Manawatu consolidated second place in the Championship division of rugby's national provinical competition
with a 38-27 bonus-point win over Southland in Invercargill.
Brett Cameron Photo: Photosport
Two tries, and the reliable boot of Marty Banks, gave Southland a 20-13 lead at halftime, but Manawatu produced a well-paced second-half comeback.
Ed Fidow scored a double, and Liam Mitchell also crossed, with first-five Brett Cameron adding 10 points from the kicking tee to wrap up the win.
Yesterday, Taranaki extended their unbeaten run to remain unbeaten in the Championship.
Without a win over Otago since 2010 going into Saturday night's match, Taranaki broke that drought in holding on for 30-23 win in Dunedin.
The home side had their chances in the closing minutes, applying intense pressure on the Taranaki line.
However costly errors and desperate defence from the visitors allowed them to secure victory and extend their lead at the top of the Championship standings.
Lawson on brink of German title
Young New Zealand driver Liam Lawson is one race away from becoming the youngest winner of the German Touring Car Championship.
Photo: Julian Kroehl
Starting from pole position, the 19-year-old has finished third in race one of the final round at the Norisring in Nuremberg.
The result gave Lawson an 18-point buffer from nearest rival Kelvin van der Linde, with a maximum of 28 points available in the final race of the season overnight on Sunday (NZ time).
The only other driver in title contention, Maximilian Gotz, was 19 points behind Lawson.
Replacing Alex Albon as Lawson's team-mate for the final event, fellow New Zealander Nick Cassidy impressed to finish fifth in race one, helping Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse clinch the teams championship with a race remaining.
Venus and Puetz survive tough battle at Indian Wells
New Zealander Michael Venus and doubles partner Tim Puetz saved four match points before rallying to win their second-round match at the Indian Wells Masters.
Michael Venus Photo: Photosport
The world No.16 ranked Kiwi doubles player and his German partner beat Spaniard's Carlos Alcaraz and Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 6-7 (5) 15-13 in a shade over two hours.
Venus and Puetz had three match points on Carreno Busta's serve at 6-5 in the second set. But the Spaniard held to force a tie break. They rallied from 5-3 down to take it 7-5 and set up the tense decider.
The pair face a tricky second round match tomorrow against second seeds, American Rajeev Ram and Britain's Joe Salisbury.
Uruguay upset Canada in RWC qualifier
Canada have failed to qualify for the Rugby World Cup for the first time after being beaten 33-24 by Chile on Saturday, while Uruguay clinched their place after overturning a three-point first-leg deficit against the United States.
Canada won their first tie 22-21 a week ago but Saturday's drubbing in Valparaiso, Chile, kept the home team's dream alive to compete at the Rugby World Cup 2023.
"This is a hugely disappointing result - although we remain proud of the staff and players and the efforts they made over the past months, we all know the expectations for Canadian rugby are rightfully higher," Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen said in a written statement.
Chile will face the United States in a two-legged tie next year to decide which team will feature in France 2023.
Uruguay qualified after defeating the US 34-15 on Saturday for a 50-34 aggregate score, reaching their fifth Rugby World Cup.
They'll join New Zealand, France and Italy in Pool A, with a final qualifier from Africa yet to be decided.
- Reuters
Hamilton fastest, but Bottas gets Turkish GP pole
Lewis Hamilton qualified quickest for the Turkish Grand Prix but a 10-place grid penalty for the Formula One championship leader meant Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas took pole position.
Hamilton's title rival Max Verstappen, two points behind the Briton with seven races remaining, qualified third for Red Bull and will join Bottas on the front row at Istanbul Park.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The pole was a first since Portugal in May for Bottas, and the 18th of his career, but Hamilton was fastest in every phase of qualifying after taking the hit for a new engine that exceeded his season's allocation.
Verstappen took a grid penalty at the previous race in Russia and finished second after starting at the back of the field, his progress helped after late rain caused problems for others.
Mercedes will be looking to Bottas, who is leaving the team for Alfa Romeo at the end of the season, to keep Verstappen behind him while Hamilton sets about fighting through from 11th.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will share the second row with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, who will be expected by Red Bull to make life difficult for Hamilton as a driver for their sister team.
- Reuters
Tough start in Spain for NZ Sail GP team
The New Zealand Sail GP team have had a tough first day of racing at the latest event in Spain.
Sail GP. Photo: Sail GP
A fifth and two sixth-place finishes was all the New Zealand team could manage on day one in Cadiz.
The results left the team seventh overall for the event and needing strong performances in day two's first two races to have any hope of going through to the event final.
Spain is the first Sail GP event to feature six sailors on-board each boat, with each crew including one athlete from the women's pathway programme.
New Zealand sit sixth in the championship standings, seven points behind leaders Japan with two events remaining.
Fox fires in third round in Spain
New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox has climbed back into the top 20 after round three of the Spanish Open.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
After a disappointing second round, Fox fired a four-under par 67 on day three to move into a tie for 16th.
The Aucklander balanced six birdies with two bogeys to be seven shots behind outright leader Rafa Cabrera Bello heading into the final round.
The Spaniard has a two-shot lead from countryman Adri Arnaus and Frenchman Julien Guerrier.
World No 1 Jon Rahm, also of Spain, had a disappointing third round, carding a one-over 72 to drop six shots off the lead.
WADA again sanctions Russia
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it had revoked the status of a Moscow anti-doping laboratory because it failed to comply with ethical and laboratory standards.
The National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Moscow had already been provisionally suspended in January 2020.
World Anti-Doping Agency. Photo: WADA
WADA said the decision means the laboratory "remains ineligible to carry out any work related to the analysis of blood samples in connection with the athlete biological passport (ABP) or any other form of anti-doping analysis..."
The laboratory has 21 days to appeal the decision at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), WADA said.
In 2016 WADA had authorised the laboratory to analyse athlete biological passports (ABP) to ensure the programme's continuity. However, its right to carry out other anti-doping activities remained revoked.
The laboratory's full accreditation was revoked in 2015 after a WADA-commissioned report found evidence of institutionalised doping in Russian athletics.
Russia is banned from competing under its flag and with its national anthem at major international sporting events, including next year's Beijing Winter Olympics, as part of sanctions designed to punish Moscow for having provided WADA with doctored laboratory data.
Russia has denied the existence of state-sponsored doping in the country but has at times acknowledged shortcomings in its enforcement of anti-doping regulations.
- Reuters