Latest - Christchurch schools have swept the top eights titles at the National Seconday Schools Rowing Championships on Lake Karapiro.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
St Margaret's won the Levin Jubilee Cup for the seventh time, while it was the first Maadi Cup victory for Christchurch Boys.
In the girls final St Margaret's came home ahead of Waikato Diocesan School for Girls and St Peter's School (Cambridge).
St Margaret's College coach Ian Smallman commented after their race, "I'm just really proud of how well they rowed, there were a few girls in today's boat who had an off season last year with various set-backs, and getting them all back into their best condition for today's final has being incredibly satisfying.''
In the boys' Under-18 final Christchurch Boys' High School made their move at the 1000m mark by which stage it was clearly a battle only between them and fellow Christchurch school and defending champions Christs College.
Christs finished second and Auckland Grammar third.
Jason Nel of St Peter's won the under-18 boys single sculls.
Will France select a Kiwi coach?
French rugby is to hold a referendum asking amateur clubs to decide whether to appoint a foreign national team coach.
Warren Gatland. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Wales head coach Warren Gatland is among those being lined up to replace Jacques Brunel after this year's World Cup, which concludes in November.
But France is one of the few major rugby nations never to have had a coach from outside of their own country.
FFR boss Bernard Laporte said the referendum will take place next month.
New Zealander Gatland is likely to be in high demand when he stands down with Wales after the World Cup in Japan, and is also a prime candidate to replace Eddie Jones as England boss.
As well as Gatland, two other New Zealanders John Mitchell and Vern Cotter, who is currently at Montpellier, are also said to be on the FFR shortlist.
-BBC
Woods to face McIlroy.
Tiger Woods has secured a mouth-watering showdown against Rory McIlroy in the round of 16 at the World Golf Championships - Match Play in Texas.
Tiger Woods has his eyes forward as he rediscovers the form that made him a global superstar. Photo: Photosport
Woods, a three-time WGC-Match Play champion, came back from two holes down to Patrick Cantlay in the third round to secure a stunning 4-and-3 victory over the young American.
Woods secured the passage out of his group and has booked a match with McIlroy in Saturday's first round of elimination.
Four-time major winner McIlroy earned his ticket to the last 16 with a 4-and-2 win over Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Meanwhile, New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has carded a 3 under 69 second round at the latest LPGA event in California.
She's tied for 15th at four under, 7 shots off the lead.
- AAP
Warner wallops 69 in IPL
Australian batsman David Warner has continued his sizzling start to the Indian Premier League, bludgeoning 69 from 37 balls to help Sunrisers Hyderabad defeat Rajasthan Royals.
Warner's march to the World Cup has not been halted by a week full of headlines that harked back to the Cape Town cheating scandal.
The sacked vice-captain, painted as the architect of the ball-tampering ploy at Newlands by Cricket Australia, clobbered a half-century in 26 deliveries.
Warner and Steve Smith, both taking the field for the first time since their year-long suspensions from international cricket ended, squared off in Hyderabad.
Smith didn't get to bat as the Royals posted an imposing 198 for 2 thanks to a century from Sanju Samson.
The Sunrisers reached 201 for 5 in 19 overs.
Meanwhile, Australia defeated Pakistan by six runs in a dramatic dead rubber, getting over the line in Dubai, to extend their winning streak to seven games.
Glenn Maxwell (98) producing his highest ODI score since the 2015 World Cup as Australia, who were without Pat Cummins and Jason Behrendorff, showcased their resurgence as a World Cup threat.
- AAP
All Blacks captain Read hurt in comeback
It's hoped All Blacks captain Kieran Read will recover quickly from a double haematoma which forced him off halfway through his comeback match in the Crusaders' 32-8 victory over the Hurricanes last night.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Read was making his first appearance this year after an extended off-season.
The Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said Read had a double haematoma after two heavy knocks on his right leg.
Robertson did not give a time frame on how long it might take for Read to recover.
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Waratahs make no excuses for shock loss
Shellshocked coach Daryl Gibson is refusing to blame the Wallabies' controversial rotation system for NSW Waratahs' humiliating loss to doomed Super Rugby cellar dwellers the Sunwolves.
With Test stars Bernard Foley, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Jack Dempsey watching on grimly from the sidelines, the Waratahs blew an early nine-point lead in slumping to a shock 31-29 defeat in Newcastle last night.
Rookie five-eighth Mack Mason, in particular, had a howler filling in for Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley, prompting Gibson to hook the 24-year-old 57 minutes into the game.
But the coach maintained it would be unfair to blame individuals for the sloppy slip-up.
Gibson warned the Waratahs they faced more misery next week against the Blues if they repeated their error-riddled display.
But he wouldn't divulge whether or not he would rest more Wallabies for the crunch match, saying only that he remained committed to standing down each Test player twice during the campaign for the greater good of the Wallabies.
- AAP
Roosters and Raiders rule
An injury-hit Sydney Roosters side have handed Parramatta their first defeat of the NRL season with a gritty 32-18 victory at ANZ Stadium.
The lead changed five times in a willing opening hour last night, including a 13-minute four-try blitz that saw the Eels go ahead by two points.
However, the reigning premiers, who lost Jake Friend and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves to injury mid-match, drew on their big-game nous to finish strongly.
Victor Radley caught out a tiring Eels middle to burrow over in the 62nd minute, before Sio Siua Taukeiaho sealed the victory not long after.
James Tedesco, who was arguably the Roosters' best, put the icing on the cake with his second try in the closing stages.
Meanwhile, the Newcastle Knights went down 17-10 to the Raiders in Canberra.
- AAP
De Jong inspires Sydney win over Roar
Returning Dutch import Siem de Jong has come off the bench to inspire Sydney FC to a 3-1 A-League win over Brisbane.
Out of action since a knee injury he suffered in January, De Jong had a hand in Sydney's second goal scored by Adam Le Fondre before sealing the win at Suncorp Stadium with a clever finish.
The victory puts pressure on table-topping Perth, with Sydney now six points behind them on the ladder as the Glory face third-placed Melbourne Victory today.
Sydney coach Steve Corica said getting the win before their rivals face off was a huge relief.
- AAP
ASA criticises IAAF over Semenya hearing
Athletics South Africa have issued a rebuke of the International Association of Athletics Federations and say the body failed to prove their case in the appeal hearing of double Olympic champion Caster Semenya.
ASA also claim the IAAF have sought to further amend regulations that would limit the testosterone levels of athletes classed as having differences in sexual development (DSDs).
It is that reason that ASA say is the cause of the delay in the announcement of a verdict by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that had been postponed from the original deadline of 26 March to the end of April.
Under the new rules, athletes classed as having DSDs would have to reduce their blood testosterone level for a continuous period of six months before they can compete. They must then maintain it below that level continuously.
CAS ruled in favour Indian sprinter Dutee Chand in a similar appeal in 2015, stating that the IAAF had failed to prove a link between higher levels of testosterone and athletic performance, and that the evidence was needed to reach a verdict.
The IAAF claim they now have the scientific proof of unfair advantage for DSD athletes and that this was presented to CAS at Semenya's five-day hearing in February, but ASA believe they fell short again.
- Reuters
Valverde to retire after 2021 season
World champion Alejandro Valverde will retire from professional cycling in 2021, the Spaniard was quoted as saying on Friday.
"In principle I will retire in 2021... I will do one more year after the Tokyo Olympics. I think that's fine," the Movistar rider told El Periodico.
The 38-year-old, who won the rainbow jersey for the first time in Innsbruck, Austria, last year, won the Vuelta a Espana in 2009, also finishing third in the 2015 the Tour de France and in the 2016 Giro d'Italia.
He also won the oldest of the classic one-day races, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, four times, and the Fleche Wallonne a record five times.
Valverde was given a two-year suspension from the sport in 2010 for his implication in the Operation Puerto blood-doping investigation, even though he never failed a dope test.
He will take part in the Giro and the Vuelta this year before defending his world title in Yorkshire.
- Reuters
Dutch darts star unretires after one day
Five-times world darts champion Raymond van Barneveld has said he would continue his career for the rest of the year, a day after announcing his retirement from the sport.
Following back-to-back Premier League Darts defeats in Rotterdam, the 51-year-old Dutchman had said he would stop playing with immediate effect in an emotional backstage interview with Sky Sports on Thursday.
Van Barneveld, who has slipped to 30th in the Professional Darts Corporation's Order of Merit, had originally planned to quit after the end-of-year PDC World Championship held at Alexandra Palace in London and has resumed that decision.
"I realise that I should not speak out like that when I feel such raw emotion," Van Barneveld said in a statement on Friday.
"I want to end my career at Alexandra Palace during one final World Championship."
One of the greatest players of the modern era, Van Barneveld has won four BDO world titles and one PDC world crown plus two UK Open titles.
- Reuters