A three-year-old boy stands in the crowd at an All Blacks training session in Auckland’s Victoria Park. It’s August 2001 and Tim Sail is waiting to meet his sporting hero, Jonah Lomu. As the imposing figure dressed in black bends down to greet the little boy, a photographer immortalises the scene. Ten years on, the [...]

If rugby players seem like robotic cyborg super-athletes now – in 40 years’ time they probably will be. Bionic implants, built-in chips, nanobots and genetic engineering will all be part of the New Zealand rugby landscape by 2050. These predictions have been made by Victoria University Associate Professor Ian Yeoman, and will be part of [...]

Grey Lynn is known for its hip residents, farmers’ market, its trendy cafes and craft fairs. And now Grey Lynn’s Pacific Island connections have been brought to the fore with the suburb adopting Samoa as its second team for the Rugby World Cup. After all, it was the Auckland suburb where many migrant families from Samoa chose to [...]

Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world have celebrated the opening of the Rugby World Cup 2011 in downtown Auckland. Our reporter has captured the impressions of the day at the Waterfront.

The Blow the Whistle campaign against domestic violence is in full-swing with resources and events being organised ahead of the Rugby World Cup. The campaign was announced in June and will use sport to encourage people affected by family violence to get in touch with support services. The first event is lined up for mid-August [...]