Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 26

Cover image photos courtesy of Willie Vake.

via RNZ 

Update:  The man who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of rising MMA fighter Fau Vake in a late night attack in Auckland last year has been sentenced to two years, nine months in jail.

Liufau Vake, 25, known as Fau, died after an attack by a group of four men outside a bar on Symonds Street, just before 3am on 16 May 2021.

After a series of other punches from others, Fau was punched by Daniel Havili in the side of the head while he had his hands by his side. Vake was unable to break his fall and his head hit the asphalt road.

The fall caused a skull fracture and brain bleeding, which, despite surgery, could not be recovered from. Vake died in hospital nine days later.

Fau's brother Ika was also attacked, including by Havili. Ika was hospitalised but survived.

Of the four men charged, Daniel Havili, 30, was the only one charged with manslaughter.…more

Jarome Luai and Brian To'o have been crowned the NRL's newest bromance, and after a great win over the North Queensland Cowboys the boys chat with the Fox League team and get in a bit of singing while they're at it.

The Samoa Internationals were named as debutants in Brad Fitlers NSW Blues State of Origin side for Game 1 next week.

An epic festival of All Blacks, Māori and Pasifika rugby matches has been confirmed for Aotearoa / New Zealand this July with the All Blacks, Māori All Blacks, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa all in action, and two blockbuster double-header match days unveiled.

New Zealand Rugby's Pasifika Engagement Manager, Eroni Clarke speaks to the media following the announcement of the All Blacks' Steinlager Series fixtures against Tonga and Fiji.

2021 Steinlager Series

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All Blacks vs Tonga, Saturday 3 July, 7.05PM, plus Māori All Blacks vs Manu Samoa (kick-off TBC), Mt Smart Stadium, AUCKLAND

All Blacks vs Fiji, Saturday 10 July, 7.05PM, Forsyth Barr Stadium, DUNEDIN

All Blacks vs Fiji, Saturday 17 July, 7.05PM, plus Tonga vs Samoa (kick-off TBC), FMG Stadium Waikato, HAMILTON

* Tickets go on pre-sale on 1 June and Public sale on 4 June.

Andrew Johns has lifted the lid on the conversation that led to a bid to coach the Samoan national team with brother Matthew and cross-code legend Sonny Bill Williams.

"For me I'm a proud Samoan, everyone knows that I'm a proud Pacific Islander, not just Samoan I'm proud of all the boys.  I'm a really vocal man when it comes to us as a Pacific Nation, we represent so much on the field but we seem to lack that representation off it ... I'll be keen to help out where I can" - Sonny Bill Williams 

Cover photo credit:  The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame 

The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from Thursday the 29th of April to Saturday 1st of May.  

Five quarterbacks were selected in the first round including the first Polynesian player to be picked in this years draft - Zach Kapono Wilson - who is of Native Hawaiian heritage and was the #2 overall pick.   The draft also marks the third time the first three picks (Lawrence, Wilson, and Lance) were Quarterbacks.

There are a total of nine players of Polynesian Heritage who were picked up in the 2021 NFL draft and 2 of them were in the Top 10 draft picks - get familiar with them below.

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Polynesian 2021 Draft Picks in order below: 

Zach Kapono Wilson: Native Hawaiian - Quarterback 

#2 pick overall, drafted by the New York Jets.…more

Round 1 of the NFL Draft kicked off earlier this evening with the 86th annual meeting of NFL franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 season.

There were 2x Top 10 Draft picks of Pacific Islands heritage.

Zach Kapono Wilson who is of Native Hawaiian heritage and Penei Sewell who was born and raised in American Samoa.

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Similar to Hawaiian born Marcus Mariota who is of Samoan heritage, Zach was picked by the New York Jets 2nd overall in the 2021 draft! 

Wilson played in 30 career games for BYU with 28 starts and is the youngest freshman quarterback to ever start for the Cougars.  In 2020 he earned Pro Football Focus All-America Second Team, Phil Steele All-America honorable mention, Co-Polynesian College Football Player of the Year and finished No. 8 in the Heisman Trophy voting.

He is one of six siblings and grew up in Utah.  His first love wasn't football but basketball and for most of his youth his father took him to basketball tournaments around the US.…more

Samoan Panthers Panthers boys Brian To'o, Jarome Luai & Stephen Crichton have a go at performing one of Boyz II Men's hit classics in this hilarious lipsync video. 

They then have a go at singing the song live on NRL Live after they took on the Broncos on Saturday night.

Via RNZ Pacific 

Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua have been granted conditional licences to join a planned new professional competition next year, New Zealand Rugby has announced.

NZR Pasifika Engagement Manager Saveatama Eroni Clarke, NZR board member Sir Michael Jones, Moana Pasifika Steering Committee co-chair Pelenato Sakalia and Former All Black Sir Bryan George 'BeeGee' Williams announced the move at 2pm this afternoon.

Moana Pasifika is a combined Samoa and Tonga side and is likely to be based in South Auckland, while the Fiji side is set to be based in Suva.

In November, Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika were announced as New Zealand Rugby's preferred partners to join an expanded 12-team competition subject to a range of conditions, mostly financial, to show that they were capable of funding each franchise to the tune of $10 million a year.

World Rugby last month committed $7 million in funding over the next three years to help fund the two Pacific Islands teams.…more

The Kaiviti Silktails have relocated from Fiji to play in the New South Wales Rugby League Ron Massey Cup for a shot at an opportunity in the NRL.

Sporting Australia went behind the scenes to find out just how much effort has gone into this moment, and why you don't want to miss a second.

When you hear the name 'St Pauls College', cricket is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind - you'd be forgiven for thinking rugby league or even Samoan stage Polyfest champs, but that could soon change with the school receiving expert coaching from former Black Caps bowler Dion Nash and their 1st X1 & colts team going unbeaten this season.

To kick off the weekend a number of old boys and cricket stars teamed up against the St Pauls 1st XI with the help of cricket legends Murphy Su'a, Dipak Patel and Mark Greatbatch in an All Stars vs St Pauls game, to fundraise towards buying cricket equipment, uniforms and extra coaching through winter.…more