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2008 Tri-Nations
The 2008 Tri Nations Series was the thirteenth annual Tri Nations competition between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The All Blacks won the series on 13 September 2008 after defeating Australia in the last match of the series. Background This was the first Tri Nations tournament after South Africa's 2007 Rugby World Cup victory, and they went into the competition as the top team in the IRB World Rankings (having ended a 175-week run for New Zealand). On 30 June 2008, before the tournament began, New Zealand and Australia were ranked second and third in the world respectively. The All Blacks went into the series with a world record 29 successive home victories, and South Africa with a 13 match winning streak. By the end of the tournament New Zealand had retaken top place in the IRB World Rankings. After 26 weeks at number one, South Africa slipped to second. Australia remained third. The final match of the Bledisloe Cup series be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Carter
Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, and is considered by many experts as the greatest ever first five-eighth (fly-half) in the history of the game. He was named the International Rugby Board Player of the Year in 2005, 2012 and 2015 (equaling the record three awards of Richie McCaw) and has won three Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders, and nine Tri-Nations and Rugby Championships with the All Blacks. Carter injured his groin while doing kicking practice during the 2011 Rugby World Cup but was a key member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of 21 players to have won multiple Rugby World Cups. In the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final against Australia, he kicked four penalties, two conversions and a drop goal, and was named the man of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrum (rugby Union)
In rugby union a scrum is a means of restarting play after a minor infringement. It involves up to eight players from each team, known as the pack or forward pack, binding together in three rows and interlocking with the three opposing teams front row. At this point the ball is fed into the gap between the two forward packs and they both compete for the ball to win possession. Teams can be penalised for intentionally causing the scrum to collapse, and for not putting the ball into the scrum correctly. A scrum is most commonly awarded when the ball is knocked forward, or passed forward, or when a ball becomes trapped in a ruck or maul. Because of the physical nature of scrums, injuries can occur, especially in the front row. Overview To prepare for a scrum, each team's eight forwards (referred to as the ''pack'' or ''forward pack'') bind together in three rows — the front row, second row and back row. The front row is composed of the two ''props'' and the '' hooker''. To th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conrad Smith
Conrad Gerard Smith (born 12 October 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who played predominantly at centre. He captained the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, and played for New Zealand from 2004 until 2015. He was a key member of New Zealand's 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winning teams. Following the 2015 World Cup he retired from international rugby and took up a contract with in France, before retiring in 2018. After retiring, he began a defence coaching role with Pau, and extended his contract as the club's High Performance Manager in 2020. He eventually returned to New Zealand in 2021, but still worked for Dublin-based International Rugby Players. Early life Smith played in various Taranaki age group teams. He attended St Joseph's Catholic School and Francis Douglas Memorial College, both in New Plymouth. Besides rugby he also excelled in cricket and was known as a fast bowler; his current nickname "Snakey" originated from his fielding which his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudi Wulf
Rudi Wulf (born 2 February 1984) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for Lyon in the French Top 14. He previously played for Toulon and Castres Olympique. Wulf has also played for North Harbour in the Air New Zealand Cup and the Auckland-based Blues in the Super 14 competition. He played for Marist in the North Harbour premier competition. Wulf is regarded as a three quarter, in that he can play wing, fullback and outside centre. He attended high school at Rosmini College where he played 1st XV rugby alongside fellow former All Black, Anthony Boric. Wulf's career almost ended before it began when, in June 2005, he suffered a serious injury by diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool and fracturing vertebrae in his neck. He made a full recovery. He is related to French rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen player ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mils Muliaina
Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina (born 31 July 1980) is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a centre and on the wing. Born in Salelesi, Samoa, Muliaina moved with his family to Invercargill, New Zealand, at the age of three. At international level Muliaina played for from 2003 until his retirement after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Muliaina became only the second All Black to reach 100 caps during the World Cup quarter-final against in 2011. He scored 33 tries for New Zealand and remains among the top 30 highest try scorers in rugby union. Early career He first attended Cargill High School then Southland Boys' High School, where he proved proficient enough at rugby to be offered a scholarship to Kelston Boys' High School in Auckland, in 1998. Subsequently, Muliaina played for the NZ Secondary Schools XV, the team winning that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Rugby Union
Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a member of World Rugby. Rugby Australia has eight member unions, representing each state and the Australian Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. It also manages national representative rugby union teams, including the Wallabies and the Wallaroos. History Until the end of the 1940s, the New South Wales Rugby Union, as the senior rugby organisation in Australia, was responsible for administration of a national representative rugby team, including all tours. However, the various state unions agreed that the future of rugby in Australia would be better served by having a national administrative body and so the Australian Rugby Football Union was formed at a conference in Sydney in 1945, acting initially in an advisory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuart Dickinson
Stuart Dickinson (born 19 July 1968) is an Australian former Rugby union referee. Dickinson has refereed in many rugby competitions, including the Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations, Six Nations, international friendlies, Super 12/14/15, and Shute Shield. He was a referee at the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He is Australia's most-capped referee, and the only Australian referee to appear at three Rugby World Cups. Referee career Dickinson commenced refereeing at the age of 12 while also playing fly-half and fullback for Epping Boys' High School. He was employed full-time with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) from 1996 to 2011. Prior to 1996, he worked as a site manager for Linfox, a transport company as well as with the New South Wales Police Force. He made his international refereeing debut in 1997 in a Rugby World Cup qualifier between Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. He refereed his first international match between two Tier 1 nations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metro area, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the List of national capitals by latitude, world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed. Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century, with initial settlement by Māori people, Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield (New Zealand politician), Edward Wakefield ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wellington Regional Stadium
Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situated close to major transport facilities (such as Wellington railway station) north of the CBD. It was built on reclaimed railway land, which was surplus to requirements. The stadium also serves as a large-capacity venue for concerts and is known colloquially as "The Cake Tin". History The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and was the first bowl stadium built in New Zealand. It was built to replace Athletic Park, which was no longer considered adequate for international events due to its location and state of disrepair. The stadium was also built to provide a larger-capacity venue for One Day International cricket matches, due to the Basin Reserve ground losing such matches to larger stadiums in other parts of the coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butch James
Andrew David "Butch" James (born 8 January 1979) is a South African former professional rugby union player who represented 40 times and was a member of the team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup. His usual position was fly-half, though he also played inside centre. James retired at the end of 2013 and joined the Varsity Shield side as backline and kicking coach. He has taken up amateur mountain biking and has now completed two Absa Cape Epics. The Untamed African MTB Race takes 1200 riders through the scenic Western Cape region of South African each March. The two-person team stage race covers approximately 700 km and has 15 000m of vertical ascent. Early life James was born on 8 January 1979 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa and was schooled at Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Although his first names are 'Andrew David', he has been known as 'Butch' since his grandmother gave him the nickname as an infant. Sharks career James played for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bryan Habana
Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player who initially played as an outside centre but later on, he shifted to the wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 competition, and for the South Africa national team (the Springboks). Habana was part of the South Africa team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup and was one of the stars of the tournament, his eight tries equalling the single-tournament record set by Jonah Lomu in 1999. He was subsequently named the 2007 IRB Player of the Year. During the 2015 Rugby World Cup Habana equalled Lomu's career record of 15 tries in World Cups. He is in second place among all time test try scorers, with a total of 67 tries. Career Early career Habana was born in Johannesburg and named Bryan Gary Habana, after former Manchester United footballers Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey. Habana was educated at King Edward VII School and Rand Afrikaans University (now kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Kaino
Jerome Kaino (born 6 April 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 2004, he was named IRB International Under-21 player of the year. In 2011, he was named the New Zealand Rugby player of the year, finishing ahead of Richie McCaw and Ma'a Nonu in the voting. He is a key member of 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winning teams, becoming one of only 20 players to have won multiple Rugby World Cups. Having played 137 games with the Blues, he is a Super Rugby centurion. Kaino is considered by many to be one of the game's greats. He is the second U.S. national of Samoan descent to play for the All Blacks. The first was Frank Solomon in 1931. Early life Kaino was born on 6 April 1983 at Lyndon B. Johnson Medical Center in Faga'alu, located in the U.S. territory of American Samoa as the third of six children. In 1987 at the age of 4, he and his family relocated from their home village of Leone, Tutuila, to Papakura, Auckland. After settling in Papakura, he played juni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
