Category: Public Media

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Rule change helps improve access to KiwiSaver after death

Source: Radio New Zealand

Most people’s largest solely-owned asset is usually their KiwiSaver. NZ Herald/Mike Scott

A rule change should make it easier to access someone’s KiwiSaver account when they die.

KiwiSaver money becomes part of an estate after a person’s death. When they have a will, it is distributed according to the wishes of the will.

A partner may have a claim to it as relationship property, too.

If there is no will, the KiwiSaver money still forms part of their estate, but is distributed according to the legal formula for intestacy. This gives money to spouses, children, parents and other relatives, roughly in that order.

Public Trust principal trustee Michelle Pope said providers would have different approaches to distributing KiwiSaver investments.

“Some will release funds to the estate executor or administrator before probate is granted, while others will require probate first.

“Waiting for probate to come through can present challenges in family situations, where funds might be needed right away, say, to pay for a funeral and other estate funds are limited.”

A rule change that took effect at the end of September has increased the threshold at which a High Court has to approve probate, from $15,000 to $40,000. This means estates below that amount can be paid out without the legal process.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the previous threshold was set before KiwiSaver was introduced.

Most estates now include KiwiSaver balances of more than $15,000, but the court process can result in a significant proportion of smaller estates being eaten up in court costs and legal fees.

In the last five years, the High Court processed about 17,500 applications a year.

Generate customer service manager Dan Alden said the new limit felt more appropriate.

“Accessing funds after someone has passed away can be a difficult time for families, so simplifying the process is encouraging,” he said. “That said, it’s still important that checks and safeguards remain in place to protect people’s money.

“The probate process isn’t unique to KiwiSaver – similar procedures apply when accessing any financial accounts after someone’s death to ensure funds are released securely and to the right people.”

A Ministry of Justice briefing said the feedback from stakeholders had been most people’s largest solely-owned asset was usually their KiwiSaver. Assets that are owned jointly, such as a house, do not need probate.

Fisher Funds KiwiSaver head David Boyle said the change would help people with smaller estates.

“The key is making sure they have an updated will to make sure the funds go to the family members they want to receive them.”

In one case, a man who was executor of his father’s will sought help accessing his KiwiSaver.

His father died while the threshold was still $15,000, but after he died and before his son claimed his KiwiSaver, its balance lifted beyond $15,000.

The man asked the KiwiSaver provider to release the funds, but the provider said it had to apply the $15,000 threshold at the date of the application, not the death.

The son complained to Financial Services Complaints Ltd, a dispute resolution service for financial services providers.

Because the threshold was about to increase to $40,000, FSCL said it would provide the solution the man needed.

“[His] father’s estate was paid out the KiwiSaver balance, without [him] having to obtain probate of his father’s will,” FSCL said.

“[He] was pleased that the threshold had increased. He thought it was a much more sensible amount than the previously low amount of $15,000.”

Pope said, in general, the administration process would take time. Before anything could be paid out to beneficiaries, the estate must pay any debts and expenses, along with dealing with any claims that may be made.

“In terms of releasing funds, KiwiSaver funds generally come through quickly, once the provider has the documentation they need.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Buying blind: Mystery packages tempting shoppers

Source: Radio New Zealand

Amid anemic consumer spending, some businesses are turning to novel ways of selling goods in mystery packages to boost sales.

Colloquially called “blind boxes”, the packages hide the contents so that consumers don’t know exactly what they’re buying.

It’s a concept with origins that can be traced back to Asia, with businesses stocking Asian goods among the adopters.

Chinese toy store Pop Mart immediately springs to mind, having made waves this year by stocking blind boxes of celebrity “ugly-cute” characters Labubu and, more recently, Twinkle Twinkle.

On social media, consumers have been sharing images of blind box meals they ordered from a couple of leftover-saving apps that launched in New Zealand last month.

Businesses have been selling clothes, jewellery and desserts in blind boxes, with one Auckland restaurant also providing mystery menus.

Eva Lian showcases her blind box desserts. RNZ / Yiting Lin

Auckland’s Fluffy Monsta Cakery has been selling blind box desserts for more than two years.

Their blind box sale every two weeks was so popular that many customers missed out if they failed to put their names down fast enough when orders were placed in the bakery’s WeChat group.

“We opened the orders on Monday at 8pm and closed them at 8:50pm,” said Eva Lian, the cakery’s founder.

“We got 400 orders in just 50 minutes,” she said.

“Had we left the queue open for longer, there would have been more orders, but we simply couldn’t handle any more than that.”

Auckland’s Fluffy Monsta Cakery in Burswood, East Auckland RNZ / Yiting Lin

The cakery typically offered a few flavour categories for consumers to choose from, including fresh fruit, durian, pork floss, taro and chocolate, but customers wouldn’t know what was inside the dessert box.

For example, a durian-themed blind box would contain four different pieces of dessert, all containing durian, but people won’t know what the specific items were, Lian said.

“Our goal is for customers to feel genuinely surprised when they open a blind box, with everything fresh and delicious,” she said.

“The thrill that comes from uncertainty” also prompted the purchase, she said.

“For families with children, there’s the added joy of wondering what type of blind box will arrive. This element of unpredictability makes the experience even more exciting.”

Gone Good allows people to grab mystery bags of unsold food at a low price. Supplied

Gone Good is one of the two apps available in New Zealand that allow consumers to grab mystery bags of unsold food at low prices.

General Manager Quinn Davis said the business had been “blown away by the response” after its launch in Auckland.

“The Auckland community embraced the concept immediately,” Davis said.

“We sold out on our second day of operations, reached number one in the App Store for Food & Drink and have had strong interest from other regions eager for us to launch there,” he said.

The idea wasn’t new, with a conceptually similar app named Too Good To Go proving popular internationally after starting in Denmark in 2015.

“The mystery box concept makes food rescue fun and effortless,” Davis said.

“Customers get the thrill of a surprise meal at a great price, while stores save time by not having to list or set aside exact items,” he said.

“It also ensures the platform stays true to its purpose – reducing real surplus rather than curating menus.”

Auckland woman Tiki Jiang and part of her Labubu and Twinkle Twinkle collections. Supplied

Auckland woman Tiki Jiang was among many who fell in love with blind box toys when Pop Mart’s Labubu went viral earlier this year.

Jiang now owns more than 20 of the “ugly-cute” plushy toys.

“Sometimes the official website would release new products without any notice, so back then I’d check Pop Mart’s official website every day on my phone, constantly refreshing it,” she said.

“Sometimes you’d get lucky and catch a new release.”

One of Tiki Jiang’s Twinkle Twinkle collections. Supplied

Several months later, Jiang discovered a new favourite Pop Mart character – the unconventional Twinkle Twinkle toy.

“I would always buy a whole tray of them,” Jiang said, explaining that a full set contained nine or 12 different designs depending on which generation of the toy people were getting.

Enthusiasts typically buy whole trays to increase the chance of collecting all the designs.

It’s common for a tray to include repeated designs, but Jiang managed to collect almost a full set of the first four generations of Twinkle Twinkle – spending more than $1000 in the process.

Jiang said she didn’t care enough to try to secure the only design in the series that was missing from one of the sets as she was not as frantic as she used to be.

“I think these [blind box toys] aren’t as popular as they used to be,” she said.

“Looking back, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking,” she said.

“I felt silly. Why was I refreshing the page all the time for that? Such a waste of time … I have passed that phase now.”

Dishes served as part of a $68 blind box menu at Auckland’s 81st Floor Restaurant. Supplied / Vivian Peng

Chinese diners have been sharing their experience at Auckland’s 81st Floor Restaurant, which offers mystery menus for a set price, on social media platform RedNote.

For $68 or $88, customers can order an assortment of Chinese dishes without knowing beforehand what they will receive.

RedNote user Pang Pang Da said they would visit the restaurant again after being impressed by the taste of the dishes served as part of the $88 package.

However, diner Vivian Peng was disappointed with the restaurant’s $68 package, which is designed for two or three people.

Although she felt the portions were large enough, Peng expected the dishes to be better in quality.

“If it was before, I would have thought it was good value for money,” she said.

“But the hospitality industry is tough now – competition is intense – so my expectations for something to be both affordable and high quality have gone up. That’s why I felt a little disappointed,” she said.

“People naturally come with a sense of anticipation with blind boxes. It’s different from regular products, where you know exactly what you’re getting and what the price is.

“With blind boxes, businesses can easily end up putting in a lot of effort without getting much appreciation in return.

“If a customer has high expectations, or if that day’s blind box isn’t as good as the items they have seen in other people’s social media posts – since the dishes change every day – they might feel a bit disappointed.”

The restaurant did not respond to RNZ’s request for comment.

Michael Lee, director of MBA in Marketing at the University of Auckland Supplied

Michael Lee, director of MBA in Marketing at the University of Auckland, said blind box experiences were believed to have started in Japan in the 1960s as a way for retailers to sell unsold products.

Retailers in Japan traditionally sell such sealed “lucky bags” of mystery products at a significant discount over the new year period.

“But the idea of a surprise has been around since humans started giving each other surprise gifts,” Lee said.

He said any product where customers buy a package without knowing exactly what they’ll get but were motivated by the excitement of the surprise fell into the category of a blind box.

Collectible sports cards, Kinder Surprise eggs or the small toys tucked inside cereal boxes were some examples, he said.

“The main driver is the element of surprise,” Lee said. “People love to be surprised, provided the surprise is a good one.”

He said another aspect of consumer psychology that would affect the success or failure of blind boxes was “expectation disconfirmation theory”, which turns on whether people’s expectations are confirmed or not.

If people received worse than they expected, it would lead to dissatisfaction, and vice versa, he said.

Lee believed blind box sales would be rare as New Zealand was a low-wage economy, and consumers would most likely want to know what they were buying.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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All Blacks lose Tevita Mafileo as they seek to end year on a high

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tevita Mafileo. www.photosport.nz

All Blacks prop Tevita Mafileo has been ruled of this weekend’s test against Wales after suffering a rib fracture during training.

The Chiefs front rower George Dyer has been brought in from the All Blacks XV squad as training cover.

Hurricanes forward Devan Flanders has also joined the squad as training cover following lock Fabian Holland’s illness over the weekend, which ruled him out of the defeat to England at Twickenham.

George Dyer of the Chiefs. Jeremy Ward / www.photosport.nz

The team said Holland is recovering well and expected to be available for selection for the test against Wales in Cardiff.

The All Blacks will be desperate to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to England last weekend and end their season on a high with a win over Wales, who have never beaten New Zealand.

Assistant coach Jason Holland knows a second straight defeat, and first ever to Wales, won’t be acceptable for All Blacks fans.

“This game is as important as any of the four games (on tour),” Holland said.

“Everybody’s been dialled in since this morning around exactly what it’s going to take to beat Wales. We’re excited and looking forward to putting on a good performance.”

Holland said they’ve identified where they went wrong against England.

“Obviously a lot of disappointment after Saturday … but we had a good day yesterday, did our own review and work around understanding some of the pictures where we took the pressure off England and put the pressure on ourselves,” Holland said.

“You go 12-0 up, you’ve got your skills going well and you’re holding on to the ball and then we make some fundamental errors which we can’t make. Then we give England a bit of a sniff and momentum and they’re putting us under pressure.

“It’s also around how we kick and when we kick and how we could have isolated people with a little bit more kicking on our terms versus kicking when we’re under pressure. And just skill sets, three or four big errors around simple skills really turns a test match, doesn’t it? And that was a big part as well.”

Jason Holland. John Cowpland / action press

The All Blacks have made a habit of starting well only to fall off in the second half, with some pundits suggesting they have an inability to adjust to their opposition’s changes in strategy.

Holland said the coaches have to take responsibility.

“The first part of that is making sure we get the detail and the work into the week so that when you’re in the stand you can give a one or two word explanation around how behaviours can change or tactics can change,” Holland said.

“So getting the week right is massive.”

With nine wins and three losses this year, inconsistency has been a bit of a hallmark of the All Blacks and questions are being asked about the progress of the team two years out from the next World Cup.

Holland is adamant the team is showing enough growth to be comfortable with how their tracking, though he concedes there’s plenty of work to be done..

“We’ve all got to keep working hard at helping the boys to perform under pressure and understand exactly what that looks like.”

Meanwhile, Wales have lost wing Josh Adams for the test after he was suspended for three matches.

Adams was sent off in Wales win over Japan last weekend for a dangerous clearout on Japan’s Kippei Ishida.

He was initially given a yellow card but it was upgraded to a red after review.

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Change to NZ plans for Iggy Pop, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Source: Radio New Zealand

A series of summer concerts involving punk pioneer Iggy Pop and America rocker Joan Jett and The Blackhearts have pulled a Whitianga concert from the schedule, adding an Auckland show instead.

The organisers said “in light of public feedback” of the scheduling of the Coromandel show on 26 January, following Auckland Anniversary weekend, they decided to pivot.

“Greenstone Entertainment has listened to concert-goers and made the decision to move the Coromandel concert to Auckland’s Spark Arena … ensuring a wider audience may enjoy this historic line-up of artists,” they wrote in a statement on Wednesday morning.

The Summer Concert tour will kick off at Taupō’s Amphitheatre on 24 January before playing Spark Arena on 29 January and wrapping up at Wānaka’s Three Parks Outdoor Arena on 31 January.

Local band Zed will play the series along with the visiting international rockers. However, the change of plans means Australian act Hoodoo Gurus aren’t able to play the Auckland set.

Whitianga ticket holders can transfer to Taupō or Auckland, or receive a refund.

Pop, who started his career in the late 1960s fronting The Stooges is famous for his songs ‘The Passenger’, ‘Lust for Life’ and ‘Real Wild Child’.

Jett formed her band with the Blackhearts in 1979 and had world wide smash hits with ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘I Hate Myself For Loving You’.

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‘One good week’ not enough to sustain Auckland accommodation sector

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

Auckland hotels are sold out tonight as Metallica rocks Eden Park and the world’s largest indigenous education conference continues.

But a hotel association is warning that doesn’t mean the industry is suddenly thriving.

The city’s cultural and events agency, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, said 40,000 visitor nights were expected from Metallica fans alone.

The World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education at the Aotea Centre this week brought 3800 delegates from around the globe who will add another 16,000 visitor nights over the course of the five-day event, it said.

It means hotels are at capacity on Wednesday which would be a welcome boost for Auckland’s visitor economy, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s destination director Annie Dundas said.

“From metal militia to educators, everyone contributes to the vibrancy of our region and the strength of our visitor economy.

“The energy they bring before, during and after these events, is felt in our streets, our hotels and our hospitality venues.” 

The band Metallica. Metallica

However, Hotel Council Aotearoa strategic director James Doolan told First Up while there have been a few “full out” days in the last few years coinciding with major events, occupancy rates still haven’t recovered following the pandemic.

“So that means hotels have been doing it tough, moteliers have been mortgaging their properties to stay alive, and it’s far too soon to have one good week and for all of us to start acting like all of the problems have been solved,” he said.

“Hotels and motels and restaurants, they’re not only open for one or two days a year, they’re open 365 days a year including on cold winter weeknights.”

Doolan hoped to see more concerts at Eden Park, and looked forward to the long-delayed International Convention Centre opening in February.

But he wanted local and central government to invest more in marketing to attract major events to Auckland.

Dundas said the agency shared the industry’s ambitions, and a long-term funding solution was essential.

To bridge the funding gap it was relying on temporary sources like the targeted rate that pays for developing the city centre, a budget contribution from Mayor Wayne Brown, and the organisation’s own operating funds, she said.

They’ve also welcomed the government’s recent $70 million investment to boost events and tourism.

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Butter a factor as dairy prices fall for seventh time

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

Dairy prices have fallen again in the fortnightly global auction overnight.

The average price at the Global Dairy Trade auction fell 3 percent to US$3678 a tonne, the seventh consecutive fall.

It follows the 2.4 percent drop in the previous auction.

The GDT (Global Dairy Trade) Price Index was at its lowest level since August 2024.

The price of wholemilk powder, which strongly influences payouts for local farmers, fell 1.9 percent to US$3452 (NZ$6099) a tonne.

Butter prices fell more than 7.6 percent, while cheddar prices fell 2.7 percent, and skim milk powder fell 0.6 percent.

NZX head of dairy insights Cristina Alvarado said the auction reflected the ongoing imbalance between supply and demand globally.

“Milk availability is expected to remain solid in the near term, adding further pressure to prices if demand does not strengthen,” she said.

“Seasonally, buying interest often softens as markets approach the end of the calendar year and move into the Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year and Ramadan periods, with many buyers already having secured forward contracts.”

Last week the NZX lowered its 2025-26 season forecast from $9.80 to $9.68 a kilogram of milk solids.

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Ian Roberts slams NZ Breakers over pride jersey: ‘This is homophobia’

Source: Radio New Zealand

File photo. Ian Roberts playing for Manly Sea Eagles in 1995. Photosport / Andrew Cornaga

The NRL’s first openly gay player has slammed the NZ Breakers as “cowards” for not wearing the rainbow Pride flag in next year’s NBL Pride Round.

The Breakers are the second club to opt out of the pride jersey since the Round began in 2023, saying it’s to protect individual players from being singled out for their beliefs. Cairns Taipans did the same during the inaugural round, when the players did not wear a pride jersey.

Ian Roberts has a prominent voice and advocate for the rainbow community in Australian sport since coming out as gay in 1995, while still an active NRL player.

He told Morning Report the NZ Breakers’ decision was shameful and could have huge repercussions for people struggling with their sexual identity.

“They’re absolute cowards.”

“Call it for what it is. This is homophobia.”

“This is bigotry. Just call it for what it is, at least have the courage to stand up and say, ‘yeah, I’m against this, I’m not for same-sex people being same-sex attracted, I’m totally opposed to that and I won’t wear a badge’.”

“The consequences can be catastrophic for kids who are dealing with their sexuality and you’ve got d…heads like this who want to jump up and wave their religious book or culturally.”

“I thought religion was supposed to be about embracing and loving and caring,” he said.

RNZ has approached the Breakers for comment.

Pride Round is the basketball league’s annual celebration of diversity and inclusion, recognising the LGBTQIA-plus community.

Roberts said he wasn’t surprised by the basketball team’s decision and believed there had been political and religious pressures.

The former Kangaroos and NSW Blues representative said the Breakers didn’t appreciate the depth of feeling within the sporting rainbow community.

“That’s why I get so worked up when people push back against it, it’s just saying, we embrace you, you’re welcome. That’s basically what it’s saying.”

“Events like this make people feel better about themselves and make people feel worthy and make people feel like they’re not freaks and they’re not all isolated.”

“It’s to be a part of this sport and to be a part of the sporting community. It should be a thing of celebration. It shouldn’t be any controversy… that’s why I just find it difficult that people want to use culture, cultural issues or religious issues or political issues to push back against stuff like this.”

“This is about saving kids’ lives. That’s the bottom line for me, that’s how I see it.”

The Manly Sea Eagles great said he believed in the power of sport to change people’s lives and hoped the NZ Breakers reconsidered their position.

Where to get help:

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Police face a deepening crisis of trust

Source: Radio New Zealand

POOL

A week after a bombshell IPCA report raised allegations of high-level cover-ups and triggered accusations of corruption, the fallout continues to grow, with public trust in our police in the spotlight.

New Zealand has long been considered one of the least corrupt jurisdictions in the world.

But a week ago, a scandal shook that perception.

New Zealand police were thrown into one of the most serious crises of confidence in recent memory, with allegations of corruption and high-level cover-ups involving our top officers, including former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.

And eight days on, it’s still unclear whether promised changes and investigations will be enough to rebuild confidence in an institution which has had its appearance of integrity fundamentally shaken.

“This goes to the fundamental heart of trust, really,” Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva tells The Detail.

“As a country, can we trust our police, the people who are meant to ensure the law and hold law-breakers to account? If they can’t be trusted to follow the law themselves, or [follow] due process, then how can we trust them? So, the stakes couldn’t be higher, really.”

After a fight by journalists, including the New Zealand Herald‘s Jared Savage, to lift suppression orders, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released a damning report last Tuesday, outlining major leadership failures in the handling of complaints against former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

The complaints were from a young woman – referred to as Ms Z – with whom McSkimming had an affair.

The Authority reported that despite allegations of coercive sexual behaviour, threatening conduct, and potential misuse of police systems, early efforts focused on pursuing the complainant under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, while concerns about McSkimming stalled or were minimised.

And top police leaders – including then-commissioner Coster and his deputy commissioner – engaged in serious misconduct in their handling of the case, accepting McSkimming’s explanations uncritically and failing to order timely, impartial investigations.

The IPCA findings have triggered public outrage, calls for new investigations, and intense scrutiny of the force’s culture and leadership – past and present. The police minister and commissioner have since publicly shown remorse and offered apologies and investigations.

But the woman still faces charges under the digital harassment law for sending “abusive messages” to the detective investigating her, and to his wife. The McSkimming-related charges were withdrawn.

This news was broken by Savage, a senior investigative journalist, who has been working on the scandal for more than a year.

“This big apology was put out to her publicly, everyone – the commissioner, the minister of police – all extending genuine apologies, I think, or heartfelt sympathies for the situation she has been put through … but she’s still facing charges because allegedly she sent some emails to the detective who had arrested her originally for the charges that we now know is misconduct,” he tells The Detail.

“Getting answers around this has been difficult, as well, because it’s all tied up in the legal process. You go back to the commission and say, ‘should she still be charged over this? What is the public interest?’ and they say, ‘our hands are tied, it’s with the Crown now’.”

He says the experience has had a “devastating impact” on the young woman, who was allegedly told by McSkimming that if she raised complaints he would distribute photos of her in compromising positions.

“So, you can imagine someone who was very scared to make a formal complaint sends through these emails, which on the face of it look quite abusive and hard to believe, because at this point McSkimming is a shining beacon, he’s the number two police officer in the country, clean cut guy. [These are] serious allegations, but police didn’t do their job.”

Instead, the police backed their own, and charged the complainant.

And all the information was suppressed until last week.

“I think the treatment of her is appalling, to be honest. The police will need to be accountable for that at some point, as well,” Savage says.

“To carry on with the second prosecution against her adds insult to injury.”

He says the police have a “huge job ahead of them” to rebuild and restore public confidence.

He believes the police involved in the cover-up should be looked into, and a ministerial inquiry should be launched, similar to the Commission of Inquiry led by Dame Margaret Bazley, whose scathing 2007 report described disgraceful conduct by police officers over 25 years, and a wall of silence protecting the men that women complained about.

The high-profile case of Louise Nicholas, who accused four police officers of rape, prompted the Commission of Inquiry to be established in 2004.

“I think this is such a big scandal that there needs to be a similar Commission of Inquiry or Ministerial Inquiry to look into the wider issues that we have got going on here,” Savage says.

“Twenty-odd years after the last report, I think it’s time to have another good look under the covers, really, because clearly not as much progress has been made as police would like us to believe.

“And again, it comes down to public trust and confidence.”

Police, politicians, and the public are now waiting for the next phase of investigations – and for answers about how such significant failures occurred at the very top of the organisation.

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

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Samoa do it the hard way to qualify for 2027 Rugby World Cup

Source: Radio New Zealand

Samoan rugby players lay down their challenge. RAUL ZAMORA/PHOTOSPORT / AFP

Samoa have clinched a place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup after a dramatic finish to the final qualifying tournament in Dubai.

Samoa finished top of the four-team tournament after drawing 13-13 with Belgium in the last game.

It is the tenth time the Pacific Islanders have qualified for a World Cup, but they did it the hard way.

Belgium, who were hoping to attend their first World Cup, led 6-3 at half time.

Abraham Papali’i scored a try for Samoa in the 63rd minute, but Belgian captain Jean-Maurice Decubber touched down in the 72nd minute to set up a tense finish.

Knowing a draw was good enough for them to qualify, Samoa managed to safely play out the last few minutes.

They are the 24th and last team to secure their place at the tournament in Australia.

Samoa finished on 12 points, Belgium 11, Namibia 6 and Brazil 2.

The 17th ranked Samoans have played in every World Cup, except the first in 1987, and have twice made the quarter-finals.

The draw for the 2027 World Cup will be made on 3 December.

The 12 teams that finished in the top three of their pools at Rugby World Cup 2023 automatically qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027.

They were France, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Australia, England, Argentina and Japan.

The 12 remaining places were reserved for teams that qualified through various tournaments … they were: Georgia, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Tonga, Canada, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong China and now Samoa.

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Weather: Auckland bearing the brunt of heavy rain

Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain warnings in the North Island as of 6am Wednesday. Supplied / MetService

Central Auckland is bearing the brunt of the rain this morning, MetService says.

Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island (until 2pm), Waitomo, Waikato and Taupō (until 6pm), Bay of Plenty (until 11pm) and Tongariro National Park (until 10pm).

MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala said all those areas had received a “decent amount” of rain overnight.

It was heaviest in Auckland, particularly in the central city, he said.

“Some stations in Auckland have recorded about 15.5mm of rain in the period of an hour, some even as high as 21mm of rain,” he said.

There was a possibility of flooding with that amount of rain, Magwala said.

The band of rain would move eastwards throughout the day, easing before another band was due to ramp up again in the afternoon.

Gisborne was not under a weather warning, but the rain was heading that way later this afternoon, he said.

After Wednesday, high pressure would begin to build, Magwala said, “giving us some more settled weather for a couple of days”.

Taumarunui and Taihape north of Ohakune, as well as Taranaki are also under heavy rain watches until Wednesday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand