Hooker and captain Tevita Ikanivere yesterday scored a try in each half as the Fijian Drua beat the 14-man Queensland Reds 28-19 in hot conditions in Suva to hold on to eighth place and a playoff chance in Super Rugby Pacific.
The Reds (fifth on the table with 31 points) were reduced to 14 men for 20 minutes in the second half when winger Suliasi Vunivalu received a second yellow card for a foot trip after serving 10 minutes for the same offense in the first half.
The double yellow meant an automatic red card.
Photo: AFP
The Drua’s fifth win in six home matches this season kept them in eighth place on 21 points after 13 of 15 regular-season rounds.
“We didn’t perform last week [in a 48-10 loss to the Western Force], but we still filled the stadium this week and that was for our fans and our families,” said Ikanivere, who was a powerhouse for the Drua, leading them in carries.
“I challenged everyone this week to show up today. They showed up and I just scored the tries because I was there at the right time,” he said.
Photo: AP
Vunivalu took his first trip to the sin-bin in the third minute when Kitione Salawa slipped through a narrow gap in the Reds defense, stepped off his right foot and seemed to be heading in under the posts. As the last defender Vunivalu stretched out his leg to bring Salawa down, earning a yellow card and giving up a penalty try and a 7-0 lead.
Later yesterday, the ACT Brumbies (third, 43) secured a home playoff after a last-minute penalty try ensured a 31-24 win over the Canterbury Crusaders (10th, 15) in Canberra, table-toppers the Auckland Blues (50 points) beat the visiting Otago Highlanders (seventh, 23) 47-13 and the Western Force (ninth, 19) trounced the NSW Waratahs (12th, 12) 27-7 in Perth.
On Friday, the Wellington Hurricanes (second, 47) beat Moana Pasifika (11th, 14) 32-24 and the Waikato Chiefs (fourth, 42) downed the Melbourne Rebels (sixth, 26) 26-23.
Chinese soccer fans have poured their love — and money — into a Singaporean goalkeeper’s food stall after his performance in a game this week indirectly helped China advance to the third qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Hassan Sunny, a 40-year-old goalkeeper on the national team, became an overnight celebrity on Chinese social media after Singapore’s 3-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday. China would have been eliminated if Thailand had won by three goals. Sunny made enough saves to prevent that from happening. Chinese fans have been lining up and buying out all the food at the stand
Teams from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam are to take on local sides at the Taiwan International 10’s Rugby tournament at the Bailing rugby fields in Taipei’s Shilin District on Saturday and Sunday. “The primary aim of this tournament is to propel the growth of rugby in Taiwan,” said Andrew Leakey, president of the Taipei Baboons and one of the event’s organizers. “By showcasing elite teams in an international arena like this, our objective is to ignite interest across various demographics and reach a broader audience,” Leakey said. “Central to our mission is the promotion of women’s
China squeezed into the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a 1-0 defeat at South Korea on Tuesday, with Indonesia also progressing on a night of drama. Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in scored just after the hour in Seoul for South Korea, who were already into the next qualifying phase as group winners. The damaging loss left China’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, but Thailand failed to take advantage as their dreams of progressing fell agonizingly short. They needed to beat basement side Singapore by three goals in Bangkok to leapfrog China into second place in
GOLDEN BOY: With Italy’s president watching, Tamberi was given a standing ovation when he walked onto the track, and he did not disappoint, jumping a record 2.37m Norway’s Karsten Warholm on Tuesday fired out a broadside at Olympic contenders in the run-in to the Paris Games by winning a third successive European Athletics Championships title in Rome as a galaxy of global stars showcased some scintillating form. Warholm, the Olympic champion and a three-time world gold medalist, timed 46.98 seconds for the victory. “I felt strong and I was in control,” Warholm said. “Now it’s back to training and keep on pushing.” “This is a good step on the road, but this is more to build confidence and get the gold medal. In Paris I’ll try to be as sharp