The domestic season is in full swing and Leicester Tigers are leading the way, while the South African franchises continue struggle away from home, with the Scarlets and Munster the beneficiaries
From Bateman-Gibbs to Henson-Shanklin and on to Roberts-Davies, a ready supply of fabulously combative midfield partnerships have been available to the Welsh but not any more.
When Gordonton’s Aaron Hopa died in a tragic diving accident off Whangamata on December 8, 1998, so too did an incredible Kiwi life shaped by rugby, whanau and aroha. Ben Stanley tells the story of the Greatest All Black you never knew.