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New Zealand wins World Sevens title
New Zealand Sevens rugby coach Gordon Tietjens has been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame after guiding his team to its 10th world series title.
Famous for spotting talent and his tough training regime, Tietjens has picked and coached 37 players who became All Blacks in his 18 years at the helm.
The New Zealanders were well beaten in the semi-final of the London Sevens by eventual tournament winner Fiji on Sunday, but finished third and registered enough points to head off Fiji for the series.
IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset presented the commemorative cap and gold pin to Tietjens shortly after the end of the Twickenham tournament.
Tietjens has been head coach of the New Zealand Sevens side since 1994, and has also picked up all four Commonwealth Games gold medals on offer in the sport.
"It's just really humbling and quite special really, I'm shocked to be recognised for my contribution to Sevens Rugby," Tietjens said.
"I can only thank the players that have been a big part of my life, the players that have contributed to the successes in the game that I have had."
Normally inductees have stepped back from the game, but Tietjens recently signed a contract extension to oversee the sevens side at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Since 1999 only Fiji, Samoa and South Africa have been allowed to win one series each, with New Zealand winning the rest.
Tributes immediately came from opposition coaches, as well as Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Graham Henry.
Tietjens, the 49th inductee, joins New Zealanders Sir Brian Lochore, Sir Wilson Whineray, the 1888 Natives team and Joseph Warbrick, Dave Gallaher and Jonah Lomu in the hall of fame.
New Zealand's Tomasi Cama, the world series' leading points scorer, was also named sevens player of the year after the London tournament.
AAP
Tags: rugby-7, rugby-union, sport, new-zealand First posted May 14, 2012 10:51:25Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Horwill played World Cup with finger injury
Wallabies skipper James Horwill has revealed he played last year's World Cup tournament with a serious finger injury.
The Queensland Rugby captain says the small finger of his left hand has torn tendons but it will not stop him taking part in the Red's premiership defence.
Horwill says he dislocated his finger during last year's Super Rugby season and has since been forced to sleep with his left hand in a splint.
Speaking to Grandstand's Zane Bojack the Australian lock says he will continue to tape it before training and matches but cannot wait to get back on the field.
"I've continued to play every game with it so it's certainly not hampering me," Horwill said.
"It wants to stay bent and I need to keep it straight so I wear a splint on it when I sleep."
The Wallabies skipper said it is inconvenient but is not causing him pain.
"I've been playing nine months with it so it's not going to stop me now."
Horwill will lead the Reds in their first trial game against the Brumbies in Cairns on February 11 before flying to Perth for another pre-season clash with the Western Force on February 16.
Their first official game of the 2012 Super Rugby championship season is on Saturday February 25 when they take on the Waratahs at the Olympic stadium in Sydney.
Tags: sport, rugby-union, brisbane-4000, qld, australia First posted January 30, 2012 15:05:40Wednesday, January 25, 2012
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Palu's World Cup campaign over
Wallabies number eight Wycliff Palu is returning home from the World Cup after scans revealed a tournament-ending hamstring injury.
Palu had scans of the hamstring injury he injured in Australia's 67-5 defeat of the United States in Wellington last Friday, as did lock Dan Vickerman and full-back Kurtley Beale.
Beale will not take on Russia this weekend in an effort to be ready for a possible quarter-final the following weekend.
Coach Robbie Deans said he will not be calling for an immediate replacement for Palu from Australia, with Scott Higginbotham in line for a run in the Wallabies' final group match against Russia in Nelson on Saturday.
"It's pretty disappointing, it was good to get an opportunity and I've just got to move on from here," Palu said in Hanmer Springs on Tuesday.
"I've done this hammy (hamstring) so many times and when I first did it I had a feeling that I would probably be on a plane back home, but the scans confirmed it yesterday.
"You've got to keep moving forward, just got to keep going and I feel there's still plenty of rugby ahead of me, so I just have to aim for that."
Palu is expected to require six weeks of rehabilitation before he would be fit to be considered for selection again, which would rule him out of selection for the remainder of the tournament.
"I've just got to go back home and do what I've been doing and try to get the body right and take my time with it," he said.
Palu said he had been frustrated by hamstring injuries this season.
"It's bad luck for Wycliff. Unfortunately his previous history of injury in this area has impacted, in terms of lengthening the timelines that are required for his rehabilitation," Deans said.
While Palu will be replaced in Australia's 30-man squad, Deans said the selectors will be taking their time with that decision, and may even delay any call until after the match against Russia so they can determine the team's specific needs.
Higginbotham said he had recovered from a back injury suffered in training last week.
"It's come good and I had a little slip-up last week but I had an epidural a day afterwards and I'm feeling good now, ready to train," he said.
"One of the most disappointing things was to miss out on a starting cap (against United States), but that was the first game I've missed this year."
The Wallabies' wounded also included Pat McCabe (shoulder), Anthony Fainga'a (head) and Rob Horne (cheek) in the wake of the US win.
Fainga'a, who went down for several minutes on the full-time siren and was stretchered off in a neck brace, has been following IRB concussion protocols and "could be available for Australia's next match", the team said in a statement.
McCabe and Horne will stay with the squad although they will not take on Russia - McCabe is tipped for a potential semi-final return should the Wallabies qualify while Horne will run with the squad in training on Tuesday afternoon.
The Wallabies said star winger Digby Ioane was also on the mend and on track for a return to the action in the quarter-finals.
On Monday flanker David Pocock was declared fit to face Russia while winger James O'Connor and captain James Horwill (shoulder) should all return against the Bears.
ABC/AFP
Tags: rugby-union-world-cup, rugby-union, sport, new-zealand, australia First posted September 27, 2011 08:32:48Tuesday, November 8, 2011
No All Blacks, 'no World Cup'
New Zealand players and coaches have poured scorn on an International Rugby Board (IRB) warning that future World Cup tournaments could go ahead without them.
Members of the squad said it was inconceivable the sport's showpiece tournament could take place without one of the top sides.
A row over the future involvement of the All Blacks, arguably rugby union's best-known international team, started last week when New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chief executive Steve Tew said pulling the top-ranked team from the next World Cup could not be ruled out.
Tew said his organisation lost money every time the quadrennial tournament was staged and received the backing of neighbours Australia.
He added competing at the current World Cup in New Zealand was costing the NZRU more than NZ$13 million ($10.3 million), casting a shadow over the All Blacks' participation in four years' time.
But IRB chief executive Mike Miller said while it would be good to have the All Blacks in England in 2015, "everyone is replaceable."
It was a statement that stunned members of the New Zealand team which is preparing to play its quarter-final match in the ongoing tournament against Argentina in Auckland on Sunday.
"You can't have a World Cup without the All Blacks, without any of the top nations. They've all got to be there just to make it a legit World Cup," winger Richard Kahui said.
Assistant coach Wayne Smith also rejected Miller's comments, saying the New Zealand public would not stand for it.
"You've just got to see what rugby means in this country to think of it as inconceivable," he said.
"But I haven't thought a lot about it. I'm focusing on Argentina. They're a big enough test for me."
Tew said the bulk of the New Zealand rugby's shortfall came from lost revenue because the annual Tri Nations competition was shortened in World Cup years so it did not clash with the tournament.
But Miller said that was not an IRB directive, but rather a decision taken by the Tri Nations countries South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
He added that Tew was on the IRB Council, had been involved in the decision-making for several years and knew the economics of the World Cup were to be re-examined after this tournament.
Tew's words were widely interpreted as a starting point for future talks with the IRB, with few believing the NZRU would disappoint its rugby-mad home public, and players, by pulling out of the World Cup.
"It'd be devastating for our country and our rugby players here as well," All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu said last week.
AFP
Tags: rugby-union, rugby-union-world-cup, sport, new-zealand First posted October 04, 2011 16:51:37Friday, July 15, 2011
Wallabies lose Robinson for World Cup
Australia has suffered a massive World Cup blow after prop Benn Robinson was ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
The 26-year-old damaged his knee at Wallabies training on Tuesday, with scans on Wednesday revealing he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.
Robinson will undergo surgery in the coming days, meaning he will miss the upcoming Tri-Nations and the World Cup, kicking off in New Zealand on September 9.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans concedes the injury was a significant blow to Australia's prospects.
"It's disappointing news for Benn, disappointing news for the rest of the squad and for Australian rugby as a whole," Deans said in a statement.
"No-one likes to see injuries like this.
"The seemingly-innocuous circumstances in which it occurred only adds to the frustration, but injuries have always been a part of the game.
"When the door closes for one player, it opens for another and I'm sure the other front rowers we have will step up to fill the void Benn leaves."
Robinson had been due to feature in his 43rd Test in Sunday's clash with Samoa in Sydney, but his injury may see either Western Force prop Pek Cowan or New South Wales veteran Al Baxter come into the 22-man squad.
The pair trained with the team on Wednesday, with Deans to decide on a replacement in the coming days.
Robinson's injury also opens the door for Queensland loosehead Ben Daley to challenge starting props Benn Alexander and Sekope Kepu for the Wallabies number one jersey in the Tri-Nations.
- AAP
Tags: rugby-union, rugby-union-world-cup, sport, australia First posted July 13, 2011 14:54:40World Cup-winner among ARU Statesmen
Seven of the most celebrated players in Australian rugby have been announced as the 2011 ARU Classic Wallabies Statesmen.
One player from each decade since World War II was on Thursday chosen to serve as a Statesman in an ambassadorial role for the ARU in what shapes as a huge year for Australian rugby.
Two of the seven Statesmen - 1970s great Geoff Shaw and 1980s star and 1991 World Cup winner Simon Poidevin - are former Test captains.
All seven have played a significant role in the history of the game.
Apart from Shaw and Poidevin, the other Statesmen are 1940s representative Eric Tweedale, 1950s full-back Terry Curley, 1960s stalwart Rob Heming, 1990s great Tim Gavin and Elton Flatley, the 2003 World Cup final goalkicking star.
The ARU Classic Wallabies Statesmen program began in 2008 and a new group of players are announced annually.
The inaugural Statesmen were Sir Nicholas Shehadie, Dr John Solomon, Ken Catchpole, Mark Loane, Andrew Slack, Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales.
In 2009, Arthur Buchanan, John Thornett, Jim Lenehan, John Hipwell, Mark Ella, Tim Horan and Matthew Burke were honoured, while last year David Brockhoff, Peter Johnson, John Brass, Greg Cornelsen, Roger Gould, Jason Little and David Wilson were named as Statesmen.
ARU boss John O'Neill said the Statesmen initiative provided an opportunity for rugby to showcase the game's wonderful alumni of former Wallabies.
"This game has been graced by not only great players but truly inspirational figures and we are recognising their achievements and values through this program," he said.
"We must never forget our past and the wonderful men who have contributed so much.
"We want the rugby culture to remain strong and vibrant and we want our past heroes as well as our current stars to help us carry those traditions forward.
"Our seven Statesmen will assist in that process thanks to their standing in the game and the broader community."
Plans for the Statesmen include pre-Test jersey presentations to Wallabies players, addressing players from club and schoolboys level to the elite tiers of the game, and attending official functions as ARU Classic Wallabies Statesmen.
AAP
Tags: rugby-union-world-cup, rugby-union, sport, sydney-2000, nsw, australia First posted July 14, 2011 21:25:32Thursday, July 7, 2011
Davies rockets into World Cup contention
Blistering winger Davies timed his run perfectly in more ways than one against the Blues on Saturday night when he became the first Queenslander to score three tries in a Super Rugby match.
He did not have to be informed after the 30-13 semi-final triumph he had broken the 16-season drought - he knew from personal experience in round five.
"Against the Cheetahs I scored two tries early on and I dropped one over the line later on and the boys let me know it afterwards that no one had scored three tries for the Reds," Davies said.
A former schoolboy sprint champion who once clocked 10.8 for 100m, Davies showcased his pace with an early 70m intercept try and a blitzing second-half effort that left three defenders in his wake.
He also showed strength and good step to bust past Stephen Brett and Keven Mealamu for the game-clinching five-pointer.
The 22-year-old's pace is sure to have him down in Wallabies coach Robbie Deans' little black book for a place in a World Cup squad that is short on finishers with pure speed.
Drew Mitchell's ankle surgery has left fellow Waratahs winger Lachie Turner as the only proven Test flyer but Davies would edge them both.
Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie rates Rockhampton-bred Davies as the fastest player in the competition and said the big improver would be an asset in any team.
"It's hard to replace genuine speed," McKenzie said. "You can do a lot with it if you can get the people on the right position you can capitalise on that.
"He's a great resource for us and I think that was one of his best games."
Davies' 12th-minute intercept, boldly coming off his wing to leave three Blues unmarked outside him waiting for Lachie Munro's pass, was a 14-point play.
"It was more instinctive," he said.
"You can't be in two minds when you're going an intercept ... I really went for it and it paid off."
- AAP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, australia, qld, brisbane-4000, new-zealand