Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Fergus Blake slotted an extra time penalty to give rugby premiership outfit Canterbury a 19-16 golden-point win over championship team Southland in Invercargill on Saturday.

Southland led 10-9 at halftime, Josh Moorby's early try giving them the slight edge.

Canterbury retook the lead 15 minutes into the second spell through Luke Romano's converted try before Marty Banks nailed two penalties to level the scores at 16-16.

Banks couldn't land an 80th minute penalty, sending the game into extra time which ended with Blake's 85th minute match-winner.

In Saturday's early game, All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith provided an added boost for Manawatu as they downed Northland 31-19 in their championship match in Palmerston North.

Smith has stayed home from the All Blacks' current Rugby Championship campaign and upcoming northern tour for the birth of his second child.

Manawatu led 19-0 at halftime, with tries to Ed Fidow and Brayden Iose complemented byt the accurate boot of Brett Cameron.

Two second-half penalties pushed the lead out to 25-0 before Northland hit back with tries to Jone Macilai-Tori and Jonah Mau'u.

Manawatu winger Taniela Filimone crossed in the 73rd minute to secure the win, with a late Northland consolation try for Kaliopasi Uluilakepa narrowing the margin.

In the women's Farah Palmer Cup, Welllington beat Bay of Plenty 41-34 to secure a spot in next week's Premiership semi-final against Waikato.

The winner of that match will meet Canterbury in the final, the defending champions warming up today by thumping Otago 72-24 while in a championship game, Hawke's Bay beat Taranaki 35-19.

Strong start for US in Ryder Cup

The United States opened their biggest lead after day one of a Ryder Cup against Europe by winning both of Friday's sessions 3-1 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

In relatively benign conditions, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia were Europe's only winners in the early foursomes on a chastening day for the defending champions.

The wind picked up for the later fourballs as the US again dominated, with Europe's point coming from two halved matches.

Tyrrell Hatton holed a 10-foot putt to win the 18th and his half-point, while Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland were pegged back from 3UP after eight by Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas.

But those were the only highlights on a miserable day for the visitors, who largely struggled on the greens.

In contrast, the Americans holed putt after putt after putt, with Dustin Johnson and Tony Finau in particular excelling, to take a tight grip on the match and delight around 40,000 partisan fans.

-BBC

Cameron back to coach Tall Blacks

Pero Cameron has been reappointed head coach of the Tall Blacks for the upcoming World Cup and Olympic cycle, Basketball New Zealand has confirmed.

Cameron has been in the interim head coach position since 2019 after Paul Henare's resignation, and is now contracted to the role fulltime through to the end of September 2024.

Basketball New Zealand head of high performance Leonard King says no one knows the Tall Blacks better than Cameron.

"Pero has been an anchor for the Tall Blacks programme for well over two decades. He embodies the Tū Kaha culture and truly understands what it means to represent New Zealand."

Cameron will return to New Zealand after 14 years living on the Gold Coast. The Tall Blacks head coach role is now based in New Zealand and Cameron will be closely involved in developing the team and its depth chart.

"It's an honour to be named head coach of the team that means more to me than any other. I have dedicated my adult life to the black jersey, and I am immensely proud to be taking the next step in my Tall Blacks journey," he said.

Cameron played for the Tall Blacks a record 227 times from 1993-2010, captaining the team on 170 occasions.

After retiring from playing, he served as Tall Blacks assistant coach from 2011-2019.

Marshall into another grand final

Kiwi veteran Benji Marshall was in tears last night as his South Sydney team beat Manly 36-16 to win a place in the NRL Grand Final.

Marshall will make a new record for the longest gap between Grand Final appearances - 16 years.

The 36-year-old last played in a Grand Final in 2005 when his Wests Tigers team won the Premiership.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett has the chance to claim his eighth premiership as a coach, winning six with the Broncos and another with the Dragons.

The victory earned Bennett, who will depart as Rabbitohs coach at the end of the season, a 10th grand-final appearance.

Souths scored seven tries to three against the Sea Eagles

The Rabbitohs will face either the Melbourne Storm or Penrith in the grand final on October 3.

Australia extends ODI winning streak to 26

An unbeaten century from Beth Mooney has lifted Australia to the most remarkable win of its record ODI streak, which now spans 26 matches after a dramatic final-ball victory over India in Mackay.

Australia, having begun its recent stretch of dominance back in 2018, looked set to finally come unstuck after the tourists posted a total of 274-7.

But a masterclass from Mooney, who carried her bat to finish 125 not out after being promoted to open in the injury-enforced absence of Rachael Haynes, rescued her side following a top-order collapse.

Mooney staged an epic comeback from 53-4, dragging her side to a five-wicket win with help from Tahlia McGrath (74) and Nicola Carey (39 not out).

India thought they had won but the final delivery was called a no-ball and Australia then scored the required two runs to win.

-ABC

Raducanu splits with coach

Britain's U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu is seeking a new coach after announcing she would no longer be working with former Davis Cup player Andrew Richardson.

The 18-year-old stunned the sporting world when she won the title as a qualifier without dropping a set - becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam for 44 years.

Speaking after a 'homecoming' event at which she met tennis fan the Duchess of Cambridge, Raducanu said she now wanted to target more success on the WTA Tour.

"Obviously having such an experience with your team, it's tough to have that conversation with anyone," Raducanu said. "But I need someone who's had that professional tour experience.

"I think for me it's just really what I need. And especially right now because I'm so new to it, I really need someone to guide me who's already been through that."

Raducanu has become the hottest property in women's sport since her remarkable run in New York which culminated in her dazzling win over fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez of Canada and won't be short of high-calibre coaches wanting to work with her.

Raducanu will now decide on what tournaments she will contest for the rest of a whirlwind season with the Indian Wells event a possible option.

-Reuters

Usyk 9kgs lighter than Joshua

Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk weighed in at the heaviest of his career ahead of his heavyweight world title clash against IBF, WBA and WBO champion Anthony Joshua in London this weekend.

Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion who has only had two heavyweight bouts, tipped the scales at 100kg while Joshua weighed in at 109kg.

Joshua had been expected to come in at his lowest weight to help counter the speed of Usyk but, while he was slightly lighter than for his previous fight, the Briton was heavier than for his rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr.

"I don't really watch my weight. I don't know why there is a big thing about weight. Maybe because we are heavyweights so people look at us at our heaviest," Joshua told Sky Sports.

"As long as you are loose, nimble. Loose and heavy, relaxed shots. I should be good. I was heavier and doing it so now that I'm lighter I should be able to do it with more ease."

Undefeated Usyk, 34, weighed almost two kg more than in his last fight against Britain's Derek Chisora.

The fight will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London with a crowd of around 60,000 expected.

-Reuters

Namibia coach unhappy WC qualifiers will be in France

Namibia coach Allister Coetzee has slammed the decision to host next year's African qualifiers for the Rugby World Cup in France rather than on the African continent.

Zimbabwe, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda and Senegal will compete in the Rugby Africa Cup in July 2022 in France, which serves as the final qualifying competition for the 2023 World Cup that the French are also hosting.

"I have never seen such a decision being taken in any other sport code - like a football tournament meant for Africa staged in Europe, or the other way around," Coetzee said.

He said the qualifiers should have been used to develop the game on the continent, where rugby remains a minority sport.

In a statement, Rugby Africa said its executive committee had considered the well-being, health and safety of the players when it voted for France to host the continental qualifiers.

The winner of the knockout tournament will go into Pool A at the World Cup in France alongside the hosts, New Zealand, Italy and a qualifier from the Americas.

The runner-up in the African qualifiers gets another chance at reaching the World Cup through a playoff tournament.

-Reuters

Europe remains opposed to two-year World Cup cycle

FIFA's plans for a biennial World Cup would lead to a "direct and destructive impact on the club game", Europe's top clubs organisation said.

The European Club Association said FIFA's approach to the reforms of the international match calendar were in "direct and unilateral breach of certain legal obligations", as it joined European football's governing body UEFA in opposing the proposals.

The ECA, which represents 234 European clubs, did not state what obligations it was referring to, but the organisation has made a series of agreements with UEFA and global football body FIFA regarding the calendar.

FIFA is conducting a feasibility study into holding the World Cup on a biennial basis, a change from the current four-yearly cycle, but has made no secret of its desire to switch to such a format.

-Reuters