan Carter and totally forgot about all the other players. Not a wise move.
It was boring to see the same old England tactics came out. The ball very rarely got out to the wings. Jonny Wilkinson needs to learn how to run the ball and not try to drop kick the thing out of the park. One bad example of this was when England were on attack in the 22 meters and they had numbers out to the left. The ball got to Jonny and he decided to try a drop goal which, of course, totally missed. So all the hard work that was done, ended up as nothing. Jonny needs to hang up his rugby boots and start a career in soccer.
The All Blacks looked good when they ran the ball, especially Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu. Richie McCaw had another great game. How does he keep going and going. Check that man for Energizer Batteries please!
This game was a good warm up to the clash against France next week. It is always a mystery as to what game the French will bring. But you can count on an entertaining match.
And the best part about the game, it will be shown at 8:45am on Sunday morning here rather than the aweful 3:30am starts that we have had to cope with recently. Yay for sleep ins!
And remember, please visit the #1 All Blacks Rugby Fan site for all the latest news and views about the All Blacks. You can find All Blacks rugby shirts jerseys and everything else at the All Blacks shop.
Firstly, I must say that Jonathan Kaplan the ref made a good job policing the whole game. He was in control from start to finish but was not in the limelight like Stuart Dickinson last week.
The All Blacks were looking dangerous at times especially Sitiveni Sivivatu, who constantly ran past the England players like they were standing still. I think the English were concentrating too much on Dan Carter and totally forgot about all the other players. Not a wise move.
It was boring to see the same old England tactics came out. The ball very rarely got out to the wings. Jonny Wilkinson needs to learn how to run the ball and not try to drop kick the thing out of the park. One bad example of this was when England were on attack in the 22 meters and they had numbers out to the left. The ball got to Jonny and he decided to try a drop goal which, of course, totally missed. So all the hard work that was done, ended up as nothing. Jonny needs to hang up his rugby boots and start a career in soccer.
The All Blacks looked good when they ran the ball, especially Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu. Richie McCaw had another great game. How does he keep going and going. Check that man for Energizer Batteries please!
This game was a good warm up to the clash against France next week. It is always a mystery as to what game the French will bring. But you can count on an entertaining match.
And the best part about the game, it will be shown at 8:45am on Sunday morning here rather than the aweful 3:30am starts that we have had to cope with recently. Yay for sleep ins!
And remember, please visit the #1 All Blacks Rugby Fan site for all the latest news and views about the All Blacks. You can find All Blacks rugby shirts jerseys and everything else at the All Blacks shop.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
All Blacks team named
The All Blacks team has been named for the test match against England on Saturday 21 November.
Mils Muliaina, Zac Guildford, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (captain), Adam Thomson, Tom Donnelly, Brad Thorn, Owen Franks, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Corey Flynn/Aled de Malmanche, John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Jerome Kaino, Andy Ellis, Stephen Donald, Tamati Ellison.
It is great to see that Owen Franks and Zac Guildford are getting starting roles in the test. This may spark the established members of the team to "pull finger" and produce what the All Blacks fans want - a true All Blacks performance.
Mils Muliaina, Zac Guildford, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (captain), Adam Thomson, Tom Donnelly, Brad Thorn, Owen Franks, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: Corey Flynn/Aled de Malmanche, John Afoa, Anthony Boric, Jerome Kaino, Andy Ellis, Stephen Donald, Tamati Ellison.
It is great to see that Owen Franks and Zac Guildford are getting starting roles in the test. This may spark the established members of the team to "pull finger" and produce what the All Blacks fans want - a true All Blacks performance.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Second-stringers do the job
A second-string All Blacks side met the Italy team at the famous Stadio Giuseppe Meazza stadium, or more commonly referred to as San Siro. The All Blacks won 20 points to 6.
Now, let me put things straight first. Graham Henry and the team will probably debate that this is not an All Blacks 'B' team that played Italy. Well, the simple fact, it was. The stars of All Blacks rugby were not out to play, instead probably relaxing somewhere in Milan surrounded by beautiful people. It is strange, the NZRFU get their panties in a twist when visiting sides send a second string side down-under, and yet when the All Blacks go overseas, and play teams like Italy, we play a 'B' team to 'protect' our top players. This shows a lack of respect and arrogance really to the host team.
80,000+ people in the San Siro stadium paid good money to see a top All Blacks team, not a team of 'nearly theres'. No disrespect to the All Blacks team, but this is what it seemed to be from watching the build up to the game and the game itself. Come on the NZRFU and the coaches - give some respect to the opposition team.
Anyway, the game was a very stop, start affair with plenty of penalties and way too many reset scrums. The last 6 minutes of the game was reset scrum after reset scrum - that was it. How boring was that! The game really didn't live up to any great heights as a whole unfortunately. A shame, as the stadium crowd was superb and the atmosphere seemed electric.
I wonder if we will produce a second-string side for the game against England - yeah right!
Now, let me put things straight first. Graham Henry and the team will probably debate that this is not an All Blacks 'B' team that played Italy. Well, the simple fact, it was. The stars of All Blacks rugby were not out to play, instead probably relaxing somewhere in Milan surrounded by beautiful people. It is strange, the NZRFU get their panties in a twist when visiting sides send a second string side down-under, and yet when the All Blacks go overseas, and play teams like Italy, we play a 'B' team to 'protect' our top players. This shows a lack of respect and arrogance really to the host team.
80,000+ people in the San Siro stadium paid good money to see a top All Blacks team, not a team of 'nearly theres'. No disrespect to the All Blacks team, but this is what it seemed to be from watching the build up to the game and the game itself. Come on the NZRFU and the coaches - give some respect to the opposition team.
Anyway, the game was a very stop, start affair with plenty of penalties and way too many reset scrums. The last 6 minutes of the game was reset scrum after reset scrum - that was it. How boring was that! The game really didn't live up to any great heights as a whole unfortunately. A shame, as the stadium crowd was superb and the atmosphere seemed electric.
I wonder if we will produce a second-string side for the game against England - yeah right!
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