Sport 16
Ashburton Guardian
Thursday, May 25, 2017
www.guardianonline.co.nz
■■CYCLING
■■RUGBY LEAGUE
Still leading despite pitstop
Kearney resisting changes
Tom Dumoulin’s overall lead in the Giro d’Italia was drastically reduced in the race’s toughest stage yesterday after the Dutchman stopped to answer the call of nature at the foot of the last of three major climbs. Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of the Bahrain-Merida team won the 16th leg, which crossed the Mortirolo and Stelvio passes. Just before the unprecedented ascent to the Umbrail pass in Switzerland, Dumoulin stopped at the side of the road, stripped off his pink jersey and hopped down into a ditch to take care of business. By the time Dumoulin got back on his bike, the Team Sunweb rider had already dropped far behind his rivals. “I just had some problems,” Dumoulin said. “I started to feel it in the downhill of the Stelvio and I had to stop. Back on the bike I decided to fight and draw conclusions after the finish. I’m still in the maglia rosa (leader’s pink jersey) but I’m above all very disappointed.” Becoming the first Italian rider to win a stage in this year’s race, Nibali edged Mikel Landa of Team Sky in a two-man sprint, with 2014 champion Nairo Quin-
Tom Dumoulin wears the pink jersey of the overall leader at the Giro d’Italia. tana crossing third, 12 seconds behind. Dumoulin finished more than two minutes back but maintained a 31 second lead over Quintana, while Nibali moved up
from fourth to third overall, 1:12 behind. Thibaut Pinot dropped from third to fourth and Ilnur Zakarin remained fifth. The 100th Giro ends Sunday with an individual time trial in
PHOTO AP
Milan that should favour Dumoulin. “There are more difficult stages to come but Dumoulin also has a time trial to his advantage in Milan,” Nibali said. – AP
■■CRICKET
■■BOXING
Threatening Australian players ‘a risky mistake’
‘Biggest mis-match ever’
The brinkmanship that is Cricket Australia’s pay dispute with the players’ union continues to bubble, with the latter warning the governing body they risk making a “dangerous” and unnecessary mistake. The current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expires on June 30 and there has been little progress in protracted talks regarding a new deal. The stumbling block is the revenue-sharing model that governs players’ wages. CA want it scrapped, while the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) are adamant that can’t and won’t happen. Even if the deadline passes, both parties could sign a stopgap agreement that ensures this summer’s Ashes and Australia’s mooted tour of Bangladesh in August is not affected. However, Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland recently indicated his organisation were not contemplating such arrangements in a stern email to players. Vice-captain David Warner fired back at his boss, declaring players could sign up with Twenty20 franchises around the world if they were unemployed on July 1. ACA chief executive Alistair
Australian vice-captain David Warner. Nicholson agrees with Australia’s opening batsman, whose stocks rose even further in the just-completed IPL. “To threaten Australia’s cricketers shows an apparent lack of appreciation of international circumstances,” Nicholson said. “CA forcing them into unemployment is an open invitation to the international cricket world. It’s a dangerous mistake and one that is completely unnecessary. “When you threaten them
with unemployment you place them squarely in the sights of the new cricket world.” Nicholson added that players were “in high demand for more money all over the world” but desperate to play for Australia plus their state and Big Bash League sides. “If they were being greedy they would have taken the deals CA were offering them,” Nicholson said, referencing the fact Warner and other test stars would be paid higher wages under CA’s proposal. – AAP
Sugar Ray Leonard believes Floyd Mayweather against UFC star Conor McGregor is the biggest mis-match in boxing history – a fight not for the purists – but conceded yesterday that, fuelled by social media and hype, it is a contest that the world’s sports fans want to see. Mayweather said it was the only fight which interested him, having retired 20 months ago with an unblemished 49-0 record, with the Dubliner, who has brought a new wave of fans to his sport, having been calling for this “billion dollar fight” for almost two years. “It will be successful, financially,” said Leonard. “It is intriguing. It reminds me of when Muhammad Ali fought Inoki. I saw it just the other day. Back then I loved it but ... if they decide upon boxing with McGregor, Mayweather wins hands down. But if McGregor was able to kick ...” The fight will only go ahead as a boxing match, according to Mayweather. “It’s two different sports trying to be one sport. Would it sell? Yes it will sell. There’s a curiosity which is a factor. But it won’t be what people are anticipating,” added Leonard. “It is not a fight which will please the boxing purists.” - NZME
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney has resisted making sweeping changes but his under-performing players are running low on brownie points going into Saturday’s NRL clash against Brisbane. A number of players are lucky to have retained their spots after the Warriors conceded at least 30 points in two awful defeats to Penrith and St George Illawarra over the past fortnight. Kearney is conscious of the fragile state of his side and held off on swinging the axe in the hope they will repay his loyalty and turn things around against the Broncos at Mt Smart Stadium. He remains confident they can reproduce the resilience and determination that saw their form climb over a five week period prior to the representative round, and earned wins over Parramatta, Gold Coast and the Sydney Roosters. “I take myself back to two performances ago and the five weeks previous to that, the guys had done a pretty good job,” said Kearney. “We’ve made a couple of subtle adjustments. We get Simon (Mannering) back this week and made a couple of changes, but the last thing I want to do is send panic through the organisation.” From front-row to fullback, almost the entire side has been below par, but major concerns hang over the forwards ability to assert themselves physically and their edge defence on both sides of the ruck. Halves Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran are under pressure to improve the side’s struggling attack and last tackle kicking options and more is needed from centres Blake Ayshford and David Fusitu’a. With patience wearing thin, Kearney admitted a third straight loss would leave him with little alternative but to consider other options in the weeks ahead. “I’ll look at that certainly after this weekend,” he said. “Am I happy with some of them - no, I’m not. But I’ve got to trust in them and the same players were doing a good job three games ago, so you can’t lose that, their ability, in the space of two weeks. “But it’s making sure that I give them every opportunity to get that back.” The side is buoyed by the return of former captain Mannering with the veteran lock overcoming a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the last two games. Young front-rower Albert Vete is likely to start off the bench in his first outing since the round three loss to Canterbury, with senior prop Jacob Lillyman away on State of Origin duty for Queensland. Mannering’s leadership and defence around the middle of the park has been sorely missed, but Kearney does not expect the former Kiwis captain to turn the side’s fortunes by himself. “It’s not for Simon to come back and fix the issues that individuals have to fix themselves.” - NZME