New Zealand

Party time for the All Blacks leaving the team behind

Some very, very big names are playing their last games in All Black jerseys and they'll leave a a sizeable hole.

Here's a quick rundown of who's heading off and where they're going:

-Dan Carter (111 caps) is going to Racing 92, a Parisian club known for their outrageous wealth and commitment to aristocratic exclusivity.

-Ma'a Nonu (101 caps) is headed to Toulon, whose owner Mourad Boudjellal courted controversy by comparing some debatable refereeing decisions to being sodomised.

All Blacks keep nerve to beat Springboks

The All Blacks were five points behind at half-time with a man in the sin-bin as four penalties from Handre Pollard cancelled out Jerome Kaino's early try.

A Dan Carter drop-goal and a Beauden Barrett try put the champions ahead.

South Africa replied with two penalties but a Carter effort in between secured victory despite ferocious Bok defence.

It was seldom pretty but once again in this World Cup there was a gripping finale, the All Blacks holding that two-point lead for the last 12 minutes as their opponents finally tired.

Woodcock out of World Cup

The 34-year-old loosehead, who was retiring after the tournament, sustained the injury as the reigning champions beat Tonga 47-9 on Saturday to cruise into the quarter-finals as Pool C winners.

The injury will take at least three weeks to heal, so Woodcock's out of the Cup - and rugby.

The third most-capped prop in the history of the game behind Gethin Jenkins of Wales and England's Jason Leonard, Woodcock scored New Zealand's only try in their 2011 World Cup final triumph.

New Zealand beat Tonga 47-9

Tonga were arguably the better side early on, dominating the breakdown and scrum and forcing a host of penalties.

However, Ben Smith and prop Tony Woodcock both scored first-half tries to give the All Blacks breathing space.

Nehe Milner-Skudder scored twice before Sonny Bill Williams, Sam Cane and Ma'a Nonu applied some second-half gloss.

The permutations

Tonga prepare to tackle the All Blacks

Losses to Georgia and Argentina have all but ended the Ikale Tahi's hopes of making the knockout rounds.

A bonus-point victory against the defending champions would keep alive Tonga's faint hopes of reaching the quarter finals.

NZ on brink of U20 World Cup berth as Tonga eye first win

The Junior Football Ferns have scored 59 unanswered goals in big wins against Tonga, New Caledonia and Vanuatu at the Oceania Championship in Nuku'alofa, and have a maximum nine points with one match remaining.

Samoa will move to seven points if they can beat Vanuatu this afternoon, which would set up a final round decider against New Zealand, who have a bye today.

However a draw would leave them four points adrift of the leaders, gifting the title to New Zealand.

Football Ferns thrash New Caledonia 26-0

The Junior Football Ferns led 17-0 at half-time at the Oceania Under-20 Women's Championship in Nuku'alofa, with striker Emma Rolston scoring 11 goals before the break.

Coach Leon Birnie's side again underlined their strength at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre as eight further goals came in the second half.

Grace Jale and Paige Satchell each scored hat-tricks while captain Jasmine Pereira scored six.

Goals to substitutes Jade Parris, Michaela Robertson and Isabella Richards completed the scoring.

The Ferns thumped Tonga 15-0 first up on Thursday.

All Blacks struggle to win over Georgia

The All Blacks scored four first-half tries and led 22-10 at the break.

But Steve Hansen won't be happy with his team's performance as they made far too many errors.

Our rugby reporter says while the All Blacks had the vast majority of the ball they were generally unable to break the Georgian defence, while their handling let them down.

Experts predict continuing dry for much of the Pacific

This comes after up to six months of well below normal rainfall had been received.

The forecast from New Zealand's NIWA and the Pacific Islands Meteorological Services says in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, after three months of very dry conditions, below normal rainfall can be expected through to the end of the year.

Electricity project to empower Vanuatu households

The project, which is supported by the New Zealand aid programme and the World Bank, was launched last week and is set to provide access to solar power for 17,500 off-grid households.

Georgina Roberts says for 85 percent of Vanuatu households, any type of power grid system access is unattainable and expensive.