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Sports News for 8 May 2025

Sports News for 8 May 2025

RNZ News07-05-2025

The Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns have both been beaten by Australia in the opening games of the 3-match Trans-Tasman series in Adelaide.
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Super Rugby Pacific: Moana Pasifika release 15 players from franchise
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Super Rugby Pacific: Moana Pasifika release 15 players from franchise

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Hurricanes brace for "cold, dark and hostile" Canberra in Super Rugby finals
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Hurricanes brace for "cold, dark and hostile" Canberra in Super Rugby finals

Cam Roigard celebrates with Ngatungane Punivai. Photo: Mark Evans/ActionPress Brumbies v Hurricanes Kick-off: 9:35pm Saturday 7 May GIO Stadium, Canberra Live updates on RNZ Sport The Hurricanes wanted the Brumbies first up in the Super Rugby finals and they're confident of claiming a second win in Canberra this season. Hurricanes players celebrate the win over Moana Pasifika. Photo: Elias Rodriguez / Much has been made of the match and its potential to become a dead rubber due to the scheduling of the game and the new playoff format. If results go to seedings in the earlier games and the Chiefs beat the Blues and the Crusaders beat the Reds, then the Brumbies and Hurricanes will play each other knowing that no matter what the result they will both qualify for the semi-finals. However, if either the Crusaders or Chiefs lose a home semi-final would be on offer for the Hurricanes and All Blacks halfback, Cam Roigard, said the visitors are intent on maintaining their winning momentum. "There's potentially a lot to play for and just like the regular season there's never dead rubbers even if the result doesn't matter. The games are so tight and there's still so much to play for," Roigard said. "Momentum's huge heading into the semi-finals. We've been lucky to get some good results leading in to the playoffs and regardless of the previous results (between the Crusaders and Reds and Chiefs and Blues), we're going to be trying to do what we can to get a result." Cam Roigard of the Hurricanes celebrates a try. Photo: Masanori Udagawa / PHOTOSPORT He believes if the Hurricanes focus on anything other than winning, they will set themselves up to fail. "We know how hard it is to win in Canberra. So, if you're thinking it's a dead rubber leading into the match and then there's an upset in previous games, that can shake things up completely and it could turn into the game of the round. So, yeah, who knows? We're just going to control what we can control." The Hurricanes won in Canberra earlier this season with the 35-29 victory in April their first in the Australian capital since 2017 and Roigard believes that drought-breaking result will give them confidence heading into this weekend's clash. "It's massive. We don't take that stuff for granted and hopefully we've broken the curse of winning over there," Roigard said. "We know it's going to be cold. It's going to be dark. The crowd get behind their team, so it's going to be loud and hostile too. "We know how tough it is to win over there. We've had some great Hurricanes sides go over there and not be able to win. I've played there a couple times in quarter finals and been there when the team has played there. It always seems to be in the Hurricanes script that we're playing the Brumbies in Canberra for a quarter final." Cam Roigard of the Hurricanes runs in to score a try, Hurricanes v Moana Pasifika, round 16 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition at Sky Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday 31 May 2025. Photo: Elias Rodriguez / Photosport Photo: Elias Rodriguez / Despite the added travel of going to Australia and the Brumbies impressive home record, Roigard is adamant the visitors are more than happy to be playing in Canberra. "They (Brumbies) are probably the team that we want to play in the quarter final, given the position that we are on the table. It's probably the best that we could have done considering the average start that we had to the season." Roigard believes the Hurricanes will have to be accurate and as error free as possible to claim back to back wins over the Brumbies. "I think our kicking game is massive. They've got some talented backs and they're such a set piece orientated team. "The more opportunities we give them, the harder it's going to be for us, especially if we're defending our goal line for eighty minutes. If we can manage where we play the game that will be huge for us and for giving momentum to our forwards and for getting around the corner and playing in the right areas of the field. "We know that they're hugely reliant on set piece and they're very good at it. If we can manage that as best we can, then we'll have a good chance on the weekend."

NRL: NZ Warriors young gun Demitric Vaimauga ready to shine in Barnett's absence
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Demitric Vaimauga is signed with the Warriors through 2028. Photo: David Neilson/Photosport About half-an-hour after losing co-captain and kingpin Mitch Barnett for the season, NZ Warriors fans got a glimpse of how their team might fill that void this year and into the future. Barnett hobbled off with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after 20 minutes against South Sydney Rabbitohs, and - although nobody knew it then - his 2025 NRL campaign was over . Soon after halftime, hooker Wayde Egan ran from dummy half inside Souths territory and found young second-rower Demitric Vaimauga on the 30-metre line. He fended off one tackler and rolled away from another, before offloading back to Egan from his knees. Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad sliced towards the posts and passed back to Egan - his third touch of the ball in the same movement - before teenager Leka Halasima propped off his right foot and found a yawning path to the tryline. The NRL proclaimed the sequence 'Try of the Week' and it was certainly reminiscent of the entertaining Warriors of yesteryear, when Stacey Jones and Ali Lauiti'iti were in full flight. His contribution only lasted a couple of seconds and gained about five metres, but this cameo by Vaimauga suggested he had far more to offer his team in their moment of need. "I think they gave Leka the try," he deflected. "I don't really like to look into it, but it is good to see us on the Instagram page, I guess." A common thread through the Warriors 9-3 start to their season has been 'next man up'. Another has been harnessing a fresh wave of talented young forwards to provide the nucleus of the roster moving forward. While Halasima, 19, has captured the headlines and - along with Jacob Laban - earned a contract extension through the 2029 , Vaimauga, 21, has quietly come off the bench for every game this season and is starting to pick up momentum. In 29 minutes against Souths, he ran nine times for 83 metres, offloaded three times and made 17 tackles - good for 43 fantasy points, if you're that way inclined. Last month against St George Illawarra Dragons, he was even better, logging 39 minutes, running nine times for 108 metres and making 29 tackles. That's 45 fantasy points and, at this point in the season, he may be worth a quick pick-up while his price is still right. Coach Andrew Webster has been at pains to stress no one player can make up for Barnett's loss and it will take a collective effort . Still, the skipper's absence leaves a gaping hole in the rotation and Vaimauga seems best placed to take advantage of the opportunity, as Halasima did when NZ Kiwis captain James Fisher-Harris went down earlier in the season. "I feel like I'm going well, but there's a lot more to come," he reflected. "I've just scratched the surface. "I'm still adapting to game speed, still a bit raw and new to it. I'm trying to build my minutes and my engine for NRL. "I feel like my understanding of the game is there and my physicality, but adapting to the game speed... "I'm just happy to be on the field. The coach has put trust in some of the young boys and I'm glad to be one of them, so I want to put my best foot forward whenever I can." Vaimauga played the first seven games of his Warriors career as Demitric Sifakula, but adopted his mother's surname during this past off-season, when he re-signed through 2028, so he has at least three more seasons alongside Halasima and Laban. "It's good to have a crop of boys that I grew up playing with and to be on the big stage with them," he said. "It's a lot for our up-and-comers, especially at grassroots footy as well… giving them someone to look up to." This is the perfect time for the young guns to learn from hardened veterans like Barnett, Egan, Fisher-Harris and Origin veteran Kurt Capewell. "I think their footy brains… to be so young, but mature in footy sense," lock Erin Clark enthused. "I'm pretty blown away - when I was that age, I had no idea. "With Leka, you see his footwork and strength, but we see out on the field how smart he is and Demitric as well. Good to see them doing well, and Demi and Leka played good games on the weekend, "They're going in the right direction, and hopefully, they'll just get better and better as games go on." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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