The professional era in rugby union began in 1995, marked by creation of the SANZAR group (a combination of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) which was formed with the purpose of selling TV rights for two new competitions, the domestic Super 12 competition and the Tri-Nations. The first Tri-Nations was contested in 1996, with New Zealand winning all four of their Tests to take the trophy.
The 1996 Tri-Nations match in South Africa between New Zealand and Springboks was the first in a historic series. Under new coach John Hart and the captaincy of Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand won a Test series in South Africa for the first time. Fitzpatrick rated the series win higher than the 1987 World Cup victory in which he had participated.
The next two seasons saw mixed results for New Zealand, who won the 1997 Tri-Nations before losing it for the first time in 1998. New Zealand won all their Tri-Nations Tests in 1997. However in 1998 New Zealand lost all five Tests in the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup series (two to South Africa and three to Australia), the first time they had lost four Tests in succession since 1949.[56] The following year they suffered their worst Test loss, 28-7 to Australia in Sydney.
New Zealand rebounded in the 1999 World Cup and dominated their pool, handing England a 30-16 defeat at Twickenham. They advanced past Scotland 30-18 in the quarter-finals to play France at Twickenham. They finished the first half ahead 17-10. France then produced a famous half of rugby to which New Zealand had no answer, winning 43-31. Hart subsequently resigned as coach and was replaced by co-coaches Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert.
Under Smith and Gilbert, New Zealand came second in the 2000 and 2001 Tri-Nations. Both coaches were replaced by John Mitchell on 3 October 2001, who went on to coach New Zealand to victory in both the 2002 and 2003 Tri-Nations, as well as regaining the Bledisloe Cup, held by Australia since 1998, in 2003. After winning the 2003 Tri-Nations, they entered the 2003 World Cup as one of the favourites and dominated their pool, running up wins against Italy, Canada and Tonga before winning one of the most competitive matches of the tournament against Wales. They defeated South Africa, a team they had never beaten at the World Cup, 29-9, but lost to Australia 22-10 in the semi-final in Sydney. Afterwards, Mitchell was fired by the NZRU and replaced by Graham Henry.
Henry's tenure began with a double victory over reigning World Champions England in 2004. The two games had an aggregate score of 72-15, with New Zealand keeping England try-less. Despite the winning start to Henry's tenure, the Tri-Nations was a mixed success with two wins and two losses. The competition was the closest ever, bonus points decided the outcome and New Zealand finished last. The 2004 season finished on a high, with New Zealand winning in Europe, including a record 45-6 victory over France
n 2005 New Zealand whitewashed the touring British and Irish Lions 3-0 in the Test series, won the Tri-Nations, and achieved a second Grand Slam over the Home Nations. They went on to sweep the major International Rugby Board year-end awards in which New Zealand were named Team of the Year, Henry was named Coach of the Year, and fly-half (first five) Daniel Carter was Player of the Year.[4] New Zealand were nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year in 2006 for their 2005 performance.[64]
In 2006 they again took the Tri Nations Series by winning their first five matches, three against Australia and two against South Africa. They lost their final match of the series against South Africa. They completed their end of year tour unbeaten, with record away wins over France, England and Wales. New Zealand were named 2006 IRB Team of the Year and were nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for the second time, while flanker Richie McCaw was named IRB Player of the Year.
The 2007 season started off with two mid-year Tests against France. New Zealand won the Tests 42-11 at Eden Park and 61-10 at Westpac Stadium. A third game between Canada and New Zealand resulted in a 64-13 scoreline, although the game was more competitive than the scoreline indicated.[67]
New Zealand' first Tri-Nations game of 2007 was against the Springboks in Durban, South Africa. New Zealand scored two tries in the final ten minutes of the game to win 26-21. The following week against the Wallabies at the MCG in Melbourne the Wallabies upset New Zealand to win 20-15, New Zealand' first loss to Australia since 2004. New Zealand won both following home games to successfully defend the Tri-Nations Series for 2007.
New Zealand entered the 2007 Rugby World Cup as favourites, and trumped their pool beating all their challengers, Scotland, Italy, Romania and Portugal by 40 points or more. However, they then suffered a defeat to hosts France in the first knockout game, the quarterfinals. Following the loss to France coach Graham Henry's job was on the line with then Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans a likely contender as the next All Blacks coach, but Graham Henry managed to keep his job. Robbie Deans then accepted a position as coach of the Wallabies.
The 2008 season started with three mid-year Tests, the first against Ireland at Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand. The final two games were against England, the first game at Eden Park and the second at AMI Stadium in Christchurch. New Zealand played their first Tri-Nations game against South Africa at Westpac Stadium in Wellington winning 19-8 but a week later at Carisbrook in Dunedin they lost to South Africa 28-30, ending a 30-match winning streak at home, their previous loss in New Zealand being against England in 2003. New Zealand played their next Tri-Nations match on 26 July against Australia at Stadium Australia in Sydney, losing 34-19 but a week later against Australia at Eden Park New Zealand won 39-10. The greatest victory for New Zealand in the 2008 season was beating South Africa 19-0 on their home ground, Newlands Stadium. New Zealand played their final match on 13 September against Australia at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane winning 28-24 and retaining the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri Nations.
The 2009 season began on June 13 with the All Blacks playing France at Carisbrook, the All Blacks lost this game 22-27 but a week later the All Blacks beat France 14-10 at Westpac Stadium. Unfortunately the win in the second game was not enough for the All Blacks as the points difference in the two games meant France took home the Dave Gallaher Cup. This is the first time the All Blacks have lost the Dave Gallaher Cup in the nine years the two teams have been competing for it. A week later the All Blacks played Italy at a very empty AMI Stadium winning 27-6. The All Blacks finished second in the Tri-Nations Series, with South Africa claiming overall honours losing just one game. New Zealand finished a rather mediocre series of performances with a resounding 33-6 victory against Australia in Wellington.
No comments:
Post a Comment