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You are here: Home » Halfway Horror Stats about Wellington Rugby 2014; Read them and Weep!
23 September 2014
Adam Julian is a young Kiwi rugby writer on the way up. He is already an expert on New Zealand Secondary Schools rugby - but has a keen and courageous eye on other aspects of the game in our country, including today's provinicial results and their comparison with what has gone before.
An old boy of St Pat's Silverstream College this 28 year-old is based in Wellington still but is trying to crack the Auckland scene.
Adam sends me short missives from time to time.
The stats below don't occupy a lot of space. But ouch! They are are hurtful if you live in Wellington and have loved the capital's rugby down the years.
Here's his summary; Read it and if you live south of Upper Hutt and West of Wainui hold your head in your hands!
"The Wellington Lions have now had seven losses in a row this season; and they are averaging 36 points against them per game.
There have only been 15 seasons since 1880 where Wellington have lost more games than they have won. In 1884 they didn't score a single point, but that year they only played one game! - which was a 0-9 loss to New Zealand before they departed to Australia.
The worst until now was in 1926 when Wellington did beat New Zealand and the New Zealand Maori, but all up they lost 11 other games out of 16 that year, their most defeats in a season.
In 1997 they went 3-7 and conceded 483 points!"
Thanks Adam! (for nothin')
.....
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NZ tumbled out of the 4th Rugby World Cup at the semi-final stage; ahead 24-10 at one stage,
the AB's then leaked 33 unanswered points to lose 43-31.
KEANE, MOSS
Lansdowne and Ireland
51 internationals for Ireland 1974–84
1 international for the British Isles 1977
A dedicated player who became only the third forward from Ireland to reach 50 international appearances. Keane was never a great lineout leaper or scrummager or runner in the open. Rather he played the game in the dark depths of rucks and mauls, where he was as good a grafter as the game has seen. For heart and pride, and the desire to do his utmost for Ireland, he could not be bettered.
Maurice Ignatius Keane first played for Ireland in 1974 in a 6–9 loss to France, but wins in two other matches that season gave Ireland the Five Nations title. In Keane’s fourth international season for Ireland, he made the British Isles team to tour New Zealand, after one of the team’s originals, Geoff Wheel, had to withdraw on medical advice.
Keane was in the Irish team that won the Five Nations championship in 1982 and in the one that shared the title with France in 1983. The other years of his international career were lean: in 52 internationals Keane was only in the winning team 17 times.
Keane had a delightful personality and a wicked sense of humour and many stories, true, exaggerated or otherwise, are still told about him.
In the 1978 New Zealand v Ireland match at Dublin, the Irish were being well beaten in the lineouts, where Keane was marking the All Black giant Andy Haden. The only chance Ireland had to win lineout ball was with their complicated lineout calls, which none of the New Zealanders could decipher. The All Blacks were helped on one occasion when the lineout call went out from the Irish halfback and they heard Keane cry, ‘Oh God no, not to me again’!
Moss Keane was the first Gaelic footballer to play rugby union for Ireland after eligibility rules were changed. He remained an enormously popular figure in Ireland after his retirement from playing.
If there were a New Zealand rugby NPC State-of-Origin contest, which province would Grant Fox play for?
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