Regardless of the World Cup final result, rugby union is dwarfed by the three other major football codes in Australia’s competitive football landscape.
Northern nations may dominate in the numbers of teams in the Rugby World Cup but Southern teams tend to dominate in the play, such as Australia’s win over England to throw the host nation out of the competition.
Reuters/Stefan Wermuth
Rugby is often seen as the clash of the giants and this year’s Rugby World Cup includes some mighty players. But there’s more to winning a game than just brute force.
Many nations contesting the Rugby World Cup are fielding ‘ring-ins’ from other countries. The rules allowing this reflect the difficulty of balancing national team integrity and development.
New Zealand All Black’s perform the haka.
Reuters/POOL New
Our study found that 8% of the 1,684 elite Australian athletes we surveyed said they had used at least one of six illicit drugs – including ecstasy, cocaine and cocaine – over the previous year.
Rugby union star Karmichael Hunt has been stood down by his club pending a court appearance on drug supply charges.
AAP/Dan Peled
The Heineken Cup, European rugby union’s premier competition, faces an uncertain future. English clubs continue to woo teams from France and Wales into a rival competition, with promises of increased revenue…
The man touted as the next Socceroos coach, Angle Postecoglou, meets Australian soccer’s greatest export Craig Johnston. Should we have local coaches for our national teams?
AAP/Hamish Blair
Another foreign coach of an Australian national sports team has been ushered to the overseas departure terminal. Having overseen the team’s qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Socceroos…
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and coach Graham Henry celebrate their Rugby World Cup victory.
AAP
Few would begrudge New Zealanders revelling in their rugby World Cup success. After two major disasters in the form of the Christchurch earthquake and the Greymouth coal mine explosion, some morale-raising…
Associate Professor in Exercise and Sport Physiology, Director of Research Operations at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University