There is no disgrace in being manhandled by South Africa. They are a hell of a team. But after six weeks of uninterrupted fun, it felt like someone had let the air out of the balloon, writes Dylan Cleaver.

It happens in the 60th minute of a fierce, grassroots Northern League football derby.

We're led to believe it takes courage for sports stars to take a stand. It doesn't always.

My father was an extremely hirsute man. His body hair had something of a gingerish hue as well.

New Zealand, and particularly Brendon McCullum, will not ease off the accelerator tomorrow - and nor should he.

SBWs' latest concussion problem shows just how unprofessional and irresponsible NZ rugby has been by rubber stamping his boxing career, writes Chris Rattue.

It sounds like a bad joke, but a fired up West Indies team might not be the pushover New Zealand were looking for.

The nine other A-League clubs were granted 20 year licence extensions at the start of this season, the Wellington club's existing five-year deal expires at the end of the 2015-2016 season, writes Michael Burgess.

There was a big first in the ANZ Championship over the weekend. And then, just hours later, it happened for a second time.

Ross Taylor was our premier batsman for a long time and his class has carried him through until now. When his form struck a bump, insecurities bubbled over, writes Chris Rattue.

Law 15.5 states that a tackled player must release the ball immediately. Not after several seconds cradling it against his torso until teammates arrive.

No one will know conclusively who all eight quarter-finalists will be until the last ball of the final round robin game tomorrow night.

As the Blues face their latest drama, one of their coaching castoffs, Joe Schmidt, is aiming at a landmark with Ireland.

There is a glaring difference between the two sporting products on offer: the cricket is exciting; the rugby is anything but, writes Paul Thomas.

Would larger squads and more frequent games, making a shorter World Cup, be better for the game of cricket than a hugely drawn out round robin, but then have all the finals over in a week?

Observing the Cricket World Cup over the past week, Sri Lanka (with their win over England) and Pakistan (with wins over Zimbabwe and South Africa) could be bigger threats than first thought.

Kirwan's comments after the woeful display against the underwhelming Lions reveal one reason why his Blues regime is in terminal turmoil, writes Chris Rattue.

After writing a couple of weeks ago that I was really pleased with the quality and intensity early in this Super Rugby competition, along came this latest weekend.

I have a lot of concern for Hurricanes fans right now. They are getting their hopes up and getting far too excited.

Under normal circumstances if a one-day match lasts a total of only 40 or 50 overs, with just a couple of hundred runs scored between both sides, spectators would leave the arena feeling a little....

A mountain of anecdotal evidence and the build-up to tomorrow's World Cup grudge match at Eden Park all suggest that New Zealanders love Australia but can't stand Australians, writes Paul Thomas.

Press releases from boxing promoters generally don't make for interesting reading.

A good weekend opener for the World Cup co-hosts with two of the three favourites showing strong form.

The date: February the 13th. Time: About 8.45pm. This was the moment I gave up, once and for all, on Dan Carter as a sensible World Cup prospect, writes Chris Rattue.

Those inclined to provoke early season niggle will declare the Crusaders are toast, the Bulls are crisping and the Reds are burned offerings.

Herald cricket columnist David Leggat looks forward to the start of the Cricket World Cup and lists his top 11 things he wants to see at the event.