Talofa, Ma’lele’i, Bula and welcome to Season 05 Episode 44 of Breakfast Bites, the FIJI & PACIFIC SPORTS NEWS PODCAST, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news on another cloudy, warm and bright Wednesday morning 17 May 2023.
Talofa, Ma’lele’i, Bula and welcome to Season 05 Episode 42 of Breakfast Bites, the FIJI & PACIFIC SPORTS NEWS PODCAST, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news on another cloudy, warm and bright Wednesday morning 17 May 2023.
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
In rugby
Super Rugby Pacific Round 12 games this weekend: Starting on Friday, Moana Pasifika host the Crusaders and the Reds host the Blues. On Saturday, the Highlanders host the Rebels, the Chiefs host the Hurricanes and the New South Wales Waratahs host the Fijian Drua in Sydney, while on Sunday the Force host the Brumbies.
In rugby league
So Saint George Dragons sacked Head Coach, Anthony Griffin yesterday.
The biggest losers are their loyal fans, who once again miss out this season with their finals chances all but gone after it took Dragons bosses 11 rounds to make the obvious decision.
Make no mistake, Saint George Dragons Captain, Ben Hunt will be looking at alternative options after Anthony Griffin’s sacking.
The champion no.7 is contracted until the end of 2025 with the Red V, but there will be rival clubs eyeing Hunt as a halfback.
The Bulldogs perfectly fit the bill.
In football
Milan have it all to do against rivals Inter Milan in their local Italian derby, while Manchester City hope to banish memories of last season’s painful semi-final exit to Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg clashes starting today.
We tip Inter Milan and Man City to go through to the grand-final.
In the NBA
All-Star Laker, D’Angelo Russell again attempted to promote Coco5 sports drink at an NBA media conference yesterday.
This comical second attempt only adds to the already growing promotion of Coco5, thanks to Russell, with 3.1 million views already.
Gatorade is the NBA’s official sports drink sponsor, and they’re not happy.
Russell and the Lakers begin their western conference finals series against the Denver Nuggets today in Denver.
p.s. The Philadelphia 76ers have parted ways with Head Coach Doc Rivers following their NBA Eastern Conference Series loss to the Boston Celtics.
Bye bye Doc.
In SportsBiz
Behind another clutch performance from Aussie star, Sam Kerr Chelsea defeated Man U for its third consecutive Women’s FA Cup title — and it’s part of a much bigger victory for women’s football.
The Blues won in front of a record 77,390 fans at Wembley Stadium — setting a world record for a Women’s domestic Club game.
It continues a promising trend of increasing attendances for the women’s game: In April 2022, 91,648 fans packed into Camp Nou to watch Barcelona beat Wolfsburg in the Women’s UEFA Champions League semi-final.
And that momentum is expected to continue in the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
More on Women’s sports in my new background buzz segment at the end.
In boxing
In an opinion piece for The New York Post yesterday, British media celebrity, Piers Morgan compares Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to “The Greatest” – Muhammad Ali who came back to knock out George Foreman in 1974 to win the World Heavyweight boxing title.
“Foreman duly unloaded his relentless bombs on Ali who spent most of the time leaning on the ropes, soaking up the fearsomely powerful assault,” Morgan wrote.
“Nobody could understand this apparently suicidal rope-a-dope strategy other than Ali himself, who had deliberately planned it to exhaust his opponent.”
According to Morgan, Ali didn’t beat Foreman because he was the stronger man. He won because “he had the smarter tactics, and the courage to execute them” — all attributes that Morgan thinks DeSantis can use to beat Donald Trump should he run against him in 2024.
Er okay, if you say so Piers. I wonder how much he got paid for that?
Background Buzz
Okay sports fans, on “Background Buzz” today, I take a closer look at how World Rugby is playing catch up with the phenomenal growth of mainstream Women’s sports like football, professional basketball, rugby league and boxing.
World Rugby recently announced the first locations, dates and a vibrant new brand – WXV – the new international competition aimed at increasing the competitiveness, reach and impact of elite women’s rugby.
Starting in October 2023, WXV has a clear mission – to raise the profile and competitiveness of women’s 15s rugby by providing the global platform between Rugby World Cups to increase the reach, impact and value of the sport and growing the game as a whole.
Importantly, it will double the number of annual international fixtures for most competing national teams, to raise standards at Rugby World Cup 2025 and beyond.
Women’s rugby in Oceania
So what does all this mean for Women’s rugby in Oceania?
Rugby World Cup 2021 champions, New Zealand will host the world’s top teams – England, France and Wales in the six-team Top Level WXV1 competition from 21 October through 4 November this year.
The World Rugby Pacific Four Series 2023 with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA contesting, will determine the remaining three teams in WXV1 and the last team will drop into the WXV2 comp.
Each team in WXV1 will play three games and there will be no relegation or promotion for the first two years.
Meanwhile, Cape Town, South Africa will host the WXV2 competition from 14 through 28 October 2023 – same dates as WXV3, consisting of six teams playing in a cross-pool format including:
- · two teams from Europe – Scotland plus Italy vs Spain to determine the European teams in WXV2 and WXV3.
- · the fourth-placed team from the Pacific Four Series, alongside one team each from Oceania, Asia and Africa.
Team Fijiana will likely qualify for WXV2 – the big question is – who else from Oceania will be in contention for this one spot – Samoa, Tonga or our sisters from Papua New Guinea?
The sixth-placed regional position in the WXV2 competition at the end of each season will be relegated to WXV3.
The third level WXV3 host will be named once the participating teams becomes clearer to maximise attendance, reach and impact.
So far, only Ireland is confirmed in WXV3 with the remaining places to be determined via regional qualifiers, starting in May with competitions in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
So which countries will be playing in the Oceania regional qualifier in Australia in May – that’s like er now?
Brazil and Colombia will play home and away games to determine South America’s qualifier for WXV3.
The bottom team of WXV3 will play off against the next best ranked side, according to the World Rugby Women’s Rankings after the final game of WXV each year.
A full review will be undertaken in 2025 with all participants collectively, as World Rugby looks to define a sustainable global calendar for the international game.
World Rugby says, “WXV is more than a world-class competition; it is a statement of intent, a vehicle to supercharge the reach, competitiveness and value of elite women’s rugby.
“We are on a three-year sprint to an expanded Rugby World Cup 2025 in England and our relationship with participating teams is more than simply an event owner. We will be a partner, a supporter and investor, helping unions advance the women’s game on and off the field,” says World Rugby.
So I hope our young girls across Oceania get the message from World Rugby loud and clear – they are serious about the accelerated growth and expansion of Women’s rugby globally – so girls if you’re thinking about what sport to participate in?
Try rugby and see the world! And meet great guys of course!
And that’s a wrap!
For TEIVOVOsports.com I’m Culden Kamea – Mahalo, vinaka and thank you. Please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.
Mahalo, vina’a and tank you all too mass for all your love and support.
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