Mitre 10 Cup And Farah Palmer Cup Finals This Weekend

The rugby finals for both mens Mitre 10 Cup, and women's Farah Palmer Cup in New Zealand provincial rugby are on this weekend.

In the Mitre 10 Cup Championship Final, Bay of Plenty will host Hawkes Bay at Rotorua International Stadium at 7.35pm on Friday 25th October.

In the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership Final, Tasman will host Wellington at Trafalgar Park, Nelson at 6.05pm on Saturday 26th October.

In the Womens Farah Palmer Cup Premiership Final, Canterbury will host Auckland on Saturday 26th October in Christchurch at 12.05pm.

In the Womens Farah Palmer Cup Championship Final, Otago will host Hawkes Bay on Sunday 27th October in Dunedin at 12.05pm.

All Blacks Named To Face England In Rugby World Cup Semi-Final

New Zealand All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has named the side to play England in their Rugby World Cup semi-final at Yokohama on Saturday.

The side features one change from the side who beat Ireland last week, with Scott Barrett starting at blindside flanker in place of Sam Cane who drops to the reserves, while Ardie Savea shifts to the openside flanker position.
In the reserves Patrick Tuipulotu takes the place of Matt Todd who injured his shoulder against Ireland.

All Blacks: 

Beauden Barrett, Sevu Reece, Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown, George Bridge, Richie Mo'unga, Aaron Smith, Kieran Read (c), Ardie Savea, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody.

Reserves: 

Dane Coles, Ofa Tuungafasi, Angus Ta'avao, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Cane, TJ Perenara, Sonny Bill Williams, Jordie Barrett.

All Blacks Beat Ireland To Advance To Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals.

The New Zealand All Blacks have beaten Ireland 46-14 to advance to the semi-finals of the 2109 Rugby World Cup where they will play England at Yokohama on Saturday 26th October at 9pm.

New Zealand led 22-0 at halftime after two tries to halfback Aaron Smith and one to Beauden Barrett.
They extended the lead out to 34-0 in the second half after tries to hooker Codie Taylor in the 48th minute and Matt Todd in the 62nd minute, and it wasn't until the 69th minute that Ireland got on the scoreboard with a try to Robbie Henshaw.
New Zealand replied with a try to winger George Bridge in the 73rd minute to make it 41-7, and Ireland then received a penalty try after flanker Matt Todd was adjudged offside under the posts when Ireland were driving for the line in the 77th minute.
Todd was given a yellow card for offense, but the 14 man All Black side was able to have the final say with replacement Jordie Barrett scoring in the final minute of the match.

All Blacks: 46

Tries: Aaron Smith 2, Beauden Barrett, Codie Taylor, George Bridge, Matt Todd, Jordie Barrett.
Conversions: Richie Mo'unga 4
Penalty: Mo'unga

Ireland: 14

Tries: Robbie Henshaw, penalty try
Conversions

New Zealand All Blacks Named To Face Ireland In Rugby World Cup Quarter Final

The New Zealand All Blacks team has been named to face Ireland in their 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter final to take place at 11.15pm in Tokyo on Saturday 19th October.

Notable inclusions are the pairing of Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue in midfield, with Sonny Bill-Williams on the bench. Also making the reserves bench is Jordie Barrett, with Ben Smith missing out on the match day 23.

1: Joe Moody
2: Codie Taylor
3: Nepo Laulala
4: Brodie Retallick
5: Samuel Whitelock
6: Ardie Savea
7: Sam Cane
8: Kieran Read - captain
9: Aaron Smith
10: Richie Mo’unga
11: George Bridge
12: Anton Lienert-Brown
13: Jack Goodhue
14: Sevu Reece
15: Beauden Barrett

16:Dane Coles
17: Ofa Tuungafasi
18: Angus Ta'avao
19: Scott Barrett
20: Matt Todd
21: T J Perenara
22: Sonny Bill Williams
23: Jordie Barrett 

2019 Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final Schedule.

Over the weekend, the New Zealand v Italy, England v France, and Namibia v Canada matches were cancelled due to typhoon Hagibis.

Of the matches that were played, Australia beat Georgia 27-8, Ireland beat Samoa 47-5, Tonga beat USA 31-19, Wales beat Uruguay 35-13, and Japan beat Scotland 28-21.

The quarter finals will now take place this weekend, with Saturday 19th October matches being England playing Australia at Oita Stadium at 8.15pm NZT, and New Zealand playing Ireland at Tokyo Stadium, 11.15pm NZT.

On Sunday 20th October, Wales will play France at Oita Stadium at 8.15pm NZT, and Japan plays South Africa at Tokyo Stadium at 23.15 NZT.

The semi-final matches will both be at Yokohama International Stadium on Saturday 26th October at 9pm, and Sunday 27th October at 10pm NZT.

All Blacks v Italy Game Cancelled At Rugby World Cup

The New Zealand All Blacks game against Italy in Toyota City on Saturday has been cancelled by World Rugby due to Super Typhoon Hagibis, which is set to hit Yokohama and nearby Tokyo with 270kmh winds.

Typhoon Hagibis is expected to make landfall on the main islands of Kyushi, Shikoku and Honshu in Japan over the weekend.

Due to the cancellation, both New Zealand and Italy will be awarded two competition points each for the match, and the All Blacks will now finish at the top of their pool on 15 points, one ahead of South Africa, who they beat 23-13 on the first weekend of the Rugby World Cup.

The second game to be cancelled is the England versus France match, and that leaves England on top of pool C, with France in second position. 

​Finishing on top of pool B means the All Blacks will face the pool A runner-up, with Ireland, Scotland and Japan all in contention.

At this stage the match between Scotland and Japan in Yokohama is expected to go ahead on Sunday, and if Japan are abale to win they will lead pool A with Ireland in second place.

All Blacks Defeat Namibia

The New Zealand All Blacks have beaten Namibia 71-9 at Tokyo Stadium today.
Namibia had opened the scoring with a penalty in the 3rd minute, and held the All Blacks to a 10-9 lead after the first half hour, but two late tries in the half stretched the lead to 24-9 at half time.
The All Blacks had scored tries to Sevu Reece in the 7th minute and Anton Lienert-Brown in the 21st minute, but a competitive Namibia had unsettled them around the ruck.
Prop Nepo Laulala was sin-binned in the 30th minute for a swinging arm that made contact with the head, but quick tries from replacement prop Angus Ta'avao in the 36th minute, and full back Ben Smith four minutes into extra time put Namibia on the back foot.

The second half opened with a try to prop Joe Moody in the 42nd minute, and was followed by another from Anton Lienert-Brown in the 46th minute.
Namibia was starting to look tired, and there were further tries to Sevu Reece in the 52nd minute, Sam Whitelock in 56th minute, and Ben Smith in the 67th minute.
The All Blacks had their second yellow card of the match in the 73rd minute when prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi was sin-binned for making contact with the head in the tackle, but with 14 men they managed to score two more tries to Jordie Barrett in the 76th minute, and replacement TJ Perenara in the 79th minute.

The All Blacks remaining pool match is against Italy next Saturday at 5.45pm NZT.

New Zealand: 71 

Tries: Sevu Reece 2, Anton Lienert-Brown 2, Ben Smith 2, Angus Ta'avao, Joe Moody, Sam Whitelock , Jordie Barrett, TJ Perenara.
Conversions: Barrett 8

Namibia: 9 

Conversions: Damian Stephens 3