tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83571715150484137622024-02-18T19:03:44.880-08:002011 Rugby World Cup Live UpdatesThe 2011 Rugby World Cup will be the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. At a meeting of the International Rugby Board (IRB) held in Dublin on 17 November 2005, New Zealand was selected as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa. There were two rounds of voting by the IRB Council to decide the host nation, with South Africa eliminated in the first round.Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-24093703686633397572011-03-05T04:41:00.000-08:002011-03-05T04:41:48.214-08:00Ireland National Rugby Team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Ireland National Rugby Team</span><br />
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</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Ireland Rugby Union Team represents the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) in rugby union. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/DdFoNih3c_k/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DdFoNih3c_k&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DdFoNih3c_k&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: left;">The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship (which they have won eleven times outright and shared eight times) and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007). Ireland is also one of the four unions which make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions. Eight former Ireland players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with four of them also having earned induction into the IRB Hall of Fame.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Outside centre Brian O'Driscoll, the current captain and Ireland's current all-time leader in both tries and appearances, is considered one of the best rugby players in the world and led Ireland to only their second Grand Slam in March 2009. He was also captain of the Lions on their 2005 tour of New Zealand, although his on-field captaincy was cut short by a controversial injury in the Lions' first Test. O'Driscoll was succeeded as Lions captain for their 2009 tour of South Africa by his current teammate, lock Paul O'Connell. Keith Wood, O'Driscoll's predecessor as Ireland captain before retiring in 2003, was the inaugural IRB International Player of the Year in 2001.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Ireland's highest ever position in the IRB World Rankings is third which they reached in 2003 and 2006. They currently lie in fifth position as of 29 November 2010, following their win over Argentina in the 2010 End of the Year Tests.</div></span></div></span></div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-52270185581324765552011-03-05T04:31:00.000-08:002011-03-05T04:31:05.148-08:00Australia National Rugby Team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Australia National Rugby Team</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. </span></span></div></b><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/h2K0BQJ90LE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The national team is nicknamed the Qantas Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the Mandela Challenge Plate with South Africa. Australia are currently ranked second in the IRB World Rankings and hold the Mandela Plate.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Australia have competed in all six Rugby World Cups, and have won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 against England, and in 1999 against France. Australia also lost in the final after extra time to England in the 2003 competition.Australia are governed by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU). Seven former Australian players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with one of those also having been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame.</span></span></div></b></div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-80376057043141592532011-03-05T03:56:00.000-08:002011-03-05T04:17:20.387-08:00France National Rugby Team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px;"></span></b><br />
<b><h1 class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-size: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;">France National Rugby Team</h1></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thecurrentaffairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/france-flag-rugby-player-shield-thumb16981508-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thecurrentaffairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/france-flag-rugby-player-shield-thumb16981508-150x150.jpg" /></a></div>The France national rugby union team represents France in the rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship.<br />
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They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams.<br />
France are the strongest rugby internationl team in the northen hemisphere being forth in the world as of 22 february 2011. Six former French players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with one of them, Philippe Sella, also having been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. France also has the best winning record of any northern hemisphere team when playing a test against a Tri-Nations opponent. As of 2010, the national side has been victorious over New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa more than ten times each.<br />
Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Year's Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match — against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament (now the Six Nations Championship) in 1910. France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. France came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, and won their first Five Nations title outright in 1959. They won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the knock-out stage of every tournament. They have reached the final twice, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, they were beaten in the semi finals by England.<br />
France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield. Their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. French international matches are played at several venues across the country; the Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis is used for their games during the Six Nations, and they have a formidable home record at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille where they have only lost twice, to Argentina in 2004 and to New Zealand in 2009.</div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-5485010534091193542011-03-05T03:42:00.000-08:002011-03-05T03:42:35.669-08:00New Zealand National Rugby Team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"></span></div><h1 class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-size: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;">New Zealand National Rugby Team</h1><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thecurrentaffairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/New_Zealand_flag_rugby-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thecurrentaffairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/New_Zealand_flag_rugby-150x150.jpg" /></a></div>The New Zealand men's national rugby union team is called the All Blacks. Rugby union is regarded as New Zealand's national sport.<br />
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They won the inaugural Rugby World Cup, are the leading points scorers of all time and the only international rugby team with a winning record against every test nation they have ever played. They have held the top ranking in the IRB World Rankings for longer than all other countries combined. In over 100 years, they have only been beaten in Test matches by seven international teams, out of the twenty they have played.<br />
New Zealand competes annually with Australia and South Africa in the Tri Nations, and are currently champions for the tenth time in the tournament's 15-year history. They are the current holders of the Bledisloe Cup, competed for annually with Australia, the Freedom Cup, contested annually with South Africa, and have completed a Grand Slam four times (in 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010), defeating all four Home Nations during one tour.<br />
The All Blacks have won a record 75% of all rugby matches they have ever played since 1903 and they were named the International Rugby Board (IRB) Team of the Year in 2005, 2006, 2008 and a record fourth time in 2010.Their captain, Richie McCaw is the International Rugby Board Player of the Year for a record third time and fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, one into the IRB Hall of Fame.<br />
The team first competed in 1884 against Cumberland County, New South Wales, and played their first Test match in 1903, a victory against Australia. This was followed by a tour of the northern hemisphere in 1905.<br />
</div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-6604417068018182492011-03-05T03:31:00.000-08:002011-03-05T03:31:42.963-08:00South Africa National Rugby Team<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 26px; line-height: 30px;">South Africa National Rugby Team</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://thecurrentaffairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/south-africa-flag-photo-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thecurrentaffairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/south-africa-flag-photo-150x150.jpg" /></a></div>The South African national rugby union team (the Springboks) are the current holders of the Rugby World Cup and 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners<br />
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They are currently ranked as the third best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.<br />
Although South Africa was instrumental in the creation of the Rugby World Cup competition, the Springboks did not compete in the first two World Cups in 1987 and 1991 because of anti-apartheid sporting boycotts of South Africa. The team made its World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament. The Springboks then defeated theAll Blacks 15–12 in the final, which is now remembered as one of the greatest moments in South Africa's sporting history, and a watershed moment in the post-Apartheid nation-building process. South Africa regained their title as champions 12 years later, when they defeatedEngland 15–6 in the 2007 final. As a result of the 2007 World Cup tournament the Springboks were promoted to first place in the IRB World Rankings; a position they held until July the following year when New Zealand regained the top spot.<br />
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The first round of the RWC 2011 Finals ballots has now closed. Any tickets not taken up in the first round will go back into the pool for release in a second ballot. Successful entrants will be sent a ticket offer via mail and/or email on or before March 18. For further information please <b><a href="http://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com/Default.aspx">click here.</a></b><br />
<br />
Accommodation<br />
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Need to book a place to stay? New Zealand has a wide range of accommodation on offer for all budgets - browse and book at www.newzealand.com/rugbyaccommodation.<br />
<br />
Official Travel and Hospitality Packages<br />
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Missed out on tickets to the matches you wanted? Tickets to all matches are still available through the Official Travel & Hospitality Programme.<br />
Visit www.rth2011.com for more information.<br />
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<b>Fly Emirates</b><br />
<br />
<b>Fly Emirates to more than 100 destinations worldwide - Emirates, a Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2011. Visit www.emirates.com</b><br />
for more information. <br />
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Keywords:rugby world cup 2011 tickets,rugby six nations tickets,soccer world cup tickets,all blacks tickets,rugby league world cup tickets,buy rugby world cup final tickets,rugby world cup ticket prices,soccer tickets</div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-7983259372771913582011-02-21T05:17:00.000-08:002011-02-21T05:19:32.139-08:00Rugby 2011 World Cup Schedule , Fixtures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #cc0000;"><b>RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011 MATCH SCHEDULE </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2_VIW23VHO0_ysuj1aR18lFR18pI2VCbgfM0RX7hXfDyGNGGLapVy5SUoEd_hIJSjfCaU3geG6kQ0gUrv5qHwdVhUXk-bewgM7Ve5sdE0OmEb1EQDRSNI-xDVgEIm1es8YtcC2ATPL0/s640/Rugby.jpg" width="640" /></div><div style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red;"><b>Date No Pool Match details Location Stadium</b></div>Fri Sept 9 1 A New Zealand v Tonga Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sat Sept 10 2 B Scotland v Play-off winner Invercargill Rugby Park Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 10 3 D Fiji v Namibia Rotorua Rotorua International Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 10 4 A France v Asia 1 North Shore North Harbour Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 10 5 B Argentina v England Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Sun Sept 11 6 C Australia v Italy Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Sun Sept 11 7 C Ireland v USA New Plymouth Stadium Taranaki<br />
Sun Sept 11 8 D South Africa v Wales Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Wed Sept 14 9 D Samoa v Namibia Rotorua Rotorua International Stadium<br />
Wed Sept 14 10 A Tonga v Canada Whangarei Northland Events Centre<br />
Wed Sept 14 11 B Scotland v Europe 1 Dunedin Carisbrook<br />
Thurs Sept 15 12 C Europe 2 v USA New Plymouth Stadium Taranaki<br />
Fri Sept 16 13 A New Zealand v Asia 1 Hamilton Waikato Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 17 14 B Argentina v Play-off winner Invercargill Rugby Park Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 17 15 D South Africa v Fiji Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 17 16 C Australia v Ireland Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sun Sept 18 17 D Wales v Samoa Hamilton Waikato Stadium<br />
Sun Sept 18 18 B England v Europe 1 Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Sun Sept 18 19 A France v Canada Napier McLean Park<br />
Tues Sept 20 20 C Italy v Europe 2 Nelson Trafalgar Park<br />
Wed Sept 21 21 A Tonga v Asia 1 Whangarei Northland Events Centre<br />
Thurs Sept 22 22 D South Africa v Namibia North Shore North Harbour Stadium<br />
Fri Sept 23 23 C Australia v USA Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Sat Sept 24 24 B England v Play-off winner Dunedin Carisbrook<br />
Sat Sept 24 25 A New Zealand v France Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sun Sept 25 26 D Fiji v Samoa Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sun Sept 25 27 C Ireland v Europe 2 Rotorua Rotorua International Stadium<br />
Sun Sept 25 28 B Argentina v Scotland Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Mon Sept 26 29 D Wales v Namibia New Plymouth Stadium Taranaki<br />
Tues Sept 27 30 A Canada v Asia 1 Napier McLean Park<br />
Tues Sept 27 31 C Italy v USA Nelson Trafalgar Park<br />
Wed Sept 28 32 B Europe 1 v Play-off winner Palmerston North Arena Manawatu<br />
Fri Sept 30 33 D South Africa v Samoa North Shore North Harbour Stadium<br />
Sat Oct 1 34 C Australia v Europe 2 Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Sat Oct 1 35 A France v Tonga Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Sat Oct 1 36 B England v Scotland Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sun Oct 2 37 B Argentina v Europe 1 Palmerston North Arena Manawatu<br />
Sun Oct 2 38 A New Zealand v Canada Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Sun Oct 2 39 D Wales v Fiji Hamilton Waikato Stadium<br />
Sun Oct 2 40 C Ireland v Italy Dunedin Carisbrook<br />
Sat Oct 8 41 QF1: W Pool C v RU Pool D Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Sat Oct 8 42 QF2: W Pool B v RU Pool A Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Sun Oct 9 43 QF3: W Pool D v RU Pool C Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium<br />
Sun Oct 9 44 QF4: W Pool A v RU Pool B Christchurch Stadium Christchurch<br />
Sat Oct 15 45 SF1: W QF1 v W QF2 Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sun Oct 16 46 SF2: W QF3 v W QF4 Auckland Eden Park<br />
Fri Oct 21 47 Bronze Final Auckland Eden Park<br />
Sun Oct 23 48 Final Auckland Eden Park</div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8357171515048413762.post-29299070175975724812011-02-21T05:02:00.000-08:002011-02-21T05:06:14.913-08:002011 Rugby World Cup News and UpDates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
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The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987.<br />
<a name='more'></a>At a meeting of the International Rugby Board (IRB) held in Dublin on 17 November 2005, New Zealand was selected as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa. There were two rounds of voting by the IRB Council to decide the host nation, with South Africa eliminated in the first round.<br />
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The event is expected to cost about NZ$310 million to run and to generate NZ$280 million in ticket sales. It will be the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup, 2003 America's Cup and 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.[citation needed] Around 70,000 visitors from overseas are expected to travel to New Zealand for the associated games and events.<br />
The event is scheduled to be played over seven weekends from the weekend starting 10 September and culminating the weekend starting 22 October 2011. The weekend of the final was chosen so it falls on a long weekend caused by the New Zealand public holiday of Labour Day (Monday, 24 October 2011). The final is scheduled to be played in Auckland at Eden Park.<br />
As of 19 February 2008, New Zealand's progress in preparing and implementing plans for the event received an A+ rating from the International Rugby Board's chairman and chief executive.<br />
After speculation that the number of participating teams would be reduced to 16, the IRB announced on Friday, 30 November 2007 that the 2011 tournament would again feature 20 teams. Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament. The remaining eight berths will be determined by regional qualifying tournaments.</div>Mark Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01384195723993288137noreply@blogger.com0