Richard Wigglesworth has been promoted to England's senior assistant coach after a reshuffle of their backroom staff ahead of the upcoming Tests.

The former scrumhalf will remain in charge of England's attack but will also now act as the number two to Steve Borthwick, collaborating with him on the team’s game plan.

The pair previously worked together at Leicester Tigers in the Premiership, leading the team to the title in 2022.

"Richard's deep knowledge of the game and his excellent tactical understanding means he has become a key figure in our coaching team," said Borthwick.

"He shares our emotional commitment to English rugby, and I am certain he will play a crucial role in driving the standards of this England team."

Wigglesworth, who made 33 appearances for England, added: "This is an exciting time for England rugby.

"Steve has created a coaching environment based on collaboration and hard work, and we are constantly evolving and growing and striving for success."

Meanwhile, Joe El-Abd is working as the defensive coach, while Kevin Sinfield has agreed to stay on with the team in a reduced capacity.

England take on New Zealand on November 2 before continuing their other autumn internationals against Australia, South Africa and Japan.

Nick Kyrgios is planning to make a comeback in December and has ambitions to win a grand slam in order to "shut up" his doubters.

The Australian has suffered with wrist, knee and foot injuries over the last two years, playing just one ATP Tour singles match in that period.

He lost in straight sets on that occasion to Wu Yibing in Stuttgart in June 2023 and has not played since.

Though he has hinted at retirement in the past, he is now planning for his return at the World Tennis League event in Abu Dhabi later this year before the Australian Open in January.

He has previously reached one grand slam final in singles, losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022, and Kyrgios has a clear plan of what he wants to come out of his return to the sport.

"I am coming back because something is keeping me around the game," he told News Corp's Code Sports podcast.

"I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a grand slam, won a doubles title in a grand slam, won multiple titles and made money.

"But I think the one thing that is now on my target is a grand slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day.

"That'll be my deep motivation."

Kyrgios earned a reputation for his outbursts and meltdowns early on in his career, with some writing him off due to his temperament.

However, the 29-year-old has brushed off the idea that he was a "bad boy".

"I guess I was branded that just because I was a bit outside the circle of what a normal tennis player is," he said.

"I don't think I carry that perception with the Aussie public anymore. But at the start of my career, people thought I was like a murderer."

Pep Guardiola has played down expectations that he has decided to take over as the next permanent England manager.

The 53-year-old would be a popular choice for the job, given the success that has followed him at every club since becoming a manager.

Guardiola has won six Premier League titles at City, including each of the last four, while he won three league titles each with Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He is also a three-time Champions League winner and 10-time domestic cup winner as a manager.

But when asked about the England job amid reports claiming his next step had been decided, he was not drawn on any speculation.

"It's not true. I'm Manchester City manager," he told Che Tempo Che Fa, as per transfer football expert Fabrizio Romano.

But despite his dismissive comments, Guardiola stopped short of shutting down the rumours that he could be considering becoming the next England manager.

"I've not decided anything, everything can happen. So I don't know," he said.

"Let's see on my future. I still need to reflect and decide what I want to do."

Guardiola's contract at City is up at the end of the 2024-25 season, with the Spaniard yet to make a decision on his future at the club.

Alongside any potential sanctions that City might face in their long-running battle with the Premier League, speculation about their manager's future has been rife in recent months.

He is far and away City's most successful manager of all time, maintaining a win percentage of over 70% after 483 matches in charge, while he is second to Alex Ferguson as the manager with the most Premier League titles.

Dallas Cowboys suffered their worst home defeat during Jerry Jones' time as owner and general manager, but he says he has no intention of changing his coach.

Mike McCarthy has started the season with a 3-3 record, with all three of their losses coming at the AT&T Stadium, including their 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

It was their worst defeat in 36 years, while the 38-point deficit was the Cowboys' largest at home since a 43-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Texas Stadium in 1988.

McCarthy is in the final year of his contract, but even with the poor start on home soil, Jones says he is going to stick with his coach.

"Oh, I haven't even considered that," Jones said of a potential change. "I'm not considering that. Just so you're clear, I'm not considering that."

When reminded of an in-season coaching change he made back in 2010, replacing Wade Phillips with Jason Garrett, Jones doubled down on his backing of McCarthy.

"That would be a hypothetical," he added. "In that matter, do you think I'm an idiot? Do you?

"OK. Well, I'm not going to be hypothetical with you about would I consider a coaching change in light of the timing we're sitting here with. I'm not. At all."

Prior to Sunday's game, the largest defeat suffered under Jones' ownership was 36-3 against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001.

Including last season's play-off loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys have now trailed by 15 or more points at half-time in four consecutive home games.

"Well, we're disappointed that we're 3-3," Jones said. "The three-loss side of it, I don't necessarily totally blame on McCarthy.

"The players will tell you they had something to do with it, too. His other parts of the staff will tell you. And the owner sure will tell you he had something to do with it, so it's not all on him."

The Cowboys now have a bye week before they resume action against the San Francisco 49ers on October 27. 

France manager Didier Deschamps believes Kylian Mbappe should be allowed to do what he wants, playing down rumours of a rift between the two.

The comments came after Mbappe was spotted in a nightclub in Sweden on Thursday, the same night France beat Israel 4-1, having been left out of the squad by Deschamps to recover from an injury.

Mbappe had suffered a muscle injury with Real Madrid last month and was given the international break to rest by the France manager. 

But Deschamps was both unconcerned and unaware of the striker's excursion.

"I don't follow the news of players who are not here," he said. "Kylian is following a programme with Real Madrid. I don't know if he was away or not."

The controversy stems from rumours that Mbappe had asked Deschamps to only play him in 'important' international matches, as he prioritises winning the Ballon d'Or.

Given that Mbappe had returned from injury for Real Madrid, coming off the bench against Lille in the Champions League earlier this month and starting the 2-0 victory over Villarreal in LaLiga a few days later, the decision to leave Mbappe out raised questions.

Deschamps, though, was quick to give a logical explanation for the absence of their biggest player, who is just nine goals behind Olivier Giroud (57) as France's all-time top scorer.

"Like any player for his club, he follows a programme. If players have days off, they are free to do what they want," added Deschamps.

France face Belgium on Monday without Mbappe, having beaten them 2-0 at home in the reverse fixture last month.

The striker only made a 23-minute cameo off the bench in that game, though he had the joint-most shots in the game (four) and the second-most touches in the box (five) among his team-mates.

Deschamps' side are, in fact, unbeaten in their last five matches without their captain in the starting XI. They are a point behind group-leaders Italy at the halfway point.

England captain Ben Stokes is fit to play in the second Test against Pakistan and returns alongside pace bowler Matthew Potts.

Stokes suffered the hamstring injury in August and has missed the last four Test matches, including England's record-breaking win last week as they beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs.

He replaces Chris Woakes in the side for the second Test, with Potts, returning for the first time since the Sri Lanka series in August, replacing Gus Atkinson, who misses out on his first Test since making his debut in July.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have made radical changes to their own line-up, dropping star batter Babar Azam along with pace bowlers Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

It has also been confirmed that the second Test, beginning on Tuesday, will be played on the same pitch used for the first in Multan.

England are targeting a victory that would confirm their second consecutive series win in Pakistan, with the hosts looking to end a two-and-a-half-year winless streak at home.

England XI for the second Test against Pakistan: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir. 

Interim England manager Lee Carsley is adamant that he has not ruled himself out of the job on a permanent basis after hinting that he was not yet the world-class coach needed.

England responded to their shock 2-1 defeat at home to Greece on Thursday with a 3-1 victory in Finland on Sunday.

While the Three Lions were still not at their brilliant best, it was a marked improvement on their last match. However, conversation was dominated by Carsley's future and questions over who will take the role after the match.

"Definitely not," Carsley said after being asked in the post-match press conference whether he felt it was too soon for him to become the senior manager. 

"I tried to make it as clear as I could. My remit was for three camps. The point I was trying to make is it is one of the top jobs in the world.

"I'm not part of the process, but it deserves a top coach. The players we have available, we've got a real chance of winning. That was the point I was making."

Plenty had assumed that the 50-year-old's comments about still being on the path to becoming a world-class coach were effectively him putting himself out of the running for the job.

Among a volley of questions about the future of the job, he was asked directly if that was an incorrect conclusion to draw from those remarks.

"Yeah, definitely. Like I say, it's important that I do the best that I can," he said.

"It's a privilege to do this job. I feel well trusted, it's a great job and, you know, whoever gets it will be fully deserving."

Regardless of his comments in Helsinki though, Carsley does have a track record of being non-committal when asked about the potential of getting the job permanently.

That is, according to him, because he has been deliberately trying to keep an open mind about things after learning from previous experiences.

"I'm definitely reluctant [to say whether I want the job] because in the past, when I've done this caretaker/interim role, I've gone so far down the 'I don’t want the job' [route] that I've actually not done the job," he said.

"One of the things I spoke about when I was asked to take temporary charge is that it's important I keep an open mind because in that case, I’m not being reckless with my decisions.

"I'm thinking thoroughly about how the team should play, the squad I should pick, which is a challenge because squad selection is very difficult.

"The amount of players we have to leave out and what we've got available for us, and I've got another camp to do. It's just a shame we can't play Greece next week."

England's away game in Greece will be their most important in deciding their Nations League fate, with their upcoming hosts top of the group with a three-point buffer to second.

Carsley's side will need to win and then better Greece's result at Wembley if they are to have any chance of returning to the top division in the competition. But the interim manager was ultimately pleased with what he saw on Sunday.

"We won the game, scored three good goals," he added. "It was a shame we couldn't keep a clean sheet.

"I still don't know the players that well yet in terms of the way the team reacts to a defeat and a setback, so I was thrilled with the way they responded."

Breanna Stewart believes she showed resilience in bouncing back from New York Liberty's defeat in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, praising her team-mates for their support.

The Liberty avenged their shock defeat to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday, this time holding off their comeback to win 80-66 in Game 2 on Sunday.

Stewart scored 21 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists, also setting a WNBA Finals single-game record with seven steals.

The two-time league MVP was disappointed with the performance in the opener but was much more upbeat after helping to level the series at 1-1.

"The moment the game ended Thursday, I was looking forward to Sunday," Stewart said.

"I can't strive to be the best, to be great, but then be afraid to fail. This is what happens when you put yourself in high-stress, important situations.

"You face possible failure. Yeah, I was upset because we could have won [Thursday's] game. But I'm happy I took the shots. Throughout this entire process, my team has my back every step of the way."

Having played the first two games at home, the Liberty now have two games at the Target Arena to look forward to.

"We embrace it; we like it when it's loud, when it's difficult," Stewart added of their trip to Minnesota. "Hopefully it's going to be an incredible atmosphere for both of those games.

"[It's about] not getting too high or too low; things are going to seem bigger than they are because they are playing at home. I'm sure Minny said the same thing when they're playing here."

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who struggled with knee injuries in the regular season, was also on top form, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range and finishing with 20 points for New York.

Having knocked down the 3-pointer to give the Liberty the lead ahead of their final surge, Laney-Hamilton is hopeful she will be able to build on this performance going forward.

"I think it gives me a little bit of momentum as we continue to go through the series," she said.

"It felt really good because I know I've been struggling, physically, mentally as I've been going through everything."

Game 3 takes place on Wednesday in Minnesota.

Kylian Mbappe must be afforded time to understand his new Real Madrid role, with differing challenges posed compared to his success with France and Paris Saint-Germain.

Former Argentina international Mario Kempes believes Mbappe will not have faced an experience like the pressure that comes with playing with Madrid.

The France captain has still managed seven goals in just 11 appearances to start his Los Blancos career, including finding the net five times in eight LaLiga appearances.

Yet Kempes, a 43-cap Argentina international, says Mbappe will have to adapt after what he sees as easier challenges when playing for France and Ligue 1 giants PSG.

"I can't talk about being a number nine, because I've never been one. I think it's all a matter of getting used to it, because Mbappe isn't going to come in and score 40 goals," Kempes told Stats Perform at Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy.

"It's different to play in France or in the national team, it's nothing like playing in Madrid. At Madrid, you have to play 11 players or more every game and sometimes the ball doesn't go in or hits the post."

Mbappe scored 27 times in 29 league appearances for PSG last term, as well as eight goals in 12 Champions League outings.

He has taken to life in Spain with ease, too, also managing five LaLiga goals in September – a tally no player could better last month across Europe's top five leagues.

The 25-year-old has since opted to sit out of France's October internationals with Israel and Belgium, despite declaring himself fit to play for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

That has caused backlash from some supporters in France and former players after Mbappe made his focus clear on his intentions with Madrid, and his sights on a first Ballon d'Or.

His success with Madrid will be dictated by the relationship with his team-mates, says Kempes, who expects Mbappe to need time to impress in the Spanish capital.

"You also have to get to know your team-mates," Kempes added. "They are young and have a lot of desire and are very good, you also have to get to know each other on the pitch.

"There is still a long way to go."

Mbappe and Madrid return to domestic action on Saturday when they visit Celta Vigo.

Jared Goff had three touchdown passes and David Montgomery added two more on the ground as the Detroit Lions extended the Dallas Cowboys' problems at home with a 47-9 rout on Sunday.

Detroit (4-1) dominated from start to finish to hand Dallas (3-3) its most lopsided home loss in 36 years and drop the defending NFC East champions to 0-3 at AT&T Stadium this season. The 38-point margin of defeat was the Cowboys' largest at home since a 43-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Texas Stadium in 1988.

Goff completed 18 of 25 passes for 315 yards while connecting with Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown for touchdowns. Montgomery finished with 80 rushing yards on a day in which the Lions out-gained Dallas by a 492-251 advantage in total yards.

Detroit's defence shined as well by forcing four turnovers, including a pair of interceptions of Dak Prescott. Dallas' franchise quarterback was also sacked four times while managing just 178 yards on 17-of-33 passing.

The Lions were dealt a major injury blow, however, as top pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson was carted off in the third quarter after fracturing his left tibia on a sack of Prescott. The star defensive end entered the contest with an NFL-best 6.5 sacks through the season's first four games.

Detroit's offence scored on each of its first five possessions to take a commanding 27-6 lead after two quarters.

Including last season's play-off loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys have now trailed by 15 or more points at half-time in four consecutive home games. Dallas is the first team to do so since the Oakland Raiders in 2013-14.

Jackson, surging Ravens halt Commanders' four-game winning streak

Reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson outperformed 2024 No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels as the Baltimore Ravens ended the Washington Commanders’ four-game winning streak with a 30-23 victory.

Jackson threw for 323 yards and a touchdown, Derrick Henry ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns and Zay Flowers caught nine passes for 132 yards to help Baltimore win its fourth straight game after an 0-2 start to the season.

Daniels passed for a season-best 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns – both to Terry McLaurin – but Washington fell to 4-2 with its first defeat since Week 1.

Jackson, who also was the NFL MVP in his second season in 2019, has thrown for 1,009 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception during Baltimore’s four-game win streak, while adding 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground.

Daniels shined again, but Washington played without leading rusher Brian Robinson Jr. due to a knee injury and was held to 52 rushing yards after averaging 178.4 over its first five games.

The Commanders also struggled on defence, allowing a season-high 484 yards.

Rookie Williams stars in London as Bears drop Jaguars to 1-5

The top overall pick of this year's draft, Caleb Williams, threw four touchdown passes as the Chicago Bears dropped the Jacksonville Jaguars to 1-5 with a 35-16 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Williams completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards with an interception and rushed four times for 56 yards. The former Heisman Trophy winner threw two touchdowns each to Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen.

Chicago (4-2) has won three straight for the first time since Weeks 14-16 in 2020, with Williams completing 74.1 percent of his passes (60 of 81) for 687 yards during the winning streak to go along with seven touchdowns and one interception.

Jacksonville lost again after defeating the Indianapolis Colts 37-34 last week for its first win of 2024. Trevor Lawrence went 23 of 35 for 234 yards with two touchdown passes – both to Gabe Davis - and one interception. 

Two-time Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram returned to the Jaguars' lineup after missing the previous four games with a hamstring injury and had 10 catches for 102 yards.

Mayfield's four touchdown passes lead Buccaneers past slumping Saints

Baker Mayfield threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dominated the second half to rally for a 51-27 victory over the reeling New Orleans Saints.

Mayfield shook off three second-quarter interceptions to lead four touchdown drives in the second half as Tampa Bay (4-2) overcame a 27-24 deficit at intermission by outscoring New Orleans 27-0 over the final two quarters.

The Buccaneers took a 31-27 lead on Mayfield's 55-yard touchdown strike to Chris Godwin with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Godwin also had a touchdown catch in the first quarter and compiled 125 yards on 11 receptions. Tampa Bay also got rushing touchdowns from Sean Tucker and Bucky Irving, with Tucker adding a touchdown catch while recording 136 rushing yards on 14 attempts.

New Orleans trailed 17-0 after one quarter before battling back with 20 consecutive points in the second, but failed to get anything going offensively in the second half and was dealt a fourth straight loss following a 2-0 start.

Spencer Rattler, making his first NFL start at quarterback in place of an injured Derek Carr, threw for 243 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-40 passing. The rookie was intercepted twice in the second half, however, and didn't get much help from a New Orleans defence that surrendered 594 total yards.

The Saints also played much of the game without wide receiver Chris Olave, who sustained a concussion after making a catch in the first quarter. Olave fumbled on the play, with Tampa Bay safety Antoine WInfield returning the turnover 58 yards for a touchdown that gave the Bucs a 14-0 lead.

Texans spoil Patriots rookie Maye's first start, move to 5-1

The New England Patriots also had a rookie quarterback make his first NFL start Sunday, though Drake Maye's three touchdown passes weren't enough to prevent his team from a fifth straight loss.

C.J. Stroud also threw three touchdown passes as the Houston Texans continued their strong start to the season with a 41-21 win over the rebuilding Pats.

Stroud found Tank Dell and Joe Mixon for early touchdowns as Houston (5-1) built a 14-0 lead after one quarter, then connected with Stefon Diggs for a 10-yard score early in the second half to give the Texans a 21-7 advantage.

Houston sealed its third consecutive victory with a pair of long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, a 20-yard burst from Mixon and a 54-yard scamper from Dameon Pierce with 7:47 left.

Mixon had 102 yards on 13 carries in his return from a three-game absence caused by a sprained ankle, with Pierce adding 76 yards on just eight attempts.

Maye, the No. 3 overall pick of this year's draft behind Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, completed 20 of 33 passes for 243 yards with touchdowns to Kayshon Boutte, Hunter Henry and DeMario Douglas. The former North Carolina star also threw his first two career interceptions as New England dropped to 1-5.

Douglas led the Patriots with 92 yards on six catches.

Eagles hold off scuffling Browns to bounce back

Jalen Hurts' 45-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith with 7:54 remaining broke a tie game and sparked the Philadelphia Eagles to a 20-16 win over the still-struggling Cleveland Browns.

Both Smith and A.J. Brown returned from injuries to haul in touchdown passes from Hurts as Philadelphia (3-2) rebounded from a 33-16 loss to Tampa Bay that preceded the team's Week 5 bye.

Brown returned from a three-game absence caused by a strained hamstring to record 116 yards on six catches. Smith had three receptions for 64 yards after missing the Tampa Bay game with a concussion.

Cleveland, meanwhile, dropped to 1-5 with its fourth straight loss after once again having trouble scoring points. The Browns, the only team this season to be held under 20 points in every game, also failed to reach 300 total yards for the fifth consecutive time after managing just 244.

The Browns' lone touchdown came on one-time Eagles safety Rodney McLeod's 50-yard return of a blocked field goal attempt late in the second quarter that tied the contest at 10-10.

After both teams traded field goals, Hurts hit a wide-open Smith on a short pass and the standout receiver raced untouched down the sideline to snap a 13-13 deadlock midway through the fourth quarter.

Cleveland marched down to the Eagles' 3-yard line on the ensuing possession, but had to settle for Dustin Hopkins' third field goal of the game after two false-start penalties and a third-down incompletion from quarterback Deshaun Watson.

The Browns never got the ball back thereafter, as Philadelphia successfully ran out the clock following Hopkins' kick with 3:54 remaining.

The Los Angeles Dodgers tied an MLB post-season record for consecutive scoreless innings by opening the National League Championship Series with Sunday's 9-0 rout of the New York Mets.

Jack Flaherty allowed just two hits through the first seven innings before relievers Daniel Hudson and Ben Casparius finished off the three-hit shutout to extend Los Angeles' streak of scoreless innings to 33, matching the longest run in a post-season set by the Baltimore Orioles during the 1966 World Series.

The top-seeded Dodgers have now won their last three games by shutout, having blanked the San Diego Padres in Games 4 and 5 of the NL Division Series to advance after losing two of the first three matchups.

Los Angeles also got plenty of offence to take a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each had two hits and a run batted in, while Mookie Betts knocked in three runs with a double in the eighth inning.

Ohtani did have a streak of 36 straight successful stolen base attempts come to an end when he was thrown out in the second inning, the NL MVP favourite's first time caught stealing since July 22.

The Dodgers had a 3-0 lead at that point after taking advantage of control issues from Mets starter Kodai Senga, who was making just his third MLB appearance in 2024 after missing extensive time with shoulder and calf injuries.

Senga walked Betts, Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez in succession as the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the first. Two batters later, Max Muncy singled to center to drive in Betts and Freeman for a quick 2-0 advantage.

Los Angeles extended the margin in the second after Gavin Lux drew another walk off Senga to begin the bottom of the inning. Tommy Edman followed with a sacrifice bunt in front of Ohtani's single to center that plated Lux for a 3-0 lead.

Senga lasted just 1 1/3 innings while surrendering three runs, two hits and four walks.

The Dodgers piled on further with three runs in the fourth. Edman drove in Enrique Hernandez with a single and later scored when Mets right fielder Starling Marte misplayed Ohtani's base hit to allow both runners to take an extra base. Freeman sent Ohtani home with a single two batters later to put New York at a 6-0 deficit. 

Flaherty, meanwhile, did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and retired the final eight batters he faced in a dominant performance. The mid-season trade acquisition finished his night with two walks and six strikeouts.

Betts capped the scoring in the eighth with a double that cleared the bases after the Dodgers had loaded them on a Hernandez single, an error and a walk to Ohtani.

The sixth-seeded Mets, who previously knocked out two division winners in the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies during this post-season, will attempt to rebound in Monday's Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. Sean Manaea will start for New York against Los Angeles' Walker Buehler. 

Breeanna Stewart scored 21 points and the New York Liberty pulled away late for Sunday's crucial 80-66 Game 2 win over the Minnesota Lynx that evened the WNBA Finals at 1-1.

The top-seeded Liberty closed the game on a 12-0 run to avenge Thursday's stunning home loss to the Lynx, in which second-seeded Minnesota overcame a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to rally for a 95-93 overtime win to open the championship series.

Minnesota put forth another late comeback try in Game 2, as it cut a 10-point third-quarter deficit down to two when Napheesa Collier's turnaround jumper with 6:46 remaining brought the Lynx within 64-62.

It remained a two-point game until New York's Betnijah Laney-Hamilton knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to give the Liberty a 71-66 lead and start the game-sealing final surge.

Laney-Hamilton went 4 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with 20 points for New York, which made good on 11 of 24 shots from beyond the arc (45.8 per cent) compared to 6 of 20 (30 per cent) for Minnesota.

Stewart added eight rebounds and five assists while setting a WNBA Finals single-game record with seven steals. Fellow All-Star Sabrina Ionescu chipped in 15 points and five assists to help the Liberty avoid a dreaded 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series. 

Collier led the Lynx with 16 points and eight rebounds, while team-mate Courtney Williams recorded 15 points and eight assists and Alanna Smith had 14 points for Minnesota.

The Lynx will host the next two games of the series, with Game 3 to take place Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Ionescu scored 12 points in the first quarter as the Liberty took a 31-21 lead into the second, and New York shot 51.4 per cent in the first half to enter the break with a 49-39 advantage.

Minnesota trailed 64-55 early in the fourth quarter before closing the gap with a 7-0 run capped by Collier's jumper, which followed a 3-pointer from Kayla McBride.

Erling Haaland endured a miserable outing as Norway captain, with his goal-scoring exploits powerless in his side's 5-1 defeat to Austria in their Nations League encounter.

Haaland, standing in for injured skipper Martin Odegaard, watched on as his side suffered a second-half collapse at the Raiffeisen Arena. 

The Manchester City striker became his nation's all-time top scorer with a brace in their 3-0 win over Slovenia, taking his total to 34 goals in 36 games, and threatened to add to that tally when he struck the post in the sixth minute.

However, a dominant start by the hosts was rewarded when Marko Arnautovic thundered his side in front in the eighth minute with a fierce effort off the crossbar. 

However, Norway found themselves level six minutes before half-time when Alexander Sorloth headed Julian Ryerson's free-kick beyond the on-rushing Patrick Pentz. 

Andreas Hanche-Olsen's foul on Christoph Baumgartner inside the box proved to be the beginning of the end for Norway, with Arnautovic stepping up to score the resulting penalty.

Austria increased their lead soon after through Philipp Lienhart's header, with Stefan Posch nodding the hosts 4-1 in front after being picked out at the back post by Marcel Sabitzer.

The rout was complete in the 71st minute, with Sabitzer again the architect, teeing up Michael Gregoritsch with yet another header to send Austria joint-top of Group B3.