The Coastal Sharks, on a high after a historic win over the Canterbury Crusaders, are looking to cash in on their dominant Super Rugby record over the Auckland Blues this weekend.
The South African pacesetters beat the seven-time champions Crusaders for the first time in Christchurch in 18 years last weekend and face the Blues in the final match of what has been a successful Australasian tour.
Jake White’s Sharks lead the ACT Brumbies and back-to-back champions Waikato Chiefs by five points and want to keep the pressure on their title rivals with victory over the Blues at North Harbour.
The Durban-based outfit are chasing a 10th straight win over the 10th-placed Blues but White is wary of the unpredictable Aucklanders.
“We are going to have to defend, they’ll definitely try to run the ball back and they’ve got some dangerous outside backs,” White said.
“There is a massive vibe in the team now and we need to take that forward into the next couple of weeks.”
Openside flanker Luke Braid returns from injury to captain the Blues after missing the last two games with a shoulder injury.
Both the Brumbies and Chiefs have testing games this weekend, with the Canberra-based side away to the Blue Bulls in Pretoria and the Chiefs taking on the Hurricanes in Wellington.
The Brumbies are under pressure after losing to the Central Cheetahs in Bloemfontein and are just one point clear of the NSW Waratahs in the Australian conference.
“We’re not getting the rhythm that we want, a lot of our first-phase is getting disrupted, so we’re playing on the back foot all the time,” Brumbies playmaker Matt Toomua said.
“You don’t play well all year round, but we’ve got to pick ourselves up because the last three games haven’t been up to scratch.”
The Brumbies have won on four of their 10 visits to Loftus Versfeld while the Bulls are desperate to win to keep in touch with the top six playoff spots.
Regular captain Flip van der Merwe is back for the Bulls after missing three matches through suspension.
“Flip’s leadership is very important to the team and as a senior player he does set an excellent example,” Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said.
The Chiefs may be leading the New Zealand conference, but the team’s centurion Tanerau Latimer says the back-to-back Super Rugby champions have not been up to the required standard this season.
The Chiefs face the Hurricanes coming off a 32-20 victory over the Blues before last week’s bye.
“The coaches might put it differently but that’s my opinion and hopefully the boys have got a taste of it now and know what it’s like now,” Latimer, who has won 107 Super Rugby caps, said.
“It just shows we’ve got it in us. It took a long time to get it out of us but we know we can do it now.”
The fourth-placed Waratahs have made two changes to the starting line-up for the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
South African lock Jacques Potgieter returns to the tight five, while Alofa Alofa starts on the wing.
“The Rebels are always tough to beat at home and they’ll have a lot of confidence, highlighted by their first away win over the Reds,” defensive coach Nathan Grey said.
Coach Todd Blackadder has made six changes to the Crusaders side to face the Otago Highlanders.
The entire front row has been replaced with Tim Perry, Ben Funnell and Nepo Laulala taking the starting spots while scrum-half Andy Ellis and fullback Israel Dagg return.
In other matches, Western Force host the Golden Lions in Perth and the Western Stormers take on the Cheetahs in Cape Town. The Reds have the bye.
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Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
RESULTS
6.30pm: Longines Conquest Classic Dh150,000 Maiden 1,200m.
Winner: Halima Hatun, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer).
7.05pm: Longines Gents La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,200m.
Winner: Moosir, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Longines Equestrian Collection Dh150,000 Maiden 1,600m.
Winner: Mazeed, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
8.15pm: Longines Gents Master Collection Dh175,000 Handicap.
Winner: Thegreatcollection, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Longines Ladies Master Collection Dh225,000 Conditions 1,600m.
Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
9.25pm: Longines Ladies La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,600m.
Winner: Secret Trade, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
10pm: Longines Moon Phase Master Collection Dh170,000 Handicap 2,000m.
Winner:
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
England XI for second Test
Rory Burns, Keaton Jennings, Ben Stokes, Joe Root (c), Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Ben Foakes (wk), Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jack Leach, James Anderson
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Manchester United v Barcelona, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
