Ruud van Nistelrooy was "proud" to be able to coach in front of his former Manchester United boss, Alex Ferguson, during PSV's Champions League play-off first leg against Rangers.

Ferguson was in attendance at Ibrox as the teams played out a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.

Antonio Colak equalised after Ibrahim Sangare's opener in the first half before Tom Lawrence gave the Scottish side the lead, though Van Nistelrooy's team had something to take back for the second leg next week after Armando Obispo headed in a leveller 12 minutes from time.

The former Netherlands striker was appointed as PSV head coach from the start of the season to replace Roger Schmidt, his first senior role in management.

Van Nistelrooy played 219 games for United in all competitions under Ferguson between 2001 and 2006, scoring 150 goals, and said at his post-match press conference it was a "proud moment" for him to be in the dugout knowing his former manager was watching on.

"Oh, my goodness no, one per cent, maybe, one per cent," he said when asked if he would like to be half as good a manager as Ferguson. 

"It was a proud moment for me that he actually watched me coach my team and manage my team and I'm glad as well. I spoke to him just briefly. He's well, he's looking great. He's doing well, his family as well. So it's great to see him.

"That he sees me down the touchline at Ibrox for me is a proud moment."

The 46-year-old also explained how much he had learned from Ferguson, who won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four EFL Cups and two Champions Leagues during his long tenure at Old Trafford before retiring in 2013.

"The thing is, as a player, you learn an unbelievable amount of things from him," he said. "And when you start to develop yourself as a coach then obviously you look back at moments.

"'Where were the managers I had? What did they do, and how did they form a team?' And the style of play and managing an individual, and he's such an example in that sense."

Van Nistelrooy, whose 44 goals in all competitions in the 2002-03 season still stands as a record for a Premier League player in a single campaign, was happy enough with his team's effort in the first leg in Glasgow, and is glad to have home advantage with the scores level ahead of next week's reverse fixture.

"We know what it is like with a great support behind us," he added. "That was today as well for Rangers. During some spells in the game the crowd lifted the team in such a way that is hard. I mean, you really notice it. There are not many places where you feel it like this.

"Of course, next week we will have that support. But both teams are very level in quality and with playing styles. It is reduced to one game now with the final at home. We have to prepare and be at our best."

Mark Robinson accepts New Zealand Rugby made mistakes with the way they handled uncertainty over All Blacks head coach Ian Foster's future.

The NZ Rugby board on Wednesday gave Foster their "full support" to stay on until the Rugby World Cup in France next year and appointed Joe Schmidt as his assistant.

That announcement came just a few days after NZ Rugby chief executive Robinson stated that the governing body would "take stock" and hold a debrief following a 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa on Saturday.

The win over the world champions at Ellis Park came after the All Blacks had suffered five defeats in six Tests and sunk to a new low of fifth in the world rankings.

Robinson had only guaranteed that Foster would remain head coach for the tour of South Africa and he admits NZ Rugby did not handle the situation as well as they could have done.

"We acknowledge we haven't got everything right, we're not hiding from that," he said during a press conference in Auckland.

"Aspects of the sequencing in how we interacted with media and the public is something we could have done differently."

Robinson added that "clearly some aspects of the interface between the media and the public wasn’t as good as it could be."

He also conceded: "There's a few things we've done in recent times that could have been done better."

Robinson felt NZ Rugby had a difficult balancing act.

He said: "People want to hear what's going on, they want engagement and access and openness. When you attempt to achieve that, but you're not in a position to really say a lot, then the flip side is you are criticised for doing that. We are always learning.’"

When asked if stating that NZ Rugby would "take stock" following the win in Johannesburg last weekend added "fuel to the fire", Robison replied: "Hindsight's wonderful, isn't it?

"We were attempting to respond to a general demand to be want to be more open and want to be more transparent and give as much as we can possibly can at a time when people are curious, and we don't always make the right decisions.

"It's difficult, isn't it, if you don't say things and think of the best interests of the team and wait till they're out of the country, you're criticised for going missing in action.

"But if you turn up and do have something to say when you're not in strong position to say a lot of things, you get criticised for having to be in a position where you're not saying anything."

Manchester United fans might have got their hopes up over a new billionaire owner, but it would seem the chances of Elon Musk investing in the club are slim.

South African-born American businessman Musk, who among his many ventures is the founder of SpaceX and chief executive of Tesla, caused a stir on Tuesday by claiming he was going to buy United.

The club's fanbase have long wanted its current owners, the Glazer family, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to sell up, with many supporters and pundits blaming the team's failures in the post Alex Ferguson era on sub-par investment.

Just three days after United suffered a humbling 4-0 defeat at Brentford, Musk wrote on Twitter: "I'm buying Manchester United ur [you're] welcome."

In the wake of Musk's first tweet, United's share price spiked by close to 17 per cent before settling slightly after the US pre-market trade.

Yet when asked if he seriously intended to purchase United, Musk responded: "No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I'm not buying any sports teams."

However, Musk did not fully close the door.

"Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U," the 51-year-old went on to write. "They were my fav team as a kid."

Ian Foster is staying on as New Zealand head coach and Joe Schmidt has been appointed as his assistant.

Foster had been under huge pressure following a dismal run of five defeats in six Tests, before the All Blacks lifted the gloom with a 35-23 Rugby Championship win over South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday.

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson had only guaranteed Foster would remain in the role for the two Tests against the Springboks.

Robinson stated after the victory over the world champions in Johannesburg that the governing body would "take stock" and hold a debrief, with Foster saying he expected to retain his job.

NZ Rugby on Wednesday confirmed that the 57-year-old will be in charge through to the Rugby World Cup in France next year, with Schmidt taking on a full-time role supporting him.

Stewart Mitchell, the NZR chair, said during a press conference in Auckland: "[The board] have unanimously agreed they have absolute confidence that Ian and this coaching group are the right people to lead the All Blacks through until the World Cup.

"This has been privately and publicly validated by our players and various conversations with our high-performance team."

Former Ireland head coach Schmidt had already been working in the All Blacks' set-up and Foster welcomed his appointment.

"Joe Schmidt has been on my radar, probably for a couple of years," said Foster.

"We flagged at the start of this year that his role was to join us after the Irish series as an independent selector to replace Grant Fox and in addition he was going to do some opposition analysis work and work alongside myself in the strategy area.

"We started that after the Irish series [which Ireland won 2-1] and delighted with how that's going. I have a great relationship with Joe."

Holders New Zealand are back in Rugby Championship action against Argentina at Orangetheory Stadium a week on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo must "stand up now and speak" and not wait to lift the lid on his situation at Manchester United, says Gary Neville.

The Red Devils' failure to secure a Champions League berth last season led to reports Ronaldo told the club he wanted to leave just under a year after returning to Old Trafford from Juventus.

A shambolic start to life under Erik ten Hag, which saw an opening home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion followed by a 4-0 drubbing at Brentford, has only exacerbated the situation.

However, despite being linked with a host of Europe's biggest clubs it appears there are a lack of viable options for Ronaldo with Chelsea and Bayern Munich said to have rejected the chance to sign him, while a potential switch to Atletico Madrid would be wildly unpopular with the club's fanbase due to his status as a Real Madrid legend.

It was even suggested after the humiliating loss to the Bees that United were considering terminating the Portugal great's contract if his attitude does not improve.

Ronaldo teased offering his side of the story in the coming weeks by writing on Instagram: "They know the truth when [sic] interview in a few weeks. Media only speaks lies. I have a notebook and in the last few months of the 100 news that made only five [accurate] hits, imagine how things are."

Ronaldo's former team-mate Neville has urged the 37-year-old not to wait to speak out, with the club in "crisis".

"Why does the greatest player of all time (in my opinion) have to wait two weeks to tell Manchester United fans the truth?" Neville wrote on Twitter.

"Stand up now and speak. The club is in crisis and it needs leaders to lead. He's the only one who can grab this situation by the scruff of the neck!"

Earlier this week, Neville also expressed his fear letting Ronaldo go could see United slump to a bottom-half finish in the Premier League this season if they do not sign reinforcements.

"As I sit here today now, and I think there’s a massive decision to make on Cristiano Ronaldo, I think they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t,” Neville said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.

"Before these two results, I said the best thing to do is facilitate a move for Cristiano and for the club, because he's obviously not happy and the club are not happy with him.

"The problem is now that if they lose him then there's nothing left in terms of goal scoring.

"I genuinely think that if they don't bring players in, in these next couple of weeks, or if they bring poor players in, and he leaves, I genuinely think they could finish in the bottom half of the table. I think it's a bottom half of the table team.

"That's a massive statement and could look stupid at the end of the season.

"They're absolutely demoralised and shot to pieces, I think it's really bad in there. Ten Hag in pre-season had got them to a really confident level, but basically they've gone back to default and the old things have come back."

United host fierce rivals Liverpool on Monday as they aim to quickly inject life into their season.

Jon Rahm joked he has been brushing up on how things work in the courtroom by watching the hit TV show Suits as golf's civil war between the PGA Tour and LIV Series wages on.

The battle between the PGA Tour and the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Series took another twist last week when three defectors went to the courts in a bid to play in the lucrative FedExCup playoffs.

Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford had filed a restraining order to allow them to play this week's tournament, while 11 LIV Golf stars put together an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

However, a judge ruled ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship that LIV Golf players were not eligible to compete in the playoffs.

Former world number one Rahm conceded he had only fortuitously seen the verdict but was happy with the outcome.

"Well, I can tell you I had zero attention on it. I only found out that it was going on because I walked by a player dining and I saw about 10 really nervous people pacing all around the room," he said ahead of this weekend's BMW Championship.

"I asked and heard what was going on. I was in the room when the judge made a decision known, but only because I was walking by and they told me it was time. So, I was like, 'I'll stay'. 

"I think it could have made things a little bit awkward. They chose to leave the PGA Tour. They chose to go join another tour, knowing the consequences, and then try to come back and get courts and justice in the way. 

"It wouldn't have sat extremely well with me but, at the same time, they're adults. They're free to do as they please to an extent. And that's what they chose to do if they're allowed by a judge. I'm nobody to say otherwise. Would it have been awkward? Possibly. But, I guess we'll never know."

Rahm does not foresee this being the end of LIV players' attempts to play in PGA Tour events and offered a little insight into how he has been brushing up his knowledge on legal proceedings.

"I am confident that the LIV side of things are still going to push strong to keep trying to change some things," he added.

"But I also know that the lawyers and the PGA Tour side are going to keep fighting to keep things the way are going right now. 

"It's not the last thing we're going to hear from them. But I just started watching the show Suits. So, I'm kind of learning now about how what happens in a courtroom."

U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick also weighed in on the discussion, saying the time has come to put the focus back purely on playing golf.

"I'll be honest, I've not been asked much about it myself personally. So, it's just been it's been fine," he said.

"For me, it's just seeing it in the media and stuff. You just get fed up with talking about it.

"In my personal opinion, let's just get on with it now. We just want to play golf and concentrate on what we do. That's purely my take on that."

The Atlanta Braves on Tuesday made a long-term commitment to a player with less than three months of major league experience, as they signed center-fielder Michael Harris II to an eight-year, $72million contract. 

The deal runs through 2030 and includes club options for the 2031 and 2032 seasons as well.  

Harris becomes the latest core player to be locked up to a long-term deal by the Braves. He will be the fifth Atlanta player signed through at least 2025, along with outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., second baseman Ozzie Albies, first baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Austin Riley. 

The 21-year-old Harris, the youngest player in the majors, was called up from Double-A on May 28 and has made a huge impact for the Braves. He is batting .287 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs, while adding 13 stolen bases and 46 runs in 71 games.  

Harris was named National League Rookie of the Month for June after he hit .347 with 13 extra-base hits and four steals.  

An outstanding defensive center fielder, Harris’ two-way play has made him a favourite to win NL Rookie of the Year, with teammate Spencer Strider perhaps his chief competitor. 

Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the New York Mets improved the Braves to 50-21 since Harris made his debut against the Miami Marlins on May 28. Atlanta pulled to within three-and-a-half games of the NL East-leading Mets with their eighth consecutive victory.  

In one of the most anticipated pitching duels of the season, the top-two American League Cy Young Award favourites went head-to-head as Dylan Cease's Chicago White Sox beat Justin Verlander's Houston Astros 4-3 on Tuesday.

The White Sox struck first in the second inning as they were able to rattle off four hits, with Josh Harrison's infield single driving in the first run of the game.

Houston were quick in their response, jumping ahead 2-1 an inning later after back-to-back doubles from Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and after a couple of scoreless innings, Astros star Jose Altuve made it 3-1 with the game's only home run to lead off the fifth frame.

Cease departed after the fifth inning, finishing with three earned runs from six hits and three walks, striking out four in what was not his best showing.

Verlander was the sharper of the two stars early, conceding just one run through six complete innings, but the Astros were punished for sending him back out for the seventh as he gave up a two-run double to pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets, tying the game at 3-3.

In the eighth frame, after a walk to Eloy Jimenez and a single to Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada came through with an RBI base hit to grab the decisive lead, with Australian closer Liam Hendriks shutting the door for his 27th save of the season.

Out of the entire league, Verlander owns the second-best ERA at 1.95, while Cease is third at 2.09. Both trail Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara (1.92).

Brewers beat the Dodgers in walk-off fashion

There were fireworks in the Milwaukee Brewers' 5-4 extra-innings win against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with all six runs scored in regulation coming via home runs before a walk-off hit from Victor Caratini.

Brewers Willy Adames and Christian Yelich went deep, while Joey Gallo, Mookie Betts and Chris Taylor all hit solo shots for the Dodgers to have things tied at 3-3 after nine innings.

After a scoreless 10th frame, Justin Turner was able to drive in a run to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead, but closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel was not able to finish things off on the mound, giving up a hit and a walk to load the bases, setting up Caratini for the game-winning knock.

Ray strikes out 10 in Mariners win

Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani and heavy favourite for AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez combined for six hits as the Seattle Mariners ran away late to beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-2.

Mariners starting pitcher and reigning Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray looked back to his best after an inconsistent start to the season, striking out 10 batters while giving up two runs in six innings.

Rodriguez, who made waves as he approached record-breaking numbers in last month's Home Run Derby, finished three-for-five at the plate with a home run, while Ohtani was three-for-four, including a triple, after striking out eight batters on the mound yesterday.

The New York Mets will have to make do without a key piece of their rotation after right-hander Carlos Carrasco was diagnosed with a strained left oblique on Tuesday. 

The 35-year-old Carrasco suffered the injury in Monday’s 13-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. He returned following a 55-minute rain delay in the second inning and got the last out but winced on his final pitch and was pulled after allowing three runs in two innings. 

"It just got tight a little bit and I don’t want to push more," Carrasco told reporters after the game. 

An MRI Tuesday revealed a low-grade strain on the left side and the team said a typical timeline for this type of injury is three to four weeks. 

Carrasco has been a big part of the Mets’ success this season, going 13-5 with a 3.92 ERA in 23 starts. He was 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA over his previous seven starts and his 126 1/3 innings pitched rank second on the team to Chris Bassitt, with both Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom limited by injuries.  

David Peterson would seem a possible replacement for Carrasco in the rotation. Peterson is 6-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 18 appearances, including 14 starts, though he was optioned to Triple-A earlier this month.  

The first-place Mets entered Tuesday with a four-and-a-half game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East as they try to secure their first postseason berth since 2016.  

Former Manchester United director Michael Knighton says he is in talks with several billionaires ahead of launching a potential takeover bid at Old Trafford.

The 70-year-old revealed he has put together a consortium interested in buying the club, although he would operate in a consultancy role should a successful deal by struck.

The club's current owners – the Glazer family – have come under increased scrutiny following the Red Devils' poor start to the Premier League season.

Supporters have staged several protests against the Americans, who Knighton believes have turned Old Trafford from a "theatre of a dreams to a theatre of nightmares"

And the former director, who had a bid to buy the club accepted in 1989 – although it never came to fruition – explained that he has had conversation with three potential partners to put forward a deal.

"They are small-time billionaires that I have been speaking to for three to four months now," Knighton told ITV News.

"When I was approached by some fan groups, oddly enough, saying 'look, our club is dying on its feet, would you please do something?'

"I made a few phone calls, and I've been pulling this consortium together ever since.

"The point is: someone had to make a stand."

Knighton also revealed he has approached British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who recently tried to purchase fellow Premier League side Chelsea, to buy the club.

He said: "If we can smoke the great Sir Jim out to buy Manchester United, my consortium will be punching the air because we've achieved what we want to do.

"We will make the bid with our own consortium but, I'll tell you this, we do not have the resources available to do everything that is needed."