Bula, Ma’lelei, Talofa and Welcome to Season 07 Episode 78 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Saturday morning 23 December 2023. Just two more sleeps to Christmas kiddies! Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian in the middle of the Blue Continent. In rugby union: New All Blacks Head Coach Scott Razor Robertson has retained seven members of his predecessor, Ian Fozzy Foster’s coaching gang with Jason Ryan and Sir Wayne Smith the best known big guns. But the $66Million question is who will Razor name as his Captain – the forever absent Sam Cane or the ever-present Ardie Savea? In rugby league: Forward packs are the engine room of every NRL Club and their importance can’t be understated to a team’s success. They lay the platform for every team’s halves and outside backs to produce points and it’s not a surprise the competition’s heavyweights boast the best packs in the league. The reigning premiers, the Panthers, have some of the NRL’s scariest and most consistent forwards in their pack who have helped them to three-straight titles. The 2024 Panthers Pack Rating is “A+” with Props: James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota, Hooker: Mitch Kenny, Backrowers: Liam Martin and Scott Sorensen, Lock: Isaah Yeo. The Panthers pack is simply the competition benchmark. In football: The Super League dream is still alive and kicking: Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham all reiterated their pledges for it yesterday, but Arsenal and Liverpool did not. A Barcelona-based newspaper claims that founding Clubs who pull out of the Super League could be hit with a €300M fine. In SportsBiz: There are fears for the future of Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels who are under immense financial pressure - A$9Million in debt, a Rugby Australia inspection of their books has revealed. News Corp is reporting that Rugby Australia cannot bail out the Rebels but a forced merger with the ACT Brumbies, who also have financial issues, is a possibility. In combat sports: The Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin @11:45pm GMT and the undercard:· Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker · Daniel Dubois vs Jarrell Miller· Dmitry Bivol vs Lyndon Arthur – for WBA Lightweight title· Arslanbek Makhmudov vs Agit Kabayel· Jai Opetaia vs Ellis Zorro· Filip Hrgovic vs Mark de Mori· Frank Sanchez vs Junior Fa – @4:15pm GMT In US sport: College football is in the heart of bowl season, postseason matchups attract tens of millions of eyeballs during the holiday break.Looking back on the 2023 season, with major TV viewership metrics now available thanks to data from Sports Media Watch, the results confirm that fans continue to watch blue-blood programs and rivalries the most. While Michigan’s 30-24 victory over Ohio State was the most-watched game of the season, Alabama was actually the most watched team. The Crimson Tide averaged 7.12 million viewers per game, according to a list of the The Top 10 teams for 10 – 12 games/season:· Alabama 7.12M· Ohio State 6.05M· Colorado 6M· Georgia 5.9M· Michigan 5.61M· Tennessee 4.57M· Oregon 4.43M· Texas 4.26M· Florida State 4.16M· Notre Dame 4.15M The outlier here is Colorado, which was thrust into the national spotlight thanks to first-year Head Coach Deion Sanders and Netflix. The Buffaloes had the third- and seventh-most-watched games of the season:1. Ohio State vs Michigan at 19.07Million viewers on Fox2. Georgia vs Alabama (SEC Championship): 17.52M on CBS3. Colorado vs Oregon: 10.03M on ABC4. Colorado State vs Colorado: 9.3M on ESPN And that’s a wrap! For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea – please hit the like and subscribe buttons below if you want to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. Mahalo, Kakite and tank you all too mas for all your love and support. #TEIVOVORugby #TEIVOVODigital #TeivovoRugby #TeivovoDigital