#Aaron Smith

It's been a year when disciplinary decisions have been in the spotlight like never before. We've had the Joe Marler gypsy-boy row, Argentine assaults, a vicious hit on a female referee and a suspension following a bizarre incident in an airport toilet cubicle! Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas looks back on these and the players who picked up bans…

By Alex McLeod of RugbyPass.com Ian Foster's 35-man All Blacks squad will assemble for the first time today in Whakatane as preparations for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup series get underway. Plenty of anticipation has arisen since last week's confirmation that the All Blacks and Wallabies will do battle with each other for the first time in over a…

How impressive was last weekend's action? The Crusaders shocked at home to lose their first game of the season, the Reds putting on a near perfect performance against the Rebels, while the Waratahs came oh, so close to beating the Brumbies. This weekend's sure to be just as exciting with the Reds hosting the Brumbies as they battle for top spot,…

The All Blacks have been the dominant team of world rugby yet again in 2012. With their season having drawn to a close, it's now time to rate each players performance. Israel Dagg: 7.5/10 Dagg looked dangerous every time he touched the ball, was lethal on the counterattack and very good under the high ball. He was also outstanding in clearing the…

Analysis - The sporting public is tired of New Zealand Rugby censoring players' ability to speak candidly on controversies. New Zealand is not a country in which people are able to speak freely. At least not in public anyway. As a columnist, I know that there are topics I cannot write about or points of view I can't express if I want to continue to…

Scott Barrett has been replaced at blindside flanker by Akira Ioane, with Tupou Vaa'i moving onto the bench, while Karl Tu'inukuafe replaces prop Aidan Ross on the bench. Barrett is understood to have an Achilles injury which has hampered him all week. Seconds out, round three. After the poor display and historic loss in Dunedin last weekend, the…

All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith weighed in ahead of their trip to South Africa.Video / Carson Bluck Caleb Clarke will return for the All Blacks this weekend, taking his place on the wing for the first test against the Springboks at Mbombela Stadium. For their first test in South Africa since 2018, the All Blacks have named a few…

IRELAND have secured their first ever win in New Zealand as they overcame a 14-man All Blacks side. Andrew Porter scored an early try for the Irish and their chances have now dramatically improved after Angus Ta'avao was given a red card for a head-on-head collision. Beauden Barrett then scored on the stroke of half time to get the All Blacks back…

Sam Cane has retained the All Blacks captaincy as part of Friday's squad announcement for this year's Rugby Championship - coach Ian Foster's first public comments since the cancelled press conference last Sunday after the side's series loss to Ireland. Foster named a 36-man squad for this year's tournament in Auckland on Friday afternoon after…

A thrilling final weekend of Super Rugby Pacific left the Waratahs with an unexpected foe, and the Force missing out at the death as the quarterfinal match ups, times, days and venues were locked in. A shock loss by the Brumbies against Moana Pasifika meant they went from third to fourth, and avoiding the Tahs, who stayed sixth with their late loss…

The four nations of the clunkily named Rugby Championship do battle after dodgy July series. Argentina nipped a depleted Scotland at the last moment. South Africa laboured to a brutal win over a limited, dour Wales. Australia was overpowered by England after a hopeful first Test. New Zealand lost every facet of their series against Ireland. With…

After a dramatic build-up, Super Rugby Pacific got off to an entertaining start last week. The Fijian Drua might not have got a first-up win, but they were still a huge hit in Sydney as they fell to the Waratahs 40-10. There were wins for the Crusaders, Chiefs and Reds on Saturday, before a Sunday afternoon thriller was taken out by the Brumbies…

Scotland continue their end-of-year campaign with a third successive match at Murrayfield, and this one is set to be their toughest yet, as New Zealand's All Blacks travel to Edinburgh looking for a third consecutive victory on their tour of the Northern Hemisphere. Scotland's two Tests this autumn have been a mixed bag, with Gregor Townsend's men…

Every November, there's talk about how nations from the northern hemisphere finally are ready to dethrone their counterparts from southern hemisphere in the best test rugby has to offer. That chat is amplified every four years during the November test tours prior to a World Cup. In the past, it remained just that - talk. Wishful thinking. Delusions…

Fijian Pita Gus Sowakula has been dropped from the New Zealand All Blacks for the upcoming Rugby Championships. Sowakula, who made his debut in the series loss against Ireland, is replaced in the loose forwards by Shannon Frizell. George Bower, Hoskins Sotutu and Sevu Reece are the Fijians named in the squad with Sam Cane retaining the…

It's a mouth-watering prospect, despite the very real chance that it may never see the light of day. The best of the Wallabies and All Blacks, playing in a combined ANZAC team, in a one-off match against the British & Irish Lions at the MCG? To borrow a line from recent KFC, "shut up and take my money!" It appears, however, that Rugby Australia…

Pierre Spies is the best No 8 to have played in Super Rugby, writes Mark Keohane, who picks his all-time Super Rugby XV. I was privileged to report live from the ground on 14 of the 16 South African Super Rugby matches in Australia and New Zealand in 1996. The reason I couldn't be at all 16 was because of the schedule and of being in Australia on…

Highlanders veteran scrum-half Aaron Smith has been ruled out of his side's crunch quarter-final against the Blues this weekend. Smith was named to start in the play-off game but has since been withdrawn due to a groin injury in a massive blow for the Dunedin-based outfit. Folau Fakatava will come into the starting line-up and has been a standout…

Week two went next level in the drama and force of the north-south conflict. Despite the win-loss count, the south made some ground back. North No. 1 (Ireland) struggled to put an experimental version of South Africa (south No. 2) away, their attack stymied and depending on marginal passes, looking spent in the last ten minutes and like the final…

WALES host New Zealand in the first of four autumn internationals TOMORROW. The Welsh side will be looking to pull off a famous victory as they have not beaten the All Blacks since 1953. Wayne Pivac's side will then face Argentina, Georgia and Australia to top off the autumn internationals. The All Blacks have already defeated Japan and will now…

The spring-autumn tours ignite in earnest this week as the unlucky Scots accept a different challenge from Fiji, the perpetually dinged up Welsh host presumably fired up New Zealand, the confident Irish clad in blue welcome swaggering South Africa in green, the highly touted French invite the Wallabies to a late night rugby discotheque and the…

As the All Blacks embark on their northern hemisphere tour, head coach Ian Foster will know that there are plenty of areas his side need to work on despite winning the Rugby Championship. Some of the team's greatest flaws were exposed during the Championship, and as a result they experienced some record breaking lows. Some of those problems have…

The All Blacks began their preparation for their northern hemisphere tour with an open training session in Nelson this week, ahead of their Test against Japan in just over two weeks' time. They also decided to unearth some footage of the squad in the gym from a few months ago, and Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga will be pretty happy with that. That…

The bulk of the Rugby Championship squad has been retained, as the All Blacks set their sights on the Northern Tour, while a number of players from the Ireland series have returned to the squad. Props Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi, along with winger Leicester Fainga'anuku, return to Foster's squad. They missed The Rugby Championship, following…

The bulk of the Rugby Championship squad has been retained as the All Blacks set their sights on the Northern Tour whilst a number of players from the Ireland series have returned to the squad. Props Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi along with winger Leicester Fainga'anuku return to Foster's squad after missing The Rugby Championship following the…

The All Blacks may be struggling for consistency, identity and fluency through this most problematic of seasons, but there is one thing we can rest assured about: the trans-Tasman rugby rivalry is alive and kicking ahead of the Rugby Championship finale against the Wallabies on Saturday night. The events of Bledisloe I at Marvel Stadium just over a…

All you need to know ahead of the second Bledisloe test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies at Eden Park (kickoff at 7.05pm): It all comes down to this, well sort of. The All Blacks can move into pole position on the Rugby Championship table with victory in the second Bledisloe Cup test. In terms of the Rugby Championship, all four teams could…

New Zealand vs Australia: The All Blacks and Wallabies have the first move in the final play for the Rugby Championship. Australia appear to have been fired up by what went down last Thursday but can they pull one over on New Zealand. Injuries have forced changes to the All Blacks team that defeated Australia in Melbourne, with captain Sam Cane,…

With the Bledisloe Cup wrapped up for 2022, the Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship and a 28-year unbeaten streak at Eden Park are on the line on Saturday night. Match details: All Blacks v Australia, Saturday 24 September, 7.05pm NZT, Eden Park, Auckland Played: 174 Won: All Blacks 121, Australia 45, Drawn 8 Last time: All Blacks 39, Australia 37 (15…

All Blacks skipper Sam Cane has been ruled out of this weekend's Bledisloe Cup test in Auckland due to injury. ' Cane is one of a number of forced changes to the All Blacks team that defeated Australia in Melbourne, with Scott Barrett, David Havili and Quinn Tupaea also unavailable for selection this week. Sam Whitelock will lead a side which has…

The All Blacks selectors, Head Coach Ian Foster, Assistant Head Coach John Plumtree and former All Black Grant Fox, have named their squad for the 2021 edition of the Rugby Championship. The 36-strong squad is as follows: (Age, Sky Super Rugby club, provincial union and Test caps in brackets.

FULL TIME: Ireland 23 New Zealand 12 A historic day for Irish rugby. Ireland deserved winners as Ta'avao's red card proved costly for the All Blacks. Big heroes across the pitch from Peter O'Mahony to Tadhg Beirne, to two-try hero Andrew Porter. The scoreline could have been more as they executed their game plan perfectly. Read Gerry Thornley's…

We were treated to a stunning spectacle of rugby last weekend which saw all four Southern Hemisphere nations take the chocolates, while France was the only team from up north to collect a win. With several series on the line can England, Ireland or Wales fight their way to victory in Game 2? Read on for all the line-ups and key team news as it…

Will there be bolters? Who is on the outer? Who is in white-hot form? There's certainly plenty to ponder after nine rounds of Super Rugby, which featured no shortage of bruising Kiwi derbies. As the three-match test series against Ireland in July creeps closer, rugby scribes mix both form and availability and name varied All Blacks XVs. Marc…