Damian McKenzie
Damian Sinclair McKenzie (born 20 April 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a First five-eighth or Fullback for the All Blacks, as well as the Chiefs in Super Rugby and Waikato in the Bunnings NPC. Early life McKenzie was born in 1995 in Invercargill. He received his secondary education at Christ's College in Christchurch. Domestic rugby Since the beginning of the 2015 season, McKenzie has been contracted to the franchise who compete in the Super Rugby competition. He has become a regular starter and is often in charge of goal kicking. He is their all time leading points scorer and is 4th in all time Super Rugby points scored. He has made over 125 caps for the Chiefs as of 2025. McKenzie has received attention for his trademark smile before attempting a kick at goal. In 2016, McKenzie played every game in the Chiefs' starting line-up at fullback. He finished the 2016 Super Rugby season as the Chiefs top try-scorer and the overall second highest try- ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Zealand National Rugby Union Team
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for their international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as one of the most successful sports teams in history. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1987, 2011 Rugby World Cup, 2011, and 2015 Rugby World Cup, 2015, second only to South Africa's Springboks, who have won the Rugby World Cup four times. They were the first country to retain the Rugby World Cup. Since their international debut in 1903, the All Blacks have played test match (rugby union), test matches against 19 nations, of which 12 have never won a game against the team. New Zealand has a 76 per cent winning record in test match rugby, and has secured more wins than losses against every test opponent. The team has also played against three multin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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First Five-eighth
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players". The scrum (a contest used to restart play) must consist of eight players from each team: the "front row" (two props – a loosehead and tighthead – and a hooker), the "second row" (two locks), and a "back row" (two flankers and a number 8). The players outside the scrum are called "the backs": scrum-half, fly-half, inside centre, outside centre, two wings, and a fullback. Forwards compete for the ball in scrums and line-outs and are generally bigger and stronger than the backs. Props push in the scrums, while the hooker tries ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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SANZAAR
SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs from its member unions. It was formed as SANZAR in 1996 as a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union, and the Australian Rugby Union. From the 2016 season, its name was changed to SANZAAR following the inclusion of the Argentine Rugby Union as a full member of the organisation. History Tri-Nations and Super 12: 1996 SANZAR was formed in 1995, shortly after rugby's move to professionalism, to counter the threat of Australia's Super League, a new rugby league competition that offered large salaries to players. SANZAR proposed the Super 12, an annual provincial competition with teams from all three countries, and the Tri Nations Series, an annual competition between each country's Test teams. This ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Beauden Barrett
Beauden John Barrett (born 27 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a First five-eighth or Fullback for the Blues in Super Rugby and Taranaki in the Bunnings NPC. Barrett won the World Rugby Player of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017, was also a nominee for the award in 2018, and is only the second player to win the award in consecutive years, after former teammate Richie McCaw. He also won the overall Sportsperson of the Year Award in the Taranaki Sports Awards in 2013, 2016 and 2019. Barrett played at under-20 and Sevens levels for New Zealand before being called into the All Blacks squad in May 2012, and made his international debut as a replacement in the final test against Ireland in Hamilton, when he kicked nine points, on 23 June 2012. He debuted for Taranaki in 2010, and debuted in Super Rugby with the Hurricanes in 2011. Barrett holds the world record for consecutive wins since his first test (19 wins from 19 tests). Early life Barrett was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hurricanes (rugby Union)
The Hurricanes ( ; ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional men's rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast Rugby Football Union, East Coast, Hawke's Bay Rugby Union, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Football Union, Horowhenua Kapiti, Manawatu Rugby Union, Manawatū, Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union, Poverty Bay, Taranaki Rugby Football Union, Taranaki, Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union, Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui Rugby Football Union, Wanganui and Wellington Rugby Football Union, Wellington unions. They currently play at Wellington Regional Stadium, Sky Stadium (formerly named Westpac Stadium), having previously played at the now-defunct Athletic Park (Wellington), Athletic Park. The Hurricanes had a poor first season in 1996's Super 12, but rebounded in 1997 with a third placing. The team did not reach the play-offs for another five y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Israel Folau
Israel ‘Isileli Folau (; born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks. Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds. Folau began his professional career playing rugby league. Representing the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL) from 2007 to 2008, where he broke the record for most tries in a debut year. He then played with the Brisbane Broncos from 2009 to 2010. Playing as a or , Folau represented Queensland in the State of Origin and Australia, becoming the youngest player to play for both teams. In 2020, Folau played for the French rugby league team the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. In 2011, Folau joined the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL) and played for two seasons. In December 2012, Folau announced he was to switch codes again, this time for rugby union, and signed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play their home games at the new Sydney Football Stadium (2022), Sydney Football Stadium. History Amateur era The NSWRU (or then, The Southern RU – SRU) was established in 1874, and the very first club competition took place that year. By 1880 the SRU had over 100 clubs in its governance in the metropolitan area. In 1882 Southern Rugby Union season#Representative Games, 1882 the first New South Wales team was selected to play Queensland Reds, Queensland in a two-match series. NSW would go on to win both the games. That same year the first NSW touring squad was selected to go and play in New Zealand. In 1907, several of the New South Wales rugby union team's players defected. They included the "superstar", Dally Messenger. These players join ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2016 Super Rugby Season
The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Argentina and the Sunwolves from Japan taking part. This season also saw the return of the Kings, who competed just once before, in the 2013 Super Rugby season. The round-robin games took place every weekend from 26 February to 16 July 2016 (with a break for international matches during June), followed by the finals series at the end of July and culminating in the final on 6 August. The Hurricanes won their first championship after repeating their efforts of 2015 by finishing first in the regular season and hosting the final at Westpac Stadium, but this time they won, beating the Lions 20–3. Unlike 2015, where the Hurricanes looked likely to finish the regular season first with a number of rounds to go, they were sitting in seventh goin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 Super 12 season, 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, building on competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986. The Super 12 was established by SANZAAR, SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 only included teams from Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific islands. The name was changed to Super 14 with the addition of two teams for the 2006 Super 14 season, 2006 season, and with expansion to 15 teams for the 2011 Super Rugby season, 2011 season, the competition was rebranded as Super Rugby (with no number). In 2016 two new teams, the Jaguares (Sup ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2015 Super Rugby Season
The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New Zealand and Vodacom Super Rugby in South Africa. The round-robin matches took place every weekend from 13 February until 13 June, followed by the finals series and culminating in the final on 4 July. This was the final season that featured a 15-team format. Competition format Covering 21 weeks, the schedule featured a total of 125 matches. The 15 teams were grouped geographically, labelled the Australian Conference, New Zealand Conference and the South African Conference. The regular season consisted of two types of matches: * Internal Conference Matches – Each team played the other four teams in the same conference twice, home and away. * Cross Conference Matches – Each team played four teams of the other two conferences away, and f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Press
''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One community newspaper—''Northern Outlook''—is also published by ''The Press'' and is free. The newspaper has won the title of New Zealand Newspaper of the Year (in its circulation category) three times: in 2006, 2007 and 2012. It has also won the overall Newspaper of the Year title twice: in 2006 and 2007. History Origins James FitzGerald (New Zealand politician), James FitzGerald came to Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton on the ''Charlotte Jane'' in December 1850, and was from January 1851 the first editor of the ''Lyttelton Times'', Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury's first newspaper. From 1853, he focussed on politics and withdrew from the ''Lyttelton Times''. After several years in England, he returned to Cante ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over half a million. It is located in the Canterbury Region, near the centre of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains. It is located near the southern end of Pegasus Bay, and is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean and to the south by the ancient volcanic complex of the Banks Peninsula. The Avon River / Ōtākaro, Avon River (Ōtākaro) winds through the centre of the city, with Hagley Park, Christchurch, a large urban park along its banks. With the exception of the Port Hills, it is a relatively flat city, on an average around above sea level. Christchurch has a reputation for being an English New Zealanders, English city, with its architectural identity and nickname the 'Garden City' due to similarities with garde ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |