On Saturday 5th September, the North vs South (North Island selection team vs South Island selection team) , a New Zealand rugby all-star match that divided the country in two, was held at Sky Stadium in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, for the first time in eight years!
The highlights of the match have been uploaded to the All Blacks YouTube channel , so please take a look! It was a very good match, with the lead changing hands seven times.
The traditional match between North and South
This year marks the first time North vs South has been held in eight years since 2012, but the first time was in 1897, 123 years ago. It was held every year from then until 1986, except during the world wars.
In recent years, the number of rugby competitions has increased, including the international Super Rugby tournament, which began in 1996, and the Mitre 10 Cup , a tournament between domestic regional teams, and the North vs South match has not been held due to the busy schedule. However, this year, as international tournaments cannot be held due to the impact of COVID-19, this traditional match will be revived!
Unfortunately, however, community infections of the new coronavirus have been occurring again in New Zealand since August 11. Fortunately, as of September 6, the number of infected people nationwide has been kept to 116, including 39 people who have returned from overseas. However, the entire country is currently at alert level 2, which means that gatherings of more than 100 people are prohibited, and the North vs South match for the first time in eight years will be held without spectators.
Now, this North vs South match can essentially be called an All Blacks all-star match, with the top players selected from all over New Zealand.
Many of the players on this list played in the Rugby World Cup held in Japan last year.
Players are selected from the North and South, but which team each player belongs to is determined not by where they are from or what team they are currently playing for,
What regional team did you belong to when you made your debut?
This means that current teammates will split up, and the Barrett brothers, Beauden (who made his debut in Taranaki on the North Island) and Jody (who made his debut in Canterbury on the South Island), who both played in the World Cup, will become enemies.
North Island Selection vs South Island Selection, the result is...
The match was a high-level, spectacular one with both teams scoring five tries each! The score was 35-31, and North Island was leading by four points going into full time. But in added time, Will Jordan made a brilliant catch and scored a try to turn the game around, giving South Island the victory!
Will Jordan, who scored the final try, made his debut for Team Tasman in 2017. He is 22 years old and has been playing for the Crusaders, the strongest Super Rugby team since last year. He scored two tries that night.
There were many other players who played well, but here we will introduce Rieko Ioane. Rieko is 23 years old and was selected for last year's World Cup. He currently plays for the Auckland Blues.
In this match, he scored the first try by catching a superb kick from Beauden Barrett.
Riiko's father is from Samoa. He was a rugby player who played in Japan during his active career, and belonged to Ricoh (now Ricoh Black Rams in the Top League), one of the teams in the East Japan Amateur League at the time. During that time, he named his children Akira (Riko's older brother) and Riiko after the two children of a person who had looked after him.
Selected for the All Blacks in the 2020 season!
On September 6th, one day after North vs South, the All Blacks for the 2020-2021 season were announced! Last night's match was the last chance to make an appeal for the national team selection. (Jsports was actually the "All Blacks Selection Match").
These are the players selected for the New Zealand All Blacks, led by new coach Ian Foster.
Introducing your All Blacks 2020 squad.
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 5, 2020
FULL STORY ➡️ https://t.co/asuI5bwiKX #TeamAllBlacks pic.twitter.com/D7TtwKbNp0
Will Jordan, who was mentioned earlier, was also selected for the All Blacks for the first time. In addition to Jordan, six other players were selected for the first time.
Brothers being brothers 😂 pic.twitter.com/cuTG0EBDFD
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 6, 2020
Rico Iaone was also re-selected along with his brother Akira.
The new All Blacks' first match is scheduled to be against Australia, but the date has yet to be decided due to the effects of COVID-19. I can't wait to see the players in action as soon as possible!
