Source: Radio New Zealand
Follow all the netball action, as the Silver Ferns take on England for their second test at Copper Box Arena in London.
The game begins at 4am NZT
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Silver Ferns celebrate their win over Australia at Hamilton. Jeremy Ward/Photosport
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Mitchell Santner of the Black Caps during the 1st ODI cricket match. © Photosport Ltd 2025 www.photosport.nz
The Black Caps have won a tight match in the first one-day against the West Indies in Christchurch.
After the Black Caps set a total of 269, the West Indies were left with 20 runs to get in the final over, but fell short by seven runs.
Earlier, Daryl Mitchell batted through injury to rescue the Black Caps from collapse.
Mitchell arrived at the crease with his team reeling at 24/2, after losing opener Rachin Ravindra and Will Young in successive balls, both caught behind by wicketkeeper Shai Hope, off the bowling of Matthew Forde.
He steadied the innings with a 67-run partnership with Devon Conway (49), and another 69-run stand with Michael Bracewell (35), before he was finally dismissed for 119 off 118 balls in the final over.
Mitchell appeared suffer an injury late in his knock, but stayed in the middle to guide the Black Caps to safety.
New Zealand set their rivals a target of 270 for victory, with Jayden Seales (3/41) the most successful of the West Indies bowlers.
Keacy Carty batting for West Indies. Photosport
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New Zealand’s Kate McCarthy and Germany’s Jason Osborne were crowned as champions in their respective events. Photosport / Alex Whitehead
In a dominant display, Hamilton cyclist Kate McCarthy has claimed back-to-back titles at the UCI Esports World Championship grand finals in Abu Dhabi.
The unique esport uses stationary bikes attached to smart trainers and a virtual cycling platform called MyWhoosh, and has been held since 2020.
The event has a three-stage point-based system, with different ways to score across the different stages.
McCarthy dominated the first-stage hill climb and it was downhill from there, as she beat out all 21 other finalists.
She opened up a 28-point lead by the end of the first stage – an 8.4km, 24-minute hill climb that featured 554m of elevation.
The Kiwi scored almost the maximum possible points during the second stage, where they were awarded at five checkpoints throughout a 12km loop, pushing her tally to 433.
McCarthy put the competition to bed in the third stage, dominating across the eight short laps.
She totalled 597 points, finishing ahead of Brazil’s Gabriella Guerra, who had 525 points in second, and Italy’s Francesca Tommasi on 478 points in third.
“I was aiming to show what I can do up that first climb and then hopefully hang on for the next two stages,” McCarthy said.
New Zealand’s Kate McCarthy claims the top spot on the podium and back-to-back Cycling Esports World Championships. Photosport / Alex Whitehead
McCarthy’s family was in Abu Dhabi to support her, along with partner and former Olympic cyclist Dylan Kennett.
“It was so cool to have them here,” she said. “They have been watching every race.
“Dad turns up and my partner is there every weekend, and my uncle watches online. It was so good to have them here.”
Racing was online in the qualifying stages, but for the final, the top 22 riders competed in the flesh on stage at the Space42 Arena.
“It adds a different element, because we don’t see each other usually and we don’t get to see what each one looks like, so it is cool to bring it all together and to race each other in person.”
“I am still letting it sink in,” she said, reflecting on back-to-back titles.
“I was just so rapt with last year and with the year I have had, and to get this, I couldn’t have had a better year.”
The winners of both the elite men’s and women’s events receive US$15,000 (NZ$26,579) in prize money.
Former hockey international and Ironman athlete Bridget Kiddle of Marlborough finished 16th in her first trip to the esport world championships.
Christchurch cyclist Ollie Jones – who had been at the forefront of the global growth in esports racing – finished a respectable 10th in the elite men’s event, where Germany’s Jason Osborne won his third straight title.
Fellow New Zealander Michael Vink was forced to withdraw before the competition with illness, despite impressing in qualification.
The esports cycling world champs will once again return to Abu Dhabi in 2026.
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Double Olympic medalist Hayden Wilde knew his chances were over at the Dubai T100 triathlon. PHOTOSPORT
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.
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
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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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Devon Conway hits out against West Indies in their T20 series. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Fiji was beaten by England last week before being dealt another defeat on Sunday morning against France. AFP / GLYN KIRK
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.
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.”
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.
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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.”
England’s Ollie Lawrence scores against the All Blacks. www.photosport.nz
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.”
George Ford of England celebrates victory over the All Blacks. www.photosport.nz
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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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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Kosta Barbarouses DJ Mills / Phototek.nz
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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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Australia have won 22 of the 38 matches against Ireland. STEFANO RELLANDINI
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Scott Robertson. www.photosport.nz
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.
(L-R) Cortez Ratima, Damian McKenzie and Sam Darry show their dejection at the final whistle of their loss to England. www.photosport.nz
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.
Maro Itoje of England lifts the Hilary Shield. England v All Blacks at Twickenham Stadium, 2025. www.photosport.nz
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.
Scott Barrett dejected after the All Blacks’ loss to England. www.photosport.nz
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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