Breakers start in Melbourne

New Zealand Breakers owner Matt Walsh insists there are no hard feelings between his club and Melbourne United over their nabbing of star import Scotty Hopson for the upcoming NBL season. We shall soon see, with the Breakers slated to meet Melbourne in their NBL season opener, set to be played in Melbourne on Friday, January 15, subject to venue availability. The Kiwi club will be based in Australia for at least the first half of the competition. The NBL yesterday released the schedule for the first five rounds of the new season, which will tip off on Sunday,

January 10. It includes one ‘‘home’’ game for the Breakers, on Monday February 8, against an opponent and at a venue to be confirmed. The NBL has served up a delicious opener for the Breakers against the club that had ultimately beaten them to the prized signature of Hopson, who averaged 19.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Kiwi outfit in 2019-20 as he came within a whisker of dragging them to an unlikely spot in the playoffs. The Breakers had thrown the bank at Hopson in an attempt to re-sign him during the off-season, but had been rebuffed by the player. Walsh told Stuff there was no ill will from the Breakers towards either Hopson or Melbourne United over the signing.

Disgraced Pumas skipper Pablo Matera has been reinstated as captain but will not face the Wallabies in tomorrow’s final Tri Nations clash in Sydney. Matera was sensationally stripped of the captaincy and stood down from the test, along with team-mates Guido Petti and Santiago Socino, after racist tweets resurfaced. Originally shared between 2011 and 2013, the tweets related to Bolivian and Paraguayan domestic staff and black people, and were described by the Argentina Rugby Union (UAR) as ‘‘discriminatory and xenophobic’’. The UAR said yesterday the players had faced a disciplinary hearing, where they had shown great remorse, and the ban had been lifted, although the trio were left out of the side to face Australia.