In today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand's Sam Gaze has won the short-track cross-country title on day two of the UCI World Championships in France.

Fresh from his gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, Gaze outsprinted his rivals on the final lap to win the rainbow jersey at Les Gets.

After riding in the lead pack, the 26-year-old pushed to the front group mid-race and then unleashed on the final two laps to hold off the Swiss pair of Filipo Colombo and Thomas Litscher.

Gaze will now rest and reset for the cross-country world championship race on Monday where he joins Anton Cooper, Ben Oliver and Craig Oliver, his New Zealand teammates in the elite men's race.

Hawke's Bay extend Shield run

Hawke's Bay have extended their run of Ranfurly Shield defences to 13 but they've been made to work for it.

The Magpies edged North Harbour 25-23 in Napier on Saturday.

The home side needed a late try to Kianu Kerere-Symes to take the lead and were then forced to hold on in the final minutes to retain the Log o' Wood.

The result saw Hawke's Bay eclipse the 12 defences they managed when they had the Shield in 2014-15.

Meanwhile a late try has also proved crucial for the Auckland women as they booked a spot in the Premiership semifinals of the Farah Palmer Cup with a 26-25 win over Wellington at Eden Park.

Defending champions Waikato eased past Counties Manukau 32-12 in Pukekohe, and North Harbour beat Tasman 31-20 in their Championship quarterfinal in Blenheim.

Gill claims bronze at Diamond League meet

Jacko Gill surpassed teammateTom Walsh for a podium finish at the Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, this morning.

Gill's best throw of 21.70m secured the bronze medal behind American Joe Kovacs who upset his countryman Ryan Crouser for gold.

Tom Walsh's best of 21.30m was nearly one meter off his Commonwealth Games mark, and saw him settle for fifth.

High jumper Hamish Kerr qualified for the Diamond League season finale in Zurich with a fourth place effort.

Kerr cleared 2.24 metres to finish just shy of a Diamond League medal recording the same height as Ukraninan champion Andrei Protsenko, with the Kiwi running in fourth on a countback.

Middle-distance runner Sam Tanner was eighth in the men's 1500 meters.

Stokes scores a ton for England

Centuries by England skipper Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes gave the hosts a commanding first innings lead after they declared at 415 for nine, with South Africa trailing by 241 runs at stumps on the second day of the second test.

The tourists, who lead the three-match series 1-0, reached 23 without loss in their second innings with Sarel Erwee on 12 and Dean Elgar on 11 but they face a tough task as the Old Trafford pitch favours seamers and spinners.

Stokes and wicketkeeper-batsman Foakes had put on a 173-run partnership for the sixth wicket after South African quick Anrich Nortje struck twice to remove England's overnight batsmen during an outstanding opening spell in the morning session.

Jonny Bairstow fell one run short of his half century, with Nortje adding reverse swing to his top pace and the Yorkshireman edging to Erwee at first slip.

Another fine delivery ended the solid contribution of 38 from under-scrutiny England opening batsman Zak Crawley, with Nortje's perfect line inducing an edge to keeper Kyle Verreynne.

That meant England were on 147-5, still four runs behind South Africa's first innings total. But Stokes and Foakes then batted positively before lunch to begin building the lead.

Stokes showed his intent by hitting spinner Simon Harmer over mid-wicket for six, while Keshav Maharaj had an lbw decision against Foakes go in his favour only for it to be overturned on review.

After lunch Stokes brought up his half-century by hitting Simon Harmer over mid-on onto the England dressing room balcony but he kept his aggression in check for most of his innings.

- Reuters

Lawson gets first taste of Formula One

New Zealand driver Liam Lawson says he enjoyed his first practice ride in Formula One overnight despite finishing 19th of the 20 drivers taking part in the first practice session.

Lawson was testing for Alpha Tauri at the Belgian Grand Prix and looks to follow in the footsteps of Brendon Hartley as the next Kiwi to fly the flag in the top echelon of motorsport.

Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen set a dominant pace on the opening day of practice at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Dutchman lapped with a best time of one minute 45.507 seconds, a comfortable 0.862 clear of Ferrari title rival Charles Leclerc.

Both championship protagonists are however set to start Monday's race from the back end of the grid after collecting engine and gearbox-related penalties.

The pair are among a group of seven drivers facing similar drops.

Verstappen leads Leclerc by 80 points in the overall standings with nine races to go and does not need to win again to clinch a second successive title if results go his way.

The winner of a three-lap, safety-car led washout at Spa last year, the 24-year-old still wants a proper victory in the country of his birth.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said the long and sweeping Spa circuit, which is easy to overtake on, offered Verstappen the best chance of fighting his way through the field.

- Reuters

Boks prepare to face Wallabies in Rugby Championship

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi emphasised the importance of discipline in their Rugby Championship test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval today.

"All our attention has been on Australia in the last two weeks and we also looked at their matches against Argentina, so we know what to expect from them," Kolisi said.

"We have prepared well, we know what they are going to bring, and we know what we must improve on going into the game, so it's going to be a big challenge."

"We've conceded about seven penalties a match in the last few games, and we know it is going to be a vital area given the small margins in Test rugby, so the entire squad know that they have to stay disciplined."

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has given 22-year-old Noah Lolesio the No.10 jersey with the Brumbies playmaker recalled for the third time in his 11-test career.

The match kicks off at 5.30pm.