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Biggest crowd in a decade turn up to see Will Jordan

232 days ago

Will Jordan of the All Blacks runs through training drills during a New Zealand All Blacks training session at Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 04, 2024 in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

All Black fullback Will Jordan was one of twelve players released this weekend to play pre-season provincial rugby where he played for Tasman.

The Makos played Southland in Christchurch in the pre-season fixture, at a neutral venue at Christchurch Rugby Club.

Thousands turned out to see the All Black in action which was the biggest crowd the club has seen in a decade. The fullback turned out 60 minutes and scored a try in his first provincial game for a few years.

“Firstly, it’s great to be back in the Tassie colours,” Jordan told 1News.

“It’s been about 4-5 years since I last played.

“The game was pretty open, so there was more running for the legs than contact for the shoulder, but I’m feeling really good.”

The returning Crusader is in need of game time after missing the entire Super Rugby season with rehab after undergoing shoulder surgery.

After missing the July series against England and Fiji, Jordan has been picked for the Rugby Championship where Argentina is the first opponent.

Jordan has a blistering try scoring record against Los Pumas, from his two tries on debut in 2020 to his four in the Rugby World Cup semi-final last year.

Another returning All Black, midfielder David Havili, also turned out for the Makos this weekend where he looked to improve on a disappointing Crusaders season.

“I definitely didn’t play the way I wanted to play during Super Rugby, but I’ve got something to improve on after 50 minutes today, 40 minutes last week,” Havili told 1News.

“I’m looking forward to getting into camp and getting stuck in. I also love playing for my home union whenever I get the chance.”

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Comments on RugbyPass

PT 45 minutes ago

Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

The truth can sometimes sting a bit, so I fully understand your delusional take on it. Also, I'm sure you'd be aware of the list of opposition players Irish players have injured with this? To be clear, I don't believe the Irish players are trying to intentionally injure opposition players, certainly not. But they are reckless in a lot of their ‘clearing out’ maneuvers and tactics, therefore causing injuries to opposition players. I suppose they don't do it at training so they don't injure each other, but it really does appear to be repetitive aspect of their play.

So, why don't you get some batteries for your noddy train & go play for a while.

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raymond bailly 46 minutes ago

Waratahs snap losing streak against ill-disciplined Brumbies

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BH 1 hour ago

'There's a lot of rugby knowledge': David Havili's reasoning behind in-form backline

Your hatred for ALB is borderline trolling at this point. He’s proven himself at test level for years.

Ennor is done and dusted. Too injury prone for years and years. Proctor is a better choice.

26 Go to comments

BH 1 hour ago

'There's a lot of rugby knowledge': David Havili's reasoning behind in-form backline

Tele’a scored some wonderful tries on the end of year tour against England and Italy and played well against Ireland.

Reece is the liability at test level - he was shown up big time against France.

26 Go to comments

PS 1 hour ago

Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

What you're asking for is an explanation for why the officials and citing officials don't make the same judgements on specific incidents as you do. What explanation can be given other than something along the lines of “the incident wasn't judged to have met the criteria for an illegal tackle”? What other explanation do you expect? Refs now give explanations for why an incident is judged to be illegal and why an illegal action may result in a card. If a card, or a penalty is not awarded. The only explanation possible is that there's no evidence of foul play. A coaching team can (and often do) seek clarity from the officials and WR on specific incidents in a game and they are free to share the outcome of such questions with fans. You should turn to the French coaching team for answers. The French coaching team should have raised any concerns in the appropriate channels instead of publicly accusing players of intentionally trying to injure another player. This incident has left a very sour taste and created a lot of bad blod

7 Go to comments

JH 1 hour ago

Fijian Drua secure star flyhalf Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula on new deal

Given he’s from Christchurch, the Crusaders are probably kicking themselves a bit.

4 Go to comments

JH 1 hour ago

Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

““Rieko Ioane has struggled to find form in Super Rugby. We know what he can do at Test level, on the wing I’ll add that”

Exactly, and that was years ago now. Rieko is a liability with a seriously limited skillset, especially for a 13. Frankly, every opponent is outplaying him. He’ll still make the ABs though, every player over 50 caps will, because we don’t drop ‘leadership group’ players apparently.

7 Go to comments

PS 1 hour ago

Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

I agree with your last sentence. In addition, I would like to add that I also wish you a speedy recovery from whatever made you write the first two sentences.

7 Go to comments

Poorfour 2 hours ago

Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

I’m not looking for special treatment for anybody. If anything, I’m looking to dispel the perception that some teams are treated more leniently than others.

For instance, compare the tackle that ultimately earned Owen Farrell from the RWC warm ups with the one that only earned Eben Etzebeth a YC from head contact with Atonio in the QF. I have yet to see any reasonable justification for why two near-identical incidents (with Farrell’s if anything having the greater mitigation) produced totally different judgements.

Rugby has a long and inglorious history of dismissing these incidents without providing any explanation - remember the spear tackle on BOD on the 2005 Lions tour?

If Beirne wasn’t reckless, then he and Ireland should have nothing to fear, but the game benefits from having a clear explanation of why.

7 Go to comments

Chiefs Mana 2 hours ago

Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

She’s talking more about individuals, i couldn’t agree more with you though from a team perspective.

Aussies also have the motivation of a Lions series to fuel them through and a lot of wide open spaces in the WB team.

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RedWarriors 3 hours ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

“There has been a university brain drain for many decades (at least since the 90s) so I'm not sure if overly relevant. Most talented youth players are identified at school and then provided a development contract with Ulster which requires them to stay in Ireland. I don't know of any young players who left to go to university and then were awarded professional rugby contacts to an English/Scottish team.”

Ok thanks, that clears that up.

43 Go to comments

RedWarriors 3 hours ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

“I would also be surprised if there are many kids going “across the water” to schools. It is a long time since I taught and coached rugby in Ulster, but I am still in contact with family and lads I coached…have not heard any of that mentioned.

What I have heard is that a significant number now to to Uni. outside Ireland. In my day it was Queen’s or Trinity, a few to UCD.”

Apologies, you are correct, I was thinking about Universities! I had heard that amore students were being educated outside of Ireland but mixed that up with fee paying schools. Would this affect potential rugby careers or would promising rugby players tend to stay in Ireland?

Wider question but I’ve often taught sevens was the way to break kids more generally into rugby. Say for example, Ireland had a successful 2023 RWC. Volume of rugby playing population could be quickly expanded via sevens then building pathways for promising looking 15s players etc.

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RedWarriors 4 hours ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

Another sign in Munster was Castletroy winning Junior and Senior Cups in same year maybe 15 years ago. Castletroy is a public schools (not fee paying) and it was a double first for a non Cork/Limerick private school or somewhere like Rockwell (where my Dad went).

He won the Senior Munster Cup when he was there. As a snapshot at what it was like in the 50s: he claimed a Cork team used to win most years then (Presentation College I think) as a victory celebration they used to kick the Cup down St Patricks hill (notoriously steep hill in Cork City Centre). The year Rockwell run, Presentation had paper marche-ed the cup back together from the previous years kick down St Patricks Hill. They assumed their guy would be the guy lifting the cup and he knew to be careful. With the shock Rockwell victory my Dad got to lift the cup and there was no gentleness only ecstacy. Unfortunately, he lifted so hard the two lugs detached and he hoisted the lugs in the air with the cup staying put. Presentation got the last laugh there!

Not sure if prez still kick it down Patricks Hill, maybe O’Gara would know!

43 Go to comments

Js 4 hours ago

Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

Slow and steady builds for sustainability. Why burn out too soon? I agree with Wilson that Aussie players are trying to prove a point but our ABs don’t need to burn themselves out within the early stages.

7 Go to comments

RedWarriors 4 hours ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

Connaught has a population of 0.5 million and 1/14th of Ireland’s total population. They are building an exciting, strong, young team. We have no issues. What exactly is Munster’s issue? Is it injury or is something else? As I suggested a tweak to the centralized contracts to rebalance funding might help. As for Ulster, the playing pool needs to be expanded. Leinster has 3 million people, Ulster has 2.25 million but there is no comparison to the amount of players, systems and the Leinster academy. This is not explained by IRFU favouring Leinster players.

Leinster supply a lot of Ulster players as you imply and were it not for that Ulster would Ulster be in worse straits?

There is no magic wand here. I will put it plainly, Ulster needs to push rugby out beyond the traditional few schools that play. It probably needs the IRFUs help with that potentially with an Ireland wide plan to develop the sport.

Others have noted that an infusion of quality coaches would go a long way.

Perhaps the IRFU needs to look at helping the other provinces develop and listen more to their needs.

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Crusaders prepare for 'dangerous in all elements' Chiefs game-breaker

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RedWarriors 4 hours ago

Antoine Dupont undergoes surgery on injured knee ahead of long absence

Rugby incident, happens scores of times in a game. Dupont wasn’t even hit with much force, Beirne just clears him and force is added from behind from Furlong.

We can’t have special treatment for France just because their star is the one who gets unlucky.

There is already a lack of clarity around actual Written decisions and how they differ from bans.

For example, Mauvaka the official written decision states Mauvaka to have made a ‘reckless’, ‘deliberate’, shot ‘to the head’ of a ‘player in a vulnerable position’ on the ground. That’s a high level entry ban of 10 weeks. However, the press release did not show ‘reckless’ or ‘vulnerable player’ ticked alloweing Mauvaka to enter at the 6 match mid range.

No. France have been abusing the system for years, recently spreading disinformation about the Ringrose ban in order to undermine confidence in the process.