Latest - Hawke's Bay will hold on to the Ranfurly Shield until at least next year.
Hawke's Bay with the Ranfurly Shield after their final defence of the season against Waikato. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021 www.photosport.nz
The Magpies beat Waikato 44-14 in their final Shield defence of the NPC season last night in Napier.
Hawke's Bay remain top of the Premiership standings, with Waikato third.
Waikato led 14-12 at half-time but Hawke's Bay dominated the second stanza to run away with the comfortable win, scoring 29 unanswered second-half points.
The hosts scored six tries to Waikato's two, with both of the visitors' tries coming in the first half.
First-five Lincoln McClutchie kicked four conversions and a penalty for the hosts.
Ko moves up in South Korea but still nine shots off the pace
Lydia Ko has moved up the leaderboard at the LPGA tour's BMW Championship in South Korea.
Lydia Ko at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Women's Golf at Kasumigaseki Country Club, Japan on Saturday 7th August 2021. Photo: PhotoSport
The New Zealander carded a third round five under par 67 to go to nine under for the tournament and climb to a tie for 12th, nine shots off the lead.
Local favourite Lim Hee-jeong roared to a four-shot lead after carding a flawless seven under par 65.
Lim, who shared top spot with fellow South Korean An Na-rin after 36 holes, surged ahead with seven birdies on the par-72 LPGA International Busan course and the talented 21-year-old stayed bogey-free after three rounds.
Lim's compatriot Ko Jin-young climbed three places to tie for second on the back of a five-under 67 to take her tournament tally to 14-under, four shots behind Lim heading into Sunday's final round.
Ryu Rae-han was tied for fourth place after a round of 67, alongside major champion Danielle Kang of the United States, who shot a 69.
Chun In-gee shared sixth place with Australia's Minjee Lee.
-Reuters/RNZ
Chelsea's rout of Norwich quashes talk of striker crisis
Chelsea displayed no sign of missing injured strikers Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner as they thrashed Norwich City 7-0 in a performance that underscored how coach Thomas Tuchel is getting the very best from his table-topping squad.
Mason Mount took full advantage of his first Premier League start in more than a month by racking up a hat-trick.
Wing backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell, both of whom have been in and out of the side this season, scored a goal each.
And Callum Hudson-Odoi repaid Tuchel for recalling him by getting on the score sheet too.
The emphatic nature of Chelsea's win, albeit against the Premier League's bottom club, came after they lost Lukaku and Werner to injury in the space of 20 minutes in a midweek Champions League win over Malmo.
Some observers said the double injury blow showed Chelsea had been unwise to sell strikers Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud over the summer and let Michy Batshuayi leave on loan.
Tuchel had demanded before the Norwich game that his players "step up" in the absence of Lukaku and Werner and he was lavish in his praise after the final whistle.
The win also threw down the gauntlet to the Londoners' rivals in the title race.
Second-placed Liverpool, who were a point behind the Blues going into the weekend, will lose more ground if they fail to beat northern rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. Manchester City, who sit third, face in-form Brighton & Hove Albion later on Saturday.
Chelsea's next league games are against Newcastle United and Burnley, both of whom are currently stuck in the relegation area along with Norwich, potentially giving the Blues a chance to stretch their lead at the top of the table.
-Reuters
Ducati's Bagnaia claims pole for Emilia Romagna GP, Quartararo 15th
Francesco Bagnaia claimed pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in a Ducati front row lockout to keep his title hopes alive as championship leader Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha failed to make the second qualifying session.
Bagnaia, 52 points behind Quartararo in the standings with three races left, topped the time charts to move into Q2, where he set the fastest lap again with a time of 1:33.045 to claim his fourth consecutive pole and fifth of the season.
Tricky conditions at the Misano Circuit led to several riders sliding off as the wet track dried up and yellow flags ruined lap times.
Quartararo failed to qualify for Q2 for the first time in his MotoGP career and a yellow flag infringement led to his best lap being cancelled, meaning the Frenchman will start Sunday's race from 15th on the grid.
Bagnaia's team mate Jack Miller was just 0.025 seconds slower and will start second on the grid while Luca Marini on the Avintia Ducati starts third -- his first time on the front row.
Honda's Pol Espargaro missed out on the front row by a whisker and starts fourth alongside KTM's Miguel Oliveira and Quartararo's team mate Franco Morbidelli.
Former champion Marc Marquez starts from seventh on the grid while veteran rider Valentino Rossi will start 23rd in his final race on home soil.
-Reuters
British para cyclist McBride gets three-year ban for use of ostarine
British para-cyclist Erin McBride has been banned from all sport for three years following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for using the prohibited substance ostarine, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) said in a statement.
McBride, a 23-year-old visually-impaired sprinter who joined British Cycling's Paralympic World Class Programme this year, returned an adverse analytical finding following an out-of-competition test on March 3.
UKAD said that ostarine is a type of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator typically used to gain muscle and burn fat.
McBride, who was suspended in April, admitted the ADRVs she was later charged with and accepted a ban from sport, which was reduced from four years to three for early admission.
British Cycling said in a separate statement that they had supported UKAD in their efforts to investigate the circumstances of McBride's adverse analytical findings as part of their commitment to clean sport.
McBride is yet to compete for Britain in para cycling.
Her ban comes a few days after the World Anti-Doping Agency said British Cycling collected samples from riders and screened them for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone at a private laboratory in 2011 in breach of international rules.
-Reuters