Rugby is very famous in New Zealand, and the sport itself has plenty of fans all over the world. As a rugby enthusiast, do you think you know everything about New Zealand’s All Blacks?
Well, we recommend you to keep reading this article. Here are some interesting facts about rugby in this country.
162 cricketers have won one cap for New Zealand
To compare this, note that 343 players from Great Britain have earned one cap in total. When it comes to Wales, it is 224, and Ireland 232. Now you probably understand why NZ cricketers value the black jersey so highly.
It is exciting and fun playing with Italy
This is certainly another interesting fact about rugby in New Zealand. The national team has played the Italians 12 times so far. They have won against Italy every single time.
Over those games, they have scored 568 points. This means that on average, they tend to score 47.3 points a game. Italy’s national rugby team has only scored just over eight points a game.
There have been 67 test captains
James Duncan has been the first All Black captain in official test rugby. Yet, there have been several special names that have led the most popular rugby nations. These names include Andy Dalton, Reuben Thorne, and Tana Umaga.
New Zealand likes the Sydney Cricket Ground
The truth is that NZ rugby national team won more away matches at the ground than any other stadium. They had 17 victories and 28 games. The NZ team loves the Millennium Stadium. This is the place where they won nine tests against Wales.
There are only 838 test players
Over time, there have been 1,153 All Blacks. Yet, there are only 838 test players. Anton Lienert-Brown is the latest All Black. The first official All Black has been James Allan.
He was part of the first national tour that went to Australia. Otago, Auckland, Canterbury, and Wellington could select only 5 players. Canterbury provided the captain William Milton.
The first recognized test player for this country was James Duncan. In 1903, he started against Australia, in his only test.
McCaw has scored most tries against the Wallabies
The cricketer who scored more tries against the Wallabies than anyone else was McCaw. He scored 11 tries against Australia. In fact, he scored more than Christian Cullen and Doug Howlett as well.
They find it quite hard to score against South Africa
In 40 games played over time, the NZ rugby team scored 117 tries against Great Britain. They scored 106 tries against Ireland. Yet, against South Africa, it is 2.087 tries a match.
Only two All Blacks have seen red
These two All Blacks are Colin Meads and Cyril Brownlie. Meads has seen red in 1967 and Brownlie in 1967. The situation is quite different when it comes to yellow cards.
There have been 47 All Blacks who received yellow cards. Kieran Read was the one who received the most with four. Tony Woodcock, Richie McCaw, and Sam Whitelock were all on three.