Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans has recalled all his available top players to protect his team’s unbeaten record in what promises to be one of their biggest Super 14 tests this season against the Waikato Chiefs today.
The six-time southern hemisphere provincial rugby champions are on a run of eight wins and lead South Africa’s Coastal Sharks by seven points after nine rounds.
Deans had the luxury of fielding a second-string outfit in last week’s 31-6 win over the lowly Golden Lions at home, but this time Canterbury confront the Chiefs, coming off three successive victories.
The Chiefs have only beaten the Crusaders three times in Super rugby but Deans is wary of their threat in Hamilton.
Chiefs coach Ian Foster has named an unchanged 15 from their last outings against the Highlanders and Brumbies.
The unbeaten Sharks will be keenly awaiting the Crusaders’ result as they attempt to reel in some of their lead against the ACT Brumbies in Canberra tomorrow.
The Sharks have scrambled to a 13-13 draw against the Wellington Hurricanes and a 19-17 win over the Otago Highlanders so far on their Australasian tour, but the two-time champion Brumbies will be tough to beat at home.
The ninth-placed Brumbies are also expected to be fired up after this week’s announcement that coach Laurie Fisher’s contract will not be renewed next season and he will be replaced by Andy Friend, the Australian coach of English premiership club Harlequins.
The Durban team are preparing themselves for a massive effort on defence as well as on attack after having analysed the Brumbies’ last two games.
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
RSS