Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 41

Check out the full spread here...at own risk ;) 

Tonight the 'King in the Ring' 8 man eliminator series goes down at the ASB Stadium in Kohimarama and it's an all Polynesian main card!

With fighters of Maori, Cook Island, Samoan & Tongan descent these heavyweights are ready to prove who is the New Zealand King of the 100kg weight division.

Israel 'Style Bender' Adesanya took out the first King in the Ring 100kg Trans-Tasman event in 2015 and now the eliminator series returns to its own shores to find the top fighter of this weight division in New Zealand.

The event was founded and is run by New Zealand born Samoan, Jason Suttie (Founder of ETK - Elite Thai Kickboxing gym, 6x World Champion & K-1 New Zealand champion) and his wife Arna.  

Eight contenders go head to head in a survival series of three-round elimination bouts, battling it out for the coveted King in the Ring crown and the $10,000 grand prize.…more

We stopped in to check out the Rugby Skills workshop run by TOKI services in Wellington.

All Black Ardie Savea & Maori All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder were out there giving the kids the opportunity to meet, train & learn with them both.

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Director:  Tuki Laumea

Camera Operators:  Hayden Aull & Olly Coddington 

Sound Operator:  Craig Mullis 

Meet 3 key players in the All Blacks Under 20s side who all have Pacific Island heritage.

The All Blacks U20s reclaimed the Junior World Championship title after a record win over England in the finals on Sunday (NZ Monday morning).  Final score was NZ U20s 64 - Eng U20s 17  

Asafo Aumua was massive in their win in the final against England with a hat-trick of tries, Ereatara Enari was outstanding at halfback and Dalton Papli'i scored the first try in the final.

Meet the boys here: 

ASAFO AUMUA 

EREATARA ENARI 

DALTON PAPALI'I

Remember these names!  We think you'll be hearing more of them in the future!

Rugby is the one sport that Samoans are most passionate about and they're equally as passionate about their national team - Manu Samoa.

Win or lose Samoans love seeing them play and they love when they take on the top tier rugby nations no matter what the score.…more

What do Pat Lam, Kevin Senio, Filo Tiatia and Francis Saili all have in common?

You got it.

They were all very good rugby players who could have played for Manu Samoa, but instead opted to play for New Zealand and played less than 3 matches for the All Blacks.Francis Saili in action for the All Blacks 

Then there are Ofisa Tonu'u - 5 matches, and Dylan Mika - 7 matches.

It wasn't long ago that Lima Sopoaga and Jordan Taufua were about to declare their availability for Manu Samoa.

Both then received notice of All Black "interest" and the "story" was over before it had begun.

Sopoaga has since gone on to play the grand total of 6 matches for the ABs, while Taufua still lives in hope.Lima Sopoaga playing for the All Blacks against South Africa.…more

What a week for sport! Last weekend the NRL treated us to a stellar showcase of Pasifika talent within the code by hosting the Pasifika test in Bankstown, Sydney following the Anzac test (Poor Kiwis). They incorporated more than just the on field talent but employed genuine Pacific performers from each nation involved to perform in between the games. This is such a great way to acknowledge the contribution of Pacific players in the game and pay homage to their roots and share a little taste of their vibrant island nations through song and dance. Fiji, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea proudly donned their nations jerseys as they stepped out onto the fields. They even served Vailima and Fiji Bitter at the stadium bars! The NRL happily include the Poly players because, why wouldn't you with all the skill and to be honest, natural talent.…more

Coco congrats to Samoan wrestler Leati Joseph Anoa'i aka Roman Reigns who just took out the Main Event at Wrestlemania 33 against legendary wrestler 'The Undertaker' 

We had a theory over on our Coconet Twitter page that this would be The Undertakers retirement match and Roman Reigns would be the one to retire him!

A couple of interesting facts you may not have known!

The Undertakers legendary streak started against another Pacific Island wrestling icon Jimmy "Supa Fly" Snuka when he beat Jimmy at Wrestlemania 7!

We thought it would be kind of fitting if The Undertaker was to retire after being beaten by another wrestler of Pacific Island descent - Roman Reigns!

And I guess the WWE thought the same thing!

Yuuuup we'd be smiling too Roman!  

Check out the amazing Wrestling Dynasty Roman comes from ...…more

Brother's Dane Ingham (17) and Jai Ingham (23) have both been named in the All Whites squad for the OFC Stage Three Qualifiers against Fiji - the next step of FIFA World Cup qualifying. 

Australian born Dane, the youngest of the brothers was selected to join the 23-man squad along side his brother Jai, the first brothers to be named in a New Zealand squad since Neil and Kenny Harlock in 1997. 

"It was a pretty special moment...I was sitting at home and I got a call from my agent saying that New Zealand were interested and they were going to call me up and I got on the phone straight away to my brother and my mum and we just talked and mum was really happy to have both of us called into the squad." - Dane Ingham. 

The pair qualify to play for New Zealand through their mother Virginia, who was born in Dunedin before moving to Australia when she was 16.…more

Take a look back at Mark 'The Super Samoan' Hunt's Top 5 knockouts in the UFC ...