Sport - Rugby

Adulation for rugby league sensation Sonny Bill Williams turned to incrimination overnight when he left the Bulldogs to play for rich French club Toulon, earning himself the new name of 'Money Bill' Williams. Then he made no secret of the fact that he would like to change codes to rugby union if that allowed him to front up in the All Blacks' 2011 Rugby World Cup squad. Rumours and counter-rumours swirled, until the guy with the big hand was signed to Canterbury and duly made an appearance in the All Blacks. Throw in sporadic stint... read more

The All Blacks are one of the most enduringly successful and best-known sports teams in the world. Rugby people follow their every move and are more likely to know key dates in All Black history than they are their own wedding anniversary. But not everyone knows everything there is to know about the All Blacks. This is the book for them. When did the All Blacks first perform the haka, and why? What is the haka? How many different haka have the All Blacks performed? And here's a question that may even stump the rugby enthusiasts: wh... read more

Our game celebrates the grassroots of our national game rugby played by weekend warriors on provincial fields. Masters, juniors, all comers. Far from the glare of stadium lights, the real game takes place in snow and mud, in back paddocks and on beaches. as much as it is a sport of the people, rugby is a sport of the landscape, the rural scene that is part of New Zealand's wider context. Taking in these themes, New Zealand Geographic photographer Arno Gasteiger has captured the sport, the heart and soul of New Zealand, and the la... read more

Rugby Union football --Caricatures and cartoons. Rugby Union football --Humor. Sheep --Caricatures and cartoons. Sheep --Humor. New Zealand wit and humor, Pictorial.

The 2005 rugby season marks the tenth anniversary of several inextricably linked rugby events - the creation of SANZAR, Tri-nations and the Super 12, and the associated rise of rugby professionalism. Each of these events has had a significant impact on the face of international rugby and played a major part in the development of the modern game. While New Zealand has dominated the Super 12, Australia and South Africa have shared moments of glory in the fiercely fought Tri-nations. All 60 Tri-nations matches and all of the Super 12 ... read more

For the first time, a camera goes deep inside the sacred space of the All Black camp - revealing the highs and the lows, the pain and the passion, the commitment and the courage of New Zealand's iconic sporting team. Best-selling photojournalist Nick Danziger and writer James Kerr have been granted unprecedented access to the All Black environment as the team builds towards the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The result is a landmark publishing event that looks at the men of the All Blacks and the land that they come from - focussing on how ... read more

Following on from last year's stunningly successful bestseller, Ali's Book of Tall Tales, the All Blacks' big lock with the off-beat (and oft irreverent) sense of humour has teamed up again with James Griffin to produce this hilarious preview of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Although an Achilles heel injury has kept Williams off the international rugby scene for a couple of seasons, All Blacks coach Graham Henry has already made it plain that a fully fit Williams will play a big role in his World Cup plans. And, with plenty of spare ti... read more

New Zealanders have long believed Kiwis rugby league captain Benji Marshall to be the best player in the world. That view was confirmed early in 2011, when he was named winner of the prestigious 2010 Golden Boot - the international prize for the best player in the game. He is the first Wests Tigers player to win this award and only the third New Zealander. This international recognition was not surprising especially given the virtuoso performance he put on in the final of the Four Nations tournament last year when New Zealand sneak... read more

New Zealand rugby doyen Bob Howitt pairs with a top international photographic agency to bring you the ultimate souvenir for rugby fans. In this must-have souvenir record of the 2011 tournament, one of rugby's most respected commentators, Bob Howitt, provides definitive commentary to a stunning array of images from leading international photo library TRANZ. The book follows the competition through New Zealand's four pool games with statistics for all four pools, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the play-off for third, and the f... read more

Union: The Heart of Rugby is an epic international portrait of rugby through the lenses of the world's great rugby photographers. Conceived to celebrate the true heart and soul of rugby around the world, Union will be both a stunning large-format book and exhibition. Launched in spectacular style in September 2011, it is the book rugby fans worldwide have been waiting for and will be a landmark in the history of rugby publishing. The Union collection of images will be the result of an international search designed to involve the hi... read more

Between 1900-10 Auckland's Kingsland Cricket Club rented land close to what is now Sandringham Road. Not long afterward, Eden Cricket Club purchased circa 15 acres in that area and went on to build what we now know as Eden Park. Over the past century, it has been through may changes and in 1022, as it hosts another World Cup, Eden Park carries with it the spirit of its many past champion players, epic contests and entusiastic home crowds.

Sir Colin Meads continues to be a fascination for the New Zealand sports public. In the A-Z of Meads there are revelations about his preference in music, his favourite recipes, even his favourite beers. He adds new slants to famous incidents he was involved in during his rugby prime. Author Keith Quinn gives Meads' friends the chance to tell their side of on-field battles they had with the mighty Meads. They make for absorbing and often hilarious reading.

"There's nothing that a tight forward likes more than a loosie right up his backside." Murray Mexted. Yes, we all have our favourite Murray Mexted moments and this is just one of the many hilarious quotes, cartoons and jokes that make up this great little collection.

First-choice All Blacks prop Kees Meeuws - a man destined to anchor the New Zealand scrum thorugh to the next World Cup - shocked a rugby nation when he decided to uproot his family and move to France to take up a club contract with Castres. Meeuws, 30, and a veteran of 42 test matches for New Zealand did what very few players have done before. He turned his back on a high-profile lifestyle to sample the dlights of rugby European-style. In this book Meeuws tells of the mental anguish he faced as he wrestled with the biggest decisio... read more

Gordon Tietjens is arguably New Zealand's most successful sporting coach of the past 20 years. He has set the standard in Sevens coaching since taking over as national coach in 1994. He has coached the NZ Sevens team to its fifth IRB World Sevens Series title and looks likely to add a sixth title in 2005. His sides have also won a World Championship and two Commonwealth Games gold medals under his stewardship. His story is unique in the annals of New Zealand sporting achievement. Tietjens has an uncanny eye for spotting talent and ... read more

With more than 50 test matches at fullback under his belt, Mils Muliaina is the most capped All Blacks No.15 of all time. Muliaina combines pace and a dangerous counter-attacking ability with dependability and strong positional play at the back for New Zealand. He also has the speed and rugby nous to play at the highest level at either wing or centre. He has scored 21 test tries for the All Blacks, which places him amongst the top 10 all-time test tryscorers for New Zealand. Mils Muliaina's biography will plot a highly unusual path... read more

Ever been at a rugby match and not known what to yell out when? Here's the answer to your prayers: RUGBY SPEAK. A book you can pop in your pocket along with your hip flask and pull out should you feel the need to yell out appropriate abuse from the terraces. There aren't many rules when it comes to grammatically correct rugby terms but Justin Brown has come up with the essentials if you intend to sound at least a tad informed. Chapters include: What to yell at the ref, What to yell at the players, Things which sound rude but are... read more

Rugby legends don't come much bigger than Don Clarke. The man known as 'The Boot' was big in every sense of the word, a match winner beyond compare for the All Blacks in the 1950s and 1960s. In an era that gave rugby the great Colin Meads, Don Clarke was every bit the superstar. But there was also an air of mystery about the man. He caused great surprise when he decided to leave his homeland and take his family to a new life in South Africa. He rarely returned home, but again came to the nation's consciousness then news broke of hi... read more

This thought-provoking book is a search for answers to the vexing phenomenon of why the world's undisputed greatest rugby team can't win the World Cup. It is an in-depth investigation that explores how societal change, combined with the arrival of professionalism, has impacted on the ability of the All Blacks to perform on the biggest stage. The entire development programme for professional players comes under scrutiny to determine why the system keeps failing at critical junctures. Every aspect of the game is examined: the changed... read more

DoP January 2010, NZ 640pp Softcover The latest edition of the acclaimed IRB World Rugby Yearbook. With 649 fully illustrated pages of features, stats and records from every major rugby playing nation, since being revived and revamped three years ago, the IRB World Rugby Yearbook has become a 'must have' book for rugby followers.