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So'otala Fa'aso'o
So'otala Fa'aso'o (born 2 October 1994) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a number eight for United Rugby Championship Italian team Benetton. Born in New Zealand, he represents Samoa at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds. Early life So'otala was born in Auckland and grew up in the Papatoetoe district of the city. He attended the prestigious St. Kentigern College on a rugby scholarship program which captured the attention of the Blues Rugby Team in their Under-18 structure. He played for his school in the Auckland 1A School League of which his team reached the grand final ultimately beating Kelston BHS 38-17 to win. Around this time, he had received offers from both the Crusaders and NZ Warriors as well as some league teams based in Australia. His talent was quickly noticed and was selected to play for the New Zealand Secondary School team who would play against both Australia and Samoa. He retained his enrolment for Auckland Rugby's A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It 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 as of It is the most populous city of New Zealand and the fifth-largest city in Oceania. The city lies between the Hauraki Gulf to the east, the Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitākere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with 53 volcanic centres that make up the Auckland Volcanic Field. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two sepa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Rugby Union Eligibility Rules
Regulations relating to the eligibility of players to play for national teams in rugby union, both in the fifteen-a-side game and rugby sevens, are the responsibility of World Rugby, the governing body for the sport. Players' eligibility to represent a country depends on whether they have a genuine, close, credible and established national link with that country. In principle, as soon as a player has represented a country internationally (has been "captured" by that country), they are no longer permitted to represent another country. However, a player is allowed to transfer to another country once, with approval of the World Rugby Regulations Committee, if the player is born in the country to which they wish to transfer or has a parent or grandparent who was born in that country. Playing for a second country is not permitted by means of residency. Switching countries is also possible through playing in Olympic events, provided the player has the nationality of the second country. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby union system. Premiership clubs qualify for Europe's two main club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The winner of the second division, the RFU Championship, is promoted to the Premiership and until 2020, the team finishing at the bottom of the Premiership each season was relegated to the Championship. The competition is regarded as one of the three top-level professional leagues in the Northern and Western Hemispheres, along with the Top 14 in France, and the cross-border United Rugby Championship for teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system. The current champions are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2016–17 Top 14 Season
The 2016–17 Top 14 competition was the 118th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2015–16 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Bayonne and Lyon in place of the two relegated teams, Agen and Oyonnax. It marked the first time that both promoted teams had returned on their first opportunity after relegation (Bayonne and Lyon were both relegated during the 2014–15 Top 14 season). Teams Competition format The top six teams at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice, once at home, once away) enter a knockout stage to decide the ''Champions of France''. This consists of three rounds: the teams finishing third to sixth in the table play quarter-finals (hosted by the third and fourth placed teams). The winners then face the top two teams in the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The LNR uses a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe and nearby Bombay Hills form the natural southern limit of the Auckland region. Pukekohe is located within the political boundaries of the Auckland Council, following the abolition of the Franklin District Council on 1 November 2010. With a population of Pukekohe is the List of New Zealand urban areas by population, 24th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the third largest in the Auckland Region behind Auckland itself and Hibiscus Coast. Geology Pukekohe and the surrounding areas are a section of the South Auckland volcanic field, which erupted between 550,000 and 1,600,000 years ago. History Māori history Tāmaki Māori peoples settled the wider area in the 13th or 14th centuries. The traditional Māori language, Māori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitre 10 Cup
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mitres are worn in the Catholic Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (IOC), Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobites), Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, for important ceremonies, by the Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and also, in the Catholic Church, all cardinals, whether or not bishops, and some Eastern Orthodox archpriests. Etymology ( Ionic ) is Greek, and means a piece of armour, usually a metal guard worn around the waist and under a cuirass, as mentioned in Homer's Iliad. In later poems, it was used to refer to a headband used by women for their hair, and a sort of formal Babylonian headdress, as mentioned by Herodotus ('' Histories'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heartland Championship
The Heartland Championship is an annual Round-robin tournament, round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic Rugby union in New Zealand, New Zealand rugby. First played in 2006, it is the third highest level of List of rugby union competitions, competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings Heartland Championship after Bunnings, its naming rights sponsor. Following the 2005 National Provincial Championship the competitions were restructured into a two-tier competition. The Heartland Championship would include semi-professional and amateur players, and consist of the bottom twelve populated and performing regional teams. For sponsorship reasons it was rebranded as the AA Insurance, AA Rewards Heartland Championship. The remaining teams would continue to exist in the newly reformed professional competition known as the National Provincial Championship (2006–present), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2013 ITM Cup
The 2013 ITM Cup season was the eighth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on 15 August, when Counties Manukau (National Provincial Championship), Counties Manukau hosted Wellington (National Provincial Championship), Wellington. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the ITM Cup and it was the fourth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Tasman (National Provincial Championship), Tasman was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Bay of Plenty (National Provincial Championship), Bay of Plenty was relegated to the Championship. Format The ITM 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. Rugby union, Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auckland Rugby Union
The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since shrunk to include only a portion of the Auckland, Auckland urban area. The union governs the Auckland rugby union team, Auckland representative team, which has won New Zealand's first-tier domestic provincial competition 17 times, more than any other team. Their most recent title was the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup, 2018 Mitre 10 Cup Premiership. The union administers all club rugby within its boundaries, including the Gallaher Shield and other senior club rugby, as well as school rugby. Auckland also acts as a primary feeder to the Blues (Super Rugby), Blues, who play in the Super Rugby competition. History In September 1875 an Auckland team commenced the first organised rugby tour of New Zealand (or the Colony as it was known). At this time players ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Warriors
The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Auckland Warriors, and are affectionally known as the ''Wahs''. The Warriors are coached by Andrew Webster (rugby league), Andrew Webster. Mitchell Barnett, Mitch Barnett and James Fisher-Harris, James Fisher Harris are the current co-captains, having taken over after former captain Tohu Harris announced his retirement in January 2025. The Warriors are based at Mount Smart Stadium in the Auckland suburb of Penrose, New Zealand, Penrose. For the 1995 ARL season, 1995 season the newly formed Auckland Warriors became the first club from outside Australia to be admitted to the Australian Rugby League's premiership when it expanded from 16 to 20 teams. As a result of the Super League war in the mid-1990s, Auckland left the ARL to compete in the Super ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusaders (rugby Union)
The Crusaders (; formerly Canterbury Crusaders) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in the competition's history and have won a total of 14 titles (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, as well as two regionalised Super Rugby titles in 2020 and 2021). Formed in 1996 to represent the upper South Island of New Zealand in the Super 12, the Crusaders represent the Buller, Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, Tasman and West Coast provincial Rugby Unions. Their main home ground since 2012 is Rugby League Park (known for sponsorship reasons as Apollo Projects Stadium). They formerly played out of Jade Stadium prior to it being damaged beyond repair in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The Crusaders struggled in the first season of the Super 12, 1996, finishing last. Their performance improved in 1997 and the team finishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelston Boys' High School
Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") () is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High School (formed in 1954) became too large for the site on the corner of Archibald and Gt North Rds. The boys moved to a new site further down Archibald Road, leaving the original site to be the home of Kelston Girls High School (now Kelston Girls' College). Although the school is known for the strength of its various sports teams, it has also had some notable achievements in music, dance and theatresports and produced some outstanding academic results. The school has consistently had strong rugby teams in the top Auckland division, producing several All Blacks and international players. Kelston Boys have won the National top 4 rugby tournament five times (1989, 1995, 1996, 1999, and 2011) sharing the most wins with Wesley College. Kelston Boys have also won the Condor National sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
