Hansen promises blend of Super Rugby and All Blacks tacticsAll Blacks coach Steve Hansen has said that while there would be input on how New Zealand's Investec Super Rugby teams played in the Test camp, ultimately the World Champions would be looking at playing a mix of Super Rugby styles and the Test coaches ideal plan that they feel will allow them to remain on rugby's summit.
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Springboks announce second training squadA group of 38 players, featuring eight players who were not part of the first camp, will assemble in Durban for the second Springbok training camp before the final squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series is named early next month.
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Sonny Bill backs Cooper, still coy on futureDual international Sonny Bill Williams has leapt to the defence of unwanted Australia playmaker Quade Cooper, accusing the Wallabies hierarchy of 'finger pointing' and declaring his close friend the best number 10 in the country.
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George Smith back in contention for AustraliaAustralia veteran George Smith is a chance to make a Lazarus-like comeback in time for next month's British and Irish Lions series after scans revealed his knee injury is not as serious as first feared.
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So what tactics can the All Blacks expect from Les Bleus?While Test teams in the Southern Hemisphere often base their games around a heady amalgamation of domestic tactics combined with some enhancements from the international coaches, in France, this is an almost impossible task.
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Cooper, Carlos and Carter - parallels between sleight and steady handsThere was more than one Kiwi eyebrow raised when some suggested, post a Reds Super Rugby title and Wallabies Tri Nations win, that Quade Cooper had superseded Dan Carter as the game’s preeminent playmaker, and was perhaps, even a better player than the All Blacks first five-eighth.
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2009 British and Irish Lions captain backs 2013 skipperPaul O'Connell has backed Sam Warburton as British & Irish Lions captain. The Irish second-row was the famous tourists' skipper in South Africa four years ago and was tipped for the honour again. But he reckons Warburton, who he roomed with during the first week of training, has all the credentials to be a successful Lions captain.
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England name squad for three-Test series against Black FernsAs the countdown begins to the Women’s Rugby World Cup in France in August 2014 England Women are embarking on their busiest ever summer of international rugby. England will play the reigning world champions New Zealand over a three-Test series in New Zealand in July before heading to Denver to defend their Nations Cup title where they’ll take on Canada, the USA and South Africa in July and August.
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Korea rise up the rankings, eye off RWC 2015Korea are the biggest climbers in the latest IRB World Rankings with a two-place elevation to 24th on the back of a 43-22 victory over Hong Kong which secured them the runners-up spot in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations 2013.
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