Auckland

Replacement winger Rudi Wulf scored two tries as the Auckland Blues overwhelmed the Queensland Reds 38-13 in a Super 14 rugby match on Saturday. Wulf scored a try in each half at Eden Park as the Blues scored four tries for a bonus point and moved atop the competition standings at 3-1 midway through the fourth round.

New Zealand’s stunning back-to-back victories over Australia have upset the cricket world’s rankings and captain Stephen Fleming believes it has thrown open next month’s World Cup in the Caribbean. Australia have been toppled from the world top spot for the first time since global rankings began in 2002 after losing by five wickets in a record chase by New Zealand on Sunday.

Flyhalf Isa Nacewa kicked 19 points to steer the Auckland Blues to a 34-25 win over defending champions Canterbury Crusaders in the opening match of the 2007 Super 14 rugby competition on Friday. Both sides scored three tries but Nacewa’s two conversions and five penalties kept the Blues in front of a depleted but defiant Crusaders.

Sri Lanka crushed New Zealand by 189 runs in their one-day cricket international on Saturday. New Zealand crashed to 73 l out in 26.3 overs at Eden Park in reply to 262-6 from the tourists. The brilliance of two veteran Sri Lankan players in 37-year-old batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and bowler Chaminda Vaas (32) was crucial to the victory.

New Zealand waltzed to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their second and final Twenty20 cricket international on Tuesday to level the series 1-1. Veteran Nathan Astle was in blistering form with an unbeaten 40 off 37 balls, hitting the winning run with nine balls remaining.

Topless porn stars have been given permission to parade through the main street of New Zealand’s biggest city on the grounds that they will not be breaking any nudity laws. About 30 porn stars are expected to take part in the ”Boobs on Bikes” parade along Auckland’s Queen Street later this month.

All Black coach Graham Henry is wary of a resurgent Australia ahead of their opening Test in the Tri-Nations series and rates his side as underdogs after unconvincing wins over Ireland and Argentina. ”I think we’re a bit behind Australia at the moment,” Henry said on Tuesday after naming a 30-man Tri-Nations squad.

All Blacks fans saw double on Thursday as one team continued its preparation for the second Test against Ireland on Saturday and another jetted off to Buenos Aires for next week’s one-off Test against Argentina. The team for Saturday’s Auckland Test saw the Argentina side off in true All Blacks fashion with a haka outside their Auckland hotel.

The inconsistent Auckland Blues picked up their first bonus point of the Super 14 season on Saturday with a 32-15 victory over the the Western Stormers. Fill-in flyhalf Isa Nacewa contributed 17 of the Blues’ points as the star-studded side moved up one place to 10th to remain in the unflattering bottom half of the table after eight matches.

The Auckland Blues answered their critics with a 30-17 win over the Northern Bulls in Auckland on Friday to produce their third win from seven matches and put a dent in the Bulls’ hopes of making the Super 14 top four. The inconsistent Blues have been under the microscope in the past week, with a host of rugby brains called in to help exorcise the ineptness that has plagued their season.

A powerful six from West Indies opener Chris Gayle inadvertently put New Zealand on course for a dramatic 27-run win in the first cricket Test at Eden Park in Auckland on Monday. It was New Zealand’s lowest Test winning margin, extending the West Indies losing streak to seven.

The West Indies on Saturday batted and bowled themselves into a position to break a streak of six straight Test-match losses. On the third day of the first cricket Test against New Zealand, openers Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga kept their wickets intact for more than an hour before stumps to leave the tourists 48 without loss when play ended.

New Zealand is aiming to wrap up their one day cricket series 5-0 against the West Indies here on Saturday but already has one eye on the Test series starting next week. Spinner Daniel Vettori, sure to be a crucial member of the Test attack, is being rested for the final one dayer, although team management said there was no injury problem for the left-armer.

Speedster Brett Lee stepped up in the absence of Glenn McGrath to inspire Australia to an overwhelming 147-run win over New Zealand in a one-day cricket international at Eden Park on Saturday. Lee was simply too quick for the New Zealand top order, sending the ball down around 155kph, and his three for five off six overs broke the back of the innings.

A New Zealand politician who promised to run naked through the streets if he lost an election bet attempted to honour his pledge on Sunday, but in the nature of politicians he wasn’t prepared to expose himself fully to the naked truth. Keith Locke from the Green Party instead wore a G-string on his 500m jaunt.

New Zealand’s All Blacks ground out a 34-24 win over an injury-ravaged Australian Wallabies at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday to win the Tri-Nations series for the sixth time in the 10-year history of the championship. However, it was not the convincing win they had hoped for, despite a commanding forward effort and a 20-0 lead after 20 minutes.

New Zealand, favourites to win the Tri-Nations decider against the injury-plagued Wallabies here on Saturday, are wary of the threat posed by under-siege Australia captain George Gregan. Australian critics of the 32-year-old scrum-half are calling for his scalp as the side endures their worst losing streak in nearly 25 years.

Australian rugby captain George Gregan will equal England prop Jason Leonard’s record of 114 Test caps and team with Mat Rogers at flyhalf when the Wallabies play New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday in the final Tri-Nations match. Gregan will lead a side with five personnel changes.

A 73-year-old former New Zealand soldier is to undergo a sex change and the government has agreed to pick up the 30 000 New Zealand dollar (R136 200) cost of the operation, a report said on Saturday. After the operation, transsexual Vicki Harvey will be able to change the gender on her birth certificate to "female".

The All Blacks will face a much sterner test of their ability against Australia and South Africa in the Tri-Nations than they experienced against the British and Irish Lions, New Zealand coach Graham Henry said on Wednesday. The All Blacks are preparing for their first Tri-Nations match against the Springboks in Cape Town on August 6 before facing the Wallabies in Sydney on August 13.

Irish fullback Geordan Murphy and English wing Mark Cueto will make their Lions Test debuts against the All Blacks in the third Test in Auckland on Saturday, with coach Clive Woodward producing a new-look backline in a final effort to win one Test on tour. Woodward has dug deep into his bag of tricks to conjure up a competitive squad.

Police in New Zealand broke down the door to an Auckland home after receiving an emergency call from the building, only to find that the call had apparently been made by the resident cat. It seems Tabby the cat had rung the 111 emergency number while taking a stroll across a telephone.

Three newcomers have been named in the All Blacks starting line-up for their one-off Test against Fiji at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Friday. Hooker Derren Witcombe, lock James Ryan and winger Sitiveni Sivivatu will make their Test debuts in a side that has an experimental look about it before the All Blacks face the British and Irish Lions.

The Wellington Hurricanes broke a 10-year Super 12 losing streak against Auckland, scoring three second-half tries on Friday to beat the Blues 22-10 at Eden Park. The Hurricanes outscored the Blues 19-7 after the teams were tied 3-3 at half-time, posting their first win over Auckland in the competition.

A cigarette butt said to have been salvaged as a souvenir before a smoking ban has been sold in an internet auction in New Zealand for NZ$7 475 (about R33 300). The butt was purported to be the last smoked in the popular Auckland bar Malt before the introduction of anti-smoking legislation last year.

The Blues continued their rugby resurgence in the Super 12 with a 23-6 win over the Cats in Auckland on Saturday. After their impressive win over the defending champions Brumbies last week, the Blues posted their fourth win, pushing them closer to semifinal contention. They now lie in sixth place on 16 points, three adrift of the Brumbies, and seven short of the fourth placed Highlanders.

Australia completed their rout of New Zealand with an emphatic nine-wicket win in the third cricket Test with a day to spare in Auckland on Tuesday, comfortably wrapping up the series 2-0. The manner in which the Australians dealt with New Zealand underlined the vast gulf between the trans-Tasman neighbours.

Caleb Ralph scored two of Canterbury’s six tries on Saturday as the Crusaders claimed a 41-19 win over the Auckland Blues in a Super 12 rugby match. Five of those tries, including a penalty try, came in the first half at Eden Park as the Crusaders preyed on their traditional rival’s turnovers to lead 34-0.

All Blacks flyhalf Carlos Spencer scored one try and set-up another on Friday to lift the Auckland Blues to an 18-15 win over the Queensland Reds in a Super 12 rugby match at Eden Park. The Reds, who hadn’t beaten the Blues at Auckland in the competition’s 10-year history, led against the run of play within 10 minutes of fulltime before Spencer turned the match.