England collapsed to an agonising 16-15 defeat against South Africa at the Stade de France as they allowed a place in Saturday’s World Cup final against New Zealand to slip from their grasp.

Steve Borthwick’s men led by nine points in the final quarter but their wet-weather masterclass began to fade as the ‘Bomb Squad’ made their presence felt for the Springboks, especially in the scrum.

It was on the back of their set-piece ascendancy and the generalship of replacement fly-half Handre Pollard that the tables turned in a sodden Paris.

RG Snyman barged over for the only try of the match in the 70th minute and Pollard nailed a tricky conversion, setting up heart-stopping finish to a Test that was enthralling throughout.

The world champions were still two points behind but up stepped man-of-the-match Pollard to land the killer blow with two minutes left, nailing a penalty from just inside England’s half.

England’s players sank to their knees at the final whistle, their hearts broken having given their all in a rematch of the 2019 final despite being distant outsiders, and it was an especially cruel moment for Owen Farrell given his outstanding night.

Farrell was at the heart of many of his side’s best moments and although the captain drew the now customary boos when his name was read out on the PA system pre-match, he replied by drawing first blood with a penalty.

Breakdown and line-out success, as well as Ben Earl blasting off the base of the scrum, were further early wins until a promising drive downfield ended with Farrell kicking his second penalty.

Three times in a row England turned over South African line-out drives, winning a penalty on the third of them to relieve the pressure that was building on their line.

Every aspect of an arm wrestle of a contest was being won by England, but they were also their own worst enemies as they gave away three needless penalties, one of them for a moment of petulance from Farrell that allowed Manie Libbok to land three points.

His eyes bulging, Farrell was playing on the edge and had to be escorted away from referee Ben O’Keeffe, but he regained his composure to re-establish the six-point lead.

Libbok became the fall guy for South Africa’s woes when he was replaced in the 32nd minute by Pollard in the hope the 2019 World Cup winner would bring greater control.

Pollard’s first involvement was to boot a penalty and growing tension was evident as errors crept into both sides, but when Farrell found the target for the fourth time, England entered the break with a deserved 12-6 lead.

Rookie Leicester lock George Martin had been at the forefront of red rose resistance through his savage tackling and as the rain continued to fall there was no prospect of the game opening up.

Scrum-half Cobus Reinach and full-back Damian Willemse were the next to be pulled by South Africa, who now had Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux on the field, and then Eben Etzebeth followed them into the dugout.

The changes were a reflection of England’s control and just as the Springboks appeared to be clawing their way into contention, Farrell rifled over a sensational drop-goal.

England’s captain was striking gold with every touch as a wicked crossfield grubber caused Kurt-Lee Arendse to fumble, but South Africa were beginning to harvest penalties at the scrum.

Suddenly the Springboks went up a gear, their pack pouring forwards from a line-out for Snyman to score.

It was now all South Africa, who had discovered a new lease of life, and when the moment for glory came, Pollard stepped up to deliver his monster penalty.

Rory McIlroy said he is open to the prospect of investing in Manchester United and welcomed Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposed involvement with his boyhood club.

The 34-year-old Northern Irishman, who helped Europe win the Ryder Cup in Rome a few weeks ago, was speaking at the Circuit of Americas in Texas after acquiring a stake in Formula One team Alpine.

McIlroy, former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, Liverpool and England star Trent Alexander-Arnold and World Cup winner Juan Mata have been announced as part of a £173million strategic investment led by consortium Otro Capital in Alpine.

Ratcliffe, 71, is reportedly looking to purchase a 25 per cent stake in United that could see him take over football operations at Old Trafford.

And McIlroy said: “Sports team ownership used to be limited to private equity, and people who had a ton of money. But now sports stars are becoming more savvy and using their money in the right way.

“I would love to be able to own a tiny percentage of the club I grew up cheering on as a boy.

“I would have loved to have taken 0.00001 per cent of Manchester United when Jim Ratcliffe took 25 per cent. And if another opportunity comes my way I will look at it. But it is not something that has come across our table as of yet.

“There is Tom Brady at Birmingham and there are a few golfers – Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas – who invested with the 49ers Group, and they own a tiny slice of Leeds. They asked me if I wanted to come on board, and I said as a Man United fan I cannot go anywhere near that.

“Sir Jim has got a great track record and everybody that does support United should be excited by the possibilities if they give him full sporting authority and decisions for the club. As a fan I am excited.”

McIlroy finished as Europe’s top points-scorer at Marco Simone after a convincing 3&1 singles win against Sam Burns.

He had been embroiled in angry scenes the previous evening following the actions of Patrick Cantlay’s bagman Joe LaCava on the 18th green, furiously gesticulating in the direction of Justin Thomas’ caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay in the car park.

Three weeks on, McIlroy was asked if he had any regrets over the incident.

“Jeez, no, not at all,” he said. “I felt like what happened in the car park galvanised the team and it benefited us.

“Things happen in the heat of the moment. Tensions were high but Joe came into the European team room on Sunday night and had a drink and a chat. I have had a great relationship with Joe over the years and that wasn’t going to change.

“The incident happened. I didn’t want to meet anyone on the Sunday morning because I wanted what happened to fuel me and my focus was on making sure Europe won the Ryder Cup, and then we will sort all the other stuff out after. And it is all fine. We are all friends.”

Thomas Muller has overtaken Bayern Munich team-mate Manuel Neuer as the player with the most Bundesliga wins in history.

Muller won his 323rd game in Germany's top flight as he helped Bayern beat Mainz 3-1 on Saturday.

That sets him clear of Neuer as the outright leader for Bundesliga victories.

Muller's contribution at Mewa Arena was limited as he replaced Kingsley Coman as an 88th-minute substitute, but with fellow Bayern legend Neuer still sidelined by injury, that brief cameo saw Muller edge ahead of his team-mate to claim the record for himself.

Goals from Coman and Harry Kane put Bayern 2-0 up within 16 minutes before Anthony Caci pulled one back for the winless hosts, but Leon Goretzka's second-half strike ensured Bayern ran out 3-1 winners.

The victory maintained Bayern's unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season, though Thomas Tuchel's men still trail surprise contenders Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart at the summit.

Muller's standout stats

Muller has played 449 Bundesliga matches, 127 more than any other Bayern player since he made his debut in August 2008.

The 34-year-old has created 884 chances for his team-mates in that time, with Franck Ribery (536) ranking a distant second for the Bavarian giants.

Of current Bayern players, Joshua Kimmich (505) is the closest to Muller, who has directly contributed to 306 Bundesliga goals, another team-high. Robert Lewandowski is second, with 273 goal contributions.

Lewandowski (238) is the only player to have scored more Bundesliga goals for Bayern than Muller (144) since the latter made his bow for the club, while the Germany international has provided 162 assists, almost 80 clear of second-best Ribery (85).

Muller has had 2,448 touches in the opposition box, over 500 more than any other Bayern team-mate since he made his Bundesliga debut, while he has also had the most duels (4,314), winning 1,904 of them.

His best goalscoring season came in 2015-16, when he netted 20 times in the Bundesliga and provided five assists.

However, it was in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons that Muller provided his most goal contributions in the Bundesliga, with 29 in each campaign.

Muller netted eight times in 2019-20, but supplied 21 assists. The following term, he teed up 18 goals and scored 11 himself.

Mikel Arteta praised a “phenomenal” response from Arsenal after they fought back from two goals down in the final 13 minutes to earn a 2-2 draw at Chelsea and move level on points at the top of the Premier League.

Chelsea looked to be sending Arsenal to a first league defeat of the season when Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross-shot put them into a 2-0 lead minutes after half-time, the Ukrainian’s effort drifting over goalkeeper David Raya who was unable to recover from a poor starting position as the ball dropped into the goal.

That added to the lead given to them by a first-half penalty from Cole Palmer, increasingly influential in Pochettino’s revitalised attack following his move from Manchester City, who slotted home after William Saliba was adjudged to have handled from Mudryk’s header.

It was a commanding and deserved advantage for the hosts, who were seeking a third straight league win, but as so often during Chelsea’s turbulent last 18 months it was an individual error that turned the game and cost them points.

Goalkeeper Roert Sanchez rolled the ball straight to the feet of Declan Rice who cut the arrears from 30 yards, before Leandro Trossard got a lunging right leg to Bukayo Saka’s cross six minutes from time to salvage an unlikely draw.

And afterwards Arteta praised his team’s powers of recovery as they extended their unbeaten start to the league season to nine matches to go level at the top with Manchester City.

“I think what went wrong was the start of the game,” said the manager. “We didn’t play with enough purpose and clarity. We were just moving the ball without the intention to threaten them. That’s a really dangerous thing to do against teams like Chelsea.

“Then we didn’t win enough duels, and in tight areas when we had them, they escaped from that and they attacked open spaces, and they are really dangerous things to do.

“When we changed that and we changed the level after 20, 25 minutes, especially in the second half then it’s a different game. We became a much better team, even though we conceded the second goal and it’s a disappointment.

“The way the team reacted to the second goal is phenomenal from the players on the pitch and the players on the bench thinking ‘how the hell am I going to change this game?’ I loved that.

“I really liked as well going into the dressing room and it’s really quiet, after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea and coming back from 2-0 down, because I know that they wanted more. That’s the positive.”

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino reflected on perhaps Chelsea’s best performance since he took over in the summer, and refused to lay the blame at the feet of Sanchez for allowing Arsenal back into the match.

“Too many games that we’re watching every week, always mistakes,” he said. “Football is about mistakes. If you want to score, you want the opponent to make a mistake. Ninety per cent of goals are because the opponent made a mistake. Football is about mistakes.

“The only thing we can criticise a little bit is to read better the situation, the tempo and the timing. After 77 minutes, we’re trying to take some risks. OK, we can because it’s our philosophy. But maybe (we need) better decisions. So we can criticise a bit, but also this is football.

“It’s not to blame someone. It’s only that in this type of situation you need to read better, but that will arrive with time. Teams need to manage and drive games. You need to read the game, when to be calm, when to play, when to take risks.”

Rangers have condemned the graffiti and stickers left in the away end at Ibrox after Saturday’s cinch Premiership match with Hibernian which mocked the disaster at the stadium in 1971.

Under 1,000 Hibs supporters were in attendance for the 4-0 defeat and when they left it emerged that some seats had been defaced with the number 66.

The 1971 Ibrox disaster was a crush among the crowd at a Rangers v Celtic game which led to 66 deaths.

There were also photographs of stairway 13, where the disaster occurred, stuck on the seats, with the images accompanied by the words, “Stairwell Thirteen – it’s the greatest sight that I have ever seen”.

Graffiti also mocked the death of Queen Elizabeth II and supported the IRA.

A Rangers spokesperson said: “Rangers condemns in the strongest possible terms the graffiti and stickers left by a section of the Hibernian supporters at Ibrox this afternoon.

“The Ibrox disaster remains the darkest day in our club’s history, and continues to affect a number of families to this day.

“The mocking and celebration of such an event is outrageous, and has no place in any football stadium or society as a whole.

“Rangers will be pleased to work with Hibernian to identify those responsible.”

A Hibernian FC spokesperson said: “Hibernian FC is aware of the intolerable graffiti and stickers found in the away end at Ibrox today and condemns the behaviour of the individuals that were involved.

“The club will work with Rangers to identify those responsible and will take the most serious action possible against anyone involved.

“If any Hibernian FC supporter has any information that could assist the club to help identify these individuals, they should contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and the information provided will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.”

Dani Carvajal’s 78th-minute header rescued a point for LaLiga leaders Real Madrid during a frustrating 1-1 draw at Sevilla.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men had two early goals disallowed before David Alaba put through his own net to raise the possibility of a second defeat of the season.

Sevilla were denied a first victory under the tenure of Diego Alonso though when Carvajal headed home Toni Kroos’ late free-kick to ensure Madrid will go into next weekend’s ‘El Clasico’ at rivals Barcelona as divisional leaders.

Ancelotti rotated his options for the trip to Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, with Alaba, Kroos and Rodrygo recalled to the starting line-up after the 4-0 victory over Osasuna a fortnight ago.

Sevilla had changed management during the international break and new head coach Alonso almost watched his team go behind after only four minutes.

Federico Valverde was first to a loose ball outside the area and then latched on to Jude Bellingham’s lay off before his cross-shot deflected into the net via ex-team-mate Sergio Ramos.

It was subsequently ruled out though after Bellingham had been in an offside position when he collected Valverde’s header.

The LaLiga leaders were celebrating again in the eighth minute but referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea had controversially already blown his whistle to stop play by the time Bellingham rolled into the empty net.

Madrid broke at lightning pace after Antonio Rudiger nipped in to beat Lucas Ocampos, who went down after being caught in the back, and Rodrygo raced through on goal, rounded Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland and flicked into the path of Bellingham, who slotted into the corner.

Referee de Burgos Bengoetxea had already signalled a halt to proceedings to seemingly check on Ocampos before play resumed with a drop ball for Madrid, despite the visitors expressing their bemusement at the early stoppage of play.

Sevilla settled after a difficult start and should have broken the deadlock in the 23rd minute.

Ocampos embarked on a fine run and played into Ivan Rakitic, who showed great composure to cut inside Kroos, but his left-footed effort was cleared off the line by Madrid captain Carvajal.

The danger was not over there, with the ball being cleared to Ocampos but his 25-yard curler was pushed away by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

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Alonso’s men were buoyed by that opportunity and created another opening minutes later when Ocampos flicked into the path of Djibril Sow, who curled wide from a promising position.

Madrid remained a constant threat and their old captain Ramos denied Alaba in the 34th-minute with a wonderful block following Kroos’ wicked set-piece delivery.

A breathless half ended goalless but the visitors were unhappy as they walked off at the break after Vinicius Jr had gone down under contact from Navas minutes before the first 45 were up.

The same duo were involved in a flashpoint at the beginning of the second period when Navas flicked the ball through Vinicius Jr’s legs and Ferland Mendy reacted by barging into the Sevilla captain, but referee de Burgos Bengoetxea kept his cards in his pocket.

Nyland had to be alert soon after to deny Rodrygo’s low effort before Ramos impressively blocked a volley by Kroos.

The influence of ex-Madrid captain Ramos continued to grow and he played his part in Sevilla making the breakthrough with 16 minutes left.

Ramos passed out wide to Navas, who whipped in a wicked delivery from the left that team-mate Youssef En-Nesyri missed, but Alaba could only deflect the ball beyond his own goalkeeper Kepa.

Sevilla’s celebrations were cut short four minutes later when Madrid captain Carvajal headed home at the near-post after he beat En-Nesyri in the air to a Kroos free-kick.

It set up a grandstand finish in Andalusia and Ramos was at the centre of the action with Kepa saving his header before Ocampos drilled wide following an excellent run by Navas.

Ocampos and Ramos were involved as tempers started to rise late on when Vinicius Jr and Nyland clashed over the hosts’ attempts to time waste.

There was still time for stoppage-time drama with Ramos heading over from two yards from Suso’s cross before a last-gasp Kroos free-kick was hit straight down the throat of Nyland, which ensured it finished 1-1 in Seville.

Harry Kane helped Bayern Munich maintain their unbeaten start with a 3-1 win at Mainz.

Kingsley Coman and Kane put ruthless Bayern 2-0 up inside 16 minutes before Anthony Caci pulled a goal back just before the break.

Leon Goretzka restored Bayern’s two-goal lead just before the hour and Bayern remain unbeaten and sit third in the Bundesliga, two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

Mainz are still looking for their first league win of the season and stay second bottom with just two points from eight games.

Kane, fresh from his brace in the 3-1 win over Italy which helped England qualify for Euro 2024, now has nine league goals in eight games.

Joshua Kimmich had fired a speculative effort off target before Bayern scored two quickfire goals.

After 11 minutes Coman was left free on the right to receive Leroy Sane’s ball and fire in a low shot from 15 yards after a rapid Bayern counter.

Three minutes later the hosts nearly levelled when Sven Ulreich denied Lee Jae-sung.

Kane had failed to score in Bayern’s previous two games, the Champions League win in Copenhagen and the 3-0 win over Freiburg earlier this month but grabbed a second five minutes later.

A short free-kick from Bayern was eventually tossed into the box and Kane headed in from close range after Goretzka had nodded the ball back from the byline to put Bayern in control.

Mainz had scored just six goals in their first seven games of the season but they grabbed a lifeline two minutes before the break when Caci beat Ulreich from a tight angle to get them back into the game.

Kimmich tried his luck just after the break and after 58 minutes Mainz were inches away when Danny da Costa teed up Stefan Bell to fire just wide – it was a miss which they paid for just a minute later.

The hosts failed to clear and Goretzka collected Jamal Musiala’s pass on the edge of the area to find the bottom corner to make it 3-1.

Bayern, chasing down Leverkusen who won 2-1 at Wolfsburg earlier on Saturday, took their foot off the pedal with the game won.

They travel to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday knowing victory, their third, would put them in charge of Group A.

Thomas Muller came off the bench for the final two minutes and Bayern ran down the clock for an ultimately comfortable victory.

Arsenal stung Chelsea with a stunning late fightback as they came from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Mikel Arteta’s side looked to be heading to a first defeat of the season when Mykhailo Mudryk’s cross-shot looped over David Raya minutes after the interval, adding to the lead given to them by Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty.

The visitors were far from their free-flowing best and Mauricio Pochettino’s side, inspired by the increasingly influential Palmer on the right of a front three, were for three-quarters of the game good value for what would have been a third straight league win.

But the pendulum swung when Robert Sanchez’s careless pass presented the ball to Declan Rice who cut the arrears, before Leandro Trossard stunned the home fans into silence with a close-range finish in the closing minutes to earn Arsenal a draw and move them level on points at the top of the Premier League.

For the first time under Pochettino, Chelsea started without a recognised striker, Raheem Sterling instead lining up centrally, flanked by in-form pair Palmer and Mudryk.

They took the lead after 14 minutes. Sterling crossed from the right into the six-yard box, and as William Saliba leapt with an arm raised, Mudryk’s header cannoned off it from close range. It took several minutes for referee Chris Kavanagh to be called to the pitchside monitor, but once checked there was little delay in awarding a penalty.

Palmer dispatched coolly past David Raya for his second Chelsea goal.

Arsenal had started sluggishly and it took until the 20-minute mark for their first opening, Martin Odegaard threading the ball into the left channel for Rice to stride onto, but his awkward right-footed effort clipped towards Sanchez’s far corner zipped wide of the post.

Palmer has been one of the catalysts of Chelsea’s sudden ascent to attacking potency under Pochettino, pulling strings whether collecting the ball deep or taking up a more advanced role. His impact was critical in consecutive wins against Brighton, Fulham and Burnley during which the team scored seven goals off the back of three scoreless matches, and here again he was the difference.

He had the chance to double the lead when Conor Gallagher, captain again with Reece James fit only for a late cameo, took the initiative and drove through the heart of Arsenal’s midfield, slipping the ball in to Palmer who found room in between Saliba and Gabriel to get off a low drive which flashed inches wide of Raya’s far post.

Chelsea might have pulled further clear in the closing minutes of the half, Sterling with a familiar burst down the right, slipping the ball to Malo Gusto who showed the finishing instincts of a full-back and ballooned over.

The second half began with a moment to forget for Arsenal goalkeeper Raya. Ben White gave the ball away to Gallagher inside the Chelsea half, and carrying the ball up the left flank he fed the overlapping Mudryk.

There seemed to be little on as the Ukrainian assessed options inside the box. Raya was positioned ready for a cross, but in doing so he left too much room behind him into which Mudryk’s ball drifted, sailing clean over the keeper, who flapped helplessly as it landed in the net.

Raya’s afternoon was going from bad to worse. Minutes after conceding, he was almost culpable for Chelsea’s third when he rolled the ball recklessly to the feet of Palmer who narrowly failed to nip around the goalkeeper and bury Arsenal.

Then, with Arteta’s side looking beaten, fortune turned in their favour. Rice hauled them back into it with 14 minutes to play and it was another goalkeeping error, this time from Sanchez.

Chelsea’s summer signing has repeatedly been culpable in recent games of conceding possession with poor distribution. Here, under little pressure, he passed the ball straight to the feet of Rice, who with quickness of thought thumped it first time from 30 yards beyond the stranded keeper.

Then the final sting for Pochettino.

Bukayo Saka was given time on the edge of the box to shift the ball from right foot to left, and with vision and precision, he picked out the run of Trossard who stole in behind Chelsea with a lunging right leg to divert it past Sanchez.

Max Verstappen bounced back from his mistake in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix to put his Red Bull on pole position for today’s sprint race.

Verstappen will line up from only sixth place for Sunday’s main event at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas after his quickest lap was chalked off for exceeding track limits here on Friday night.

But less than 24 hours later, the triple world champion atoned for his error to seal top spot ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.055 seconds for the 19-lap dash to the chequered flag later today.

“The last lap was not great but we are still on pole so it shows the car is working well,” said Verstappen, with less than a tenth separating the top-three drivers.

“It will be an exciting afternoon with cars close to each other so we don’t know what will happen in the sprint race. Normally in the race we are okay, but this track is demanding.”

Lewis Hamilton finished third, seven hundredths behind Verstappen, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fourth and fifth respectively for McLaren. George Russell qualified eighth.

It was not all plain-sailing for Verstappen after he spun on the exit of Turn 9 in Q2.

Verstappen took too much kerb on the entry to the left hander which sent him onto the grass and into a pirouette.

But after he completed a 360-degree spin, Verstappen was able to make it back to his garage and into Q3.

Hamilton also survived a hairy moment in the opening phase of qualifying when he nudged the back of Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri.

“Check my front wing,” said Hamilton on the radio. “One of the drivers blocked me and we touched.”

Hamilton was able to continue and although the stewards noted the incident, no further action was taken.

Daniel Ricciardo, absent from the last five races with a broken hand, out-qualified Tsunoda to progress to Q2 and finish 11th.

Tsunoda starts 19th, one place ahead of Logan Sargeant who propped up the order for the second day in a row at his home event.

The sprint gets under way at 5pm local time (11pm BST).

The Philadelphia 76ers' wantaway guard James Harden is just "looking to find happiness" after requesting a trade and engaging in a bitter war of words with Sixers president Daryl Morey.

That is the view of Chicago Bulls center and former Sixer Andre Drummond, who hopes Harden joins a team where he feels wanted. 

Former MVP Harden requested a trade after exercising his player option for the 2023-24 season in June, the third time he has asked for a move since leaving the Houston Rockets in January 2021.

Having grown frustrated with Morey's handling of his contract situation during the offseason, Harden labelled the Sixers president a "liar" in August, declaring: "I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of".

Harden reportedly expected to be offered a long-term deal after Philadelphia were beaten by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. 

He has since skipped practice on two occasions as the Sixers work towards their NBA season opener, which comes on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.

While some have criticised Harden's conduct, Drummond, who joined the Brooklyn Nets as part of the trade which took Harden to Philadelphia last year, has sympathy for his position.

"I don't really get into the whole gossip aspect of the NBA," Drummond told Stats Perform. "I mean, with James, it's not his first time doing this.

"I think he's just going to try to find a way to make sure that he's happy and he goes into the best situation. I don't really have much else I can say on that.

"He's just looking to find happiness, so hopefully he gets to go where he wants to."

The Sixers' hopes for 2023-24 will be carried by reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who recently announced his intention to represent the United States at next year's Olympic Games in France. 

Embiid averaged a career-high 33.1 points to lead the NBA last season, but the 29-year-old is yet to win a championship.

Drummond, who played alongside Embiid while with the Sixers in 2021-22, believes Philadelphia need to give the center a championship-winning team sooner rather than later.

Asked about Philadelphia's title hopes, Drummond said: "I think for Joel, they have to do it now. Now's the time.

"They've waited a long time, a lot of pieces have been added to their team that maybe aren't working out. 

"I hope he does it. I hope he doesn't win against us, but I hope for the best for him. I really want him to win. I've got to play alongside him for a year and he deserves it. He works really hard."

Captain Rob du Preez’s individual try allowed Sale Sharks to make it back-to-back wins in the Gallagher Premiership as they defeated Leicester Tigers 24-17 at Welford Road.

The Sharks controlled the majority of proceedings, only to be pegged back by Ollie Hassell-Collins’ excellent finish in what was an entertaining encounter between two of last season’s top-four teams.

Ultimately, however, Alex Sanderson’s side ensured a repeat of the outcome of their semi-final against the Tigers back in May, and made it two straight defeats for their hosts at the start of the new campaign.

Sale were forced into a late change at full-back, with Tom O’Flaherty coming in for Joe Carpenter and the visitors were further rocked by conceding the game’s opening try after eight minutes.

From a ruck, Tom Whiteley fed Jamie Shillcock, whose quick pass allowed Mike Brown, denied by an excellent Du Preez tackle not long before, to finish from a few metres out.

Shillcock failed to convert and the Sharks responded immediately when Gus Warr’s off-load found a galloping Ernst van Rhyn and the back rower timed his pass to send Tom Roebuck under the posts, making Du Preez’s conversion a formality.

The fly-half sent a penalty from 40 metres wide soon after and Sale then had a ‘try’ from O’Flaherty ruled out for a knock-on at the breakdown by Nick Schonert in the build-up.

But the visitors were able to make the most of a sustained spell of pressure when Van Rhyn was adjudged to have touched down after a TMO check, Du Preez adding the extras.

It was then the Tigers’ turn to hit back quickly when captain Hanro Liebenberg barged his way over from close range, with Shillcock’s conversion reducing the gap to 14-12 at half-time.

A simple penalty from Du Preez took Sale’s lead back out to five points early in the second half, a gap that remained after Hassell-Collins knocked on in-goal having got to Shillcock’s kick down the left wing first.

However, Hassell-Collins was able to score just after the hour mark, shrugging off O’Flaherty’s tackle to level the match after he had been put into space by Joe Powell, Shillcock pushing his conversion wide.

Sale almost regained the lead four minutes later when Sam James gathered Sam Bedlow’s pass, only to be held up by a posse of Leicester forwards.

But there was no denying Du Preez in the 69th minute as he took Raffi Quirke’s pass before dummying and going clear to score a try he converted himself under the posts.

Arron Reed almost made the game safe when he knocked on after being tackled by Dan Kelly, but Sale held out for what was a deserved victory.

Bookmakers left Qipco British Champions Day smiling despite Frankie Dettori threatening to inflict one last telling blow on their satchels with a big-race double.

The Italian had an enviable book of mounts for his final day riding in Britain and with accumulators on the weighing-room great proving popular prior to racing, the layers would have been fearing the worst when the 52-year-old struck in his first ride of the day aboard Godolphin’s Trawlerman.

Memories of Dettori’s famous ‘Magnificent Seven’ at Ascot must have come flooding back, especially when 5-4 favourite Kinross hit the front in the following Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes.

However, the layers earnt a reprieve as Tim Easterby’s 40-1 outsider Art Power fought back gamely to down the Dettori multiples.

A further shock victory for 22-1 shot Poptronic in the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes was followed by the defeat of hot favourite Paddington in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the bookmakers were well on top by the time Dettori brought the house down with a thrilling victory in the day’s feature Qipco Champion Stakes aboard 3-1 favourite King Of Steel.

“The Frankie accas proved predictably popular, and so Trawlerman’s win in the opener was not the result we wanted to see, but fortunately for us Art Power collared Kinross in the final yards of the Sprint, a result which meant we were able to relax,” said Coral’s David Stevens.

“Poptronic and Big Rock were two further results in our favour, and although Frankie delivered the perfect ending to this stage of his career when bringing King Of Steel home in front in the Champion Stakes to the joy of his many fans, it wasn’t enough to spoil our day.”

Officials at Ascot were also heading home smiling after the star attraction delivered in style at the course’s end-of-season showpiece.

“We’ve had a great day, what a fantastic farewell for Frankie and a wonderful Champion Stakes,” said clerk of the course Chris Stickels.

“We had a bit of rain and we were very glad we changed tracks, it’s been a positive day. It’s been wonderful.

“It was great racing. There’s always a really good racing crowd on Champions Day but there was a particularly fantastic atmosphere this afternoon. It was quite unique, I’ve never know it like that before.”

Should we have ever doubted him? Given the year – and career – Frankie Dettori has had, he was always going to produce something special at Ascot on his farewell to British racing.

But to ride off into the American sunshine by winning the Qipco Champion Stakes on King Of Steel? Even he could not quite believe it.

The day started with an incredible ride from the 52-year-old Italian on Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup, chasing a pacemaker, hitting the front only to be passed before regaining the lead close home.

That sent the crowd into a frenzy and there was a Cheltenham-like roar when Dettori galvanised his mount – and he almost made the bookies run for cover as Kinross hit the front in the Champions Sprint that followed only for Art Power to battle back and deny him a repeat victory.

The well-fancied Free Wind was well beaten in the Fillies & Mares race and when Chaldean was tailed off in the QEII, it all came down to King Of Steel in the final Group One of the day.

Second in the Derby and a Royal Ascot winner, his claims were clear but trainer Roger Varian had worries about the testing ground for his giant grey.

Last in the early stages and not looking comfortable, Dettori somehow conjured up a stirring finish to beat the filly Via Sistina, with the 3-1 favourite getting home by three-quarters of a length.

With the Ascot crowd chanting, ‘oh, Frankie Dettori’, the Italian returned to the winner’s enclosure for a final flying dismount to rapturous celebrations.

He said: “It’s emotional really, I don’t know what to say. I cannot believe it, the crowd have been sublime.

“It’s a fairytale ending to me, Ascot is my home. I’m pretty emotional to be honest, but happy tears!

“When I hit the front I’m thinking ‘this must be a dream, it can’t be right’ but then I realised it did happen and I just went numb.

“The first race was mad, but this was another level to be honest with you. It was incredible, everyone was cheering for me.

“They souped it up that it was my last race so everyone was up for it. It was amazing.”

It had to be Ascot, of course. The scene of so many of his great victories and his famous ‘Magnificent Seven’.

On that day in 1996, Ascot looked very different – before its multi-million pound redevelopment – and Dettori’s life was about to change forever.

While he was not an unknown by any stretch of the imagination, after riding all seven winners on the card, on the equivalent afternoon of what is now known as British Champions Day, he became a household name.

Casual racegoers would just back him in every race, expecting him to repeat the feat without quite realising just what he had achieved.

That popularity remained until the end, so much so that one punter was spotted writing out his betting slip at Ascot and instead of writing the horses names, he just wrote “Frankie” next to his four selected races.

Perhaps only Lester Piggott has surpassed him in terms of the indelible mark he leaves on the sport.

Dettori is now heading off to ride at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, the Melbourne Cup, Hong Kong’s international races in December and then the next stage of his life – a full-time move to California, where he rode with such success last winter.

While he is a popular figure in the States, he knows himself he will miss the adulation of the British crowds, his adopted homeland.

“It was special after the race, they were chanting, ‘oh, Frankie Dettori’ – that’s one thing I’m going to miss. I can’t take that to America with me because I’m fairly new over there,” he said.

“It’s been memorable from the beginning of the season. I wanted to finish at the top and it doesn’t get any better than this.

“I need to regroup now, go to the States (for the Breeders’ Cup) and then before Christmas we move there for good.

“I don’t know if King Of Steel is going to the Breeders’ Cup, Kia (Joorabchian, owner) has said to keep the option open. I got him over the line today so my job is done!

“I’m focussing on my American adventure at the moment, I’m not thinking about next summer, I’m going to be there every day, I’ve no plans to come back here.

“My first ride is on December 26, Boxing Day.”

Other jockeys have ridden more winners than Dettori, but none have dominated the sport like he has.

If we will get to see him ride in the UK again remains up for debate, but he was sticking by the line that this perfect farewell is his intended finale.

Given his final ride is the winner of the Champion Stakes, he might just be a longer price now to return. Quite simply, how do you top that?