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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 coac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hāwera
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established in 1866, and the town of Hāwera grew up around a blockhouse in the early 1870s. Hāwera is 75 kilometres south of New Plymouth on New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highway 3 and 30 minutes' drive from Mount Taranaki. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 45, State Highway 45, known as Surf Highway 45 for its numerous surf beaches. State Highway 45 passes through Manaia, Taranaki, Manaia, Ōpunake and Oakura en route to New Plymouth. Kaponga is a 20-minute drive to the north-west. The Marton–New Plymouth Line railway passes through Hāwera and has served the town since 1 August 1881, though it has been freight-only since the cancellation of the last railcar passenger service between Wellington and New Plymouth on 30 July 1977. Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers in New Zealand, peaking at over 200,000 copies in 2006, although circulation of the daily ''Herald'' had declined to 100,073 copies on average by September 2019. Its main circulation area is the Auckland region. It is also delivered to much of the upper North Island including Northland, Waikato and King Country. History ''The New Zealand Herald'' was founded by William Chisholm Wilson, and first published on 13 November 1863. Wilson had been a partner with John Williamson in the ''New Zealander'', but left to start a rival daily newspaper as he saw a business opportunity with Auckland's rapidly growing population. He had also split with Williamson because Wilson supported the war against the Māori (which the ''Herald'' termed "the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italy National Rugby Union Team
The Italy national rugby union team (Italian: ''Squadra nazionale italiana di rugby'') represents Italy in men's international rugby union. The team is known as ''gli Azzurri'' (the light-blues). Savoy blue is the common colour of the national teams representing Italy, as it is the traditional colour of the royal House of Savoy which reigned over the Kingdom of Italy from 1860 to 1946. Italy has played international rugby since 1929, and for decades was considered one of the best European teams outside the Five Nations Championship. Since 2000, Italy has competed annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In 2013, they were holders of the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy which is played annually between Italy and France. Italy is ranked 14th in the world by the IRB as of 18 July 2022. Italian rugby rose to prominence in 2000 when it was added to the Five Nations, creating the Six Nations. Initially on the receiving end of some heavy de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WalesOnline
Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was founded in 1869 by the 3rd Marquess of Bute as a Conservative newspaper. In 1893, the original building in St. Mary Street was destroyed by fire and a new building was opened also in St Mary Street two years later. In 1928 the Western Mail Ltd amalgamated with David Duncan & Sons, who published the ''South Wales Daily News'' and the ''South Wales Echo'', which was established in 1884. The merged company became Western Mail and Echo Ltd. and because of the merger ''Evening Express'' and ''South Wales Daily'' News closed. In 1960, the newspapers left St Mary Street and moved to Thomson House, Cardiff. On 1 October 2007 Western Mail and Echo Ltd changed its name to Media Wales, and in 2008 Media Wales moved from Thomson House in Havelock Str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragons (rugby Union)
Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC. Formed in 2003 as a result of the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales, the team started life with a third-place finish in the 2003–04 Celtic League, and finished fourth the next season; however, the team finished in the bottom three in each of the next four seasons. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup Pool Stage
The 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup pool stage was the first stage of competition in the second season of the European Rugby Challenge Cup. It involved 20 teams competing, across 5 pools of 4 teams, for 8 quarter-final places – awarded to the 5 pool winners and the 3 top-ranked pool runners-up. The pool stage began on 12 November 2015 but one game was postponed following the November 2015 Paris attacks. It is due to be completed on the weekend of 21–24 January 2016. Seeding The majority of teams were seeded based on their performance in the Premiership, the Pro12 and the Top 14. However, as the Premiership and Top 14 incorporate promotion and relegation into their competitions, three teams are seeded based on their performance in the Greene King IPA Championship and Pro D2 Leagues, having been promoted this season. Two final teams come from the Qualifying Competition involving emerging rugby nations, and some Italian Excellenza clubs. Teams were then placed int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Rugby Challenge Cup
The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception in 1996 to 2014, it was known as the European Challenge Cup and governed by European Rugby Cup (ERC). Following disagreements in the structure of the tournament's format and division of revenue, the English and French leagues withdrew to form the EPCR, which organized the Challenge Cup and the Champions Cup since the 2014–15 season. The Challenge Cup is currently contested between 18 teams; 17 of which qualify from the three main European domestic leagues (Premiership Rugby, Top 14, and United Rugby Championship). From 2022-23, the Cheetahs, a South African team who do not play in either of the three leagues, but has close connections to the URC, will also take part in the Challenge Cup. Lyon are the current Challenge Cup holders, havin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section Paloise
Section Paloise (, Bearnese: ), commonly referred to as ''Section'' or as ''Pau'' , is a professional rugby union club based in Pau, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. Their home ground is the Stade du Hameau, after 80 years of playing at the Croix du Prince stadium (1910-1990). The club won the Bouclier de Brennus three times in 1928, 1946 and 1964 and the European Challenge in 2000. The club also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1939, 1952 and 1997, as well as a French Pro D2 title in 2015. A stronghold of French rugby, the club has become a symbol of Béarn culture and heritage. The official ''Section Paloise'' anthem is the ''Honhada,'' since March 2012. The lyrics of the song were composed on the air of the famous Scottish ballad The water is wide. Section are sponsored by French petroleum company TotalEnergies. Recent France internationals Imanol Harinordoquy, Damien Traille, and Lionel Beauxis be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2015 Super Rugby Season
The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New Zealand and Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include ... Super Rugby in South Africa. The round-robin matches took place every weekend from 13 February until 13 June, followed by the finals series and culminating in the final on 4 July. This was the final season that featured a 15-team format. Competition format Covering 21 weeks, the schedule featured a total of 125 matches. The 15 teams were grouped geographically, labelled the Australian Conference, New Zealand Conference and the South African Conference. The regular seaso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodney So'oialo
Rodney So'oialo (born 3 October 1979 in Motoʻotua, Samoa) is a New Zealand rugby union player who recently played in Japan for the Honda Heat. He is now the director of rugby and head coach at Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka. Previously, he had been a stalwart for the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby competition, making 101 appearances for the franchise. He also made 62 test appearances for the All Blacks between 2002 and 2009. His usual position is at number eight. Career In 2001, So'oialo played for the New Zealand Rugby sevens team at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Mar del Plata, Argentina, which New Zealand won. The next year he was again a member of the New Zealand sevens team, winning gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He made his debut for the All Blacks on 23 November 2002, playing at no. 8 in a match against the Welsh at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The following year he started at no.8 for a test against England in June, and then as a reserve in a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITM Cup
ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Teknologi Mara, a public university in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia * Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law, educational organization in Münster, Germany * Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, research and training in tropical medicine, Belgium * Information technology management * International Tourism Management Music * In This Moment, a female-led metalcore band * Irish traditional music * ''In the Meantime'' (Alessia Cara album) Other * Independent Timber Merchants, a New Zealand building supplies and hardware retailer * ITM Cup, a rugby union professional competition for New Zealand unions * ITM Power, manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions * ITM Stadium, in Whangarei, New Zealand * Indiana Transpo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wellington Rugby Football Union
The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named Westpac Stadium) which is located in Wellington. The union also represents the Wellington Lions, which is professional rugby union team who compete in the Mitre 10 Cup competition and contest for the Ranfurly Shield. Before 2006 the Lions competed in the National Provincial Championship. Super Rugby Players from Wellington who are eligible to play in the Super Rugby generally play for the Hurricanes, and traditionally contribute the core of the Hurricanes squad. This position is largely due to the Wellington basing of the Hurricanes. Further, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, two Hurricane provinces and prolific talent producers, had long been mired in the second half of the National Provincial Championship, allowing Wellington to lure the better play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
