All Blacks need to improve, says coach after opening win against Stor…

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said his team needed to improve after they beat the Stormers 38-21 in the opening match of their South African tour at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday. fish-roadgame.online

The teams were deadlocked at 14-14 before wing Rieko Ioane scored an opportunist try in the 68th minute, followed in quick succession by tries by fellow wing Leroy Carter, fullback Josh Moorby and replacement prop Asafo Aumua.

The tourists will play two more matches against local franchises before the first of four Tests against the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg on August 22.

“We know we need to be better – and we will be,” said Rennie.

He said the All Blacks conceded too many penalties. They also had two yellow cards against them and were down to 13 players midway through the first half.

But Rennie said the players showed character in the way they responded.

“When we had the ball we were really dangerous,” said Rennie. “We knew the Stormers would bring a lot of line speed and the dewy conditions made things difficult at times. We weren’t quite clinical enough.

“We expected a lot of aerial attacks and we probably didn’t deal with that as well as we wanted.

“We felt if we could hang on to the ball we could eventually find space and beat them and we were very clinical late in the game.”

‘Build depth’

Neither team was at full strength for a match watched by 47,130 spectators.

The Stormers were without nine players who are members of the Springbok squad for the Test series, while Rennie gave opportunities to many of the fringe players in his 44-man squad.

The All Blacks included only six of the 23-man match-day squad selected for New Zealand’s most recent Test, a 40-21 win against Ireland in Auckland on July 18.

Lauaki and flyhalf Josh Jacomb both made All Blacks debuts off the bench.

Rennie said the tour was an ideal opportunity to build depth in the All Blacks ranks.

“(Springbok coach) Rassie (Erasmus) has been doing it for eight years. We’re a couple of months into it but we’ve brought over a good squad,” said Rennie.

“Not a lot of the guys who played tonight (will) have big minutes in the Test series but we got some good footy, some tough footy into them tonight. They’ll be better for that.”

Rennie said there would be multiple changes for the team that plays the Sharks in Durban on Tuesday.

“Tours like this are great for us to build depth. Heading into a World Cup next year we’ll know a lot more about the players we’ve got here.”

Scorers:

Stormers: Tries: Deon Fourie, Seabelo Senatla, penalty try. Conversions: Yaqeen Ahmed (2).

All Blacks: Tries: Samisoni Taukei’aho, Simon Parker, Rieko Ioane, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Asafo Aumua.Conversions: Beauden Barrett (3), Josh Jacomb (1)

The South African opener smashed 65 off 37 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes before being run out off having been starved of the strike in the closing stages.

His opening partnership of 52 with Mitchell Marsh set the platform for a total of 169-7 that always looked beyond Phoenix.

On the other side, Donovan Ferreira captained Phoenix but could only manage 3 off 7 balls as Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts shared six wickets between them to dismantle the home batting lineup.

Sean Dickson top-scored with 34 off 27 but Phoenix were always behind the required rate, finishing on 124-8 with Jordan Thompson’s late sixes merely reducing the margin of defeat.

Carse took 3-17 from his 20 balls and Potts followed with 3-22 as the pair bowled with control throughout. Phoenix were effectively eliminated by the powerplay, reduced to 23-3 inside the first 22 balls.

The result moved Sunrisers up to second in the table with a significant net run rate boost. For Ferreira, it was a difficult night at the office as Phoenix became the second men’s team knocked out of the 2026 Hundred.

Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

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Australia got new coach Les Kiss off to a winning start on Saturday with a nail-biting victory over Japan in a sweltering Osaka.

Wing Harry Potter, fullback Tom Wright, wing Max Jorgensen, flank Fraser McReight and prop Taniela Tupou all scored tries for the Wallabies in their narrow 35-32 win to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

Japan were looking for their first win over Australia and they set up a tense finale when captain Warner Dearns reduced the deficit to three points with two minutes left.

Kiss was leading the team for the first time after taking over from Joe Schmidt with just 14 months to go until they host the World Cup.

Japan’s Ryunosuke Ito, a 21-year-old university student winning only his fourth cap at flyhalf, scored the opening try for the home team, who also got scores from Faulua Makisi and Kazuma Ueda.

ALSO: Fijian rugby player dies in Japan

The match started at a furious tempo despite the conditions and Japan took the lead with just over 10 minutes on the clock. Ito broke free and jinked past two Australian defenders to score his first try for his country.

The Wallabies hit back three minutes later when Potter picked up a loose ball and sauntered through the Japan defence. Australia then took the lead when Wright cantered home to score in the 26th minute.

The Wallabies were left temporarily short-handed when lock Miles Amatosero, making his first start for Australia, was yellow-carded for charging Dearns’ head with his shoulder.

Japan immediately made their advantage count when Makisi charged through for a try, which Takuro Matsunaga converted to even the score. Amatosero’s yellow was upgraded to a 20-minute red card seconds before the half-time hooter blew.

Australia restored their lead two minutes into the second half when Jorgensen crossed the line for a try. But Japan hit back again when Ueda finished off a quick passing move in the 45th minute. Matsunaga missed the conversion to leave the Wallabies two points ahead, and McReight stretched Australia’s lead with another try soon after.

Matsunaga kicked two penalties to bring Japan within three points until Tupou gave Australia a cushion.

Dearns crossed late to keep Japan in it but Australia held on for the win.

JAPAN – Tries: Ryunosuke Ito, Faulua Makisi, Kazuma Ueda, Warner Dearns. Conversions: Takuro Matsunaga (3). Penalties: Matsunaga (2).
WALLABIES – Tries: Harry Potter, Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Fraser McReight, Taniela Tupou. Conversions: Ryan Lonergan (4), Ben Donaldson.

– AFP

Photo: Paul Miller/Getty Images

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A Fijian rugby player with a Japanese second-division team has died after being taken to hospital with “symptoms consistent with severe heatstroke”.

Kyushu KV said that 26-year-old Saimoni Vunilagi was taken to hospital in the southern city of Fukuoka after a team practice on Monday, and died on Friday morning.

Temperatures reached a high of 35°C in Fukuoka on Monday.

Vunilagi, a back row forward who stood 1.96m and weighed 117kg, attended university in Japan and began his professional career in 2023.

“The players, staff, and all team associates are devastated by this sudden news,” the club said in a statement.

“Although Saimoni had only recently joined Kyushu KV, his generous spirit and powerful style of play had raised high hopes for his contributions in the upcoming season.

“We humbly pray for the repose of his soul and extend our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family.”

Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40°C in recent weeks.

Close to 18,600 people were taken to hospital for heatstroke between 20 and 26 July, with 45 of them pronounced dead on arrival, according to the fire and disaster management agency.

Japan experiences about 1,300 heat-related deaths annually and is aiming to halve that number by 2030.

Three lions at a Tokyo zoo died from suspected heatstroke and others are under treatment, a spokeswoman said this week.

The country’s highest recorded temperature of 41.8°C was registered on 5 August 2025, in Isesaki, north of Tokyo.

Authorities have adjusted the timing of several cultural and sporting events in recent years because of the heat, including the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, which held its final summer edition last weekend.

– AFP

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Director of rugby John Dobson hailed the young Stormers who made real strides in Project 2029 against the All Blacks, while giving a nod to veteran Deon Fourie’s display, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.

New Zealand on Friday beat the Stormers 38-21 in the historic Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry meeting between the teams at Cape Town Stadium.

The hosts were hit by a string of injuries throughout the match, with prop Sazi Sandi a late withdrawal, scrumhalf Imad Khan forced off early with a knee injury and Dewaldt Duvenage (broken arm) also departing late on. Captain Ruhan Nel didn’t return for the second half after picking up a calf issue.

ALSO: Dobbo ready to feed Rassie intel

Despite the setbacks, Dobson was encouraged by what the likes of 20-year-old debutant Yaqeen Ahmed, loose forward Wandile Mlaba (21) and props Herman Lubbe (21) and Vernon Matongo (24) showed against the Kiwis, as part of the Stormers’ four-year vision to build an elite global rugby powerhouse.

“We’re making real progress. Obviously, Immy was terrible,” Dobson said. “It was going to be such a cool story game with Immy. With respect to Dewies, he’s not Carl Lewis. It would be such a nice game for Immy, that was an important part.

“But the project in terms of Immy, Yaqeen. Wandi Malaba – that’s a guy who’s absolutely confirmed is going to be a fantastic Stormer. It feels really progressive.

“Vern Matongo, even Herman Lubbe coming on at the end. I feel like we’re growing.

NEL: Stormers got schooled

“To be fair, and I’m not saying we’re doing a brilliant job, but two or three years ago, there were 10 guys who would’ve played across this weekend who are not available for injury – maybe eight in Argentina with the Springboks,” he added.

“Let’s be conservative, minus 15, and you go and produce this, I think the project is taking shape. And the age is coming down, despite Dewies and Brannas.”

Fourie, who scored a try in his first competitive game back from knee surgery, played over half the match – against the same opponents the 39-year-old Springbok faced in the last of his 13 Tests at the 2023 World Cup final – while carrying a shoulder injury.

“That is an incredible performance, isn’t it? For a guy again coming back from a serious injury … He made three tackles in 15 seconds, and two of them were try-saving. He’s remarkable,” Dobson said.

ICYMI: ‘Remarkable’ duel comes at a cost for Stormers

Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images

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