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Tony Brown (rugby Union)
Tony Eion Brown (born 17 January 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer, who played mainly at first five-eighth (fly half). He is an assistant coach for the Japan national rugby union team, having previously been the head coach of Otago and the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition. Early life Brown's early life was spent in the South Otago towns of Balclutha and Kaitangata. Alongside younger brother Cory, Brown played his junior rugby for Crescent Rugby Club and completed his first five years of high school at South Otago High School before moving to Dunedin in 1993, aged 17, and attending King's High School. Club career Brown made his debut for Otago in the 1995 NPC, initially as a reserve with All Black-Manu Samoa international Stephen Bachop the first choice first five-eighth. Brown had a quick progression to first choice first five-eighth, starting ahead of Bachop in 1995 NPC final. With the launch of the Super 12 in 1996, Brown was rewarded with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balclutha, New Zealand
Balclutha ( mi, Iwikatea) is a town in South Otago, lying towards the end of the Clutha River, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about halfway between Dunedin and Gore on the Main South Line railway, State Highway 1 and the Southern Scenic Route. Balclutha has a population of (as of ), and is the largest town in South Otago. The Clutha District Council is based in Balclutha. The major service centre for the fertile farming region around the lower reaches of the Clutha River, it is also the nearest large town to the Catlins, a scenic region of native forest, wildlife, and rugged coastline. History Known locally as "Clutha", Balclutha's name – and that of the river on which it stands – reflects the Scottish origin of the town's settlement. The name comes from Scottish Gaelic and would be spelt Baile Chluaidh in that language; this translates into English as "Town on the Clyde". James McNeil from Bonn Hill, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, who is re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fly-half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players". Forwards compete for the ball in scrums and line-outs and are generally bigger and stronger than the backs. Props push in the scrums, while the hooker tries to secure the ball for their team by "hooking" it back with their heel. The hooker is also the one who is responsible for throwing the ball in at line-outs, where it is mostly competed for by the locks, who are generally the tallest players on the team. The flankers and number eight are expected to be the first players to arrive at a breakdown and play an important role in se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fly-half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players". Forwards compete for the ball in scrums and line-outs and are generally bigger and stronger than the backs. Props push in the scrums, while the hooker tries to secure the ball for their team by "hooking" it back with their heel. The hooker is also the one who is responsible for throwing the ball in at line-outs, where it is mostly competed for by the locks, who are generally the tallest players on the team. The flankers and number eight are expected to be the first players to arrive at a breakdown and play an important role in se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 Rugby World Cup
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era. Although the majority of matches were played outside Wales (shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland) the opening ceremony, the first match and the final were held in Cardiff. Four automatic qualification places were available for the 1999 tournament; Wales qualified automatically as hosts, and the other three places went to the top three teams from the previous World Cup in 1995: champions South Africa, runners-up New Zealand and third-placed France. Qualification for the final 16 places took place between 63 other nations. The tournament was expanded to 20 teams (from 16), divided into five pools of four teams, a scenario that necessitated a quarter-final play-off round involving the five runners-up and best thir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albany Stadium
North Harbour Stadium is a stadium situated in Albany, in North Shore City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, association football, rugby league, and baseball are all played on the main ground. The neighbouring oval plays host to the senior cricket and Australian rules football matches. The stadium also hosts large open-air concerts. History It is the home ground for the North Harbour side in the Mitre 10 Cup, taking over from North Harbour's previous home venue, Onewa Domain in Takapuna. It typically hosts one Auckland Blues home game in Super Rugby annually. It has played host to several rugby union and rugby league internationals. The New Zealand Warriors NRL team often play warm-up matches at the ground. It was the home ground for The New Zealand Knights, the one New Zealand soccer team in the otherwise all-Australian Hyundai A-League, from 2005 until their licence was revoked by the league ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono and Apolima); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located west of American Samoa, northeast of Tonga (closest foreign country), northeast of Fiji, east of Wallis and Futuna, southeast of Tuvalu, south of Tokelau, southwest of Hawaii, and northwest of Niue. The capital city is Apia. The Lapita culture, Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan culture, Samoan cultural identity. Samoa is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy with 11 Administrative divisions of Samoa, administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a member of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top League
Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the Japan Company Rugby Football Championship, to drive up the overall standard and popularity of the sport and improve the results of the Japan national rugby union team. The chief architect of the league was Hiroaki Shukuzawa who strongly felt the urgency of improving Japanese domestic company rugby to a professional level which would allow Japan to compete more convincingly at Rugby World Cups. Until 2022, it was an industrial league, where many players were employees of their company and the teams were all owned by major companies. While the competition was known for paying high salaries, only world-class foreign players and a small number of Japanese players played fully professionally, which meant most of the players still played in an a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highlanders (rugby)
The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competition, and includes the Otago, North Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that helped found the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s. Their main ground through the 2011 Super Rugby season was Carisbrook in Dunedin, with home games occasionally being played in Invercargill and Queenstown. The Highlanders moved into Carisbrook's replacement, Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, for the 2012 season; the stadium opened in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but after the Super Rugby season. They finished the inaugural season eighth, and the following season finished last after winning only three of eleven matches. However, in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Five-eighth
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players". Forwards compete for the ball in scrums and line-outs and are generally bigger and stronger than the backs. Props push in the scrums, while the hooker tries to secure the ball for their team by "hooking" it back with their heel. The hooker is also the one who is responsible for throwing the ball in at line-outs, where it is mostly competed for by the locks, who are generally the tallest players on the team. The flankers and number eight are expected to be the first players to arrive at a breakdown and play an important role in se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Provincial Championship (1976–2005)
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, was an annual promotion and relegation rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 1976 season, it was the highest level of competition in New Zealand until Super Rugby launched in 1996. It was organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and ceased following the 2005 season. The league was restructured into two distinct competitions. The National Provincial Championship would include professional and semi-professional players, and consist of the top fourteen financial and best performing regional teams. For sponsorship reasons it was rebranded as the Air New Zealand Cup. The remaining teams would form a breakaway amateur competition known as the Heartland Championship. Twenty-eight teams had competed since the inception of the competition in 1976. Auckland were the most successful union with fifteen titles and Bay of Plenty were the inaugural champions. Six other teams had wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Scottish, Chinese and Māori heritage. With an estimated population of as of , Dunedin is both New Zealand's seventh-most populous metro and urban area. For historic, cultural and geographic reasons the city has long been considered one of New Zealand's four main centres. The urban area of Dunedin lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the head of Otago Harbour, and the harbour and hills around Dunedin are the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the surrounding valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour and the Pacific Ocean. Archaeological evidence points to lengthy occupation of the area by Māori prior to the ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crescent Rugby Club
A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his head symbolising that the lord is the master of time and is himself timeless. It is used as the astrological symbol for Moon (astrology), the Moon, and hence as the alchemical symbol for silver. It was also the emblem of Diana (mythology), Diana/Artemis, and hence represented virginity. In Christianity Marian veneration, it is associated with the Virgin Mary. From its use as roof finial in Ottoman era mosques, it has also become associated with Islam, and the crescent was introduced as Religious symbolism in the United States military#Muslim, chaplain badge for Muslim chaplains in the US military in 1993.On December 14, 1992, the Army Chief of Chaplains requested that an insignia be created for future Muslim chaplains, and the design (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
