Caleb

Caleb, sometimes transliterated as Kaleb (כָּלֵב, Kalev; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev) is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land. A reference to him may also be found in the Quran, although his name is not mentioned.

Name

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, "since "Caleb" signifies dog, it has been thought that the dog was the totem of [Caleb's] clan".Strong's Concordance states that "Caleb" is "perhaps a form of keleb (Hebrew: כָּ֫לֶב‎), meaning "dog", or else from the same root in the sense of "forcible", whereas the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance states that keleb is of "uncertain derivation".

The original Hebrew name is pronounced /ˈkɑːlɛb/ or /ˈkɑːlɛv/; the modern English pronunciation /ˈkeɪləb/ is courtesy of the Great Vowel Shift.

Biblical account

(1) "Caleb the Son of Jephunneh" was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses into Canaan, as reported in Numbers Chapter 13:3:

Caleb Ralph

Caleb Stan Ralph (born 10 September 1977 in Rotorua, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. Ralph began his first-class career with Bay of Plenty, then moved to Auckland before heading to Canterbury. He started his Super Rugby career with the Chiefs in 1997, Blues (1998–99), Crusaders (2000–08) and a cameo role with the Queensland Reds (2011). He made his All Black debut while playing for Auckland in 1998.

After an absence from the national team of three years he was recalled in 2001, and was a regular member of the All Blacks throughout the 2002 and 2003 seasons, playing a total of 13 tests and scoring eight tries, including a hat-trick against Italy in 2002, and was a member of the New Zealand team during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In 2006 he gained his 100th consecutive super rugby cap.

He made the New Zealand sevens side while still at Western Heights High School, Rotorua. He has since regularly represented New Zealand in Rugby sevens between 1996 and 2000 playing with Eric Rush and was a member of the gold medal-winning New Zealand team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Tana Umaga

Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa "Tana" Umaga, ONZM (/ˈtɑːnə ˈuːmʌŋə/; Samoan: [ˈtana ˈuːmaŋa]; born 27 May 1973 in Lower Hutt) is a retired former New Zealand rugby union player and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. He played for the Hurricanes starting with the Super 12's inception in 1996 and took over the captaincy in 2003. Graham Henry named him as All Blacks captain in 2004; under his leadership the All Blacks won 19 of their 21 games including the clean sweep of the British and Irish Lions and the Grand Slam in 2005. At the end of 2005, after 74 Test caps (where he scored 36 tries), Umaga retired from international rugby. Umaga played four games in 2007 for the Wellington Lions in the Air New Zealand Cup, to play 100 matches for the province, before taking up the position of coach at Toulon.

His coaching future was uncertain in the 2008–09 season, as Toulon was a poor performer in the first half of the season and facing a relegation scare, and there was speculation that he would be replaced by Philippe Saint-André. Umaga returned to a playing role for Toulon in the second half of that season, and at the same time announced that he would not continue as head coach beyond that season. After helping Toulon exit relegation trouble (they ultimately finished ninth that season), he retired as a player, and remained at Toulon as assistant coach for backs under Saint-André. In March 2010, Umaga again returned to the playing ranks following a serious hip injury to Christian Loamanu. Umaga returned to New Zealand after the 2009–10 French season to become a player-coach with Counties Manukau and played with the Waikato Chiefs in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.

Jonah Lomu

Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He was the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international in 1994 at the age of 19 years and 45 days. Lomu finished with 63 caps and scored 37 international tries. He has been described as the first true global superstar of rugby union and as having a huge impact on the game. Lomu was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007, and the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011.

Lomu burst onto the international rugby scene during the 1994 Hong Kong Sevens tournament. He was widely acknowledged to be the top player at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa even though New Zealand lost the final to the host Springboks. At one time Lomu was considered 'rugby union's biggest drawcard', swelling attendances at any match where he appeared. He is one of the Rugby World Cup all-time top try scorers with 15 tries, a record he shares with Bryan Habana of South Africa.