#Counties Manukau

Moana Pasifika have added the first player of Cook Island heritage to their squad as one of three new signings. In the ninth wave of player announcements ahead of their debut campaign in the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season, the expansion franchise have unveiled locks Mike McKee, Don Lolo and Veikoso Poloniati as their newest arrivals. The trio…

Moana Pasifika have added a Hurricanes halfback and two Hawke's Bay stars to their ranks ahead of their debut season in next year's inaugural edition of Super Rugby Pacific. In an announcement on Monday, the expansion franchise confirmed the arrival of Manu Samoa international Jonathan Taumateine from the Hurricanes. The 25-year-old joins Moana…

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…

Lineen played for the Scots from 1989 and 1992, sharing in their 1990 Five Nations grand slam. There has since been a continuous Kiwi influence in the Five Nations/Six Nations since 1994. This year's tournament kicks off this weekend, with seven New Zealand-born players and two Kiwi head coaches involved. Some - notably French prop Uini Atonio -…

The Hurricanes have today named their 38-man squad for the 2023 DHL Super Rugby Pacific season. While the core of the squad is maintained from 2022, five new signings have been named, with four players in line to make their Hurricanes debut when the competition kicks off on February 25. Waikato outside Dan Sinkinson, Taranaki's Kini Naholo and…

Wayne Smith and the Black Ferns during a training session. Photo / Photosport The Black Ferns have announced their first squad of the year as the Rugby World Cup draws closer. Black Ferns coaches Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen have named 31 players in the squad set to host Australia, Canada and USA next month. Seven players are in…

Beauden Barrett is expected to make an impressive sweep of the NZ rugby awards, to be held in Auckland tonight. Photo / Photosport Beauden Barrett should be a lock-in for the big prize and the Super Rugby player of the year gong at tonight's ASB Rugby Awards in Auckland. Aside from two less than stellar outings against Australia in October (when…

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…

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 Magpies will play Wellington in a quarterfinal this weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor By Thomas Airey The Hawke's Bay Magpies have the perfect opportunity to avenge their Ranfurly Shield loss in an NPC quarterfinal in Wellington next week. Hawke's Bay will play the current holders at Sky Stadium after finishing a topsy-turvy final weekend of the…

It all comes down to the final round of the regular season with playoff spots yet to be decided in both the Odds and Evens conference of the Bunnings NPC. It's a similar tale in both conferences where five doesn't go into four. In the Odds conference, Counties Manukau and Southland are out of contention leaving one of either Hawke's Bay or Otago to…

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.

Black Ferns coaches Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen have selected 32 players in the Black Ferns squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, hosted in New Zealand for the first time. The squad was announced by New Zealand Rugby Deputy Chair and Rugby World Cup winner Dr Farah Palmer at College Rifles Rugby Club on Tuesday.

Head coach: Marco Bortolami Captain: Dewalt Duverago/Michele Lamaro Last year: 13th Betting: 150-1 Players In: S Hildago-Klyne (Exeter Chiefs), T Menoncello (promoted academy), A Garbisi (Mogliano), G Nicotera (Rovigo), G Da Rae (Rovigo), F Drago (Mogliano), M Drudi (Mogliano), S Scrafton (Hurricanes), O Ratave (Fijian Drua), M Zanon (Pau), M…

Props Tanya Kalounivale (23, Waikato, Chiefs, 4)Phillipa Love (32, Canterbury, Matat?, 19)Krystal Murray (29, Northland, Blues, 4)Amy Rule (22, Canterbury, Matat?, 6)Awhina Tangen-Wainohu (24, Waikato, Chiefs, 1) Santo Taumata (19, Bay of Plenty, Chiefs, 1) Locks Chelsea Bremner (27, Canterbury, Matat?, 5)Joanah Ngan-Woo (26, Wellington,…

Who can catch competition front runners Waikato and Canterbury with just three rounds remaining in the Bunnings NPC? Waikato are unbeaten and have a six-point advantage over second placed Hawke's Bay in the Odds Conference. Despite dropping a game to Taranaki in round three, Canterbury has an even bigger stranglehold on the Evens Conference. They…

New Zealand Sevens stars Portia Woodman, Sarah Hirini and Stacey Fluhler have been named in the Black Ferns squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Black Ferns coaches Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen selected 32 players in the squad, which was announced by New Zealand Rugby deputy chair and Rugby World Cup winner Dr…

Sevens stars Portia Woodman, Sarah Hirini and Stacey Fluhler have been named in a 32 strong Blacks Ferns squad for the upcoming World Cup in Aotearoa. Kennedy Simon and Ruahei Demant will co-captain the side. Among the notable ommissions are Chiefs first five Chelsea Semple, Sevens player Tyla Nathan Wong and Canterbury winger Grace…