Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 48

Samoa completed a stunning comeback to beat Fiji 29-26 in the Cup final to win the Paris Sevens.

It's the first tournament victory for the Manu since Dubai in 2012 and reverses a 42-5 hiding suffered at the hands of their Pacific rivals in pool play a day earlier.

Head coach Damian McGrath was full of praise for his players.

"I never in my wildest dreams when we woke up this morning thought that we could go through the day. We played three probably the most physical teams here in South Africa, Argentina and then Fiji and to put in the sort of performance that we did made me really proud."

Another heavy defeat appeared on the cards for Samoa when tries to Isake Katonibau, Leone Nakarawa and Jerry Tuwai gave Fiji a commanding 21-0 advantage nine minutes into the final.

Belgium Tuatagaloa struck back with a try for Samoa but Jerry Tuwai's second of the match gave Ben Ryan's side a seemingly insurmountable 26-7 half-time lead.…more

With 18 wins - 16 of which were by KO, the formiddable and unstoppable Joseph Parker is one of the most exciting boxers to come out of NZ since David 'The Terminator' Tua!

"Our challenge now is that we need funding."

It's not the exact words you would expect to hear from an Olympic athlete, but for Tongan-Australian Pita Taufatofua, it's been the bottom line phrase of his professional career.

For the most part he has self-funded his entire journey, a career that spans twenty years and includes various international tournaments, and two other Olympic Qualifying events.

The first disappointment in the journey to the Olympic dream was missing out on competing in the 2008 Oceania tournament (an Olympic Qualifying event) because the government of Tonga had no funds to send him.

And now, after becoming Tonga's first ever Taekwondo Olympic Qualifier, the struggle to get funding remains.

"The government is doing what they can, at the moment there isn't anything for them to give," said Pita

"But they're working on their part to try and get as much to us as possible."

But it's the early stages of preparation where funding is really needed, explains Pita.…more

Check out the incredible NFL Network Feature about the Polynesian influence on the NFL.

All of the interviews occurred at the 2016 Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement weekend by NFL Network's Steve Wyche.

Check out some of the hightlights from one of the fastest success stories in Rugby, the Ioane brothers Rieko and Akira Ioane! 

After being stars at Auckland Grammar, Rieko and Akira Ioane pulled on the black jersey of the Maori All Blacks for the first time together in 2015. Later that year they were selected together in Sir Gorden Tietjens 7s squad. Since then, they have played many tournaments, and have scored many great tries, which are featured in this video.

Video cred: lewif007 Productions

Check out the uso Krit Faanene Schmidt in #TalkingKrit where he catches up with Hurricanes and All Black player Victor Vito! 

The usos catch up on life - from moving to France to the New Zealand flag and everything in between.

We join All Black Legend Keven Mealamu as he visits James Cook High School with Counties Manukau and a very special guest - Wiremu, the Webb Ellis Cup.

Check out retired Footballer Troy Polamalu's recent induction speech into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame and his immense role his wife played on his success.

"Lastly, and certainly not least, my wife Theodora, she is the rock and foundation of our family. The tremendous sacrifice she has made to allow me to live my dream is the example of sacrificial love. She got trained in therapy just to work on me. She would read books on nutrition so that she could cook for me. [She] even wrote papers for me that would allow me to graduate."

Check out some the amazing highlights from last weekend's thrilling Sevens Tournament over in Sydney - with New Zealand winning back to back!

Take a look at some of the uso's representing for our small island nations as they battled it out in the Sydney leg of the worldwide Sevens Tournament, the fourth of ten stops across the globe.

Image Credit: Benjamin Tapealava

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The 2016 class of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame will be inducted on Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Here’s a quick look at this year’s honorees: 

CHARLIE ANE

Charles Teetai Ane Jr. is regarded as one of the pioneers of football in Hawai‘i. Born in Honolulu in 1931, Ane was a two-way lineman for Punahou. He later played quarterback and both offensive and defensive tackle for the USC Trojans, earning All-Coast honors in the early 1950s. The Detroit Lions selected Ane in the fourth round of the 1954 NFL Draft. He played both right tackle and center for the Lions in his seven-year career. More importantly, the 6-foot-2-inch, 260-pound powerhouse was a key performer during the most successful period in the franchise’s history, leading the Lions to two NFL championships. Ane was named to the Pro Bowl in 1956 and 1958. After he retired from the league, Ane returned to the Islands and served as a head coach and assistant coach for several local high school teams.…more