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Articles by Granite Grant Logan

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About Granite Grant Logan

‘Granite’ Grant Logan is covering the Rugby World Cup in Japan 2019 for us. Grant was a no holds barred lock for Hawkes Bay who took no quarter and expected none. Unfortunately his appearances in the All Black jersey were limited by the pre-eminence of Frank Oliver and Andy Haden. After hanging up his size 14 boots he became a highly respected coach and analyst. More Posts

New Zealand 17 South Africa 14 ( Rugby Championship)

If I had to describe this match between the two titans of Southern Hemisphere rugby in a single word it would be “intense“. Yes, the Boks were uncharacteristically sloppy, with poor handling by scrum half Grant Williams and skipper Siya Kolesi unimpressive but their renowned scrum has [...]

September 7, 2025 // 0 Comments

New Zealand 44 Argentina 6

Whilst I understand the criticism of a draw made 3 years ago which had the four best teams in the world in the one section, it has helped the All Blacks who have choked in past World Cups by not meeting competitive opposition before the business end. This time they have had to play France and [...]

October 21, 2023 // 0 Comments

Accepting the challenge

I had to explain certain rules and practices of international rugby to Bob Tickler who was sitting next to me for England v New Zealand. He noticed and noted Mako Vinipola and Joe Marler were encroaching on the Haka – for which England have now been fined – and I said at the time to him [...]

October 31, 2019 // 0 Comments

Reflections

The questions is why did the All Blacks fail to perform? Was it that England were better on the day or errors of selection and bad calls on the pitch. A bit of everything really. There seems a zest about England even when they warmed up and – when they formed the crescent against the Haka, [...]

October 27, 2019 // 0 Comments

Hooking up with Wayne Smith

Prior to meeting and greeting the Rust party I hooked up with Wayne in Kobe where he lives with wife Trisha and coaches the local rugby team the Kobe Steelers – so called as they are sponsored by Kobe Steel. Most of Japan’s leading clubs have powerful corporate sponsorship, a solid [...]

October 24, 2019 // 0 Comments

England v New Zealand: bring it on

Watching both quarter finals yesterday I asked the question which no doubt will attract as much coverage in your press as where Boris goes from here, namely “Can England win?” Of course they can – anyone can win a one-off match given the vagaries of form, the referee and luck but I [...]

October 20, 2019 // 0 Comments

Now for the crunch

Now to the serious business. A month into this momentous Rugby World Cup we now know the line-up for the next weekend’s Quarter-Finals: just for the record, England v Australia in Oita and New Zealand v Ireland in Tokyo on Saturday; Wales v France in Oita and Japan v South Africa in Tokyo on [...]

October 14, 2019 // 0 Comments

Torn away

Following Tom Hollingworth’s comments on the typhoon blowing the World Cup off its previous assured, well organised, chartered course, I would like add my happ’orth. As usual in modern sport there is little concern or consideration for the paying fan. There are 10,000 Scottish fans in Tokyo [...]

October 12, 2019 // 0 Comments

Turning up the volume

Make no mistake, thanks to the choice of host nation and the party atmosphere generated by the fans, this is already a great Rugby World Cup despite the on-pitch controversies over new high tackle rules and the ‘slippery ball’ handling errors caused by the temperatures, humidity and dew. At the [...]

October 8, 2019 // 0 Comments

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