No more second chances: Chiefs vs. Brumbies, Crusaders vs. Chiefs in the Super Rugby semis
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Hamilton-based Chiefs are keenly aware there are no more second chances as they head in Saturday's Super Rugby semifinal against the last Australian hope, the ACT Brumbies.
The Chiefs' top-seeding gave them a second chance when they were beaten 20-19 by the Blues in last weekend's qualifying playoffs, allowing them to advance to the semifinals as the top-ranked loser.
The Auckland-based Blues, who were seeded sixth and had to beat the Chiefs to keep their title defense alive, scored and converted a try three minutes after the fulltime siren for a dramatic win in Hamilton. That carried them into another tough assignment, a semifinal against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday.
The Chiefs had numerous chances to close out last weekend's match against the Blues. They led 19-6 in the second half and let three clear try-scoring chances slip through their fingers.
'You could say we were probably lucky to get that second chance,' Chiefs' fullback Shaun Stevenson said. 'The beauty of finishing first is that you do get a second life.
'We have to prove to ourselves that we were the best team in the comp consistently and do that for 80 minutes against the Brumbies this week.'
The Brumbies will attempt to become the first Australian team in 20 attempts to win a playoff match in New Zealand. They progressed to the semifinals after a 35-28 win over the Wellington-based Hurricanes in Canberra last weekend.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham has named an unchanged match for Saturday's semifinal in Hamilton with playmaker Jack Debreczeni being retained on the bench.
'We're in a pretty good space in terms of our routine,' Larkham said. 'We've got a plan this week in terms of some of the stuff that we've been building on through the year and then some specific stuff for the Chiefs.
'We want to get the boys as fresh as possible by the end of the week and get them into the game with as much confidence as possible. Then, focus on the performance as opposed to the outcome.'
Ioane fires pre-match shot
Blues center Rieko Ioane once again has turned to social media to ramp up tension ahead of Friday's match in Christchurch.
After beating the New South Wales Waratahs in the last round of the regular season to clinch the last place in the playoffs, Ioane posted 'you shouldn't have let us get one.' It was a reference American baseball and basketball teams which won playoff series from 3-0 down.
This week, more theatrically, he posted 'should've killed me when you had the chance.'
Still, the Blues have the toughest chance in the playoffs against the Crusaders who improved their post their post-season record at home to 30-0 when they beat the Queensland Reds last weekend.
Blues coach Vern Cotter said his team is ready to test that record.
'Nothing lasts forever,' he said. 'They are a tough team. We know it is a tough team. One day they will lose down there in a playoff. It could be against us.'
The Crusaders will be without All Blacks loosehead prop Tamaiti Williams who helped make their scrum such a dominant force against the Reds.
'That's how they accessed their game against the Reds. It was through their scrum and lineout and field position,' Cotter said. 'It could be 80 minutes, it could be longer. We're mentally preparing for a rugged sort of evening.'
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Why thousands of NCAA athletes might wait over a year for share of $2.8 billion settlement
The attorney who negotiated the $2.8 billion legal settlement for the NCAA said Friday that thousands of former athletes due to receive damages could have to wait months or maybe more than a year to get paid while appeals play out. Rakesh Kilaru, who served as the NCAA's lead counsel for the House settlement that was approved last week, told The Associated Press an appeal on Title IX grounds filed this week will hold up payments due to around 390,000 athletes who signed on to the class-action settlement. He said he has seen appeals take up to 18 months in the California-based federal court where this case is playing out, though that isn't necessarily what he expects. 'I will say that we, and I'm sure the plaintiffs, are going to push,' Kilaru said. A schedule filed this week calls for briefs related to the appeal to be filed by Oct. 3. Kilaru doesn't expect anyone on the defendant or plaintiff side to file for extensions in the case 'because every day the appeal goes on is a day damages don't go to the student-athletes.' He said while the appeal is ongoing, the NCAA will pay the money into a fund that will be ready to go when needed. The other critical parts of the settlement — the part that allows each school to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with current players and set up an enforcement arm to regulate it — are in effect regardless of appeals. 'I think everyone thought it was important and good for this new structure to start working because it does have a lot of benefits for students,' Kilaru said. 'But it's very common for damages to be delayed in this way for the simple reason that you don't want to make payments to people that you can't recover' if the appeal is successful. A group of eight female athletes filed the appeal. Their attorney, Ashlyn Hare, said they supported settlement of the case 'but not an inaccurate one that violates federal law.' 'The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion,' Hare said. Kilaru agreed with plaintiff attorneys who have argued that Title IX violations are outside the scope of the lawsuit. Other objections to the settlement came from athletes who said they were damaged by roster limits set by the terms. One attorney representing a group of those objectors, Steven Molo, said they were reviewing Wilken's decision and exploring options. ___ AP college sports:
Montreal Gazette
7 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Cowan: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton savours Montreal's ‘great vibe'
Motorsports Montreal will always be a special place for Lewis Hamilton. In 2007, Hamilton won his first Formula One race at age 22 as the first Black driver in F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It was only his sixth race as a rookie on the F1 circuit. 'I'm on another planet after this,' Hamilton said after that race. 'I simply can't find the words to describe what it feels like to win my first Formula One race. 'It's been a fantastic day,' he added. 'This is history. To come here, my first time in Canada, really, it had been a fantastic season already, and now this.' Hamilton dedicated the victory to his father, Anthony, saying: 'Without him, none of this would have been possible.' Hamilton's parents divorced when he was 2 and his father held down multiple jobs to fund his son's early days in karting. Hamilton won his first British go-karting championship at age 10. Now 40, Hamilton is back in Montreal this week, looking to win the Canadian Grand Prix for a record eighth time on Sunday (2 p.m., CTV, TSN, RDS). Hamilton is tied with Michael Schumacher with seven victories, his last coming in 2019 with Mercedes. Hamilton and Schumacher are also tied with seven F1 world drivers' championships. Lewis Hamilton is looking for win No. 8 in Canada — ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) June 12, 2025 Hamilton switched teams this season and will be driving a red Ferrari for the first time on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. He sits sixth in the driver standings with 71 points, far behind leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren-Mercedes with 186 points. Hamilton's best finish in the first nine races was fourth place last month at Ferrari's home race in Imola, Italy. During a news conference with drivers Thursday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which included Montreal native Lance Stroll, Hamilton said the Canadian Grand Prix remains one of his favourite races and he also spoke about how much he loves Canada. 'The track is very unique,' Hamilton said. 'I like coming to Canada. I just enjoy it. 'It's such a huge country with so much to offer,' Hamilton added, noting he recently visited Vancouver. 'But Montreal specifically for the Grand Prix, I've not been here when it's not the Grand Prix. During the Grand Prix, it's just such a great vibe in the city. Great restaurants. The fans have been amazing since I started in 2007. Probably apart from my home Grand Prix, it's been one of my favourite fan experiences. Maybe because the grandstands are really close to the track. You go somewhere like Austria — beautiful circuit, beautiful countryside — but if you go on the track down to Turn 4, the grandstands are so far away you need binoculars. Here, they're right next to you as you're braking into Turn 10, or coming through Turn 2 — they're right there with you. You get a different sense of that experience from a driver's perspective. I think it's amazing.' Lewis Hamilton looking back at the photo of him and Robert Kubica omg ️ — sim (@simsgazette) June 12, 2025 Stroll will have a hometown crowd cheering him on after he missed the last race in Spain because of a medical procedure on his right wrist. The 26-year-old is 12th in the driver standings with six points and his best finish was sixth at the season-opening race in Australia. 'It's good to be home, racing in Montreal,' Stroll said. 'The wrist is feeling good. It was bothering me for a few weeks, over in Imola, Monaco. And then Barcelona was just really brutal throughout the weekend. I got a procedure done and drove this week, and I was feeling pretty good, so I'm confident.' Hamilton will also have a lot of fans cheering for him this weekend. Ferrari has always had plenty of fans in Montreal, with its large Italian community and going back to Gilles Villeneuve winning the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix in a Ferrari. It was the first F1 race in Montreal on the track that is named after him. Villeneuve was killed in a crash during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. 'I don't really know what to expect with that,' Hamilton said about driving a Ferrari for the first time in Montreal. 'Every race I go to is unique in a sense — it's my first time in the red car at that track. I heard there's quite a big community of Italians here, which I didn't know. So I anticipate there'll be hopefully good support here this weekend.' Hamilton has had a long love affair with Montreal, suggesting in the past that people come here for a holiday to enjoy 'such a beautiful place, a great city, great people, great food and an incredible track.' Now with Ferrari, he's also falling in love with Italy. 'I'm loving travelling to Italy,' he said. 'I haven't yet found a spot there (to live) — I haven't made a decision exactly what I'm going to do — but I am lacking in the lingo area. So that's still something I'm thinking about. But I love going to Maranello. The more I see of Italy, the more I fall in love with the place — with the culture, with the buildings, the architecture. There's a real romantic feeling when you're in Italy.' The same could be said about Montreal.
Winnipeg Free Press
7 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Surge in viewers leads ION TV to extend current 3-year broadcasting deal with WNBA
NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark's arrival and a major surge in viewers over the past year led to ION Television reaching a multiyear agreement on Friday to extend its broadcasting partnership with the WNBA. ION, which is owned by the Cincinnati, Ohio-based, E.W. Scripps Company, did not reveal the length or value of the contract, which extends the network's original deal reached in 2023 to broadcast regular-season games and host a weekly studio show. The existing three-year deal is worth $13 million per season. In a release, ION said the average viewership for its WNBA Friday Night Spotlight show increased by 133% from 2023 to '24, and attracted more than 23 million unique viewers, including game coverage. The jump coincides with Clark's celebrated rookie season in Indiana last year. The network reaches more than 128 million homes though its various platforms. Last year, the WNBA struck an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC that begins in 2026 and is worth about $200 million a year. ___ AP WNBA:
