NZ Rugby World

jim@nzrugbyworld.co.nz Welcome to 2023 - a year that is already historic with the sacking of three international coaches - Eddie Jones, Wayne Pivac and Dave Rennie - with a World Cup firmly on the horizon. It’s amazing, especially with Jones who now has a second crack with Australia. Not good enough to coach England but so good he has a five year deal with the Wallabies! The first Bledisloe Cup test will be a cracker. It’s also a year where I am picking the Blues to finally win Super Rugby and the All Blacks to make the semifinals, at least, at the Rugby World Cup. Ok, take a deep breath Jim because those are two bold predictions. It’s just that surely the Crusaders can’t win again and the Blues, well, they have a decent…

Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, and Kia Ora tatou… Happy New Year team. I am excited and privileged to be joining the NZ Rugby World team for 2023 and share my passion for rugby. It’s been an exciting few months since the end of Rugby World Cup, and I look forward to sharing the latest in women’s rugby through a Pacific lens. As a former Black Fern, I still pinch myself looking back at what was an incredible time to witness the World Cup in our own backyard. From a tournament perspective, it was a massive event that was fully embraced by the whole country. To have sold-out stadiums venues for women is something many of us only dreamed of. Crowds got right behind all 12 teams, swinging their poi and…

Scott Robertson pauses, long enough to fear the phone line has dropped out. Then, almost in a drawl, he says, “yeah, if things go to plan” and starts to chuckle. “Idon’tknowwhatelsetoadd to that.” I’d asked him if this was his last year with the Crusaders. It is his seventh season as coach and though his contract carries through to next year, Robertson hopes to invoke an out clause that allows him to coach the All Blacks. Even if he doesn’t get the All Blacks job, Robertson could leave as Scotland is likely to be looking for a head coach and other spots could be vacant after the World Cup in France. For now, though, he is the firm favourite with many Kiwi rugby fans to replace Ian Foster - heck, many want him there…

Rob Rush wasn’t even in the Blues when he started making his mark. A few years ago, when he was brought in as part of a wider training group to see how life as a professional operates, Rush won the gruelling preseason run through the quagmire of mud at Auckland’s Devonport Naval Base. “He wins everything,” assistant coach Tom Coventry says of the 22-year-old Northland loose forward whose father, Eric, was an All Black and a sevens legend. He won then and he was winning again this preseason whether it was in the mud or racing up hills. “He pushes himself hard and is a great athlete with a good work ethic. He had his best season yet with Northland last year and it was good to see him transferring his work ethic and…

Few signings have raised eyebrows quite like Manaaki Selby-Rickit putting pen to paper with the Chiefs. Why, people asked on social and mainstream media, would an established Highlanders lock move north to a franchise that can start All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Tupou Vaa’i, with Josh Lord in reserve. Add to that the highly talented Laghlan McWhannell and Naitoa Ah Kuoi and there seems little chance Selby-Rickit will get much playing time. It’s madness, surely. Not really. On a personal level Selby-Rickit has moved north because his partner, Renne Brown, is pregnant with their first child, a daughter who is due in March. Brown is from Auckland, they were living in Tauranga (but have since moved to Hamilton) and Dunedin is too far to commute. “I love the Highlanders,” Selby-Rickit says. “They took care of…

Since the advent of professional rugby, New Zealand has produced a string of exceptional number eights; rangy ball-runners, ferocious tacklers, intelligent line-runners and impressive leaders. The mantle was passed from Zinzan Brooke to Taine Randell, then Rodney So’oialo and onto Kieran Read and Ardie Savea. Now, comparisons are being made between Savea and the latest prospect to roll off New Zealand’s seemingly limitless production line. Peter Lakai has arrived. The teenaged loose forward made an immediate impact in his debut season with Wellington, standing out in the Lions side that brought the Ranfurly Shield and NPC title to the capital. At the New Zealand Rugby awards, he was named Age Grade Player of the Year and was a finalist in the Duane Monkley Medal for best NPC player, despite the fact…