15 hours ago
Pasifika Sipoti in brief for 18 June
Photo:
Kubota Spears - K Fukushima
Moana Pasifika assistant coach Alando Soakai has joined the 'Ikale Tahi coaching team ahead of the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup series.
Tonga Rugby said the former New Zealand sevens player will work with head coach Tevita Tuifua and assistant Nili Latu.
Soakai was Wellington Lions head coach last year and led the team to winning the National Provincial Championship (NPC) title, before joining Moana Pasifika this year.
Tonga Rugby chief executive Aisea 'Aholelei said Soakai is a timely inclusion to their coaching team, with Tonga set to fight for a 2027 Rugby World Cup spot at the Pacific Nations Cup.
Tonga will continue working on hosting the 2031 Pacific Games, despite the need to secure at least 26 million Tongan pa'anga (approximately US$11m) to fund facility upgrades.
Internal Affairs and Sports Minister, Sinaitakala Tu'itahi, said the government is committed to ensuring the Games will go ahead as planned.
She said negotiations with donor agencies and partners are ongoing.
Tonga was given the right to host the Games last year, despite concerns the country might pull out of the hosting agreement again, similar to what they did before the 2019 Games.
Back then the late prime minister 'Akilisi Pohiva spearheaded the move to cancel hosting the Games.
Australian heavyweight boxer Teremoana Junior Teremoana remains unbeaten in his professional boxing career, following his latest fight at the weekend.
The boxer, who is of Cook Islands heritage, knocked out Aleem Whitfield in New York to take his record to 8-0.
The 2024 Olympian said he has made his statement in his first fight in the United States of America and looks forward to more fights there.
Rugby Australia has confirmed that a new domestic competition, featuring Australia's four Super Rugby clubs, will kick off in September.
The four-week senior competition will run from 13 September to 5 October.
Additional matches for Australia's domestic sides, the Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs and Western Force, have long been signposted by the governing body.
The National Rugby Championship ran for five seasons before being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Super Rugby AU running for two seasons due to international travel restrictions.
The Pacific Oceania under-11 and under-13 tennis teams are competing in the 2025 Australian Teams Championships, at the Gold Coast, this week.
Oceania Tennis said 11 players, selected from nine countries across the Pacific region, will compete at the event, which will run from 18-23 June.
Another team of under-15 players arrive in Australia on 23 June, in time for their tournament's first game on 25 June.
Meanwhile, American Samoa will host the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup from 30 June to 5 July, with 11 Pacific countries booked to be involved.
