Rowing: Kiwis keep firm grasp on Goblets

Pete Reed and Andy Hodge took a drubbing from the New Zealand world champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond in the coxless pairs at Henley yesterday.

The duo went ahead in a blustery head wind before the Kiwis tore away near the halfway point to "easily" defend the Silver Goblets successfully. The score between these pairs is now nine to nil.

Reed and Hodge now have just five days to prepare for the World Cup regatta in Lucerne.

The British quad got the edge over the Americans of Princeton Training Centre in the Queen Mother – the only success for the GB men's team.

Matt Wells and Marcus Bateman earned an ignominious "not rowed out" verdict, paddling home behind Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain of France in the double sculls.

The women's quad blew New Zealand out of the water in the Princess Grace, but the women's eight went down by two lengths to the Canadians in the Remenham.