Sports commentator Ken Laban joins Dale Husband on Radio Waatea to dissect a massive weekend of sport, with the Warriors surviving a Manly thriller on their way into the NRL playoffs, the All Blacks falling to the Springboks in Soweto and the Black Ferns producing an extraordinary eight-try victory in South Africa.
From rugby league finals fever to the greatest rivalry in international rugby and another history-making performance from our wāhine toa, there is no shortage of talking points for Laban and Husband.
And with September arriving, the stakes are getting considerably higher.
The Wahs are heading for finals football
For Warriors supporters, the heart rate probably took a while to settle after another tense encounter with the Manly Sea Eagles.
The Warriors survived a contest that went right down to the wire, securing the victory they needed and carrying momentum into the NRL playoffs.
It was not necessarily the type of performance that will have the coaching staff completely relaxed, but finals football is rarely about perfection.
At this stage of the season, winning matters.
For Laban, the bigger question is whether the Warriors can now convert an impressive regular season into a serious finals campaign.
The pressure changes dramatically once playoff football begins.
Mistakes become more expensive, opportunities become harder to find and the margin between continuing the season and going home can come down to one tackle, one kick or one moment of individual brilliance.
But the Warriors have given themselves the opportunity.
And once again, Aotearoa is preparing to ride the emotional rollercoaster with them.
Warriors carrying Māori and Pacific league communities with them
There is also something bigger surrounding the Warriors whenever they make a finals run.
The club has enormous support throughout Māori and Pacific communities, where rugby league has long been part of whānau, clubs and neighbourhoods.
When the Warriors succeed, that visibility flows back into the grassroots game.
Rangatahi see players who come from communities like theirs performing on one of the biggest stages in Australasian sport.
Clubrooms fill.
Junior registrations get another boost.
And Up the Wahs starts appearing everywhere from workplaces to marae.
For Laban and Husband, that connection between elite sport and community remains an important part of the Warriors story.
All Blacks fall short in Soweto
There was considerably less to celebrate for All Blacks supporters.
New Zealand went down 29-24 to the Springboks in front of more than 85,000 spectators at FNB Stadium, leaving South Africa with a 2-1 advantage in the four-Test series.
The All Blacks had their chances.
Ardie Savea scored twice during a fast New Zealand start, while Will Jordan crossed after halftime as the visitors attempted to beat South Africa with speed and attacking movement.
But the Springboks increasingly dragged the contest towards their greatest strengths.
Scrum pressure, lineout drives, territory and relentless physicality gradually changed the game.
South Africa eventually prevailed by five points.
Ardie Savea loss adds to the pain
Perhaps the biggest concern to emerge from Johannesburg was the injury to captain Ardie Savea.
Savea was forced from the field with a shoulder injury after scoring twice and is set to miss the fourth and final Test in Baltimore.
His absence will leave a substantial hole.
Savea provides ball carrying, breakdown pressure, defence, leadership and the ability to change a game almost single-handedly.
His two tries in Soweto also saw him become the leading try-scoring forward in men’s international rugby.
The All Blacks can no longer win the four-Test series.
Baltimore is now about drawing it 2-2 and preventing South Africa from completing its first series victory over New Zealand since 1976.
For Laban, that final Test becomes a major examination of the depth and character of the All Blacks without their captain.
Black Ferns turn Johannesburg into a statement
But if the men’s result left New Zealand supporters frustrated, the Black Ferns provided one of the performances of the weekend.
New Zealand defeated the Springbok Women 52-20, scoring eight tries in the first Test between the two countries played on South African soil.
Yet even that scoreline does not explain how remarkable the performance became.
The Black Ferns received four yellow cards and at one point were reduced to just 13 players.
Instead of retreating, they attacked.
Remarkably, New Zealand scored two tries without reply while playing with 13.
Eight tries — but four cards send a warning
Elinor-Plum King and Braxton Sorensen-McGee both scored twice, with Chryss Viliko, Maia Joseph, Amarante Sititi and Maama Mo’onia Vaipulu also crossing. King was named player of the match.
The attacking performance demonstrated just how dangerous the Black Ferns can be when given space.
But there is another side of the ledger.
Four yellow cards, scrum pressure and a heavy penalty count will give the coaching staff plenty to address.
Against stronger opposition, spending that much time with players in the sin bin could prove decisive.
The Black Ferns now head towards France in Lyon before further WXV matches against England and Scotland.
A special Sititi whānau moment
There was also a remarkable piece of New Zealand rugby history involving the Sititi whānau.
Amarante Sititi came from the bench and scored for the Black Ferns on the same day her brother Wallace was involved with the All Blacks.
They became the first New Zealand brother and sister to play Test rugby on the same day since Annaleah and Xavier Rush in 1998.
For Māori and Pacific sporting communities, moments such as these demonstrate the extraordinary whānau pathways continuing to emerge at the highest level of the game.
Ken Laban’s Monday sporting verdict
For Ken Laban and Dale Husband, there is plenty to debate.
Can the Warriors turn their momentum into a genuine NRL premiership challenge?
Can the All Blacks respond in Baltimore without Ardie Savea and salvage a drawn series?
And just how good can these Black Ferns become if they combine their devastating attacking ability with greater discipline?
Those are very different sporting stories, but all three now share one thing.
The pressure is rising.
The Warriors are entering finals football.
The All Blacks have one Test left to save the series.
And the Black Ferns are heading towards tougher international opposition with confidence after making history in Johannesburg.
September has arrived — and for Kiwi sports fans, the big games are only getting bigger.
👉 Read Waatea’s full Weekend Sports Roundup:
https://waateanews.com/2026/09/07/weekend-sports-roundup-warriors-survive-manly-thriller-all-blacks-stumble-as-black-ferns-make-history/
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