Weekend Sport with Jason Pine

New Zealand’s men’s American Football team, the Iron Blacks, is facing one of the biggest fixtures in their history. 

They’re one of three teams facing Australia in the Festival of Football this weekend, and will be looking to overturn last year’s agonising 20-16 defeat on the Gold Coast. 

Head Coach Harry Siono told Piney the result’s been a huge motivation for those who played last year, as...

The Warriors have continued their strong season with a 32-6 win over the Wests Tigers. 

Their return to winning form cements their second-place spot on the NRL ladder, though there were a few performance issues, the Warriors making over a dozen errors throughout the game.  

Host of the The Big League Podcast, Nathan Limm joined Piney to offer his thoughts on the match. 

He highlighted the performance of Te Maire Mart...

Erin Rush has made history. 

Back in May, she was the first woman to elected as President at New Zealand Rugby – the first in the organisation’s 134-year history.  

She’s long been involved in the sport – a former Black Fern, commentator, and a volunteer at the grassroots level, as well as NZR’s first female vice-president. 

Rush told Piney having the role is a huge privilege, and they&r...

World Cup-winning All Black Conrad Smith has returned to New Zealand Rugby (NZR) in a role with the high-performance team. 

Smith, a veteran of the legendary 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup campaigns, has been appointed as head of men’s high performance. 

He told Piney it’s a great opportunity and something he thinks will challenge him. 

Looking back at the rugby talents of the past, Smith believes New Zeal...

Last week, the Black Caps wrapped up a 160-run third test victory over England at Trent Bridge to secure a 2-1 series victory.

Coming from 1-nil down in the series, the Black Caps won the third Test without two of the match winners from the side who levelled the series last week.

Zak Foulkes was one of the players who helped the Kiwi side to victory and he joined Piney to discuss.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

With the conclusion of the Super Rugby season comes the end of Rob Penney’s tenure with the Crusaders. 

His three years coaching the team were something of a rollercoaster – with a horror first season at the helm followed by a title win, and this year making it only to the semi-finals. 

Penney told Piney that for him, the greatest privilege is being a local lad and getting the opportunity to be involved with a...

As the All Blacks prepare to put on their jerseys for the first time this season, a former All Black is reminiscing on one of his most iconic tries. 

Casey Laulala played for a range of Kiwi teams in the 2000’s - including the All Blacks and the Crusaders. 

In fact, he scored the winning try for the Crusaders in 2006’s Super Rugby final, which became known as the ‘Fog Final’ thanks to the thick bla...

Today will see the All Blacks kick off their season in the first Nations Championship clash against France – the first test of Dave Rennie’s tenure as coach. 

And as the match looms, Billy Bush, an All Blacks icon and Cantabrian joined Jason Pine to reflect on his career in rugby. 

Bush told Piney that the game was different when he played; the things they got up to then would probably net them a red card toda...

The time has nearly come for the All Blacks to kick off their 2026 season.

They're facing France in the first Nations Championship clash, which also happens to be the first test in Dave Rennie's tenure as coach.

NZ Rugby Chair David Kirk told Piney that the stakes are high – the team needs to play well.

He says they need to see the early stanzas in a new style of rugby and a new chapter for New Zealand, as this is the first s...