Rocked by first round losses, Canterbury has named an Aucklander and Auckland a Cantabrian among minor selection changes for today's Super 12 rugby union match at Christchurch.
The replay of last year's final has been charged with new importance by the Canterbury Crusaders' 43-19 loss to New South Wales Waratahs and the Auckland Blues' 44-27 defeat by ACT Brumbies in the opening round.
Coaches Robbie Deans of the Crusaders and Peter Sloane of the Blues have demanded urgent improvements from their teams but have made only trifling changes to their beaten lineups.
Meanwhile, the Brumbies host the Cats in Canberra on Friday and the Waratahs are at home in Sydney to another South African franchise, the Sharks on Saturday.
In other weekend matches, the Waikato Chiefs are hot favorites on the road against the Queensland Reds after upsetting the Wellington Hurricanes, semifinals last season, in the first round.
The Reds lost last week in Dunedin to the Otago Highlanders, who're traveling to Cape Town, South Africa, to play the Stormers this week.
The Bulls, the best of the African squads in 2003 but first-round this season, are hosting Wellington at Pretoria on Saturday.
Deans has included Auckland draft player Tony Koonwaiyou -- an athlete who intended a career as an Olympic sprinter if he failed at rugby -- on the wing for the Crusaders and has restored All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw to his starting XV.
He has resisted pressure to promote prolific All Blacks flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens from the bench, saying the record pointscorer was not yet fit enough to start.
The largest cheer Canterbury received from its home crowd during its four tries to one loss to the Waratahs was saved for Mehrtens, who came off the bench with minutes to play.
That seemed to send a message to former All Blacks assistant coach Deans to start the 66-test veteran.
"No-one in New Zealand has more respect for Andrew Mehrtens than me, but he needs more time," said Deans, who also resisted an urge to make more than two changes to his match XV.
"I'm not happy with the performance from the mix we had last week," he said.
"We've opted for continuity this week but are obviously seeking a lot better performance. I've avoided making wholesale changes and now there's an opportunity for this group to address the issue."
Sloane has included former Crusaders and All Blacks prop Greg Feek in a new-look front row. John Afoa replaced injured All Blacks tighthead Kees Meeuws and Keven Mealamu steps up from the bench.
Sloane has also tinkered with his back three, benching All Blacks flyer Joe Rocokoco and moving Mils Muliaina from center to fullback.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and