NZ Rugby World April - May 2017

IT WOULD BE HARD for anyone not to find Ben Smith’s story inspiring. That he’s been able to become the All Blacks vice-captain and one of the most respected players in world rugby is testament to his patience, character and resilience. There are so many good things about Smith that it’s hard to know where to begin. Probably the best place is to go right back to the start of his international journey, which had such an inauspicious beginning. Perhaps it was indicative of his lack of self-belief that Smith’s first touch in international rugby was a shocker. He was a genuine bolter in the All Blacks squad that toured Japan and Europe at the end of 2009. He’d played Super Rugby that year but not many people had noticed. A fair few…

OUR ROUND-UP OF THE RELEVANT AND RANDOM BITS OF INFORMATION THAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED 6 Tests and 2 games in 9 weeks, travelling across 17 time zones and round the world twice! Get packing boy s! From starting the year with 13 tests locked in, they will end it playing 14 tests and two other games. That means 2017 has taken on epic proportions – equalling, in volume at least, their previous most demanding schedule when they played 15 tests and a game against Munster in 2008. The extra test will be against Samoa, eight days before the All Blacks’ first encounter against the Lions at Eden Park. The All Blacks coaches wanted a proper hit out before the first test against the Lions. They were fearful that they would be caught cold at…

THE SPRINGBOKS are looking hard at the possibility of making one of their overseas-based players captain in 2017. Last year’s skipper, Adriaan Strauss has retired and the Boks don’t have a natural or obvious successor. Having seen many of their most experienced and best players head offshore in recent seasons, coach Allister Coetzee says he may have no option but to look at someone not playing in South Africa to be captain. “I am casting the net wider than normal to make sure,” Coetzee told News24, meaning that long-time candidate Duane Vermeulen and Bath captain Francois Louw could be in with a chance. “He will probably be young if it’s going to be a local guy. He will make mistakes and if appointing a young captain is the route that I’m going to…

FRANCE HAVE REVEALED that if they are successful with their bid to host the 2023 World Cup, they will play across 12 venues. The bid looks largely similar to the successful tournament they hosted in 2007. Back then they played across France, but also, strangely, allowed games to be played in Cardiff and Edinburgh as a way of thanking the Welsh and Scots for supporting their bid. This time round they won’t play outside France and the venues they have proposed are: Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse. France are bidding against Ireland and South Africa for the 2023 hosting rights. The host will be selected in November.…

A few rounds into Super Rugby and the blokes running it finally realised it was a bit crap. Strangely it had taken them almost two years to work it out when everyone else had realised as soon as the idea of 18 teams was first hatched. So all the suits jump into their business class seats and head to London with a view to making Super Rugby less crap. They have a lovely morning tea when they all arrive. So good, that it rolled into lunch which was quite splendid, too. With everyone so full, they couldn’t actually have a meeting because it was decided that it would be best if everyone had an afternoon nap. They were full and sleepy. So off they went to their five star hotels where the pillows were puffed and the…

112 Test caps World famous in NZ! 1598 The number of Test points Dan Carter has scored. HALL OF FAME JONNY WILKINSON MARTIN JOHNSON SIR GARETH EDWARDS BRIAN O’DRISCOLL DANIEL CARTER ‘I’M HONOURED TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE RPA HALL OF FAME ALONGSIDE SOME TRUE ICONS OF THE GAME.’ Dan Carter DANIEL CARTER ENDED a turbulent last few months with the double good news that he has been cleared of doping and is to be inducted into the Rugby Players’ Association Hall of Fame. Carter had been caught up in an alleged doping scandal when he and two other players were wrongly accused of failing drugs tests before a game earlier this year. But Carter had medical clearance to take corticosteroids before the Top 14 final in Barcelona. The all-time leading test point scorer will join an illustrious…