New Zealand

The New Zealand All Blacks were to have paid Japan the ultimate complement by naming a close to full strength side for their Friday night match in Hamilton

he New Zealand All Blacks with their experimental backline defeated a gutsy Tongan side 41-10 scoring six tries to one in front of nearly sixty thousand fans at Eden Park

In a world cup year, the focus of all attention goes to the contenders the teams that will be there in the business end of the tournament.

Robbie Deans Australia showed great mental toughness to survive a superb second half surge from the All Blacks and claim their first Tri-Nations title since 2001.

18 points from the boot of Morne Steyn and a tremendous defensive display saw South Africa pick up their first win of this year's Tri-Nations, over a weakened New Zealand side.

While fans from other countries are worried about their over the hill forward pack, lack of spark in the backline or the fragile tight five, but fans of the brilliant All Blacks have few concerns on the field with recent wins over the Springboks and Wallabies

In Woody Allen's Whatever Works there is a scene in which the lead character, played by Larry David of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm renown, wakes in the middle of the night struck by a startling realisation

No matter the sport the rivalry always produces a battle and on the rugby pitch it would be nothing short of an all out brawl

New Zealand maintained their brilliant record at Eden Park and produced a brilliantly clinical display to see off Australia and retain the Bledisloe Cup.

New Zealand will not be surprised to find that bookmakers around the world have made the defending champions odds-on favourites for the Tri-Nations.

It is not often that a former volleyball player becomes a member of the New Zealand rugby team. But this is exactly what happened to Jarrad Hoeata after his impressive performances for the Highlanders in this year's Super Rugby competition led to his international debut

New Zealand put a second string Springbok side to the sword scoring six tries extremely one sided encounter in Wellington.

The New Zealand franchises didn't have a particularly successful Super 15 season, with their conference leading team, the Crusaders having the lowest points total of all 3 conference winners

All Blacks fly half Colin Slade did his world cup selection chances no harm as he produced a mature performance in a 60-14 win over Fiji

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is quite possibly the biggest thing to hit rugby union in recent years, in more ways than one.

In Australian NRL terms, the name Willie Mason strikes fear into the heart of many opponents. In the sport of rugby league, he has a reputation for being a beast, a warrior, a mammonth

Soane Tonga'uiha is one of the most effective props in the Aviva Premiership today. A potent attack threat, a strong runner with soft hands and assured in the loose

With the end of season fast approaching in the northern hemisphere and the Super 15 in full swing down south, one thing has been obvious to all

This is my prediction for All Black's strongest World Cup starting 22. Let us know your thoughts and who would you include in your starting 22?

The All Black selectors have plenty of locks to choose from for the Rugby World Cup 2011 squad, but given the number of these players either currently on the physio table