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Kazuki Himeno
is a Japanese professional rugby union player who plays as a number eight for Japan Rugby League One club Toyota Verblitz and captains the Japan national team. Praised for a numerous attributes including physical ball carrying, strong defensive work and leadership abilities, Himeno represented the Brave Blossoms at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and has been highlighted as one of Japan's key players ahead of the 2023 edition in France. Club career Himeno experienced a rapid rise within the Japanese club game in 2017. Having emerged as a leading performer for Teikyo University, he was selected to captain Toyota Verblitz by coach Jake White. Himeno joined Super Rugby side The Highlanders ahead of the 2021 Super Rugby season, after previous success at the franchise for compatriot Fumiaki Tanaka. His debut was delayed by a two-week quarantine period upon arrival in New Zealand, but quickly established himself as a key player in the team. According to Honey Hireme of Sky, Himeno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan National Rugby Union Team
The Japan national rugby union team, also known as the Cherry Blossoms, the Brave Blossoms (), or simply Sakura, represents Japan in men's international rugby union. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia and has enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years. Rugby union in Japan is administered by the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU), which was founded in 1926. They compete annually in the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) and previously in the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC). They have also participated in every Rugby World Cup (RWC) since the tournament began in 1987, and hosted the event in 2019 Rugby World Cup, 2019. Rugby was first played in Japan's treaty ports as early as 1866. Popular participation by local university teams was established in 1899 and Japan's first recorded international match was a match against a Canadian team in 1932. Notable games for Japan include a victory over the Junior All Blacks in 1968, and a narrow 6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake White
Jacob Charles White (born 13 December 1963 as Jacob Westerduin) is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri Nations. White also coached the Under-21 Springbok side to victory in the Under-21 World Cup in 2002. He was coach of the Brumbies in the Super Rugby from 2012, but resigned with two years remaining on his contract in 2013 to return to South Africa. On returning to South Africa, he coached the Sharks for a single season, explaining he wanted to seek international opportunities. This arose in a technical role with the Tongan national team. After assisting Tonga in their 3 Test European Tour in 2014, White was announced as Montpellier's new boss, overseeing all coaching aspects for the club. On 24 October 2011, he was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, alongside other World Cup-winning head coaches and captains through the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shizuoka Stadium
is a sports stadium used primarily for football. The stadium is in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, although the stadium itself is merely the centrepiece of the larger Ogasayama Sports Park which extends into neighbouring Kakegawa. The stadium's capacity is 50,889. It is now the primary venue for major sporting events in Shizuoka Prefecture, including track and field, for which it is fully equipped. Usage Shizuoka Stadium opened in 2001 and hosted its first major event on May 12, 2001, which was the Shizuoka derby J. League match between Shimizu S-Pulse and Júbilo Iwata. A record crowd of 52,959 saw an extra time 1-0 victory for Shimizu. Ecopa continues to be the venue for Júbilo Iwata's more high-profile games, including the Shizuoka derby. Shimizu S-Pulse have not used the stadium for a home league since 2015. In recent years Ecopa has also been home to one semifinal match of the Emperor's Cup, sharing the duty with the Kokuritsu in Shinjuku, Tokyo. But, due ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ireland National Rugby Union Team
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions. They have players eligible to play for Ireland and the Lions. The Ireland national team dates to 1875, when they played their first international match against England. Ireland reached number 1 in the World Rugby Rankings for the first time in 2019; the team returned to number 1 for a second time on 18 July 2022 and did not relinquish the top spot until 2 October 2023. Twelve former Ireland players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. History Early years: 1875–1900 Dublin University Football Club, Dublin University was the first organised rugby football club in Ireland, having been founded in 1854. The club was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia National Rugby Union Team
The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for Australia. The Wallabies first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first Test match (rugby union), test match against the touring British & Irish Lions, British Isles team. Australia has competed in all ten Men's Rugby World Cups, winning the final on two occasions and also finishing as runner-up twice. Australia beat England national rugby union team, England at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham in the final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup and won again in 1999 Rugby World Cup, 1999 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff when their opponents in the final were France national rugby union team, France. The Wallabies also compete annually in The Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri-Nations), along with southern hemisphere counterparts Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand and Sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2017 End-of-year Rugby Union Internationals
The 2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the November internationals, or autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches in 2017. The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship winners New Zealand travelled to France for two matches (one an uncapped XV match), Scotland and Wales. Argentina faced England, Ireland and Italy - with the latter two countries also hosting South Africa. The Springboks also faced their 2017 France rugby union tour of South Africa, June test series opposition, France, whom they had beaten 3–0, before ending their tour in Wales, after the international window. Having beaten New Zealand in the third Bledisloe Cup Test match in October, Australia travelled to play Wales, England and Scotland, the latter of whom had beaten the Wallabies in Sydney during the 2017 mid-year rugby union internationals, June internationals. Four Tier 2 nations faced Tier 1 opposition during the international window. Ireland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eden Park
Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand's national stadium. The stadium is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, and has also hosted rugby league and association football matches, as well as concerts and cultural events. It is owned and operated by the Eden Park Trust Board, whose headquarters are located in the stadium. Eden Park is considered one of international rugby union's most difficult grounds for visiting sides. New Zealand's national rugby union team, nicknamed the All Blacks, have been unbeaten at this venue in 50 consecutive test matches stretching back to 1994. Eden Park is the site of the 2021 Te Matatini. It was the site for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup, the final of the 2021 Women's Rugby Wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blues (Super Rugby)
The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by the NZRU in 1996. One of the most successful teams in Super Rugby history, the Blues won the competition in its first two seasons, 1996 and 1997, and again in 2003 and 2024. Additionally, the team were finalists in 1998 and 2022, and semi-finalists in 2007, 2011 and 2023. They won a Trans Tasman competition in 2021. History Formation, early years and immediate success (1996–97) Along with New Zealand's other Super Rugby sides, the Blues were established by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to take part in the newly formed Super 12 competition which, involved teams from South Africa and Australia in addition to New Zealand. Each of New Zealand's five sides represented a number of provincial unions, with the Blues representing the Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Rugby Trans-Tasman
Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Australia and Sky (New Zealand), Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in New Zealand) was a professional men's rugby union club competition in Australia and New Zealand. It featured the five Super Rugby AU teams playing the five Super Rugby Aotearoa teams, followed by a final, and ran from 14 May to 19 June 2021. Announced on 13 November, the competition followed the 2021 Super Rugby AU season and the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season, with the fixtures being confirmed on 14 December. Each team hosted two home games, while the third round was expected to be a 'Super Round', with all the games being played at a single venue. Ahead of the start of the competition, the Super Round was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 restrictions, with the matches held at separate venues, although they were still classified as 'neutral venues'. Full venues for Round 3 were announced on 23 April 2021. Law variations S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa Season
The 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season (branded as Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by New Zealand Rugby. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second season of Super Rugby Aotearoa, featuring the 5 New Zealand Super Rugby sides, ran from 26 February to 8 May 2021. The tournament was won by the , who defeated the 24–13 in the final at Orangetheory Stadium, earning them their second consecutive Super Rugby Aotearoa title, and fifth straight Super Rugby competition title. The tournament ran parallel to Australia's 2021 Super Rugby AU season, and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman followed the conclusion of both seasons, a crossover tournament featuring each Australian team playing each New Zealand team once, followed by a final. Law variations The 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season will see further law variations, furthering those brought in during the 2020 season. Goal-line drop outs will be bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sky (New Zealand)
Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services, and broadband internet services. Sky had 1,023,378 residential television subscribers consisting of 517,003 satellite subscribers and 506,375 streaming subscribers. Additionally, Sky had 23,156 broadband customers. Despite the similarity of name, branding and services, such as ''Sky Go'' and ''MySky'' shared with its European equivalent, Sky Group, there is no connection between the companies. History The company was founded by Craig Heatley, Terry Jarvis, Trevor Farmer and Alan Gibbs in May 1987 as Sky Media Limited. It was later incorporated on 26 November, five weeks after the stock market crash. It was formed to investigate beaming sports programming into nightclubs and pubs using high performance 4-metre (13') satellite dishes by Jarvis and an engineering associate Brian Gree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honey Hireme
Arneta Honey Hireme-Smiler (born 3 May 1981) is a former New Zealand rugby football player who has represented her country in rugby league, rugby sevens and rugby union. Due to her multi-sport career, Hireme-Smiler has been referred to as Honey Bill Williams, in reference to her New Zealand male counterpart Sonny Bill Williams. Rugby league career From Putāruru, South Waikato, Hireme-Smiler played rugby league for Putaruru Dragons from 5 years old and then onto the senior women's grades playing for the Papakura Sea Eagles club in the Auckland Rugby League women's competition. She has represented Counties Manukau, Bay of plenty, Waikato and Waicoa Bay in the New Zealand Rugby League's women's competition over her 20-year career at representative level. Hireme-Smiler has played in four Rugby League World Cups, she played for the Kiwiferns in the 2003 Women's world cup 2008 and 2013 World Cups. She captained the team in 2013. She was named in the world women's rugby leagu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
