Openers Dean Brownlie and Martin Guptill both scored centuries in the drawn game between Northern Districts and Auckland at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.Brownlie, who was to feature for New Zealand A in the cancelled tour game against Pakistan, was involved in two significant partnerships on the first day - 93 for the first wicket with Anton Devcich (26) and 158 for the third with Corey Anderson (103) - and went into stumps unbeaten on 143. Northern Districts were 324 for 5 at stumps, but the prospect of an outright result diminished as the second day was completely washed out. Brownlie was dismissed early on the third day, without adding a run, and Northern Districts added 93 before declaring on 417 for 7. Legspinner Tarun Nethula followed up his five-for in the previous game with 3 for 99, while fast bowler Lachlan Ferguson took 3 for 70, including the wicket of Brownlie.Aucklands response was aggressive - their run-rate was consistently hovering about six per over for the first 50 overs of their innings. Martin Guptill, who was axed from the Test squad just before this game, was at the crease during those overs. He hit 20 fours and four sixes in his 138-ball 151, before Ish Sodhi (2-113) dismissed him with the score on 295. All of Aucklands regular bowlers were put under pressure by Guptill, and it took part-timer Daryl Mitchells 4 for 39 to restrict them to 351. No other batsman got past 33.Rain truncated play on the final day as well, as Northern Districts lost regular wickets on either side of a 63-run stand for the third wicket between Corey Anderson (46*) and Mitchell (26), to be reduced to 83 for 5, courtesy Fergusons 3 for 19. They played out the 13 overs from that point without the loss of another wicket, and took 8 points from the game that keeps them on top of the table.Batsman Cole McConchie and captain Andrew Ellis struck centuries for Canterbury in a rain-hit draw against Otago in Invercargill. Otago bowled 98.1 overs with play possible only on the first day and briefly on the second day.Otago won the toss and put Canterbury in to bat, and seamers Michael Rae and Christi Viljoen prised out the top four batsmen by the 41st over, leaving Canterbury at 108 for 4. McConchie and Ellis then added 258 runs for the fifth wicket, leading Canterbury past 350 before they were separated. Their partnership was Canterburys best for the fifth wicket against Otago, surpassing the 236 added by Chris Harris and Nathan Astle in 1996-97.McConchie, playing his seventh first-class match, brought up his half-century off 110 balls before rapidly completing a maiden ton off the next 49 balls. His 103 off 161 deliveries included 15 fours and a six. Ellis, at the other end, brought up his seventh first-class century and surpassed a previous career best of 171 with an aggressive innings. He smacked three sixes in an over and took 21 runs in an over off Viljoen to finish the first day on 184. Ellis, however, fell four runs short of a maiden first-class double-hundred after he was dismissed by Viljoen on a rain-affected day in which only 7.1 overs were bowled. Canterbury eventually declared their innings at 446 for 6.Rae finished with a career-best 4 for 112 while Viljoen had returns of 2 for 120.Ted Simmons Jersey . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. St. Louis Cardinals Gear . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/504t-harrison-bader-jersey-cardinals.html . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Stitched Cardinals Jerseys . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. John Gant Jersey . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.RIO DE JANEIRO -- With the deftest of kicks, Spains Patricia Garcia etched her name in history as the player who officially signalled rugbys return to the Olympic Games after a 92-year hiatus. Rugby has arrived at the Olympics, but the womens sport cannot afford to miss this opportunity to grow the game worldwide.On Friday, Bill Beaumont, chairman of World Rugby, labelled sevens introduction into the Olympics as a game-changer. Brazil had a lot to live up to.The opening day at the Deodoro Stadium did its best to play up to sevens reputation as a sport anchored on entertainment both on and off the field. Songs in the charts and those tunes more arrowed on a mass drink-swaying sing-along boomed out of the PA system even before spectators were allowed into the stands. Once theyd traipsed in, with the stadium two-thirds full, a camera panned around the stadium spotting fans dancing to the various beats, all attempting to wear as little clothing as possible under the beating sun.Athletes before and after they played were either soaking up the rays in the stands or walking around the grounds confines, talking on phones to friends and family back home or catching up with players from other nations.And all the time a crocodile -- now unofficially named ruckadile -- swam along the Rio Pavuna.It was welcoming, unique, friendly and fun -- the perfect cocktail for attracting new followers and players of the sport but now comes the challenge to grasp this opportunity and use it to inspire future generations.Brazil already have the perfect athlete to inspire a new following: the brilliant, diminutive, electric Edna Santini. Standing at just 1.50m, she slips under flailing arms and has the pace to exploit any wayward positioning. Its the type of raw ability that causes folk to involuntarily leap from their seats in expectation. She has the star quality to become a continent-wide face for the sport but below this squad in the Olympics, the signs are optimistic.The legacy planning in this part of the world seems sound. Dotted around the stadium were various rugby-focused charity projects; one was Instituto Rugby Para Todos whose mission is to promote the education of children through the principles of rugby. Inspire the young, eager-eyed children and you have a foundation.And then there is World Rugbys IMPACT Beyond Rio programme, which was instigated in March 2015 reaching 175,000 players, coaches and young match officials.But thats just Brazil. World Rugbys vice-chairman, Argentina-born Agustin Pichot, wants to see the ripple effect of rugby in the Games carry to the other Latin America countries with Colombias qualification for the womens tournament a key catalyst in growing the game there while Argentina are already established as one of rugbys power-houses.ddddddddddddBut this talk of legacy is not just of Latin American importance. The USA has huge room to grow and they have the infrastructure and playing pool to become one of the worlds top sides in both mens and womens rugby but they need to start producing the goods on the field to get wider exposure. And then at the other end of the scale in terms of financial resources are Fiji.While the mens Fiji side are favourites to win the tournament, the women are less fancied but theirs is an inspirational story that needs to be told.In a country that has never won an Olympic medal, Fiji are daring to dream of their prospects here in Rio and if Fijis women end up medalling then it will be one of the most remarkable stories to emanate from the sport in recent times.The brilliant Litia Naiqato used to baffle her coaches. She was their fittest player but was tailing off in training sessions; only after looking into her circumstances did Chris Cracknell, Fiji womens head coach, find that she was running five miles to catch the bus in the morning to training and then five miles back in the evening. She was exhausted. Then Cyclone Winston struck in February and her village was obliterated. Yet here she is in Rio playing in a team that has three players under 18, five who have played the sport less than a year and Raijieli Daveau who played netball for Fiji with the Olympics her first ever rugby tournament.They dont use GPS equipment, instead they utilise the natural facilities available in Fiji such as their Sigatoka sand dunes. Regardless of whether they medal, they are here, beating the USA because of natural ability, good coaching and a love for the sport.On such tales, future generations can be inspired.Beaumont wants clubs worldwide to be inundated with new players after the Games, looking to play both 15s and sevens. Furthermore, he hopes those clubs who play the traditional 15s will look to sevens and see an opportunity to offer an easier pathway into the sport.The womens game has the potential to take rugby away from the traditional powerhouses and develop a sport with worldwide appeal. Get this opportunity right, grasp the legacy and having the sport in the Olympics will prove to be that game-changer for the womens rugby. ' ' '