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Updated: This column and our 2024 rugby coverage is fast coming to a close for the year, as we are running out of content. This may or may not be our last column of the year!
An advertising spot on Club Rugby has opened up for next year. If interested in this and/or advanced sponsorship please get in touch.
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A hearty Central 7s tournament at Massey University on Saturday, played in mild, drizzly conditions that gave way to sunshine by mid-afternoon, by which time it was all over.
Both the men’s and women’s tournaments became a tri-series between Manawatu, Wellington and Whanganui. The teams played a short round-robin ahead of knockout semi-finals and then finals.
Wellington (men) and Manawatu (women) topped the round-robin and earned a bye. Whanganui beat Manawatu 15-7 in the sudden death men’s semi-final and Wellington beat Whanganui in the women’s.
Manawatu have had an icy grip on the Central 7s women’s title and were gunning for a 10-peat. With accomplished players Layla Sae and Kaipo Olsen-Baker (current Black Ferns) in their midfield, they were favoured to achieve this. Particularly after their first-up 4 tries to 1 one over Wellington. But Wellington were organised, particularly on defence, and they shut them out to win 28-24.
Wellington’s men’s team had four Paremata-Plimmerton starters (if you include Jeremiah Avei-Collins) from the recent club sevens in the final – plus Todd Svenson from the Upper Hutt Rams, Villiami Fine from Petone and Daniel Tafili from Ories as starters, and with others such as Johnsonville duo Jacob Walmsley and Finlay Sharp on the bench. Led by Esi Komaisavai and assisted by Louis Northcott with two tries, Wellington beat Whanganui 26-12 in the final.
For the record, Wellington’s 2024 7s squads were (credit WRFU for the image):
Disappointing that not more unions could enter this tournament. The absence of Hawke’s Bay sides was keenly felt, as was Wairarapa-Bush who have been regulars at this tournament.
Taranaki has always been part of the Central zone (not run on Super Rugby lines, think secondary school LNISS netball and zone basketball tournaments) but played in the Northern zone tournament on Saturday. The word on the ground on Saturday was that Nationals are returning in 2026, so hopefully Taranaki can re-join the central tournament by then.
The Northern zone tournament on Saturday was won by Counties Manukau (men’s) and North Harbour (women’s). Counties Manukau beat North Harbour 19-14 in the men’s final and North Harbour beat Counties Manukau 24-22 in the women’s decider.
No Auckland and no Bay of Plenty at the Northern zone tournaments, but there was a ‘Northern Barbarians’ side as part of an eight-team men’s competition.
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Wellington rugby will be different without TJ Perenara who played his last game for the All Blacks on Sunday morning against Italy, along with Sam Cane.
TJ Perenara Major Teams:
Wellington: 32 games, 7 tries, 25 wins, including the last 11 games in a row
Hurricanes: 163 games, 65 tries (A record 63 in Super Games), 106 wins
Māori All Black: 2 games v Ireland 2022 (32-17 win, Hamilton, 24-30 loss, Wellington)
All Blacks: 89 Tests, 17 tries, 71 wins,
Total First Class Games: 304
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TJ Perenara Honours:
2010, 2022: Jubilee Cup
2011: Under 20 World Cup
2015: Rugby World Cup
2016: Super Rugby Title
2022, 2024: NPC Premiership
2010, 2022: Jubilee Cup with Northern United
9: Bledisloe Cups
6: Rugby Championships, Freedom Cups (South Africa), Hillary Shields (England)
5: Dave Gallaher Trophies (France)
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Did You Know? TJ Perenara (Te Arawa and Ngāti Rangitihi) led the Haka a record 64 times (48 wins). That record includes a 2017 win over the Barbarians. Piri Weepu led the haka 51 times for 47 wins, 26-0 when it was Ka Mate. Perenara became the first player in international rugby history to win 50 Test wins off the bench in the 29-11 win against Italy on November 23. It took him 62 appearances to reach that milestone. Keven Mealamu won 47 times as a reserve.
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The All Blacks won 10 out of 14 Tests in 2024. They have won ten or more Tests 19 times in a calendar year, the first time that feat happened was in 1995. The All Blacks won ten or more internationals annually from 2005 to 2018. South Africa (7), France (6), England (5), Australia (3), Ireland (4), Wales (4), and Argentina (2) are the others to accomplish that feat.
The All Blacks have won 335 of their 499 Tests victories by 10 or more points.
The All Blacks incurred 11 cards in 14 Tests in 2024.
Sam Cane ends his All Blacks career with 104 Tests, 83 wins and 17 tries. He had 27 Tests as captain for a modest return of 18 wins. A stoic performer for a dozen years.
Jeff Wilson (44) and Jonah Lomu (37) were passed in the All Blacks all-time Test try-scoring tally by Beauden Barrett and Will Jordan respectively.
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South Africa completed a northern tour unbeaten for the first time since 2013 after their 45-12 win over Wales. That season South Africa defeated Wales (24-15), Scotland (28-0) and France (19-10). The Springboks have won 24 of their last 28 Test matches. Siya Kolisi has led South Africa to 43 wins in 61 internationals as captain. In 2024 South Africa used 50 players and scored 57 tries in 13 Tests. Eden Etzabeth has won a South African record 85 of his 131 Tests.
The effectiveness of the Bomb Squad, that is a 6-2, 7-1 or 8-0 forward split on the bench, originated by the Springboks in 2019, can be measured by the records of players who have come off the bench for South Africa. Prop Steven Kitshoff has played 54 Tests off the bench and won 34 times. He lost his first six Tests as a starter but did start the Lions series victory in 2021 and the three solitary point wins South Africa had in the finals at the 2023 Rugby Rugby Cup. Fellow prop Trevor Nyakane has won 31 of his 49 Tests from the bench while man-mountain Oxch Niche is 10-3 from the reserves and changed the World Cup semi-final in 2023 against England. Kwagga Smith is an ideal bench player. He’s fast, strong, versatile, and skillful from a Sevens background. Smith has won 24 of his 31 Test matches from the bench. In the 2023 World Cup final against the All Blacks, he pilfered three turnovers in a 12-11 win. Dynamic hooker Malcolm Mark is 26-14 from the bench and has 22 wins in 36 starts. Prop Vincent Kok is only 6-6 as a starter but 34-15 when coming off the bench. Gerhard Steenekamp has been used off the bench in 2024 with a 9-2 record.
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Another 15 points were scored by Thomas Ramos in France’s 37-23 win over Argentina in Paris. Ramos scored the same points tally in the 30-29 win against All Blacks last Saturday despite switching from fullback to the unfamiliar position of first five-eighth. In 42 Tests for France, Ramos has 379 points and 34 wins. For Toulouse, he has scored 1903 points in 165 appearances (121 wins). France have won 22 of their last 24 Tests at the Stade de France in Paris.
Warren Gatland now holds the record for most wins in a row with Wales at 14 and defeats at 12. Wales went an entire calendar year in 2024 without a win for the first time since 1937.
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Chris Laidlaw would be among the most talented and versatile inductees in the World Rugby Hall of Fame. The champion All Blacks halfback (1963-70) was also a broadcaster, diplomat, Rhodes Scholar, politician, author and coach. He won 53 of his 57 All Blacks matches, including 17 out of 20 Tests. He was a mainstay of a side that won 17 consecutive Tests between 1966 and 1969, a world record that lasted until 1998 when the Springboxs matched it. Laidlaw played 47 games for Otago while his club University won the senior championship five times in the sixties. From the mighty 66-69 All Blacks team Ken Gray, Waka Nathan, Sir John Graham, Sir Wilson Whineary, Kel Tremain and Earle Kirton are noticeable absentees.
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Some recent news
The Black Ferns Sevens are featuring three new faces and one impending milestone as they head away for their first two tournaments of the 2024/25 season.
Black Ferns winger Katelyn Vahaakolo, Justine McGregor and Olive Watherston are three debutants, while Dhys Faleafaga returns for her first SVNS Series tournaments since the birth of her twin boys.
McGregor joins Faleafaga in the squad out of St Mary’s College, Wellington. She made her debut for Wellington in the Farah Palmer Cup in 2022 as a 16-year-old and has two seasons of domestic rugby under her belt, while last year she was a member of the Black Ferns XV and the New Zealand U18 Girls Sevens team.
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New Zealand Rugby (NZR) last week confirmed the inaugural Under 85kg national team will tour Sri Lanka in May next year.
After receiving an invitation from the South Asian country earlier this year, it has been announced the New Zealand Under 85kg team will play two fixtures against the Sri Lankan men’s team, known as the Tuskers.
The New Zealand team was named last month and can be viewed here.
New Zealand Under 85kg tour 2025:
4 May: New Zealand U85kg v Sri Lanka, Kandy.
10 May: New Zealand U85kg v Sri Lanka, Colombo.
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The 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki draw was released last week.
The Hurricanes Poua play three home games, one at Wellington Stadium and two at the NZCIS.
The Stadium match (1 March) will be a double header with the men’s team, but the two at NZCIS could be seen as a missed opportunity for many fans to see the team. First, why are all three matches in Wellington and not spread across the Hurricanes franchise area? Second, the NZCIS is not an ideal venue for fans and spectators. Leading state-of-the-art facilities, yes, but this venue is not fan-friendly. At this time of the year (22 and 29 March) Porirua Park or nearby Maidstone Park could have been looked at?
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Old Boys University has announced an unchanged coaching group for next year for their Premiers and Premier Reserves, after taking home much silverware this season.
Anthony Rehutai (head coach) and Glyn Champion and Tomasi Palu (assistants) will lead the Premiers, while Paul Swift and Riki Carter will coach the Premier Reserves.
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The Wellington Axemen and Poneke have also announced their coaches for 2025:
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The Condor Sevens tournament is at Mt Maunganui this coming weekend.
There are four Wellington schools involved in the Open Grade tournament, these being: Hutt International Boys’ School and Scots College (boys) and St Mary’s College and Wellington East Girls’ College (girls). St Pat’s Silverstream is representing Wellington in the U15s.
For more visit the tournament’s website at: https://condorsevens.com/draws-and-results-2024
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Doug Catley MNZM recently passed away. Catley held many roles within the Old Boys University club from player, to coach, Chair, Life Member, WCOB President 1988-89 and of course OBU President from 1997-2007. Doug was a highly successful and respected businessman and was involved in many other organisations, including Wellington Cricket and the Basin Reserve Trust.
Nicholas Boyack passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last Sunday. Boyack was a long-time reporter of the now defunct Hutt News weekly newspaper publication in the Hutt Valley, where he often covered local sport and rugby.
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Australia’s hopes of a first Grand Slam since 1984 were dashed this morning. Great try this from Scotland:
Can I shock you? I love this.
— Thistle Scottish Rugby Podcast (@thistlerugbypod) November 24, 2024
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As per a recent article: Leading All Blacks such as Beauden Barrett, Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane are set to be targeted by a proposed breakaway global rugby franchise competition ready to dangle multi-million-dollar contracts under the noses of top international players.
With UK newspapers The Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail all revealing initial details of the mooted rebel league that is being likened to LIV golf’s breakaway from the PGA Tour, rugby’s establishment was facing a potential player revolt nearly 30 years after the game turned professional to stave off a bid by Aussie media mogul Kerry Packer to form his own rogue global franchise competition.
According to UK media reports, the league intends to pay the world’s top 40 rugby players salaries in excess of $2 million a season as the star attractions of the competition, which is believed to be funded by US backers, with potential investment from the Middle East also speculated on. The recruitment process is said to be in its early stages.
The proposed concept, reported The Times, is for a grand prix-style travelling league, taking inspiration from Formula One and cricket’s Indian Premier League, that would include eight men’s franchises, as well as a professional women’s competition, set to get under way in 2026.
Read more at: https://www.thepost.co.nz/sport/360489339/all-blacks-set-be-targeted-breakaway-rebel-rugby-competition-plans-revealed
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From Wellington club rugby to being in line for a leading World Rugby award:
UPDATE: The World Rugby award winners are out.
South Africa’s Pieter-Steph du Toit is the World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year for the second time and New Zealand’s Wallace Sititi is the Breakthrough Player of the Year.
England’s Ellie Kildunne is the 2024 Women’s 15s Player of the Year and Ireland’s Erin King is the Breakthrough Player of the Year.
France’s Antoine Dupoint is the Men’s Sevens Player of the Year, becoming the first player to win both the 15s and 7s award.
The supreme XV of 2024 ⚔️
Presenting the Men's 15s Dream Team of the Year #WorldRugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/4Ub6KiK2Za
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) November 24, 2024
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Steve So’oialo was recently made a Life Member of the Tawa club:
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