Celebrations continue after Crusaders win
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Former Chiefs hardman Jono Gibbes named head coach
Chiefs captain Jonno Gibbes during the Super 14 round 9 rugby union match between the Chiefs and the Bulls at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton on Saturday 8 April 2006. Photo: Photosport Waikato legend Jono Gibbes has been named as head coach of the Chiefs The former Chiefs, Waikato and NZ Maori captain will take the reigns from the departing Clayton McMillian for the 2026 season. A respected rugby leader with deep ties to the Chiefs region, Gibbes brings a wealth of international coaching experience to the franchise. Gibbes has previously served as head coach for European powerhouses La Rochelle, Clermont and Ulster, and most recently was working as an assistant to McMillian in Hamilton. "Being part of the organisation for the past two years has given me a real appreciation for what's been built here and how this team has grown into a consistent, competitive unit," Gibbes said. "My job now is to help maintain that consistency and keep pushing to unlock the full potential of this team. We have a strong foundation and a lot of talent, so I'm excited about what we can achieve." Jonno Gibbes during the All Blacks Test match against England at Carisbrook, Dunedin, New Zealand, on Saturday 12 June, 2004. Photo: Photosport A proud Waikato man, Gibbes captained both Waikato and the Chiefs, earning a combined 132 appearances. He also captained the Māori All Blacks to a historic win over the British & Irish Lions in 2005 and played eight Test matches. Gibbes led Waikato to a National Provincial Championship title as Head Coach, before being appointed to lead the New Zealand U20s in 2023. Chiefs CEO Simon Graafhuis said this was a a natural progression for Gibbes. "He understands the fabric of this club, the importance of our provincial unions, and the aspirations of our team and community. We're excited to move forward with Jono at the helm, and I know he's ready to make our people proud." McMillan said that he leaves the team is in "superb hands." "The coaching, management and playing group has a lot of continuity and cohesion, which is a strong foundation to build from. I have no doubt this group will lead the Chiefs to great things." Jono Gibbes Photo: PHOTOSPORT Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
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Sailing: Black Foils spoil party in Portsmouth
The Kiwis claimed their second event win of the season in Britain to move to the top of the SailGP championship leaderboard. Photo: SailGP New Zealand has gate-crashed what should have been a triumphant home celebration, pipping the hosting British crew to victory in a nail-biting final at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix on Sunday. The Kiwis claimed their second event win of the season and third race victory of the weekend in a dramatic winner-takes-all showdown that left the packed Portsmouth shoreline deflated. The GBR team had looked destined for glory after commanding the leaderboard following a dominant opening day, but were edged out at the line when it mattered most. The Black Foils went into the three-boat final trailing Dylan Fletcher's crew on points. But in a SailGP Final the winner takes all and Peter Burling rose to the pressure, guiding New Zealand around the two-lap racecourse with flawless precision. "It's unreal, one of our best moments in SailGP," said New Zealand wing trimmer Blair Tuke. "It was a huge fight from the team. We're getting better on T-Foils and in these conditions, so to do it against strong opposition and beat the British on their home waters feels pretty good." Twelve national teams had battled across seven fleet races for the coveted spots in the three-boat final, with GBR, New Zealand and Switzerland emerging from the pack. The victory propelled New Zealand to the summit of the overall SailGP championship leaderboard with 54 points, nudging ahead of Australia on 52 points and Spain on 51. Next for the crews sees SailGP debut in Germany for the eighth event of the 2025 season on 16-17 August. -Reuters/RNZ
RNZ News
3 hours ago
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Netball: New 'mindset' sees Tactix get a crack at elusive title
The Tactix celebrate. Photo: Photosport The Tactix have earnt themselves their first grand final berth since 2021 after beating the Pulse 57-52 in last night's elimination final in Christchurch. They will meet the ANZ Premiership defending champion Mystics, the team that beat them by two goals in that 2021 final. And they believe Sunday's gutsy victory over the Pulse shows they are capable of winning a maiden title, which has been so elusive for the franchise. The Pulse had far better flow on attack than the home side to start with and led 14-10 after the first quarter. They pushed that lead out to six goals part way through the second quarter but the Tactix started to consolidate. When Silver Ferns defender Karin Burger shifted to goal defence, after starting at wing defence, the Tactix defensive end started to slow down ball into Pulse shooter Amelia Walmsley. Maddy Gordon at wing attack was able to fire balls at will into Walmsley early on. Walmsley, who has had a tremendous season, looked on track to score 50-plus goals, having put up 29 in just the first half. But it was Tactix goal shoot Ellie Bird, who ended the game as the highest scorer, with 47. The veteran shooter became a better target as the game went on and Tactix coach Donna Wilkins said Bird just gained more confidence. "I think at times we can talk ourselves out of something and you know look she's playing against Kelly [Jackson] right so you know that's a pretty tough ask and she probably hasn't in the past performed as good as she could against Kelly but today she did. She was a bit scratchy to start with but by gosh she was awesome." Wilkins said. When Tactix goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit nailed a Super Shot on the halftime buzzer to get the home side within four, it also signalled a momentum shift. During the third quarter the Tactix defensive end really turned it on and disrupted the Pulse, which saw the home side win the period 15-10. Amelia Walmsley and Jane Watson (right) Photo: / John Davidson Captain Erikana Pedersen, playing in her 100th match for the Tactix, said the finals pressure was palpable. "And we felt that ... but I thought as cliché as it sounds it was literally a game of two halves. I thought we came out really strongly, we looked after our centre pass, the defence got us ball and we scored off it as well which really lifted us," Pedersen said. It took the Pulse 3.5 minutes to score in the final quarter. Amorangi Malesala came on at GA for the super shot period and nailed three in the dying minutes but it was too little too late. The Pulse made countless changes throughout the match in complete contrast to the Tactix, who finished with the same seven on court. It was a disappointing loss for the Pulse, who suffered a heartbreaking one goal loss in last year's grand final. "Disruptive" was the term used to describe their season as the side dealt with injury and illness. Perhaps the biggest blow was the loss of tenacious goal defence Parris Mason, due to a nasty neck injury suffered in round eight. Given that adversity, finishing third in the competition was not a bad effort. Wilkins acknowledged that the Tactix looked like a different side to the one that lost 56-70 to the Mystics in Auckland just a week ago. "And we didn't get a lot of ball last week and it was probably one of our worst performances collectively. But you learn more from losses and we had a really good week training, we worked on what we needed to work on and I think we brought that." Donna Wilkins Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 Wilkins is in her first year as a head coach in the domestic league. The former Silver Fern and Tall Fern was a no-nonsense player in her day. Pedersen said there had definitely been a shift in the Tactix this year, and that was reflected in how they had been able to lift themselves after a loss. "I think our mentality has shifted and Donna this year has probably brought that ruthless mindset, growth mindset always wanting to be better. As a collective I thought we trained our butts off this week, we were coming off trainings exhausted but we knew that we needed to do that to prepare for this game because it was exhausting on the court. "I just love Donna's passion, you come into a huddle, you see that she wants it just as badly as we do. And there's nothing that gives up more confidence when you see a coach like that really lead us with confidence and passion. "I think that game was the best preparation we could have got leading into the final next week." The Tactix were runners up in 2020 and 2021. Wilkins said there was no reason they couldn't lift the title for the first time. "Just being in the final and having a chance ... we've given ourselves an opportunity, probably nobody will pick us ... but just going up there with nothing to lose. We know we can play better than last week [against the Mystics] and look out if we do get it all right on the night," Wilkins said. She said it was easy being around a group of people who wanted to perform and work hard. "Just giving those opportunities to people that want to play. You know we've got the experienced ones that are leading by example and working their butts off every game, you look at Te Paea and her workrate this year alone. "Erikana coming back from injury but managing to play every game so she can tick off that 100. Holly [Mather] coming in first year contract, she's been up and down but all she wanted today was to get ball and she got that one so the lift that she's going to get from that performance today to go into the final is massive." The Tactix and Mystics meet in the grand final on Sunday at 4pm in Auckland. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
