Mark Tele'a's days as an All Black are over. That's the prevailing belief now the winger has opted to play out his career in Japan, despite remaining eligible for the remainder of 2025 as he sees out his New Zealand Rugby contract.
The Crusaders have emerged a little worse for wear from their round one Super Rugby Pacific defeat to the Chiefs, revealing two key injury blows.
The Crusaders and Chiefs approached the opening game of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season with two very different outlooks on the match.
The Crusaders have named debutant Rivez Reihana at fly-half as the defending Super Rugby Pacific champions prepare to officially get their new era without Richie Mo’unga underway.
The chance to impress new All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson offers some previously capped players the chance to revive their international careers in 2024.
An unstoppable force will meet an immovable object when the Blues take on the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Pacific final at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.
While there'll be some vindication that Blues replacement hooker Kurt Eklund has been handed a ban for an illegal tackle on Crusaders wing Sevu Reece, the post-match punishment is just another example of referees not making the best decisions during matches.
Tasman co-coaches Andrew Goodman and Clarke Dermody have wasted no time injecting their off-season recruits straight into the action for the opening round of the Mitre 10 Cup, with Sevu Reece and Mark Telea set to start on the wings on Saturday.
Every cloud has a silver lining and from a New Zealand rugby point of view, the silver lining of the COVID pandemic is undeniably the return of a number of experienced operators from around the world for this year's Mitre 10 Cup.