South Africa will play a minimum of 23 warm-up one-day internationals against five different countries to boost their preparation for next year’s World Cup, the country’s cricket board has confirmed. By Reuters The three-time semi-finalists have had no previous World Cup success and a litany of dramatic failures have earned them a cruel reputation as … Read more
He was selected for the All Blacks by John Mitchell on their 2001 end-of-year tour, despite having played only eight minutes of Super 14 rugby, and aged just 20 years old, prompted former All Black great Josh Kronfeld to criticise the selection: “You might as well just give All Black jerseys to everybody. The fact … Read more
Wins for the Dolphins in the Ramslam T20 Final and Liverpool who put five past Arsenal were the highlights of a great sporting weekend that covered most sporting endeavours, with some disappointments thrown in for good measure, amongst them, the SA Sevens side in Wellington. By Michael Marnewick Wellington Sevens New Zealand avenged their defeat … Read more
His record as All Black coach is truly impressive. With an 86% success rate his only failing was not winning the Webb Ellis Cup. One of the most highly-pressured jobs in world sport, coaching the All Blacks is not for the faint-hearted nor those who accept mediocrity. But when the number one team in the … Read more
The South African Sevens side, the Blitzbokke, overcame their nemesis, beating the New Zealand Sevens side in the final of the Las Vegas Sevens on Sunday night to move to the top of the HSBC Sevens World Series standings. By Michael Marnewick They came into the tournament as defending champions, enjoying the American sin city … Read more
In Part II of our 2014 Super Rugby Preview, we take a look at the New Zealand franchises and expect a lot more from them than their Australian cousins we previewed previously. The Chiefs boast back-to-back titles and the Crusaders are always dangerous. Will one of them be the victor? By Michael Marnewick  Even without … Read more
In the first of a three part preview of the 2014 Super Rugby competition, we will examine the Australian teams as we predict likely success and failure. Sadly, it isn’t good news for the Aussie supporters. By Michael Marnewick 2013 wasn’t a bad year for the Australian teams, like the South African and New Zealand … Read more
New Zealand’s GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.6 percent in the third quarter, up 3.5% year on year. The September quarter was the strongest in nearly four years, driven by a 17% increase in agricultural output as farmers recovered from drought. International dairy prices have also been robust. New Zealand’s economy relies on … Read more