Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

Black Foils skipper Peter Burling is supremely confident his boat will be back on the water for SailGP Auckland next week, after suffering significant damage at the league’s season-opening regatta at Perth last month.

New Zealand and Switzerland collided in the opening race at Fremantle, shearing the transom at the back of Amokura and sidelining the Kiwis for the rest of the weekend.

Adding insult to injury, the race umpire adjudged the Foils at fault and docked them seven race points, which became academic, when they weren’t able to take the water again.

They arrive at their home event at the foot of the league table and a slight question mark over the seaworthiness of their boat.

“We’ve always been very confident we’d be on the water here,” Burling insisted. “SailGP Technologies and the whole tech team have done an amazing job keeping all the boats in one piece and back together.

“That confident is growing as well. We’ve seen the boat arrive and get shipped out to C-Tech, where they’ll put the new piece on. The stern is already here – that arrived a couple of days ago.

“It’s cool to see it all happening. There’s some complication around getting the physical parts to New Zealand in time, so that part’s all gone well and I’m sure the team will do an awesome job finishing it off now.”

Under the SailGP agreement, all replacement parts are produced by the organisers and shipped from their innovation centre at Southampton. Amokura has been transported to Avondale, where the new piece will be fitted.

The hardest part of that equation has already been achieved.

“It’s been pretty impressive to see them build the whole thing from scratch and turn it around in a 10-day period, then shipped down to New Zealand to meet the boat,” Burling said.

With no practice scheduled until Friday next week, the Kiwis are under no pressure to take to the water until then, with racing on the Waitematā Harbour beginning the next day.

“We won’t get any additional hours and I don’t think we should need any additional hours,” Burling said. “There’s nothing from an electronics/hydraulics point of view, where you normally need time commissioning.

“There’s not a massive amount attached to the back of the boat. There will definitely be a fair bit of checks going on in the shed and we’ll go through a process on that first day to load it up reasonably slowly, but that’s about all we can do.”

While all teams have been idle since the Perth stopover, the damage hasn’t inconvenienced the Kiwis unduly since.

“The biggest thing was we missed two days of racing in Perth, which is never ideal,” Burling said. “You learn a lot during the race weekends, and every weekend you go into with parts you want to practice, parts you want to improve.

“SailGP is very much about evolving, while you’re racing, so there’s definitely a cost to the team for missing that racing. We were in really great shape going into that weekend and it was tough getting taken out in the first race, but that’s part of sport.”

Burling still doesn’t agree with the penalty slapped on his team, but is resigned to the outcome.

“I’ve definitely seen [the incident] a few more times – it seems to pop up everywhere. We still don’t really agree with the call, but we have to live by what the umpires say.

“Tough break in that regard, but also we’re hoping the league can learn from the incident, in terms of how we can keep the boats apart… we hope there’s some good change in that regard.”

New Zealand are now on the backfoot, as they pursue an elusive SailGP crown. They have contested the last three finals, topping the table in 2024, but have managed just second and two thirds.

With 12 more events on the calendar, the Kiwis still have plenty of time to chase down their rivals, but Auckland did not prove a happy hunting ground for them 12 months ago, when they failed to make the final.

“Last year, we had a lot of gremlins with the boat, with the electronics, and hopefully we’ve managed to get them behind us,” Burling said. “Everyone has a few waves, where they have things go wrong with the boat and they struggle to get to the bottom of quickly at times.

“Hopefully, we’re clean on that part of the boat and we can put on an awesome show.

“It’s a little too far out for long-range forecast, but we’re really excited with the preparation we’ve done and the consistent line-up we’ve managed to keep.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/sailgp-black-foils-on-track-to-compete-at-home-regatta-on-waitemata-harbour/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has decided not to proceed with a proposed kick-off rule change but fans will notice other on-field rule changes for the 2026 NRL season.

The ARLC confirmed rule changes on Wednesday following a consultation process with clubs, players, coaches and key stakeholders.

“After careful consideration of feedback received during the consultation period, the ARLC has decided not to proceed with the proposed kick-off rule change, which would have allowed the conceding team the option to kick off or receive the kick-off following a try.

“The ARLC acknowledged the strong engagement from stakeholders and noted that, while the proposal was initially supported in principle, consultation identified a number of concerns.”

The commission endorsed a trial of a proposed rule regarding the non-scoring team having the option of kicking-off or receiving from the restart. The change will be trialled in games with no bearing on the finals at the back end of the 2026 season before further consideration.

Chairman Peter V’landys said the decisions reflected the commission’s commitment to a consultative approach to rule changes.

“The consultation process was thorough and constructive, and while there was initial support for the kick-off proposal, stakeholders raised legitimate concerns,” V’landys said.

“After weighing that feedback carefully, the commission determined that it was not in the best interests of the game to proceed with that particular change at this time.

“The changes that are being implemented are intended to build on the success of the 2025 season by enhancing the entertainment value for fans, while also providing additional tactical options for coaches.”

The ARLC approved the following on-field rule changes

Trainer rules

Trainers will be restricted from entering the field of play to prescribed and clearly defined circumstances. This will ensure player safety remains the priority while reducing unnecessary intrusions by trainers carrying messages.

Interchange rules

Teams may interchange four players, up to eight times per match, from a squad of six players (players 14 to 19 inclusive).

Accidental breach (“zero tackle”) in-goal

There will be no seven-tackle set following a knock-on in-goal by the attacking team.

Restarting the tackle count

For certain infringements beyond the 20-metre line, the tackle count will restart, replacing the current 40-metre threshold.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/rugby-league-proposed-kick-off-rule-change-a-no-go-for-nrl-2026/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Senior All Blacks have closed ranks around Ardie Savea after the superstar flanker bore the brunt of public backlash for Scott Robertson’s sacking.

Rumours of a Savea-led revolt against Robertson have been rife but firmly rejected by both players and NZ Rugby.

All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor staunchly hit back at the criticism of Savea.

“The way the narrative has been put onto Ards is totally unfair. When someone of his calibre goes away to a different comp, it’s easy to point fingers but that’s not the case at all. I know for a fact he wants the best for this team and he really respected Razor.”

Patrick Tuipulotu said Savea was an easy target.

“He’s been used as a scapegoat where he’s just expressed his views in a review where everyone on the team does. I suppose it’s just easy to latch onto him because he is probably the best player in the world at the moment. So yeah, bit disappointing, but people are going to say what they say.

“It won’t bother him. He’s the type of guy just carry on.”

Fellow loose forward Wallace Sititi reiterated that Savea will be unfazed by the speculation.

“He’s my brother, so yeah it’s a bit disappointing, but the fans are passionate about their footy, but we all know who Ardie is as a person and that’s the main thing.”

Sititi said putting the politics aside, the reality of the saga is that a man has lost his job.

“We’ve got to acknowledge the human factor of it. The jersey demand’s the best but I just wish Razor and his family the best.”

Having worked closely with Robertson with the Crusaders, Taylor said it was a hard personal pill to swallow.

“It was pretty tough. Came as a bit of a shock. I have got a lot of respect for Ray as a person, as a coach, what he’s achieved and for with what’s happened I feel for him and his family but I suppose from a high performance point of view, they’ve made the decision and now it’s looking to the future.”

Taylor said Robertson was incredibly passionate about the position.

“I know he gave everything, and wanted to give everything for the All Blacks every week and he wanted the best of the players, and for a coach to be like that, I know he was good for the group and there’s just some things that probably haven’t shaped up the way they should have.”

Having reached out to Robertson to offer support, Taylor said the enigmatic Robertson was struggling.

“He’s not great as anyone would expect when you get the honour of his job and then it’s taken away, and he’s feeling it. New Zealand’s a small place, so I feel for him, I feel for Jane (his wife), and his kids.”

Tuipulotu said there was also a real feeling of indecision amongst the players.

“Especially with the head coach vacancy. I suppose it’s the chance for players to step up and keep the group gelled. A lot of unknown and interesting times. Not knowing what’s going to happen, that’s the uneasy bit. However, in this day and age, high performance sport [is] really cut-throat and it just shows how it cut-throat it is. So it just means we have to be on our game a bit more.”

The injured Blues lock said senior All Blacks have been sure to stay connected during the fallout.

“After it was announced about Razor, we had a team Zoom to sort of make it clear what happened and what the decision was, and it was important for the playing group to focus on Super Rugby, play well, and then hopefully by the time Super Rugby’s done, there’s a new coach and something in place for them and for us to come into.”

As for whether change was needed?

“Yes and no. I think there’s always change for improvement and certainly probably felt there was improvement needed.”

Tuipulotu said players have shared their hopes for the new man to take the reins.

“There’s a list there, but none of us know who the shortlist is. So I think we’re sort of asked what we see in a coach, what we want in a coach personally. So I think that was delivered to a panel.”

He said the reaction to the news by the public was just part and parcel for the All Blacks.

“I think we just have some die-hard fans who want to see us do well and that’s all part of the game.”

Taylor reiterated this notion.

“I think it’s sort of expected, right? It’s a high performance environment. It’s pretty ruthless. A process was played out and this is the outcome of it, It’s been done now, we just have to look forward to what’s ahead and hopefully we get back on that stage and be dominant.”

While a turbulent time for the team, Sititi believes the All Blacks remain a force in world rugby.

“I think we’ve still got our aura. I’m going to back my brothers, and back the black jersey.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/ardie-savea-scapegoating-totally-unfair-all-blacks-speak-out-on-razor-gate/

Source: Radio New Zealand

NZ Rugby (NZR) has confirmed today that Dane Coles is the recently retired player on its appointments panel for the next All Black coach.

NZR had previously announced the five-person panel would include Board Chair David Kirk, 132-test All Black Keven Mealamu, interim CEO Steve Lancaster and former Black Sox coach Don Tricker.

Coles comes back into the All Black environment after retiring in 2023, having played 90 tests over 11 seasons.

The panel will find a successor to Scott Robertson, who was sensationally sacked as All Black coach last month.

Robertson guided the team to 20 wins in 27 tests over two seasons, however Kirk said that the NZR board had concerns over the trajectory of the team before next year’s World Cup in Australia.

The leading candidates appear to be Jamie Joseph and Dave Rennie, after the confirmations that Joe Schmidt will stay in his role as Wallaby coach, and Vern Cotter’s move to the Queensland Reds next season.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/dane-coles-confirmed-as-missing-piece-in-all-black-coach-appointment-panel/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fresh from scoring Wellington Phoenix’s first hattrick in the A-League Women, Pia Vlok will make her senior debut with the Football Ferns as the team begins the qualification process for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.

Head coach Michael Mayne has named two new faces in the 23-player squad for this month’s qualifying journey in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Seventeen year-old Vlok, who captaining New Zealand at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup last year, is joined by Newcastle Jets’ standout Charlotte Lancaster in a new cycle for the Football Ferns.

Lancaster is having a breakout A-League season and has scored three goals in eight games from midfield.

Goalkeeper Maddie Iro is also selected as part of the initial squad for the first time after joining as an injury replacement for October’s games in Mexico and the USA.

“It is great to get this group together ahead of an important year and start the journey to achieve the first of our goals, qualifying for Brazil in 2027,” Mayne said.

“This tour presents some different challenges, especially with the global nature of our squad and players both in the middle of competitive seasons or in preseason and looking to establish themselves, so we have had to account for a number of factors when selecting the final 23.

“I am confident we have the right balance of those who were available for selection and a group that are able to get straight to work when we arrive in Honiara to secure our qualification for the semi and finals back in New Zealand.”

Mayne said he wanted competition to be high in every position but was also working to ensure players “can thrive mentally and physically at this level with the high demands to perform as a cohesive team”.

“What has been exciting to see, and aligns with our strategy to build capability, is seeing players performing well and consistently in their leagues, so rewarding Pia and Charlotte, who have earned call ups after making a big impact in the A-League Women, is great to be able to do.”

The Football Ferns will begin their FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifying journey, as part of Group A at the Oceania Qualifiers, on 27 February against Samoa, before facing hosts Solomon Islands on 2 March and American Samoa on 5 March.

All games will be played at the National Stadium in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The top two sides in Group A will then take on the top two from Group B, played in Fiji, in the Semi-Final and Final of the Oceania Qualifiers, played in New Zealand, to secure a place in Brazil for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.

The full squad is:

• Liz Anton (25 caps/0 goals) Canberra United, Australia
• Mackenzie Barry (22/1) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Hannah Blake (8/0) Durham FC, England
• Kelli Brown (9/0) Newcastle Jets, Australia
• Claudia Bunge (38/0) Melbourne Victory, Australia
• Milly Clegg (20/2) Vittsjö GIK, Sweden
• Manaia Elliott (5/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Victoria Esson (31/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Michaela Foster (30/1) Durham FC, England
• Maya Hahn (8/1) FC Viktoria Berlin, Germany
• Maddie Iro (0/0) Hills United, Australia
• Deven Jackson (7/0) Melbourne City, Australia
• Grace Jale (35/8) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Katie Kitching (23/6) Sunderland AFC, England
• Charlotte Lancaster (debut) Newcastle Jets, Australia
• Meikayla Moore (75/4) Calgary Wild, Canada
• Emma Pijnenburg (8/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Indiah-Paige Riley (34/3) Crystal Palace, England
• Alina Santos (1/0) University of Denver, USA
• Rebekah Stott (108/4) Melbourne City, Australia
• Pia Vlok (debut) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Lara Wall (2/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
• Grace Wisnewski (5/0) FC Nordsjælland, Denmark

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/football-ferns-bring-in-new-faces-for-world-cup-qualifiers/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Freeskiers Lucas Ball and Ruby Star Andrews are thrilled to have just made it to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Ball was a late addition to the New Zealand team and Andrews seriously wondered if she would recover in time for the Games after a tough injury.

After suffering a dislocated hip, the 21-year-old slopestyle and big air freestyle skier was racing the clock to be fit in time and described the last three months as the “craziest of her life”.

Andrews said it will be an emotional moment when she wears the New Zealand uniform during Saturday morning’s opening ceremony.

“It’s really, really cool. I’ve worked really hard to be here,” Andrews said.

“It’s really, really special, and I’m so proud to represent my country and do everyone proud.”

Andrews is one of the first New Zealand athletes in action at the Milan Winter Olympics, and despite being at her first Games, she’s a genuine medal chance.

“Yeah, feeling really good. Got to check out the course today, do a little inspection, just ride through the course and have a look at everything and got some ideas flowing, which was fun,” Andrews said.

“It looked like it was riding pretty good. I mean, we didn’t actually get to hit the course itself. We just got to look. So I’m really excited to hit it tomorrow.”

Andrews is enjoying being part of the New Zealand team and will have her family in Italy cheering her on.

“The team vibe that we have is so good and awesome. To have five people in slopestyle is really exciting. It’s a big team, so yeah, it’s going to be cool. My mum and my dad and my sister are coming, so I’m really excited to have them here and supporting me.”

For 17-year-old Lucas Ball, it was a nervous wait to get confirmation he was going to the Milano Cortina Games and the teenager is loving the Olympic experience so far.

“It’s awesome, really cool environment, sick people, sick venue, everything’s awesome,” Ball said.

He is impressed with the slopestyle course – “It’s super good, pretty big rails and features, but should be a lot of fun, very creative.”

Ball is staying in New Zealand House at the moment and is pretty chuffed with the accommodation.

“Good location. I get to sleep with Ben Barclay, we have a pretty nice little room, double bed. Good food, good people, it’s a sick set up.”

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/making-winter-olympics-a-victory-for-two-nz-debutants-lucas-ball-and-ruby-star-andrews/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Caps are set to have a full contingent to choose from as they wrap up final preparations for the T20 World Cup in India.

Batter Finn Allen has joined the squad following his stint in the Big Bash and Lockie Ferguson, Michael Bracewell and Jimmy Neesham are all available for selection following injuries.

Allen hit 80 and Ferguson bowled four overs in Sunday’s loss to India in the fifth and final T20 international.

Allen appears set to join Tim Seifert at the top of the order after he led the batting statistics playing for the Perth Scorchers in the Australian T20 league. He scored the most runs, had the third best strike rate and hit the most sixes (38).

Ferguson’s pace is important following the withdrawal of Adam Milne through injury.

All-rounder Bracewell missed the T20 series against India after picking up a calf injury during the one-day series, while Neesham has been ill.

Coach Rob Walter is happy with where his squad is at.

“Everyone has had enough T20 cricket to be ready for the start of the competition; even Jimmy who has been ill was very much involved in the Bangladesh Premier League right through to the finals,” Walter said.

“The real positive of the group is that they’re grounded and fairly level through most things. There is always an air of excitement when it comes to a World Cup, but the strength of the group is really a level outlook to the games.”

Bracewell will get the opportunity to prove his fitness in the warmup game against the United States in Navi Mumbai on Friday morning.

“It (calf injury) is tracking as it was supposed to, I have the warmup game to tick off the final things and it’s all looking pretty positive,” Bracewell said.

The USA were beaten by India in a warmup game this week, managing 200 as they chased a target of 239.

This will be the USA’s second appearance at a T20 World Cup.

In 2024 they beat Pakistan and qualified for the Super Eight stage of the tournament.

Black Caps T20 World Cup schedule

8 February: 6:30pm v Afghanistan, Chennai

10 February: 10:30pm v UAE, Chennai

15 February: 2:30am v South Africa, Ahmedabad

17 February: 6:30pm v Canada, Chennai.

The top two teams from the four groups advance to the Super 8 stage where they will be placed into two groups of four teams each, and will play three matches against one another. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout (semi-final) stage.

The final is scheduled for 9 March.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/black-caps-have-full-squad-to-pick-from-as-t20-world-cup-approaches/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wānaka snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is about to compete in her third Olympics at the age of just 24.

Sadowski-Synnott is a member of the 17-strong New Zealand team set to compete at the Winter Olympics in Italy, which starts on Friday.

She competed in her first Big Air World Cup in 2016 at the age of 15 and made her mark in 2017 with a World Championship silver medal in slopestyle.

A year later, she competed at the Pyeongchang Olympics, claiming a bronze medal in the big air.

In Beijing 2022, she made history as the first Kiwi to ever win a Winter Olympic gold medal when she won the snowboard slopestyle title. She followed that up just days later with a silver medal in the Big Air.

“It is such a privilege to be coming into these ones having won gold in 2022,” Sadowski-Synnott told RNZ.

“But the way I look at it is that it has been four years and I’m in a sport that the progression over a year changes so much.”

Following her 2022 Olympic Games success, she was named Halberg Supreme winner and went on to impress around the world before an ankle injury kept her off the slopes in 2024.

“The last four years have been a rollercoaster with the highs and lows, [the injury] re-lit the fire in my heart to keep working hard.

“I’m hoping I can carry the momentum of last year so that when we get to the Olympics, I can show off and try my best.”

Since the injury, Sadowski-Synnott worked her way back to the top, winning the 2025 slopestyle world title (her third) and last month winning silver at the Aspen X-Games.

“I’m not going to put too much pressure on it, but I’m really proud and grateful for the level I’m at and just really excited to show all the work and progress that I have made over the past four years. I just want to do my best and if that gets me… it gets me and so yeah just hope for the best.”

With three Olympic Games under her belt, she has been able to share some of her wisdom with her compatriots. The average age of her teammates is just 20.

“I’ve told my younger team-mates who are going to their first Olympics to just have fun and really enjoy the experience because it is really special. Just focus on what matters most, which is putting down the best performance you can because you’ve worked really hard to get here.”

Sadowski-Synnott will get her Olympic campaign underway on Monday 9 February, with qualifying in the women’s snowboard Big Air.

Snowboarding and free ski disciplines

BIG AIR

Involves a single jump of a ramp with competitors producing acrobatic moves which are judged on difficulty, execution, amplitude and landing. A qualification competition is used to find the finalists, who then have three jumps with the two highest scoring jumps combined to determine the rankings.

SLOPESTYLE

Athletes move through an obstacle course as they make their way down the slope. It includes rails, boxes and jumps with judging on progression, amplitude, variety, execution and difficulty. There are three runs in the finals with the highest scores determining the rankings.

HALFPIPE

Athletes ride the walls back and forth as they make their way down the course launching into the air to perform tricks. they are judged on progression, amplitude, variety, execution and difficulty.

There are two runs in qualification and three in the final with the single best run determining the rankings.

Terminology:

Rotation: The number of degrees a rider turns in the air (e.g. 1080, 1440, 1800).

Frontside/Backside: The direction of the spin.

Cork: A spin that flips off the vertical axis. A “triple cork” means the rider flips upside down three times while spinning.

Grab: Holding a specific part of the snowboard while in the air (e.g., Bloody Dracula, Chicken Salad, Indy, Mute, Stalefish).

Switch: Riding in the opposite direction of one’s natural stance.

Stomp: Landing a jump cleanly without sliding out or putting hands down.

Jib/Rail: Metal rails or boxes in the top section of a slopestyle course designed for sliding.

Pretzel: Spinning in one direction onto a rail and landing by spinning in the opposite direction off the rail.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/winter-olympic-veteran-zoi-sadowski-synnott-its-a-privilege/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The husband and wife Olympic duo running a new world-class diving facility in Christchurch believe it’s a game-changer for the sport in New Zealand.

Since the opening of the long-awaited Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre in December, Christchurch now boasts New Zealand’s largest indoor aquatic and sport facility.

It also gave Canterbury a purpose-built diving space for the first time in years. Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, competitive diving in the region effectively disappeared due to the destruction of the city’s main diving facilities, specifically the QEII Park pool.

In partnership with Christchurch City Council, Sport Canterbury, and Sport New Zealand, Steve and Monique Gladding relocated to the city because of the potential of the Parakiore facility.

Steve Gladding coached at multiple Olympic Games with Great Britain, and the pair moved to Aotearoa in 2015 when Steve was appointed performance director for Diving New Zealand.

Together with wife Monique, an Olympic diver, they bring a wealth of global experience and believe Christchurch is now positioned to become a national hub for the sport.

The timing of the facility plays a major part in Diving New Zealand’s ‘DNA 2032’ programme, which focuses on long-term athlete development. The national body is targeting Brisbane 2032 as an Olympics where it can make a real impact.

“The amount of money that is currently going into Australian diving speaks to that as well, so the fact that we do have this facility now, it will definitely play into that and help assist the vision,” Monique said.

New Zealand has only had seven diving Olympians since the sport made its Olympic debut in 1904 but with world-class coaching, now coupled with a world-class facility, it’s hoped the country can develop more.

Anton Down-Jenkins, who competed at Tokyo 2020, was New Zealand’s last Olympic diver.

Born in South Africa, Monique competed in gymnastics before an injury curtailed that path and she started diving comparatively late. Around that time Steve moved to the United Kingdom, and unsurprisingly the pair met through the sport.

Monique was able to compete for Britain through her father’s ancestry.

She just missed out on qualifying for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and a horrific accident 18 months out from the 2012 London Olympics threatened to derail her last shot.

During a competition in Russia, her head struck the concrete diving board, instantly knocking her unconscious before she plummeted 10 metres into the pool below.

“They had to rescue me from the bottom but all I can remember was when I came out, was thinking ‘okay how do I come back from this? What do I need to do to still make this dream come true?’.

“I’d been pushing after the Olympics, that was my third cycle, and everything had been going so well, I was kind of at the top of my game at that point. It was an awful time but probably made me stronger and I really had to think smart about those last few months before the games of what I could do to really make it count, because I could only train a limited amount so I had to be really smart in my approach,” Monique said.

Perseverance paid off when Monique qualified for the London Olympics where Steve was her coach. She retired soon after and got into coaching herself.

They initially moved to South Africa thinking they would settle there but when that didn’t quite work out, started looking at other options. That’s when Diving New Zealand pursued Steve.

“I had never been to New Zealand, Steve had been there doing a little bit of development work once before. It just sparked our interest and we thought maybe there’s an amazing opportunity to [do] development diving in a country that’s not so big at the moment and that was 12 years ago.”

Monique said there was still so much untapped potential in Aotearoa to develop elite divers.

“When we first got here we were in Auckland and there was really nothing about. Last year we got our first top seven in the world so we had two lads that went out to the World Championships and they got a top eight, which put us on the map. We’ve got some incredible juniors coming through and we’re only just getting started.”

Monique said a lack of a top world-class facility has held the sport back.

“We’ve been able to do what we can do with what we had but now we have this I think it’s just going to take it to the next level. I think it’s really going to open up some doors for people who are interested in other sports like parkour or tumbling or gymnastics, people who like to express themselves through artistic channels. Diving is another sport that they could be good at and I really think there is so much potential and we’ve already done so much and there’s still so much to do.”

Diving New Zealand actively recruits talent, focusing on students with a love for water and gymnastics through one of its school programmes.

The couple and their two children moved from Auckland to Christchurch last October to get the facility organised in the countdown to opening. Monique is the co-performance director of Canterbury Diving, along with Steve, who is still Diving New Zealand’s performance director.

Some of the features of the state-of-the-art space include harnesses above the platforms.

“It’s a system that allows athletes to learn harder dives with assistance, which is such a huge thing – that learning curve is much quicker. We also have very wide platforms, the only ones in the country, which means we can do syncro and hold international events, because we have the minimum requirements.”

Monique said it would put athletes on a level playing field with their international counterparts.

“We’ve also got the dry land facility, which is an essential requirement now if you’re wanting to go on a high performance pathway.

“We have the new fulcrums on the springboards, which are now a requirement at all the world events. We never had them in the country before this so it means divers can practice and train on the actual boards that they compete at internationally.”

The couple are looking forward to holding national camps at Parakiore this year and perhaps some of those divers will be at the Olympics in eight years.

Outside of high-performance development, Monique said Parakiore would be a home for community participation.

“For those who just love water and want to learn how to dive, and flip and be safe in the water, we want to see people build their deep-water confidence, given the role water plays in the Kiwi lifestyle.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/04/diving-nzs-olympic-hopes-boosted-by-world-class-facility/

Source: Radio New Zealand

An alleged culture of sexism, favouritism and bullying has driven a top Kiwi boxer to walk away from an incredibly promising amateur career.

The Sport Integrity Commission has been investigating Boxing NZ, as originally reported by 1News, and its head coach Billy Meehan, who Commonwealth Games medalist Tasmyn Benny said killed her passion for the sport.

Described as a ‘boys club’ rife with verbal abuse, sexually inappropriate behaviour and misogyny, Benny said she was made to feel powerless and without a voice in the environment.

“You can’t really go to Boxing New Zealand because t’s all made of his family and friends. They’re all in the same circle.”

Benny said that as a coach, Meehan showed little interest in women’s boxing.

“We had two worlds, and he didn’t go to either, but he went to the men’s. I don’t think he takes it as seriously as the boys.”

Meehan has not responded to the allegations.

Benny said the level of misogyny was confronting.

“Certain other female athletes have had their ass slapped and certain things like that. It’s a boys club with the coaches joking about certain things. They ask us ‘what type of nipples we like on a guy?’ and just questions that probably shouldn’t be asked.”

Benny said she felt she had no choice but to leave the sport behind but she isn’t doing so without one more fight, saying she felt she had to speak up for future female fighters.

“I don’t want this to happen to any other boxers. I can just see in the future young teenage girls going into the sport and having to deal with this and they shouldn’t have to. I felt like I had to be quiet when I was in there. Like I just had to do what I’m told and be quiet, and I don’t think you should feel that way, you should feel supported.”

Benny said that coaches would indulge in heavy drinking during overseas trips.

“They’d come in drunk. That’s why we’d get asked inappropriate questions. A lot of people were uncomfortable. After dinner, I went to my room because I didn’t want to really be around it.”

She also said suggestive notes were left on doors, written by coaches, pretending to be fellow boxers.

The problematic behaviour was also brought into the gym.

“Every time someone wasn’t at training, they were spoken about behind their backs, he constantly degraded them about how shit they are for not toughening up. “

Benny did try to resolve things with Meehan.

“We sat down with him professionally and said, ‘look what you’re doing isn’t what we need at the moment.’ We tried to explain what we need out of him and our training, and we basically got told that we’re unfit and shit.”

After winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, Benny said she noticed a shift at the organisation.

“All the management and coaching changed for New Zealand boxing and that’s when everything went downhill. Billy was in charge the whole time. The people that he sent on certain trips didn’t know how to do things that we need as coaches for women’s worlds. In India, we got sent with someone who wasn’t able to get into the ring, he physically couldn’t get up the stairs and so, we went in the ring with a random coach who hardly spoke English.

She said the “nail in the coffin” came during a trip to the Solomon Islands.

“The whole coaching crew just didn’t speak to me and another girl on the team the whole trip there. They basically just ignored us the whole time. And then right before our fight, because we went and did our own training with our home coach who was there with Fiji, they yelled at us for that right before we were supposed to hop in the ring.

“After I got out of the ring, I had wraps on, I asked them to cut them off and Billy told me to f*** off to Fiji. That was basically all he said to me the whole trip.”

She said she was beaten before stepping into the ring.

“I’m already nervous because this is the fight to make the Olympics and I should be getting told what to do, getting my confidence up rather than shut down.”

Despite her ordeal, Benny is determined to get back in the ring one day.

“I’ve actually started training again now, but I think I’m going to try go pro. I don’t want to be with the Boxing New Zealand Association. I took a few years off because of that. There was no point because I couldn’t go anywhere with them. So it was like, ‘what’s the point in training?’”

Meehan has been contacted for comment while the Integrity Commission has defended the delay in a resolution.

“While we do not believe it is appropriate for us to publicly discuss the investigation involving Boxing NZ, we are comfortable that our investigation team have acted appropriately and as promptly as can be reasonably expected, in all the circumstances that exist in this matter.”

Benny is clear on what that resolution should be.

“I hope that he is banned from being the coach. Basically they need to tear it down and build up the New Zealand boxing because we ain’t going to get any medals with how it’s now.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/a-boys-club-allegations-of-sexism-bullying-and-favouritism-at-nz-boxing/

Source: Radio New Zealand

An unfortunate training incident sidelined New Zealand Breakers forward Max Darling for weeks, left him with a metal plate in his face and searching for personalised protective gear to get back on court.

After copping a teammate’s elbow in his eye and fracturing his orbital, the 25-year-old Tall Black needed a mask he could wear for the remainder of the ANBL season.

Finding something fit for purpose – and his face – on short notice was not a straightforward task.

That is where MWDesign came to the rescue.

Founder Mike Williams and his team at the Hamilton and Tauranga-based design company were on their end of year break when the request from Breakers physio Rob Knight came through.

Knight had worked with MWDesign previously and knew that the company had the tools, including a laser scanner and a 3D printer, to create what Darling needed. Even though the company was more accustomed to doing work for a diverse range of projects, from playgrounds to geothermal measuring tools to retail items for mass manufacture that get shipped globally.

Williams called the mask a “fun project” that piqued his interest and he spent three days getting it right.

Before the mask, Williams had done two designs for hands for himself and a colleague who had broken digits.

“I broke my thumb a couple of years ago and the cast that got put on meant that I couldn’t use my mouse and I couldn’t do a lot of things. The doctors will probably hate me for this, but I chopped off the fibreglass cast, scanned my hand and made myself a nice little splint that was still supportive, but I could use the mouse and I could have a shower.

“That was as close as I got to mask building for basketballers.”

An injury-hit Breakers side needed Darling on the floor to help cover the minutes that starter Sam Menennga was playing before he suffered a season-ending wrist injury.

Darling is not the first ANBL player to get back on the court wearing a facial accessory after an orbital fracture.

Keanu Pinder wore a similar mask when playing for the Perth Wildcats in 2024 after a similar injury. In the same year in the NBA, Toronto Raptors swingman Scottie Barnes also wore a ‘Batman’ mask for a orbital fracture that did not require surgery.

Williams had seen examples of NBA masks that he said did not look “overly special” and that Darling’s was different and custom-designed from a glass-reinforced 3D print plastic.

After a description from Knight about the injury and the areas of Darling’s face that needed to be protected, Williams used a laser scanner to scan the player’s face.

“It did a really brilliant job of capturing all that detail on his face.

“It’s actually perfectly his face, I put it on and it was uncomfortable as hell for me because I have a different shaped face, but when he puts it on, it’s like nothing’s there.”

Williams spent time trying different thickness and how it was going to sit on Darling’s face “so it didn’t look silly”.

The harness behind the head was another consideration.

“You can imagine if he’s sprinting up and down the court, you don’t want this thing bobbling around on the face. We’ve got a little sweat headband part on the inside of it too. So, when he starts to sweat under heavy load in the game, it doesn’t run down in his eyes. So, there’s quite a lot of different considerations around the design of it but from the outside I suppose it looks pretty simple.

“It’s one of those complicated things that is really straightforward if you know how.

“I hope he keeps wearing it because he looks bad ass in it, it looks real cool, I like it.”

Williams said the company had not looked into doing much work for sports previously, but were now considering it.

“It’s not a big money spinner but at least to offer the service to get people out in the game and playing again that would be pretty cool.”

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/breakers-mask-maker-wants-player-to-keep-wearing-bad-ass-design/

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Super Rugby Pacific’s new law tweaks aim to speed up play and reduce stoppages.
• Players will be getting fewer reps in key test-match scenarios like fielding kicks and positional play.
• This could create a disconnect between the style players experience for most of the year and the repetition-driven demands of international rugby.

Analysis – Super Rugby Pacific is back next weekend and will look a bit different, thanks to some new law changes. Designed to reduce stoppages, inspire positive play and – most importantly, simplify the viewing experience, they have been pretty well received by a public keen to see a repeat of last year’s highly entertaining competition.

Probably the most far obvious will be the 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, so in turn here’s more leeway around taking quick taps.

One that probably won’t be seen often but will certainly have an impact is it will no longer be mandatory for the referee to issue a yellow or red card to a player on the defending team when awarding a penalty try. There seems to be an awful lot of guesswork around this at the moment in open play, with players carded being more unlucky than anything else, but the real positive is that it won’t result in a mess at scrum time.

A dominant attacking scrum on an opponent’s line that results in a penalty try also meant that a defensive side’s prop would get binned, therefore needing to be replaced at the next scrum. That in turn meant that another player would have to go off to reduce their numbers, if this happened late in a game it would mean rolling players back on who have already been subbed.

So not bad at all from the officials who have put all this together in order to get some free flowing rugby going.

The only issue, and it’s not a new one, is that this is all for Super Rugby Pacific only. Once July rolls around, those changes don’t apply for test matches and the effects of that may well be playing a part in why the All Blacks have struggled in the last few seasons.

It’s not that the players can’t snap back into playing a tighter game plan, they are professionals and should be able to do that easily. Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie have both shown that they can run the ball out of their 22 from February to June, then kick it more often than not when they’re in a black jersey.

But the problem isn’t at their end. Speeding the game up and presumably reducing kicking means players coming through at the other won’t be exposed to as many repetitions as their foreign counterparts. The average back three player won’t have had to field anywhere near as many bombs, track across the field chasing kicks, or simply position themselves on field as an English or South African of the same age. Meanwhile props won’t have as many scrums, halfbacks won’t box kick as often, and so on.

It’s offset somewhat by the fact that by the business end of Super Rugby is played in colder conditions, with more on the line, so therefore the gameplans will adjust accordingly. One look at last year’s final can attest to that, but the fact still remains that Super Rugby Pacific is the tier below a test rugby landscape that’s moved far closer to repetitive scenarios decided by fine margins than off the cuff play.

Again, that’s not new. It’s just that those fine margins seem to be far more in the favour of who the All Blacks are playing.

One thing is for sure, with Super Rugby Pacific, though; they’ve stayed committed to reducing the role of the TMO in general play, with the man upstairs only allowed to intervene unprompted if the referee has overlooked an act of serious foul play or some other massively obvious error when a team scores a try.

Which is bound to be popular and hopefully catches on in test rugby, because while we should all be mindful of how difficult the officials’ jobs are these days, no one likes watching them talk to each other all that much.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/the-big-issue-with-super-rugby-pacifics-new-law-changes/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The All Blacks will open their 2027 Rugby World Cup campaign with a Pool A match against Chile in Perth on Saturday 2 October.

The All Blacks then take on hosts the Wallabies in Sydney the following Saturday, with their final pool game against Hong Kong China in Melbourne on Friday 15 October.

The All Blacks have never played Chile or Hong Kong China in a test.

In releasing the schedule, tournament organisers resisted the temptation to open the tournament with a clash between Bledisloe Cup rivals New Zealand and Australia, with the Wallabies kicking off the tournament against Hong Kong China in Perth on Friday 1 October.

The defending champion Springboks begin their World Cup against Italy in Adelaide on Sunday 3 October, before games against Georgia in Brisbane and Romania in Perth.

The Springboks, in Pool B, will be looking for an unprecedented third World Cup win in a row.

The draw also sets up a probable quarter-final between the All Blacks and Springboks.

Other major team match ups have 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 Stadium Australia will host the final.

All Blacks pool matches at 2027 Rugby World Cup:

All Blacks vs Chile – Perth – 2 October 2027 – 6:15pm NZT

All Blacks vs Australia – Sydney – 9 October 2027 – 7:10pm NZT

All Blacks vs Hong Kong China – 15 October 2027 – 7:15 NZT

Other match Match schedule highlights:

• 24 teams, 52 matches, 19 match days, 7 cities and 8 venues
• Opening match: Australia v Hong Kong China – 1 October, 2027, Perth Stadium
• Final: 13 November, Stadium Australia, Sydney
• Super Sunday (17 October): five matches played in a single day for the first time ever to deliver an exciting end to the pool phase: Italy v Georgia, Ireland v Uruguay, Scotland v Portugal, France v Samoa, South Africa v Romania.
• Knockout Drama: Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney will host the first-ever round of 16, followed by quarter-finals in Brisbane and Sydney, and then the semi-finals, bronze final, and the RWC Final at Stadium Australia on Saturday 13 November.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/all-blacks-to-kick-off-2027-rugby-world-cup-against-chile/

Source: Radio New Zealand

It is no surprise that spin has been the feature of the Black Caps training sessions this week as they prepare for their opening game of the T20 World Cup.

Coming off a 4-1 loss to India in the recent T20 series, the New Zealand team moved to Navi Mumbai to continue their build-up for their World Cup clash with Afghanistan on Sunday.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi was one of five slow bowling options in the New Zealand squad and he was likely to see action during the tournament.

The 33-year-old had played 137 T20 internationals since making his debut in 2014 and in this tournament he could become New Zealand’s most successful bowler in the format.

He sits on 162 scalps, just two behind Tim Southee.

Sodhi, who was the number one ranked T20 bowler in 2018, said they had taken a number of lessons from the recent India series.

“They (India) were amazing in their own home conditions,” Sodhi said.

“The wickets were really flat and the boundaries small and it might be a similar diet to what we have in this World Cup and so it was great for us to be exposed to those conditions.

“If we can maintain the intensity that we played that series in then hopefully it holds us in good stead for the tournament.”

Ten years ago Sodhi and fellow spinner Mitchell Santner made their T20 World Cup debuts in India. They both featured as two of the tournaments leading wicket-takers by taking ten each with Santner named in the tournament team.

With so much cricket played in India now, all the New Zealand players are familiar with conditions in the sub-continent and what to expect.

“At training today the boys wanted to face spinners and see what their boundary and single options were so it was really cool that everyone is training specifically for that.”

However, Sodhi said it was important that they remain adaptable.

New Zealand play the USA in a World Cup warmup game on Friday morning.

“They’re a niggly team with plenty of experience,” Sodhi said of the USA.

“Because they play in the MLC (Major League Cricket T20 competition) they’re exposed to some really high quality cricket.”

That game will again provide some valuable information on the local conditions ahead of their tournament opener against Afghanistan in Chennai on Sunday.

New Zealand and Afghanistan have only met each other twice in T20’s.

The Black Caps beat Afghanistan at the 2021 T20 World Cup, but were beaten by them at the 2024 tournament in the West Indies.

Afghanistan beat Scotland by 61 runs in a World Cup warmup game on Monday.

Black Caps T20 World Cup schedule

• 8 February: 6.30pm v Afghanistan, Chennai
• 10 February: 10.30pm v UAE, Chennai
• 15 February: 2.30am v South Africa, Ahmedabad
• 17 February: 6.30pm v Canada, Chennai

The top two teams from the four groups advance to the Super 8 stage where they will be placed into two groups of four teams each, and will play three matches against one another. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout (semi-final) stage.

The final was scheduled for March 9.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/spin-remains-the-focus-for-black-caps-ahead-of-world-cup/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Sticks men have won their series against Japan after a 4-3 victory in the third and deciding game.

Japan had won the opening game 5-2, with New Zealand taking the second 5-1.

The deciding game in Hamilton wasn’t decided until late in the game with both sides showing plenty of intent to attack.

Sam Lane and Nic Woods both scored from penalty corners to give the home side a 2-1 lead at half time.

Japan then levelled just after the break before New Zealand scored one of the goals of the series as Dylan Thomas drove the ball into the circle which Sam Lane finished off at the back post.

The visitors were level again late in the third quarter, setting up a tense final 15 minutes with everything still to play for.

The game was decided by Kane Russell who showed his prowess at penalty corners by firing an unstoppable flick into the top of the goal in the 50th minute.

While the series is decided, the two teams will meet once more in an additional test match on Wednesday.

The Black Sticks men and women will both play in World Cups this year.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/03/black-sticks-clinch-series-against-japan/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Taranaki’s surfing community, -the only region in New Zealand to have previously hosted the globe’s elite surf competition, is stoked for its Raglan cousins who will hold a combined men’s and women’s World Surf League event in May.

The Women’s Championship Tours stopped at Fitzroy Beach in New Plymouth between 2010 and 2013 sparking a surge of interest in the sport – particularly women’s surfing.

Craig Williamson was event director for the Taranaki Surf Festival which included what was then the ASP Women’s Dream Tour.

Reflecting on the groundbreaking event ahead of the World Surf League coming to Raglan, the Surfing Taranaki chief executive said the idea was to give a local favourite a leg up.

“Paige Hareb had just qualified for the world tour, the first New Zealand female to ever do so. She was young at the time.

“So, that was a huge deal for surfing in New Zealand and in Taranaki and we thought that perhaps we could pull something together here and give her a home town advantage.”

Williamson said the festival – which was pulled off with the help of 60 community partners – had left a lasting impression.

“It was incredibly inspiring for young surfers all around the country. I bump into people who are young adults now a lot of them and they are still surfing and they talk about what an effect it had on them to actually see the world best here.”

He said the impact of the visiting athletes went beyond what they demonstrated in the surf.

“I remember vividly when we had Bethany Hamilton, the Hawaiian who’d lost her arm in a shark attack, speaking to like a whole classroom, a whole group of youngsters – mostly young girls.

“I’m sure they remember that and it had an impact on them, you know, in terms of what you can do in spite of obstacles that can be put in you’re way.”

Now based in Australia, Paige Hareb remembered the competition fondly.

“Yeah it was pretty cool. At the time I and probably didn’t realise how good I had it, but yeah looking back now it was definitely a special moment to be able to surf in front of friends and family in your home breaks and show it off to all the other girls and the rest of the world is pretty special.”

She said the New Zealand stop was popular with her fellow competitors.

“Everyone loved it. I know there was a lot of hype about it before they even went there and I think the worst part of it was that it was maybe too cold for them some days, but we got really good surf and everyone loved it the sea and the mountain I guess is pretty spectacular for anyone who doesn’t live there.,

She saw evidence of the Taranaki Surf Festival’s legacy every time she comes home.

“When I was growing up I was one of the only girls in the water and now I go home and there’s at least one other girl out every time I surf there, so yeah, there’s definitely a lot more females into surfing and out in the water which is cool to see.”

Hareb – who would compete for a wildcard into the Raglan competition – expected the Waikato settlement to be pumping during the 10-day event window.

Bruce Gatwood-Cook was media manager for the Taranaki Surf Festival.

A member of the New Plymouth Surfriders Club for about 20 years, he said the audience for WSL events was mammoth.

“It’d be in the millions of the reach we’d be getting because we provided packages to sports networks in Australia and America, Hawaii, South Africa to Europe.

“So, it would be impossible to quantify exactly how many people we reached, but we were reaching a global audience.”

He said WSL events were a marketer’s dream.

“At the same time as livestreaming footage of the heats and highlights of the heats, we also provided b-roll of mountain shots and scenics of the arena.

“So, typically as you see with sporting events like that they’ll have cutaways of the beach and local mountains and scenics like that of the country which really help destinations.”

As a surfer himself, Gatwood-Cook was also taken with the impact the surfers had with fans.

“We just had throngs of young girls idolising Paige Hareb let alone all the other superstars on the women’s circuit and it really created an aspiration for them that I could be that person and I could do that and also seeing how they surfed giving them inspiration to surf like that.”

Meanwhile, Izaro Williamson Sasia was a just a toddler when her dad ran the Taranaki Surf Festival.

Now a national under 18 and women’s longboard titleholder, she was stoked the world’s best surfers were returning to New Zealand.

“I don’t have any memories of it when it was here in Taranaki because I was only little, but I just can’t wait it would be such a cool experience to see it live and it’s been something I’ve always wanted to do, so I can’t wait. Like there’s no way I’m not going.”

The New Zealand Pro, which had attracted government major events funding, would run from the 15t-25 May at Manu Bay, Raglan.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A former Olympic rower is hoping there is some honour among thieves after his gold medal was stolen from his Christchurch home while he was away for the weekend.

Les O’Connell won the medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, rowing in the men’s coxless four, and was appealing to whoever pinched it to give it back undamaged.

He said the medal was gold coated but was largely made of silver.

O’Connell’s home was robbed over the weekend, with thieves stealing a vehicle full of work tools, as well as entering the house and rifling through his belongings.

He was yet to return home after the robbery and did not yet know the extent of what had been stolen

However, he told Checkpoint that no loss was stinging harder than the medal.

“All those other items, that’s what they are, they’re just pure items that can be replaced, this can’t.”

“All of that pale’s comparison to the gold medal.”

O’Connell said the years of work he put in prior to getting the medal was part of what had made the loss hit even harder.

“It’s something I’m not going to win again and it’s a whole process. You know, I was a world champion for two years before the Olympics, so it was a whole build-up to winning a gold medal… it was hard fought.”

Despite having championship medals displayed in his home, it was only the Olympic medal that had been hidden that was stolen.

“I had those in frame, I had this one hidden purely because I didn’t want it hanging on the wall and I didn’t want it stolen. So we hid it behind some books on a bookcase.

“I’ve been told that all the drawers have been opened and that sort of thing. So, yeah, they’ve had a good look around.”

O’Connell said he doesn’t believe the thieves knew what they had found initially and is now worried they might think the medal is worth more than it actually is.

“As time goes on, they’ll probably look at them and think, well, you know, what do we do with this?

“What scares me the most is that they might go and do something stupid like try and melt it down or disfigure it or something like that, which really destroys the whole thing.

“I don’t know what the monetary value is, it never had a value, but it’s more of a collector’s item.”

O’Connell was holding out hope that the thieves would see some sense and return the medal back to its home.

“If they could put it somewhere and let someone know or phone into something and say, it’s here. Even if they just hide it somewhere and later on they let someone know… even post it back somewhere.

“I just don’t want it disfigured or thrown away and lost forever.”

New Zealand Police have been contacted for comment.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/02/former-rower-les-oconnells-olympic-gold-medal-stolen-in-home-burglary/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Glasgow Commonwealth Games is now on the radar for New Zealand running sensation Sam Ruthe.

The athletics world is coming to terms with the 16-year-old who on Sunday became the youngest athlete to ever run a mile quicker than 3 minutes and 50 seconds and in doing so eclipsed the New Zealand record by Sir John Walker.

Ruthe ran 3m 48.88s at the John Thomas Terrier Indoor Classic in Boston, while Walker set his record of 3m 49.08s in 1982 outdoors at Oslo.

“Absolutely,” said Ruthe’s father Ben Ruthe, when asked if competing at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July was on the cards.

Ben Ruthe had the option of competing at the Commonwealth Games or the World Junior Championships this year and Ben said with his son still eligible to run the worlds again, the Commonwealth Games is a preference.

Ruthe’s grandmother Rosemary Wright won the Commonwealth Games 800m gold medal running for Scotland in Edinburgh in 1970.

“It would be really, really special,” Ben Ruthe said. “Sam would love to do that for his nan as well”.

The time Ruthe completed in Boston qualified him for the Commonwealth Games.

Coach Craig Kirkwood admitted they didn’t originally consider the Commonwealth Games at the start of the year because of the qualifying standards, but that had now changed.

“Yeh I think so, we’ll be revisiting our plan for the year in the next couple of weeks.”

Kirkwood said he was stunned with Ruthe’s run in Boston.

“Disbelief, just shocked at how fast he was moving and how good he looked doing it.

“It is very encouraging and I can’t wait to see what he does next.”

Ruthe’s was scheduled to race in a field that includes Olympic champion Cole Hocker of the United States in North Carolina in a fortnight.

Kirkwood doesn’t see an issue with the athletes Ruthe’s will come up against as the teenager doesn’t have any anxiety when preparing for races.

“He doesn’t get too excited about the events and doesn’t get nervous or worry about who he is lining up against.

“He’s always very calm and very measured, which is fantastic.”

Kirkwood was also delighted with how Ruthe’s tactically ran the race in Boston as it was his first ever indoor event.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/02/sam-ruthes-next-goal-after-setting-record-for-mile/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Wellington Phoenix women are up to second in the A-League after an historic victory in Australia.

The Phoenix crushed the Jets 5-1 in Newcastle, recording their biggest ever road win.

It’s their maiden win in Newcastle and forward Pia Vlok, who bagged three goals, is the first Phoenix player to score a hat-trick in the A-League.

Midfielder Emma Pijnenburg and defender Ellie Walker also scored their first goals for the club.

“That’s a lot of firsts,” Phoenix head coach Bev Priestman said post-match.

“I challenge the group to be pioneers and go and do firsts for this club. We knew what tonight meant and I’m really happy and over the moon with the overall performance.

“We just keep building. You can start to see the consistency that’s starting to come to life in the team with the players that are now available.”

The result puts them two points behind league leaders Melbourne City.

From 12 games the Phoenix have won six, drawn three and lost three.

At 17 years and 150 days Vlok is also the second youngest player to score a hat-trick in the competition’s history.

“From the minute she walked through the door we’ve seen what you saw tonight every day in training, and I think that’s the difference,” Priestman said.

“She’s got a really bright future. We’ve got to protect her a little bit and make sure she’s fulfilling her potential, but she’s a top player and well-liked by the group.”

Priestman made one change to the XI which started last Sunday’s 3-1 win over Adelaide United, with Manaia Elliott replacing Lara Wall at left wingback.

The Phoenix play Perth in Wellington on Waitangi Day.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/02/wellington-phoenix-women-make-history-with-newcastle-victory/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Ferns Sevens have taken the outright lead in the World Series after winning the Singapore tournament.

The All Blacks Sevens finished third in Singapore.

The Ferns were dominant in the tournament beating rivals Australia 36-7 in the final after scoring a 44-7 win over the USA in the semi-finals.

New Zealand and Australia had met in the previous two finals this season with New Zealand winning in Dubai and Australia winning in Cape Town.

Jazmin Felix-Hotham and Jorja Miller scored two tries each in the final with Mahina Paul and Katelyn Vahaakolo getting the other two.

Miller was named the player of the final.

“I’m so stoked and proud of the girls. It’s been an awesome atmosphere in a beautiful city,” Miller said

Captain Risi Pouri-Lane was proud of all her players.

“Every single one of the girls stepped up this weekend. I’m so proud of them and really stoked for the team. Defence is best part of the game but we’ve got another tournament in Perth next weekend. Things can change quickly, but we want to do it all over again.”

New Zealand lead the championships with 58 points, while Australia have 56.

In the men’s competition New Zealand was beaten 21-14 by Fiji in the semi-finals with Fiji going on to beat France 21-12 in the final.

The All Blacks Sevens beat South Africa 14-12 in the play-off for third.

Fiji top the men’s championship standings with 52 points, New Zealand is second with 48.

The next round is in Perth this week.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/02/black-ferns-sevens-dominate-singapore-tournament/