9 May 2021

Today's sports news: What you need to know

8:21 pm on 9 May 2021

Latest - The Manly Sea Eagles have beaten the Warriors 38-32 in their round nine NRL clash in Sydney, after the Warriors had led 20-12 at half-time.

Josh Curran and the Warriors

Josh Curran and the Warriors Photo: PHOTOSPORT

It looked like the Warriors were going to score a last minute try when Ed Kosi got his hands on the ball but two Manly players pulled off a try-saving tackle.

The Sea Eagles' Tom Trbojevic played a hand in several tries in Manly's comeback win over the Warriors.

The No.1's outstanding numbers and second-half ball-playing played a telling role in an end-to-end, at times error-strewn contest in which the Warriors blew a 20-12 half-time lead.

Five second-half tries from the Sea Eagles snapped a six-game losing streak at Lottoland as Manly's 2011 premiership-winners celebrated their 10-year anniversary.

The Warriors went missing for much of the second half until late tries to Chanel Harris-Tavita - back for his first NRL action since playing with a broken foot against the Knights in round two - and Reece Walsh had them storming home late.

But for two brilliant defensive plays by Jason Saab - a take of a towering bomb, followed by a clutch try-saving tackle on Kosi over the sideline - Kodi Nikorima would have been kicking for a 38-all deadlock on full-time.

Van Gisbergen extends lead

Cameron Waters outlasted New Zealand's Shane van Gisbergen in an enthralling finale to the OTR SuperSprint.

In his return to The Bend Motorsport Park, the site of his last race victory last September, Waters was resolute in the 24-lapper.

It marked the third win of the weekend for Ford in as many starts, and a third different team on the top step of the podium this weekend.

The Tickford Racing driver launched from third for the weekend finale, having failed to finish the earlier race following a first-lap incident.

Will Davison came home in third, and Jamie Whincup fourth.

Van Gisbergen will take an extended 190-point series lead over Whincup to the next event, with Chaz Mostert 246 points down.

- Supercars

Good start for Kiwi sailors

Andy Maloney and Josh Junior have both made good starts to their Finn Gold Cup campaigns in Portugal.

New Zealand sailor Andy Maloney.

Andy Maloney Photo: Sailing Energy

Maloney leads after the first day, one point ahead of Joan Cardona of Spain with European champion Zsombor Berecz a further seven points behind in third.

Junior, who made history in 2019 by becoming the first Kiwi to win the Finn Gold Cup (world championships), is fifth, 12 points behind Maloney.

The 52-boat fleet raced in 6-10 knot breezes but also encountered 1.5m swells, strong tidal currents and big windshifts. The swell is forecast to nearly double in size over the coming days, which is why the race committee added a third race today to try to get ahead of the schedule.

"I found myself on the right side of quite a few big gains today so that helped massively," Maloney said. "I think I managed to get around the top mark in relatively good shape in each race so it made my day much simpler than it could have been.

It is the first time in 18 months that the pair have competed in the Finn.

Maloney had a third, second and eighth today, while Junior had a tenth, fifth and tenth.

The results at the Finn Gold Cup will decide who out of Maloney or Junior will represent New Zealand at the Olympics.

Hamilton sets another record

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest for Mercedes in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton GBR 44, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The 36-year-old was already way ahead of the rest in the record books, with retired Ferrari great and fellow seven-times champion Michael Schumacher second on the all-time list of polesitters with 68.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen joined the championship-leading Briton, who has an eight-point lead after three races, on the front row with a time 0.036 seconds slower and another wheel-to-wheel duel looming tonight.

Valtteri Bottas qualified third for Mercedes, a week after the Finn took pole in Portugal.

Hamilton's pole continued a remarkable run of Mercedes domination, with the champions taking the top slot in every race at the Spanish circuit since now-retired Nico Rosberg began the sequence in 2013.

Only five constructors in the 71-year history of the sport have racked up 100 poles or more, and Hamilton's milestone puts him far ahead even of Red Bull, who as a team have so far managed 64.

Hamilton took his first pole with McLaren in 2007.

-Reuters

Reds clinch Super Rugby title

Skipper James O'Connor scored the winning try five minutes after the final hooter as the Queensland Reds beat the ACT Brumbies 19-16 to win the Super Rugby AU final in front of more than 40,000 fans at Lang Park in Brisbane.

The biggest crowd for a rugby match in the world this year gathered anticipating the coronation of Brad Thorn's young side but the Brumbies almost spoiled the party with a mature display of percentage rugby.

Leading 16-12 but reduced to 13 men with two players in the sin bin, the reigning champions resisted surge after surge at their line in the final 10 minutes before the Reds finally moved the ball wide for flyhalf O'Connor to score.

An 11th successive home victory gave the Reds a second Super Rugby title a decade after their first, when they beat Thorn's Canterbury Crusaders at the same stadium.

-Reuters

Evans runs out of energy

New Zealand driver Mitch Evans has suffered a disappointing finish in the latest Formula E race in Monaco.

Jaguar Formula E driver, New Zealander Mitch Evans.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Jaguar driver was leading heading into the final lap, but was overtaken by reigning champion Antonio Felix Da Costa as they exited the tunnel and then dropped to third after Robin Frijns went past him at the finish.

Evans was unable to defend the lead due to his car's reduced energy levels.

"I'm hurting pretty bad right now. I found myself in the lead but I had burnt quite a lot of energy to get there," he said. "I was just trying to hang on for as long as possible."

It was portugal's Da Costa's first win of the season, while Frenchman Frijns takes over the championship lead.

After seven races Frijns has 62 points to Mercedes driver Nyck de Vries's 57 and Evans' 54, with the top six drivers separated by just 14 points after seven rounds.

The championship now heads into a six-week break before the next round in Puebla, Mexico, on June 19.

Sharks beaten again

The Southland Sharks have suffered their second straight loss in the men's National Basketball League going down 85-73 to Hawke's Bay in Napier.

Hawks Derone Raukawa.

Derone Raukawa Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The perennial contenders had suffered a big loss to Wellington Saints the night before and struggled to keep pace with the Hawks who were led by Derone Raukawa with 28 points.

The Nelson Giants secured their first win of the competition beating the Franklin Bulls 107-94 in Pukekohe.

The Otago Nuggets improved to a 2-1 record after downing the winless Manawatu Jets 108-96 in Dunedin.

Unbeaten Saints top the table with 6 points, Hawke's Bay, Auckland Huskies, Otago Nuggets, Franklin Bulls and Southland Sharks have 4.

Meanwhile at the Basketball New Zealand Awards evening, Tall Fern Penina Davidson was named MVP for the year, as well as Female Player of the Year. Tall Black Corey Webster was named Male Player of the Year.

The night culminated with Basketball New Zealand bestowing its highest honour upon former Tall Blacks coach Keith Mair. Mair joins Pero Cameron, Anita Hannen, Zena Gay, Sir Lance Cross, Stan Hill, and Carolyn Grey as a Basketball New Zealand Legend.

Italian wins opening Grio stage

The Italian Filippo Ganna has won the opening time trial stage of the Giro d'Italia.

It is the second straight year that Gana has taken the opening stage, this time beating compatriot Edoardo Affini by ten seconds on the flat 8.6km course in Turin.

The world champion, who rides for Ineos Grenadiers, reached an average speed of 58.748km/h.

He'll wear the Maglia Rosa on Stage 2, a 179km ride held entirely on his home soil in the Piedmont region.

New Zealand's George Bennett was 52nd, 41 seconds behind Ganna, while Patrick Bevin was another three seconds back.

Another title for Bayern

Bayern Munich celebrated their record-extending ninth consecutive Bundesliga title with a 6-0 demolition of Borussia Moenchengladbach and a hat-trick from Robert Lewandowski, who edged closer to a 49-year-old scoring record.

Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich.

Robert Lewandowski Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The champions had sealed the title before kickoff following RB Leipzig's 3-2 defeat at Borussia Dortmund earlier today.

Lewandowski, who now has 39 goals, one shy of Gerd Mueller's imposing record of 40 league goals in one Bundesliga season dating back to 1971/72, needed only two minutes to open his account with a shot from a tight angle.

Thomas Mueller, who along with David Alaba becomes the first player in Bundesliga history to win 10 league titles, stabbed in their second in the 23rd before a sensational flying Lewandowski volley 11 minutes later.

Lewandowski sent keeper Yann Sommer the wrong way to convert a 66th minute penalty for his hat-trick and a clear shot at Mueller's record with two games left.

Bayern, who have now won 30 Bundesliga titles since the introduction of the top division in 1963, and 31 German league crowns in total, are on 74 points, with Leipzig in second on 64 following their 3-2 loss at Dortmund, who move up to fourth.

-Reuters