Henry Arundell was praised by captain Owen Farrell for delivering a complete performance after the England wing starred in a 71-0 rout of Chile that offers clear sight of the World Cup quarter-finals.
Arundell crossed five times at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to equal the record for the number of tries scored in a match by an Englishman and was duly recognised with the man of the match award.
While the 20-year-old wing starred on his World Cup debut through his clinical finishing, it was the unseen, unglamorous work that caught Farrell’s eye.
“Everybody knows what talent Henry’s got. He’s shown it before this game,” Farrell said.
“He’s shown it for London Irish and he showed it when he got his first touch in international rugby against Australia last year.
“A big thing that Henry showed against Chile was that he got after everything in between. He didn’t just finish tries. He got balls back in the air, he chased hard and worked hard for the team.
“Ultimately, he got his rewards off the back of that. He does what he does unbelievably well.”
England amassed 11 tries against the weakest team in Pool D as their attacking game exploded into life, inspired by Marcus Smith’s lively contribution in his first start at full-back.
Smith scored two tries, including a superb solo effort, and provided a cutting edge to suggest he could be a long-term option in the position.
“Marcus played really well. The decisions he made, he looked dangerous constantly, as he normally does,” Farrell said.
“All I can say is I enjoyed it and I thought he played really well. George Ford added when he came on as well.”
Smith’s performance was acclaimed by head coach Steve Borthwick, who brought on Ford for the last half hour as England closed out the game with three fly-halves on the field.
Once the 24-year-old Smith had recovered from butchering two early chances, he dazzled Chile with his speed, footwork and creativity.
“Marcus did a lot of very good things. Playing at 15, there is a different amount of space there compared to playing at 10,” Borthwick said.
“The way Marcus took those opportunities, found the space and linked with Henry in particular was a positive. It shows there is a lot of hard work from everybody on the training field.
“There was a lot of exciting talent on the pitch. This squad is packed full of talent and packed full of options. The starting configuration did a really good job after working through a challenging spell.
“To be able to change that during the game and have Owen, George and Marcus on the pitch brought another dimension and certainly gives options for the future.”
Chile captain Martin Sigren admitted his World Cup newcomers are a work in progress.
“It’s a tough lesson. Four years ago we were getting the same result against Canada and the USA,” Sigren said.
“We were losing games against Brazil. Four years later look at us – we’re here, so I have to hold on to that.
“We will keep on working. Maybe four years later the results will be different.”
Edwards to defend UFC Welterweight title in rematch against second-ranked Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester
Jamaican-born British Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards now has a date and an opponent for his next title defense.
The 32-year-old will try to fend off number two-ranked Belal Muhammad in the main event at UFC 304 set for July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Edwards will enter the fight in the midst of a 12-fight unbeaten streak while Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 contests.
The pair fought previously at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad on March 13, 2021 in Las Vegas. That bout ended in a no contest after an accidental eye-poke by Edwards in the second of five rounds rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
After than unfortunate fight, Edwards went on to defeat fan favorite Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona on June 12, 2021.
His next fight proved to be his crowning moment as he secured a spectacular head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman to claim the UFC Welterweight title at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on August 20, 2022.
Heading into that fight, Usman was on a 20-fight win streak and was the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. The Nigerian also had a win over Edwards back in 2015.
Edwards then went on to defeat Usman again, this time via unanimous decision, in their trilogy fight at UFC 286 in London on March 18, 2023 before defending his belt for the second time with another unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 on December 16 last year.
Muhammad has also been on a tear since that eye-poke.The 35-year-old recorded unanimous decision victories over legends Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson at UFC 263 and UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Daukas, respectively, to close out 2021.
He then secured a third consecutive unanimous decision win, this time beating Vicente Luque in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 on April 16, 2022.
At UFC 280 on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, Muhammad won performance of the night for his knockout win over Sean Brady and in his last fight, he defeated former title challenger Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC 288 on May 6, 2023 in New Jersey.
Another one: ‘Bunny’ Shaw cops 2023/24 Barclays WSL Player of the Season honour
The accolades of Jamaica and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw continue to mount, as she was voted the 2023/24 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Season, on Friday.
This announcement came on the heels of Thursday’s Football Writers’ Association (FWA) awards gala, where Shaw was officially presented with the FWA Women Footballer of the Year trophy, alongside fellow Manchester City star Phil Foden.
To say these individual acclaims are very much deserving would be an understatement given her exploits this season, as she has been a key figure in City’s push for the WSL title.
The 27-year-old, whose season was cut short due to a broken leg, has registered 21 goals in just 18 appearances, while also providing three assists. She’s on course for another prestigious honour of finishing as the league’s top scorer, having incredibly averaged a goal every 66 minutes this season.
And it is just rewards for another phenomenal campaign in which she once again broke new ground in Gareth Taylor’s side.
Shaw is the first player to score three WSL hat-tricks in a calendar year, last year, and between November 2023 and January 2024, the forward again registered three trebles in just four matches.
Finding the net in both WSL Manchester derbies, the Jamaican’s clinical finish at the Etihad Stadium in March also saw her become City’s record goalscorer, as she swept past Georgia Stanway in the process.
Another crucial strike from Shaw came in City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in February, as they secured the honour of being the first away side to take three points off the reigning champions at Kingsmeadow, in over three years.
In securing the Player of the Season title, the prolific Jamaican fought off the sizeable challenge of City teammate Khiara Keating, who won the Golden Glove, as well as Chelsea duo Lauren James and Niamh Charles. Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy, Tottenham Hotspurs youngster Grace Clinton, Leicester’s Jutta Rantala, and Brighton’s forward Elisabeth Terland, were also in the mix.
Kane to miss Bundesliga finale after seeking treatment on back injury
Harry Kane will miss Bayern Munich's final game of the Bundesliga season after leaving Germany to undergo treatment on a back problem.
Kane has scored 36 league goals in his debut campaign in Bavaria, though he will finish yet another season without silverware, with Bayer Leverkusen having clinched their first top-flight title.
He will end 2023-24 five goals adrift of Robert Lewandowski's single-season goal record of 41, set in 2019-20, after sustaining a back injury.
Ahead of Saturday's trip to Hoffenheim, departing Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel revealed Kane had been struggling before the second leg of their Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid.
"Harry is being treated by his personal doctor and he is not here anymore," Tuchel said.
"He won't be with us. In Madrid it was already touch and go."
Kane missed Bayern's 2-0 win over Wolfsburg in their penultimate game of 2023-24 last week, with Lovro Zvonarek and Leon Goretzka on target in his absence.
The news will cause concern for Gareth Southgate, who is set to name his preliminary England squad for Euro 2024 on Tuesday.
The Three Lions' final squad for the tournament – which is being held in Kane's new home of Germany – will be revealed after they face Iceland in a friendly on June 7.
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