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Tupou Vaa'i
Tupou Paea'i Okalani Vaa'i (born 27 January 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a lock for the Taranaki Bulls in the Mitre 10 Cup and for the Chiefs in Super Rugby. Career Early career Vaa'i was born in New Zealand to a Tongan family. In his youth career, he played for the Wesley College first XV and was Head Prefect, captaining the team in his last year of school. Vaa'i went on to play for the top representative team in secondary school, and was selected to play in the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championships for New Zealand. Vaa'i debuted for Taranaki as an 18-year-old against Auckland, in 2018 His Chiefs debut came in 2020, when the team was short on locks, having lost Michael Allardice and Laghlan McWhannell to season-ending injuries. Although Vaa'i was not originally contracted to the team at the start of 2020, he was promoted to a starting role following an injury to Naitoa Ah Kuoi. Vaa'i was one of the Chiefs' better performers in ...
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Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by population, fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region—the area governed by Auckland Council—which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, and which has a total population of . While European New Zealanders, Europeans continue to make up the plurality of Auckland's population, the city became multicultural and Cosmopolitanism, cosmopolitan in the late-20th century, with Asian New Zealanders, Asians accounting for 31% of the city's population in 2018. Auckland has the fourth largest Foreign born, foreign-born population in the world, with 39% of its residents born overseas. With its large population of Pasifika New Zealanders, the city is ...
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Super Rugby Aotearoa
Super Rugby Aotearoa currently named the Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes is a professional men's rugby union national club competition in New Zealand. Originally created to supplement the 2020 Super Rugby season, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament will continue in 2021 until a new tournament can be arranged for 2022 and beyond. In its first season, the tournament was a 10-week round robin tournament played between the five New Zealand-based teams of Super Rugby However, for 2021 the tournament will have an additional final between the two highest placed teams in the tournament, with a finals system being used by the similarly created Super Rugby AU tournament in Australia. Law adaptions On 2 June, New Zealand Rugby announced that it would implement two optional law trials being offered by World Rugby, including a golden point format for extra time, and that players who receive a red card can be substituted after 20 minutes. It ...
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2020 Super Rugby Season
The 2020 Super Rugby season was the 25th season of Super Rugby, an international men's rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR involving teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It is the third tournament in its current 15 team format, the last before the Japanese side the Sunwolves withdraw from the tournament ahead of a new format in 2021. The current champions are the Crusaders, who won their 10th title in 2019. On 14 March 2020, it was announced that play would be suspended after the conclusion of the weekend's fixtures, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a travel restriction that was announced by New Zealand earlier in the day. Replacement regional tournaments would take place thereafter, beginning in June in New Zealand, July in Australia and October in South Africa. Competition format 15 teams were to partake in the 2020 edition of Super Rugby. They were split into three different 'conferences': the Australian Conference (consisting of fou ...
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2021 Bunnings NPC
The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the sixteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Bunnings NPC and it was the first season under the lead sponsor and to carry the NPC moniker since 2005. The winner of the Championship, Taranaki wasn't promoted to the Premiership due to a format restructure earlier in the season. The seventh placed Premiership team, Auckland wasn't relegated to the Championship after not being able to compete after the resurgence of COVID-19 in the Auckland region. Format The Bunnings NPC standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point ...
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2020 Mitre 10 Cup
The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Mitre 10 Cup and it was the fifth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Hawke's Bay was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, North Harbour was relegated to the Championship. Format The Mitre 10 Cup standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less. Each team was placed on their total points received. If necessa ...
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2019 Mitre 10 Cup
The 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fourteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 8, when Southland hosted Northland. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Mitre 10 Cup and it was the fourth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Bay of Plenty was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Counties Manukau was relegated to the Championship. Format The Mitre 10 Cup standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less. Each team was placed on their total points received. If necessary ...
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Ranfurly Shield
The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge matches, which are usually played at the shield holders home venue, and if the challenger is successful in their challenge they will become the new holder of the Shield. There is a tradition for the first challenges of a new rugby season to be played against smaller associations from the Heartland Championship Although the professional era of rugby has seen other competitions, such as the NPC and Super Rugby, detracting from the pre-eminence of the Ranfurly Shield, many used to regard it as the greatest prize in New Zealand domestic rugby . This is mainly due to its long history, the fact that every challenge is a sudden-death defence of the Shield, and that any team has a chance to win. The Shield is currently held by Wellington, who ...
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Bunnings National Provincial Championship
Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Western Australia in 1886, by two brothers who had emigrated from England. Initially, a limited company focused on sawmilling, it became a public company in 1952 and subsequently expanded into the retail sector, purchasing several hardware stores. Bunnings began to expand into other states in the 1990s and opened its first warehouse-style store in Melbourne in 1994. As of 2020, the chain has 375 stores and over 30,000 employees. Bunnings has a market share of around 50 percent in the Australian Do-It-Yourself hardware market, with competing chains including Mitre 10, Home Hardware and various independent retailers such as Agora Marketplace and Total Tools around Australia. Bunnings runs community events outside or in its stores, including sausa ...
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2018 Mitre 10 Cup
The 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season was the thirteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 16, when North Harbour hosted Northland. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Mitre 10 Cup and it was the third season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Waikato was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Taranaki was relegated to the Championship. Format The Mitre 10 Cup standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less. Each team was placed on their total points received. If necessary of a tieb ...
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2021 Rugby Championship
The 2021 Rugby Championship was the ninth edition of the annual southern hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The Springboks returned to the tournament after a year out in 2020 due to South African government travel restrictions and player welfare and safety concerns related to COVID-19. The tournament returned to its normal window of August, kicking-off on 14 August and concluding on 2 October. Sponsorships The competition was operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions, and known for sponsorship reasons as ''The Castle Rugby Championship'' in South Africa, ''The Fortinet Rugby Championship'' in New Zealand, ''The eToro Rugby Championship'' in Australia, and ''The Zurich Rugby Championship'' in Argentina. Travel disruptions With continued restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the tournament was staged in Australia and New Zealand, with South Africa also hosting two games - their ...
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Sam Whitelock
Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five international games. Whitelock has played over 100 tests for New Zealand since his debut in 2010 and is the youngest New Zealander to reach 100 tests. He is the fastest player ever to reach 100 international appearances, achieving the feat eight years and two months after his test debut. Whitelock was the winner of New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year in 2017. He has formed a renowned locking combination with Brodie Retallick; Whitelock and Retallick have played 50 tests together since 2012. He was a key member of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of only 20 players who have won the Rugby World Cup more than once. Playing career Early career Whitelock was part of the World championship winning team, the Baby Al ...
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Patrick Tuipulotu
Patrick Tito Tuipulotu (born 23 January 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who is currently a lock for the Blues in Super Rugby and in the Mitre 10 Cup. Tuipulotu is the Blues' current captain and has previously captained Auckland in 2017 and 2018. He has won 4 international caps for New Zealand since 2014. Career Early career Tuipulotu was schooled at St Peter's College in Auckland and made his debut for his local side in the 2013 ITM Cup, where he made seven appearances and scored one try. His impressive displays saw him named in the squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season. Tuipulotu competed for the New Zealand Under-20s at the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship where he made five appearances and scored one try. He was named in a preliminary training squad for the All Blacks on 12 May 2014. Tuipulotu was then selected for the All Blacks' squad for the first time on 1 June 2014. He made his All Blacks debut as a substitute in the 28–27 win, against England on 14 J ...
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