Latest news with #Johnnies
Otago Daily Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Schools set to face off in championship
The Southern Schools Rugby Championship technically started on Wednesday — Southland Boys' beat John McGlashan 67-19 in Dunedin — before the first full round this weekend. Adrian Seconi looks at how the teams are shaping. DIVISION 1 SOUTHLAND BOYS' 1STS 2024: Champions. Coach: Jason Dermody. Key players: First five Jimmy Taylor has ice in his veins, but he is out for a few weeks with an injury. When he returns, he will team up with dangerous runner Caleb Harvey, who has shifted to centre this season. Winger Zeke Siolo is a tough player to bring down. He has good pace, too. Prop Presley McHugh and lock Mason Coulthard add some muscle up front. The oil: The defending champions are well-coached, and they have more than a dozen players returning for another shot at glory. They thumped Johnnies first up and will be eyeing up a third consecutive title. KING'S 1STS 2024: Beaten finalists. Coach: Dean Moeahu. Key players: Midfielder Niko Boylen shapes as a key figure. Prop Henry Hunter is a big presence and talented openside Montell Penese has a shoulder complaint but is expected back mid-season. The oil: King's have 17 players back, including some key personnel from last year. They have an enormous tight five, a quality loose forward trio and some threatening outside backs. They dispatched Waitaki Boys' 48-17 in an interschool fixture on Sunday, but have not been to the national finals in nearly 30 years. Is this their year? JOHN MCGLASHAN 1STS 2024: Beaten semifinalists. Coach: Richard Buchanan. Key players: First five and captain Oscar Crowe is a tidy player with quick feet and a reliable boot, while loosehead Jonty Ellis is a livewire in the front row and lock Noah Clearwater has some size. The oil: Johnnies look on the small side this season, and the 67-19 loss to Southland Boys' was a reality check. But they were more competitive in the first half and showed glimpses of potential. OTAGO BOYS' 1STS 2024: Beaten semifinalists. Coach: Pelu Taele-Pavihi. Key players: First five Jack Scott is an experienced pivot with good pace and instincts. Winger Coen Breen is athletic and has deceptive speed and openside Charlie Ottrey has a reputation for nabbing turnovers. The oil: Former Samoan international and Otago forward Pelu Taele-Pavihi has taken over as coach this season and will bring a fresh approach. They plan to play a more expansive brand of rugby and have been working hard on their fitness. They missed the final last year, so that will serve as strong motivation. SOUTHLAND BOYS' 2NDS 2024: Division 2 champions. Coaches: Barry Smith and Cody Mason. Key players: Midfielder Charlie Chamberlain is a strong ball carrier and will get the side on the front foot and utility forward Ezekiel Smith is a good source of lineout ball and an important member of the pack. The oil: They will be competitive and may even push the likes of Johnnies. They have drawn Otago Boys' in round one and that will be a good indication of where they are at. DUNSTAN 2024: Division 2 beaten finalists. Coach: Graham Johnson. Key players: Prop Cody Robinson and lock Jack Sinnamon are influential up front, while first five Zach Johnson will run the cutter. Centre Nate McLellan is another to watch. The oil: They have a large crew of broken players on the sidelines. But the good news is most of them are scheduled to return later in the season, so Dunstan should be a lot stronger in the second round. The question is whether they can hold their place in the first division in the absence of some key players. BLUE POOL South Otago, Waitaki Boys', St Kevin's, Central Southland, Māruawai/Menzies, John McGlashan 2nds The oil: Waitaki Boys' have a decent forward pack led by prop TJ Willie, who is dynamite, and No 8 Ned Newlands-Carter is relentless alongside brother Ike, who plays on the openside. Halfback Billy Wilson is another talented player. St Kevin's are in the same pool and that is always a good rivalry. Look out for massive No 8 Sui Fisipuna. He is a very strong ball carrier. First five Lachy Neal has a big boot and is a good defender and fullback Kobe Narruhn is an elusive runner who is expected to make an impact when he returns from a hand injury in three or four weeks. South Otago have a lot of fresh faces but will look to play with pace and width. Halfback Finn Gilder and first five Josh Shore are key to that game plan and blindside Hunter Thomson is a good defender and a source of lineout ball. Central Southland won the division 4 final last season, while John McGlashan 2nds lost the playoff for 17th and 18th and Māruawai/Menzies were defeated in the division 4 semifinal. MAROON POOL Wakatipu, Otago Boys' 2nds, King's 2nds, Cromwell, Mt Aspiring, Taieri The oil: Wakatipu have had a lot of player turnover and a mixed preseason, so they are a bit of an unknown quantity this season. They know what they will get from utility forward Lucius Lockhart, though. He will hit the ball up hard and is a tough defender. Midfielder Angus O'Neill is another solid defender and he is general in the backline. Fullback Henry Walker-Leach is a threat out wide. Wakatipu's main competition in the maroon pool will likely come from Otago Boys' 2nds and King's 2nds. King's will lean on halfback Hugo Jury and first five Jack Campbell to set the tone. Campbell has a quality kicking game and reads the game well. Openside flanker Dechey Keefe is a snaffler and a good link man as well. Otago Boys' 2nds have some interesting prospects making their way through the ranks. Lock Roinga Lawrence has a high work rate and outside back Rahui Valli has an impressive skill set. Cromwell were crushed 50-3 in the division 4 final last season, Mt Aspiring were knocked out in the division 4 semifinal and Taieri narrowly avoided the wooden spoon. THE FORMAT Teams are split into three groups of six based on their rankings in 2025 and will play a five-game round robin. The winners of the Blue and Maroon pools will play a final and the winner will be promoted to division 1, while the bottom ranked division 1 team will be relegated. The remaining Blue and Maroon teams are ranked into the division 2 and division 3 pools for the second round. The points from the second round will be used to determine playoff positions. The teams ranked 1-4 will contest the division 1 final, the teams ranked 5-8 will play for the division 2 title and so on. The teams ranked 17-18 will play a ranking match to determine their seeding for next year. The semifinals are scheduled for August 2 and the divisional finals are on August 9. adrianseconi@
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rick Pitino Makes Major Life-Changing Announcement on Monday
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino has already found great success in just his second season with the program. In Year 1, he led the team to a 20–13 record. In Year 2, the Johnnies went 31–5, capturing both the Big East regular-season title and the Big East Tournament championship. Advertisement With the offseason now underway, Pitino is already focused on Year 3. The 72-year-old has made seven additions to the roster so far: Milligan's Handje Tamba, Cincinnati's Dillon Mitchell, Idaho State's Dylan Darling, North Carolina's Ian Jackson, Stanford's Oziyah Sellers, Arizona State's Joson Sanon and Providence's Bryce Hopkins. But Pitino's additions haven't been limited to college basketball. As of Monday morning, the two-time national champion welcomed his 15th grandchild into the family. He shared the big news with fans on social media. "#15 grandchild: Matthew Ryan -8 pounds 15 ounces. Now 8 boys and 7 girls!" Pitino wrote. Pitino has five children, including four sons — Michael, Christopher, Richard, and Ryan — and a daughter named Jacqueline. Advertisement The legendary coach also had a fifth son, Daniel, who tragically passed away in 1987 at just six months old due to congenital heart failure. St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino looks on during a Stratman-Imagn Images Pitino is known for having a close relationship with each of his grandchildren. Just over a month ago, he was seen consoling his tearful granddaughter after Richard — now the head coach at Xavier, but at the time leading New Mexico — lost in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. The moment was shown on the broadcast shortly after the final buzzer. Related: St. John's, Rick Pitino Receive Massive Setback on Friday
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Princess Royal hails Turkish friends and presses importance of remembrance
The Princess Royal has hailed Turkish friends and emphasised the importance of passing on the tradition of remembering those who have fallen in war. Anne was speaking at a service to mark the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign at Turkey's Canakkale Martyrs' Memorial. She made her address on the peninsula where soldiers from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France and Turkey died in the 1915 clash. The Princess Royal later delivered a message from the King, who attended services for the 90th and 100th anniversaries, and extended his 'special thoughts and prayers', and described solace for the 'dreadful losses' in the 'warm friendships and deep alliances that have emerged from the desperation of Gallipoli'. A wreath was laid for Anne at the memorial, and she went on to lay the traditional red carnations at the graves of the Turkish soldiers. She said it was a 'great and solemn honour' to attend the service, remembering the sacrifice on all sides of the 'unforgiving campaign'. The Princess Royal went on to reference a quote by Turkish hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, saying: 'There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. 'You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this island, they have become our sons as well.' Anne described words such as these as having 'paved the way for ferocious battles that took place on this land to be replaced by long-lasting friendships and strong alliances that we must take forward to the future'. She added: 'I pay a heartfelt tribute to all the nations represented here today. 'On behalf of the former Entente Powers, I salute the memory of Gallipoli and our future together.' Anne also attended a commemoration at the French National Cemetery in Gallipoli before visiting the grave of a British war hero. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie was decorated with a Victoria Cross for his service during the Gallipoli campaign. She went on to attend the Commemoration of the UK, Commonwealth and Ireland. More than 100,000 troops died in an ill-fated campaign during the First World War by the UK and allies to capture the Dardanelles Strait in what is now north-west Turkey. The assault in 1915 was intended to wound the then Ottoman Empire and cut off a key connecting water route between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, a move which would have also aided Russia. On Friday, Anne is expected to attend a dawn service to mark the 110th anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on the beaches of Gallipoli. April 25 is known as Anzac Day and is marked across the two southern hemisphere countries. Many from Australia and New Zealand have also travelled to Turkey for the anniversary.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness: Rick Pitino's curious coaching decisions prove costly for St. John's in NCAA tournament loss
At the most critical juncture of his team's dream season, with a second-round NCAA tournament matchup against Arkansas hanging in the balance, legendary St. John's coach Rick Pitino made a curious choice. He removed Big East Player of the year RJ Luis Jr. from the floor with 4:56 to play after he had just drained a pair of foul shots to cut the Johnnies' deficit to two. For the rest of his team's season-ending 75-66 loss, Luis did not reenter the game. He watched solemnly from the St. John's bench, powerless to help a cold-shooting Johnnies team that tallied just four points the rest of the game. Luis entered Saturday's game scoring a team-best 18.5 points per game. He didn't even get halfway to his season average against 10th-seeded Arkansas. He shot a nightmarish 3-for-17 from the field, struggling, like many of his teammates, to finish at the rim against the Razorbacks' thicket of long, athletic interior defenders. When asked during his postgame press conference why he sat Luis down the stretch, Pitino alluded to the junior guard's off night on a big stage without actually admitting why he benched his team's leading scorer. 'He played 30 minutes,' Pitino initially responded tersely. 'That's a long time.' 'So he was tired?' Newsday's Roger Rubin followed up. 'No, [he] played 30 minutes and I went with other people,' Pitino responded testily. 'You already know the answers, Roger. You're asking leading questions. You already know it. Don't ask leading questions. You already know why he didn't play.' "You already know why he didn't play." - Rick Pitino after being asked about the lack of RJ Luis Jr. down the stretch — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 22, 2025 The question was a fair one, even if Pitino didn't like it. He opened himself to criticism by benching one of the players who got St. John's to this point. It was an especially odd decision considering St. John's was already down its other primary shot creator after standout guard Kadary Richmond fouled out several minutes earlier. While Luis had struggled all day generating clean looks against Arkansas' shot blockers, he was still the most likely remaining St. John's perimeter player to catch fire down the stretch. It wasn't like anyone else was doing any better. Removing center Zuby Ejiofor's 7-for-12 shooting, the rest of the Johnnies shot an anemic 14-for-63 from the field. When Pitino was asked if there was a specific moment that contributed to his decision to leave Luis on the bench, he bristled at the question and chose not to answer. 'You know he was 3-for-17,' Pitino said. 'So you're answering your own — I'm not going to knock one of my players.' Maybe Pitino was in an ornery mood because he suffered another heartbreaking loss to onetime rival John Calipari. Or perhaps it was that Pitino recognizes this was an opportunity squandered. He's 72 years old. As brilliant a coach as he is and as much as he still seems to have left in the tank, he isn't guaranteed to have another St. John's team that's as formidable as this one. Fueled by an array of tough, physical guards and Ejiofor's interior presence, Pitino molded St. John's into one of college basketball's top teams. They captured New York's imagination in a way no Johnnies team has since the days of Lou Carnesecca, winning 31 games, running away with the Big East title and backing that up last weekend with a conference tournament crown. St. John's might have made a deep NCAA tournament run, except the Johnnies ran into a team built to expose their season-long lack of shooting. Pitino's team collectively shot barely 30% from behind the arc this season, putting them 328th in the nation. That meant they were either going to have to hit some shots they normally don't against Arkansas or try to find success driving the ball into the teeth of the Razorbacks' defense. The Johnnies tried both options. Neither worked. They went 2-for-22 from behind the arc. They had seven shots blocked at the rim and countless others altered. The only consistent offense they mustered was Ejofor converting offensive rebounds into put-backs. 'They took away a lot that we do,' Pitino said. 'Offensively we did not share the basketball enough. That was our demise.' That was part of their demise. Another aspect was Richmond's inability to impact the game because of foul trouble. Pitino kept him on the bench for the final 13:13 of the first half after he picked up his second foul. Then Richmond fouled out anyway on a phantom call with more than six minutes remaining in the game. It also didn't help that St. John's struggled to keep quick, athletic Arkansas guards Boogie Fland, DJ Wagner and Johnell Davis out of the lane. They got to the paint enough to make up for the Razorbacks' own woeful 2-for-19 shooting from behind the arc. So Arkansas continues its redemption story after an 0-5 start to SEC play. And Calipari gets the critics off his back after the way he faltered late in his Kentucky tenure. Meanwhile, St. John's fans will be left to wonder if the outcome might have been different had Luis been on the floor late or had Richmond played more than 16 minutes. 'They were the better team,' Pitino said. 'They deserve to move on and we don't.'
New York Times
22-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
No. 10 Arkansas, John Calipari stun No. 2 St. John's, Rick Pitino to make Sweet 16
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Someone had to figure out a way to win a game that often felt like it was more about surviving than it was about advancing. So leave it to the coach and the team that everyone counted out only a few weeks ago. Arkansas and John Calipari, the 10th-seeded underdogs that few, if anyone, pegged to advance to the second weekend of this NCAA Tournament, not only did the deed on Saturday in stunning second-seeded St. John's, but did so while beating the Johnnies at their own game. Advertisement Arkansas, of all teams, ended the Johnnies national championship dreams in a 75-66 upset in the West region. Calipari summed it up after putting on a headset for the postgame interview for the team radio broadcast. 'Unbelievable,' he said. Rick Pitino's team spent the better part of four months out-toughing, out-playing and out-working nearly every opponent on their way to a Big East championship. It ended Saturday with its best players on the bench and disbelief on its face. If any team was going to survive a game with 90 missed shots and 44 fouls, it was going to be St. John's. Until it wasn't. On Saturday, RJ Luis, the Big East Player of the Year, struggled mightily through a 3-for-17 shooting performance. Kadary Richmond, the Johnnies' No. 2 option, fouled out with six minutes left in the game after playing only 16 minutes. And, as a team, the Johnnies shot only 28 percent from the field while going 2-for-22 on 3s and 22-for-31 from the foul line. The Johnnies trailed by as many as 13 in the second half, relying on pressure defense, cobbled together lineups and auxiliary pieces. There wasn't enough. Arkansas was too big, too long, and just as tough. That's what it takes to advance despite playing without a leading scorer. Adou Thiero missed his eighth straight game, leaving the Hogs to rely on Billy Richmond (16 points), Karter Knox (15 points), Johnell Davis (13 points) and a swarming defensive performance. Richmond hit the biggest shot of the day, a pull-up jumper from about 15 feet with under three minutes to go and St. John's trailing by only two. A year ago at this time, Calipari was being pilloried throughout parts of the college basketball landscape, ridiculed with great delight over a first-round loss to 14th-seeded Oakland. The upset was Kentucky's second loss to a double-digit seeded team in three seasons and marked the final undoing of the Hall of Famer's 14-year tenure in Lexington. Advertisement The day before last year's national championship, word surfaced that Calipari was in negotiations with Arkansas, a bizarre development spurred by Tyson Foods CEO John Tyson, an Arkansas mega-donor and friend of Calipari. One year later, Calipari and Arkansas are heading to the Sweet 16. The Hogs are returning after reaching the second weekend in 2021, '22 and '23 under former coach Eric Musselman, who bolted for USC last year. Calipari, meanwhile, will coach in the second weekend for the first time since his 2019 Cats reached the Elite Eight. It was a ride to get there. Arkansas, with a roster mostly constructed of former Kentucky players, a few top-rated freshmen and one carryover, opened the year ranked No. 16 in the AP poll. An 11-2 start was followed by five straight losses in January and a difficult road through the stacked SEC. By mid-February the Hogs were 15-11 overall and 4-9 in the league. They were not in the NCAA Tournament picture. A 5-2 finish, playing through injuries to leading scorers Thiero and Boogie Fland, was enough to push Arkansas into the bracket, even avoiding a First Four trip to Dayton. 'This was one of those years that was so rewarding,' Calipari said earlier this week. 'I'm thinking about where we were — they threw us in the coffin, forgot the nails.' The Hogs' two wins in Providence could very well end up being part of an unexpected legacy act. The 66-year-old Calipari began the trip here by saying he was 'back to the roots of being the underdog.' He ended it with wins over fellow Hall of Famers Bill Self, one of his closest friends, and Pitino, his longtime proxy of career success. Now it's off to San Francisco and a chance to keep going. Arkansas will face the winner of third-seeded Texas Tech and 11th-seeded Drake. (Photo of Arkansas and John Calipari: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
