Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

One of the major talking points around the start of Super Rugby Pacific next weekend are tweaks to the laws, designed to make for a better viewing experience. While it does seemingly push the competition just that much farther away from the rigours of test rugby, the changes are being warmly received by the players themselves.

“I think it’s going to be good for the game,” said Brumbies and Wallabies fullback Tom Wright, at the competition launch in Auckland.

“Those two rules in particular, the ‘use it’ and the 50/22, you have to do your own homework and have to be switched on. Does it take one or two (penalties) early in the season where it pulls someone’s pants down? I hope it’s not mine or someone else in the Brumbies’ pants that get pulled down.”

The changes include a new sanction for joining a ruck after the referee has called ‘use it’, which should mean the ball is cleared quicker. Accidental offsides and teams delaying playing the ball away from a ruck are now free kicks, with quick taps given more room to occur.

It’s no longer mandatory for the referee to issue a yellow or red card to a player on the defending team when awarding a penalty try, while teams can pass the ball back over the halfway line when attempting a 50/22 kick.

Highlanders and All Blacks lock Fabian Holland said he reckoned the changes were “exciting”.

“It speeds up the game, it brings a different way of thinking around the way we play the game.”

Holland had sympathy for the officials and the job they do in controlling an increasingly confusing game. He said that the other change that sees the TMO’s influence further reduced was a positive.

“Everyone’s just trying to do their job, the TMO’s are just trying to do their job. No one is intentionally interfering with anything, they’re just trying to make the game better. But it’s good to see some laws coming in to speed up the game again and play fast footy.”

While this is not the first time a Super Rugby season has included law variations, these latest ones seem to be going down positively with fans. The same can’t be said about former test referee Mathieu Raynal on Sud Radio this week.

“They want more passing, more tries, less time spent in mauls and scrums, whereas we defend these specific elements and are against directions being set by the Southern Hemisphere,” he said.

“Our [French Top 14] championship works. Our stadiums are full, rugby is more watched than football in the country. We don’t want to follow directions coming from countries where stadiums are empty, where they are trying to recreate spectacle at any cost, even if it means sacrificing fairness and the principle of player safety.”

Ironically, Raynal is most remembered in this part of the world for his highly controversial call at the close of the 2022 Bledisloe Cup test in Melbourne, one that was justified as an act to punish time-wasting. With the Wallabies ahead and time up, Raynal awarded a free kick to the All Blacks after Bernard Foley was adjudged to have taken too long to kick a penalty to touch. The subsequent possession saw the All Blacks score a try to win the match 39-37.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

In one fateful hour, Auckland FC went from having goalkeeping riches to needing to go to market in a global search for a new shotstopper.

All White Oli Sail had played back-up to Michael Woud between the sticks for 14 consecutive games in the A-League this season.

Sail finally got a call-up off the bench on Saturday, against his former side Perth Glory, a game he was subbed out of just after the hour mark with a season-ending knee injury.

The 30-year-old had surgery on Wednesday and coach Steve Corica said Sail could be sidelined for six to seven months.

With Sail out and the team’s other contracted goalkeeper, Joe Knowles, also injured, as well as Reserves goalkeeper Eli Jones battling glandular fever and the club’s OFC Pro League keepers in Papua New Guinea, Corica said the club was actively looking for another goalie to join the ranks.

“There’s a lot of goalkeepers around, but a lot of them are unavailable at the moment,” Corica said.

A-League experience was not critical in the search for the replacement, but if they knew the league, Corica did see that as a bonus.

“The window’s open so we can bring players in. We can look overseas as well to bring a young goalkeeper back, the search is wide.”

After getting dropped, Woud was not benched for long and could now be crucial to turning around Auckland’s defensive lapses.

“He had a good start to the season, I think the last couple of games he’s made a couple of errors which was the decision to change him.

“But he knows what he’s done and how good he can play. I spoke to him [on Thursday] and he seems in good spirits and he’s going to have to be.

“He’s got his second chance really quickly so it’s up to him now.”

Confidence as a cure-all

Corica sees confidence as a cure-all to the situation Auckland FC are in.

Third on the A-League ladder with one win from six games in January, the team has conceded 10 goals in the calendar year and scored eight.

Corica has identified the next three games on the schedule – Sydney FC home, Sydney FC away and Wellington Phoenix away – as important for the team’s spirits.

He believed double success against Sydney would buoy them for the third and final New Zealand derby of the season.

Auckland’s leading goalscorers look different this season from last.

Jessie Randall, Lachie Brook and Sam Cosgrove are joint leaders on the club’s goalscoring tally this season with six each.

Guillermo May and Logan Rogerson who were leading that tally last season, have yet to make much of an impact on the scoresheet, with May slotting one goal and Rogerson still goalless.

Corica wanted more from that duo to ease the load on Randall, Brook and Cosgrove.

“Football is all about confidence and some players are confident players and if they’re feeling a little bit hard done by or not getting in the right positions to score that’s up to them to change that.

“We can try and help them in that department as well but we do have players that can score more goals and the more goals we score then we maybe aren’t in that situation that we let teams back into games.”

In Auckland’s first season in the A-League the club was known for scoring late winners or salvaging results after the 90-minute mark. In season two, late in the game is where Auckland have dropped points, especially of late.

“It really only started against Melbourne City, which was three weeks ago and that was the first time we’ve ever lost from a leading margin but since then the Central Coast game they came back and got a draw out of it but we expected to win that game at home and obviously against Perth it happened again so it’s a confidence thing as well.

“It’s like winning, when you’re winning games it just comes naturally and when you’re conceding goals late on and that period comes again this weekend they’ll start to think about it and it’s how we deal with it and the mentality and the strength we have to get through that period.”

Corica rued some missed opportunities to put distance between them and the other clubs earlier in the season but was up for the challenge of getting back to the top of the ladder with 11 games still to play.

“We’re still in a good position right now and I think the league is a lot closer this year from top to bottom, so the team that wins the league probably won’t get as many points as we did last season because everyone is beating everyone.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Finn Fisher-Black has defended his time trial title at the Elite Road National Championships in Cambridge, while Olympic triathlete Hayden Wilde showed he’s right up there with some of New Zealand’s best riders.

Fisher-Black went back to back with a time of 52:24.29 in the men’s 44.2 kilometre event, over a minute faster than Glenn Hayden in second place.

World Tour rider Ben Oliver came third and wild card Hayden Wilde, who is better known on the triathlon circuit, came fourth.

Two-time Olympic medallist Wilde was 2:06 slower than Fisher-Black. He finished faster than the likes of Paris Olympic track rider Tom Sexton, and World Tour riders Reuben Thompson, and George Bennett.

Wilde, 28, is currently ranked the No. 1 male triathlete in the world, having secured the prestigious 2025 T100 Triathlon World Championship title in December 2025.

He is back home for summer on his ‘off-season’. He competed in the 2020 edition of the road race, but Thursday was his first entry in the time trial.

Wilde is also competing in Saturday’s road race at the cycling nationals at Te Awamutu.

In the Elite Women’s time trial Ella Wyllie finished the 27.6 kilometre circuit with the quickest time in 37 minutes 45.34 seconds.

Mikayla Harvey was just 29 seconds behind, and Paris Olympic track rider Bryony Botha came third.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Pia Vlok was sitting in the changing rooms still on a high after becoming the first Phoenix women’s player to score an A-League hat-trick on Sunday, when she received a phone call from the Football Ferns coach.

National women’s coach Michael Mayne told Vlok she was getting her first Football Ferns call-up for this month’s World Cup qualifying leg in Solomon Islands.

The 17-year-old high school student had just helped the Phoenix women crush the Jets 5-1 in Newcastle, recording their biggest ever road win.

“After the game in the changing room, Mayne called Bev [Phoenix coach] and then she gave me the phone …it was Mayne and he was like ‘you can come to qualifiers’, it was awesome,” Vlok said.

“So surreal, after the hat-trick I was on such a high and then to get the call-up it was like the best week ever.”

The exciting forward said she had received tonnes of messages since.

“It’s crazy all the people who reach out, my phone’s been going off but it’s so nice and all my old friends.”

It’s fair to say her first season of A-league football has surpassed all her expectations.

“I was kind of just hoping to get some minutes, play some football, get in the squad was a goal …to start games and score goals, I wouldn’t have thought that [this] would happen.”

Vlok said her national call-up has come far sooner than she dared dream.

“I didn’t think it would happen so fast. A goal for me for a couple of years has been the World Cup next year but I didn’t see [this coming].”

Since Vlok got her Phoenix debut she’s looked threatening in front of goal and said on Sunday everything felt open.

“I didn’t even feel like there was a goalkeeper in there you know but I think it’s taken a bit to get there, at the start of the season maybe I was a bit more shy to shoot.”

Vlok, who grew up in Auckland, primarily played for boys’ teams in 2025 but also made some appearances for Auckland United’s women’s team before joining the Phoenix.

The power of Vlok’s shots has been impressive and the teenager said playing a lot of football with and against boys had helped her be physically ready for the league.

“It’s just so good for development, especially when I was really young …and having an older brother, I’m always trying to kick the ball harder, be better, stronger, so I think it just comes from that.

“Then going from Auckland United and National League to A-League I found it pretty smooth but definitely a step up, a lot a faster, more physical.”

Having more time to dedicate to training since joining the Phoenix had also made a big difference.

“I’ve got so much stronger, even just in pre-season the improvement’s been crazy.”

Vlok started her first day of the school year on Tuesday after the team got back from Australia.

She is part of the first intake of students at the New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa (NZPAA) which opened as a charter school for athletes in Upper Hutt this year.

Vlok was greeted with a lot of ‘that’s so sick’ from her new classmates.

On days when she is training with the Phoenix she heads to school early in the afternoon, otherwise she does a regular school day.

“They are super flexible … on training days I probably do about three hours and then try and catch up after school.”

A win against Perth in Wellington tomorrow would see the Phoenix women go to the top of the A-league table.

“Hopefully I can score again in front of the home fans because they’re great …so exciting being up there and we’ve got so much support now.”

Phoenix coach Bev Priestman said the 17-year-old had not exceeded her expectations.

“I think there’s more to her than probably what people have seen …the minute she got on the pitch with great footballers she was not out of place and she trains like an animal …she’s a competitor,” Priestman said.

Priestman said expectations around the teenager would be high now.

“It’s early doors right, people are going to start scouting her now and ask different questions of her game and that’s the journey of a young player is to evolve and keep growing and stay humble and I’ve seen signs of that for sure.”

Does Priestman anticipate overseas clubs might start coming for Vlok?

“Yeah and I think we’ve got to be careful with that right, I think it has to be at the right time, we have Pia on a three-year deal, it’s very early in her career …you’re always advising minutes is the number one thing, young players want to play.

“Getting the right test at the right time can make a career, I’ve had young players in the past go to PSG (Paris Saint-Germain FC) and sit on a bench for an entire season, it’s cost them an Olympic Games. That’s the balance it’s developing players at the right time, I think Pia loves this environment.

“Players eventually go on and write a story of their own career but I think we have a really good environment to foster young talent.”

Priestman said Vlok was unique in that she had both technical ability as well as physical athleticism.

Priestman’s resume includes coaching in the English professional league, assistant coach of the England women’s national team, and head coach of Canada.

She was also an early mentor for Mayne when working for New Zealand Football more than a decade ago and naturally the Football Ferns coach sounded her out about Vlok.

“We have the discussions before selections and talk …that conversation [about Vlok] has been ongoing pretty early to be honest. It was nice …after the hattrick, I text Mayne and we arranged the call there and he got to tell her, which is always nice to see.”

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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 State of Origin game will be played at Eden Park next year, according to reports in Australia.

The Australian and Code Sports report that a deal, worth about $5 million, has been finalised, with game two of rugby league’s State of Origin series between Queensland and NSW to be held in Auckland in 2027.

The game will reportedly kick off at 9.30pm NZT to suit Australian viewers in Queensland and NSW.

Last October it was reported that the New Zealand Government was in talks with the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) to bring a game to Aotearoa.

The deal is reportedly part of the $70m Events Attraction Package.

ARLC boss Peter V’landys last year said New Zealand was a possible future venue.

“Next year we’re going to the MCG and then 2027 is available, so Origin in New Zealand is on our hit list,” he said.

State of Origin is an annual three match series between Queensland and New South Wales.

It has been held at neutral venues in recent years with Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne all hosting games.

The last time an Origin match was played outside of Australia was in 1987 when an exhibition game was played in Los Angeles, California.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand snowboarder Dane Menzies admits the hype at the Winter Olympics is something special.

Menzies will be one of the first Kiwi athletes in action on Friday morning in qualifying for the Big Air.

“It’s kind of like a world championships on crack,” Menzies told First Up.

“There is a lot of excitement around this one, it was a bit of a gong show when we rocked in, but it has been good.”

Menzies was born in Calgary to a Canadian mother and a New Zealand father.

He initially trained at the Calgary Olympic Park, but his allegiance was with New Zealand and he was now based in Wānaka.

The 20-year-old had been competing globally since late 2022 and was at his first Olympics.

He was enjoying the experience in northern Italy and had nothing to complain about with the accommodation, which did not include the cardboard beds that were a feature of the Tokyo and Paris Summer Olympics.

“Yeh we lucked out hard, we all got our own rooms with non-cardboard beds which is epic – and mine could even be king-sized.”

However there were some rules.

“We’ve been told we’re not allowed to trade clothing yet, which is a bit of a bummer.”

While some Canadian gear would be nice, Menzies said: “Mongolia has a crazy looking jacket which would be cool.”

Menzies, Rocco Jamieson and Lyon Farrell were all competing on the Livigno Snow Park on day one with three runs of Big Air qualifying.

“We’ve been training on it for two days and we’ve had some feedback meetings afterwards, so it is shaping up to be a nice one, for sure.”

Slopestyle was Menzies’ preferred event, but he was excited about the Big Air competition.

In slopestyle, athletes slide down and perform acrobatic manoeuvres on a course that contains various features like jumps, boxes and rails.

“I like the steel for sure, it is nice to have jumps in there too as I do like getting in the air, but I am a big fan of rails.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

2026 Winter Olympics

6-22 February

Milano and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Live blog updates on RNZ Sport

History

The inaugural Olympic Games were created by Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1894, inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics held at Olympia.

The first summer games were held at Athens 1896 and the winter version was introduced at Chamonix 1924. The five original sports consisted of bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping) and skating (figure and speed).

Like the Summer Olympics, the winter event is held every four years and, until 1992, they held in the same year. In 1994, the Winter Olympics skipped out of sequence and are now held between summer games.

Historically, Norway has been the most successful nation in terms of medals, with 148 gold, 134 silver and 123 bronze, 405 in total, with United States next (114 gold/330 total) and Germany (105 gold/267 total).

‘Miracle on Ice’

Perhaps the most famous Winter Olympics event was the men’s ice hockey clash between USA and Soviet Union at Lake Placid 1980.

Played against a political backdrop of the long-running Cold War and the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which would later spark a boycott of the summer games at Moscow, this clash between the hardened Soviet pros and US amateurs would become the subject of two documentaries and two movies.

The Soviet Union had won five of the previous six gold medals and were favourites to win again, with a team consisting of essentially fulltime athletes at a time when the Olympics still had an amateur-only policy.

They also beat the Americans 10-3 in an exhibition game in the lead-up to the Olympics, but during the medal rounds at Lake Placid, USA turned the tables for a 4-3 victory. Under the round-robin format, the home team still needed a win over Finland to secure gold and trailled 2-1 after two of the three periods.

They scored three unanswered goals in the final period to win, while the Soviets overwhelmed Sweden 9-2 for silver.

Winter Kiwis

Assembling a team for the Winter Games has historically been difficult for a nation better know for its maritime legacy. The Games have never been staged in the southern hemisphere, which means NZ athletes have also had to compete out of season.

New Zealand first appeared at Oslo 1952 – the sixth Winter Olympics – where we were represented by alpine skiers Herbert Franklin, Bill Hunt and Annette Johnson.

Teams were made up exclusively of skiers until Calgary 1988, when New Zealand first fielded teams in the two-man and four-man bobsleigh.

Skier Annelise Coberger claimed our first medal, when she finished second in the women’s slalom at Albertville 1992, and she would remain our only medallist for quarter of a century, until snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (women’s big air) and freestyle skier Nico Porteous (men’s halfpipe) won bronze on the same day at Pyeongchang 2018.

At 16 years 353 days, Sadowski-Synnott became New Zealand’s youngest-ever Olympic medallist, eclipsing swimmer Danyon Loader (17 years 100 days), but she later lost that distinction to Porteous (16 years 91 days).

Both returned four years later at Beijing to win gold – Sadowski-Synnott in slopestyle and Porteous in halfpipe, while ZSS also took silver in big air.

New Zealand now has two Winter Olympic golds, two silver and two bronze.

Milano Cortina 2026

The joint Italian bid was awarded hosting rights, beating out another joint proposal by Stockholm and Are (Sweden) in 2019.

It will become the first Winter Olympics hosting by two cities, but in reality, events will be spread over a variety of venues, with Milan staging ice events, and the others in clusters around Cortina, and the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys.

Cortina d’Ampezzo previously hosted the 1956 Games. Italy has now hosted three Winter Olympics, as well as the 1960 Rome summer games.

Events

The 2026 Winter Olympics will be contested across 16 sports and 116 medal events.

The new sport is ski mountaineering, contested in men’s and women’s sprint, and a mixed relay.

New Zealand will only be represented in three sports – snowboarding, freestyle skiing and alpine skiing.

Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short-track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, ski mountaineering, snowboarding, speed skating

NZ team schedule

Friday, 6 February

7.30am

Men’s big air snowboard qualifying – Lyon Farrell, Rocco Jamieson, Dane Menzie

Saturday, 7 February

10.30pm

Women’s slopestyle freestyle skiing qualifying – Ruby Star Andrews, Sylvia Trotter

Sunday, 8 February

2am

Men’s slopestyle freestyle skiing qualifying – Lucas Ball, Ben Barclay, Luca Harrington

7.30am

Men’s big air snowboard final

11.30pm

Women’s downhill skiing final – Alice Robinson

Monday, 9 February

8.30am

Women’s big air snowboard qualifying – Lucia Georgalli, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott

Tuesday, 10 February

12.30am

Women’s slopestyle freestyle skiing final

7.30am

Women’s big air snowboard final

Wednesday, 11 February

12.30am

Men’s slopestyle freestyle skiing final

Thursday, 12 February

7.30am

Men’s halfpipe snowboard qualifiers – Campbell Melville Ives

11.30pm

Women’s Super-G final – Alice Robinson

Saturday, 14 February

7.30am

Men’s halfpipe snowboard final

Sunday, 15 February

7.30am

Women’s big air freestyle skiing qualifying – Ruby Star Andrews, Sylvia Trotter

10pm

Women’s giant slalom final – Alice Robinson

Monday, 16 February

7.30am

Men’s big air freestyle skiing qualifying – Lucas Ball, Ben Barclay, Luca Harrington

10.30pm

Women’s slopestyle snowboard qualifying – Lucia Georgalli, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott

Tuesday, 17 February

2am

Men’s slopestyle snowboard qualifying – Lyon Farrell, Rocco Jamieson, Dane Menzie

7.30am

Women’s big air freestyle skiing final

Wednesday, 18 February

1am

Women’s slopestyle snowboard final

7.30am

Men’s big air freestyle skiing final

Thursday, 19 February

12.30am

Men’s slopestyle snowboard final

10.30pm

Men’s halfpipe freestyle skiing qualifying – Luke Harold, Ben Harrington, Finley Melville Ives, Gustav Lagnavsky

Friday, 20 February

7.30am

Women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing qualifying – Mischa Thomas

Saturday, 21 February

7.30am

Men’s halfpipe freestyle skiing final

Sunday, 22 February

7.30am

Women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing final

Kiwi medal hopes

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott enters these games as reigning champion in slopestyle and a big air medallist at the last two Winter Olympics.

She took some time off in 2024, but returned last year to win her third world crown and fifth X Games title at slopestyle, and tuned up for the Olympics with second at the X Games last month.

Despite Porteous’ retirement from competition, New Zealand still has a freestyle skiing halfpipe medal contender in Finley Melville Ives, who won the world championship at Engadin last year and underscored his form with X Games gold last month.

He also currently leads the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup halfpipe standings with victories at Secret Garden in December and Aspen in January.

Big air exponent Luca Harrington is another worth watching in freestyle skiing, with three podium finishes in as many events on the World Cup. He briefly led the standings after finishing second at Beijing in December, but now trails American Troy Podmilsak on a countback.

He is also reigning world champion.

Alpine skier Alice Robinson has also been in hot form on the World Cup circuit, with three wins and two other podiums across giant slalom and super-giant slalom. She currently sits second on the super-G rankings and fourth on overall prizemoney for the season.

Robinson finished second in giant slalom at last year’s world championships.

Event descriptions

Alpine skiing – the traditional form of skiing and one of the original Winter Olympics sports. Contested over downhill, slalom, giant slalom and super-giant slalom (Super-G).

Downhill is the fastest of the disciplines, reaching speeds of up to 130km/h, as athletes assume aerodynamic positions for maximum velocity.

Slalom involves skiing between poles or gates, which are spaced closer than the other alpine events, requiring tighter turns. Men traditionally negotiate 55-75 gates, women 40-60.

Giant slalom has poles set wider apart and Super-G is wider still, although it is regarded as a speed event, as opposed to slalom and giant slalom, which are more technical.

Super-G and downhill competition consists of just one run each, while slalom and giant slalom are contested over two runs for a combined time.

Snowboarding – contested across slopestyle, big air, halfpipe, parallel slalom and snowboard cross, although the Kiwis are only entered in the first three.

Slopestyle sees athletes travel down a course of obstacles, including rails, jumps and other features, with points awarded for amplitude, originality and qualify of tricks.

Big air is an extreme version of slopestyle, with bigger jumps and more hangtime to perform tricks, but bigger landings.

As the name suggests, halfpipe is contested on a course with steep curved walls, with athletes using the walls to gain height and perform tricks.

Big air consists of three runs, with the best two counting towards final placings. Halfpipe also has three runs, but only the best counts, as with slopestyle.

Freestyle skiing – contested over aerials, moguls, cross, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air, although New Zealand only has entries in halfpipe, slopestyle and big air. Basically the same format as snowboarding.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The news that the Wallabies will be kicking off the World Cup against tournament newcomers Hong Kong China was met with a collective groan across the rugby world.

While the team’s inclusion marks a significant expansion of the sport as just the second Asian country to appear, fans couldn’t help but feel an opportunity had been missed.

From a showpiece perspective, a blockbuster match-up between two of the world’s most storied rugby rivals appeared a gimme.

Alas, organisers have opted to save the All Blacks vs Australia clash for week two in Sydney.

Wallabies fullback Tom Wright said the decision was always going to divide opinion.

“Oh, it’s hard, right? Do they want to put the fireworks at the start and then maybe it’s lesser spectacle for the next two? I don’t know what their thinking was. We all know that we were going to be playing those three sides anyway, so when we play them you could make a case for it being better, worse or the same, whatever order it ended up being in.”

The Brumbies flyer did feel for the Western Australian supporters.

“What I do know is a lot of friends and family that get to see the Wallabies versus All Blacks game in Sydney were pretty happy. But all the people that live in Perth that wanted to see that first game as well will also be disappointed. You can never really appease everyone.”

Wright also weighed in on the drama surrounding Scott Robertson’s sacking as All Black coach.

“You’ve given the word drama to me, it’s part of the game, right? I’ve had less than a handful of interactions with Scott as a coach and as a man. Shared a really nice conversation with him last year and he was lovely to me, gave me his time. He’s not the first coach to go, and I’m assuming he won’t be the last coach to go. But sad to see him go after a short stint, he’s a good man.”

Though still a long way out, Wright felt Australia would be competitive on home soil as they looked to lift their first World Cup since 1999.

“It’s not long ago it feels like the Lions tour was upon us and that came and went pretty quickly after such a big build-up, the atmosphere and it lived up to every sort of hype and expectation that I had for it. The experience is something I’ll never forget and now the sort of attention turns to Super Rugby and laying a foundation into the World Cup.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Super Rugby Pacific is back after a real return to form last year, with the competition kicking off in Dunedin on 13 February. As usual, each team has gone through an eventful off season, so today we’re checking in on the Highlanders.

Overview

The Highlanders certainly started last season well, winning two out of their first three games, but then fell off a cliff and only managed one more victory in the next 10. That meant they finished outside the playoffs in a very disappointing 10th spot. Right now the most pressing concern is if they’ll have a coach for much longer, with Jamie Joseph now strongly linked to the vacant All Blacks job.

The Good

There’s certainly enough talent in this side to trouble the other teams with the likes of Finn Hurley, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Caleb Tangitau, while Fabian Holland now brings his experience as an All Black back to pass on to fresh players.

Once again, they’ve gone outside the box with recruitment, bringing in Pumas hard man Tomas Lavanini and All Blacks Sevens rep Andrew Knewstubb, while Stanley Solomon has massive potential after having two seasons in the NZ Under 20s.

The Bad

The Highlanders once again will be praying for no serious injuries as their depth will be ruthlessly exposed. They’ve already suffered one major blow, losing halfback Dylan Pledger for the season, also like Moana Pasifika they need results to shed the tag of simply being a place for players to sign before they move on to bigger and better things.

That may well be the case for Joseph soon though, which will leave the Highlanders with their second in-season coaching change in five years.

Big boots to fill

Folau Fakatava was probably thinking he’d be in a tight race with Pledger for the starting halfback spot, now he’s facing the possibility of having to do it all himself. With Sam Gilbert gone, Fakatava is now easily the most experienced player in the backline, so plenty will be riding on him to be the general.

What makes Highlanders fans different

They’re mostly students, which gives Forsyth Barr Stadium the most unique atmosphere when they’re there and a very different one when they go home for the holidays. ‘The Zoo’ is the only place where the music keeps going throughout the game, and while a lot of the track choices seem pretty old fashioned, it seems to be the most direct connection rugby has with a Gen Z fanbase right now.

Big games

They have the Crusaders twice in the first five rounds, so the Highlanders can gain some serious confidence if they can jag a win in one of them. Three out of the last five weeks should be targeted as wins against Moana, the Drua and the Waratahs, before a tough last couple against the Chiefs and Hurricanes.

Highlanders 2026 squad

Props: Angus Ta’avao, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Ethan de Groot, Josh Bartlett, Saula Ma’u, Sosefo Kautai

Hookers: Henry Bell, Jack Taylor, Soane Vikena

Locks: Fabian Holland, Mitch Dunshea, Tai Cribb, Tomas Lavanini, Will Stodart

Loose forwards: Hugh Renton, Nikora Broughton, Oliver Haig, Sean Withy, Te Kamaka Howden, Veveni Lasaqa

Halfbacks: Adam Lennox, Folau Fakatava

First fives: Andrew Knewstubb, Cameron Millar, Taine Robinson

Midfield: Jake Te Hiwi, Josh Whaanga, Reesjan Pasitoa, Tanielu Tele’a, Timoci Tavatavanawai

Outside backs: Caleb Tangitau, Finn Hurley, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Jona Nareki, Jonah Lowe, Stanley Solomon, Xavier Tito-Harris

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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 depleted NZ Breakers are short on time and fit players.

The end of the ANBL season is quickly approaching – with four regular season games to play – and after the club’s sole training session of the week on the eve of Thursday’s home game against South East Melbourne Phoenix, coach Petteri Koponen had resorted to relying on hope.

He had just held a session without star import guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright who was not at the club’s headquarters due to illness, as blossoming Next Star Karim Lopez sat out with a strapped lower right leg, back up point guard Alex McNaught took a blow to his hand late in the scrimmage and Sam Mennenga, Rob Baker and Izayah Le’Afa were only at the practice court as observers after their own season-ending injuries.

“I just hope we’ve got some of the guys ready to go and they will be there… I’d be much happier if [the injured players] were with the group,” Koponen said about what could be an under-manned roster for the upcoming two games in three days.

“It’s a difficult moment but we have to have that next man up mentality and no excuses.”

Koponen often put a positive spin on the situations the Breakers found themselves in during the season but it was obvious things out his control were playing on his mind.

Travel and double-header weekends had limited the Breakers’ opportunities to spend time on the practice court in the last few weeks.

After winning at home last Friday against Melbourne United, a trip to Tasmania ended in a potentially season-defining two-point loss to the JackJumpers on Sunday.

Needing to get on winning streak to have any outside chance of making an appearance in the post-season, Koponen was wary of the team being under-prepared.

Koponen said the JackJumpers game was an example of what could happen when training opportunities were stymied by the schedule.

“We couldn’t prepare and some of the things in the game looked exactly like that.

“I told the group ‘when you are not perfect and you’re not feeling great how do you respond’ and Rob Loe with his 27 minutes on Friday and 27 minutes on Sunday he showed if he can do it everybody else can.

“I think especially for our younger players it’s a great learning experience because maybe they haven’t been there too much yet in their careers but when you are tired you have to do the little things with even more focus and also mentally get your mind ready and your body ready to fight.”

Koponen characterised the performance against the JackJumpers as “flat” – something he wanted the players to avoid with a game against the Illawarra Hawks coming less than 48 hours after the game against the Phoenix on the North Shore is over.

Import shooting guard Izaiah Brockington said the game against the JackJumpers would not be moved on from easily.

“That loss definitely hurt because of the play-off implications so we definitely felt it but we’re at the point in the season where it didn’t completely derail our chances so we’re on to the next one,” Brockington said.

The next challenge was against a Phoenix side that had won nine of their last 12 games and beaten the Breakers three times this season.

Brockington did not think the Phoenix would show them anything they had not seen before but he had heard Koponen’s message about being “mentally sharp”.

“Our biggest challenge is just going to be on the defensive end. They’ve been scoring really well for the past few games so our main thing is just figuring out how we get stops and turn those stops into points.

“We feel like they pressure a lot but we saw a few openings last game where they were over helping or they were a little wild but we’ve just got to stop them from getting threes, getting offensive rebounds, getting whatever they want on that end.”

Brockington might be one of the few Breakers players feeling fit and healthy at the back end of a season that started in September but he still saw the benefit of his hobbled team mates, Baker, Mennenga and Le’Afa, offering their insights.

“Those guys watch the game on TV so we get to hear what they saw and their perspectives of each game so it’s definitely been good having them around.”

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