title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: "Cobra" was released in theaters on 31 August 2022. The film was originally scheduled for a release coinciding with the Eid al-Fitr weekend, falling on 22 May 2020, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. In March 2021, it has been said that the post-production of the film might take a longer-time than planned and many sequences had to be re-shot, since Ajay Gnanamuthu was disappointed on shooting the Russia schedule by replicating terrains, rather than filming in real locations, which he felt was "not authentic", irrespective of the difficulties faced by travel restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic. During the production, Seven Screen Studios had refuted claims of releasing on a streaming platform, and re-assured the plans of theatrical release. It has been stated that this film will be released after Lalit Kumar's another production with Vikram, the Karthik Subbaraj-directorial "Mahaan" (2022). In May 2022, the film was set to be released on 11 August 2022, during the Independence Day weekend. Due to post-production delays, the film was released on 31 August 2022, coinciding with Vinayagar Chathurthi. The film received negative response due to its three-hour duration, where it led to release a trimmed version on 1 September 2022.


title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: The distribution rights of the film in Tamil Nadu, have been acquired by Red Giant Movies. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana distribution rights have been acquired by NVR Cinemas. The Kerala distribution rights were acquired by Iffaar Media and Dream Big Films. The distribution rights of the film in UK and Europe have been acquired by Ahimsa Entertainment.


title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: The satellite rights of the Tamil version are owned by Kalaignar TV, while digital streaming rights are through SonyLIV. The film was digitally streamed on SonyLIV from 28 September 2022.


title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: M Suganth of "The Times of India" rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote ""Cobra" is the kind of an overwrought, overlong, over-indulgent, overloud and over-the-top action entertainer that is made in an old-fashioned way". Janani K of "India Today" rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote ""Cobra" is an underwhelming watch that solely relies on Chiyaan Vikram's acting chops". Manoj Kumar R of "The Indian Express" rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote ""Cobra" is about a globetrotting assassin with a deep fascination for cosplay would be a lot of fun to watch if made properly. After ramping up the initial excitement, the film sinks". Sowmya Rajendran of "The News Minute" rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "This bizarre action thriller directed by Ajay Gnanamuthu tries very hard to be clever, but is filled with carelessness in the scripting".


title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: Haricharan Pudipeddi of "Hindustan Times" stated ""Cobra" could've been a far more effective thriller if it wasn't so long. It could've also done away with the highly boring romantic track, which hardly helps in keeping the audiences engaged". Bhuvanesh Chandar of "The Hindu" wrote "Looking back at it, you only feel bad that yet another film becomes an average outing for an actor who gives his all." "Pinkvilla" rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "Roshan Mathew portrayal of the character Rishi a corporate leader, make 'Cobra' feel like a regular Kollywood masala actioner and not a story that needs to be heard. Avinash Ramachandran of "Cinema Express" gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra ticks almost all the boxes we have recently come to expect from a Vikram-starrer, including the disappointment of the actor being the brightest star in a rather middling film."


title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: S Subhakeertana of "OTT Play" rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra is a mediocre film that struggles to be both a compelling swashbuckling adventure as well as a moving drama." Felix Kingsley of "Movie Herald" rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and stated "The new treatment makes this well-known template partly engaging." Jayadeep Jayesh of "Deccan Herald" gave the film's rating 2 out of 5, stating that "The tone at which the film is pitched does not allow A R Rahman to display his musical prowess. The title track is catchy but the rest of the album is forgettable."


title: Cobra (2022 film)

text: On the first day of its release the film collected over in Tamil Nadu and in Kerala. After three days of its release, the film made a box office collection of crore worldwide. The film grossed over against a budget of and became a box-office bomb.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film "Boyz n the Hood". He has appeared in feature films and on television series, including the starring role of FBI Agent Will Keaton in the NBC TV series "The Enemy Within".


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Chestnut was born in Cerritos, California on January 1, 1969, the son of Morris and Shirley Chestnut. His mother was a teacher, while his father worked as a medical salesman. He studied finance and drama at California State University, Northridge. Chestnut worked as a bank teller prior to being an actor.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Chestnut's first professional acting role was as Jason in "", season 2, episode 19 ("A Family Affair"), which aired on February 18, 1990. His first feature film role was as Ricky Baker in "Boyz n the Hood" (1991). He followed that up with roles in various TV movies. Chestnut also played a role on Patti LaBelle's short-lived sitcom "Out All Night". His career continued to rise steadily with co-starring roles in standard big-budget studio films such as "" (1995) opposite Steven Seagal and Katherine Heigl and "G.I. Jane" (1997) opposite Demi Moore. He was also a regular cast member on , in the role of Special Agent Mal Robinson, from 1997 to 1998.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: In 1998, he won the annual Madden Bowl video game competition. In 1999, Chestnut starred in "The Best Man" with Taye Diggs and Nia Long, as a professional football player on the eve of his wedding. "The Best Man" earned positive reviews from the press and did well at the box office. For his performance, Chestnut earned an NAACP Image Award nomination. He again played a football player in "The Game Plan" (2007).


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Chestnut starred in "The Brothers" (2001), a film centering on the themes of fidelity and success among young professionals. That same year, he portrayed Keith Fenton, the love interest of Vivica A. Fox, in "Two Can Play That Game" and appeared as basketball player Tracey Reynolds in 2002 film "Like Mike". In 2004, he played a firefighter named Tommy Drake in "Ladder 49".


title: Morris Chestnut

text: He has worked with Steven Seagal three times: "" (1995) as Seagal's reluctant partner and lead male villain in "Half Past Dead" (2002) and "Prince of Pistols" (2008).


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Chestnut joined the cast of "Nurse Jackie" in 2013, playing war veteran Dr. Ike Prentiss. The following year, he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: In 2015, Morris Chestnut played Derrick Dog Prince in the movie "Heist". "People" magazine named Morris Chestnut as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2015.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: To prepare for his role as professional football player, Lance Sullivan, in the movie "The Best Man Holiday" Chestnut had to get back into shape. His fitness training experience with Celebrity Fitness Trainer Obi Obadike inspired him to become Obadike's co-author on the health and fitness book, "The Cut". "The Cut", published on April 18, 2017, contains exercise drills and recipes. Chestnut earned himself an NAACP image Award nomination for acting in the sequel.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Chestnut played the lead role of pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. in "Rosewood", receiving another NAACP image Award nomination. He appeared as Raymond Dupont in the short-lived drama "Our Kind of People".


title: Morris Chestnut

text: Morris Chestnut has been married to Pam Byse-Chestnut since 1995. The couple have two children, son Grant and daughter Paige. He was raised in the Baptist church, and he is a practicing Christian.


title: Morris Chestnut

text: In March 2022, Chestnut was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a star that was unveiled in his presence.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks (), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, 2011 and 2015. They were the first country to win the Rugby World Cup 3 times.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand has a 76 per-cent winning record in test-match rugby, and has secured more wins than losses against every test opponent. Since their international debut in 1903, New Zealand teams have played test matches against 19 nations, of which 12 have never won a game against the All Blacks. The team has also played against three multinational all-star teams, losing only eight of 45 matches. Since the introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in 2003, New Zealand has held the number-one ranking longer than all other teams combined. They jointly hold the record for the most consecutive test match wins for a tier-one ranked nation, along with England.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The All Blacks compete with Argentina, Australia and South Africa in the Rugby Championship, and have won the trophy nineteen times in the competition's 27-year history. The team has completed a Grand Slam tour against the four Home Nations four times (1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010). World Rugby has named New Zealand the World Rugby Team of the Year ten times since the award was initiated in 2001,


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: and an All Black has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award ten times over the same period. Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The team's first match took place in 1884 in New South Wales and their first international test match in 1903 against Australia in Sydney. The following year New Zealand hosted their first home test, a match against a British Isles side in Wellington. There followed a 34-game tour of Europe and North America in 1905 (which included five test matches), where New Zealand suffered only one defeat: their first test loss, against Wales.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand's early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white shorts. By the 1905 tour they were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and the name "All Blacks" dates from this time.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The team perform a haka before every match; this is a Māori challenge or posture dance. Traditionally the All Blacks use Te Rauparaha's haka "Ka Mate", although players have also performed "Kapa o Pango" since 2005.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Rugby union, known almost universally in New Zealand as just "rugby", was introduced to the nation by Charles Monro in 1870; he had discovered the sport while completing his studies at Christ's College in Finchley, England. The first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in the city of Nelson, between the Nelson rugby club and Nelson College. The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, and New Zealand's first internationals were played in 1882 when the "Waratahs" from New South Wales toured the country. The Australian team did not face a New Zealand national team but played seven provincial sides; the tourists won four games and lost three. Two years later, the first New Zealand team to travel overseas toured New South Wales, winning all eight of their games.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: A privately organised British team, which later became the British & Irish Lions, toured New Zealand in 1888. The visitors only played provincial sides and no test matches were played. Wales and Scotland were represented in the British team, but the players were drawn mainly from Northern England.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In 1892, following the canvassing of provincial administrators by Ernest Hoben, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was formed by the majority of New Zealand's provincial unions, but did not include Canterbury, Otago or Southland. The first officially sanctioned New Zealand side toured New South Wales in 1893, where the Thomas Ellison captained team won nine of their ten matches. The following year New Zealand played its first home "international" game, losing 6–8 to New South Wales. The team's first true test match occurred against Australia on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of over 30,000 spectators and resulted in a 22–3 victory.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: A representative New Zealand team first toured the British Isles in 1905. The side is now known as the "Originals", as the "All Blacks" name emerged during this tour when, according to team member Billy Wallace, a London newspaper reported that the New Zealanders played as if they were "all backs". Wallace claimed that because of a typographical error, subsequent references were to "All Blacks". This account is most likely a myth: because of their black playing strip, the side was probably referred to as the "Blacks" before they left New Zealand. Even though the name All Blacks most likely existed before the trip, the tour did popularise it.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The Originals played 35 matches on tour, and their only loss was a 0–3 defeat to Wales in Cardiff. The match has entered into the folklore of both countries because of a controversy over whether All Black Bob Deans had scored a try that would have earned his team a 3–3 draw. In contrast to the success of the Originals on the field, the team did antagonise some in the Home Nations' rugby establishment; both administrators and the press complained that the All Blacks did not play the game within the amateur and gentlemanly spirit promoted by the International Rugby Football Board. This complaint continued to dog New Zealand teams until the 1930s.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The success of the Originals had uncomfortable consequences for the amateur NZRFU. In 1907, a party of professional players was assembled to tour the British Isles and play rugby leaguea professional offshoot of rugby union that was played by clubs that split from England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) due to disagreements over financial compensation for players. When the "All Golds", as the team came to be known, returned they established rugby league in New Zealand, and a large number of players switched to the professional code. English and Welsh authorities were alarmed by the threat of professionalism to rugby in New Zealand, and in 1908 an Anglo-Welsh side undertook a tour to New Zealand to help promote the amateur values under which they believed sport should be played. The tourists were defeated 2–0 in the three-test series by New Zealand, but the Anglo-Welsh did manage to draw the second test 3–3.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: International rugby was suspended during the First World War, but a New Zealand Services team did compete in inter-services competition known as the King's Cup. After their departure from Europe the side toured South Africa before their return to New Zealand, and that tour paved the way for a South African team to tour New Zealand in 1921. The Springboksas the South African team is knownplayed New Zealand in a test series that ended all square. New Zealand conducted a return tour to South Africa in 1928, and the test series was again drawn; both teams winning two tests each.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 1924 All Black tourists to the British Isles and France were dubbed "the Invincibles" because they won every game. However, the team was deprived of a potential grand slam when Scotland refused to play them because they were upset the tour was organised through the RFU rather than the IRFB. The first British Isles side since 1908 toured New Zealand in 1930. Although the Lions won the first test, the home side regrouped and went on to win the series 3–1. New Zealand toured the British Isles again in 1935–36, losing only three gamesincluding two testsduring a 30-match tour. In one of these losses, Alexander Obolensky famously scored two tries to help England to a 13–0 win; their first over New Zealand.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In 1937, South Africa toured New Zealand and decisively won the test series despite losing the first test; this 1937 South African team was described as the best team ever to leave New Zealand. It was not until 1949 that New Zealand next played the Springboks when they toured South Africa with Fred Allen as captain. Although each test against South Africa was very close, New Zealand lost the series 0–4. As part of this 25-match, 4-test series, an All Blacks 'second string' side travelled up to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to face the Rhodesia representative side


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: in two non-Test Internationals. The result of the first match saw Rhodesia run out winners, 10–8. Three days later, the second match resulted in a 3–3 draw. Two of the Rhodesian players were later capped for South Africa (being eligible due to Rhodesia's treatment as a province of South Africa, for rugby reasons) in the All Blacks second test of the tour. No International caps were awarded to either side for these two matches.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: At the same time as an All Black team was touring South Africa, Australia were touring New Zealand. The two tours coincided because Māori players were not able to go to South Africa at the time due to apartheid (the All Black team in South Africa refused to do the haka in protest), meaning the Australians played against a New Zealand team made up of the best Māori and the reserve non-Māori players, while the South Africans encountered the best pākehā (white) players. On the afternoon of 3 September New Zealand, captained by Johnny Smith, were beaten 6–11 by Australia in Wellington. New Zealand then lost their second test 9–16, giving Australia a Bledisloe Cup series win in New Zealand for the first time. 1949 was an "annus horribilis" for the All Blacks as they lost all six of their test matches, and the experience of playing two test series simultaneously has not been repeated.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The two consecutive series losses to South Africa made their 1956 tour of New Zealand highly anticipated. New Zealand were captained by Bob Duff and coached by Bob Stuart, and their 3–1 series win was their first over the Springboks and the Springboks' first series loss that century. During the series, New Zealand introduced Don Clarke, and brought prop Kevin Skinner out of retirement to help secure the win. Skinner, a former New Zealand boxing champion, had retired from international rugby, but was convinced to return for the third and fourth tests. One reason for Skinner's selection was to "sort out" the South African props, while Clarke become known as "The Boot" for his goal kicking.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand's 3–1 series win over the Lions in 1959 proved to be the start of a dominant period in All Black rugby. This was followed by the 1963–64 tour to Britain and Ireland, led by Wilson Whineray, in which New Zealand were deprived of a Grand Slam by a scoreless draw with Scotland. The only loss on this tour was to Newport RFC, who won 3–0 at Rodney Parade, Newport on 30 October 1963. The 1967 side won three tests against the home nations, but was unable to play Ireland because of a foot-and-mouth scare. This tour formed part of New Zealand's longest winning streak, between 1965 and 1970, of 17 test victories. This was also the longest test winning streak by any nation at the time; it was equalled by the Springboks in 1998, and surpassed by Lithuania in 2010.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: NZ then lost the 1970 away series in South Africa. Although the 1966 Lions had been defeated 0–4 in their New Zealand tour, there was a reversal of fortune five years later when the 1971 Lions, under the captaincy of Welshman John Dawes, beat New Zealand in a test series, which remains the Lions' only series victory in New Zealand.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 1972–3 tourists narrowly missed a Grand Slam with a draw against Ireland. The tour was notable for the sending home of prop Keith Murdoch, who was alleged to have been involved in a brawl in a Cardiff hotel while celebrating the defeat of Wales.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In 1978, Graham Mourie captained New Zealand to their first Grand Slam, including a 13–12 victory over Wales. That game generated controversy after New Zealand won as the result of a late penalty. Lock Andy Haden had dived out of a line-out in an attempt to earn a penalty, but referee Roger Quittenden insisted the penalty was against Welsh lock Geoff Wheel for jumping off the shoulder of Frank Oliver. New Zealand's only loss on the tour was the famous 12–0 defeat by Irish province Munster at Thomond Park. A play that focused on the loss was later written by John Breen, called "Alone it Stands".


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: For the 1960 All Blacks tour of South Africa, the South African authorities insisted that Maori players be excluded from the team. The subsequent controversy led to the New Zealand Rugby Union refusing any other tour of the country for the following 10 years until the 1970 tour, when Maori players were accepted as "honorary whites".


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 1976 All Blacks tour of apartheid South Africa generated much controversy and led to the boycott of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal by 33 African nations after the IOC refused to ban the team. New Zealand again failed to win the test series in South Africa, and did not secure another series victory until 1996, after the fall of apartheid and the introduction of neutral referees. The 1976 tour contributed to the Gleneagles Agreement being adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of State in 1977.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 1981 South African tour to New Zealand sparked a protest movement against South Africa's apartheid policy; this type of protest had not been seen in New Zealand since the 1951 waterfront dispute. The NZRU had invited the Springboks to tour because the Muldoon government refused to involve politics in sport. Although New Zealand won the test series, two of the tour's provincial games were cancelled and the whole tour was marred by violence and protest. The third and final test match of the tour is sometimes known as the Flour Bomb test, as an anti-apartheid activist in a Cessna light aircraft dropped leaflets, flares, a parachute-supported banner reading "Biko", and flour bombs, into Auckland's Eden Park throughout the match, felling a New Zealand player. The country experienced unrest during the tour, which had a significant impact on New Zealand society.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 1985 All Blacks tour to South Africa was cancelled after legal action on the grounds that it would breach the NZRU's constitution. In 1986, a rebel tour to South Africa took place that had not been authorised by the NZRU and the team, named the Cavaliers, included many All Blacks. Those that participated in the tour received a ban for two tests from the NZRU when they returned to New Zealand. Allegations that players received payment for the tour were never proved.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand hosted and won the inaugural World Cup in 1987 beating France 29–9 in the final. New Zealand conceded only 52 points and scored 43 tries in six games en route to the title, beating Italy, Fiji, Argentina, Scotland, Wales and France.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: By the 1991 World Cup New Zealand were an ageing side, co-coached by Alex Wyllie and John Hart. After beating hosts England in the tournament opener, they struggled during pool matches against the United States and Italy, and won their quarter-final against Canada. They were then knocked out by eventual winners Australia 16–6 in their semi-final at Lansdowne Road. In the wake of the tournament, there were many retirements, including coach Wyllie, who had enjoyed an 86 per cent win rate during 29 tests in charge.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Laurie Mains replaced Wyllie in 1992, and was given the job of preparing the side for the 1995 event in South Africa. New Zealand were again one of the favourites to take the championship. Their status as favourites was enhanced when a young Jonah Lomu scored four tries against England in the 45–29 semi-final win. They managed to take hosts South Africa to extra time in the final, before losing 12–15 to Joel Stransky's drop goal.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The professional era in rugby union began in 1995, spurred by creation of the SANZAR group (a combination of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) which was formed with the purpose of selling broadcast rights for two new competitions, the domestic Super 12 competition and the Tri-Nations. The first Tri-Nations was contested in 1996, with New Zealand winning all four of their tests to take the trophy. After a 1996 Tri-Nations match hosted by South Africa, won 29–18 by New Zealand, preceded a separate three-match test series between the two sides. Under new coach John Hart and the captaincy of Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand won a test series in South Africa for the first time. Fitzpatrick rated the series win higher than the 1987 World Cup victory in which he had participated.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The next three seasons saw mixed results for New Zealand, who won all their Tri-Nations tests in 1997 before losing the title for the first time in 1998. In 1998 New Zealand lost all five tests in the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup series (two to South Africa and three to Australia), the first time they had lost four tests in succession since 1949. The following year they suffered their worst test loss, 7–28 to Australia in Sydney. At the 1999 World Cup later that year, the All Blacks dominated their pool, handing England a 16–30 defeat at Twickenham. They advanced past Scotland 30–18 in the quarter-finals to play France at Twickenham. After New Zealand finished the first half 17–10 ahead, France then produced a famous half of rugby to which New Zealand had no answer, winning 43–31. Hart subsequently resigned as coach and was replaced by co-coaches Wayne Smith and Tony Gilbert.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Under Smith and Gilbert, New Zealand came second in the 2000 and 2001 Tri-Nations, and in neither season did the side reclaim the Bledisloe Cupwhich had been lost in 1998. Both coaches were replaced by John Mitchell on 3 October 2001, and he went on to coach New Zealand to victory in both the 2002 and 2003 Tri-Nations, as well as regaining the Bledisloe Cup in 2003. Mitchell's abrasive personal manner and management style, together with his coaching techniques, were the subject of some controversy both at the time and subsequently. Despite losing to England earlier in the year, the All Blacks entered the 2003 World Cup as one of the favourites and dominated their pool, running up wins against Italy, Canada and Tonga, before winning one of the most competitive matches of the tournament against Wales. They defeated South Africa in their quarter-final, a team they had never beaten at the World Cup, 29–9, but lost to Australia 10–22 in the semi-final in Sydney. Following the team's lacklustre showing in the tournament, the NZRU terminated Mitchell's contract and install Graham Henry as national coach.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Graham Henry's tenure as coach began with a double victory over 2003 Rugby World Cup winners England in 2004. The two games had an aggregate score of 72–15, and England were kept try-less. Despite the winning start to Henry's tenure, the Tri-Nations was a mixed success with two wins and two losses. The competition was the closest ever, bonus points decided the outcome, and New Zealand finishing last. The 2004 season finished with three wins in Europe, including a record 45–6 victory over France under new captain and outside centre Tana Umaga.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: 2005 saw New Zealand host the touring British & Irish Lions, steered by World Cup-winning English coach Clive Woodward, and featuring a number of Northern Hemisphere stars including Jonny Wilkinson. New Zealand won all three games easily, with a young Dan Carter turning in a masterclass in the second test. The series was marred by an incident in the first test after the Lions captain, Irish centre Brian O'Driscoll, was upended in an aggressive clearout by Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu. O'Driscoll suffered a dislocated shoulder and missed the rest of the tour as a result. Match footage was inconclusive at the time, and both Umaga and Mealamu escaped serious sanction. O'Driscoll and the Lions management maintained it was a deliberate spear tackle, and the controversy both tainted the All Blacks' series victory and continued for some years afterward.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: That same year, they also won the Tri-Nations, and achieved a second Grand Slam over the Home Nations for the first time since 1978. They went on to sweep the major IRB (now World Rugby) awards in which they were named: Team of the Year, Henry was named Coach of the Year, and first five-eighth Dan Carter was Player of the Year. New Zealand were nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year in 2006 for their 2005 performance. The following year they again took the Tri-Nations Series after winning their first five matches, three against Australia and two against South Africa. They lost their final match of the series against South Africa. They completed their end of year tour unbeaten, with record away wins over France, England and Wales. New Zealand were named 2006 IRB Team of the Year and were nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for the second time, while flanker and newly appointed captain Richie McCaw was named IRB Player of the Year for the first time.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 2007 season started off with two mid-year tests against France. New Zealand won the tests 42–11 at Eden Park and 61–10 at Westpac Stadium. A third game, against Canada, resulted in a 64–13 win, although the game was more competitive than the scoreline indicated. New Zealand's first Tri-Nations game of 2007 was against the Springboks in Durban, South Africa. New Zealand scored two tries in the final fifteen minutes of the game to win 26–21. The following week against the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground the Wallabies upset New Zealand to win 20–15. The All Blacks won their following home games to successfully defend the Tri-Nations Series for 2007. New Zealand entered the 2007 Rugby World Cup as favourites, and topped their pool, beating Scotland, Italy, Romania and Portugal by at least 40 points. However, they then suffered a defeat by hosts France in the quarter-finals in Cardiff. Following the loss to France coach Graham Henry's job was reappointed amid vocal debate and comment, despite Robbie Deans being a strong contender.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 2008 season started with three mid-year tests against Ireland and England, all of which New Zealand won. New Zealand played their first Tri-Nations game against South Africa in Wellington, winning 19–8, but a week later at Carisbrook in Dunedin they lost to South Africa 28–30, ending a 30-match winning streak at home. New Zealand played their next Tri-Nations match on 26 July against Australia in Sydney, losing 19–34 but a week later against Australia in New Zealand won 39–10. They then beat South Africa 19–0 at Newlands Stadium. New Zealand played their final match on 13 September against Australia at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane winning 28–24 and retaining the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri-Nations.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The All Blacks opened the 2009 season with a 22–27 loss to France at Carisbrook, but defeated them 14–10 in Wellington a week later. On points difference, France won the Dave Gallaher Cup for the first time. A week later the All Blacks defeated Italy 27–6 in Christchurch. They finished second in the Tri-Nations Series, behind South Africa who lost only one game, and ended the series with a 33–6 win over Australia in Wellington.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In 2010, the All Blacks won the Tri-Nations Series for the tenth time after three successive victories against South Africa, and won the Bledisloe Cup after consecutive victories against Australia. An undefeated streak in tests that began in 2009 reached 15 matches. Despite losing the 2011 Tri-Nations after a loss to Australia in Brisbane, they still entered the 2011 Rugby World Cup as one of the favourites. The All Blacks went through their pool matches undefeated, and after defeating Argentina, and then Australia, faced France in the final. New Zealand scored one try and a penalty to narrowly win 8–7. Henry stepped down as coach following the World Cup, and was replaced as head coach by his assistant Steve Hansen.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The Tri-Nations was expanded to include Argentina in 2012, and subsequently renamed The Rugby Championship. The All Blacks went undefeated in the inaugural tournament, and went through the year unbeaten until their last match of the year, where they lost to England at Twickenham. In 2013 New Zealand hosted France in a three-match seriestheir first meeting since the 2011 World Cup final. They won all three tests, before going unbeaten in the 2013 Rugby Championship. In November 2013, New Zealand became the first rugby nation in the professional era to achieve a 100 per cent record in a calendar year.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: At the 2014 Rugby Championship, the All Blacks drew with Australia and lost to South Africa in the away matches, but won the other four matches and the tournament. At the shortened 2015 Rugby Championship, the All Blacks lost to Australia and was runner-up in the competition. They did, however achieve a significant return victory in the second Bledisloe test that year to retain the trophy. The team entered the 2015 Rugby World Cup and again went undefeated in their pool matches. They defeated France 62–13 in the quarter-finals, South Africa 20–18 in the semi-finals, and Australia 34–17 in the final to become the first nation to retain the World Championship title and the first to win the Rugby World Cup three times.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The All Blacks went undefeated at the 2016 Rugby Championship, claiming bonus points at each match, under new captain and Number 8, Kieran Read and vice-captain and fullback Ben Smith. Smith and wing Israel Dagg were also the joint highest try scorers in the competition with five each, while fly-half Beauden Barrett was the highest points scorer of the competition with 81 in total. The autumn of 2016 witnessed an historic defeat, with the All Blacks enduring their first ever loss to Ireland after 111 years of competition, going down by 29–40 at Soldier Field in Chicago. New Zealand redeemed the loss by defeating Ireland in Dublin in the return game two weeks later, by 21–9.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In 2017, the British & Irish Lions toured New Zealand for the second time in the professional era. The series finished in a draw, with the All Blacks and Lions recording 1–1–1. The All Blacks had won the first test 30–15, the Lions took the second test 24–21, and the final test was drawn 15–15. Like the 2005 tour, this Lions series was dogged by controversy, with the Lions' tactics (under expat Kiwi Coach Warren Gatland), the tone of local media coverage, the Red Card awarded to Sonny Bill Williams in the second test and the refereeing of French officials Romain Poite and Jerome Garces all hotly debated. The drawn series, combined with the loss to Ireland to previous year led some in the media to claim that the team were on the slide, and that the Northern Hemisphere sides were catching up. However they went on to go undefeated in the Rugby Championship 2017 season and also securing the Bledisloe Cup against rivals Australia after defeating the Aussies twice in the Rugby Championship. In October, New Zealand suffered a surprise 18–23 loss to Australia, in the final Bledisloe game of the year at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The autumn saw the All Blacks defeat a Barbarians team 32–21, France 38–18, Scotland 22–17 and Wales 33–18 to end the 2017 season.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: At the start of the 2018 season, the All Blacks saw off a touring French side in a 3–0 series victory, and won their first games of the Rugby Championship against Australia by 38–13 and 40–12 to keep the Bledisloe Cup for another year. Another easy win against Argentina by 46–24 followed, however the All Blacks were subsequently beaten at home in Wellington by South Africa for the first time since 2009, losing by 34–36 in a tightly contested game, before again beating Argentina by 35–17. In the return match against South Africa in Pretoria, the All Blacks trailed for much of the game but produced a thrilling comeback late the second half to win by 32–30. They went on to post another crushing win over Australia by 37–20 in Yokohama, to confirm a Bledisloe whitewash for the year. A development side was left behind to pummel Japan 69–31, while the first team travelled to Europe for the autumn internationals. That series proved a relatively difficult one for the All Blacks, with a single-point victory over England (16–15) in a very closely fought test, followed by a second-ever loss to Ireland by 9–16 in a cauldron atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. They went on to thrash Italy by 66–3 to finish their season with a win.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: 2019 was a mixed year for the All Blacks, starting their campaign with an unconvincing 16 - 20 win over a tough Argentinian side, and a 16 all draw against the Springboks. However, the next week they were given their joint worst loss in their history, once again to the Wallabies, 26 - 47, after Scott Barrett was sent off. They got back on track, showcasing the form they have been in the past years, with a 36 - 0 shutout in their rematch at Eden Park to retain the Bledisloe Cup, and finished their season with a 92 - 7 pummelling against Tonga.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 2019 Rugby World Cup saw New Zealand face off against South Africa. They won, 23 - 13 in Yokohama, then notched wins up on Canada and Namibia, scoring a total of 135 points in the 2 games. In the quarter-final, they faced off against Ireland in Chofu, dominating from start to finish and prevailing 46 - 14. The team's run ended in the semi-finals with a 7 - 19 loss to England in Yokohama, which ended their chances of a third consecutive world title, or "three-peat". This was the team's first World Cup defeat in 20 matches stretching back over twelve years. New Zealand finished their campaign with a 40 - 17 win over Wales in Chofu to claim the bronze medal. Hansen retired after the World Cup, along with many All Blacks veterans, most notably captain Kieran Read, Owen Franks and Ben Smith. Ian Foster was appointed as the new All Blacks coach.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Rugby Championship was cancelled. Instead, a Tri-Nations revival tournament was held from October 2020 - December 2020. Before that, they held 2 warm-up Bledisloe Cup matches, the opening one being in Wellington where there was a 16 all draw. A week later, the All Blacks came back from that at Eden Park and defeated the Wallabies 27–7. They then travelled over to Australia for the Tri-Nations, where they opened by securing the Bledisloe Cup with a 43-5 whitewash of Australia, but going on to lose to them a week later 24–22. The All Blacks lost a week later against Argentina (15-25) which was the first time they had lost back-to-back test matches since 2011, but they redeemed themselves two weeks later against Argentina, defeating them 38–0. The All Blacks won the Tri-Nations, as Australia and Argentina had both drawn twice.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The All Blacks opened their 2021 campaign by thrashing Tonga 102–0 at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. A week later they won a tough test match against a tough Fiji side in Dunedin (57-23) and then a week later in Hamilton, they beat Fiji again 60–13. They opened their Bledisloe Cup campaign by defeating Australia at Eden Park (33-25).


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In July 2022 Ireland travelled to New Zealand for a three Test series. The visitors won two of the three tests becoming one of the few teams to win a series against the All Blacks on their home territory of New Zealand.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: After a record-margin first match loss (26 - 10) to South Africa at Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela in the 2 match series, the All Blacks rallied to a 35 - 23 win at Ellis Park, retaining the Freedom Cup in the process.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The current New Zealand jersey features a figure-hugging jersey and is entirely black except for sponsors' logos and the NZRU silver fern on the chest. However, black wasn't always New Zealand's colours. During the 1884 tour of Australia which was the first overseas New Zealand rugby tour, the team donned a dark blue jersey, with a gold fern insignia on the left of the jumper. In 1893, when the New Zealand Rugby Union was established, they stipulated that the uniform would be a black jersey with silver fern and white knickerbockers, although historic photographs suggest white shorts may have been used instead during these early years. There was a change some time after 1897, and in 1901 the team met New South Wales wearing an all black uniform for the first time - black jersey, a canvas top with no collar, and a silver fern, and black shorts.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In 2006, New Zealand wore an embroidered remembrance poppy on their jersey sleeve when playing France during the end-of-year tour. The poppy honours the ANZAC soldiers who died on the beaches of Gallipoli. Captain Richie McCaw said "We want to honour the overseas service of New Zealanders. It is an important part of our history as a country and a team."


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: During the 2011 Rugby World Cup, there was an image of the Webb Ellis Cup embroidered on the sleeve of the All Blacks' jerseys, with the year '1987' below it to signify the team's previous world title. Each of the four teams that had won the cup in previous years sported the same detailing on their jerseys.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Canterbury were kit suppliers to New Zealand from 1924 until 1999, when Adidas paid $70 million to clothe and shoe the All Blacks for five years. Nike also looked at sponsoring New Zealand at this time, but elected to sponsor Tiger Woods instead. In 2003, Adidas renewed this contract and paid the New Zealand Rugby US$200 million over nine years, expecting New Zealand to win around 75 per cent of their matches. In 2008, this deal was extended to 2019 for an undisclosed amount, In 2017 this was again extended to 2023 in a deal estimated to be worth about $10 million a year.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Steinlager was the first sponsor to appear on the All Blacks' jersey, in the left breast of the jersey (on the opposite side to the silver fern), lasting from 1994 to 1999, when Adidas took over as supplier. In 2012, AIG became the first to sponsor on the centre-front of the All Black jersey in a deal estimated to be worth approximately $80 million over five years. AIG extended this sponsorship to 2021 in a deal thought to be worth about $15m a year. After AIG decided not to renew their sponsorship deal with the team, it was announced that the would be the new main sponsor of the All Blacks from 2022, with a 6-year deal reportedly worth more than $120 million.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The All Blacks perform a haka (a Māori challenge) before every international match. The tradition has been closely associated with New Zealand rugby ever since a tour of Australia and the United Kingdom by the New Zealand Natives in 1888 and 1889, although it is likely that the New Zealand team that toured New South Wales in 1884 may also have performed a haka. The 1888–89 New Zealand native team used "Ake Ake Kia Kaha", and a mocking haka, "Tupoto koe, Kangaru!", was used by the 1903 team that visited Australia. In 1905, the All Blacks began the tradition of using "Ka Mate", a haka composed in the 19th century by Te Rauparaha, leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe. The 1924 All Blacks used a specially composed haka, "Ko Niu Tireni", but later All Blacks reverted to using "Ka Mate".


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In August 2005, before the Tri-Nations test match between New Zealand and South Africa at Carisbrook stadium in Dunedin, the All Blacks performed a new haka, "Kapa o Pango", specially composed for the occasion by Derek Lardelli and intended to reflect the Polynesian-influenced multicultural make-up of contemporary New Zealand. Lardelli's haka was not designed to replace "Ka Mate" as it was only meant to be used for special occasions. "Kapa o Pango" concludes with a move that has been interpreted as a "throat slitting" gesture, which has led to accusations that the haka encourages violence and sends the wrong message to All Blacks fans. However, according to Lardelli, the gesture is meant to represent "drawing vital energy into the heart and lungs".


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: In November 2006, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, the All Blacks performed the haka in the dressing room prior to the matchinstead of on the field immediately before kick-offfollowing a disagreement with the Welsh Rugby Union, who had wanted Wales to sing their national anthem immediately after the haka. In 2008, New Zealand played Munster at Thomond Park; before the match, Munster's four New Zealand players challenged their opponents by performing their own haka before the All Blacks started theirs. On the same tour, Wales responded to New Zealand's haka by silently refusing to move afterwards, and the two teams simply stared at each other until the referee forced them to start the game.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand have only ever been beaten by seven test nations (and drawing to an additional nation in Scotland) and two combined teams (the British & Irish Lions, and a World XV) and they are the only international team to have a winning record against every nation they have played. They have won 480 of their 625 test matches (76.80 Percent) – see table below – and have lost at home only 42 times. Since World Rankings were introduced by World Rugby in October 2003, New Zealand have occupied the number one ranking the majority of the time. In the decade from 2000 to 2009, New Zealand won 100 tests (92 per cent of their total games played).


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand's longest winning streak is 18 test victories (a Tier 1 joint world record), achieved between 2015 and 2016. In 2013 they won every test they played during a calendar year. The All Blacks hold the record for most consecutive test wins at home – a 47-match winning streak, achieved between 2009 and 2017. Their longest unbeaten streak is 23 tests (from 1987 to 1990) with one game being drawn.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Their all-time points record for tests stands at 17,715 points for and 8,521 points against (updated 20 November 2022). Many national rugby union teams have suffered their heaviest defeats when playing against New Zealand, these being Argentina (91–8), Fiji (91–0), France (62–13), Ireland (60–0), Japan (145–17), Portugal (108–13), Samoa (101–14), South Africa (57–0), Tonga (102–0, twice) and United States (104-14). The All Blacks' largest test win was 145–17 against Japan in 1995, while their heaviest loss was a 7–28 loss to Australia in 1999, equaled by a 26–47 loss (also to Australia) in 2019.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand have won the World Cup three times. They beat France in the final of the 1987 inaugural competition held in New Zealand and Australia, defeated France again in the final of the 2011 tournament, also hosted in New Zealand, and most recently defeated Australia in England in 2015, making them the first and only team to win the World Cup in consecutive tournaments. In 1991, they lost their semi-final to Australia before winning the playoff for third. In 1995, they reached the final, before losing in extra time to hosts South Africa. They finished in fourth place in 1999, after losing their semi-final and then the third-place playoff game. In 2003, New Zealand were knocked out by hosts Australia in their semi-final, before finishing third. The 2007 World Cup saw their worst tournament, being knocked out in the quarter-finals by the host nation France; until this they were the only team to have reached the semi-finals of every tournament. As a result of the poor performance in the 2007 World Cup the NZRU commissioned a 47-page report to detail the causes of the failure. In 2019, they lost in the semi-finals against England in a 19–7 defeat, and then finishing in third-place after beating Wales in the 3rd spot playoff game 40–17. The All Blacks have won every World Cup pool match they have played, and finished top of their pool in all nine tournaments.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand holds several World Cup records: most World Cup matches (55), most points in one match (145 versus Japan in 1995), most cumulative points over all World Cups (2,512), most tries overall (341), most conversions (249) and also the record for the most points scored in the first half of a knockout game at the Rugby World Cup (29, against France 2015) along with the largest knockout margin (49) in the same match. They currently hold the record for the most consecutive wins at a World Cup, with 18 straight wins, spanning from 2011 to 2019. Several individual players also hold World Cup records; Jonah Lomu for most World Cup tries (15 over two World Cups)(tied with South Africa's Bryan Habana), Marc Ellis with most tries in a match (6 versus Japan in 1995), Grant Fox with most points in one tournament (126 in 1987), and Simon Culhane with most points in a single game (45 versus Japan in 1995).


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: New Zealand's only annual tournament is a competition involving the Southern Hemisphere's top national teams. From 1996 through 2011, they competed in the Tri Nations against Australia and South Africa. In 2012, Argentina joined the competition, which was renamed The Rugby Championship. New Zealand's record of 19 tournament wins (the most recent in 2022) and 97 match wins is well ahead of the other teams' records. The Bledisloe Cup is contested between New Zealand and Australia, and the Freedom Cup between New Zealand and South Africa, as part of the Tri Nations and The Rugby Championship.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: On 22 October, Due to injuries and family bereavements, Asafo Aumua, Patrick Tuipulotu, Brad Weber, and Damian McKenzie were called into the squad as temporary cover.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: On 25 October, Mark Telea was called into the squad as a replacement for Leicester Fainga'anuku who returned home to NZ due to family reasons.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: On 30 October, Billy Harmon was called into the squad as a replacement for the All Blacks Captain Sam Cane who suffered a fracture to his cheekbone.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Players who have returned home to NZ or are unavailable due to Injuries: Dane Coles, Sam Cane, Folau Fakatava and Will Jordan.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Seventeen former All Blacks have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame: Sir Fred Allen, Don Clarke, Sean Fitzpatrick, Grant Fox, Dave Gallaher, Sir Michael Jones, Ian Kirkpatrick, Sir John Kirwan, Sir Brian Lochore, Jonah Lomu, Richie McCaw, Sir Colin Meads, Graham Mourie, George Nēpia, Joe Warbrick, Sir Bryan Williams and Sir Wilson Whineray.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Joe Warbrick represented New Zealand on their historic 1884 tour to Australia, but is better known for selecting and captaining the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team that embarked on a 107-match tour of New Zealand, Australia and the British Isles. The New Zealand Natives were the first New Zealand team to wear black uniforms, and the first to perform a haka.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Dave Gallaher played in New Zealand's first ever test match in 1903 and also captained the 1905 Originals. Along with Billy Stead, Gallaher wrote the famous rugby book "The Complete Rugby Footballer". At the age of only 19, George Nēpia played in all 30 matches on the Invincibles tour of 1924–25. Nēpia played 37 All Blacks games; his last was against the British Isles in 1930.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Sir Fred Allen captained all of his 21 matches for New Zealand, including six tests, between 1946 and 1949. He eventually moved on to coaching New Zealand between 1966 and 1968. New Zealand won all 14 of their test matches with Allen as coach.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Five hall of Fame inductees, including the first New Zealander named to the World Rugby Hall of Fame, played during the 1960s. Don Clarke was an All Black between 1956 and 1964 and during this period he broke the record at the time for All Black test points. Clarke famously scored six penalties in one match – a record at the time – to give New Zealand an 18–17 victory over the British Isles at Dunedin in 1959. Sir Wilson Whineray played 32 tests, captaining New Zealand in 30 of them. He played prop and also number 8 between 1957 and 1965. New Zealand lost only four of their 30 tests with Whineray as captain. On 21 October 2007, Whineray became the first New Zealander to earn induction to the World Rugby Hall of Fame. In Sir Colin Meads' New Zealand Rugby Museum profile, he is described as "New Zealand's equivalent of Australia's Sir Donald Bradman or the United States of America's Babe Ruth". Meads, nicknamed "Pinetree", played 133 games for New Zealand, including 55 tests. In 1999 the New Zealand Rugby Monthly magazine named Meads the New Zealand player of the century. Ian Kirkpatrick played 39 tests, including nine as captain, between 1967 and 1977. He scored 16 tries in his test career, a record at the time.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: There were two players in the Hall of Fame to debut in the 1970s one was flanker Graham Mourie. He captained 19 of his 21 tests and 57 of his 61 overall All Blacks matches between 1976 and 1982. Most notably, in 1978 he was captain of the first All Blacks side to complete a Grand Slam over the four Home Nations sides.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The 1987 World Cup champions were coached by Sir Brian Lochore who had represented New Zealand in 25 tests between 1964 and 1971, including 17 as captain. He was knighted in 1999 for his lifetime services to rugby. Four of the 1987 World Cup squad that he had coached are also inductees in the Hall of Fame. Sir John Kirwan played a total of 63 tests between 1984 and 1994, scoring 35 tries, an All Blacks record at the time. In the 1987 World Cup opener against Italy, Kirwan raced 90 meters to score one of the tries of the tournament.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: An All Black from 1984 to 1993, Grant Fox was one of New Zealand's greatest point-scorers with 1067 points, including 645 test points. Fox played 46 tests, including the 1987 World Cup final against France. Known as The Iceman, Michael Jones was one of the greatest open side flankers of all time. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Jones first played international rugby for Samoa, then for New Zealand, playing 55 tests between 1987 and 1998. Due to his Christian faith, Jones never played rugby on Sundays, resulting in him not playing in the 1991 World Cup semi-final against Australia, and also in him not being picked for the 1995 World Cup squad.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: For many years the most capped test All Black was Sean Fitzpatrick, with 92 appearances. He played in the 1987 World Cup after incumbent Andy Dalton was injured, and was appointed All Blacks captain in 1992, continuing in the role until his retirement in 1997. He played 346 first class rugby matches.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Jonah Lomu is generally regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He was the youngest player ever to appear in a test as an All Black, making his debut at age 19 years, 45 days in 1994. Lomu, a wing, had unique physical gifts; even though he stood 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) and weighed 119 kg (262 lb), making him both the tallest and heaviest back ever to play for New Zealand, he could run 100 metres in under 11 seconds. He burst on the international scene in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, scoring seven tries in the competition. Four of those tries came in New Zealand's semi-final win over England, including an iconic try in which he bulldozed England's Mike Catt on his way to the try line. He added eight more tries in the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Perhaps most remarkably, Lomu played virtually his entire top-level career in the shadow of a serious kidney disorder which ended his test career in 2002 and ultimately led to a transplant in 2004. Even with his career hampered and eventually shortened by his health issues, he scored 37 tries in 63 tests.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The record for most test points for not only New Zealand, but any nation, is held by Dan Carter with 1,598 from 112 tests. He surpassed Andrew Mehrtens' All Black record total of 967 points from 70 tests in the All Blacks' win over England on 21 November 2009. On 27 November 2010 Dan Carter scored a penalty against Wales to pass Jonny Wilkinson's previous world record of 1,178 points. Carter also holds the record for points against Australia with 366.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: The All Blacks' record test try scorer is Doug Howlett with 49 tries, who overtook Christian Cullen's 46 during the 2007 World Cup. The world record for tries in a calendar year is held by Joe Rokocoko, with 17 tries in 2003; he also became the first All Black to score ten tries in his first five tests, as well as the first All Black to score at least two tries in each of four consecutive tests. In test matches, the most capped All Black is Richie McCaw with 148 caps. The record for most tests as captain is held by Richie McCaw with 110. The youngest All Black in a test match was Jonah Lomu, capped at age 19 years, 45 days, whilst the oldest test player was Ned Hughes at 40 years, 123 days.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Like other major rugby nations Argentina, Australia, France and South Africa, New Zealand does not have an official stadium for its national team. Instead, the All Blacks play their test matches at a variety of venues throughout New Zealand.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Prior to the construction of Westpac Stadium in 1999, Wellington's test venue was Athletic Park, which had served as the venue for the first All Blacks test match in New Zealand against Great Britain in 1904. The first home test match played outside the main centres of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin or Wellington was in 1996 at McLean Park in Napier.


title: New Zealand national rugby union team

text: Eden Park and AMI Stadium were upgraded in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. By that time, the NZRU no longer considered Carisbrook a suitable test venue, and a covered sports stadium was proposed as a replacement. Dunedin City Council approved the new stadium in March 2008, land acquisition proceeded from August to October of that year.


title: Eve

text: Eve (; ; ; ; ; Syriac: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story of the Abrahamic religions, she was the first woman, yet some debate within Judaism has also given that position to Lilith. Eve is known also as Adam's wife.


title: Eve

text: According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by God (Yahweh) by taking her from the rib of Adam, to be Adam's companion. Adam is charged with guarding and keeping the garden before her creation; she is not present when God commands Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit – although it is clear that she was aware of the command. She decides to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after she hears the serpent's argument that it would not kill her but bring her benefits. She shares the fruit with Adam, and before they could eat of the tree of life, they are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God (often called the fall of man), and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam (the first man) and Eve to a different level of responsibility for the "fall."


title: Eve

text: The Catholic Church by ancient tradition recognizes Eve as a saint, alongside Adam, and the traditional liturgical feast of Saints Adam and Eve has been celebrated on 24 December since the Middle Ages in many European nations, including Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, and the Scandinavian nations.


title: Eve

text: "Eve" in Hebrew is "Ḥawwāh" and is most commonly believed to mean "living one" or "source of life" as it is phonetically similar to "ḥāyâ", "to live", from the Semitic root "ḥyw".


title: Eve

text: Hawwāh has been compared to the Hurrian goddess Ḫepat, who was shown in the Amarna letters to be worshipped in Jerusalem during the Late Bronze Age. It has been suggested that the name Ḫepat may derive from Kubau, a woman who was the first ruler of the Third Dynasty of Kish.


title: Eve

text: It has been suggested that the Hebrew name Eve () also bears resemblance to an Aramaic word for "snake" (Old Aramaic language ; Aramaic ). The origin for this etymological hypothesis is the rabbinic pun present in Genesis Rabbah 20:11, utilizing the similarity between Heb. "Ḥawwāh" and Aram. "ḥiwyāʾ". Notwithstanding its rabbinic ideological usage, scholars like Julius Wellhausen and Theodor Nöldeke argued for its etymological relevance.


title: Eve

text: Gerda Lerner postulates that the story of Eve's birth from Adam's rib may have originated in the Mesopotamian myth of Enki and Ninhursag. In this myth, Enki eats poisonous plants that give him diseases. His wife, Ninhursag, then creates several deities to cure each of these ailments. One of them, Ninti, is destined to heal Enki's rib. Ninti's name means both "the lady of the rib" and "the lady of life". This association of rib and life is similar to that found in Eve, whose name is linked to life and who was born of a rib.


title: Eve

text: In Genesis 2:18–22, the woman is created to be "ezer ki-negdo", a term that is notably difficult to translate, to the man. "Ki-negdo" means "alongside, opposite, a counterpart to him", and "ezer" means active intervention on behalf of the other person. The woman is called "ishah", woman, with an explanation that this is because she was taken from "ish", meaning "man"; the two words are not in fact connected. Later, after the story of the Garden is complete, she will be given a name, "Ḥawwāh" (Eve). This means "living" in Hebrew, from a root that can also mean "snake". A long-standing exegetical tradition holds that the use of a rib from man's side emphasizes that both man and woman have equal dignity, for woman was created from the same material as man, shaped and given life by the same processes. In fact, the word traditionally translated "rib" in English can also mean side, chamber, or beam. Rib is a pun in Sumerian, as the word """" means both "rib" and "life".


title: Eve

text: God created Eve from "’aḥat miṣṣal‘otaiv" (), traditionally translated as "one of his ribs". The term can mean curve, limp, adversity and side. The traditional reading has been questioned recently by feminist theologians who suggest it should instead be rendered as "side", supporting the idea that woman is man's equal and not his subordinate. Such a reading shares elements in common with Aristophanes' story of the origin of love and the separation of the sexes in Plato's "Symposium". A recent suggestion, based upon observations that men and women have the same number of ribs, speculates that the bone was the baculum, a small structure found in the penis of many mammals, but not in humans.


title: Eve

text: Eve is found in the Genesis 3 expulsion from Eden narrative which is characterized as a parable or "wisdom tale" in the wisdom tradition. This narrative portion is attributed to Yahwist (J) by the documentary hypothesis due to the use of YHWH.


title: Eve

text: In the expulsion from Eden narrative a dialogue is exchanged between a legged serpent and the woman (3:1–5). The serpent is identified in 2:19 as an animal that was made by Yahweh among the beasts of the field. The woman is willing to talk to the serpent and respond to the creature's cynicism by repeating Yahweh's prohibition from 2:17. The serpent directly disputes Yahweh's command. Adam and the woman sin (3:6–8). Yahweh questions Adam, who blames the woman (3:9–13). Yahweh then challenges the woman to explain herself, who blames the serpent, who is cursed to crawl on its belly, so losing its limbs.


title: Eve

text: Divine pronouncement of three judgments are then laid against all culprits (3:14–19). A judgement oracle and the nature of the crime is first laid upon the serpent, then the woman, and finally Adam. After the serpent is cursed by Yahweh, the woman receives a penalty that impacts two primary roles: childbearing and her subservient relationship to her husband. Adam's penalty then follows. The reaction of Adam, the naming of Eve, and Yahweh making skin garments are described in a concise narrative (3:20–21). The garden account ends with an Elohim conversation, determining the couple's expulsion, and the execution of that deliberation (3:22–24).


title: Eve

text: Eve (and womankind after her) is sentenced to a life of sorrow and travail in childbirth, and to be under the power of her husband. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (Qayin and Heḇel), the first a tiller of the ground, the second a keeper of sheep. After the death of Abel, Eve gave birth to a third son, Seth (Šet), from whom Noah (and thus the whole of modern humanity) is descended. According to Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old "a son in his likeness and like his image". Genesis 5:4 says that Eve had sons and daughters beyond just Cain, Abel, and Seth.


title: Eve

text: Certain concepts such as the serpent being identified as Satan, Eve's sin being sexual temptation, or Adam's first wife being Lilith, come from literary works found in various Jewish apocrypha, but not found anywhere in the Book of Genesis or the Torah itself. She is remembered in "De Mulieribus Claris", a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 136162. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.


title: Eve

text: Writings dealing with these subjects are extant literature in Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Armenian and Arabic, going back to ancient Jewish thought. Their influential concepts were then adopted into Christian theology, but not into modern Judaism. This marked a radical split between the two religions. Some of the oldest Jewish portions of apocrypha are called "Primary Adam Literature" where some works became Christianized. Examples of Christianized works is "The Book of Adam and Eve", known as the "Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan", translated from the Ethiopian Ge'ez by Solomon Caesar Malan (1882) and an original Syriac work entitled "Cave of Treasures" which has close affinities to the "Conflict" as noted by August Dillmann.


title: Eve

text: In the first creation narrative (Elohim) account, it says "male and female [Elohim] created them" (Genesis 1:27), which has been interpreted to imply simultaneous creation of the man and the woman. Whereas the second creation account states that YHWH created Eve from Adam's rib, because he was lonely (Genesis 2:18 ff.). Thus to resolve this apparent discrepancy, some medieval rabbis suggested that Eve from the second account, and the "woman" of the "Elohim" account, were two separate individuals: Eve and Lilith.


title: Eve

text: The creation of Eve, according to Rabbi Joshua, is that: "God deliberated from what member He would create woman, and He reasoned with Himself thus: I must not create her from Adam's head, for she would be a proud person, and hold her head high. If I create her from the eye, then she will wish to pry into all things; if from the ear, she will wish to hear all things; if from the mouth, she will talk much; if from the heart, she will envy people; if from the hand, she will desire to take all things; if from the feet, she will be a gadabout. Therefore, I will create her from the member which is hid, that is the rib, which is not even seen when man is naked."


title: Eve

text: According to the Midrash of "Genesis Rabba" and other later sources, either Cain had a twin sister, and Abel had two twin sisters, or Cain had a twin sister named Lebuda, and Abel a twin sister named Qelimath. The traditional Jewish belief is that Eve is buried in the Cave of Machpelah.


title: Eve

text: Midrash Rabbah Genesis VIII:1 interprets "male and female He created them" to mean that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite. In this way, "adam" was bodily and spiritually male and female. God later decides that "it is not good for "adam" to be alone", and creates the separate beings, Adam and Eve. This promotes the idea of two people joining to achieve a union of the two separate spirits.


title: Eve

text: The early rabbinic literature contains also the traditions which portray Eve in a less positive manner. According to Genesis Rabbah 18:4 Adam quickly realizes that Eve is destined to engage in constant quarrels with him. The first woman also becomes the object of accusations ascribed to Rabbi Joshua of Siknin, according to whom Eve, despite the divine efforts, turned out to be “swelled-headed, coquette, eavesdropper, gossip, prone to jealousy, light-fingered and gadabout” (ibid. 18:2). A similar set of charges appears in Genesis Rabbah 17:8, according to which Eve's creation from Adam's rib rather than from the earth makes her inferior to Adam and never satisfied with anything. Finally, the gravest evils attributed to Eve appear in Genesis Rabbah 17:8:Why does a man go out bareheaded while a woman goes out with her head covered? She is like one who has done wrong and is ashamed of people; therefore she goes out with her head covered. Why do they [the women] walk in front of the corpse [at a funeral]? Because they brought death into the world, they therefore walk in front of the corpse, [as it is written], “For he is borne to the grave ... and all men draw after him, as there were innumerable before him” (Job 21:32f). And why was the precept of menstruation ("nidah") given to her? Because she shed the blood of Adam [by causing death], therefore was the precept of menstruation given to her. And why was the precept of “dough” ("ḥalah") given to her? Because she corrupted Adam, who was the dough of the world, therefore was the precept of dough given to her. And why was the precept of the Sabbath lights ("nerot shabat") given to her? Because she extinguished the soul of Adam, therefore was the precept of the Sabbath lights given to her.In addition to this, the early rabbinic literature contains numerous instances in which Eve is accused of various sexual transgressions. Told in Genesis 3:16 that “your desire shall be for your husband,” she is accused by the Rabbis of having an overdeveloped sexual drive (Genesis Rabbah 20:7) and constantly enticing Adam (ibid. 23:5). However, in terms of textual popularity and dissemination, the motif of Eve copulating with the primeval serpent takes priority over her other sexual transgressions. Despite rather unsettling picturesqueness of this account, it is conveyed in numerous places: Genesis Rabbah 18:6, Sotah 9b, Shabat 145b–146a and 196a, Yevamot 103b and ‘Avodah zarah 22b.


title: Eve

text: Some Early Church Fathers interpreted 2Cor.11:3 and 1Tim.2:13–14 that the Apostle Paul promoted the silence and submission of women due to Eve's deception by the serpent, her tempting Adam to eat the fatal fruit, and transgressing by eating of the fruit herself.


title: Eve

text: Tertullian told his female listeners, in the early 2nd century, that they "are the devil's gateway", and went on to explain that all women are responsible for the death of Christ: "On account of your desert – that is, death – even the Son of God had to die." Saint Augustine, in his excursuses on the fall narrative in Genesis, which led to the Catholic doctrine of original sin, blamed Adam for sin rather than Eve. His reasoning was that, because sin lies in the soul and not the body and because he understood reproductive intercourse to comprise a material (bodily) contribution from the female and a spiritual (soul) contribution from the male, then original sin could not be based upon the transgressions of Eve. Rather, her sin was both forgivable, because she was deceived by the serpent, and lacked consequences for human history, because she could not transmit sin to her descendants. Adam, on the other hand, had full knowledge of his sin and out of lust chose a life of sin with the woman over a life with God. This Augustinian teaching is also rooted in Paul: "sin entered the world through one "man"." (Rom 5:12). Gregory of Tours reported that in the Third Council of Mâcon (585 CE), attended by 43 bishops, one bishop maintained that "woman" could not be included under the term "man" as she was responsible for Adam's sin, and had a deficient soul. However, his case was declined and did not press the issue further.


title: Eve

text: Eve, in Christian art, is most usually portrayed as the temptress of Adam, and often during the Renaissance the serpent in the Garden is portrayed as having a woman's face identical to that of Eve. She was also compared with the Greco-Roman myth of Pandora who was responsible for bringing evil into the world.


title: Eve

text: Some Christians claim monogamy is implied in the story of Adam and Eve as one woman is created for one man. Eve's being taken from his side implies not only her secondary role in the conjugal state (1 Corinthians 11:9), but also emphasizes the intimate union between husband and wife, and the dependence of her to him.


title: Eve

text: In conventional Christianity, Eve is a prefigurement of Mary, mother of Jesus who is also sometimes called "the Second Eve".


title: Eve

text: In Gnosticism, Eve is often seen as the embodiment of the supreme feminine principle, called "Barbelo". She is equated with the light-maiden of Sophia, creator of the word (Logos) of God, the "thygater tou photos" or simply the Virgin Maiden, "Parthenos". In other texts she is equated with Zoe (Life). In other Gnostic texts, such as the "Hypostasis of the Archons", the Pistis Sophia is equated with Eve's daughter, Norea, the wife of Seth.


title: Eve

text: Adam's spouse is mentioned in the Quran in , , , , , , and , but the name "Eve" (Arabic: , Ḥawwā’) is never revealed or used in the Quran. Eve is mentioned by name only in hadith.


title: Eve

text: Accounts of Adam and Eve in Islamic texts, which include the Quran and the books of Sunnah, are similar but different from those of the Torah and Bible. The Quran relates an account in which God created "one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women" (), but there are hadiths that support the creation of woman "from a rib" (Sahih Bukhari 4:55:548, Sahih Bukhari 7:62:114, Sahih Muslim 8:3467, Sahih Muslim 8:3468). Eve is not blamed for enticing Adam to eat the forbidden fruit (nor is there the concept of original sin). On the contrary, the Quran indicates that "they ate of it" and were both to blame for that transgression (Quran 20:121–122).


title: Eve

text: There are subsequent hadiths (narrated by Abu Hurairah), the authenticity of which is contested, that hold that Muhammad designates Eve as the epitome of female betrayal. "Narrated Abu Hurrairah: The Prophet said, 'Were it not for Bani Israel, meat would not decay; and were it not for Eve, no woman would ever betray her husband.'" (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 611, Volume 55). An identical but more explicit version is found in the second most respected book of prophetic narrations, Sahih Muslim. "Abu Hurrairah reported Allah's Messenger as saying: Had it not been for Eve, woman would have never acted unfaithfully towards her husband." (Hadith 3471, Volume 8).


title: Eve

text: In the Baháʼí Faith, the account of Eve is described in "Some Answered Questions". `Abdu'l-Bahá describes Eve as a symbol of the soul and as containing divine mysteries. The Baháʼí Faith claims the account of Eve in previous Abrahamic traditions is metaphorical.


title: Eve

text: While a traditional view was that the Book of Genesis was authored by Moses and has been considered historical and metaphorical, modern scholars consider the Genesis creation narrative as one of various ancient origin myths.


title: Eve

text: Analysis like the documentary hypothesis also suggests that the text is a result of the compilation of multiple previous traditions, explaining apparent contradictions. Other stories of the same canonical book, like the Genesis flood narrative, are also understood as having been influenced by older literature, with parallels in the older "Epic of Gilgamesh".


title: Eve

text: With scientific developments in paleontology, biology, genetics and other disciplines, it was discovered that humans, and all other living things, share a common ancestor and evolved through natural processes, over billions of years to diversify into the life forms we know today.


title: Eve

text: In biology, the most recent common ancestors of humans, when traced back using the Y-chromosome for the male lineage and mitochondrial DNA for the female lineage, are commonly called the Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve, respectively. These do not fork from a single couple at the same epoch even if the names were borrowed from the Tanakh.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New York City Public Advocate from 2010 to 2013.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio was born in Manhattan and raised primarily in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from New York University and Columbia University before brief stints working as a campaign manager for Charles Rangel and Hillary Clinton. De Blasio started his career as an elected official on the New York City Council, representing the 39th district in Brooklyn from 2002 to 2009. After serving one term as public advocate, he was elected mayor of New York City in 2013 and reelected in 2017.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio's policy initiatives have included new de-escalation training for police officers, reduced prosecutions for cannabis possession, implementation of police body cameras, and ending the post-9/11 surveillance program of Muslim residents. In his first term as mayor, he implemented a free universal pre-kindergarten program in the city. De Blasio has called attention to what he calls stark economic inequality in New York City, which he described as a "tale of two cities" during his first campaign. He has supported socially liberal and progressive policies in regard to the city's economy, urban planning, public education, police relations, and privatization.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio ran in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election. After registering low poll numbers and failing to qualify for the third round of primary debates, he suspended his campaign on September 20, 2019, and endorsed Bernie Sanders five months later.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to seek a third term in the 2021 New York City mayoral election. He was succeeded by Eric Adams on January 1, 2022. On May 20, 2022, he announced he was running in the 2022 U.S. House election in the newly redrawn 10th congressional district. He withdrew from the race on July 19, saying he was done with "electoral politics".


title: Bill de Blasio

text: Bill de Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. on May 8, 1961. While he did not grow up in New York City, his parents drove from their home in Norwalk, Connecticut, to Manhattan's Doctors Hospital for his birth. He is the third son of Maria Angela (; 1917–2007) and Warren Wilhelm (1917–1979). He changed his name to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm in 1983 and to Bill de Blasio in 2001 to honor his maternal family and to reflect his alienation from his father. De Blasio has two older brothers, Steven and Donald. His mother was of Italian heritage, and his father was of German, English, French, and Scots-Irish ancestry. His paternal grandparents were Donald Wilhelm, of Ohio, and Nina (née Warren), of Iowa. His maternal grandfather, Giovanni, was from Sant'Agata de' Goti, Benevento, and his grandmother, Anna (née Briganti), was from Grassano, Matera. His paternal uncle, Donald George Wilhelm Jr., worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in Iran and ghostwrote the memoir of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: His mother, Maria de Blasio, attended Smith College, served in the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II and authored "The Other Italy: The Italian Resistance in World War II" (1988). His father, a Yale University graduate, worked as a contributing editor at "Time" magazine. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War 2. During the 82-day Battle of Okinawa, a grenade detonated below his left foot, and his leg was later amputated below the knee. After receiving a Purple Heart, he married Maria in 1945, and became a budget analyst for the federal government. During the 1950s, at the height of the Red Scare, both Maria and Warren were accused of having a "sympathetic interest in Communism". The family moved to Connecticut; Warren was chief international economist for Texaco and Maria worked in public relations at the Italian consulate.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In 1966, the family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, when Warren was offered a job at Arthur D. Little, and de Blasio began kindergarten. Bill and his brother Donald were then raised by Maria and her extended family. Of his early childhood, de Blasio said, "my mother and father broke up very early on in the time I came along, and I was brought up by my mother's family—that's the bottom line—the de Blasio family."


title: Bill de Blasio

text: When de Blasio was 18, his father committed suicide while suffering from incurable lung cancer. In 1979, de Blasio graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where he served in student government and was known to peers as "Senator Provolone". He received a Bachelor of Arts from New York University in metropolitan studies, a program in urban studies, and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He is a 1981 Harry S. Truman Scholar.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In 1984, de Blasio worked for the Urban Fellows Program at the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. In 1987, shortly after completing graduate school at Columbia, de Blasio was hired to work as a political organizer by the Quixote Center in Maryland. In 1988, he traveled with the Quixote Center to Nicaragua for 10 days to help distribute food and medicine during the Nicaraguan Revolution. De Blasio was an ardent supporter of the ruling socialist government, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which was opposed by the Reagan administration at the time. After returning from Nicaragua, de Blasio moved to New York City, where he worked for a nonprofit organization focused on improving health care in Central America. He continued to support the Sandinistas in his spare time and joined a group called the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, which held meetings and fundraisers for the Sandinista political party. De Blasio's introduction to city politics came in 1989, when he worked as a volunteer coordinator for David Dinkins' mayoral campaign. Following the campaign, de Blasio was an aide in City Hall. In 1990, he described himself as an advocate for democratic socialism when asked about his goals for society.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: U.S. Representative Charles Rangel tapped de Blasio to be his campaign manager for his successful 1994 reelection bid. In 1997, he was appointed to serve as the regional director for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for New York and New Jersey under the administration of President Bill Clinton. As the tri-state region's highest-ranking HUD official, de Blasio led a small executive staff and took part in outreach to residents of substandard housing. In 1999, he was elected to be a school board member for Brooklyn School District 15. In 2000, he served as campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's successful United States Senate bid.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In 2001, de Blasio ran for the New York City Council's 39th district, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, and Windsor Terrace. He won the crowded primary election with 32% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Republican Robert A. Bell, 71% to 17%. He was reelected with 72% of the vote in 2002 and with 83% of the vote in 2005.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: On the City Council, de Blasio passed legislation to prevent landlord discrimination against tenants who hold federal housing subsidy vouchers, and helped pass the HIV/AIDS Housing Services Law, improving housing services for low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. As head of the city council's General Welfare Committee, de Blasio helped pass the Gender-Based Discrimination Protection Law to protect transgender New Yorkers, and passed the Domestic Partnership Recognition Law to ensure that same-sex couples in a legal partnership could enjoy the same legal benefits as heterosexual couples in New York City. During his tenure, the General Welfare Committee also passed the Benefits Translation for Immigrants Law, which helped non-English speakers receive free language-assistance services when accessing government programs. He served on the education, environmental protection, finance, and technology committees and chaired the general welfare committee.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In November 2008, de Blasio announced his candidacy for New York City Public Advocate, entering a crowded field of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination that included former Public Advocate Mark J. Green. "The New York Times" endorsed de Blasio, praising his efforts to improve public schools and "[help] many less-fortunate New Yorkers with food stamps, housing, and children's health" as a councilmember. The paper declared de Blasio the best candidate for the job "because he has shown that he can work well with Mayor Bloomberg when it makes sense to do so while vehemently and eloquently opposing him when justified." His candidacy was endorsed by then Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former Mayor Ed Koch, former Governor Mario Cuomo, and Reverend Al Sharpton.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: On September 15, 2009, de Blasio finished first in the Democratic primary, garnering 33% of the vote. He won the runoff primary election on September 29, defeating Green, 62% to 38%. In the November 3 general election, de Blasio defeated Republican Alex Zablocki, 78% to 18%. De Blasio was inaugurated as New York City's third Public Advocate on January 1, 2010. In his inauguration speech he criticized the Bloomberg administration, especially its homelessness and education policies.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In June 2010, de Blasio opposed a New York City Housing Authority decision to cut the number of Section 8 vouchers issued to low-income New Yorkers. The cut was announced after the NYCHA discovered it could not pay for approximately 2,600 vouchers that had already been issued. Two months later, he launched an online "NYC's Worst Landlords Watchlist" to track landlords who failed to repair dangerous living conditions. The list drew widespread media coverage and highlighted hundreds of landlords across the city. "We want these landlords to feel like they're being watched", de Blasio told the "New York Daily News". "We need to shine a light on these folks to shame them into action."


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio has criticized "Citizens United", the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned parts of the 2002 McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. He argued that "corporations should not be allowed to buy elections" and launched a national campaign by elected officials to reverse the decision's effects.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: As public advocate, de Blasio repeatedly criticized Bloomberg's education policies. He called for Cathie Black, Bloomberg's nominee for New York City Schools Chancellor, to take part in public forums and criticized her for sending her own children to private schools. In March 2010, he spoke against an MTA proposal to eliminate free MetroCards for students, arguing the measure would take a significant toll on school attendance. Three months later, he voiced opposition to the mayor's proposed budget containing more than $34 million in cuts to childcare services. In June 2011, de Blasio outlined a plan to improve the process of school co-location, by which multiple schools are housed in one building. His study found community input was often ignored by the city's Department of Education, resulting in top-down decisions made without sufficient regard for negative impacts. He outlined eight solutions to improve the process and incorporate community opinion into the decision-making process. The same month, he also criticized a Bloomberg administration proposal to lay off more than 4,600 teachers to balance the city's budget; de Blasio organized parents and communities against the proposed cuts and staged a last-minute call-a-thon. Bloomberg restored the funding, agreeing to find savings elsewhere in the budget.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: On January 27, 2013, de Blasio announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in the fall election. The Democratic primary race included nine candidates, among them Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, and former New York City Comptroller and 2009 mayoral nominee Bill Thompson. After Weiner joined the race in April, early polls showed de Blasio in fourth or fifth among the candidates. Despite his poor starting position, de Blasio gained the endorsements of major Democratic clubs, such as the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan, and New York City's largest trade union, SEIU Local 1199. Celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker endorsed him, as did prominent politicians such as former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. By August, singer Harry Belafonte and actress Susan Sarandon had also endorsed de Blasio.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio gained media attention during the campaign when he and a dozen others, including city councillor Stephen Levin, were arrested while protesting the closing of Long Island College Hospital. De Blasio and Levin were released a few hours later with disorderly conduct summonses. Fellow Democratic mayoral hopefuls Weiner and City Comptroller John Liu were also at the protest but were not arrested.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: During his mayoral campaign, de Blasio outlined a plan to raise taxes on residents earning more than $500,000 a year to pay for universal pre-kindergarten programs and to expand after-school programs at middle schools. He also pledged to invest $150 million annually into the City University of New York to lower tuition and improve degree programs. In September 2013, de Blasio voiced his opposition to charter schools, maintaining that their funding saps resources from classes like art, physical education and after-school programs. He outlined a plan to discontinue the policy of offering rent-free space to the city's 183 charter schools and to place a moratorium on the co-location of charter schools in public school buildings.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In August 2013, the de Blasio campaign released a television advertisement featuring de Blasio's then-15-year-old son, Dante, talking about his father's plans to "'really break from the Bloomberg years.'" "Time" called it "The Ad That Won the New York Mayor's Race", noting that after it ran, "de Blasio built a steady lead that he never relinquished." Quinn was attacked by a number of groups including NYCLASS with their "Anybody But Quinn" campaign, allowing de Blasio to move up in the polls. By mid-August he emerged as the new leader among the Democrats. He reached 43% in a Quinnipiac poll released a week before the primary. Preliminary results of the September 11 primary showed de Blasio with 40.1% of the votes, slightly more than the 40% needed to avoid a runoff.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: On September 16, second-place finisher Bill Thompson conceded, citing the unlikelihood of winning a runoff even if uncounted absentee and military ballots pushed de Blasio below the 40% threshold. Thompson's withdrawal made de Blasio the Democratic nominee against Republican Joe Lhota in the general election. Exit polls showed that the issue that most aided de Blasio's primary victory was his unequivocal opposition to "stop and frisk." After the primary, de Blasio was announced as the nominee of the Working Families Party. In the general election, he defeated Lhota in a landslide with 72.2% of the vote. Voter turnout for the election set a new record low of only 24% of registered voters, which "The New York Times" attributed to the expectation of a landslide in the heavily Democratic city. The finance activities of the de Blasio 2013 campaign became the subject of a federal corruption investigation led by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, including whether campaign donors received preferential treatment from City Hall. The investigation ended in March 2017 with no charges.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In 2017, de Blasio won reelection to a second term, defeating Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, 65.2%-27.2%.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: De Blasio was sworn into office on January 1, 2014, by former President Bill Clinton. In his inaugural address, he reiterated his campaign pledge to address "economic and social inequalities" within the city. "The New York Times" noted that "The elevation of an assertive, tax-the-rich liberal to the nation's most prominent municipal office has fanned hopes that hot-button causes like universal prekindergarten and low-wage worker benefits... could be aided by the imprimatur of being proved workable in New York."


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In the first weeks of de Blasio's mayoralty, New York City was struck by a series of snowstorms. De Blasio was criticized by Upper East Side residents who said efforts to clear the snow seemed to be lagging in their neighborhood. De Blasio apologized the next day, saying that "more could have been done to serve the Upper East Side." On February 13, heavy snowstorms hit the East Coast again. Under instructions from De Blasio and School Chancellor Carmen Fariña, the city's public schools were kept open. This decision was criticized by teacher unions, parents and the media as 9.5 inches of snow fell that day. By the middle of February, the city had added $35 million to the Sanitation Department's budget for snow removal.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In July 2014, de Blasio signed a bill authorizing creation of municipal identification cards for all residents regardless of immigration status, to help secure access to city services. Homeless New Yorkers were also eligible to obtain the IDNYC cards if they registered a "care of" address. The IDNYC card program was launched on January 1, 2015.


title: Bill de Blasio

text: In 2016, de Blasio expressed support for the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act that would allow relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for its government's alleged role in the attacks.