No one is expecting Wales to beat South Africa but the performance will go a long way to proving Gatland retains the faith of his players
It was music to New Zealand ears. They had won the final of the U19s tournament that was staged in Ireland in 2007, and it was only natural that they carried over that success into the following year at U20s level with a 38-3 win in the final in Wales in June 2008.
This was the year when two worlds collided and morphed into one. Prior to 2008, World Rugby – known as IRB at the time – used to run World Cups at U21s and U19s.
There are numerous great rugby raconteurs... and then there is Ronan O’Gara, a ringmaster who habitually speaks his mind, beautiful or otherwise.
Leinster and La Rochelle have named their teams for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup final in Dublin, the Irish province making two changes from their semi-final win over Toulouse and the defending champions two as well after their victory over Exeter.
The Fijian Drua’s historic win over defending Super Rugby Pacific champions the Crusaders at Churchill Park couldn’t have been scripted any better.
While the promotion of five academy players into the national side is never going to attract as much attention as the signing of Argentina's Pablo Matera, it's the former additions who will help the Crusaders maintain their long-term stranglehold over New Zealand.
Last year, NZR unveiled a new second-tier team that was set to tour North America in the latter stages of the test calendar. If such a team were named today, which lucky players would make the inaugural All Blacks XV selection?
The Crusaders continued the trend of Kiwi dominance in round one of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition, just beating the Brumbies 31-29 in Christchurch. Here's how they rated.
Amongst the almost 200 players selected for NZ Super Rugby sides for 2021, there are certainly a few men who will count themselves lucky to have been offered a contract for next year - and plenty others who will feel somewhat aggrieved.