South Africa

The All Black sevens were crushed 40-nil by South Africa in this morning's Cup quarter-finals before being beaten by Australia 20-12 in the fifth place playoff.

New Zealand finished equal seventh/eighth alongside France and sit in the same place in the standings with 10 points.

South Africa claimed top prize after they beat last season's series champions and Olympic gold medallists, Fiji, 26-14 in the final.

The study aims to enrol 5,400 sexually active young men and women.

About seven million people in South Africa are living with the virus, which is one reason why the trial is taking place there.

Experts hope the vaccine will be "the final nail in the coffin" for HIV.

The vaccine regime being tested is based on one used in a trial in Thailand in 2009, which had a protection rate of about 30%. Results from South Africa are expected in four years.

Since the HIV virus was identified in 1983, efforts to develop an effective vaccine have proved unsuccessful.

The two men, Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Jackson, appeared in court on Wednesday facing charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Oosthuizen and Jackson dropped their bail application and were sent back to jail to await trial. The case has been postponed to January 25, 2017.

The victim, Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa told reporters outside court: "They accused me of trespassing and they asked me questions, they chased me and started beating me up and took me to the nearest farm where they beat me up and put me in a coffin.

Mr Zuma's lawyer informed the High Court in the capital, Pretoria, of the decision, but the reasons are unclear.

Opposition groups are rallying in South Africa's major cities to demand Mr Zuma's resignation.

He has been dogged by corruption allegations for more than a decade, but has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The report by former anti-corruption chief Thuli Madonsela is believed to contain damning allegations against him, reports the BBC's Milton Nkosi from Pretoria.

South Africa did not want to execute ICC arrest warrants which would lead to "regime change", a minister said.

Last year, South Africa refused to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and war crimes.

He was attending an African Union summit in Johannesburg.

Mr Bashir denies allegations he committed atrocities in Sudan's troubled western Darfur region.

Several media outlets say they have obtained a copy of the "Instrument of Withdrawal", signed by South Africa's foreign minister.

RNZ reports Ardie Savea starts at openside flank for the injured Sam Cane, while in the reserves Lima Sopoaga replaces Aaron Cruden.

Cane is out with a hamstring injury, while Cruden has a groin strain.

Matt Todd goes into the reserves.

It is a first start for Ardie Savea after making five appearances from the bench.

RNZ reports a sloppy first quarter by the home side saw the Proteas take a surprise 16-14 lead and forced Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby make two changes to her starting lineup.

New Zealand turned in a much improved second quarter to finally take the lead and go to the halftime break 32-27 in front.

South Africa tried to cling to the Silver Ferns who stepped up the pace in the third quarter to extend their lead to 46-38.

The fourth quarter was dominated by New Zealand who went on to run away with the match by 19 goals, 65-46.

South Africa beat Argentina to lift the inaugural HSBC Cape Town Sevens and a third successive Cup victory on home soil, having won the 2013 and 2014 Port Elizabeth Sevens.

In the final the Blitzboks came from 7-0 behind to win 29-14 thanks to tries from Rosko Specman (2), Seabelo Senatla (2) and Ryno Benjamin against a Los Pumas side appearing in their first final since the 2009 USA Sevens in San Diego. Earlier, Juan de Jongh, Specman and Philip Snyman scored for Neil Powell's side in their 21-12 semi-final win over France.

The Pumas were nearly kept tryless for the second straight playoff match, before replacement Juan Pablo Orlandi crashed over with the final play of the game.

The Springboks wing JP Pietersen opened the scoring early on in the right corner and they led 16-3 at half-time, before lock Eben Etsebeth added the Boks' second try in the left corner.

Pumas openside flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe played his final Test match in the fixture, as did South African wing Bryan Habana and lock Victor Matfield - the oldest Springbok ever at 38.