Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Campbell Pithie won stage five of the Tour of Southland from Invercargill to Bluff Hill as leader Michael Vink's rivals begin to run out of chances to deny him a special place in the race's history.

Pithie, who produced a remarkable solo breakaway victory to win stage three on Tuesday, climbed brilliantly up the steep incline of Motu Pōhue to win stage five of New Zealand's most prestigious bike race.

"It was another tough day, a very tactical day," the 22-year-old said.

"I was suffering, and the boys can catch up really quick, but it was a hard day for everyone so I knew they were suffering behind me."

If Vink, who won in 2018 and 2019, can continue to control the race the Cantabrian will become just the fourth rider to win the Tour of Southland three or more times, joining Tino Tabak, Brian Fowler and Hayden Roulston in an exclusive club.

Stage five saw O'Donnell (Oxford Edge) extend his lead in the under 23 classification, while Glenn Haden now leads by 2min 10sec in the over 35 category. Jackson (Creation Signs-MitoQ) leads the Sprint Ace classification, while Pithie has now climbed his way into the King of the Mountain jersey.

The seven-day, eight stage Tour of Southland finishes in Invercargill's Gala St on Saturday afternoon.

Football Ferns to face Korea

The Football Ferns have two games confirmed for this month's international window against Korea Republic in Korea on 27 and 30 November.

Football Ferns head coach Jitka Klimková is looking forward to the opportunity to reassemble the Ferns and continuing what was started in Canada.

"It's a great opportunity to build on the work and progress we made last month. Our time in Canada was important for connecting as a group and setting the direction for the team: how we want to play, focusing on developing a more attacking mindset within the group."

These games will be useful preparation for Korea Republic as they lead into the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup in January 2022 - AFC's qualifying tournament for the 2023 Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand.

The 18th ranked side on FIFA's women's world rankings, Korea Republic have qualified for the last two Women's World Cups.

The Football Ferns have played Korea Republic 11 times since the two sides first met in 1995, with a win-draw-loss record of 1-5-5.

Reds into last 16 of Champions League

Liverpool marched into the knockout stages of the Champions League with two games to spare after a convincing 2-0 victory over 10-man Atletico Madrid at Anfield guaranteed them top spot in Group B.

Diogo Jota put Juergen Klopp's side ahead in the 13th minute, while Sadio Mane scored eight minutes later.

The Spanish side's troubles intensified after Felipe was sent off in the 36th minute for a deliberate trip on Mane that earned him a harsh straight red.

Manchester City moved within sight of the next round with a 4-1 win over Club Brugge of Belgium.

City top their group, a point above Paris Saint Germain, who drew 2-2 with RB leipzig.

Ajax Amsterdam moved through to the next round after beating Dortmund 3-1

While Real Madrid moved top of their group after beating Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1, Inter Milan are second after beating Sherrif Tiraspol 3-1.

-Reuters

Dravid takes over as India coach

Former India captain and batting stalwart Rahul Dravid has been appointed the head coach of the men's national team to succeed Ravi Shastri.

Dravid, who played 164 tests and 344 one-dayers between 1996 and 2012 and accumulated more than 10,000 runs in both formats, was previously in charge of India's under-19 and 'A' teams and is credited for a steady supply of young talent as head of the National Cricket Academy.

Dravid will take charge from the home series against New Zealand which begins later this month. The team will play three Twenty20 internationals and two tests.

The 48-year-old, nicknamed "The Wall" in his playing days for his near-impregnable defence, said it was an "absolute honour" to take charge of the team.

"I'm really looking forward to this role. Under Shastri, the team has done very well, and I hope to work with the team to take this forward," Dravid said.

Shastri, who took up the job in mid-2017, had ruled out seeking an extension after his tenure expires following the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

-Reuters

Webster gets vaccinated, signs with Lithuanian basketball club

New Zealand point guard Tai Webster has joined Lithuanian basketball club Zalgiris until the end of the season.

Webster left the New Zealand Breakers in September after he would not commit to getting a Covid-19 vaccination.

The 26-year-old arrived at his new Euroleague club this week and the club said he is vaccinated.

Webster replaces Emmanuel Mudiay in the team.

Webster spent last season in the Australian basketball league, before that he played two seasons in Turkey, representing Galatasaray in the EuroCup.

Canterbury too strong

Canterbury have gone top of the Plunket Shield standings after recording one of its biggest winning run margins to leapfrog Wellington into top spot.

Wellington started the final day on 30 for four chasing an unlikely 449 for victory.

Rachin Ravindra top scored for Wellington with 70 and Matt Henry took four wickets as Wellington was dismissed for 154, giving Canterbury a 294-run victory.

Meanwhile the game between Otago and Central in Dunedin ended in a draw with six players scoring centuries.

Vink remains in yellow

Canterbury cyclist Michael Vink continues to control the Tour of Southland.

The two-time champion will take a lead of a minute and 43 seconds into today's fifth stage.

A spectacular climb by local rider Josh Burnett lit up stage four with an impressive ride up the Remarkables.

Vink finished second to take significant time out of all his main rivals.

Vink now leads by 1min 43sec over Ollie Jones, with Bailey O'Donnell climbing up to third place overall at 2min 19sec and the lead in the under 23 classification.

Stage five is a 154km trip from Invercargill finishing with the storied Bluff Hill climb.

Man jailed for posting racist rant

A man who livestreamed himself on Facebook while racially abusing England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after the Euro 2020 final has been jailed for 10 weeks.

Jonathon Best, 52, a forklift driver, used the site to rant about the England trio, who are all Black, after they missed penalties in the shootout against Italy in the final on July 11.

Best was sentenced at London's Willesden Magistrates Court, having pleaded guilty to sending by public communication network a grossly offensive or indecent or obscene or menacing message or matter, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Wednesday.

One of Best's Facebook friends reported the video clip to the police and Facebook after he refused to take it down.

-Reuters

Aaron Rodgers to miss Packers games after testing positive

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this weekend's road game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

NFL Network reported Rodgers will sit out the game against the Chiefs because he is unvaccinated, which means he's sidelined 10 days as a result of the positive test.

Jordan Love, 23, jumps to the head of the line to make his first career NFL start in place of Rodgers.

Green Bay is scheduled to host the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10 (Nov. 14). According to reports, Rodgers would first be able to return to the team Nov. 13.

The Packers played without wide receiver Davante Adams and fellow wide receiver Allen Lazard last week due to COVID-19. Adams has yet to be cleared to return.

Rodgers' entire 17-year career has been with the Packers. He has passed for 53,139 yards and 429 touchdowns, and he won a Super Bowl ring with the franchise at the end of the 2010 season.

-Reuters

Mills out of World Cup

England paceman Tymal Mills has been ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup due to a right thigh strain, with reserve Reece Topley to replace him in the squad.

Mills sustained the injury while bowling in England's 26-run Super 12 stage victory over Sri Lanka on Monday in Sharjah, with a scan on Tuesday revealing the full nature of the problem.

The 29-year-old has picked up seven wickets from four games in the tournament and England are likely to miss his skills and experience in the final overs of matches.

England are top of Group I with four wins from as many matches and take on South Africa on Saturday.

-Reuters

Modern pentathlon to drop equestrian phase

Modern pentathlon's governing body has voted to remove horse riding from in its programme at the Olympics after the Paris 2024 Games.

The Guardian said the decision was taken by the UIPM governing body after Germany's modern pentathlon coach Kim Raisner hit a horse at the Tokyo Games when it refused to jump a fence and that horse riding would be replaced by cycling.

The UIPM told Reuters in an emailed statement that it could "neither confirm nor deny whether riding will be removed from modern pentathlon", adding that it was "untrue" that horse riding would be replaced by cycling.

Raisner's actions in Tokyo prompted the UIPM to disqualify her from the men's event, while animal advocacy group PETA called on the International Olympic Committee to eliminate equestrian events from the Olympics citing cruelty in Tokyo.

Modern pentathlon has been an Olympic event since 1912 and features five events: fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and cross-country running.

British modern pentathlete Joe Choong, who won the men's event in Tokyo, told the Daily Telegraph that removing horse riding would be "very sad for the sport".

-Reuters