Breakfast Bites - a TEIVOVO Rugby Podcast TEIVOVO Sports & Rugby

Talofa, Ma’lelei’i, Bula and welcome to Season 4 Episode 82 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com - a wrap of Pasifika Peoples sports on a bright and sunny Friday morning 24 March 2023, coming to you from paradise on the 180th meridian in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

In rugby league – the Eels bagged their first win of the season over arch rivals, Penrith last night in a thrilling 17-16 golden point victory. A field goal from Nathan Cleary on the full-time siren sent the game into golden point, but it was the Eels new A$6Million Man Mitchell Moses who had the last laugh.

Our world famous tips for tonight: Melbourne Storm to weewilliwonka Wests Tigers at AAMI Park and the Dolphins to bongobullu Brisbane at Suncorp.

In rugby – our World Famous Tips for Super Rugby Pacific Round 5 starting tonight Friday: the Crusaders to bumblebee the Brumbies in sunny Christchurch and the NSW Waratahs to chopsuey the Chiefs somewhere near Chinatown in Sydney.

In football – our World Famous Tips again for key EURO 2024 Qualifiers: Italy to lira England, Denmark to foozy Finland, Portugal to ludo Liechtenstein, Boznia-Herzegovina to igloo Iceland, France to noodle Netherlands, Czechia to paparazi Poland, Sweden to bubu Belgium and Spain to niggle Norway.

In boxing – British media is reporting that the straw that broke the camel's back in the FURY-USYK fight cancellation was the purse for a rematch with Fury allegedly insisting on the same 70/30 split in his favour, regardless of the result of the first fight, something the IBF, WBA and WBO Champion, Usyk was not prepared to give into.

What did I say yesterday - too much money and way too much greed.

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea - Mahalo, vina’a and thank you – please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.

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Talofa, Ma’lelei’i, Bula and welcome to Season 4 Episode 81 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika Peoples sports on a cloudy but warm Thursday morning 23 March 2023, coming to you from paradise on the 180th meridian in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

In rugby league – our world famous Tips for the NRL Round 4: Tonight Parramatta Eels to papadoc Penrith Panthers at CommBank Stadium in Sydney. Tomorrow the Melbourne Storm to weewilliwonka Wests Tigers at AAMI Park in Melbourne and the Dolphins to bongaballu the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.

In rugby union – slowly, slowly tweak and fix; Fijian Drua Head Coach, Mick Byrne has made a smart move promoting Frank Lomani to take over the kicking duties after his three out of three conversions from difficult angles last week that kept the Fijian Drua in the game against the Reds.

Next step try out the two times Man of the Match at flyhalf, or at least give Lemeki Valetini a start with Caleb Muntz coming off the bench.

In Sportsbiz – Foot Locker is revamping their bricks-and-mortar sales strategy, having found that 400 US stores in malls make up less than 10% of their total sales.

So the company plans on closing these 400 locations across the country by 2026, and in place of them, opening up more than 250 new “concept” stores.

In football – apart from the Qatari consortium, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is also expected to make a second bid for Man U. Ratcliffe purchased Ligue 1 side Nice for US$106Million in 2019. Man U is third in the EPL table, is in the FA Cup semi-finals, and set to face Spanish side Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League Quarterfinals.

In boxing – Tyson Fury versus Oleksandr Usyk is off after Frank Warren failed in last-minute talks to salvage the undisputed world heavyweight fight at Wembley Stadium, London on 29 April.

The Ukrainian will now have to face WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois.

Me thinks, the problem with world heavyweight boxing at the moment is - too much money and way too much greed.

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea - Mahalo, vina’a and thank you – please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.

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BREAKFAST BITES
Talofa, Ma’lelei’i, Bula and welcome to Season 4 Episode 80 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika Peoples sports on a cloudy but warm Wednesday morning 22 March 2023, coming to you from paradise on the 180th meridian in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

In rugby league – the Dolphins Tongan enforcer, Felise Kaufusi has been found guilty and will now miss the Brisbane derby this weekend in a huge blow to Wayne Bennett’s side.

Kaufusi will now serve a four-game ban, instead of only a three-game suspension if he took the early guilty plea for his carless and late tackle.

Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes received the same fate as his former teammate Kaufusi - unsuccessful in seeking a downgrade of his careless and late tackle charge. Hughes‘ decision was also unanimous and he will now serve a two-game suspension instead of one.

In boxing – controversy broke out at the IBA Women’s Boxing World Championships in India yesterday after Italian top seed in the 63Kg weight category, Assunta Canfora was beaten by knockout by Colombian fighter, Camilo Bravo Camila Gabriela after just 37 seconds in the first round of their Round of 16 bout.

A teary Assunta left the ring in a huff after the Referee from Denmark stopped the fight and declared the result as her Italian coaches vociferously protested that she had not been counted out and could carry on fighting.

In Sportsbiz – ESPN is bracing for painful layoffs in the weeks ahead, as part of a corporate restructure. Parent, Disney is slashing US$5.5Billion in costs including 7000 jobs - 3% of its global workforce. ESPN’s footprint has been cut to less than 75 million US homes from 100 million in 2011.

In football – the UEFA Champions League Women’s quarter finals first leg kicks off today with Bayern Munich against Arsenal and Roma versus Barcelona. Tomorrow sees Lyon take on Chelsea and PSG versus Wolfsburg.

After visiting Old Trafford last week, a consortium led by Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, is set to make a renewed bid to buy Man U, with an offer more likely to satisfy the American owners - the Glazer family, who believe the Club is worth US$7.2Billion.

In rugby - the New Zealand Rugby Football Union has confirmed Scott “Razor” Robertson as the All Blacks Head Coach from 2024, ending a chaotic search that could still derail their Rugby World Cup campaign. Razor has been appointed through to the end of the 2027 RWC in Australia.

Bula Razor, so what happened to Fiji?

The BIG conspiracy theory doing the rounds of all the Tanoas in Fiji overnight, is that the former interim CEO Tevita Tuiloa had really connected with Razor and was building up a strong working relationship with the six-times-in-a-row champion Super Rugby Coach to lead the Flying Fijians to the RWC2023 in September.

So why did the now former Chairman, Fiji Navy Commander, Humphrey Tawake push for the sudden announcement of Simon Raiwalui, and a short time later he also pushed out Tuiloa.

Why the rush? Just a couple of weeks later and Razor could have been named as the Flying Fijians Head Coach to the RWC2023.

Did former PM Bainimarama see the writing on the wall and pull the strings to torpedo Tuiloa, Razor and ultimately Rabuka?

Thankfully, Fijian Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka stepped up and named his nominee to the FRU Board, instantly replacing former PM Bainimarama’s nominee – guess who – Tawake before the upcoming FRU AGM.

Well that’s the big conspiracy theory anyway.

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea - Mahalo, vina’a and thank you – please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.

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Talofa, Ma’lelei’i, Bula and welcome to Season 4 Episode 79 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika Peoples sports on a cloudy but bright Tuesday morning 21 March 2023, coming to you from paradise on the 180th meridian in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

In rugby - Steve Hansen says Rorld No 1 Ireland’s haunting Rugby World Cup record would see them labeled “chokers” if they were the All Blacks. The former All Blacks Coach helped New Zealand win the RWC in 2011 and again in 2015, noted that the tournament remains Ireland’s Achilles heel.

And he said this as Ireland lifted the Six Nations title on the weekend.

In rugby league – when you compare Felise Kaufusi’s grade two charge, to Sydney Roosters star, Joseph Sua’ali’i’s grade one dangerous contact hit, in their second round game against the NZ Warriors, it was more forceful and later than Kaufusi’s hit.

So will his charge be downgraded so that the Tongan warrior can play against the Broncos this weekend?

With the Broncos and the Dolphins 3-0 to start the new season, the city of Brisbane is on fire for round four, and Wayne Bennett has already cranked the mind games up, saying there’s no pressure on his team leading into their Suncorp Stadium blockbuster this weekend.

Yet knowing how competitive Bennett is, the one game that he would have circled on the calendar for the Dolphins to try and win, is this one against the Broncos, where he won five NRL Premierships with Kevin Walters as playmaker.

In boxing – finally some progress - the World Boxing Association has given Oleksandr Usyk and WBC Champion Tyson Fury until 01 April to agree on the terms of a World Heavyweight Championship unification bout, or the WBA says they will order Usyk to defend his title against WBA contender Daniel Dubois.

According to the WBA, "10th March was the deadline for the initial negotiations, after which, Usyk and Fury’s teams confirmed that the fight was going to take place.

Now, the WBA has given them this new deadline and hopes that the fight can take place, since it is what the fans are asking for and what the whole boxing world is waiting for.

In football – former Juventus striker, Cristian Bunino was left red-faced and with a red card, even before coming on as a substitute in a Serie C game in the 76th minute on Sunday, after he was seen discreetly urinating on the side of the pitch by one of the match officials and shown a red card by the Referee.

Geez you gotta feel for the guy – I mean when nature calls!

For the record, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea - Mahalo, vina’a and thank you – please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.

#BreakfastBites #TEIVOVOsports #TeivovoRugby #TeivovoDigital #rugby #rugby7s #FijiRugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #Raka #team #rugbytraining #sports #FRU #Fiji

Talofa, Ma’lelei’i, Bula and welcome to Season 4 Episode 78 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika Peoples sports on a beautiful bright and sunny Monday morning 20 March 2023, coming to you from paradise on the 180th meridian in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

In Super Rugby Round 4 yesterday: the Highlanders 43-35 Western Force and the Fijian Drua lost a game they could have so easily won against the Queensland Reds 27-24 at Suncorp in Brisbane.

In rugby league – the Canberra Raiders prevailed 24-20 over the Cronulla Sharks in Canberra yesterday and the Bulldogs 26-22 Wests Tigers at Belmore.

Meanwhile, Parramatta pair, Mitchell Moses and Maiko Sivo have copped punishment for contrary conduct during their loss to Manly on Thursday night. The star Eels duo were slapped with A$750 fines for – wait for it – hair pulling.

Geez come on girls!

Moses was caught on camera pulling on the locks of Manly second-rower, Kelma Tuilagi while Sivo ripped the hair of opposing Sea Eagles Wing, Christian Tuipulotu.

In boxing – Leon Edwards retained his UFC Welterweight title in UFC286 in London yesterday, defeating Kamaru Usman in a nail biting contest; the Brit emerging victorious thanks to a majority decision, with two judges scoring it 48-46 in his favour while one judge gave it 47-47.

In football – Lionel Messi was booed at Parc de Princes as Paris Saint-Germain played Rennes yesterday, with PSG fans venting their frustrations after they were sent packing out of the UEFA Champions League by Bayern Munich. OUCH.

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte watched in horror as his side threw away a two-goal lead in the final 15 minutes in a 3-3 draw against Southampton. Spurs looked set to leapfrog Man U into third place on the EPL table as they led bottom-of-the-table Saints 1-3 with just 13 minutes remaining at St. Mary’s, but they duffed it.

Meanwhile, struggling Everton boosted their fight for EPL survival with a dramatic 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Saturday.

In other EPL results: Ben Ryan’s Brentford 1-1 Leicester City, Aston Villa 3-0 Bournemouth and Leeds United 4-2 Wolves.

Finally today, only in Australia – “End Assembly” an unbeaten horse from Queensland, could be stripped of its A$200,000 winning cheque in a 1200M race last December at Eagle Farm in Brisbane, after the horse’s post-race urine samples, finally came back positive for cocaine!

My goodness, what’s next – Ice?

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea - Mahalo, vina’a and thank you – please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.

#BreakfastBites #TEIVOVOsports #TeivovoRugby #TeivovoDigital #rugby #rugby7s #FijiRugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #Raka #team #rugbytraining #sports #FRU #Fiji

Talofa, Ma’lelei’i, Bula and welcome to Season 4 Episode 77 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika Peoples sports on a beautiful bright and sunny Sunday morning 19 March 2023, coming to you from paradise on the 180th meridian in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!

In rugby union – Super Rugby Round 4 yesterday: The Chiefs 44-25 the Rebels, the Blues 28-34 the Crusaders and Moana Pasifika 36-62 the Brumbies.

Our world famous tips for Super Rugby games today: the Highlanders to fandango the Force and the Fijian Drua to rambo the Reds at Suncorp in Brisbane.

In rugby league – the Broncos snatched victory from the grasp of Anthony Griffin’s Saint George Dragons, scoring four tries in the final 10 minutes to win 40-18 at Suncorp Stadium last night, as the puffed out Dragons fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In other Round 3 games yesterday: The Titans 38-34 the Storm on the Gold Coast, NZ Warriors 26-12 the Cowboys in Townsville.

Our world famous tips for today: The Bulldogs to moonie the Tigers at Belmore, the Raiders to beanie the Sharks in Canberra.

In boxing – UFC action is already underway in London this morning, with current UFC Welterweight Champion, Leon Edwards warming up to defend his title, which he won against former reigning champion Kamaru Usman, in their highly anticipated trilogy that is UFC286.

In football – FIFA has announced a dramatic increase in prize money for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be played in Australia and New Zealand in July, from US50Million at the last tournament, to US$150M. This is 10 times what it was in 2015 and three times that of 2019.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar paid out US$440M in prizes.

Follow the money honey!

For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea - Mahalo, vina’a and thank you – please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.

#BreakfastBites #TEIVOVOsports #TeivovoRugby #TeivovoDigital #rugby #rugby7s #FijiRugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #Raka #team #rugbytraining #sports #FRU #Fiji