Brodie Retallick hints at retirement after RWC 2023

All Blacks star Brodie Retallick has suggested that he is regarding the 2023 World Cup in France as his last chapter in international rugby. The second row also does not rule out ending the day but says that playing in Japan is an option after the next world tournament. Rugby fans can book Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Retallick, who has played 81 games for New Zealand since his debut in 2012, is currently on a sabbatical in Asia, playing for the Kobelco Steelers in the Top League. He is set to return to the Chiefs in 2022, which will make him available for the international team before the next World Cup, and the 29-year-old believes that the tournament could be the last for the All Blacks.

Two seasons with the Chiefs

I look forward, if everything goes according to plan, to go back to the All Blacks and play two seasons for the Chiefs, he told The XV. Realistically, they will probably be the last couple in New Zealand before I decide what to do next, be it hang up my boots or maybe go back to Japan.

"I have a rough idea in my head of how I plan to do the last third of my career, or whatever you want to call it. If that goes according to plan or if I've changed my mind, I'm not sure. But I have a family and a wife and kids and stuff, so you have to think about these things."

Despite still being on the right side of 30, the outstanding forward has felt the physical damage of the sport having excelled at the highest level from a young age. Retallick was one of the stars of the New Zealand Under-20 team in 2011 and was soon a regular starter for the Chiefs in Super Rugby in 2012.

He led it to his debut with the All Blacks in the same year and has been around ever since, helping them lift the Webb Ellis Cup in 2015.

"When I came to the Chiefs, and from there, to get to the All Blacks, those first five or six years were pretty full, I played a lot of rugby," Padlock said.

“Sometimes I would joke with people, they would say 'Oh, you're not that old' and I'd say 'Yes, but I've played a lot of rugby.”

"Looking back at the last two or three years, I don't know if those kinds of injuries that started to affect me were a price for playing a lot of rugby in those early years or not, I'm not sure. But coming to Japan was definitely the result of the amount of rugby I played in those first five or six years."

Many of the best All Blacks decide to go to Europe after his international career is over, but Retallick insists the option has never appealed to him.

"I have never honestly considered the northern hemisphere, he added. Either he stayed in New Zealand or he came to Japan. Obviously, you never say never, but we've really enjoyed our time in Japan and the Kobelco Steelers have been amazing to us with all their support and stuff. So yeah, I'm not going to say no, but I'm probably not looking to go there at all."

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When France expects to play the All Blacks at RWC 2023

While the pool revealed for the 2023 Rugby World Cup was met with reservations due to the similarities between it and previous years, there was a quirky quirk that still has fans salivating.

New Zealand and France will meet in the group stage of the competition in what will be their eighth meeting at the World Cup. Adding some extra intrigue to the clash is the fact that the tournament is of course taking place in France. Rugby fans can book Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

While the All Blacks have had the best of both teams throughout matches, winning five of the seven to date, Les Bleus' two victories are arguably best remembered by Kiwi fans due to how emotional they were defeats.

In 1999, France won 43-21 in the semifinals. Eight years later, a highly favored All Blacks team was defeated 20-18 in the quarterfinals in what was their worst World Cup performance to date. France will not have a chance to knock New Zealand out of the 2023 competition until the final if both teams advance that far, but they do have a chance to inflict a first group stage defeat on the men in black.

Since the first iteration of the tournament in 1987, the World Cups have always started with a game with the hosts. Typically, especially since the game turned pro, their opposition has been a team they were expected to defeat, but not by a scandalous margin.

That is understandable. Many fans want the tournament hosts to start the competition with a victory, but they still want the game to be a show. This is especially true for occasional local viewers, who are probably only tuning in to the game because it is played at a World Cup in their home country.

Since that first flagship competition in New Zealand in 87, seven of the opening nine matches have been won by the hosts, England fell short against New Zealand in 1991 and France suffered at the hands of Argentina in 2007.

With France and New Zealand back in the same group for the first time since 2011, the two rivals will naturally meet at an early stage in the competition, but the jury is still out on when that clash should take place.

From the point of view of the two nations, would it be better to start the competition with a challenge and then be able to move on to the knockout stages of the competition or would it make more sense if the more difficult group match occurred closer to the end of the match group stage?

Perhaps the All Blacks, who have thrived in tough competition would prefer the latter. In 2007, New Zealand's toughest group match was against a humble Scottish side who finished better 40-0. A few weeks later, France picked them up bit by bit and pulled them out by hand.

In the last competition, they played South Africa in the opening week and scored a well-earned 23-13 victory. The only other top-tier team to play between that opening game and their defeat to England in the semi-finals was Ireland, a team that has never made it past the quarter-finals.

The All Blacks' 32-point victory in that game marked the second-largest quarter-final victory in tournament history and when they faced a team from England that had been consolidating in the competition with victories over Argentina and Australia barely fired a shot.

However, the latest report in the French newspaper L'Equipe suggests that French coach Fabien Galthie wants his team to play the All Blacks in the opening match of the 2023 competition. With France and New Zealand as the strongest teams in the group, probably the only other semi-competitive games for the top two teams in the group will involve Italy, the world's 14th-ranked nation.

If Galthie and the French rugby union asked World Rugby to come true, the story would be made one way or another. A victory for the French would end New Zealand's unbeaten streak during the World Cups group stage, while a defeat would make France the first host nation to lose two games on opening night.

The 2019 World Cup draw was unveiled in November 2017, suggesting that World Rugby probably won't release the full tournament schedule for the 2023 competition until much later this year.

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Agustin Creevy reveals designs at Rugby World Cup 2023

Former Argentina captain Agustin Creevy wants to be part of Pumas' bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup by securing a new contract with London Irish. Rugby enthusiasts can book RugbyWorld Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Creevy, who has played in three consecutive World Cups, would be 38 when the next World Cup is held in France and, having installed her young daughter in a local nursery, the prostitute is determined to convince Declan Kidney, the Irish director. Rugby to be awarded a new contract to replace the one that ends this season.

Having scored a try when the Irish defeated Newcastle 31-22, Creevy is delivering on the field as part of the group with the most caps the Premiership has seen. Six of the Irish forwards against the Falcons had racked up 402 caps with Creevy contributing 88 appearances for his beloved Cougars.

Agustin Creevy

Creevy said: “We are talking about a new contract and we have time to see what happens. Yes, I want to stay and I want to play in the next World Cup, but I need to continue playing at the best level and I try to be better in each game. The Premiership is one of the best competitions in the world and that is why I came here.”

“We have a lot of international players and we are very close and that is important. We try to train together and teach young children and it is a good family. I like the identity of my country with the Pumas and here we also have a nice one”.

With the demise of Jaguares from Super Rugby, Creevy is part of a large contingent of Pumas now operating in the Premiership and will face his former teammate Matías Alemanno when Gloucester arrives in Brentford on Saturday.

Creevy said: “There are a lot of friends playing in the Premiership with Matias in the second row in Gloucester and I love playing against them and laughing on the field. We are friends playing together for seven years together. Now it's fun to play against them.”

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Samoa hoping COVID doesn't curtail the Rugby World Cup dream

Samoa's women's rugby team admits that quarantine restrictions may force some players not to make themselves available for the World Cup campaign.

Manusina will advance to the final qualifying tournament, which is expected to take place in Europe in May, four months before the start of the World Cup in New Zealand. Rugby fans can book Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

All of the players are amateurs and coach Ramsey Tomokino said if they had to spend a month in quarantine on top of the World Cup proper it could be a bridge too far.

"It would mean some players might have to leave their jobs or just say no because their employment is their livelihood, and that is the difference between the men's and the women's game, where we're not full-time professional athletes. It would hit us pretty hard actually if that was the case."

Manusina outclassed Tonga 40-0 in November to advance to the final repechage however the other three squads are still to be confirmed.

The European Qualification Tournament was canceled last year because of Covid-19 while the Women's Six Nations, Asia Rugby Women's Championship and a playoff between Kenya and Colombia have all been postponed, leaving Samoa in a holding pattern.

"We're just really waiting to see what the next instructions are around this qualifier game," Tomokino explained.

"It's meant to be the last four teams vying for that one spot into one of the hardest pools alongside New Zealand, Australia and Wales but certainly we'd love to get the opportunity to do that."

While Europe remains the most likely destination, Tomokino has heard other whispers doing the rounds.

"There is also the possibility of that repechage being down in New Zealand but then also we're hearing other scenarios too which, if they play out, might not be favorable to us, he said. And that they might look at the two highest-ranked teams playing of the four which could pose an issue for us, so we could possibly miss out in that regard."

The bulk of the Manusina squad will resume training in Auckland on Wednesday and Ramsey Tomokino is keen to expand his player pool for what it's hoped will be a year to remember.

"I think there will be a few girls now that are realizing that they're probably not going to make New Zealand or Australia - if they haven't been shoulder tapped by now then they're probably not likely in the World Cup frame," he said.

"We've opened that up again just to see if there are any new players that come onto the radar and then we've obviously got our core group of girls, so we've probably got easily a group of between 50-60 players."

While nothing is set in stone, officials are also working hard to confirm some much-needed match preparation. It's still hoped that the Oceania Women's Championship will return in 2021 after last year's competition was canceled because of the pandemic.

The Manusina are also exploring the possibility of more test matches against Pacific Island countries using New Zealand based players, in an effort to improve their world ranking.

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