Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - All Blacks captain Sam Cane will miss the remainder of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season for the Chiefs with a pectoral injury.

Cane will have surgery next week and will be sidelined for up six months, ruling him out of part of the All Blacks season.

"I'm obviously disappointed but also really positive that it's an easy fix. I'm looking forward to getting into some rehab post-surgery and doing that really well, so I am coming back in good shape for the end of the rugby season, whatever rugby that maybe," Cane said.

All Blacks Head Coach Ian Foster said: "We are all disappointed for Sam, but we have full faith in the medical team around him and we wish him well for his surgery and rehabilitation.

"As All Blacks Captain, he will still play a key role in our planning for the 2021 season, and we look forward to him returning to the footy field once his rehab is complete."

A full six-month recovery would also mean Cane missing out on part of the planned four-nation Rugby Championship, which is expected to be held in a September-October.

All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock who has led the side previously would be a likely stand-in skipper if Cane can't play.

Weather scuppers White Ferns bid for rare series win.

The weather has foiled the White Ferns bid for a rare series win over Australia.

The T20 decider at Eden Park got underway late due to the weather and was reduced to 13 overs per side.

Batting first Australia got through to 14 for one in the third over before the rain returned and the match was ultimately abandoned.

Meanwhile White Ferns allrounder Frankie Mackay, who starred in the side's T20 win over Australia in Napier, will miss the remainder of the international season with a partial tear to her right calf.

Auckland captain Lauren Down has been added to the squad as cover for the third and final T20 in Auckland.

Head Coach Bob Carter said it was disappointing timing for Mackay given her match-winning performance in game two.

"Frankie was outstanding with bat and ball in Napier and showed plenty of grit playing with an injury."

-RNZ

Gymnastics New Zealand miss deadline

The formation of a steering committee to oversee the implementation of more than 50 recommendations outlined in a review into the culture of abuse at Gymnastics New Zealand has not yet happened.

The review team received hundreds of submissions covering all aspects of the sport outlining experiences both historical and current and they released their report in February which contained a raft of findings and recommendations.

Gymnastics New Zealand planned forming a steering committee by the end of March, but ceo Tony Compier said Covid-19 lockdowns had delayed the process and disrupted engagement with survivors, human rights, athlete and key sector advocates.

Compier said the selection of the steering committee was underway and would include roles covering survivor, athlete, human rights and child advocacy.

Germany humiliate in World Cup qualifier

Four time winners Germany have suffered a shock 2-1 loss to North Macedonia in their football world cup qualifying match.

The Balkan side ranked 65th in the world scored the winner with five minutes to play inflicting on Germany their first home loss in 20 years.

Germany controlled much of the game but struggled to convert chances against the disciplined North Macedonians.

It was Germany's first home World Cup qualifying loss in 20 years.

"This cannot ever happen," Germany captain Ilkay Gundogan said.

"They had two chances, twice in front of our goal and twice they scored.

"It was just too easy," he said.

England laboured to a 2-1 win over Poland, wtih the winner also coming just a few minutes before full time.

The win lifts England to nine points from three games, two ahead of Hungary in second with Poland on four points.

Poland, shorn of their main attacking threat with Bayern Munich's striker Robert Lewandowski ruled out by a knee injury, were never likely to tear into England and their more defensive approach frustrated the hosts in the early stages.

In other matches Denmark made it three World Cup qualifying wins out of three with a 4-nil of Austria, France had an unconvincing 1-0 away win against Bosnia, Spain beat Kosovo 3-1 and Italy had a 2-nil win over Lithuania.

-Reuters

Conway climbs in rankings

New Black Caps batsman Devon Conway has risen to number four on the ICC T20 batting rankings.

Conway's match winning effort in the first match against Bangladesh has resulted in him moving up five places to sit behind Dawid Malan of England, Aaron Finch of Australia and Babar Azam of Pakistan.

South African born Conway has played just 13 matches for New Zealand since debuting in November last year.

Martin Guptil is at number nine, while Glenn Philips is the big mover, rising 32 places to 26th.

In the bowling rankings Tim Southee has advanced two places to seventh, only one shy of his career-best sixth position attained in February this year, while Ish Sodhi is at eight and Mitchell Santner 10th.

Lockie Ferguson has moved up 16 places to 42nd.

Rally teams commit to Hybrid

Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford have committed to the new hybrid era of the world rally championship starting next year.

All three manufacturers have signed up for three years from 2022.

The top tier of rallying will be powered from next season, the 50th anniversary of the championship, by an electric motor coupled with the current combustion engine.

Hyundai's challenger will be based on the i20N road car.

"It's no exaggeration to say the introduction of sustainable hybrid technology for the WRC's headline category marks one of the biggest milestones in the sport's history," said WRC promoter Jona Siebel.

"The hybrid powertrain forms an integral part of the automotive industry as the world moves towards a more sustainable future, and it's essential the WRC is aligned with this evolution."

The WRC has also put out tenders for sustainable fuel and branding of plug-in hybrid charging stations in the service parks.

-Reuters

Supercars round postponed

An outbreak of Covid-19 in Queensland has forced Supercars organisers to postpone the Tasmania round of the motorsport championship.

The Tasmania SuperSprint, which was scheduled for April 10-11 at Symmons Plains, had been pushed back by a week after the island state shut its border to travellers from Queensland capital Brisbane.

"In light of the current COVID-19 situation in Brisbane, Supercars has made the precautionary decision to delay the upcoming .... Tasmania SuperSprint by one week," Supercars organisers said in a statement.

The Red Bull Racing team is based in Brisbane, while two other teams are based in the nearby Gold Coast region.

Last year's Tasmanian round of the V8 touring car circuit was postponed from April as Australia went into lockdown but never rescheduled.

-Reuters

NFL add another game

NFL teams will play an additional game in the 2021 campaign, the first time in 44 years a change has been made to the regular season.

The extra game will be between teams that finished in the same place from a corresponding division in 2021.

NFL owners also approved the reduction of the number of pre-season games from four to three.

The changes had been expected since the NFL and the National Football League Players Association approved the latest collective bargaining agreement in March 2020.

The 2021 NFL season is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 9 September and end on Sunday, 9 January. Super Bowl LVI will take place on 13 February at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

-BBC