Tyres are flipped, weights are hoisted, pools are emptied and mountains are conquered. Before a ball is kicked in competition, pro players endure some of the most punishing fitness drills…
Tournaments
Can you win a Rugby World Cup without kicking a ball?
SOMETHING SHOULD have been jarred loose as New Zealand met France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final, 24 years after the pair had last faced off at Eden Park…
Spots in France’s World Cup squad up for grabs
The matches between France and England in August will be crucial to determining their final World Cup squads
Analysis: Leone Nakarawa drives Fiji towards World Cup
Forget the Rugby Championship and how the southern hemisphere giants are gearing up. Over the past fortnight, something just as significant in terms of the wider World Cup picture has…
Rugby Statistics: Does World Cup form matter?
How much attention should be given to form going into a World Cup? Significance may well be attached to ‘building momentum’ in competitions such as the Rugby Championship beforehand, but…
Poll: Who is Australia’s best midfield playmaker?
Australia’s last-gasp victory over South Africa on Saturday was a truly compelling spectacle. A win for the Wallabies, who had been 20-7 down with half an hour to go, opened…
Analysis – Why New Zealand still need Richie McCaw and Dan Carter
Every year, without fail, the vast Super 15 talent pool infatuates onlookers from the northern hemisphere. Bleary-eyed from a schedule of early morning alarms, they fall head over heels through…
TV rights: Will Six Nations deal set a trend?
If you heard a low rumbling noise last Thursday, it may well have been a collective sigh of relief from armchair rugby fans across the country. You’ve no doubt heard…
BBC retain Six Nations but lose England home games to ITV
It’s a victory for common sense – but there’s no doubting the Six Nations TV deal announced today will draw sighs from traditionalists. The BBC, the permanent home of Five/Six…
Analysis: Five reasons the Highlanders won the Super 15 final
“Nobody said we could” – that was the rabid rallying cry issued by fly-half Lima Sopoaga as the Highlanders took to the pitch for the second period of Saturday’s phenomenal Super 15…