The Roar » All Blacks

Graham Henry’s rugby future confirmed

AAP — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:00:16 +0000

Sir Graham Henry’s post-Rugby World Cup career will centre on developing New Zealand’s high performance coaches at Super Rugby and national provincial championship level.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) confirmed on Thursday that Sir Graham had signed a part-time contract through to the end of next year.

He stepped down as All Blacks coach following their 8-7 win over France in last October’s World Cup final at Eden Park, and has been mulling over his future since.

NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said Sir Graham brought a huge wealth of experience and unparalleled success after eight years at the helm of the All Blacks.

Sir Graham, who coached the All Blacks to 88 wins in 103 Tests, said he was looking forward to the new challenge.

“New Zealand has an outstanding crop of up-and-coming international coaches and, if I can play a small part in helping them develop, then I will.”

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Article link: Graham Henry’s rugby future confirmed. Written by AAP, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Kiwi Cotter candidate for England coach

AAP — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:26:37 +0000

Failed All Blacks coach candidate Vern Cotter has been named as a frontrunner for the top job for England, a British newspaper reports. The New Zealander, who currently coaches the French club Clermont Auvergne, is understood to be one of the leading names up for consideration as England head coach, along with former South Africa [...]

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All Blacks take intuition over information

KingsofCommentary — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:34:05 +0000

In either a brave or an impulsive move only weeks into his tenure at the helm of New Zealand’s First XV, Steve Hansen has already axed a longstanding partnership with high-tech video analysts, Veruso Technologies. For the past four years the company has provided in-depth statistical analysis to the All Blacks brain-centre, delivered by 4am [...]

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Crusaders emerge as favourites for 2012 Super Rugby season

KingsofCommentary — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:21:22 +0000

It’s hard to believe that in only a matter of weeks, another epic season of Super Rugby gets underway. Not so for the players though, who have been subject to brutal pre-season training regimes since November. It is the price of professionalism, though it pays pretty well. Beginning February 24, 15 teams across three nations [...]

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Two years too short for Steve Hansen

David Lord — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:27:27 +0000

Has the NZRU met behind closed doors and inked in Robbie Deans as All Blacks head coach from 2014? That’s the only explanation why Steve Hansen was yesterday named the new head coach for just two years, replacing the retired Graham Henry. And Deans has already been re-appointed Wallaby coach for the next two. A [...]

Article link: Two years too short for Steve Hansen. Written by David Lord, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Steve Hansen is All Blacks coach for the next two years

Spiro Zavos — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:16:37 +0000

The newspaper headlines announcing the NZRU’s appointment of the next All Blacks coach made the obvious point: No Surprise – Steve Hansen Takes All Blacks Helm. Hansen was the obvious person to take over from the old master, Graham Henry who is likely to be knighted in the next New Zealand honours list for breaking [...]

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Early naming for new All Blacks coach

AAP — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:03:36 +0000

The new All Blacks coach will be named earlier than expected, with an announcement to be made on Friday. Graham Henry’s successor had been expected to be named next week but the New Zealand Rugby Union said it wanted the new coach in place before Christmas. World Cup-winning coach Henry stood down following New Zealand’s [...]

Article link: Early naming for new All Blacks coach. Written by AAP, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Guildford’s rugby limbo nears an end

AP — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:01:56 +0000

Troubled All Blacks winger Zac Guildford’s rugby limbo looks to be over. An announcement is expected on Wednesday that Guildford has agreed to undergo alcohol counselling as part of a range of sanctions imposed by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU), Fairfax media said. The decision follows a booze-fuelled binge in Rarotonga last month, in [...]

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Black Caps win a cricket Test for the history books

Spiro Zavos — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:10:28 +0000

Defeating Australia in a cricket Test is the equivalent for the Black Caps of winning a Rugby World Cup tournament for the All Blacks. It is 26 years since New Zealand has won a cricket Test in Australia, two years longer than the All Blacks RWC drought. Like the All Blacks in RWC 2011, too, [...]

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SBW to fight for heavyweight belt

AAP — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:26:25 +0000

All Black Sonny Bill Williams will seek to add a boxing title to his Rugby World Cup winner’s medal when he fights for the New Zealand heavyweight belt next year.

The former rugby league international will fight 33-year-old Richard Tutaki for the vacant title in Hamilton on February 8.

Williams has a clause in his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union which allows him to continue to compete in the ring.

The 26-year-old has had four bouts, winning them all while Tutaki has won 19 of his 41 fights with one draw and 21 losses.

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Final ‘filthy’, French eye-gouging: McCaw

NZPA — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:49:15 +0000

All Black captain Richie McCaw has broken his silence on French eye-gouging in the Rugby World Cup final and says the game had turned “filthy” when it happened. The International Rugby Board did not cite French player Aurelien Rougerie despite video footage showing him raking his fingers across McCaw’s face. It is now looking to [...]

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Kaino wins player of the year award

AAP — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:05:04 +0000

Jerome Kaino saw off the challenge of his All Blacks teammates Ma’a Nonu and captain Richie McCaw to be named New Zealand’s rugby player of the year. Kaino was announced as the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial player of the year at the New Zealand Rugby Union awards dinner in Auckland on Thursday night. Kaino, whose [...]

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Wayne Smith wants England’s top job

KingsofCommentary — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:34:25 +0000

What are the chances that All Black assistant coaches Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen will face off against each other at Rugby World Cup 2015? Hansen at the helm of the All Blacks campaign, while Smith steers the Poms? With England having hosting rights, it is familiar territory for Wayne Smith, and exactly the kind [...]

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Wallabies No.1 after 2012: O’Neill pledges

Adrian Warren — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:07:48 +0000

Australian rugby boss John O’Neill has set the Wallabies the task of knocking New Zealand off their No.1 perch by the end of 2012. Australia retained second spot on the IRB rankings despite a disappointing World Cup, where they finished third behind runners-up France and the champion All Blacks. The ARU board’s annual review is [...]

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New schedule will bring out best in players

dlang30 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:02:06 +0000

The new Rugby Championship to be contested between All Blacks, Wallabies, Springboks and the recently joined Argentina Pumas is something I have been looking forward to for a couple of years now. The IRB have showed their hand by declaring that Argentine players playing in Europe based competitions will be allowed a release from their [...]

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All Blacks furious over drug claims

KingsofCommentary — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:57:54 +0000

Whatever respect former NZRU marketing manager Jack Ralston might have had to this point, it has most certainly been obliterated for his unsubstantiated claims that two All Blacks were on the ‘juice’. In his soon to be launched biography (which I don’t care to name) Ralston states, “People might be stunned by this but I [...]

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Guildford can’t remember drunken night

AAP — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:39:20 +0000

All Blacks winger Zac Guildford has no recollection of a booze-fuelled night in Raratonga during which he is alleged to have punched two men after storming into a bar naked. Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder spoke to the 22-year-old after the incident at the popular Trader Jacks bar on Friday night and said he was ashmamed [...]

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Rugby Championship: a Good Deal or an Ordeal for the teams?

David Lord — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:41:23 +0000

Ace it up fellas, “The Rugby Championship”. That’s the meaningless title given by SANZAR to replace the 16 year-old Tri-Nations of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand with a new tournament including Argentina, kicking off next year. The concept is great, with one reservation: the title is pathetic. The Rugby Championship isn’t indicative of what [...]

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Last seconds of RWC 2011 through the eyes of Kiwis

The Crowd — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:43:53 +0000

Director Julian Shaw now has a happy ending for his highly personal All Blacks documentary ‘Cup of Dreams’, which he began working on four years ago. The Screen Australia film was in production from 2007 to 2011, and detailed the All Blacks build-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, as well as the emotional impact [...]

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Wallaby Tapuai leaves All Blacks behind

Adrian Warren — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:17:38 +0000

Being raised in AFL-mad Melbourne and supporting the All Blacks is hardly the classic path to an Australian rugby union jersey but it worked for squad newcomer Ben Tapuai. The robust 22-year-old Queensland centre was one of three uncapped players chosen in Monday’s 26-man squad for the brief tour that takes in matches against the [...]

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Henry backs Hansen for All Blacks coach

Robert Lowe — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:41:15 +0000

Departing All Blacks coach Graham Henry has argued for continuity to retain knowledge in nominating assistant Steve Hansen as the next man for the job. Henry announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down from the post he has held for the past eight years, a tenure that culminated in New Zealand’s drought-breaking Rugby World [...]

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Graham Henry retires from the All Blacks as their greatest coach

Spiro Zavos — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:55:32 +0000

They say about coaches in any sport that they come in two categories: those about to be sacked and those who will be sacked later on. Graham Henry, the All Blacks coach who broke the ‘choking barrier’ with his side in RWC 2011, has defied the odds. He has effectively retired from coaching at the [...]

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Sonny Bill Williams stays in New Zealand rugby as a Chief

AAP — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:50:31 +0000

All Blacks midfielder Sonny Bill Williams has signed up for another year with New Zealand rugby and is switching his Super Rugby allegiance to the Chiefs. Former NRL star Williams was coy about his playing future while helping the All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup earlier this month, prompting speculation he may head abroad, [...]

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French were a rabble from go to whoa

KTinHK — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:34:51 +0000

After six weeks and 48 matches, the winner of the Rugby World Cup was decided by a single point. Despite holding the number one ranking and home ground advantage, the All Blacks only just scraped home by the slimmest of margins, in a tournament dominated by defense. Antagonism between French coach Lievremont and his players [...]

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The Gall of these (cultured) Gauls

Andrew Sutherland — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:59:04 +0000

Except for an hour-long stopover in Auckland en route to Disneyland many years ago, I’ve never visited New Zealand. But I have been to France twice. And I know I will go there again before I ever venture to the land of our ANZAC brothers. Love does these things to you. I also knew before [...]

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Winners are grinners and losers rewrite their history

The Crowd — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:27:18 +0000

We’re so predictable, aren’t we, us humans? New Zealand has won the 2011 World Cup and will continue to celebrate for a long time to come. And who cares what the rest of us think? Meanwhile, beaten finalists France are already writing the history that French parents will pass down to their children – France [...]

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Will Henry be the unlikely saviour of English rugby?

David Lord — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:59:29 +0000

The All Blacks’ World Cup winning coach Graham Henry is eyeing off England’s Director of Rugby job, or something similar. Although he made it quite clear he wasn’t after Martin Johnson’s job as head coach. Interviewed by the London-based Daily Telegraph, Henry gave every indication his days of All Black coach are almost over. He’ll [...]

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Henry would consider role with English rugby

AFP — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:29:55 +0000

New Zealand coach Graham Henry has said he would be interested in a role with English rugby following his World Cup-winning campaign with the All Blacks, it was reported Thursday. Henry crowned a glittering coaching career on Sunday with victory over France at Eden Park as New Zealand ended their 24-year wait for a World [...]

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Look back to Auckland and the magic of being there

Geoff Lemon — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:00:23 +0000

Wind back to Auckland last Sunday night, and a whole city was wearing black. Across the country of New Zealand, the attire was the same. But this wasn’t mourning. This was the polar opposite. Just last February, the small nation to our east stood united in the solidarity of grief after earthquakes destroyed the historic [...]

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Speculation swirls over alleged eye gouge

AFP — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:40:52 +0000

French centre Aurelien Rougerie won’t have to answer accusations of eye-gouging All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in the closing minutes of the Rugby World Cup final amid swirling speculation over the incident. Video images released by Sky Television in New Zealand show Rougerie’s fingers move across the eyes of McCaw who was lying trapped at [...]

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