Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

Kiwi Hayden Wilde has slammed race officials, after he completed an extra bike lap in this morning’s Dubai T100 triathlon.

Wilde finished eighth, after riding nine laps instead of eight on the bike in one of the most chaotic triathlons in recent history.

The result ended Wilde’s winning streak on the world circuit, after he unknowingly added 8km to the cycle section.

He wasn’t the only one involved in the mix-up in the race run by the Professional Triathletes Organisation.

A trio of top athletes accidentally sabotaged their chances.

Approaching the transition, Wilde, Belgian Mathis Margirier and France’s Marten Van Riel rode past the exit, and unknowingly completed an additional loop.

As the confusion ensued, more than 10 athletes ran one lap too few on the final leg.

Wilde told tri-today.com he was incredibly upset his chances had been hit by what he thought was an official blunder.

“They call themselves a professional race organisation,” Wilde said.

Van Riel was also furious, taking to social media to bemoan his loss of of earnings.

“I am honestly quite devastated right now,” van Riel said.

“I not only lost tens of thousands of dollars, but I mostly feel let down by an organisation.”

In the end, Germany’s Mika Noodt stayed calm amid the madness to cross the finish-line first.

With several athletes filing protests – including American Morgan Pearson and those who unintentionally over-biked – officials conducted a formal review.

Final race places were based on each athletes position at the completion of the seventh lap of the eight-loop run course.

That was deemed the last point with consistent and verifiable timing.

The standings were repeatedly reshuffled, with Pearson eventually declared the champion.

Triathlon is becoming an increasingly crowded landscape with World Triathlon, Challenge Ironman and the Professional Triathletes Organisation all running their own race series and world championships.

Final Placings

1. Morgan Pearson

2. Mika Noodt

3. Gregory Barnaby

4. Jason West

5. Vincent Luis

6. Sam Dickinson

7. Jonas Schomburg

8. Hayden Wilde

9. Filipe Azevedo

10. Pieter Heemeryck

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Caps take on the West Indies at Hagley Oval in Christchurch for the first match in their one-day series.

They’ll then play at McLean Park in Napier on Wednesday.

First ball at Hagley is at 2pm.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

France defeated Fiji 34-21 in Bordeaux in their rugby test match on Sunday morning, scoring four tries in the process.

That means the islanders have lost two of their matches on their current three-match Europe tour, having lost to England in Twickenham last weekend.

Fiji were in the game early in the second spell, holding France to 21-all at one point, following their third try by winger Jiuta Wainiqolo, who plays for Lyon.

But mistakes and a number of penalties punished them severely, as French fullback Thomas Ramos made use of those chances with successful attempts.

Unfortunate for Fiji, a possible late try by Jiuta Wainiqolo was thwarted by Thomas in the 77th minute when he tapped a back pass from Wainiqolo on the line, with Pita Gus Sowakula in support.

Ramos was sent off with a yellow card for his action but the penalty try was not given, something Fijian captain Tevita Ikanivere pointed to post-match.

France led 21-14 at halftime, after scoring three tries.

That started with Nicolas Depoortere claiming his five-and-a-half minutes into the half, after the forward pack had mauled their way toward the Fijian line.

Two more tries came through Julien Marchand in the 13th and Charles Ollivon in the 18th as the hosts raced to an early 21-0 in the first quarter of the game.

That spell saw Fijian winger Selesitino Ravutaumada yellow-carded for an accidental shoulder hit on Depoortere’s head in a tackle and Caleb Muntz missing a penalty attempt and not getting touch from a penalty option.

But the islanders did not let go, throwing the ball around and mixing it upfront with the French forwards as well, led by captain Tevita Ikanivere.

Centre Kalaveti Ravouvou crashed his way through for Fiji’s first try in the 27th minute after his wing partner Jiuta Wainiqolo had ran the ball hard toward the French defence.

Flyhalf Muntz took a tackle and offloaded to halfback Kuruvoli, who flicked an inside pass back to Ravouvou.

Ravouvou burst through to score in-between the posts and Kuruvoli’s conversion saw Fiji trail 21-7.

Ravutaumada made amends for his earlier yellow card in the 39th minute when he also busted his way through tacklers to dive in over the line.

Kuruvoli, who had taken over the conversion duties from Muntz, kicked the extra point, as France led 21-14 at halftime.

What they said

France’s Ollivon said after the game Fiji was strong and they had a tough match.

“Very strong game against Fiji, they are always tough,” he said post-match.

The Six Nations champions lost last weekend to world champions South Africa.

Number eight Gregory Alldritt said they were happy.

“Fiji is a real good team and they [are] improving week after week and they showed it tonight.”

They play Australia next week.

Flying Fijian captain Tevita Ikanivere said they let themselves down with their own mistakes and discipline.

“We are gutted,” he said post-match.

“We think we had them, but discipline let us down again. We fell short and we will learn from it as we move towards Spain and try and win.

“We’ve got the courage and the firepower to take any team in the world.”

Ikanivere said they will need to work on their mistakes as they work on meeting Spain next week.

Head coach Mick Byrne said the team let France in early, but added they will improve.

“We just didn’t win a couple of set pieces and once we got moving we were doing all right.

“We worked really hard and they worked very hard off the field and there’s been a big improvement in the last 18 months.”

Decisive second half

Fiji started strongly in the second half after Wainiqolo scored in the corner, with Kuruvoli levelling the scores with his conversion at 21-all.

France took advantage of penalties awarded to them as Ramos kicked three points in the 48th minute, to lead 24-21.

He further added another three points in the 55th minute, after Josua Tuisova was ruled offside.

In the last quarter former England Under-20 Tim Hoty made his debut for the Flying Fijians, joining Atunaisa Sokobale, as the new prop pairing.

But the French made sure of the victory in front of their home fans in the 70th minute when Depoortere claimed his second try.

While the Fijians made a late surge through Wainiqolo, the hosts held on to claim the win, shifting focus to next weekend against the Wallabies in Paris.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Scott Robertson has been left ruing a bad All Black habit that cost them in their 33-19 loss to England at Twickenham. Once again, his side found it difficult to score in the second half, as England racked up 25 unanswered points to take the game away for the eventual victory in front of 82,000 spectators.

“No, because if I did that wouldn’t happen,” said Robertson, half-jokingly, when asked about if he could put his finger on the All Blacks’ issues.

“We’ve tried a lot training and to educate ourselves as much as we possibly can around what it takes to keep the momentum, keep pressure on teams. Obviously hasn’t happened, so it’s a little bit frustrating.”

The All Blacks looked to have taken control of the test in the first half thanks to tries to Leicester Fainga’anuku and Codie Taylor but were pegged back by adjustments to the English game plan and a man of the match performance by George Ford.

“The last couple of games we had finished quite well. But tonight we didn’t do that,” said Robertson.

“I think England were pretty efficient when they got into our half and creating and coming away with points. And they probably had a few more entries into our half. George Ford was pretty accurate with that drop goal and, keeping that scoreboard sort of ticking over. We actually had limited opportunities in that second half, and they probably kicked pretty well.”

Taylor’s second half yellow card was costly for the All Blacks, however both Robertson and captain Scott Barrett had no issues with the call by the team of officials.

“I think it’s fair, it’s an impulse thing. I guess from a momentum point of view, it’s probably been underlying frustration that you just put the hand in the cookie jar,” said Barrett.

“Oh look, it’s cynical, isn’t it? And you’re trying to get it out of the game and (World Rugby) are going pretty hard, right? They want to sanction all those little plays…it cost us,” said Robertson.

Robertson confirmed that Cam Roigard had to leave the game with a low ankle strain, which he tried to run off without success after halftime.

“We had a few dings early in the piece and had to make changes that we trying to leave till the back end…but that’s footy.”

The All Blacks are expected to name a much-changed side for next weekend’s tour finale in Cardiff against Wales. The Welsh had dramatic, last minute 24-23 win over Japan at Principality Stadium, their first victory under new coach Steve Tandy as they seek to arrest a steep decline in form over the last few years.

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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 football action, as the All Whites face Colombia in an international friendly at Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale.

They’ll play Ecuador in New Jersey three days later.

Colombia are ranked 13th in the world and Ecuador 23rd. New Zealand are ranked 85th.

They are the highest-ranked nations New Zealand has played as a part of their World Cup preparations.

Kickoff is 1pm Sunday NZT.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ireland has won against Australia’s Wallabies at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

It was the third of four autumn internationals to be played by Ireland in 2025.

Ireland had played Australia 38 times since first meeting in 1927, with the Wallabies securing 22 wins. There had been one draw between the two sides.

See how the match unfolded with our live blog below.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Analysis – In hindsight, the All Blacks going all in on dubbing this an ‘official’ Grand Slam tour is looking like a lamentable decision right now. The 33-19 loss to England at Twickenham busted that manufactured dream, which makes the loss seem far worse now, but really when you look at all the parts of the result it’s bad enough anyway.

That’s the second hiding the All Blacks have taken this season, after the disaster in Wellington against the Springboks. It’s not unprecedented – the 2023 All Blacks managed to get thumped by the Boks and France in successive weeks – but it really makes it hard to believe this new regime is making any real forward progress.

Instead, it very much gives off the impression that this is a reactive playing and coaching environment, so New Zealanders probably need to get used to the fact that the All Blacks are not the innovators in world rugby anymore and probably won’t be for a while. That’s not to say they can’t be, but the evidence was clear that out of the two sides, it was England that adapted better and were just simply more ruthless.

The ‘Pom Squad’ concept obviously isn’t new, but adjusting their game plan on the fly was something that Steve Borthwick had clearly planned for. After an opening 10 minutes of dominance that yielded no points for England, only to turn around and concede two tries, they changed the script and kept in touch with two sweetly struck drop goals from George Ford.

It’s not like the All Blacks were playing badly – they’d scored two good tries and the lineout was doing great work off the English throw ins. That should have been enough to win a test on its own, but Codie Taylor’s yellow card and Cam Roigard’s injury swung things back even more for the home side.

The card seemed very harsh, especially since it was the first penalty the All Blacks had given away in the game to that point, but it also showed a bit of a flaw in planning. Taylor being off and the reluctance to lose any of the loose forwards meant the All Blacks suddenly had no lineout thrower, but when they were awarded a penalty near halfway, they tapped and went rather than taking a shot at goal to at least kill off some of the sin bin time.

Roigard’s injury did a similar bit of exposure, considering that his replacement Cortez Ratima had played a grand total of 11 minutes of rugby in the last six weeks. It showed: Ratima’s hesitancy at the base of the scrum led to a couple of key turnovers and generally poor quality ball.

Ratima wasn’t alone though. Damian McKenzie was unable to repeat his heroics from last weekend in a bench performance that added little other than late call up Sam Darry causing some more lineout problems for England. Contrast that to the English replacements, with Henry Pollock coming on with the intensity of the Ultimate Warrior to play a big role in the win.

Throw in a couple of shocking missed kicks for touch from Beauden Barrett that robbed the All Blacks of some chances to kill the game off before halftime, and all of a sudden you had all the ingredients for a loss. Then there’s the fact that England were just good and got a lot better, and there’s your reason for the score blowing out.

And the most concerning thing is that it’s not the first time that’s happened this season. The humiliation in Wellington occurred thanks to an inability by the players and coaching staff to figure things out in time against a far more flexible opponent.

That was Rassie Erasmus, though. Borthwick is no chump, and this is not the same, stodgy English rugby team from the old days, but the reality of how hurtful it is that the All Blacks have been outthought and outgunned by them is extremely palpable.

There should be fallout from the culmination of this season’s results. With one coaching change so far on this tour, the question now is if there needs to be more, and we’ve got all summer to talk about it.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Silver Ferns have opened up the three-Test series against England with a 61-58 win in London.

Trailing by three at half-time, England upped their intensity in the third quarter and levelled things 47-all heading into the final spell.

When the Silver Ferns shot out to a 53-49 lead in the final quarter, the Roses made two changes, which saw Elle Cardwell make her return to international netball.

But New Zealand held their nerve and continued to find shooter Grace Nweke under the post.

Kate Heffernan had a big game at wing defence, with six deflections.

Test two starts at 4am on Monday.

See how the match unfolded below.

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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 rugby action, as Ireland take on Australia’s Wallabies at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

It is the third of four autumn internationals to be played by Ireland in 2025.

Ireland have played Australia 38 times since first meeting in 1927, with the Wallabies securing 22 wins. There’s been one draw between the two sides.

Kickoff is at 9.10am NZT.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The All Blacks’ Grand Slam hopes are over, following a comprehensive 33-19 loss to England at Twickenham. Despite scoring the first two tries and leading at halftime, the All Blacks let the game slip in the second half following a controversial yellow card to Codie Taylor soon after the restart.

However, Scott Robertson’s side can’t blame that moment for the defeat, as England closed out the last half an hour playing very composed and effective rugby. Tries to Sam Underhill, Fraser Dingwall and Tom Roebuck could only be matched with one by Will Jordan, which meant that England could control the pace of the game.

Earlier, the All Blacks would’ve been pretty pleased with the way things were going after the repulsed a long run of English possession and territory. With their first real chance they scored through Leicester Fainga’anuku, then followed it up with another well-constructed try to Taylor.

However, England’s game plan adjusted impressively and they gained territory again, culminating in two well struck drop goals to George Ford.

Taylor’s yellow card was an exceptionally tough call given that it was the first penalty the All Blacks had conceded in the whole game through 42 minutes, but arguably the bigger setback was when Cam Roigard was forced from the field with injury at the same time. Roigard’s absence was notable for the rest of the match, as Cortez Ratima and the rest of the All Black bench struggled to make an impact.

In contrast the English replacements, nicknamed the ‘Pom Squad’, injected a great deal of energy. None more so than young flanker Henry Pollock, whose footwork set up Roebuck’s match-sealing try.

It was England’s ninth ever win against the All Blacks and first since the famous 2019 World Cup semifinal result, and their first at Twickenham since 2012. It reverses a run of incredibly tight All Black wins, with three matches last year decided by three points or less.

The All Blacks now move on to Cardiff to play a struggling Wales, in the last test match of the season.

Read how the game unfolded here:

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