NZ Rugby

Pointers for NZ Rugby as Wallabies welcome back Jones

That was a few days before Jones's England side famously beat the All Blacks in a World Cup semifinal, dumping them out of the tournament.

Because of the All Blacks' and England's scarcity of fixtures, Jones didn't get another chance to have a dig at New Zealand till late last year, when somehow his side came back from 25-6 down with 10 minutes left to tie the scores at fulltime. Had Marcus Smith not sent one conversion wide, it would have been remembered as one of the greatest English victories ever.

Sevens stars named in Black Ferns as Simon and McMenamin return

The pair are both returning from injury.

Simon will wear the captain's armband alongside first-five Ruahei Demant who led the team during the Pacific Four Series, which the Black Ferns won.

The team now plays two tests against Australia for the Laurie O'Reilly Cup, with the first match in Ōtautahi this weekend.

The Waikato loose forward was named Black Ferns Player of the Year in 2021 but missed June's series with a knee injury.

McMenamin, the Black Ferns Player of the Year in 2019, has recovered from spinal surgery to reclaim her place.

NZR backs All Blacks coach Ian Foster to lead team through to Rugby World Cup

Former Ireland coach now All Blacks selector and analyst Joe Schmidt will be given an expanded role with the team.

The All Blacks produced one of the best performances in recent times to upset the Springboks at Ellis Park last Sunday.

However, Foster's job had come under scrutiny following a run of five defeats from their last seven games, with NZR boss Mark Robinson refusing to back Foster after the All Blacks victory in Johannesburg.

'We feel it is a new dawn for this team' - Robinson

New Zealand Rugby confirm consultation on transgender policy

A raft of sports are reviewing their transgender guidelines after swimming's global governing body FINA at the weekend banned any athlete who had been through male puberty from taking part in elite women's competitions.

World Rugby instituted a ban on transgender players in the elite women's game last year citing safety concerns and New Zealand Rugby's guidelines will focus on grassroots community rugby.

"We want sport to be as inclusive as possible," NZR chief executive Mark Robinson told Newshub.

Fiji likely to host a round of World Sevens Series

New Zealand Rugby confirmed that they are continuing to explore the idea of having their round of the series in the island nation.

After the announcement of the return of the Hamilton 7s yesterday, NZR head of tournaments and competitions, Cameron Good, said the change of landscape had meant they had instead always been planning to return to Hamilton next year.

He added talks are underway with Fiji Rugby on the opportunities that are available.

Delay in NZ Rugby's deal with Silver Lake

New Zealand Rugby had originally planned for the deal with the US equity firm to be ratified at their Annual General Meeting at the end of the month.

However, NZR Chief Executive Mark Robinson said it had been decided not to include the motion at the AGM after a request for more information from its Provincial Unions.

Robinson said the unions had asked for more time to discuss some key areas of the overall deal structure.

NZ Rugby salutes Pacific icons who gave their all to rugby

New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Mark Robinson acknowledged the heartache of losing both Joeli Vidiri and Fesolai Va’ainga Tuigamala this week.

He says it’s been incredibly difficult with the loss of two men who have such standing in rugby and in their communities.

“Joeli was a pioneer for Fijian rugby and set the platform for the many Fijian stars who have followed him. 

“Together with Jonah Lomu at Counties Manukau they formed one of the most formidable partnerships we’ve seen, and his performances for the Blues helped put Super Rugby on the map.”

NPC teams to play for one title

The competition will be seeded into two conferences based on the previous season standings.

The round robin will also include four crossover matches between the two conferences.

The quarterfinals include the top four teams within each conference playing for a spot in the semi-finals.

With the top two teams across the conferences playing against each other in the semi-finals, to then see the top two qualifiers play off in the NPC final.

NZR Head of Community Rugby Steve Lancaster said:

Double Olympic sevens champion Risi Pouri-Lane's rugby career on the rise

She’s just 21, but Risaleaana Pouri-Lane already holds a rare Olympic record.

Risi, as she’s best known, captained the New Zealand sevens team to gold at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

And in August this year, she was a valuable team member of the Black Ferns Sevens at the Tokyo Olympics, who also won gold.

This outstanding accomplishment makes Pouri-Lane, Olympian #1477, the only New Zealander to have won a gold medal at both a youth and summer Olympics.

NZR launches independent investigation into Black Ferns coach

In a social media post earlier this week Ngata-Aerengamate alleged Moore told her she didn't deserve to be in the team and she was selected only to play the guitar.

The end of year Northern Hemisphere tour was a tough one for the Black Ferns.

They lost all four tests, beaten convincingly by England and France in what was their first international rugby in two years due to Covid.

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson says the independent inquiry will run alongside the review the NZR is doing of the Black Ferns end of year tour.