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Football Soccer Formula 1 Rugby Racing Golf Blogs TennisPublished: August 16, 2014
The Bledisloe Cup is back for 2014, as Australia and New Zealand face off over three Tests, with the famous trophy and Australasian blagging rights going up for grabs. Saturday sees the first Test get underway at the ANZ Stadium, Sydney, with the hosts looking to end their recent, dismal record in the competition. As Ruckin Good Stats revealed, the Wallabies haven’t won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002, with the All Blacks dominating proceedings since the turn of the Millennium: However, Australia come into Saturday’s first Test in superb form, and as is the Aussies’ natural way...
Published: August 15, 2014
Daniel Hourcade takes his Argentina line-up to Pretoria on Saturday for the opening round of this year’s Rugby Championship, hoping to move on from last year’s winless disappointment. The Pumas are yet to beat South Africa in 17 meetings, having first met in Buenos Aires 21 years ago, the beginning of a one-sided history between the pair thus far. Heyneke Meyer will be upbeat about his side’s chances of surmounting the dominance that New Zealand quite easily exerted over the competition in 2013, but the South Americans can’t be overlooked. We break down some of the key head-to-head...
Published: August 15, 2014
Following on from last year’s New Zealand triumph, the forces of Australia, South Africa and Argentina are once again mounting an assault on the Rugby Championship with 2014 glory in their sights. The All Blacks face a tough test in retaining their title, but after going unbeaten in 2013, Steven Hansen’s line-up looks to be in as glittering a form as ever. The next six rounds of Rugby Championship competition will test just who of the Southern Hemisphere’s giants currently reigns supreme, with a barrage of world-class fixtures on the schedule. This year’s contest is especially...
Published: August 15, 2014
Ewen McKenzie’s Australia will seek to redeem themselves in this year’s Bledisloe Cup meetings against New Zealand after losing to the All Blacks three times in 2013. The Southern Hemisphere giants will clash on Saturday in the opening round of the 2014 Rugby Championship, with Steve Hansen’s men hoping to retain the title they so confidently won 11 months ago. The Wallabies haven’t won a Bledisloe Cup fixture since 2011 and New Zealand haven’t lost a Bledisloe Cup in more than a decade. However, with another trio of meetings scheduled over the next two months, McKenzie’s...
Published: August 14, 2014
New Zealand travel to Sydney to defend their Bledisloe title with both sides aiming to extend winning runs. Australia have not lost since the opening match of their November tour at Twickenham, with seven wins on the bounce. The All Blacks are in world-record territory, hunting their 18th straight victory in this Rugby Championship curtain-raiser. With both sides winning all three summer Tests and both countries producing finalists in this season’s Super 15 tournament, we are effectively watching the form players on the planet battle it out this weekend. Here are the key matchups that...
Published: August 14, 2014
The All Blacks have named a strong and largely predictable team to take on the Wallabies in the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship opener in Sydney this weekend. It is a team that is close to full strength, with only Tony Woodcock and Dan Carter unavailable through injury. The most notable omission is that of Israel Dagg. He sees his spot taken by the brilliant Ben Smith in what was an inevitable move. Smith has been the form fullback in New Zealand rugby for the past two seasons, while Dagg has been underwhelming and not captured the form he showed in 2010 and 2011. Dagg has no doubt been...
Published: August 13, 2014
The Top 14 gets underway this Friday with everyone gunning to topple Toulon following last season’s triumph. It was a miserable summer for French rugby with Les Bleus blown away 3-0 on their tour of Australia. Coach Philippe Saint-Andre trained his sights on the domestic top flight as one of the causes of the downturn in the national side’s fortunes, per his comments reported by ESPNScrum: “England will take three weeks holiday before starting five weeks of technical and physical development,” he said. “They will resume their domestic programme in early September....
Published: August 11, 2014
The 2014 edition of South Africa’s premier club rugby competition got underway this weekend as the Currie Cup boomed back onto the domestic scene in more ways than one. The first round’s most generous fixture in terms of hits on display came from the Golden Lions and the Blue Bulls, each of whom brought a wealth of Super Rugby experience to the onslaught. There, it was the hosting Lions who got a better look-in with their thuds, undoubtedly part of the reason that they walked out as 41-13 victors. However, this week’s biggest hit came from Nelspruit, and even though the...
Published: August 9, 2014
There is currently a logjam in the All Blacks back three. They boast five quality options in Ben Smith, Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Charles Piutau and Julian Savea. All would walk into any other international team. But the All Blacks cannot play them all. It is a good problem to have, but no one seems to be able to agree just what the best combination is. Savea has to be the first player to fill one of the spots. It is not that he is any better than the others, but he brings different things. While the others will beat you with speed, skill and vision, Savea can also beat you with strength and...
Published: August 8, 2014
Heyneke Meyer’s South Africa side come into this year’s Rugby Championship with revitalised hopes of going that extra mile and winning the trophy they so nearly missed out on in 2013. In the end, New Zealand were rampant victors en route to claiming last year’s title, but a last-gasp encounter at Ellis Park could have turned everything around. The Springboks are once again building up to stage a challenge for the Rugby World Cup in just over a year’s time, and we’ve graded their Rugby Championship squad heading into this summer’s contest. Past accolades, current...