2006 Air New Zealand Cup
The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from ''Repechage A'' and ''B'' joined with teams from the ''Top Six'' who entered the quarter-finals, with the winners going through to the semi-finals. The winner of each semi-final qualified for the final, which was contested between Waikato and Wellington, with Waikato winning 37–31 to win the first Air New Zealand Cup title. This season was the first of the expanded competition, which has succeeded the First Division of the National Provincial Championship. It also saw the introduction of four new teams, Hawke's Bay, Counties Manukau, Manawatu and the newly formed Tasman (a merger of Nelson Bays and Marlborough). On 3 June 2006, the Commerce Commission accepted the NZRU proposal of a salary cap for the Air New Zealand Cup. This was mainly so that the talent pool of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coin Toss
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government. Coins often have images, numerals, or text on them. ''Obverse'' and its opposite, ''reverse'', refer to the two flat faces of coins and medals. In this usage, ''obverse'' means the front face of the object and ''reverse'' means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called ''heads'', because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse ''tails''. Coins are usually made of metal or an alloy, or sometimes of man-made materials. They are usually disc shaped. Coins, made of valuable metal, are stored in large quantities as bullion coins. Other coins are used as money in everyday transactions, circulating alongside banknotes. Usually the highest value ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saimone Taumoepeau
Saimone Taumoepeau (born 21 December 1979 in Ha'apai, Tonga) is a professional rugby union player in France. He is the younger brother of Tevita Taumoepeau. Career Born in Tonga, Taumoepeau emigrated to New Zealand in 1997. Taumoepeau was a shock selection in the 2004 end-of-year All Blacks squad after having only made his debut that season in provincial rugby's Air New Zealand Cup and having yet to play Super Rugby. He first made his name as a loosehead prop, but made his debut as a hooker for the Junior All Blacks. He played his rugby for Auckland at provincial level and the Blues at Super 14 level before moving to French club Toulon. While considered to be on the smaller side of the scale compared to most international props in terms of physical size, Taumoepeau has made a reputation for being a devastating scrummager via technique and brute strength. He also proved to be a reliable hooker for both Auckland, the Blues and at Junior All Blacks level. Taumoepeau signed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lachie Munro
Lachlan Hamish Munro (born 27 November 1986) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Munro is a versatile player and he is capable of covering every position in the backline. Munro attended Auckland Grammar School. In 2007 Munro played for the New Zealand 7s side and also the New Zealand under 21s side. He also played for Auckland in the National Provincial Championship. 2008, Munro moved north and notably played for the Northland union. Munro was the leading points scorer for the 2010 ITM Cup with 172 points from 6 tries, 32 conversions and 26 penalties in 13 matches. Munro appeared for the Blues in the 2009 and 2010 Super 14, travelling directly to many games despite not being selected in the initial Blues squads. Munro debuted against the Sharks in 2009. Munro was selected for the Blues full squad for the first time for 2011, and remained a squad member in 2012. He then left New Zealand to join French Top 14 team CA Bordeaux-Bègles Gironde for the 2012–13 se ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brad Mika
Bradley Moni Mika (born 2 June 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player. His position is lock. He was educated at St Peter's College. He made his provincial debut for Auckland in 2000, his Super Rugby debut for Crusaders in 2002, and his international debut in the same year. In 2007, after stints with the Crusaders, Blues and Hurricanes, he headed overseas, playing in France and Japan. In 2011 he re-signed with the Blues. Mika played three tests for the All Blacks in 2002. He made his debut against England and played his last test against Wales. His career ended in 2012 when he had his fifth knee surgery, but was considered far too young for knee reconstructions. He was Malaysian Rugby National head Coach from 2015-2021. Won the Asian first Division 2016 & 2017. In 2021/22, he returned to NZ to complete season 2 of ''Match Fit''. On episode 1, he didn't participate in the Bronco Test, a 1km agility and endurance test with 30 changes of directions at the 22m, 50m and full lengt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jamie Helleur
Jamie Helleur (born 21 November 1983) Scrum.com is a former New Zealand-born Samoan player who last played for the in the . He played as a and represented [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paul Honiss
Paul Gerard Honiss (born 18 June 1963) is a retired rugby union referee from Hamilton, New Zealand. Honiss held the record of the most test matches refereed (46) when he retired as an international rugby union referee in July 2008. That record has since been surpassed by Jonathan Kaplan. He first started refereeing in 1984, making his international referee debut in a 1997 Rugby World Cup qualifier between Tahiti and the Cook Islands. Honiss was subsequently selected to officiate at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, and the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. He was also selected as a referee for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. During the 2007 World Cup Honiss equaled Welshman Derek Bevan's record for most Tests as a referee when he took charge of his 44th Test, a Pool D match between Argentina and Ireland on 30 September. He surpassed Bevan when he presided over the third-place match between Argentina and France on 19 October. His final match in charge was between Australi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Napier, New Zealand
Napier ( ; mi, Ahuriri) is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay Region, Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a Napier Port, seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Araucaria heterophylla, Norfolk Pines and extensive Art Deco architecture. Napier is sometimes referred to as the "Nice of the Pacific Ocean, Pacific". The population of Napier is about About south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings. These two neighbouring cities are often called "The Bay Cities" or "The Twin Cities" of New Zealand, with the two cities and the surrounding towns of Havelock North and Clive, New Zealand, Clive having a combined population of . The City of Napier has a land area of and a population density of 540.0 per square kilometre. Napier is the nexus of the largest wool centre in the Southern Hemisphere, and it has the primary export seaport for northeastern New Zealand – which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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McLean Park
McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby union. It is one of the largest cricket grounds in New Zealand. McLean Park is a sports ground of international standards which includes the main outdoor stadium and the indoor Rodney Green Centennial Events Centre. The home teams for this ground are the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union and Central Districts Cricket Association. The two ends of the stadium are named the Centennial Stand End and Embankment End. Its close proximity to the International Date Line makes it the world's easternmost Test match ground. Ground McLean Park is on Latham Street in Napier South, about one kilometre south of the Napier CBD. It was initially named 'Sir Donald McLean Park' by an act of Parliament after Sir Douglas McLean (also spelt Maclean) donated ten acres of land as a memorial to his father in 1910. In cricket, the ground is primarily a one-day venue with square dimensions that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ben Blair
Ben Austin Blair (born 26 March 1979 in Westport, New Zealand) is a former rugby union footballer. He played four tests for New Zealand. He scored 37 points on his All Blacks debut against Ireland A in 2001 at Ravenhill in Belfast; however, as this was not a test match he was not capped. His first test match appearance came in November that year against Scotland. Blair made his Canterbury debut in 1999 and his Crusaders debut in 2001. He won the Super 12 with the Crusaders in 2002, as well as the NPC and the Ranfurly Shield with Canterbury. He also scored an NPC First Division record of 37 points for Canterbury, against Counties Manukau in only his fourth NPC game. In 2006, he moved to the Highlanders, before moving to the Cardiff Blues, with whom he played between 2007 and 2012. During his time in Cardiff he scored 1078 points, making him the all-time top points scorer for the team. He scored two tries for Cardiff Blues, in the EDF Energy Cup final against Gloucester ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Campbell Johnstone
Campbell Johnstone (born 7 January 1980) is a New Zealand international rugby union player who plays for Biarritz Olympique in the Top 14. In December 2012 he joined Welsh regional team Ospreys until the end of the 2012/13 season, going straight into their 38-man Heineken Cup squad and making his debut the same week against Toulouse. He played for the All Blacks in 2005 in which he played 3 tests and made his debut against Fiji and his latest test was against the British and Irish Lions. His position is prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct .... References External linksCrusaders profile* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Campbell 1980 births New Zealand international rugby union players Living people People from Waipukurau New Zealand rugby union players Biarritz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stephen Brett
Stephen Brett (born 23 November 1985) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He is the head coach for Rugby ATL in Major League Rugby (MLR). Playing career Brett is a versatile back whose preferred position is first five-eighth, although he can also play second five-eighth and fullback. He is the stepson of former Canterbury and New Zealand centre Victor Simpson. He has worked on improving his goal kicking and defensive skills, which have led some to suggest Brett's primary weakness is in his defence, thus impeding his progress to higher levels. Super 14 Brett made his Super Rugby debut in 2006 for the Crusaders but had to wait until the following season to make his mark. With regular first-five Daniel Carter being unavailable for much of the season due to the World Cup conditioning program, Brett seized his chance in the number 10 jersey and finished 2007 as the Crusader's top scorer with 90 points. He continued his good form into the 2008 competition, scoring a try and pickin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |