NZ Rugby World April - May 2018

IT IS POSSIBLE, MAYBE EVEN PROBABLE, that most New Zealanders haven’t heard of Toyota City. Just as likely is that on discovering its existence, New Zealanders will immediately guess that the city takes its name from the motor corporation. They would be right. The Toyota Motor Corporation dominates the city which has a population of around 420,000. It is the major employer, having four plants in the area as well as its corporate headquarters. But it is not the only major automotive presence in the city. Several of Japan’s leading car manufacturers have plants in the city either assembling finished cars or creating specialist parts for global exportation. It is then, a city dominated by the car industry and its history reflects that. The city was originally called Koromo and built largely…

TOYOTA CITY AND NAGOYA Toyota City is in the Aichi prefecture, essentially in the centre of the main island of Honshu. Nagoya is the largest city in Aichi and one of the larger cities in Japan with a population of around 2.4 million. Nagoya is one of the busiest ports in Japan, with enormous volumes of cars and parts being shipped in an out. Toyota City is 30 minutes to 45 minutes from Nagoya depending on traffic and both cities are served by Chubu Centrair Airport – although tickets from New Zealand will say Nagoya is the final destination. Chubu Centrair Airport is about a 45 minute drive from Nagoya and closer to an hour from Nagoya. Korean Air fly to Incheon Seoul direct from Auckland and have a connecting flight to Nagoya. PUBLIC TRANSPORT The beauty…

NO ONE COULD POSSIBLY DISAGREE that Rieko Ioane is a special player with the potential to be an All Blacks great. His story so far is incredible. He has already played at the Olympics, scored on his test debut when he was only 19 and been crowned World Rugby’s best emerging player. Maybe more importantly, he’s a must pick for the All Blacks and a critical part of their World Cup plan. He showed that last year when he was the man who kept making things happen. Look back to the first test against the Lions and he scored two tries that proved why he’s so valuable. The second in particular looked a little fortunate but it wasn’t at all – it was all down to his pace. He gathered a loose ball and…

OUR ROUND-UP OF THE RELEVANT AND RANDOM BITS OF INFORMATION THAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED ‘WORDS CAN’T DESCRIBE HOW HAPPY WE ARE WITH THE RESULT AND THE SLAM.’Rory Best Ireland have previously won Grand Slams in 1949 and 2009. This was not only their third Grand Slam but the third time they have won the Six Nations since coach Joe Schmidt took over in 2013. THIS TIME LAST YEAR THE WORLD WAS ITCHING TO SEE THE ALL BLACKS TAKE ON THE FAST-IMPROVING ENGLAND. The English had secured their second consecutive Six Nations, were playing powerful rugby and were clearly a devastating emerging force. The long-scheduled All Blacks test against them this November has been one of the most hyped tests in recent memory. Except now it would seem that the All Blacks’ much tougher challenge this…

1 IRELAND – NOVEMBER 17 IN DUBLIN This was always going to be a tough game, but now it takes on new status as the hardest of the year. Ireland have jumped to number two in the world, are full of confidence and haven’t lost in 12 tests. They play smart rugby, have a brilliant coach, strength in depth and a rampant home crowd behind them. 2 AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 18 IN SYDNEY The All Blacks have won their last two Bledisloe Cup tests in Sydney with remarkable ease. But that is a false picture. The Wallabies are well coached, full of good players and usually, the last two years aside, perform well in Sydney. It hasn’t been a great ground for the All Blacks as they lost there in 2015 and drew in 2014. They also lost…

Ireland announced their arrival as a properly, seriously, proper… no kidding we are quite good all of the time rugby team. They won their Grand Slam and third Six Nations in five years. The clincher was at Twickenham where they easily beat England 24-15. On St Patrick’s Day no less which meant, no doubt, that the celebrations were a touch mental. As for England…well, well, well. The wheels have well and truly come off their listing chariot. Not that coach Eddie Jones was in any hurry to acknowledge that. He took the three consecutive losses rather well, suggesting they were inevitable as England tried to grow into a world-class team. Strange, because accumulating victories is usually the best way to transition a side into a world-class outfit. But then what…