Kia ora, Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula, Aloha and Welcome to Season 10 Episode 61 of Breakfast Bites, by TEIVOVOdigital.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on Sunday morning 01 September 2024.
 
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Blue continent, where it is partly cloudy and 20 degrees Celsius at 5am!
 
In Rugby Union: The Springboks cracked the All Blacks late to win a gripping Test 31-27 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg early this morning and stay on course to win a first Rugby Championship since 2019.
 
The All Blacks led by 10 points going into the last quarter, but they caved under relentless pressure from the Springboks, after All Blacks replacement prop Ofa Tu'ungfasi was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul in the 67th minute.

The Springboks used the advantage to score two converted tries in six minutes to power from 27-17 behind to 31-27 and win the game.

The first Test between them since the Rugby World Cup final in Paris in October 2023 lived up to the hype, but while New Zealand scored four tries to three, indiscipline let them down again.

The world champion Springboks have beaten New Zealand three straight times for the first time in 15 years. The teams meet again in Cape Town next Saturday.

In Rugby League: The Dolphins resoundingly won the Battle of Brisbane, smashing the Broncos 6-40 to claim the last NRL 2024 finals spot.

With their season on the line, many expected Kevin Walters side to turn in a performance worthy of finals football, in what was billed as the Battle of Brisbane.

But it very quickly turned into “the Blitz of Brisbane” as Wayne Bennett’s side bullied their crosstown rivals in both attack and D.

In the NFL SportsBiz: College football is finally underway, and that means the return of one of the sport’s longest—and most expensive traditions - “guarantee games”.
 
For decades, bigger schools pay smaller institutions large sums to come play on their home turf.
The host typically gets an easy win, the visitor gets a nice payday, and everyone leaves happy. 

But that wasn’t the case last weekend, though, when New Mexico paid US$360,000 to Montana State for their “guarantee game”, except the Bobcats – major underdogs, upset the Lobos 31–35.

This weekend, more than US$35Million is being shelled out across at least 55 guarantee games, according to research conducted by Front Office Sports.

Those payments range from as little as US$300,000 that Middle Tennessee is paying Tennessee Tech, to the US$1.9Million cheque that Alabama is paying Western Kentucky.

And at the US Tennis Open: First Alcaraz and yesterday Djokovic – out of the US Open!
 
The defending US Open champion and the most successful man in tennis, Serb legend Novak Djokovic was dethroned by Aussie, Alexei Popyrin at Arthur Ashe Stadium 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 in 3 hours 18 minutes.
 
And finally, only in the USA: Just in case you missed it, a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas:
 
A 6ft 2in 107Kg Brazilian trans female jiu-jitsu fighter, Gabi Garcia was choked out in the second round via submission by her smaller male opponent, Australian Craig Jones, in a controversial Sin City mixed-sex showdown.
 
This after Jones forcefully kissed her on the lips in their media build-up last Thursday, with Garcia screaming and chasing the Aussie bloke off stage!  

After the Paris Olympic Games gender controversy over the gold medal-winning Algerian Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan in the Women's boxing competition – you just gotta wonder – where all this is heading?

And that’s a wrap peeps!

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Mahalo and Ka kite; for TEIVOVOdigital.com, I’m Culden Kamea tanking you all too mass for all your love and support.
 
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