Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand Olympian Lewis Clareburt says medley swimmers in the Southern Hemisphere will get left behind if they don’t join forces.

That’s why the two-time Olympian is moving from Auckland to Melbourne as he targets a maiden medal at Los Angeles 2028.

Clareburt will join a highly competitive medley squad under renowned coach Jolyon Finck at Melbourne’s Nunawading Swimming Club.

Clareburt, who won the 400m Individual Medley 2024 world title in a depleted field in Doha, has seen men’s medley swimming be dominated by the likes of French sensation Leon Marchand.

Marchand trains in Texas under master coach Bob Bowman, and swept the 200 and 400 medley golds at his home Paris Olympics.

World record holder Marchand also swept the 200 and 400 world titles for a third time in Singapore this year, following his sweeps in 2022 and 2023.

Bowman, the former coach of Michael Phelps, prepared Carson Foster in his Texas University programme before the American took bronze in the 400m at Paris.

Finck was looking to develop a school of medley swimmers able to rival the best in the United States, Clareburt said.

“We’ve been getting beaten by this group of Americans who have all been training together, they swept the podium this year in the medley events and a few of my friends from this side of the world … decided we would come together and create a medley-specific squad and train together and try beat these guys on the other side of the world.”

Clareburt told Checkpoint he needed any edge he could get.

“There’s nothing better in training than just being able to race someone and try and beat them every single day. The whole crowd being together lifts everyone up. I’m gong to make everyone faster, we’re all going to work together but hopefully the goal is to steal some medals off the podium.”

It would be a unique situation to train with athletes that he would ultimately want to beat at the LA Olympics, Clareburt said.

“I think it’s the future of sport being able to train with some of your competitors to uplift everyone in that training group to try and race each other at the end of the day.”

It wasn’t possible to create that kind of environment in New Zealand, he said.

“We just don’t have the same depth as we do overseas so being able to find a training partner that can match my ability in most of the aspects of my swim is quite difficult. The 400 medley is quite a unique event in that you have to be world class in all four strokes so it is quite a difficult even to be competitive in and there’s not many of us that actually do it on the world stage at a world class level.

“Being an Olympic swimmer, being the top 1 percent of swimming is difficult as is and trying to attract that to New Zealand is really difficult, it’s an issue for lots of sports in New Zealand.”

Clareburt said his goal has always been to make an Olympic podium.

“I’m 26 now, there’s only a finite amount of years I’ve got left in swimming so I really want to make sure I use every opportunity that I can to try and be the best, at the moment it’s just not going to happen in New Zealand unfortunately.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Australia sprung a surprise by dropping veteran spinner Nathan Lyon and picking Michael Neser in a four-prong seam attack for the second Ashes test starting in Brisbane on Thursday.

England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first.

Australia lead the five-test series 1-0 after winning the series-opener in Perth by eight wickets.

First ball is at 5pm 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

Analysis – The 2027 World Cup draw has happened, just under two years from when the tournament will be held in Australia. That in itself is worth questioning, but it is worth remembering this format was heavily scrutinised for the last World Cup and World Rugby obviously hasn’t listened or doesn’t care.

The only really possible explanation for doing it this far out is so fans have plenty of time to plan their travel to Australia. But even that is questionable, as it feels like a really unsustainable way of making sure the tournament is making enough ticket revenue.

Here’s what else it means for the 24 teams that have qualified:

Déjà vu

Whatever the case is, it’s meant that the All Blacks are in a very similar situation to 2023 anyway. Potentially one big game to start, then a real lull until a projected quarter-final against the Springboks.

How did the top two seeds end up on the same side of the draw?

This is a very strange one from World Rugby, because you would think surely the teams ranked one and two at the time of the draw would automatically go to opposite ends and sent on a path to meet in the final. That hasn’t happened (again), with the Springboks and All Blacks likely to end one of their campaigns in the quarter-finals.

The overstayers

Meanwhile, England couldn’t have had a better draw if they’d organised it themselves. Their path through to the business end is pretty clear, however at least this time the English actually look to be building a serious challenge rather than falling arse-first into a semi like they did in 1991, 2007 and 2023. From a hosting perspective, the prospect of having big-spending Poms in Australia for all those weeks is an early victory though.

Vamos Los Pumas

One side that will be very happy is Argentina, who have drawn a relatively easy pool and path to a semi-final. It’s not like the Pumas need any sort of leg up anyway, not only are they consistently beating everyone put in front of them now, they have historically been very good at World Cups with semi-final appearances in three of the last six tournaments.

There’s no reason to think that if things go their way, they can win the whole thing.

A date with France

Whoever wins the projected All Blacks v Springboks quarter-final will then likely meet France, who will still be very sore over their one point loss to the South Africans at the last World Cup.

What about the Wallabies

If there’s one team that really embodies the fact that an awful lot can change between now and October 2027, it’s the host nation. Just four months ago the Wallabies had knocked off the Springboks at Ellis Park, since then they’ve lost 10 of the next 12 tests.

Can it swing back? Rumours of players switching codes from the NRL may be just that, but the Wallabies will ride a wave of public momentum into their big pool match with the All Blacks regardless.

Hong Kong action

One of the All Blacks’ most famous World Cup results was their 145-17 demolition of Japan in 1995, but that isn’t even second biggest winning margin recorded by the teams in their pool. The Wallabies walloped Namibia 142-0 in 2003, but the actual world record is Hong Kong’s 164-13 result over Singapore in 1994. Hong Kong winger Ashley Billington still holds the individual points scoring record, with 50 (10 tries).

However, given their team are entirely locally based amateurs, Hong Kong might be in the dubious position of being on the other end of some sort of record scoreline by the time this pool stage is over.

It’s ages away

On his media call this morning Scott Robertson really summed up how far away all this is, noting that between now and the World Cup the All Blacks and Springboks play each other six times.

2027 Rugby World Cup pools

Pool A: All Blacks, Wallabies, Chile, Hong Kong China

Pool B: Springboks, Italy, Georgia, Romania

Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada

Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal

Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa

Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Weightlifting New Zealand is hoping Aotearoa will have its first female Commonwealth Games gold medalist next year as an impressive group of young lifters come through the ranks.

The sport has just completed its national championships, with more than 100 lifters taking part from around the country and the South Pacific.

Significantly, almost two-thirds of the athletes competing were women.

Two world-ranked teenagers were the stars of the event, Olivia Selemaia and Litia Nacagilevu dominating their divisions.

Selemaia, 19 – who finished eighth at this year’s world championships – set Oceania and national records in winning the 69kg class, while 18-year-old Nacagilevu – who finished ninth at the world champs – also broke records in the 86kg class.

While the two have impressed on the world stage, Weightlifting New Zealand president Simon Kent said the depth in the sport had grown significantly and they were now seeing the results of investment at the school level.

“Especially the women’s depth has grown in the last half-a-dozen years,” Kent told RNZ.

“The number of clubs has grown and there is good involvement with our community schools programme Lift for Gold. We’ve really invested, there is more exposure and more young people are getting to have a crack at the sport.

“From a high-performance perspective, we’ve really targeted investing in these young ones over the last couple of years and they’re now coming through.”

As a result, Kent expected as many as a dozen lifters (six men and six women) could compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with the hope that a woman could come away with New Zealand’s first weightlifting gold medal.

New Zealand has won 40 weightlifting medals at the Commonwealth Games over the years, including 12 gold. They have included victories for legends of the sport like Precious McKenzie, Tony Ebert, Don Oliver, Graham May, Darren Liddel, Richie Patterson and David Liti.

Since women’s weightlifting was added to the Games programme in 2002, the closest a Kiwi has come was the silver medal won by Olivia Baker in 2002.

“The one thing missing is we’ve never had a female win a gold medal, and we think with this young group coming through there is every possibility that that could happen next year,” Kent said.

“What Olivia [Selemaia] has done over the last year proving that she is genuinely a world class athlete and not far behind is Latia [Nacagilevu], who is also demonstrating that she has wonderful potential.”

Both those lifters have stiff competition in the Commonwealth, but Kent was confident they could contend for titles, and as teenagers they still had a long way to go in their careers.

All the major contenders for the New Zealand Commonwealth Games weightlifting team will compete at the Oceania Championships in Samoa in April, which will be the last qualifying event before the Games.

Selemaia, Nacagilevu and David Liti were all ranked in the top three in the Commonwealth and all-but assured of selection for the Games.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The All Blacks end of season review will be completed by the end of January and coach Scott Robertson is ready for the “interrogation” headed his way.

Robertson spoke to media on Thursday following the draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, which has New Zealand in Pool A with hosts the Wallabies, Hong Kong China and Chile.

The All Blacks are coming off a year in which they won 10 of 13 tests with three defeats. They retained the Bledisloe Cup but couldn’t win back the Rugby Championship nor complete the Grand Slam on their end of year tour and fell to a record loss at the hands of South Africa.

Those defeats, a pattern of poor second half performances and the team’s struggles to adapt to their rivals’ change of tactics have left many pundits questioning whether the All Blacks are getting better.

Consequently, there is plenty of interest in the end of season review and Robertson said it had begun.

“It’s pretty much an interrogation, right from the top to the bottom,” Robertson said.

“It’s a great tool for us to get feedback as coaches, and the whole group from the players and all the management.

“People are gathering (info now). But in the new year, that’s when the information is disseminated out.

“We have an All Blacks camp (in January) and then the team (input) and the board (input) and all that (review) information will be had by the end of January.”

The review process was nothing new, Robertson said.

“We have someone that travels with us the whole time that’s reviewing.

“There’s online stuff, there’s also the group stuff that the team do while they’re on tour, you sit down one-on-one, you talk to all the leaders and get their feedback, so there’s a personal touch to it as well, so that’s all being gathered.”

The players would be involved in the review and it would be full and frank, Robertson said.

He was confident the review would show the team was improving less than two years out from the next Rugby World Cup.

“There’s a lot to do before that. There’s a lot of rugby, there’s a lot of chances for us to go and get better in areas, and as a team, and hone in like everyone else. Like I said before, World Rugby is the closest it’s ever been.

“We’ve got some really good competition across the squad and there’s a lot of depth in our squad. This year we had the most injuries we’ve ever had as an All Black squad and so it did create opportunities for other players.

“We want to be four deep in each position and we’re starting to get there and we’ve got another super rugby competition for someone to come in and play really well and put pressure on the current side to play well and pick themselves for the All Blacks next year.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Caps face the West Indies for day three of their first test of the summer from Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

New Zealand has played just two Test matches so far in 2025, beating Zimbabwe 2-0 in Bulawayo in August.

Since then they’ve played 17 white-ball games against Australia, England and West Indies.

“The team is clear in their test match identity, they’ve done incredibly well as a unit, so just to fall back into that,” coach Rob Walter said on the eve of the three match series.

New Zealand is ranked fifth in the World Test rankings, with West Indies eighth.

First ball is at 11am.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Another impressive performance by captain Parker Jackson-Cartwright has given the Breakers their second successive win in the NBL and edged them closer to a place in the final of the Ignite Cup.

Jackson-Cartwright hit 24 points as the Breakers beat the Sydney Kings 95-90 in Hamilton.

The Kings were up by as many as ten points in the third quarter before Jackson-Cartwright made his mark.

He hit a three just inside half-court on three quarter-time to bring the Breakers back within six and then in the last minute hit the game clinching three which kept them top of the in-season Ignite Cup tournament.

Coach Petteri Koponen admits they gave away too many turnovers in the first half, but fortunately his captain came to the rescue in the second half.

“Parker first half he was in a bit of foul trouble and was resting, but second half he took over and won us the game, an unbelievable performance,” Koponen said.

Twenty-one of Jackson-Cartwright’s 24 points came after half time including six three-pointers.

The Breakers were without the injured Izayah Le’Afa and his replacement Tai Webster is not yet available to play.

Karim Lopez had 18 points and six rebounds, while Izaiah Brockington had 17 points.

Lopez, 18, who is projected to be an NBA lottery pick, had Charlotte Hornets scouts on hand to watch him.

The Breakers sit seventh in the NBL standings with six wins and 10 losses.

The Breakers return to Auckland for the first time in over a month to host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Saturday in what is their last home game until early January.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Analysis: New Zealand driver Liam Lawson can probably afford to sit back and take a couple of deep breaths following the 2025 Formula 1 season, but he won’t have long to relax.

If the 23-year-old thought he was under pressure in his first full season in the sport’s elite competition, the intensity will climb to another level next season.

Lawson’s job is far from secure even in 2026.

Red Bull have not revealed the length of the new contracts for Lawson, Isack Hadjar or Arvid Lindblad, while Max Verstappen’s deal runs until the end of the 2028 championship.

It is likely that Lawson is on a one-year deal again, meaning he has to more than prove himself to stay beyond the end of next year.

He is now also the senior driver at Racing Bulls and therefore needs to be the one leading the team on the points table, anything less and his Formula 1 career will be over.

“Liam Lawson has got to get a result next year,” F1 commentator Alex Jacques said following the Red Bull driver line-up announcement.

“It is really well put from Alan Permane, (Racing Bulls team principal) peaks and troughs will not cut it in a second full season.

“He is going to have to find consistency that is higher and make the most of this brilliant opportunity that has been given to him.”

Red Bull obviously see something in Lawson and they are now hoping to nurture it.

“Liam is talented, he’s very talented, and my mission will be to get him to operate at the level he can operate at when things are all working for him,” Permane told F1.

“In some of the most difficult situations we’ve had this year such as Vegas Qualifying or Baku Qualifying, he’s excelled – and he’s having some really strong races. I know he’s capable of that and he knows he’s capable of that and I just want to work with him to get him at that level every single time he goes in the car.”

Lawson struggled early on in 2025 driving the first two rounds with Red Bull before being demoted to Racing Bulls.

It wasn’t until the eighth round in Monaco that he picked up his first points and while he finished fifth in Azerbaijan and sixth in Austria, there were plenty of times where he was unable to make an impression on the top ten.

That won’t be acceptable in 2026, but what car Racing Bulls is able to produce next year will be a key.

New regulations come into force with the cars smaller and lighter with different aerodynamics and there will be an increase in electrification in the power unit.

Commentators are expecting the Mercedes powered cars (Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Alpine) to get up to speed quickly in 2026 but there is a question mark surrounding Red Bull who will leave Honda and will produce their own power units with the help of Ford.

It is also worth noting that Red Bull kept Yuki Tsunoda on as their test and reserve driver for 2026 meaning they have someone who is capable of stepping back into one of their cars at short notice if any of the other three (Hadjar, Lawson and Linblad) have any problems.

The championship will be decided this weekend in Abu Dhabi with Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri all in contention.

For Lawson it is another opportunity to pick up points and thank the bosses for putting faith in him.

“I’m very excited to finish off the season in Abu Dhabi, after a strong finish in the points at the weekend.

“It’s a hugely enjoyable track which I raced at for the first time in Formula One back in 2021.

“We had strong race pace in Qatar, which we hope to take into the final race as we continue our fight for P6 in the Constructors’.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The All Blacks will face the Wallabies in their pool at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, after the tournament draw has now been completed in Sydney. Both sides have been drawn in Pool A, along with qualifiers Chile and Hong Kong China – two sides the All Blacks have never played in a test match.

Meanwhile, the Springboks will be looking for an unprecedented third World Cup win in a row. They’ve drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania in Pool B.

This also sets up a probable quarter-final between the All Blacks and Springboks, with the defending champions in Pool B.

Other major team match ups see Ireland and Scotland in Pool D, while England and Wales are both in Pool F.

The tournament will be the first in an expanded format, featuring six pools of four teams. The top two teams from each pool plus the four best third-placed teams will qualify for the knockout phase.

Australia will host the World Cup for the second time, after the 2003 edition in which the Wallabies went in as defending champions only to lose to England in the final. To date, it is the only time a northern hemisphere side has won the World Cup.

The World Cup will take place in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Townsville and Newcastle. Sydney’s Accor Stadium will host the final, while Perth’s Optus Stadium will have the opening game of the tournament on 1 October 2027.

2027 Rugby World Cup pools

Pool A: All Blacks, Wallabies, Chile, Hong Kong China

Pool B: Springboks, Italy, Georgia, Romania

Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada

Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal

Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa

Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Caps have taken firm control of the first cricket test against the West Indies in Christchurch.

A five wicket haul for Jacob Duffy saw the Windies dismissed for just 167, handing New Zealand a first innings lead of 64.

The West Indies made a solid start to the day, Shai Hope and Tagenarine Chanderpaul taking them past three figures for the loss of just two wickets.

Hope notched fifty before he held out to Devon Conway at square leg.

It has been a forgettable test thus far for the Kiwi opener, who after getting out for a duck, dropped Chanderpaul twice at leg slip.

However, much like Kane Williamson in the first innings who was also given a reprieve from a no-ball, Chanderpaul reached his half century, before Conway finally managed to pouch one on third attempt.

With Chanderpaul in the sheds, the Windies tail offered little resistance, Duffy quickly mopping them up as the visitors lost their last four wickets for just 27 runs.

The Kiwis have yet to lose a wicket in their second innings, with Tom Latham, 14, and Conway 15, at the crease with the lead nearing 100.

Play is set to resume at 11am.

Follow what happened in the second day of play in the blog below:

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