Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

Liam Lawson apologised to his team after he squandered valuable F1 points at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

A first-corner clash forced the young Kiwi into the pits and out of the points.

Lawson started the race sixth on the grid after an impressive qualifying series in the wet, and hopes were high that he’d be able to add to the points he picked up with his seventh-place finish in the last round in Brazil.

However, the very short run to the first corner in Vegas caused problems for a number of cars and Lawson had too much speed and was forced to go wide and made contact with the Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.

While he immediately lost a place it appeared that Lawson hadn’t suffered too much damage. However two laps later he was forced into the pits to change the front wing, dropping him to the back of the field.

“Apologies to the team, it was extremely slippery into turn one and once I committed to brake, the cars in front started checking up and I didn’t have anywhere to go,” Lawson said afterwards.

Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar did manage to finish in the top 10, enhancing his reputation, as both drivers look to confirm their places for 2026.

“I’m disappointed for the team today as the car has been fast this weekend,” Lawson said.

“We should have had two cars in the points today, so it’s a shame given where we started.”

Lawson wasn’t the only one apologising after the race.

McLaren had both cars disqualified for a technical infringement, meaning the championship race remains alive with two Grands Prix remaining.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while Lando Norris, who was second, and fourth-placed Piastri had their points stripped after a post-race FIA inspection found the thickness of the under-car skid-plank assembly was below the permitted minimum.

It appears the skid-plate was thinner because of excessive wear on the rough Las Vegas track.

It means Norris has a lead of 24 points over Verstappen and Piastri, with Qatar and Abu Dhabi the last two Grands Prix of the season.

“We apologise to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a critical time in their Championship campaigns after two strong performances from them all weekend,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said in a statement.

“As a team, we also apologise to our partners and fans, whose support means so much.

“While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.”

Lawson officially finished the Las Vegas race in 14th place and he remains 14th in the Drivers’ Championship.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Waikato motorsport event has been cancelled, after a competitor was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

MotorSport New Zealand said a competitor suffered a medical episode during a race at the NZIGP Waikato Challenge at Hampton Downs on Sunday.

They pulled to the side of the track and responders were on the scene immediately.

The rest of the event was called off.

MotorSport NZ president Deborah Day said its thoughts and best wishes were with the competitor and their family.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland FC were unable to assert themselves after the international break in a 1-1 A-League draw with Brisbane Roar.

With five key Auckland players sidelined by injury or suspension after red cards, Brisbane pushed the home side to the brink at Mt Smart on Sunday afternoon.

Auckland hit the lead early with an immense strike from well outside the box from Australian winger Lachlan Brook.

He curled a stunning 18th-minute free-kick into the top corner for his first goal of the season.

Brisbane was on the verge of the equaliser, when Brisbane’s Michael Ruse hit the crossbar.

The visitors continued to press forward and were rewarded in first-half stoppage time, when Michael Ruhs slipped a pass through to Justic Vidic.

Vidic fired the ball into the back of the net, squaring up the score before the halftime break.

Neither side could truly rise to the occasion in a tight second half.

Brisbane faced a scare in stoppage time, when Auckland captain Francis de Vries struck the crossbar.

Defending the final corner of the game, Brisbane did all they needed to split the points.

Auckland remain unbeaten after five games, one point off Sydney FC in top spot.

The Roar are in fifth, pleased with a credible performance on the road.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington Phoenix women are on the board in the A-League, thanks to a 38th-minute goal from teenage star Pia Vlok.

Wellington defeated heavyweights Melbourne Victory 1-0 at Porirua Park on Sunday afternoon in their third match of the 2025/26 season.

Vlok’s goal makes her the youngest-ever scorer for the Phoenix women, beating Milly Clegg’s record by one day.

The 17-year-old netted from the back post, after a sweeping move downfield from the Phoenix attack.

Vlok’s heroics in her second start for Wellington secured the team’s first win of the campaign.

She made her debut against Newcastle last week, impressing coach Bev Priestman enough to earn a second successive start.

Originally from Auckland, Vlok, signed a three-year deal with Wellington last August.

After a Round One bye, the Phoenix drew twice, before claiming victory in their third match.

The Wellington side are in the top six for the first time this season, up to fifth, two points behind leaders Newcastle Jets.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Waikato motorsport event has been cancelled after a competitor was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

MotorSport New Zealand says a competitor suffered a medical episode during a race at the NZIGP Waikato Challenge at Hampton Downs on Sunday.

It says they pulled to the side of the track and responders were on the scene immediately.

The rest of the event has been called off.

MotorSport NZ president Deborah Day says their thoughts and best wishes are with the competitor and their family.

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

Auckland FC were unable to assert themselves after the international break in a 1-1 A-League draw with Brisbane Roar.

With five key players in blue sidelined by injury or suspension after red cards, Brisbane pushed the home side to the brink at Mt Smart on Sunday afternoon.

Auckland hit the lead early with an immense strike from well outside the box from Australian winger Lachlan Brook.

He curled a stunning 18th minute free kick into the top corner for his first goal of the season.

Brisbane was on the verge of the equaliser when Brisbane’s Michael Ruse hit the crossbar.

The visitors continued to press forward and were rewarded in first-half stoppage time when Michael Ruhs slipped a pass through to Justic Vidic.

Vidic fired the ball into the back of the net squaring up the score ahead of the halftime break.

Neither side could truly rise to the occasion in a tight second half.

Brisbane faced a scare in stoppage time when Auckland captain Francis de Vries struck the crossbar.

Defending the final corner of the game, Brisbane did all they needed to split the points.

Auckland remain unbeaten after five games, one point off the top spot held by Sydney FC.

The Roar are in fifth following Sunday’s 1-1 result, pleased with a credible performance on the road.

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

Kiwi Liam Lawson will start from sixth on the grid, as he tries to gather more Formula One championship points at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Lawson currently sits 14th on the championship standings with 36 points, with Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar in 10th, seven points ahead.

His best finish so far this season was fifth at the Azerbaijan GP in September, when he qualified third.

Lawson is currently battling for his Racing Bulls seat next year.

The race start is scheduled for 5pn NZT.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A chorus of former England cricket stars have torn into the current ‘Bazball’ side, after the team suffered an embarrassing Ashes test defeat in Perth inside just two days.

Long-time commentator and former test opener Geoffrey Boycott has unleashed a scathing column in the The Telegraph, declaring he could no longer take the team seriously, after Australia won by eight wickets.

He labelled the Ben Stokes-led and Brendon McCullum-coached side “stupid”, and dismissed their batting as utterly “brainless”.

England was on top for most of the first four sessions, but lost control with a batting collapse after lunch on day two.

“They never learn, because they never listen to anyone outside their own bubble,” Boycott said.

Ex-captain Michael Vaughan, who captained the side in the 2000s, didn’t hold back either.

He accused England of repeating the very mistakes that haunted them in the last Ashes series two year ago.

Now part of Australia’s Fox Cricket commentary team, alongside Australian counterparts Mark Waugh, Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist, Vaughan was quick to underline the gravity of the defeat.

“It disappoints me hugely,” Vaughan told Fox Sports.

“We’ve been saying we want Bazball with brains, but the brains haven’t arrived,” he told the BBC.

Recent former England pace-bowler Stuart Broad’s internal agony in the Channel 7 commentary box went viral, after ex-skipper Joe Root became the third England batter to fall in just six deliveries on day two.

Arms tightly crossed and eyes squeezed shut, Broad pinched his nose and drew a long, pained breath, as Mitchell Starc claimed another wicket.

The moment prompted co-commentator and former Australian test batter Matthew Hayden to cheekily remind Broad to “stay in the commentary box”.

England allrounder and legend Sir Ian Botham weighed in before the series.

The former captain told Reuters he was unimpressed with the England’s preparations, which included whiteball cricket in New Zealand, arguing touring sides traditionally needed time to acclimatise to Australian conditions.

“It’s not the way I would prepare,” Botham told reporters in Australia. “The ball does seems to get to you quicker [in Perth] and the light’s different.

“You’ve got the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ – there’s all kinds of things go into the melting pot.”

Stokes, McCullum and the England players will have a chance to prove the critics wrong in the second test, which begins on 4 December at Brisbane’s Gabba.

Meanwhile, Stokes reacted to the defeat, admitting he was “a little bit shellshocked”, after Australian hero Travis Head wrestled Australia out of a tough spot to claim victory.

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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: It’s hard to know which team this morning’s test in Cardiff said more about.

The 52-26 result saw Wales rightfully given plaudits, despite it only being a penalty goal away from their highest score ever conceded in the fixture. Meanwhile, the All Blacks scored seven tries and put the game away long before full-time, but left a lot of the same questions hanging that have followed them all season.

For Wales to still be in the game at halftime was probably about the best result they could’ve hoped for, plus they can boast four excellent tries in front of a typically raucous home crowd. Three of them went to wing Tom Rogers, who joins Greg Cornelsen (4), Ray Mordt and Marius Joubert an extremely select club of test players who have scored hat-tricks against the All Blacks.

The All Blacks were clinical at times, frustrating in others. Their discipline was almost perfect, but they allowed Wales into their 22 almost as many times as they visited the other end. The bench once again added a lot, but the standout performer was Sevu Reece – a player that had dropped out of the squad entirely only two weeks ago and almost surely wasn’t part of any long-term strategy.

In the old days, this would’ve been an ‘oh well, let’s enjoy the summer’ kind of performance, but that’s not going to happen. If anything, the test itself felt like a curtain-raiser for the upcoming end of season review, something Scott Robertson is acutely aware of.

He was candid in his feelings post-match, saying “human spirit’s an amazing thing” when asked about the Welsh performance.

“The guys that got an opportunity stood up….it was a hell of a year, wasn’t it? An interesting year,” said Robertson.

Meanwhile, Scott Barrett didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement for his own continuation as All Black captain, saying afterwards he’s “not going to look too far back or too far forward.”

Review time

Attention now turns to what the NZ Rugby board makes of the All Blacks’ 10-win, three-loss season. On the surface, that doesn’t seem that bad – until you remember that one was the first ever loss to the Pumas in Argentina, another was the heaviest defeat in team history and at home, and the most recent shot a Grand Slam bid to bits.

“I sit with the leaders and players (for the review). You look at key moments and fine margins…you play really good rugby but what are the fine margins that are critical moving forward,” said Robertson.

Robertson has been open about his grand plan, which is to create a four-man depth chart for every position in his squad. One of the things that will be taken into consideration is how that’s going, and in his defence most of the players he’s debuted in the last two seasons have been success stories. World Rugby certainly thinks so, with Fabian Holland joining 2024 winner Wallace Sititi as their Breakthrough Player of the Year.

“We feel like we’ve slightly turned a corner, 45 with a lot of exposure this year. We feel like the four deep project is coming along well,” said Robertson.

However, the same can’t be said of the wider coaching group. Jason Holland’s departure marked another reshuffle and has created serious questions around the overall chemistry, whether job titles are being retrofitted rather than defined and what’s going to happen next.

“We wanted to get this season out of the way so Jason could leave on a really high note. Then we’ll look at the market, what we need and go through the review to find exactly what this team needs.”

It is times like these that All Blacks fans should realise just how good this team has historically been that we are having these conversations after a 10-win season. Also, what a massive draw they remain after well over a quarter of a million spectators yet again filled up every stadium on this tour.

But if the All Blacks are going to continue to draw on their legacy to motivate and market themselves, this is the sort of introspection it demands. Especially since next season looks like the hardest in a long, long time.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Analysis – It’s hard to know which team this morning’s test in Cardiff said more about. The 52-26 result saw Wales rightfully given plaudits, despite it only being a penalty goal away from their highest score ever conceded in the fixture. Meanwhile, the All Blacks scored seven tries and put the game away long before full-time, but left a lot of the same questions hanging that have followed them all season.

For Wales to still be in the game at halftime was probably about the best result they could’ve hoped for, plus they can boast four excellent tries in front of a typically raucous home crowd. Three of them went to wing Tom Rogers, who joins Greg Cornelsen (4), Ray Mordt and Marius Joubert an extremely select club of test players who have scored hat-tricks against the All Blacks.

The All Blacks were clinical at times, frustrating in others. Their discipline was almost perfect, but they allowed Wales into their 22 almost as many times as they visited the other end. The bench once again added a lot, but the standout performer was Sevu Reece – a player that had dropped out of the squad entirely only two weeks ago and almost surely wasn’t part of any long-term strategy.

In the old days, this would’ve been an ‘oh well, let’s enjoy the summer’ kind of performance, but that’s not going to happen. If anything, the test itself felt like a curtain-raiser for the upcoming end of season review, something Scott Robertson is acutely aware of.

He was candid in his feelings post-match, saying “human spirit’s an amazing thing” when asked about the Welsh performance.

“The guys that got an opportunity stood up….it was a hell of a year, wasn’t it? An interesting year,” said Robertson.

Meanwhile, Scott Barrett didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement for his own continuation as All Black captain, saying afterwards he’s “not going to look too far back or too far forward.”

Review time

Attention now turns to what the NZ Rugby board makes of the All Blacks’ 10-win, three-loss season. On the surface, that doesn’t seem that bad – until you remember that one was the first ever loss to the Pumas in Argentina, another was the heaviest defeat in team history and at home, and the most recent shot a Grand Slam bid to bits.

“I sit with the leaders and players (for the review). You look at key moments and fine margins…you play really good rugby but what are the fine margins that are critical moving forward,” said Robertson.

Robertson has been open about his grand plan, which is to create a four-man depth chart for every position in his squad. One of the things that will be taken into consideration is how that’s going, and in his defence most of the players he’s debuted in the last two seasons have been success stories. World Rugby certainly thinks so, with Fabian Holland joining 2024 winner Wallace Sititi as their Breakthrough Player of the Year.

“We feel like we’ve slightly turned a corner, 45 with a lot of exposure this year. We feel like the four deep project is coming along well,” said Robertson.

However, the same can’t be said of the wider coaching group. Jason Holland’s departure marked another reshuffle and has created serious questions around the overall chemistry, whether job titles are being retrofitted rather than defined and what’s going to happen next.

“We wanted to get this season out of the way so Jason could leave on a really high note. Then we’ll look at the market, what we need and go through the review to find exactly what this team needs.”

It is times like these that All Blacks fans should realise just how good this team has historically been that we are having these conversations after a 10-win season. Also, what a massive draw they remain after well over a quarter of a million spectators yet again filled up every stadium on this tour.

But if the All Blacks are going to continue to draw on their legacy to motivate and market themselves, this is the sort of introspection it demands. Especially since next season looks like the hardest in a long, long time.

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