Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has made a solid start to the LPGA Tour's season ending tournament in Florida.

Ko is in a tie for 25th at the $7 million Tour Championship.

Her three under par 69 has her five shots from the leader Jeongeun Lee of South Korea.

Meanwhile Danny Lee has opened the latest US PGA tournament in Georgia with a three under par 69.

He's tied for 83rdh, seven shots behind the leader Sebastian Munoz of Colombia.

NZ rowers take world honour

Two New Zealanders head the list of World Rowing's best rowers of 2021.

Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler fill the top two women's spots after their success at the Tokyo Olympics.

The duo's 2021 success included being the only rowers in Tokyo to win more than one medal. Prendergast and Gowler won Olympic gold in the pair and then joined their country's eight to take silver.

This 2021 success comes after a string of medals as well as owning the World Best Time in the women's pair.

No New Zealanders made the men's top ten list.

Ntamack to start at ten against All Blacks

Mercurial Romain Ntamack has been restored to the first-five position to renew his half-back partnership with captain Antoine Dupont when France face the All Blacks in their final autumn international series fixture at the Stade de France this weekend.

Ntamack played at inside centre in test wins over Argentina and Georgia earlier this month to allow coach Fabien Galthie to field Matthieu Jalibert in the number 10 jersey. The latter drops to the bench.

Jonathan Danty takes Ntamack's place among the centres, where he will partner Gael Fickou, while the back three is made up of wings Gabin Villiere and Damian Penaud, with Melvyn Jaminet at fullback.

Francois Cros comes into the loose forwards in place of Sekou Makalou, with Anthony Jelonch switching from the number six to seven jersey and Gregory Alldritt at the back of the scrum.

Paul Willemse is recalled at lock to partner Cameron Woki, while the front row is made up of props Uini Atonio and Cyril Baille, and hooker Peato Mauvaka, who was handed a place in the starting lineup following a brilliant performance against Georgia after he replaced the injured Julien Marchand.

France have beaten Argentina 29-20 and Georgia 41-15 in the autumn series, but Saturday's challenge will be a considerable step up.

Their last home win against the All Blacks was a 42-33 victory in Marseille in 2000, while their previous win in Paris came in 1973.

-Reuters

Junior Black Caps out of World Cup

New Zealand have withdrawn from the 2022 men's Under-19 World Cup, owing to "extensive mandatory quarantine restrictions for minors on their return home".

Scotland, who initially missed qualification in the Europe qualifiers, became the 16th team to participate in New Zealand's absence.

The World Cup will be held in the Caribbean between January 14 and February 5.

The 14th edition of the 50-over competition will see 16 teams in four groups vying for the title across 10 venues in Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Breakers fight back

The Breakers cam back from a horror start to beat the Sydney Kings 97-93 in their Australian NBL pre-season game in Melbourne.

Not only did Sydney score the game's first 14 points, but along the way Peyton Siva was called for travelling, Finn Delany for an unsportsmanlike foul and then Tom Abercrombie left the court with what appeared a hip injury.

From the moment Sydney led 83-74 with just over five minutes to go, it was all the Breakers as they went on a stunning 21-5 run to be up seven with under a minute left, and going on to win by four.

Jeremiah Martin continued to show that he could be a true star this NBL season delivering the Breakers 23 points, seven assists, five steals and four rebounds to go with shooting 8/14 from the field.

The Breakers next game is against South East Melbourne Phoenix tomorrow.

The regular season starts in early December.

Somerset takes action after racist tweet

Somerset County Cricket Club has reprimanded Jack Brooks over the fast bowler's historical posts on social media which contained racist language and described his comments as "unacceptable".

Somerset investigated two tweets sent in 2012, when Brooks played for Northamptonshire, as well as claims that he used the name "Steve" to refer to Cheteshwar Pujara when the Indian batsman was at Yorkshire.

The club said in a statement that Brooks, 37, was "embarrassed and devastated that his comments offended people" and that he would participate in training on diversity and inclusion.

Brooks was one of a number of players in former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq's testimony to the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport panel earlier this week regarding racism at the club.

-Reuters

Zverev into last four in Turin

Alexander Zverev booked his place in the last four of the ATP Finals where he will face world number one Novak Djokovic after a 6-2 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz in Turin.

The German closed out the match in one hour and two minutes, the fastest of the tournament so far, and joins defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals from the Red Group.

The 24-year-old will face Green Group winner Djokovic for the fifth time this year, having lost on three occasions including in the last four of the U.S. Open, but having beaten the Serb in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.

Zverev was looking to make a statement in Turin, having won via a retirement in his first match against injured Matteo Berrettini before losing in three sets to Medvedev.

-Reuters

Central score first win

The Central Stags have jumped up to second on the Plunket Shield cricket standings after taking a maximum 20 points in their game against Wellington at the Basin Reserve.

Central beat Wellington by seven wickets for their first outright victory of the first-class championship season.

Defending champions Canterbnury top the standings with 56 points, while Central have 39, Otago 28 and Wellington 28.

Northern Districts have played just one game, while Auckland are yet to enter the competition.

Otago play Northern Districts next week before the competition takes a break until March.

Meanwhile the women's one-day Hallyburton Johnstone Shield continues this weekend with Saturday and Sunday rounds in Levin (Central Hinds v Northern Districts and big southern derby at Hagley Oval in Christchurch between the Canterbury Magicians and Otago Sparks - Canterbury legend Amy Satterthwaite poised to break the New Zealand women's List A appearances record if weather plays ball this time.

Stevie G fully focused on Villa

Steven Gerrard promised Aston Villa supporters that the English Premier League club has his full commitment despite his strong attachment to former side Liverpool, the new coach said in his first news conference.

Gerrard, who led Rangers to the Scottish title last season, was appointed Villa manager last week, succeeding Dean Smith who was sacked with the club in 16th place in the league, two points above the relegation zone after 11 games.

The former midfielder spent the majority of his playing career, 17 years, at Liverpool and helped them win several trophies including the Champions League and then began his coaching career at the club's youth academy.

However, Gerrard insisted his focus was on Villa and leading them up the league table with his first match coming on Saturday at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.

"Everyone knows around the world what Liverpool means to me but the focus and my commitment is very much on Villa," the 41-year-old said.

Villa are one of the few English sides to have won the European Cup, in 1982.

Although supporters would dream of a return to continental competition, Gerrard insisted the immediate priority was winning games, especially with the club on a five-match losing streak in the league.

-Reuters

McIlroy leads in Dubai

Former world number one Rory McIlroy enjoyed a near-perfect day as he carded a seven-under-par 65 for a two-shot lead after the first round of the European Tour's season-ending Tour Championship in Dubai.

There was a three-way tie for second place, with South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dane Joachim Hansen and Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen all at five-under.

The four-times major winner, who recently reunited with longtime swing coach Michael Bannon, said: "I've been coming back here for 12 years and it flies by. I think I've got a lot of experience around this place, a lot of great memories."

British Open champion Collin Morikawa, who is aiming to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai title, was three shots back with a four-under 68.

World number one Jon Rahm is missing from the stellar field in Dubai after withdrawing to spend more time with his family.

-Reuters