The Otago Highlanders celebrated the first Super Rugby match at their new Dunedin stadium with an impressive 27-24 victory over the Canterbury Crusaders yesterday.
Tries from hooker Andrew Hore, center Phil Burleigh and winger Hosea Gear, as well as 12 points from the boot of flyhalf Lima Sopoaga, held off a Crusaders comeback in front of a passionate crowd under the roof at the Otago Regional Stadium.
A malfunctioning stadium clock added extra drama at the death with the Highlanders twice booting the ball into touch believing the 80 minutes were up, only for the referee to continue play. The relief when the end finally came was palpable.
There has not been much to cheer about in Otago rugby recently with the financial crisis enveloping the provincial rugby union, but the Highlanders did their bit to raise morale with an opening week upset of the Waikato Chiefs .
Seven-time champions the Crusaders are an altogether different proposition and tries from wing Israel Dagg and Andy Ellis, along with flyhalf Tyler Bleyendaal’s 14 point tally meant the Highlanders had to fight every inch of the way for the victory.
They grabbed the momentum at the end of the first half when 10 minutes of pressure climaxed with Burleigh squeezing through half a gap and bulldozing his way across the line to send the home side in up 20-10.
The Crusaders came out firing in the second half and had overhauled the Highlanders within four minutes of the restart after rampaging lock George Whitelock set up Ellis for his try and Bleyendaal made up for missing the conversion by slotting two penalties.
However, the Highlanders were in no mood to have their party gatecrashed, and 12 minutes from time quick hands in the backline got the ball out to All Black Gear and he made no mistake with a classic winger’s finish in the corner.
Sopoaga calmly added the extra points from out wide to give the Highlanders a lead they would never relinquish and bragging rights in the South Island of New Zealand.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB