Pasifika Sipoti in brief for 31 July
Photo:
Darren England/ Photosport
The Tonga and Samoa Pacific Championships league clash is expected to be played at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Tonga National Rugby League said they are awaiting confirmation of the venue for the October game.
It had been in discussions about the possibility of hosting a game in Nuku'alofa.
National Rugby League is yet to confirm venues and the schedule for this year's Pacific Championships, which will feature Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand.
Two Pacific swimmers recorded new national records in their respective events at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Singapore.
Vanuatu swimmer Léo Lebot set a new country record of 29.28 seconds in the men's 50-metre butterfly heats on Sunday.
Cook Islands' Lanihei Connolly set a national record in the women's 100m breaststroke on Monday.
She won her heat in 1 minute and 7.40 seconds, a new national record for the Cook Islands.
Papua New Guinea's bantamweight boxing champion Mili Saul says she wants to represent PNG at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Saul, who won the World Boxing Council Australasian bantamweight title in June, won the PNG 56-kilogram title at the PNG Boxing Union Championship in Lae.
The National
reported Saul said she wants to grow the sport in her home country and help more females take up boxing.
Former Fiji star William Ryder has offered his services to help develop sevens in Solomon Islands.
Ryder, a fleet-footed player during his prime playing for Fiji on the world stage, is playing for the Usotasi rugby club in Honiara.
He said in an interview with the media in Honiara that he is available to help out if needed.
Solomon Islands Rugby chief executive Aisea Mocelutu said having Ryder playing locally has attracted a lot of attention from locals.
Ryder has Solomon Islands links to Malaita through his grandfather.
New Zealand-born boxer Miracle Ki says he needs more financial assistance to cover his costs as he prepares to represent Samoa at the World Games in England in September
.
PMN
reported the Wellington-based super heavyweight has been preparing for the event while also seeking funding to help him.
Ki is funding his own way to the event.
He said putting Samoa on the world map is something he is excited about.
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9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Samoa, NZ, New Caledonia open Oceania U16 women's tournament with wins
Solomon Island celebrate their goal against American Samoa. Photo: Shane Wenzlick/ Samoa have started their campaign in the Oceania U16 women's championship at Apia with a 5-0 trouncing of New Caledonia. After finishing runners-up at the same event last year to qualify for the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup in Morocco in October, the Samoans proved too strong for New Caledonia at the Samoa Football headquarters. Cali Willis scored a double late in the first half to give the locals a 2-0 lead at halftime. The hosts dominated much of the contest, roared on by a small, but vocal home crowd, although New Caledonia showed flashes of danger on the break, only to be undone by a lack of precision in the final third. They had the first real opportunity almost straight from kickoff, with Shan Nemoinon firing over from a promising position on the edge of the box. Moments later, Samoa captain Breanna Kitiona found herself unmarked from a corner, but headed directly at goalkeeper Kessyna Nyipie. Aaliyah Johnson, who scored late in the second spell, was a constant threat for the home side, seeing a powerful effort saved superbly by Nyipie in the sixth minute, before miscuing another chance, with the New Caledonian keeper caught off her line. Samida Ann Tuimanuvao, who went in as a replacement in the second half, scored a classic, with a piledriver off her left foot sailing over Nyipie's head and into the back of the net, before an own goal by New Caledonia gave Samoa the 5-0 advantage. New Caledonia had their own moments, but they were simply outclassed and outplayed by the Samoans. Samoa head coach Juan Chang Urrea was glad the girls pulled through in the end, as they now shift their focus to Fiji on Monday. "It was a very tough match, we started slow and we picked it up," he said. "It's not just how you start, but how you pick it up at the end as teammates and how they move forward. "It's a good game, we close the first chapter of the book and they did that very strongly. The conditions are very hard and very hot, and they adapted. "Every opposition is going to be tough, and we just need to review the game and then go from there too." Losing New Caledonia coach Kenjy Vendegoi conceded the Samoans played better. Speaking through a translator, he said they were rattled. "The Samoans are favourites in the group at the moment," he said. "They presented a lot of opportunities and they completed a lot of their opportunities. "We look forward to the next match." Samoa will now look ahead to a top-of-the-table encounter against Fiji, while New Caledonia face a must-win match with Tahiti in the other Group A fixture. Fiji earlier defeated Tahiti 4-0. Samoa 5 (Cali Willis 2, Aaliyah Johnson, Samida Ann Tumanuvao, own goal) New Caledonia 0 Defending champions New Zealand have started their title defence with a comfortable 4-0 win over Tonga. Isla Robson scored a hattrick, as they held off a spirited Tongan effort to record their first three points of the 2025 tournament. New Zealand's Ameila Hitchcock competes with Tonga's Sophie Hale. Photo: Shane Wenzlick/ Tonga put in a good shift, as New Zealand had never scored less than seven goals in four previous meetings between the two nations at U16 women's level. They did well to hold out for 25 minutes. It also marked only the fourth time in Oceania U16 women's championship history that New Zealand were kept to less than five goals. They face the other Group B winners, the Solomon Islands, next Tuesday, while Tonga will attempt to keep their campaign alive against tournament debutants American Samoa. New Zealand 4 (Isla Robson 3, Mia Humphrey) Tonga 0 In another result, Solomon Islands came out winners over American Samoa 1-0, with the winner scored late in the first half by striker Janita Ereanimae. Making their debut at this level, after winning the qualifying tournament in the Cook Islands in May, American Samoa showed plenty of promise. Coach Diane Justus had strengthened her squad with four US-based players and her side created enough chances to feel they deserved at least a share of the points. American Samoa were the stronger team in the second half and pushed hard for an equaliser, showing they could compete with a side riding the momentum of the senior national team's Nations Cup 2025 triumph last month. The Solomon Islands started brightly and nearly took the lead in the sixth minute, when Rose Aba turned sharply in the box and fired a powerful shot towards the bottom-right corner, but Leila Salausa in the American Samoa goal got a glove on the ball and pushed it wide. American Samoa's first real opportunity came in the 23rd minute, through Anaiyah Vee, who burst down the right wing, beating defenders with her pace and strength. Her low cross just missed the run of an unmarked Naimanu Samuelu in the box. Solomon Islands 1 (Janita Ereanimae) American Samoa 0

RNZ News
17 hours ago
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Lions look to history, Wallabies to pride in series finale
Bundee Aki of the British & Irish Lions during the first test against Australia in Brisbane. Photo:The British & Irish Lions have history on their minds as they head into the third and final clash with the Wallabies, determined to sweep a test series for the first time in living memory. No Lions team has ever gone unbeaten in a test series since Willie John McBride's Invincibles in South Africa in 1974, when a controversial draw in the fourth match denied them the sweep. The Lions did sweep Argentina 4-0 in 1927 and also beat the Wallabies 2-0 three times in the 1950s and 1960s as part of losing tours of New Zealand, but you would need to go back to 1904 for the last 3-0 triumph on a trip solely to Australia. For coach Andy Farrell, however, the importance of the sweep is simply that it was something the Lions had committed to achieving as a squad before heading to Australia. 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The Wallabies have proved they can play by "winning" the second half of the opening test 14-10 in Brisbane and taking a 23-5 lead after half an hour of the second in Melbourne. Coach Joe Schmidt said it had been difficult to pick the players up after the defeat but thought they should not ignore the progress they have made since he took over last year. "My belief is that 18 months ago, no one gave us a chance of challenging the Lions," he said. "(But) there's not been nearly as much between the teams as maybe people might have expected." Meanwhile, the Wallabies have been forced to call Brandon Paenga-Amosa into the team after hookers Dave Porecki and Matt Faessler both picked up injuries in training. Porecki, who started last week's second test, suffered a heel injury and Faessler, who started the first, picked up a calf issue in training on Thursday. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of Austrlia is taken down during the match in Melbourne. Photo: Tertius Pickard Billy Pollock moves up from the replacements to start in place of Porecki on Saturday, while Paenga-Amosa will come off the bench as the Wallabies look to grab a consolation win after losing the first two tests. Captain Harry Wilson said the team had great faith in the powerful Paenga-Amosa, who played the last of his 20 tests against Ireland last November. "Brandon joined us yesterday afternoon after a bit of a tough Thursday training session, it's obviously gutting to lose great players in Porecki and Fez," Wilson said. "But we've got a lot of confidence in BPA, he's been around this group for quite a long time over the last year and he's already faced the Lions three times. So he's got a lot of confidence and ... he has fit in very quickly." Paenga-Amosa, who faced the Lions in tour matches for Western Force, the Australia-New Zealand selection and the First Nations-Pasifika XV, will bring power to the front row but his lineout throwing has sometimes been wayward. British & Irish Lions Captain Maro Itoje and Wallabies Captain Harry Wilson. Photo:Coach Joe Schmidt had already been forced into three changes to his team by injuries but Wilson said it had been good to have fresh faces Taniela Tupou and Dylan Pietsch in the matchday squad. "What they've given us is fresh legs on the training park, fresh energy, more chatter around the training field. Just been nice and they're just raring to go," he said. "They've had to watch the last two test matches so they're all very excited at this opportunity and I've got no doubt they'll take it." The fourth change Schmidt made in his initial selection was a call-up for Nic White, who announced on Thursday that he would be retiring from test rugby at fulltime. The Wallabies players all wore fake moustaches at Friday's training session in honour of the halfback's famously hairy upper lip. "He's a competitor, and he's loved by the group," Wilson said. "He will be missed in this gold jersey, because he really does represent what it is to be a Wallaby." Wilson admitted the players had been crushed after losing the second test to a last-minute try last Saturday but spirits had risen during the week. "We just want to keep improving. We want to keep being a better team," he said. "We need to play an 80-minute game and get the result which I think we deserve for each other." - Reuters

RNZ News
19 hours ago
- RNZ News
NZ Warriors skipper Apii Nicholls grappling with NRLW captaincy conundrum
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