My friend I know has had some bad interactions with Ruben Love, there has been word on the street he’s on grinder and that he’s cheated on everyone of his girlfriends. Crazy to think young kids look up to him.
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The New Zealand Herald
Gregor Paul - 8 min read
If ever there was a statistic to confirm that New Zealanders are being marginalised in the quest to commercialise the All Blacks, it is surely that the national team has 14 games left to play this year and only one of them will be on home soil.
The domestic fan may be feeling a little unloved because only 30% of this year’s All Blacks tests are being played in New Zealand and just one month into an international season that runs from July to late November, 90% of the programme is now slated to take place offshore.
If it was a one-off then maybe domestic fans wouldn’t have a legitimate gripe, but the numbers show home fans have been increasingly short-changed, with 56 home tests played between 2009-2018 and 43 played or scheduled to be played between 2019-2028 (although the calendar is not confirmed).
That’s a 25% reduction over the 10 years and while 2020 and 2021 were affected by the Covid pandemic, even adjusting the figures to what was originally scheduled, there would still have been a hefty reduction in home fixtures.
Within this reduced home calendar, there has been a concentration of tests in Auckland and, to a lesser extent, Wellington, with regional centres such as Nelson (2018), New Plymouth (2013) and Napier (2014) – all of which hosted tests between 2009-2018 – cut entirely from the roster.
Of the 32 home tests the All Blacks have played since 2019, 21 have been in either Auckland (two were at Mt Smart Stadium) or Wellington.
The next most-used venue has been Dunedin, which has hosted five tests, but it’s likely that in the full course of the 2019-2028 period, the All Blacks will play more in the US than they do in Otago.
They have already played three tests in the US since 2019 and will play a fourth in September when they take on South Africa in Baltimore.
With games being broadcast behind Sky’s paywall and such a high concentration of fixtures in two urban centres in New Zealand, it could be said the All Blacks are losing their claim to be the people’s team.
Maybe, when more games per decade are played in the US than they are in the South Island, they have already lost that right. Or at least they are no longer the people of New Zealand’s team.
This offshore drift is, of course, about money – with two clear objectives of making more in ticket revenue by playing at larger stadiums and also showcasing the brand in strategically identified markets with the aim of winning new fans and new sponsors, and selling higher volumes of merchandise than they would in New Zealand.
Match day revenue has been a perennial source of frustration for the national body as the money the All Blacks earn from playing tests is almost minuscule in comparison with the major Northern Hemisphere nations.
Last year, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) made $34 million from match day revenue, whereas England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) raked in $286m.
The two entities have vastly different revenue profiles, as of the $522m the RFU made last year, 54% came from match day revenue, 17% from media rights, 14% from sponsorship and the rest from government grants and investment returns.
NZR, by comparison, had 31% of its $304m of revenue last year come from media rights, 47% from sponsorships and 11% from match day income.
Understandably, NZR wants a higher percentage of a higher total revenue to come from match days, hence this push to playing more offshore fixtures.
NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster says of this balance between making money and connecting the All Blacks with their domestic fanbase: “That’s the challenge. If we were purely a commercial business, we would take all our games offshore to maximise our revenue.
“But we are not. We are part of the fabric of this country. We are accountable to our members and loyal to our public and participants, so we just have to manage that.
“And that means we don’t maximise every cent we could earn commercially but we have to balance that. If we act in a purely mercenary way around commercial revenue from test matches, ultimately it will bite us in the a*** domestically and the health of the game here. And that is a judgment call. We get feedback that’s for sure.”
The issue of whether NZR is getting the balance right could be debated endlessly. NZR is running an investment thesis that says the All Blacks have to be commercialised offshore to make the sort of money needed to then be invested in the domestic game at all levels down to the grassroots.
The financial logic stacks up, but what is the long-term cost domestically of playing so many games outside of New Zealand? What impact will this have on participation in the sport as there is truth to the adage that the next generation can’t be what they can’t see?
Also, when so much of the rugby the All Blacks do play in New Zealand is in either Auckland or Wellington, what impact will this have on the brand profile domestically and the number of people actively following the national team and buying subscriptions, match tickets and merchandise?
The provinces feel like they remain rugby’s strongholds – the places where the game remains a focal point of communities – yet they are being denied the right to access the All Blacks the way they once were.
Having the All Blacks come to town to play a test has incredible tangible and intangible value for smaller, provincial centres. There’s the payday that comes for local hospitality businesses, but there is also the more valuable asset of connection between the players and the people.
And it’s believed there may have been an indirect financial cost to the decision to only play four home tests in 2026, as this may have been a factor in Sky reducing its annual fee for media rights from about $100m-a-year to $80m.
On top of this, there has been a relentless narrative from NZR since 2022, after its decided to sell a stake in its commercial revenue to US fund manager Silver Lake, about the importance of the overseas fan.
Every initiative seems to be aimed at finding new, offshore fans. NZR’s content strategy is heavily skewed to foreign audiences and the loyal domestic fan who buys a Sky subscription, a season ticket to their Super Rugby team and a replica All Blacks jersey may be wondering if they are being taken for granted.
When the All Blacks end up playing 39% of their games in front of their own people as they have done so far since 2019 (excluding World Cups), domestic fans have a valid argument to say they are the victims of this globalisation strategy.
“At times we have to make decisions that are not optimal financial decisions but they will be the optimal for the game, and our stakeholders – our people, players, coaches and members,” Lancaster says.
“We have to be accountable to them. It is subjective and we have to try to strike a happy medium.”
​
The New Zealand Herald
Bruce Holloway, Adam Julian - 9 min read
New Zealand Rugby has a swish new talent-identification system in operation and it is working so seamlessly that it has already generated 814 scouting reports at Under-18 level.
This swathe of detailed information is not only tidying up national selection processes for New Zealand Schools, Barbarians and Māori U18 teams, but perhaps more significantly, also looks poised to become a game-changer in terms of the broader player-development process at First XV level and beyond.
Through its operation, there have been more intensive scouting operations than ever at schoolboy level this year, as national squad contenders are evaluated.
The selection process now has a centrally managed school and club nomination process, plus an online talent-identification platform which is shared with every provincial union academy and Super Rugby Pacific franchise. Through this, a whopping 709 nominations have been received by New Zealand Rugby, with 576 individual players so far scouted from 14 provinces.
Further, there have been 238 repeat assessments, with some players scouted up to seven times.
As a snapshot, some 96 schoolboy locks have been scouted, 50 loosehead props, 89 No 8s, 57 halfbacks and 60 fullbacks.
Back in April, all New Zealand clubs and schools, via provincial unions, were given a nomination form and invited to nominate their top players through the new talent identification system. All nominated players get at least one scouting report, with every promising First XV player now having a structured pathway to being spotted.
Scouting reports go to the provincial unions to inform their U18 camps with a copy also going to the Super franchises and New Zealand Rugby high-performance talent identification manager P.J. Williams, who is championing the new system.
Williams reckons the most important part of the new national ID system is the detailed technical feedback loop being created with players.
“It is far more than a selection tool,” Williams said. “We’ve never had this before, where a school can nominate a player, a provincial union scouts the players and the data goes right back through the pipeline to the national coach, as well as to the player himself.
“The scouting reports identify not just a player’s strengths, but the things they need to get better at.
“This nurtures individual player development, because we have never had that level of feedback before. It can lift the whole level of rugby in New Zealand, because it comprises such rich information, which is going directly back to the players.
“By identifying what players are good at and what they are not so good at, in writing, gives the basis of an individual development plan. It makes for more rounded players, not just for schools but for the clubs they then go on to play for.
“And as players get better, they get closer to the attributes we are looking for in our national teams. For those selected for higher level, it means they come into camps much more aware of where they need to develop.”
Williams said it was also important to formalise scouting report detail.
“We have never previously even had an official record of who it was who has scouted players who have gone on to become All Blacks.”
The scouting template was inspired by Williams’ personal relationship with American football NFL scouts.
“I gave them a bit of a rundown on the New Zealand system,” Williams said. “And they said, ‘it’s broken, you’re doing it all wrong, you’re missing out a crucial step’.
“They said you’ve got to have individual scouts watching individual players every single week and they must produce reports that everyone can see at whatever level.
“So they gave me a baseline script for an app, and I produced it for what we want in New Zealand, with all the intricacies of our system.”
Williams said there was no shame in taking advice from American football franchise staff that New Zealand’s rugby scouting systems needed an upgrade.
“We’re always trying to get better, we’re trying to improve, we’re always trying to be innovative and creative, and we’re always trying to make the work of the provincial unions in player development a lot easier. So this is a really good system to be able to do that, and it’s going to be a game-changer.”
From the initial nominations, 108 players have been recommended to the next level for New Zealand Schools selection, with a further 51 nominations for the Barbarians U18s from out-of-school players and 59 stand-alone Māori U18 Whatukura nominations.
Footage from First XV games is also collated, with selectors watching and personally recommending 75 players for New Zealand Schools, New Zealand Barbarians U18 and Māori U18 Whatukura teams.
While the Crusaders region has led the way with nominations under the new ID system, Williams said that provincial union academy managers in general had done an incredible job across the board in adapting to a modified operational template.
“I have to thank the provinces for the manner in which they have picked up a new system at short notice and administered it. They are doing a brilliant job.”
The New Zealand Schools team have come through a tough two years, losing at home to Australia U18s and then suffering record losses in 2025, so more granular talent identification will be warmly welcomed.
The scouting report system will be particularly helpful for top Auckland 1A players, given the more insular nature of their broadcast-shy competition – and the fact the New Zealand Schools coaches are all from the South Island.
Former Highlanders assistant coach Kane Jury was this year appointed to the newly created role of men’s national pathways head coach, which includes coaching the New Zealand Schools team on top of his duties with the New Zealand U20s.
Jury previously successfully coached New Zealand Schools in 2022-23 and replaces Paul Tito in this role.
He is being assisted by Marlborough Boys’ College deputy principal and First XV head coach Laufiso “Tui” Raeli and Scott Manson (Otago Boys’ High School).
The 2026 New Zealand Schools programme will run from September 22 to October 5, with a national camp and tournament at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton.
It’s a critical exercise in giving the most talented players meaningful exposure to international competition and the opportunity to evolve into a cohesive group.
The tournament will feature eight teams, including the New Zealand Schools, the New Zealand Barbarians U18 and the Māori U18 Whatukura teams, alongside the Australia Schools and the U18 sides representing Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Australia.
Each team will play three matches across the tournament window, with the New Zealand Schools side scheduled to face Fiji U18, Australia U18 and Australia Schools.
New Zealand Barbarians will be coached by former All Blacks prop Greg Feek, with former Samoa representative and long-time St Kentigern’s First XV coach Tasesa Lavea and Kelston Boys’ High School rugby director Matt Howling the assistant coaches.
U18 tournament week schedule (with kickoff times yet to be finalised)
Saturday, September 26:
• NZ Schools v Fiji U18
• NZ Barbarians U18 v Tonga U18
• NZ Māori U18 v Samoa U18
• Australia U18 v Australia Schools (to be played in Australia)
Wednesday September 30:
• NZ Schools v Australia Schools
• NZ Barbarians U18 v Australia U18
• NZ Māori v Fiji U18
• Tonga U18 v Samoa U18
Sunday, October 4:
• NZ Schools v Australia U18
• NZ Barbarians U18 v Samoa U18
• NZ Māori v Australia Schools
• Tonga U18 v Fiji U18
Am I the only fu**er that actually watched the game and saw how high the work rate of Josh Lord was? No one talking about his shift. I reckon he would've slept well that night after that effort and woke up pretty sore. So many players played well but he stuck out for me. #GoodLord
I wouldn't take Richie mo'unga Nor beauden barrett on the South africa tour, i would rather take Love & Jacomb i think perfect time to be blooding some of these younger guys and start thinking of the future.
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Will Jordan has become the All Blacks’ all-time leading Test try-scorer, but Ireland’s self-inflicted errors stole the Eden Park headlines in a 40-21 loss.
Peter O’Reilly - 4 min read
On the final whistle at Eden Park, with the All Blacks celebrating a 40-21 victory, Sam Prendergast could be seen remonstrating with the assistant referee. There was still time on the clock, time that Ireland could have used to chase a four-try bonus point. Whatever you thought about Ireland, they never gave up.
Prendergast was wasting his breath. Not for the first time, Ireland got no joy from referee Nic Berry and his team.
They left Eden Park on Saturday night with regrets about decisions that had gone against them but even more regrets about their own error count, especially during a calamitous first half that left them with an insurmountable hill to climb.
This is far from a vintage All Blacks team, one still finding its feet under Dave Rennie, but in Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea and Damian McKenzie, they have players capable of producing game-changing moments. There is no arguing with a try count of six to three. New Zealand will know they benefited from sloppiness by the visiting team, with three of four first-half tries attributable to basic Ireland handling errors. How frustrating for Ireland coach Andy Farrell to have a functioning set piece for once and yet to see so many breakdowns in communication, so many mistakes with a dry ball. For sure, some of Ireland’s clunkiness was down to the All Blacks’ aggression in contact.
Rennie’s plan was to make life difficult for Jamison Gibson-Park, and for Stuart McCloskey, who only once managed to get his hands free in contact.
Farrell was also unhappy with Berry and his foul-play review officer, Andrew Jackson. During the first half, when Luke Jacobson ploughed his right shoulder into Josh van der Flier’s jaw, one’s initial thought was: straight red card and a lengthy ban.
Instead he got 10 minutes on the naughty step.
What an embarrassing look for the sport. To avoid a ban himself, Farrell had to shrug when asked about that decision and others, including when Quinn Tupaea escaped a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on while Ireland were still in the hunt early in the final quarter.
Rennie says he’s “really excited” by the All Blacks’ upward trajectory early in his tenure but warns that a four-Test series against the Springboks will be a “different beast”.
The win provided further evidence the All Blacks are playing with greater cohesion and assurance than during the two years under Rennie’s predecessor. Scott Robertson oversaw 20 wins from 27 Tests but was sacked this year primarily because NZ Rugby lacked confidence the national side was on track to reclaim their previous status as the world’s best.
In all three matches under Rennie, the All Blacks haven’t shirked from a high-speed, largely ball-in-hand approach. More size was added to the pack against Ireland, introducing a physicality Rennie said would be valuable against the world champion Springboks.
The “Greatest Rivalry” tour will start against provincial opponents the Stormers in Cape Town on August 7 and leaves South Africa for the fourth Test, on September 12 in Baltimore in the US.
“We’ve put a lot of detail into our game, the boys have really embraced it,” Rennie said. “I’m really excited, I think we’re in a good spot. It’s a different beast, South Africa. We’ll go over there and give it our best shot. The exciting thing is we’ll come out of Africa regardless of the results in a much better place.”
Wing Will Jordan has benefited from Rennie’s approach, scoring six tries in three matches to become New Zealand’s all-time leading Test try-scorer.
In Durban, South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said the seven-try 43-0 victory over Wales at Kings Park was more difficult than it may have looked on the surface.
“We had to grind, it was 14-0 for nearly 30 minutes,” he said.
“There was concern that we struggled again in the second quarter, but this time we managed to squeeze through and were able to keep the pressure on. It was really slippery, so it was going to be tough to play an expansive, pretty game of rugby. We are satisfied with 43 points and keeping them to zero.
“We defended a lot better than last week, we worked really hard on that,” said Erasmus, referring to four tries conceded in a win over Scotland in Pretoria. He had made 10 changes after beating Scotland, giving flyhalf Vusi Moyo, a 20-year-old with just one United Rugby Championship start for the Sharks, a debut amid a wealth of experience. He was nothing more than decent.
In Santiago del Estero, England No.8 Ben Earl scored twice as England beat home side Argentina 31-24 in an ill-disciplined affair overshadowed by off-field matters.
Los Pumas flyhalf Tomas Albornoz was denied a chance to claim a dramatic draw with a conversion attempt after winger Bautista Delguy’s 83rd-minute try was chalked off after a discussion between the referee and television match official.
In Tokyo, coach Eddie Jones said after Japan’s 42-15 defeat to France he was excited about Japan’s future. Jones used the tournament to blood several young players, including some who are still at university, such as flyhalf RyunosukeIto, prop Sojiro Otsuka and utility back Shunsuke Uenobo.
“That sort of talent, if we can keep developing it, if we can work with the universities to make sure they keep getting high-performance training and exposure at the highest level, we don’t know how good those players can be.”
At Murrayfield, Gregor Townsend’s much-changed side were in danger of a shock loss to Fiji after trailing 17-7 at the break. But they stormed back in the second half, clinching a bonus-point 33-17 victory.
Going bold here, recon there is a chance to see a 6-2
Just my opinion
1. De Groot
2. Taukei'aho
3. Lomax
4. Lord
5. Darry
6. Va’ii
7. Jacobson
8. Savea
9. Roigard
Love
Moorby
Barret
Proctor
Jordan
Barret
Taylor
Numia
Newell
Tuipolotu
Segner
Lakai
Preston
Lienert Brown
Important Excerpts from the article:
In an article published on 2 March, the Telegraph drew a tenuous connection between the Springboks’ two World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023 and a decrease in dope-testing in South Africa.
“The significant drop in testing has coincided with the Springboks becoming the most dominant force in Test rugby, winning back-to-back World Cups in 2019 and 2023,” the article in the Telegraph read.
“South Africa is the nation with the highest number of convicted dopers in rugby with 89 violations in that time, which is around 20 per cent of the entire total worldwide.”
South African rugby, especially at junior level, has seen a regular list of doping violators.
The problem is most visible at schoolboy level, which has produced positive tests almost every year.
​
The New Zealand Herald
Liam Napier - 6 min read
The problematic blindside flanker position could again be thrust into the spotlight as the All Blacks plot plans to defend fortress Eden Park against Ireland.
A heavyweight test, the most significant of Dave Rennie’s budding national tenure, could translate to a remodelled and heavyweight All Blacks forward pack for Ireland.
The blindside flanker role has long been a recurring challenge for successive All Blacks coaches.
In his two-year All Blacks tenure, Scott Robertson settled on Chiefs loose forward Simon Parker to fulfill the desire for a sizeable, combative presence among his back-row contingent.
Parker is yet to be sighted in Rennie’s first two All Blacks tests, though, with Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi preferred to start at No 6 alongside Luke Jacobson and Ardie Savea.
Lakai, with his prominent ball-carrying and breakdown ability, shone in the tense season-opener against France in Dunedin, but then wasn’t required against Italy in Wellington, where Sititi struggled with his handling and therefore delivered a disappointing performance.
For Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday night, Rennie may promote a third candidate in as many weeks by overlooking Lakai and Sititi for starting roles to instead favour beefing up his forward pack by switching Tupou Vaa’i from lock to blindside – and recalling Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu for his first appearance of the test season at lock.
Vaa’i featured at No 6 in Ian Foster and Robertson’s respective national regimes but he has played his best rugby for the All Blacks at lock. His last start at blindside for the All Blacks was in the 29-23 loss to the Pumas in Buenos Aires in August when he was among three players yellow-carded.
While Vaa’i gives the All Blacks added size in the loose trio and lineout height, Rennie would be sacrificing speed to the breakdown and off the scrum on defence, particularly compared with Lakai.
Selecting Vaa’i at blindside at Tuipulotu at lock for Ireland would acknowledge the need for vastly improved ball carriers in the forward pack. This was evident in the first half against Italy last week, when the All Blacks struggled to win the collisions and the breakdown battle, before adjusting after halftime.
Rennie considered using Vaa’i in the first test of the year at blindside against France but he was unavailable, due to a concussion suffered in the Super Rugby Pacific final.
Shannon Frizell’s return from Japan will be on Rennie’s radar but, like Richie Mo’unga, the former bruising All Blacks blindside, who has not played test rugby since the 2023 World Cup, is ineligible for selection at this stage until the Bledisloe Cup battles in October, unless he is called in as an injury replacement for the South African tour.
Starting Vaa’i at blindside and Tuipulotu at lock, possibly alongside Chiefs lock Josh Lord, would allow Rennie to stack his bench with two loose forwards, the likes of Lakai, Anton Segner and Sititi, with a view to lifting the pace and tempo in the second half to challenge Ireland’s conditioning in their final game of their season.
The alternative option could be to start Segner at No 6 after his debut off the bench last week.
Rennie also faces difficult decisions in his front-row rotation, with the All Blacks expected to target Ireland’s scrum, and in the back three, where shoulder injuries have hit wingers Leroy Carter and Fehi Fineanganofo, to underline the fine line call between Josh Moorby and Caleb Clarke to start on the left wing.
Moorby impressed on test debut last week by setting up tries for Cam Roigard and Will Jordan with his pace and anticipation.
Clarke’s contrasting power and aerial abilities may be preferred, though, to counter expectations for Ireland to test the All Blacks’ vulnerabilities in the air.
“There’s a lot of competition for places. Based on performances over the last couple of weeks, we’ll make some calls around that,” Rennie said. “There will be some really unlucky people missing out because guys have fronted pretty well for us.”
Jordie Barrett, after a standout performance against Italy, did not train on Tuesday due to a leg issue. The All Blacks are, however, adamant they are taking a cautious approach and that Barrett will feature this weekend.
Provided he is fit, Barrett is expected to rekindle his midfield partnership with Quinn Tupaea.
Minimal changes are likely elsewhere, as the All Blacks prepare for the biggest threat to Eden Park’s 32-year, 52-match unbeaten status since the Springboks, the World Cup champions, were seen off last September.
Possible All Blacks team:
Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Tupou Vaa’i, Luke Jacobson, Ardie Savea (c), Cam Roigard, Ruben Love, Caleb Clarke, Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Will Jordan, Damian McKenzie
Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Tyrel Lomax, Anton Segner/Wallace Sititi, Peter Lakai, Kyle Preston, Anton Lienert-Brown, Josh Moorby
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A few takeaways from putting it together:
Full comparison (pricing, features, who each one actually suits) here: https://stat-tag.net/blog/best-sportscode-alternatives/
Would also love to hear what you're actually using and why.
They've been building nicely ...