New Zealand have won the Rugby World Cup, for the first time in 24 years.
posted by Sebmojo on Oct 23, 2011 - 51 comments

The 7th Rugby World Cup begins this Friday in Auckland. The fourth largest sporting event in the world, there will be twenty national teams competing for the Webb Ellis Cup, including such diverse nations as Namibia, Romania and the USA. [more inside]
posted by wilful on Sep 6, 2011 - 135 comments

Every year for the past 26 years, the United States has faced off against New Zealand in rugby ... on the ice sheets of McMurdo Sound. [Pages 2, 3, 4] [more inside]
posted by SpringAquifer on Mar 23, 2010 - 25 comments

New Zealand All Blacks and Hurricanes Captain Tana Umaga has been quite the news maker lately. Umaga, a hard nosed rugby player known for his fierce tackling, equipped himself with a women's handbag to beat his drunken teammate to tears while breaking up a late night fight in a Christchurch bar. Umaga then followed up the weekend be being honored by the Queen for his services to New Zealand Rugby. While it is well known that the Queen favors carrying a handbag, it was not revealed if that weighed into her decision to give Umaga the honor.

Trying to cash in on Umaga mania, the young lady who owned the bag sold it on trademe.co.nz for $22,000 NZ. While the bar owner launched a failed attempt at selling the security video of the incident. Not wanting to be left out Chris Masoe, who was hit with the bag is rumored to be considering selling the napkins he used to whip the tears from his eyes in order to raise funds to pay off the fine he received for the incident. There is still no word yet from the NZRFU as to whether or not the All Blacks will incorporate overhead handbag smashing motion into the newest version of the Haka.
posted by remo on Jun 8, 2006 - 38 comments

The Rugby World Cup probably doesn't matter a lot to most, but today's announcement that New Zealand will be hosting the 2011 event is enough to send the local media into ecstasy. Not wanting to be outdone on Olympic-scale scandal, you can bet that neighbours of the biggest Rugby Stadium in New Zealand will not be happy.
posted by pivotal on Nov 17, 2005 - 40 comments

The British and Irish Lions tour the remote South Pacific nation of New Zealand once every 12 years. Rugby is like a religion on these islands and the rich history and intense rivalry between the Lions and the All Blacks will combine to make this the single biggest event in New Zealand’s history. New Zealand will be bursting at the seems during the tour and the economy, already buoyant will get another boost.
posted by Samuel Farrow on Apr 5, 2005 - 33 comments