Rugby Shorts

Junior All Blacks clinch Pacific Nations Cup SYDNEY – New Zealand’s Junior All Blacks thrashed Australia A 50-0 at Dunedin on Saturday to clinch the Pacific Nations Cup title with a week to spare.

The Junior All Blacks scored seven unanswered tries to demolish their nearest rivals and open up an unassailable lead at the top of the standings heading into next weekend’s final round of matches. The New Zealanders had the match wrapped up after just half an hour when winger Scott Hamilton scored his team’s fourth try to secure a bonus point and a 31-0 lead.Lock Tom Donnelly, loose forward Sione Lauaki, winger Anthony Tuitavake, centre Ma’a Nonu and replacement flanker Daniel Braid also scored tries while flyhalf Stephen Donald scored a try and kicked a penalty and six conversions for a personal haul of 20 points.Tonga posted their first win of the tournament with a 21-15 win over Fiji in Lautoka.Fiji led 15-6 at halftime but Tonga scored 15 unanswered points in the second half to register their first win of the campaign and move off the bottom of the standings.Samoa moved into third place in the standings after beating Japan 13-3 in Sendai.The Japanese slipped to last place, with their last match against the Junior All Blacks in Tokyo next week.Vermeulen out of World Cup PARIS – Number eight Elvis Vermeulen has withdrawn from France’s World Cup squad after a scan revealed a slipped disc which will require surgery, his Clermont club said on Saturday.”It was on the occasion of a scan conducted last Monday two days after the final of the French championship that a slipped disc was discovered,” a statement on the club Web site said.”Further tests revealed that surgery could not be avoided.The decision to operate was taken on Saturday morning.”Vermeulen, 28, who has eight caps, was named on Thursday as the first choice number eight in France’s 30-player squad for the World Cup to be played in September and October in France.Castaignede feels betrayed BORDEAUX – French international fullback Thomas Castaignede said on Saturday that being left out of the World Cup squad left him feeling as if he had lost someone close to him.The 32-year-old was not even included in the 11 named reserves in case any of the 30-man squad are injured ahead of the rugby showpiece which gets underway on September 7.”I am disappointed, there is nothing else I can say,” Castaignede told Sud Ouest newspaper.”It is my death in a sporting sense.I feel as if I have lost someone close to me,” added Castaignede, was capped 52 times and played in both of the recent test defeats by World Cup favourites the All Blacks.Nampa-Reuters and AFPThe New Zealanders had the match wrapped up after just half an hour when winger Scott Hamilton scored his team’s fourth try to secure a bonus point and a 31-0 lead.Lock Tom Donnelly, loose forward Sione Lauaki, winger Anthony Tuitavake, centre Ma’a Nonu and replacement flanker Daniel Braid also scored tries while flyhalf Stephen Donald scored a try and kicked a penalty and six conversions for a personal haul of 20 points.Tonga posted their first win of the tournament with a 21-15 win over Fiji in Lautoka.Fiji led 15-6 at halftime but Tonga scored 15 unanswered points in the second half to register their first win of the campaign and move off the bottom of the standings.Samoa moved into third place in the standings after beating Japan 13-3 in Sendai.The Japanese slipped to last place, with their last match against the Junior All Blacks in Tokyo next week. Vermeulen out of World Cup PARIS – Number eight Elvis Vermeulen has withdrawn from France’s World Cup squad after a scan revealed a slipped disc which will require surgery, his Clermont club said on Saturday.”It was on the occasion of a scan conducted last Monday two days after the final of the French championship that a slipped disc was discovered,” a statement on the club Web site said.”Further tests revealed that surgery could not be avoided.The decision to operate was taken on Saturday morning.”Vermeulen, 28, who has eight caps, was named on Thursday as the first choice number eight in France’s 30-player squad for the World Cup to be played in September and October in France. Castaignede feels betrayed BORDEAUX – French international fullback Thomas Castaignede said on Saturday that being left out of the World Cup squad left him feeling as if he had lost someone close to him.The 32-year-old was not even included in the 11 named reserves in case any of the 30-man squad are injured ahead of the rugby showpiece which gets underway on September 7.”I am disappointed, there is nothing else I can say,” Castaignede told Sud Ouest newspaper.”It is my death in a sporting sense.I feel as if I have lost someone close to me,” added Castaignede, was capped 52 times and played in both of the recent test defeats by World Cup favourites the All Blacks.Nampa-Reuters and AFP