Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

Revenge served.

The Crusaders dished up a vengeful performance against Moana in Albany, to all but banish memories of their loss to the side at home in 2025.

“They stung us deeply last year,” said coach Rob Penney.

“I wouldn’t say revenge, but it was certainly something that we were well aware of, there was a lot more physical presence about us this year compared with last year.”

The defeat was buried in ruthless fashion, the Crusaders putting fifty on the proud franchise in their first appearance on the North Shore for the year.

After a lacklustre effort from a Will Jordan-less Crusaders against the Blues, Penney threw the challenge down to his backs to take the pressure off their superstar fullback.

Step up Sevu Reece, Chay Fihaki, Braydon Ennor and Leicester Faingaʻanuku.

The quartet were lethal with ball in hand alongside Jordan, combining for five scorching tries and some scintillating running rugby.

“You start rattling those names off, and how blessed are we with the talent that we’ve got? We’ve just got to keep supplying the opportunities. The ability for us to have multiple threats across the park is such a key for us, we’ve got the cattle.”

Penney worried too much reliance was being put on their superstar fullback, who was also handed captaincy duties for the clash with David Havili sidelined.

“Will stepped in and took over that leadership role superbly. So really, we didn’t miss a beat.”

After a rough start to their campaign, both Jordan and Penney felt things were clicking for the defending champs.

“It’s nice to get back-to-back victories, we’re a dangerous side and I think there’s still growth for us.” Jordan said.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Cantabs, up by just three at half-time, before the floodgates burst open.

“The job was not fully done, we felt that was close towards the back end of the first half, and the boys just went to work in the second half, it was awesome,” said Penney.

Penney said his side was still far from the finished product.

“We still have a wee way to go. I think we’ve got a lot in us, and so I hope we have the ability to unleash further.”

A scary prospect for opposition sides.

“I hope so,” said Penney.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A superb goal by Ifeanyi Eze has given the Wellington Phoenix a vital 2-1 win over the Brisbane Roar in Brisbane.

It continues the resurgence of the Phoenix under interim coach Chris Greenacre and crucially keeps them in the hunt for an A-League men’s playoffs spot.

They are now just one point off the top six, as they sit in eighth place.

A loss would have left them with a big mountain to climb with four regular-season matches remaining.

They have had two wins in a row and are unbeaten in their last three under Greenacre, who oversaw a loss to Sydney FC just after he took over from men’s Giancarlo Italiano, who had resigned immediately after the 5-0 drubbing delivered by Auckland FC on 21 February.

The match with Brisbane could have gone either way before Eze’s clincher in the 86th minute.

Former Phoenix player James McGarry put the Roar 1-0 ahead after 14 minutes, with Corban Piper locking the scores up with a tap-in from Isaac Hughes header in the 36th minute.

It remained that way until the late counter-attack saw Luke Brooke-Smith slide a superb pass to Eze, who struck it with great timing to leave Roar goalie Dean Bouzanis no chance of stopping it.

There was an ugly head clash late in the game with a bloodied Hughes having to leave the field, and the Phoenix were able to repel the late attacks by the Roar, whose appeals for two late penalties were rebuffed.

Eze said the win meant everything to the Phoenix.

“This means everything to us, because our main target is getting into the top six,” he told Sky Sport.

“I’m very happy we won, I’m very happy we got the three points.”

It was the Phoenix’s third win over the Roar this season.

The Wellington side will cross the Tasman to play Melbourne Victory next on 5 April, while the Roar will host Sydney FC three days earlier.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the Super Rugby action as the Blues take on the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

Kick-off is 9.35pm.

Blues team list:

Ofa Tu’ungafasi 2. Bradley Slater 3. Sam Matenga 4. Josh Beehre 5. Sam Darry 6. Anton Segner 7. Dalton Papali’i (c) 8. Malachi Wrampling 9. Finlay Christie 10. Beauden Barrett 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Pita Ahki 13. AJ Lam 14. Codemeru Vai 15. Zarn Sullivan

Bench: 16. James Mullan 17. Mason Tupaea 18. Marcel Renata 19. Che Clark 20. Torian Barnes 21. Taufa Funaki 22. Xavi Taele 23. Payton Spencer (debut).

“The Waratahs are always a dangerous side particularly at home in Sydney, so we’ll need to be accurate and disciplined for 80 minutes.” – Blues coach Vern Cotter.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Beware a scorned Crusaders side.

The defending champions avenged last year’s shock loss to Moana Pasifka in ruthless style, crushing the cellar dwellers 50-21 in Albany.

Up by just three at the break, the Crusaders ran riot in the second, producing some scintillating running rugby in the rout.

Moana lost Julian Savea early to what looked like a broken arm before the Crusaders opened the scoring, Braydon Ennor showing tremendous strength to carry three defenders with him across the line.

Sevu Reece went in next to stretch his lead as Super Rugby’s most prolific try scorer, finishing a scorcher for the visitors.

Sparked by a Will Jordan injection, the fullback offloaded infield and from there it was a beautiful exchange of passes, Chay Fihaki with the last one to Reece.

Moana pulled one back as Patrick Pellegrini found a deft offload for Lalomilo Lalomilo who broke clear and linked with Joel Lam to score against his old side.

Replacement Tevita Ofa made it two in quick succession to give Moana the lead, the winger showing great gas to get on the outside of his opposite.

The Crusader’s quickly restored their lead though, Cooper Grant sending a pinpoint kick across for Chay Fihaki to pouch and plant to give them a narrow 17-14 half-time lead.

The second half however, belonged to the Crusaders.

Fainga’anuku kicked off the scoring spree with a mesmeric fourty metre run turning defenders inside out.

George Bell barged his way over for back to back, to really put things out of reach, before debutant Kurtis Macdonald scored with his first touch from a Fihaki cut out ball.

Fihaki capped his stellar night with a second as he exploded through the line and skinned the final man to score his second, Moana getting a late consolation courtesy of an intercept for Siaosi Nginingini.

See how the match unfolded here.

Team lists

Moana:

1. Tito Tuipulotu 2. Millennium Sanerivi 3. Atu Moli 4. Tom Savage 5. Allan Craig 6. Miracle Faiilagi (c) 7. Niko Jones 8. Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa 9. Joel Lam 10. Patrick Pellegrini 11. Glen Vaihu 12. Julian Savea 13. Lalomilo Lalomilo 14. Tevita Latu 15. William Havili

Bench: 16. Mamoru Harada 17. Abraham Pole 18. Chris Apoua 19. Veikoso Poloniati 20. Dominic Ropeti 21. Siaosi Nginingini 22. Jackson Garden-Bachop 23. Tevita Ofa.

“We’re in search of playing our game and hopefully we can get it..” – Head coach Fa’alogo Tana Umaga.

Crusaders:

1. Finlay Brewis 2. George Bell 3. Fletcher Newell 4. Tahlor Cahill 5. Jamie Hannah 6. Ethan Blackadder (vc) 7. Johnny Lee 8. Christian Lio-Willie 9. Noah Hotham 10. Cooper Grant (debut) 11. Sevu Reece 12. Dallas McLeod 13. Braydon Ennor 14. Chay Fihaki 15. Will Jordan (c)

Bench: 16. Manumaua Letiu 17. George Bower 18. Seb Calder 19. Antonio Shalfoon 20. Xavier Saifoloi 21. Kyle Preston 22. Leicester Fainga’anuku 23. Kurtis Macdonald (debut).

“We’re going week by week. The aim is to back up a win with a win, build our consistency, prepare well, and hit the ground running. We haven’t had the quickest starts, so doing those things will make it very satisfying.” – Crusaders coach Rob Penney.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland FC have suffered a shock 2-1 loss to the Macarthur Bulls on, a dampener on their chances of winning a second straight Premier’s Cup.

It was a result that the fans didn’t see coming. Auckland FC went into Saturday’s match in a rich vein of form with their brilliant 2-1 away win over competition leader the Newcastle Jets last week, which left them unbeaten in six matches, while sixth-placed Macarthur had lost their last four matches.

But they looked the in-form side when Rafael Durán put them in front in the 11th minute and even more so when Tomi Uskok soared to head home a pinpoint cross from Chris Ikonomidis just before halftime.

Auckland coach Steve Corica rang the changes to his lethargic-looking side at halftime, replacing Guillermo May, Callan Elliot and Felipe Gallegos with Lachlan Brook, Luka Vicelich and Louis Verstraete.

The attack was better, they created more chances, but the determined Macarthur defence held them out, until the third minute of added time when Jake Girdwood-Reich headed one in.

The now-urgent Auckanders quickly sought another goal in the last two minutes of added time to give them a draw, but Macarthur held them out.

Auckland FC trailed the Jets on the ladder by one point heading into this game, but the Jets get the chance to go four ahead when they play Sydney FC on Sunday.

Auckland coach Steve Corica was clearly unhappy with the effort.

“Last week that was probably our best performance against Newcastle, that was probably our worst,” he told Sky Sport.

“We let the fans down, we let everyone down today,” he said.

“We have given ourselves another tough hurdle to climb to the premiership.”

Auckland’s next game is against Adelaide United on Good Friday, 3 April, with three matches of the regular season left after that.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

For only the second time in club history, NZ Warriors have surged to a three-game winning streak to start their NRL season, overwhelming previously unbeaten Newcastle Knights 38-12 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The only previous occasion they have managed this feat was 2018, when the Auckland club rattled off five straight victories.

Co-captain Mitch Barnett returned to action for the first time, since his season-ending knee injury last June and showed no rust, as he laid on a try for fellow front-rower Jackson Ford, who was celebrating his 100th first-grade game.

Barnett’s appearance from the interchange was his 50th for the club.

“It was nice to come off the bench for a change, when there was a bit of sting out of the game,” he said. “Great to be back.”

Newcastle grabbed an early lead, when fullback Fletcher Hunt crossed for a try in the third minute, but the Warriors piled on 30 consecutive points to take control of the contest.

The Knights finally answered through wing Greg Marzhew, but the visitors finished with a flourish, as wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak fielded a desperation kick after the final siren and sent fullback Taine Tuaupiki into the clear.

As he crossed the tryline, Tuaupiki flung a pass inside for debutant Luke Hanson to score, as Ford celebrated his milestone with the first goal of his career.

The result puts the Warriors on top of the table on points differential over Penrith Panthers and they host Wests Tigers at Go Media Stadium next Friday.

Follow the live action there:

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the Super Rugby Pacific action as the Crusaders take on Moana Pasifika at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.

Kick-off is at 7.05pm.

Team lists

Moana:

1. Tito Tuipulotu 2. Millennium Sanerivi 3. Atu Moli 4. Tom Savage 5. Allan Craig 6. Miracle Faiilagi (c) 7. Niko Jones 8. Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa 9. Joel Lam 10. Patrick Pellegrini 11. Glen Vaihu 12. Julian Savea 13. Lalomilo Lalomilo 14. Tevita Latu 15. William Havili

Bench: 16. Mamoru Harada 17. Abraham Pole 18. Chris Apoua 19. Veikoso Poloniati 20. Dominic Ropeti 21. Siaosi Nginingini 22. Jackson Garden-Bachop 23. Tevita Ofa.

“We’re in search of playing our game and hopefully we can get it..” – Head coach Fa’alogo Tana Umaga.

Crusaders:

1. Finlay Brewis 2. George Bell 3. Fletcher Newell 4. Tahlor Cahill 5. Jamie Hannah 6. Ethan Blackadder (vc) 7. Johnny Lee 8. Christian Lio-Willie 9. Noah Hotham 10. Cooper Grant (debut) 11. Sevu Reece 12. Dallas McLeod 13. Braydon Ennor 14. Chay Fihaki 15. Will Jordan (c)

Bench: 16. Manumaua Letiu 17. George Bower 18. Seb Calder 19. Antonio Shalfoon 20. Xavier Saifoloi 21. Kyle Preston 22. Leicester Fainga’anuku 23. Kurtis Macdonald (debut).

“We’re going week by week. The aim is to back up a win with a win, build our consistency, prepare well, and hit the ground running. We haven’t had the quickest starts, so doing those things will make it very satisfying.” – Crusaders coach Rob Penney.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fijian Drua couldn’t capitalise on their home advantage as they lost their Super Rugby Pacific match 21-6 to the Queensland Reds in Lautoka.

The Drua had won five of their last seven matches on their home turf but struggled to find cohesion in their attacks today.

Both teams made plenty of mistakes in a scrappy affair but the Reds made two telling blows in the second half, and the Drua just couldn’t respond despite trying hard.

The Reds led 7-6 at halftime, but the second spell tries to Harry McLaughlin-Phillips and Richie Asiata blunted the Drua effort, as the players made too many handling errors.

The result gives the Reds a bonus point victory and four wins in a row, while the Drua are left in ninth place on the table, with four of their next five games away from home.

See how the match unfolded here.

Kick-off was at Suncorp Stadium at 4.35pm.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the Super Rugby Pacific action as the Fijian Drua take on the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

Kick-off at Suncorp Stadium is at 4.35pm.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the NRL action, as NZ Warriors take on Newcastle Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Both teams will be looking to extend their winning run – the Warriors having overpowered Canberra 40-6 and Sydney Roosters 42-18 at home in the first two rounds, while the Knights beat North Queensland Cowboys 28-18 and Manly Sea Eagles 36-18 in rounds one and two respectively.

Kickoff is at 5pm.

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