2009 Steinlager Rugby Award nominees announced

Posted on Nov 20, 2009 in Rugby News

The nominees for this year’s Steinlager Rugby Awards, New Zealand’s premier rugby awards, have been announced.

The Steinlager Rugby Awards recognise and acknowledge the achievements of New Zealand’s teams, coaches, players, referees and volunteers in 2009. The ceremony will be held at the SkyCity Convention Centre, Auckland, on Thursday 17 December and broadcast live on SKY Sport and The Rugby Channel.

A new name is being introduced for the award which annually recognises the great contribution volunteers make to community rugby. The winner of this year’s volunteer award will be honoured with the Charles Monro Rugby Volunteer of the Year trophy, named after the man who introduced rugby to New Zealand. Nominees are Otago’s Blair Crawford, Auckland’s David Hickey and Peter Te Tai from Southland.

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Air NZ Cup Final: Canterbury tame Lions

Posted on Nov 9, 2009 in Rugby News

Canterbury celebrated their first back-to-back successes in the Air New Zealand cup in Christchurch on Saturday night, beating Wellington by three tries to two in a 28-20 victory.

Canterbury, led 25-10 after 60 minutes, but found themselves only five points ahead in a tense final six minutes, and down to fourteen men with fullback Colin Slade in the sinbin. They secured their win when with a late penalty leaving Wellington wondering what they have to do to. They have reached six of the last seven finals and lost them all, and Canterbury are their main tormentors, winning on three occasions, the first two in Wellington itself.

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