Tag: New Zealand

Women’s Rugby World Cup – Day Two Whangarei

After the excitement of opening day in Eden Park, has a full stadium been so quiet when Australia were 17-0 up… The action on day two of the Women’s Rugby World Cup moved to Whangarei where the remaining six teams took the field for the first time.

northlands stadium

The Northlands Stadium is a unique stadium with a large hill opposite the main stand from which you can enjoy the game picnic style.

Large groups of Welsh and American fans have made the long journey to support their team, although the fans of the day award goes to these three Japanese fans who flew from Japan for their match against Canada and will fly back after the game – Chapeau!

Japan fansAmerican fans Rugby World Cup 2021More photos from day two can be found here

Welsh fans

New Zealand Food and Wine Connection @ Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel – 16 May, 2017

The second New Zealand Food and Wine Connections promotion organised by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise saw a range of new Kiwi products showcased at the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel on the 16 May. Among the tasty and predominantly organic products on show were meat, seafood, wines, beer, fruit juices, herbs and tea.

Some are already available locally and you’ll find them in supermarkets and used by restaurants. Others to look out for soon are Zealong teas and Kare honey.
Click on any photo for the full gallery.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/New-Zealand-Product-Showcase-Marco-Polo-Hong-Kong-Hotel-16/i-9VmmPZz

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New Zealand Food and Wine Connections @ Seafood Room – 25 May, 2017

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/New-Zealand-Food-and-Wine-Connections-Seafood-Room-25-May/i-ddDfxMc

New Zealand Food and Wine Connections held at the Seafood room saw a range of Kiwi products showcased including meat, seafood, wines, beer and fruit and vegetables. Some are already available locally including the rather nice Te Mana lamb and the nicely marbled Mt Cook salmon which is tasty as sashimi but melt in your mouth delicious when lightly cooked. Lots of quality NZ produce to enjoy.
Click on any photo for the full gallery.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/New-Zealand-Food-and-Wine-Connections-Seafood-Room-25-May/i-gwhWFG5

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Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Jonah Lomu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxmXMX6AXMU

The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) has named Jonah Lomu as the seventh and final member of ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’, the HKRFU’s assembly of the top seven players to have played at the Hong Kong Sevens over the past 40 years.

Lomu was inducted into ‘The Magnificent Seven’ last night at the 40 Years of Sevens Gala dinner in Hong Kong along with the announced co-winners of the HKRFU’s Hong Kong Hometown Legend campaign, Rowan Varty and Keith Robertson.

Quite possibly the most famous rugby player in history, Jonah Lomu made his debut appearance in Hong Kong in 1994, giving Hong Kong Sevens fans a privileged opportunity to witness a superstar in the making.

Lomu came to Hong Kong as an unheralded youngster but exited the Sevens on the cusp of stardom. Months later he would be selected as the then youngest-ever All Black at just 19 years and 45 days old, making his debut appearance against France. The following year he cemented his reputation as rugby’s most unstoppable force by scoring seven tries at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.

Lomu would return to the Hong Kong Sevens in 1995 and 1996 to anchor New Zealand to three successive tournament victories and secure himself an abiding place in Hong Kong’s sporting lore.

He also helped New Zealand win the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and led his country to its first Rugby World Cup Sevens victory at the 2001 world championships in Argentina. He is the third Kiwi named in ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’.

The expert panel of sevens specialists convened by the HKRFU to adjudicate ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’ obviously did their homework. At yesterday’s pre-event press conference ahead of the 2015 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens (27-29 March), Sir Gordon Tietjens, in charge of the New Zealand Sevens team since 1994, was queried about the three best players he has ever coached.

Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Jonah Lomu

After little deliberation, Tietjens named Eric Rush, Christian Cullen and Lomu. All three have been named into the Magnificent Seven – making New Zealand the only nation with multiple recipients of this unique honour.

The complete Hong Kong Magnificent Seven are:

Zhang Zhiqiang China
Ben Gollings England
Christian Cullen New Zealand
Eric Rush New Zealand
David Campese Australia
Waisale Serevi Fiji
Jonah Lomu New Zealand

Photos and videos courtesy of their respective owners

Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Eric Rush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHkKV0m-1l0

New Zealand sevens specialist Eric Rush is the fourth member of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union all-time international team, ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’.

In a glittering sevens career, Rush, alongside Fiji’s Waisale Serevi, was the face of the Hong Kong Sevens throughout the 1990s, playing in Hong Kong on an amazing 16 occasions and claiming the Cup on nearly one-third of those outings. His five tournament wins in Hong Kong include a purple patch of three straight Hong Kong Sevens titles from 1994 to 1996 as well as victories in 1989 and 2000.

He won the Leslie Williams Award for the Best & Fairest Player of the Hong Kong Sevens in 1991.

Overshadowing his nine test caps for the All Blacks and participation in nearly 30 matches with New Zealand, Eric Rush’s reputation as a rugby great is built on his career as one of the world’s foremost practitioners of modern sevens. Rush played in nearly 60 international sevens tournaments, and helped New Zealand win gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002 and at the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

With pace to burn, superb conditioning and unique pitch vision arising from his fifteen-aside experience as both a flanker and a wing, Rush brought an exceptional level of leadership to the New Zealand Sevens teams as a captain, helping to maintain New Zealand’s commitment to excellence through several generations of players.

Rush also distinguished himself as a member of the New Zealand Maori sides, playing in the 1988 tour of France and Argentina and in a total of 14 matches to 1991. After his move to the wing in 1992, Rush represented the New Zealand Maori on another 14 occasions including a fixture against the British & Irish Lions in 1993.

A qualified lawyer, Rush’s natural wit, intelligence and bright personality has seen him in high demand as an after-dinner speaker and in rugby circles he is nearly as well regarded for his role officiating the Hong Kong Sevens Long Lunch as for his exploits on the pitch at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Rush’s sevens fame has seen him acclaimed as an international star and over many seasons Rush has been invited to play for the British Barbarians in high profile festival games in the United Kingdom.

Rush will go down as one of the seminal players in sevens rugby.

 

Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Eric Rush

Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Christian Cullen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti0rbUGDZPU

One of the most dangerous attacking fullbacks in modern rugby history, New Zealand’s Christian Cullen, has been named as the third player in the ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’ – Hong Kong Rugby Football Union’s (HKRFU) top seven international players to have taken the pitch at the hallowed Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po over the past four decades.

Widely acknowledged as one of the most dangerous fullbacks of the modern era, Cullen burst onto the international scene after his appearance in Hong Kong in 1995. After playing only one match in the previous year’s tournament, Cullen replaced the injured Adrian Cashmore in 1996.

He grasped the opportunity with both hands, scoring an astonishing 18 tries over the weekend and claiming the 1996 Leslie Williams Award for the Best & Fairest player.

“It’s a great honour to be included in the list of the greatest players to appear at the Hong Kong Sevens in the past 40 years – so many fantastic rugby players have played here, and for many like myself it was the start of an international career.

“The 1996 tournament will always hold special memories for me, an epic Cup Final against Fiji and of course winning the Leslie Williams Trophy. I always love coming back to Hong Kong, and I am looking forward to joining the celebrations at the end of March,” said Cullen from New Zealand.

Cullen’s Hong Kong exploits led to his All Blacks debut later in the same year – aged 20 – and reinforced his sevens sobriquet as the Paekakariki Express. He went on to score a hat-trick in his test debut against Samoa and collected four tries against Scotland in his second test. The first steps in a glittering career that would see him become New Zealand’s most capped fullback and scorer of a then record 46 test tries for his country.

Returning to the Sevens fold in 1998, Cullen played a pivotal role in helping New Zealand win the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Cullen is the first player selected that predates the inception of World Rugby’s (formerly the IRB) Sevens World Series in 2000.

Christian Cullen