Blog Title: Sports After Dark

And I thought the Irish were laid back

Ahead of their clash with Ireland, the All Blacks have been met by a venomous column by Irish Independent writer Vincent Hogan, who among other things calls the All Blacks “bullies” and relishes their World Cup losses. Here’s a few choice quotes: When they look at us they see lifelong losers How many World Cups has Ireland read more..

Can anyone stop the All Black’s from another Slam?

After easily accounting for Scotland with a mixture of first and second choice players, are any of the home nations capable of preventing the All Blacks from achieving their second Grand Slam in three years? Up next for the All Blacks are Ireland who have not been having the best year in internationall rugby. Picking up read more..

Young Football Ferns do their country proud

The U17 Women’s World Cup may be over for hosts New Zealand, but this team of schoolgirls showed such heart and passion that they’ve done the country proud - and won a few fans in the process. No New Zealand team has ever won a game at a Fifa World Cup, either at international or age read more..

U17 Women’s World Cup: Pure football, pure enjoyment

After two rounds of the group phase, the Fifa Under 17 Women’s World Cup is proving to be a major success in New Zealand, drawing record crowds in a country notoriously dismissive of football, and showing that football in its purist form provides a wonderful spectacle. Talk to the average Kiwi about football and the likely read more..

Donald experiment just didn’t work

I was going to write something about how the experiement of playing Steven Donald and Dan Carter as dual play makers was a failure, but Grant Fox over at Rugby Heaven beat me to it. Sometimes you have to be brave enough to make big decisions. Graham Henry did that last night in Hong Kong when read more..

All Blacks vs Wallabies LIVE!

Germany advance with good win over gutsy Ghana

Germany booked their place in the knockout phase of the Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup with a 3-2 win over Ghana in Christchurch. The Germans took control of the game right from the outset, threatening the Africans’ goal a number of times before Tabea Kemme was brought down just inside the box after just four minutes. read more..

Donald’s move to pivot role shows All Blacks ready to attack

The naming of Chiefs’ first five Steven Donald in the pivot role for the final Bledisloe Cup test in Hong Kong ahead of Dan Carter has raised a few eyebrows, but the move shows coach Graham Henry is preparing to unleash an attacking bombardment on the Wallabies. With Donald slotting in at first five, Carter gets read more..

Germany sound warning to U17 World Cup

A five star performance from tournment favourites Germany has put the rest of the teams at the Under 17 Women’s World Cup on notice as the Germans crushed Costa Rica 5-0 in Christchruch. From the beginning of the game, the physically bigger German team showed their class and skill, dominating their South American opponents for almost read more..

Canada win U17 opener, but New Zealand show great heart

The Fifa Under 17 Women’s World Cup got underway as the hosts New Zealand took on Canada at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. New Zealand may be known for being mad about rugby, but 13,123 fans turned up to see the opening game of this inaugural tournament, a record for a women’s sport, beating the world read more..