Courtney Lawes insisted England are beginning to show their teeth in attack after they posted a bonus-point victory over Japan in their World Cup clash at the Stade de Nice.
England defied greasy conditions caused by the high humidity to emerge 34-12 winners, a messy and occasionally bewildering victory placing them in full control of Pool D.
A barrage of kicking in the first-half gave way to three tries being added when the match opened up, including Lawes’ comical try which he touched down after the ball had struck Joe Marler’s head.
“It was quite a lucky try but I’ll take them how they come. It was a good bit of luck for us and in these conditions, you take what you’re given,” Lawes said.
“I saw it ricochet off Joe’s head so I went to score the try just in case, but I was pretty sure that it had gone backwards and then come off his head. I had a good idea that it was going to be given.
“The conditions were tough. Even when you’ve got a good grasp of the ball you’d go into contact and you could feel it almost spinning out of your hands, sometimes even before you’ve made contact.
“It’s actually really challenging at the moment because it’s just so greasy. It’s hot and humid and you’re already really sweaty. It pretty much makes it like a wet weather game out there.
“We showed glimpses of how good our attack can be and we’ll continue to work on it.
“We’re getting better every day and that’s the main thing – that we’re taking steps forward.
“Come later on in the competition we’ll hope that we’re firing on all cylinders.”
England were booed by their own fans during the early stages of the second-half in response to the sheer volume of their kicking, which was eventually replaced by all out assault on the Japan line.
“The players did tremendously well,” said head coach Steve Borthwick, who revealed that Ben Earl suffered a dead leg.
“That was a really tough Test against a really well coached Japanese side who clearly came with a tactical plan and who play the game differently to anyone else in the world.”
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph admitted the Brave Blossoms paid the price for failing to show more ruthlessness in attack.
“We put them under a lot of pressure and we created opportunities but we didn’t take them because we made too many mistakes. That’s Test rugby,” Joseph said.
“England are an experienced Test side and over time they wore us down. That’s the nature of the game at the highest level.
“It’s disappointing for us because we put a lot of emotion into this week, but we’ll take the learnings from it.
“I was happy with the intensity but we just made too many mistakes when we were under the pump. The players are hurting but that’s footy.”
Shericka Jackson will have to settle for a meet record instead of a world record after another dominating performance at the Diamond League finale in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.
Fans were on world-record watch for the 200m world champion, who has run times of 21.41, 21.82 and 21.48, heading into Eugene but after winning the 100m Diamond League trophy in 10.70 on Saturday, Jackson seemingly didn’t have much left in her legs a day later but still sped to a meet record 21.57.
Florence Griffiths-Joyner world record of 21.34 set in 1988, survives for another year, but Jackson will undoubtedly challenge it again next season as the Olympic Games in Paris beckon.
Marie Josee Ta Lou ran a season-best 22.10 to finish second with Bahamian Anthonique Strachan finishing third in 22.16.
Natoya Goule-Toppin shattered her own national record while finishing third in a fantastically fast 800m at the Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.
Goule-Toppin took the Jamaican national record into new territory eclipsing her previous record of 1:56.15 when she clocked 1:55.96 to claim third behind Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and the USA’s Athing Mu, who battled down the stretch in a desperate bid for the Diamond League trophy.
The American just edged ahead late to win in 1:54.97, a USA national record and world lead. It was also a new meet record and a personal best for Mu.
Hodgkinson finished second in a national record and personal best 1:55.19.
World champion Danielle Williams and fellow Jamaican Megan Tapper finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in a fast 100m hurdles races at the Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.
In a race where the top six athletes all ran under 12.5s, 2022 world champion Tobi Amusan clocked a season-s best 12.33 to hold off a fast-finishing Jasmine Camacho Quinn and former world record holder Kendra Harrison, who clocked 12.38 and 12.44, for second and third, respectively.
Williams, who was among the early leaders clocked 12.47 with Tapper close behind in 12.48, the same time as the USA’s Alaysha Johnson.
Dan Evans was Great Britain’s hero with singles and doubles victories in a dramatic winner-takes-all Davis Cup tussle against France in Manchester.
Evans recovered from a set and a break down to defeat teenage debutant Arthur Fils and then, after Cameron Norrie had lost a close battle against Ugo Humbert, teamed up with Neal Skupski for a hugely tense 1-6 7-6 (4) 7-6 (6) victory over Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
The British pair saved four match points in the deciding set before clinching their second match point in the tie-break, sparking scenes of huge jubilation.
The 2-1 win earned Britain top spot in their group and booked their place in November’s final eight week in Malaga, where a quarter-final against either Italy or Novak Djokovic’s Serbia awaits.
A sell-out crowd of 13,000 at the AO Arena, a single-day record for the competition in Britain, also played its part as Leon Smith’s side completed an unbeaten week after earlier successes against Australia and Switzerland.
“About 6-1 in the first set I thought he’d picked the wrong team,” said Evans.
“Thanks to every single one of you. It turned into pandemonium.
“Some embarrassing stuff probably out there but we’re going to Malaga so it doesn’t matter.”
“It was bonkers,” said Smith. “I don’t know what I’ve just sat through for nine hours.”
There was nothing to choose between the teams from the start, with Evans digging very deep to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over 19-year-old Fils.
Fils is the highest-ranked teenager in the world at 44 and the most exciting of a crop of young French players.
It was immediately clear this was not a comfortable match-up for the 5ft 9in Evans, who struggles to impose his finesse-based game against power hitters, and he was in deep trouble when he was broken for a second successive game at the start of the second set.
Fils played a poor game serving at 3-2 to allow Evans back into the contest and from there a combination of the crowd, smart play by the British number two and his opponent’s inexperience turned things around.
Evans had to come through a tense final game, leaping and punching the air before expressing annoyance at his opponent for a very perfunctory handshake.
Evans’ victory gave Norrie the chance to clinch the tie, with Smith keeping faith with his number one despite his disappointing last few months and a loss to Stan Wawrinka on Friday.
Norrie saved a set point to force a tie-break in the first set against his fellow left-hander Humbert but blazed a backhand wide after fighting back from 2-6 to 5-6.
Norrie, ranked 19 places higher at 17 in the world, turned things around with some gritty play in the second set and for much of the decider looked the better player but he double-faulted to hand a 7-6 (5) 3-6 7-5 victory to his delighted opponent.
Evans had talked about the influence watching Davis Cup matches in Birmingham as a boy had had on him, saying: “For me, that was the be all and end all, was to play Davis Cup for your country, and it still is.”
This was now his chance to earn the crucial point as he returned to the court alongside Skupski.
Roger-Vasselin and Mahut have a combined age of 80 but also a wealth of experience at the very top of the doubles game and they seized control from the start.
Evans and Skupski got into the contest in the second set and urged the crowd to up the noise levels but they were unable to apply any real pressure to their opponents’ serve.
They played a superb tie-break, though, finding their rhythm on return and ensuring the tie would go all the way to the final set.
The British pair were now hugely fired up and there was more tension between Evans and Fils, sat courtside, in the early stages of the decider as the hosts pushed for a break.
It appeared all over when a double fault saw Evans trail 0-40 in the 10th game but he stood firm to save all three match points, and Skupski sent down an ace to save a fourth two games later.
They trailed 4-2 in the deciding tie-break as well but their fightback was not finished.
England continued their advance towards the World Cup quarter-finals by toppling Japan 34-12 but a messy performance that came alive in the the second half will have done little to worry the tournament’s heavyweights.
Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant touched down and it was only when their full-back had collected a George Ford chip and stormed over in the 67th minute that they looked comfortable.
Lawes’ try came after the ball had taken a comical bounce off Joe Marler’s head and while England celebrated their first World Cup tries since their 2019 semi-final victory over New Zealand, a madcap evening in Nice posed fresh questions.
Early in the second half they were booed by their own fans as they continued to kick the ball away at every opportunity, only to then throw the kitchen sink at enterprising opponents ranked 14th in the world.
The ambition paid off and with Ben Earl and Steward propelling them forward as well as impetus coming from Marcus Smith’s arrival off the bench, they stormed out of sight.
After routing Argentina 27-14 with 14 men in their Pool D opener, they at least avoided a potential banana skin and with fixtures against Chile and Samoa to come, they are destined to reach the last eight.
The ball squirted around unpredictably because of the humidity and while Japan produced the more glaring mistakes in the first half – including one costly line-out blunder – they also adapted better in attack.
It took England half an hour to fire their first shots, launching Manu Tuilagi in midfield and Earl into the wall of red and white shirts, but until then they had displayed little endeavour.
Half-backs Ford, who booted 14 points, and Alex Mitchell seemed content to continuously kick the ball away, perhaps convinced that the greasy conditions meant it was wiser to wait for Japan to make a mistake.
That is exactly what happened in the 25th minute when Ford steered a clever chip into the left corner and the underdogs botched the line-out, enabling Ludlam to pounce from short range.
All the ambition was being shown by Japan as they strung phases together, mixing up a handful of kicks with slick passing and cute running lines, although at times they were guilty of playing too much.
Full-back Semisi Masirewa had been lost to an innocuous injury in the eighth minute but with Rikiya Matsuda kicking three penalties, they trailed just 13-9 at the interval.
The second half started at a ferocious pace, but the ball continued to slip out of the hands of players from both sides.
England’s first instinct remained to kick, with Mitchell drawing boos when he booted the ball dead, but they were at least pinning Japan back in their own half and showing signs of building momentum.
Tension mounted as the Brave Blossoms escaped their own territory and claimed three more points from Matsuda, but when Earl went tearing down the right wing and the ball was recycled for Lawes to collect and score, their chances seemed to be fading.
Play swung from end to end and suddenly England were scrambling furiously, but Japan missed their chance and were made to pay when Steward caught Ford’s kick and strolled over. Marchant delivered the final blow in the closing moments.
In an incredible display of high-quality sprint hurdling Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment stormed to victory in the 110m hurdles in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday to win the 2023 Diamond League trophy over world champion Grant Holloway.
Parchment, the Olympic champion, hurdled his way to a world-leading 12.93s, which is also a personal best for the 33-year-old Jamaican. World champion Grant Holloway, the early leader, had to settle for second place clocking 13.06, 0.01 ahead of compatriot, Daniel Roberts, who clocked in at 13.07.
Parchment’s time also makes him the fastest Jamaican in the world this year, eclipsing the 12.94 set by Rasheed Broadbell at the National Stadium in Kingston in July.
Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit kept his promise to friends and fellow Manchester United fans with a Cristiano Ronaldo-style celebration against Portugal.
Rees-Zammit’s second try at the Rugby World Cup was followed by him impersonating Portugal international and former United player Ronaldo’s so-called ‘Siuuu’ move where he jumps and turns in the air, his back to the crowd when landing.
“Ronaldo is my favourite player,” Rees-Zammit said.
“I wear his boxers and I dress like him. And I thought ‘why not do his celebration as well’?
“A few of my mates back home wanted me to do it. They are massive football fans, and obviously we don’t play Portugal very often.
“So I said if I scored I would do it for them. But I don’t want to talk about the Man United result (a 3-1 home defeat to Brighton).”
Wales’ attention now turns to a pivotal Pool C clash against Australia in Lyon next weekend.
They headed back to their Versailles training base from the French Riviera on Sunday following successive bonus-point victories over Fiji and Portugal.
Those results have put them in sight of a fourth successive World Cup quarter-final appearance, with the Wallabies game being followed by Georgia in Nantes 13 days later.
Rees-Zammit added: “That is 10 points, and we are absolutely buzzing about that.
“It wasn’t our greatest game again, but we know we have got a lot to learn. Going up against Australia we’ve got to step up a gear again.
“When you don’t get perfect wins there is always a lot to improve on. That’s great.
“We need that progress, and we have eight days until the next game, so we will have a good training week and hopefully be ready for Australia.”
Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson suffered a concussion in the Indianapolis Colts' 31-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Before exiting, Richardson displayed why the Colts selected him with the fourth pick of this year's draft, as the dual-threat QB showed off his playmaking ability with touchdown runs of 18 and 15 yards in the first six minutes of the game to help Indianapolis grab a 14-0 lead.
It is believed he was concussed at the end of his second TD run when he took a hard hit to the head from Texans safety M.J. Stewart causing it to snap back.
His helmet then hit the ground hard as he fell backward.
He stayed in the game for another two series before going to the blue medical tent on the sideline to be evaluated early in the second quarter. After undergoing further testing in the locker room, the team announced he would not return because of a concussion.
He finished the game 6 of 10 for 56 passing yards and had another 35 yards on the ground on three rushes.
Gardner Minshew came on to replace him, and completed 19-of-23 attempts for 171 yards and a touchdown.
This marked the second straight game Richardson came out due to an injury after he suffered a knee bruise on a hard hit near the goal line in the final minutes of last Sunday's 31-21 season-opening loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was taken out as a precaution, though coach Shane Steichen said he could have returned.
He completed 24-of-37 passes for 223 yards with a touchdown and interception in his first career start.
Marileidy Paulino stamped her authority as the best female 400m runner in the world for 2023 when she destroyed a talented field to win the one-lap sprint at the Diamond League finale in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.
The 2023 world champion ran a fast 49.58s to add the Diamond League trophy to her world championship gold medal in what has been an incredible season in which she lost only once all year.
Paulino was almost a second clear of the fast-improving Polish athlete Natalia Kaczmarek, who clocked 50.38 for second place. Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands was not far behind in 50.47.
Jamaica’s Candice McLeod, who looked good for a podium finish after 300m faded to fourth in 50.76 with world championship bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados clocking 51.07 for fifth. Aliyah Abrams of Guyana was eighth in 51.97.
In a thrilling contest in the 400m hurdles in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday, Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton and Janieve Russell were third and fourth, respectively, in a race won in a meet record time by world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who added the Diamond League trophy to her collection this season.
Bol, who boasts a personal best of 51.45, clocked 51.98s after shaking off a brief challenge from American Shamier Little, to shatter the previous meet record of 52.77 set by Dalilah Mohammad two years ago.
The American and Bol were neck and neck with three hurdles to go but Bol unleashed her superior speed and strength to pull away from the rapidly fading Little, who finished second in 53.45 just ahead of the rapidly closing Jamaicans.
Clayton, who won her second bronze medal in Budapest clocked 53.56 to just held off Russell, the two-time Commonwealth Games champion, who stopped the clock in a season’s best 53.60.
Tajay Gayle finished second in the long jump at the Diamond League finale in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday during a keenly contested event that saw the top-two tied in terms of distance achieved.
Gayle, the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, soared out to a distance of 8.22m but had to settle for the runner-up slot to Switzerland’s Simon Erhammer, who also achieved a mark of 8.22 but won on the countback against the 2019 world champion.
Erhammer had additonal marks of 8.12m, 8.10 and 8.06m when compared to the Jamaican, who other best jumps were 8.08m and 8.06m.
Finishing third was Japan’s Yuki Hashioka, who jumped a season-best 8.15m.
Laquan Nairn of the Bahamas failed to break the 8m barrier, finishing seventh with a best of 7.27m.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta revealed he could substitute his goalkeepers during future Premier League matches after his side’s 1-0 win at Everton.
Arteta handed summer loan signing David Raya his debut in place of England keeper Aaron Ramsdale at Goodison Park and the Spaniard saw little action as Leandro Trossard’s solitary second-half strike proved decisive.
When asked about his decision to start with Raya, Gunners head coach Arteta said: “The same rationale about why Fabio (Vieira) played here or Eddie (Nketiah) or Gabriel Jesus.
“I haven’t had a single question on why Gabriel Jesus didn’t start. He has won more trophies than anybody else, including me, in that dressing room.”
Arteta, whose side were far from convincing as they extended their unbeaten start to the season with a fourth league win, said he would be prepared utilise two goalkeepers in one match.
“I cannot have two players in each position and not play them,” he said. “David has tremendous qualities, like Aaron has, like Karl (Hein) has and we have to use them.
“I am a really young manager and I have only been in the job for three and a half years and I have few regrets in what we have done.
“One of them is that on two occasions I felt after 60 minutes and 85 minutes in two games in this period, to change the keeper in that moment and I didn’t do it.
“I didn’t have the courage to do it. But I am able to take a winger, or a striker and put a central defender back and go to a back five to hold that result.
“And we drew those games and I was so unhappy and someone is going to do it and maybe it (the reaction) will be, ‘oh! That is strange. Why?’
“Why not? Tell me why not. You have all the qualities in another goalkeeper and you want to do something to change the momentum, do it.
“It is a regret that I have and my feeling is to get everyone engaged in the team. They have to play regardless of the competition. Do it. That is my message.”
Everton defended bravely, but offered little going forward and rarely threatened to score their first Premier League goal in three matches at Goodison this season.
The Toffees’ one point from five matches is their worst tally since 1994-95 and manager Sean Dyche admits he expected a greater return at this stage.
“I thought we would have more points on the board by now but you can’t give the ball away that many times,” he said.
“That link on transition was missing and we weren’t effective enough. We are conceding softish goals.
“Our growth is where we are. There is a reality. Last season nothing was solved. I’ve said there is massive work to be done.”
Max Verstappen believes he will be back on top at the Japanese Grand Prix following Red Bull’s off-colour showing in Singapore.
Red Bull have ruled the Formula One roost all year – with 14 victories from 14 prior to Sunday’s round in the city state, while Verstappen had been unbeaten in his last 10 appearances, setting a new record of consecutive wins along the way.
But the Dutch driver and Red Bull finally met their match at the unique, low-speed, high-downforce Marina Bay Circuit.
Verstappen qualified 11th before driving back to fifth, taking the chequered flag 21 seconds behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – the Spaniard becoming the first non-Red Bull winner of the year.
However, Verstappen, victorious at 12 of the 15 rounds so far, expects the fast-flowing Suzkua track will see him return to winning ways.
“Yes, that is the target,” he said. “This track is so different to Suzuka and it doesn’t relate.
“We have learned a bit from today, and have a few ideas with what we got wrong yesterday. I cannot go into details but I feel good about Suzuka.”
Verstappen finished three places ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez to extend his championship lead from 145 points to 151.
Verstappen can no longer secure his third world title at next weekend’s race in Japan, with the Qatar Grand Prix on October 8 a possible destination for his coronation.
Red Bull’s failure to win ends their bid to become the first team in history to go through a season unbeaten.
“We never expected it,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “To have got through 14 races, in multiple conditions, is beyond our wildest imaginings. It is a hell of a run.
“We knew it had to come to an end at some point. Max has won 10 in a row and that is insanity.
“The only driver who has done nine is Sebastian (Vettel) in one of our cars so to have the first and second most winningest drivers in F1 is great – even if statistics apparently don’t matter. This kind of dominance is testimony to everyone involved.”
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