The choice for a future premium stadium in Auckland has been narrowed down to two options - either a revamped Eden Park or a new waterfront precinct near the city centre at Quay Park.  The groups behind both stadium bids now have six months to complete feasibility studies to try and demonstrate why their bid should become the choice adopted by Auckland Council.  It comes nine months after Mayor Wayne Brown set up a working group to resolve what a multi-purpose “Auckland Main Stadium” would look like for the city,  Four proposals had been in the running with the wider c ..read more

WARNING: This story deals with suicide. Please see below for help and crisis information. Ryan Fox didn’t hear the news of Grayson Murray’s death until after he had finished his third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Murray, who Fox played alongside the week prior during his third round at the PGA Championship, withdrew from the Challenge with two holes remaining in his second round on Saturday [NZ time] due to illness. On Sunday morning, news broke of his death, with the 30-year-old’s family later confirming he had taken his own life. Murray had dealt with alcohol and mental health issu ..read more

New Zealand rugby’s provincial unions have convincingly voted through their polarising governance proposal to spark a civil war showdown with the game’s professional players.  At a Special General Meeting in Wellington today, New Zealand’s 26 provincial unions voted – via secret ballot – on two proposals for boardroom reform after the Pilkington review clearly stated rugby’s governance was not fit-for-purpose.  Eight months on from that damning report, following protracted negotiations, lobbying, threats and posturing, the provinces comfortably garnered enough support ..read more

Joe Schmidt appears to have secured an early victory over New Zealand, with All Blacks prop Alex Hodgman reportedly in line to switch international allegiance to Australia.  Hodgman, 30, has earned four caps for the All Blacks since his test debut under former coach Ian Foster, but hasn’t played for New Zealand since 2020.  And under World Rugby’s eligibility laws, where players can represent a second nation after a three-year stand-down period, Hodgman is available to make the switch – given his father is Australian.  After leaving the Blues at the end ..read more

A result is in New Zealand Rugby’s long-awaited governance vote and it appears the battle between players and the provincial unions will go on. Proposal 2, the structure put forward by the country’s provincial unions. has prevailed after garnering the required two-thirds margin at the national’s body’s Special General Meeting in Wellington. Crucially, the proposal includes a stipulation that at least three of New Zealand Rugby’s nine board directors must have experience serving on a provincial board. Proposal 1 - backed by NZR itself and the players - wanted all nine directors to be entirely i ..read more

Labour’s sports and recreation spokesman Peeni Henare is calling on the Government to show leadership over the New Zealand Rugby (NZR) civil war. Eight months on from the Pilkington Review’s damning report, rugby’s warring factions appear no closer to reaching a unified solution on the best way to tackle the game’s many pressing and vexed problems. Henare, who’s taken up the portfolio from former Deputy Prime Minister and Sports Minister Grant Robertson, told the Herald it’s noted when there’s unrest in Aotearoa’s national game. “It has far-reaching ramifications and even as a politician, it a ..read more

On Thursday, New Zealand Rugby will hold a special general meeting (SGM), to vote on their governance structure, in response to last year’s Pilkington Review, which found its current model not fit for purpose. In short, this SGM looms as the most important meeting of its kind in the game’s professional history in New Zealand. Here’s everything you need to know, before Thursday’s crucial vote. Who are the sides in this civil war? And what do they want? The NZRPA, most of the NZR board (seven of the nine directors), Super Rugby clubs, New Zealand Rugby Commercial, New Zealand Māori Rugby Board a ..read more

Kiwi Scott McLaughlin couldn’t convert his Indianapolis 500 pole position into a victory, while Scott Dixon produced a stunning drive to finish third in the 108th running of America’s great race. McLaughlin’s teammate Josef Newgarden put his cheating scandal behind him to become the first back-to-back winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Helio Castroneves 22 years ago and give Roger Penske a record-extending 20th win in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” After starting 21st on the grid, Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing showed all his racecraft to take third as the highest-fini ..read more

WARNING: This story deals with suicide. Please see below for help and crisis information. Parents of Grayson Murray have released a statement: ‘We know he rests peacefully now.’ Players wearing red and black ribbons at latest event The parents of two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray who died yesterday, a day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial, have confirmed he took his own life. “We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone,” Eric and Terry Murray said in a statement. “It’s surreal that we not only hav ..read more

Football Ferns head coach Jitka Klimkova will be absent for New Zealand’s upcoming international friendlies as an investigation into what’s been labelled by the national body an “employment-related matter” is concluded. Klimkova, 49, has opted to take a leave of absence while the investigation is being finished, and will be replaced by assistant coach Michael Mayne as the team face Japan in Murcia, Spain. A New Zealand Football statement emphasised no further comment will be made by officials, players or staff on the matter until the investigation is concluded. Since taking charge of the Footb ..read more