England ran out of miracles as their hopes of making history ended in a thumping 106-run defeat in the second Test against India.

The odds were stacked against the tourists from the start but they pitched up on day four in Visakhapatnam with real belief that they could do the unthinkable by chasing 399 – a target no England side has ever reached before and more than any side has ever made batting last on Indian soil.

Instead, their knack of turning cricketing logic on its head deserted them and they were knocked over for 292 to level the five-match series at 1-1.

They decisive moment came just before lunch, when top-scorer Zak Crawley (73) and fourth-innings dangerman Jonny Bairstow both fell lbw in the space of five deliveries. That turned an already dominant position into a bulletproof one for India, leaving England captain Ben Stokes as their last roadblock to victory.

He has rescued plenty of lost causes over the years but was only just getting started when he was brilliantly run out by a side-on direct hit from Shreyas Iyer. Stokes was slow off the mark and paid for his hesitation, but it still needed a perfect throw from the fielder.

Stokes was not alone in playing a part in his own downfall, with Joe Root ending a brief and chaotic innings with an unusually ugly shot.

England went down fighting but an India side with the two highest scores of the match, Yashavi Jaiswal (209) and Shubman Gill (104), and the best bowler in Jasprit Bumrah, who took match figures of nine for 91, were worthy winners.

Despite having two full days to reach their mammoth target, England made no secret about their attacking intentions. The first session showed that was not just talk, with 127 runs scored and 86 in boundaries, but the price tag of five wickets was too steep to bear.

Rehan Ahmed, promoted late on Sunday evening as England’s so-called ‘nighthawk’, was the first when he stayed back to Axar Patel and fell lbw for 23. But his contribution was always likely to be a bonus and the arrival of Ollie Pope felt like the start of the real contest.

From the moment he stroked his first ball for four through cover his intent was clear but despite five quickfire boundaries, all off Patel, he looked error-prone. The mistake came when he slashed at a good ball from Ashwin, who had Rohit Sharma to thank for a sharp one-handed catch at slip.

Crawley was showing greater authority at the other end, converting his overnight score of 29 into a polished half-century. Twice he showed the full face of the bat and drove star seamer Bumrah back down the ground and he used his long stride well to manufacture a half-volley off Patel.

Root, who has been troubled by a painful finger injury, is more than capable of the same kind of control but did not look himself during a short stay. Two of his first three balls went for four, a perfectly timed reverse sweep followed by a ricochet off the glove, and he charged down the pitch to belt Patel for six.

The next ball was perilously close to pinning him lbw, saved by a whisker on DRS, and he was gone in Ashwin’s next over. Rather than relying on timing he threw the kitchen sink at a slog-sweep and sprayed a leading edge off the toe end.

Crawley now had the responsibility of making the big century England needed to stay alive but it was not to be. Mis-reading the wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav as he attacked from a leg-stump line, he was given lbw after a smart review by Sharma.

That was more than enough to give Indian the upper hand but Bumrah had one more up his sleeve. Bairstow was the victim this time, beaten by a sliver of movement off the pitch that trapped him in front.

The afternoon began with a lofty 205 still needed and Stokes carrying a familiar burden. He looked in determined mood but paid dearly for easing into what looked a regulation single to midwicket. Iyer only had a split second to get everything right but his pick-up and throw was outstanding.

A dejected Stokes stopped to speak to Ben Foakes before departing but, although the wicketkeeper shared an eighth-wicket stand of 55 with Tom Hartley, England’s race was run. Both men fell for 36, with Hartley last to fall when Bumrah ploughed down his off stump.

England’s hopes of chasing down a staggering 399 to win the second Test were dwindling fast on the fourth morning as wickets tumbled in Visakhapatnam.

The tourists delivered on their promise to embrace all out attack as they pursued their highest ever fourth-innings target but reached lunch in deep trouble on 194 for six.

With 205 still needed and Ben Stokes the last recognised batter, England appeared to be all out of miracles as India’s bowlers flexed their muscles.

Zak Crawley was alone in getting to grips with the challenge, making an impressive 73 before falling just before the break, but Ollie Pope and Joe Root both paid the price for their ultra-aggressive approach.

England scored 127 runs in the session but the price tag of five wickets was too steep as the hosts closed in on a series levelling win.

Rehan Ahmed, promoted late on Sunday evening as England’s so-called ‘nighthawk’, was first down for 23 as he stayed back to an Axar Patel delivery that kept low and trapped him lbw.

His contribution was always likely to be a bonus and the arrival of Pope felt like the start of the real contest. He proceeded to stroke his first ball to the cover boundary, signalling his intent from the off.

Pope hit five boundaries in quick time, all off Patel, but the Surrey man was keeping the bowlers interested too. His rush for runs quickly caught up with him when he slashed at a good ball from Ashwin, who had Rohit Sharma to thank for a brilliant one-handed catch at slip.

Crawley was showing greater authority at the other end, converting his overnight score of 29 into a polished half-century. Twice he showed the full face of the bat and drove star seamer Jasprit Bumrah back down the ground and he used his long stride well to manufacture a half-volley off Patel.

Root is more than capable of that kind of control but his brief stay was little short of chaotic. Two of his first three balls went for four, a perfectly timed reverse sweep followed by a ricochet off the glove, and he charged down the pitch to belt Patel for six.

The next ball was perilously close to pinning him lbw, saved by the umpire’s call on DRS, and he was gone in Ashwin’s next over. Rather than relying on timing he threw the kitchen sink at a slog-sweep and sprayed a leading edge off the toe end.

He has been carrying a painful finger injury for the past 24 hours and it is hard to know much trouble that was causing. But it was, by any measure, a frazzled innings and took his series tally to 52 in four attempts.

Crawley now had the responsibility of making the big century England needed to stay alive but it was not to be. Mis-reading the wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav as he attack from a leg-stump line, he was given lbw after a smart review by Sharma.

That was more than enough to give Indian the upper hand but with the ball beginning to reverse swing, Bumrah had one more up his sleeve. Jonny Bairstow was the victim this time, lbw after being beaten by a sliver of seam movement in the last over before the break.

Double Olympic champion and former world record holder Rebecca Adlington announced her retirement from competitive swimming on this day in 2013.

Adlington, a two-time winner at the 2008 Beijing Games, called time on her career six months after she had won two bronze medals at her home Olympics in London.

“I love swimming but as a competitive element and elite athlete I won’t compete any more,” she said.

“I have achieved everything I wanted to. Some people want to milk it all they can. I’ve always said I wanted to finish on a high, despite my love of the sport.”

Aged only 23, Adlington went on to end the year by appearing in ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!’ before becoming a regular pundit for the BBC.

It was the 2008 Olympics where the Mansfield-born swimmer came to prominence with a record-breaking Games.

Adlington won both the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle in Beijing to become Britain’s first Olympic swimming champion since 1988.

The teenager’s winning time of 8:14.10 in the 800-metre final broke American Janet Evans’ 19-year record, while her double gold-medal haul made her the first British swimmer to achieve that feat in 100 years.

More medals would be won at the 2009 World Championships in Rome with Adlington claiming two bronzes before she clinched the 400-metre freestyle title at the European Championships in Budapest the following year.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi she repeated her Olympic double with golds in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle events.

More gold-medal success was achieved in the 800m freestyle at the World Championships in 2011 – she won silver in the 400m – and Adlington finished third in both events at her home Olympics in London before she retired from the sport.

Bradley Beal delivered his best game with his new team in his first encounter with his old one.

Beal poured in a season-high 43 points to lead the visiting Phoenix Suns to a 140-112 blowout of the Washington Wizards on Sunday in the three-time All-Star's return to the arena he called home for 11 seasons.

The veteran guard was facing the rebuilding Wizards for the first time since being traded by Washington to the Suns in June. Beal missed the Suns' win over the Wizards in Phoenix in December due to a sprained ankle.

Beal was selected by the Wizards with the third overall pick in the 2012 draft and ranks second in franchise history in points and third in games played.

The 30-year-old had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first quarter to help stake Phoenix to an early 42-28 lead, then added 12 more in the second as the Suns opened up a commanding 79-58 advantage at half-time.

Phoenix's lead never got to under 19 points in the second half as it coasted to its 10th win in 13 games. The Suns also received 18 points each from Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic, who added 13 rebounds and eight assists. 

Deni Avdija had 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting to lead Washington, which lost its third straight game to drop to 9-40 on the season.

Jazz beat Bucks behind dominant fourth quarter

Lauri Markkanen led a balanced Utah attack with 21 points and the Jazz dominated the fourth quarter to rally for a 123-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Utah trailed by 16 points late in the third quarter before outscoring Milwaukee by a whopping 40-13 margin in the fourth to halt a three-game losing streak and drop the Bucks to 1-3 since head coach Doc Rivers took over the team last week.

Playing for the second time in as many nights, Milwaukee ran out of gas in the final period as it missed 13 of 17 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter. The Jazz, meanwhile, shot 60 per cent over the final 12 minutes.

Keyonte George had 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and was one of seven Utah players to score in double figures. The rookie added 10 rebounds, while John Collins also posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Down 95-83 after three quarters, the Jazz began the fourth on a 21-7 run to take a 104-102 lead on Markkanen's 3-pointer with 6:26 left. They put the game away soon afterward with an 18-3 flurry that staked Utah to a 122-108 advantage with under two minutes to go. George had eight points during that spurt.

The Bucks lost despite a 33-point, 13-assist effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo and a 27-point performance from Bobby Portis.

Clippers stay hot by extending Heat's woes

Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away late to hand the still-slumping Miami Heat a 103-95 loss.

James Harden scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 assists as the red-hot Clippers won for the eighth time in nine games. Los Angeles is an NBA-best 25-5 since Dec. 1.

After breaking out of a seven-game losing streak by winning their previous two games, the Heat struggled to an 8-for-30 shooting effort from 3-point range on a night they were without one of their best outside shooters in Tyler Herro, who was scratched due to a headache.

The Clippers, meanwhile, went 16 of 39 (41 per cent) from beyond the arc with Harden leading the way by hitting five of his nine 3-point tries.

Despite its shooting woes, Miami held a 72-71 edge with nine minutes left before the Clippers took control. Los Angeles broke open the game with a 20-6 run, capped by back-to-back Harden 3-pointers, to take a 91-78 lead with five minutes remaining.

The Heat fought back and got to within 99-95 on Jimmy Butler's 3-point play with 13.3 seconds left, but Paul George and Leonard each made two free throws in the closing stages to end any comeback hopes. 

Butler had 21 points and Terry Rozier scored 17 for Miami, which also received 14 points and 13 rebounds from Bam Adebayo.

Wyndham Clark has been declared the winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after extensive wind and rain forced the PGA to cancel the final day of play.

The 30-year-old American was six shots behind before hitting a 12-under-par 60 on Saturday to take the lead on the third day.

He finished on 17-under par, one shot clear of Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and two shots ahead of France’s Matthieu Pavon after 54 holes.

Strong wind and rain had postponed the final round to Monday, but a statement from the PGA Tour late on Sunday said after consulting the Monterey County emergency authorities and out of an “abundance of caution” for spectators and players, there would be no further play.

In a press conference call on Sunday, Clark said: “It’s pretty surreal right now.

“It’s maybe not the way you dream of winning.

“With that said, a lot of us yesterday had, not that we knew, but we definitely had this outside shot and thinking that maybe this is our last round.”

It was Clark’s third win in nine months after winning his first major at the US Open last year.

Joel Embiid's availability for the remainder of this season is in question after the Philadelphia 76ers announced Sunday that the reigning NBA MVP will undergo surgery to repair a meniscus injury to his left knee.

The Athletic reported Saturday that Embiid suffered a displaced flap in his meniscus when he was injured in the 76ers' 119-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.

The typical recovery time for such an injury is usually several months, meaning Philadelphia may need a deep run in the playoffs for their superstar center to return this season.

That doesn't seem likely given the Sixers' struggles when Embiid hasn't been available. Philadelphia is 26-8 when Embiid has played this season but 4-10 in games he has missed.

The injury also makes it all but certain that Embiid, who leads the NBA in scoring at 35.3 points per game, will not capture a second consecutive MVP award. Under terms of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, players must appear in a minimum of 65 regular-season games to be eligible for honours such as the MVP or All-NBA teams.

Philadelphia currently sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 30-18 record and trails the rival Boston Celtics by seven games in the race for the No. 1 seed.

The NBA's scoring champion in each of the previous two seasons, Embiid finished second to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić in NBA MVP voting in both 2020-21 and 2021-22 before claiming the award last season after averaging 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 66 games and leading the Sixers to the third-best record in the East.

Embiid was putting up even better numbers when healthy in 2023-24, as his scoring and assist (5.7) averages were both career highs and his 11.3 rebounds per game ranks sixth among qualified players.

The 29-year-old has also often been beset by injuries since being selected by Philadelphia with the third overall pick of the 2014 draft. Embiid missed the entire 2014-15 and 2015-16 campaigns recovering from a broken foot and was limited to 31 games the following season due to a left knee injury. He has never played in more than 68 games in a regular season.

Paul Reed, who's averaged 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a starter this season, will take over as the 76ers' primary center for the time being. Philadelphia may look for additional help prior to Thursday's league trade deadline. 

Andy Farrell believes talk of leading Ireland to successive Grand Slam titles is premature as he attempts to build on the “feelgood factor” created by a resounding Guinness Six Nations victory over France.

Reigning champions Ireland made a statement of intent in Friday evening’s curtain-raiser in Marseille with a stunning 38-17 bonus-point success over the pre-tournament favourites.

The fixture has proved to be a championship decider in each of the past two years, with the Irish dethroning Les Bleus 12 months ago thanks to a 32-19 Dublin win, which avenged a 30-24 loss in Paris in 2022.

Head coach Farrell acknowledges victory at Stade Velodrome was “pretty special” but is focused on conducting a thorough review of the contest and striving for improvement rather than contemplating silverware.

“We want to be in it (title contention) at the last week but internally we’re hungry to be as good as we possibly can be,” he said.

“In reality it’s one win, it’s one win out of one and we’ve got to be on to the next one.

“It (the championship) is not won or lost but it’s about building on this.

“We tend to be pretty harsh on our performances when we’ve won because we’re able to do that and make some good points so hopefully we’re able to get better because of that.

“But the feelgood factor of a victory like that… it’s a special victory, it definitely is and it’s there to be celebrated, that’s for sure.”

Ireland host Italy on Sunday before welcoming Wales to the the Aviva Stadium on February 24, ahead of March appointments with England and Scotland.

Aside from a “few bangs and bruises”, Ireland emerged from their opening fixture unscathed, while centre Garry Ringrose will be assessed after sitting out due to a shoulder issue.

Farrell has rotated his squad against the Azzurri in previous years and will weigh up his options for the round-two clash.

“Whatever’s right for the team,” he said of selection for next weekend.

“There’s always the balance about opportunity but also doing what’s right for the team and the cohesion of the team going forward.

“It’s a bit of an awkward one, isn’t it? We’ve only had one game together so we’ll how we shape up on Monday.”

Stephen Bunting delivered the performance of his lifetime to end his Michael van Gerwen hoodoo and finally claim a first major PDC televised title with victory at the Cazoo Masters.

The 38-year-old Englishman, who was a former BDO world champion, has been on the PDC scene for much of the past decade but had never got past a semi-final on the big stage and has endured a particularly torrid time against Van Gerwen.

A fourth-round defeat at the recent World Championship was his 22nd loss in 26 matches against the Dutchman and Van Gerwen boasted that he had Bunting’s number.

Bunting put that right in style in Milton Keynes, securing an 11-7 victory in a career-high moment.

He had laid a marker down with a stunning 11-1 win over Nathan Aspinall in the semi-final and returned to boss a pulsating final, landing eight 180s and averaging 102.5.

“It means a lot, I have been in the PDC for a lot of years now, I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry again on telly, this means an awful lot, the practice is paying off,” he said. “I am lost for words.

“To eventually get over the line in a major tournament is surreal. I’ll wake up tomorrow and think it’s a dream. I have put a lot of hard work in over the years.

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“Everything I have been doing behind the scenes has paid off. You have always got to dream and believe, even in the darkest days.

“Michael had won so many games against me, he smashed me in the worlds. It shows now that the belief is there and I have a never give up attitude.”

Van Gerwen had been hoping to issue a reminder of his status as top dog on the darting scene as he chased a sixth Masters title.

The Dutchman, who demolished Dimitri Van den Bergh in the semi-final, has been overshadowed by Luke Littler since the teenager’s emergence on the scene.

But with Littler not playing in Milton Keynes, Van Gerwen had a chance to grab the limelight, only to came up against an inspired opponent.

“Stephen is the form guy. I thought I was playing a bit better but I couldn’t make the difference,” Van Gerwen said. “He put me under a lot of pressure. Fair play to him he played really well through the whole tournament.”

Real Madrid squandered the chance to move four points clear at the top of LaLiga after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser to city rivals Atletico.

Brahim Diaz’s early goal looked set to ensure Real took full advantage of Girona’s 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad on Saturday by extending their lead at the top of the table.

However, Marcos Llorente punished the home side for a lapse in concentration in the third minute of added time when he headed beyond Andriy Lunin as a static defence looked on.

The result left Real two points clear of Girona, who travel to the Bernabeu for a crunch top-of-the-table clash next weekend.

Real’s preparations for the third Madrid derby in less than a month suffered a major blow when Vinicius Junior picked up an injury in the warm up, but it was his replacement Diaz who opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a goal which owed a lot to two fortunate deflections.

The first saw Diaz’s attempted pass to Jude Bellingham rebound to an unmarked Lucas Vazquez, who also tried to cut the ball back to the England midfielder only for Koke to intercept. However, that only succeeded in diverting the ball straight to Diaz and he had the time and space to take two touches before lofting beyond Jan Oblak and into the net.

The visitors almost responded three minutes later, Axel Witsel’s header forcing a good save from Lunin and Stefan Savic glancing narrowly wide from the resulting corner.

It was a warning Real failed to heed and Atletico were somewhat unfortunate not to equalise just two minutes into the second half when Savic glanced Antoine Griezmann’s corner beyond a stationary Lunin.

The visitors’ celebrations were cut short however, with Saul Niguez adjudged to be impeding Lunin as he stood in an offside position, even though there appeared no chance the goalkeeper could have kept the ball out of his net.

That sparked Real into life and Toni Kroos fired a well-struck volley straight at Oblak from 25 yards before Rodrygo drew a more difficult save from the visiting goalkeeper, while Diaz curled a left-footed shot wide after playing the ball through the legs of Mario Hermoso.

But just when Carlo Ancelotti’s side appeared to have secured all three points, a hopeful ball into the box from Savic was flicked on by Memphis Depay and Llorente reacted quickest to direct a header into the top corner.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has challenged Real Madrid to make an offer for Erling Haaland if they really want him.

There were reports in Spain last week that Haaland dislikes life in Manchester so much that he wants to leave the club.

Perhaps inevitably, it was suggested Real Madrid were monitoring the prolific Norway striker’s situation.

The suspicion at City is that this could have been an attempt by Madrid-leaning media to unsettle the 23-year-old and edge him towards the Bernabeu Stadium.

Yet Guardiola, who has seen such activity before, is confident it will not work and suggests any interested club should just say so.

Guardiola said: “For one report, for one journalist or one Twitter account, one Instagram account, do you think they are going to change something that is going to happen? It’s not going to happen.

“It’s going to happen when Erling decides to extend the contract or not, when the club decides to extend a contract or not, or when we have potential offers to him or not.

“If someone wants Erling, it’s easy. Call Man City and ask. It’s what we do when we want to sign someone. It’s not more complicated than that.”

If Guardiola has his way, the answer to any enquiry would be a firm no.

Haaland scored 52 goals in a stunning first season at the Etihad Stadium and had already netted 19 this term before being sidelined by a foot injury early in December.

Guardiola said: “What do you think? That we don’t want Erling to stay here for one decade?

“We want him – for a long, long time at this club. For a long time. We are in love with him, we want him.”

Yet Guardiola admits he does not know what the future will bring.

He said: “I don’t have info. He arrived last season and the impact was incredible. The beginning of this season, the numbers were really good too. He’s had two months injured.

“What happens in the future? Honestly, I don’t know. We are happy to have him, hopefully he’s happy to be with us. That is what we know. And the rest? I don’t know.”

Guardiola insists he ignores transfer rumours but concedes having players linked with big clubs can be flattering.

He said: “It’s normal that Real Madrid want the best players, and Barcelona want the best players, or (clubs) in Italy, or PSG want the best players.

“We want the best players and United want the best players, and Liverpool and Arsenal and everyone. It’s normal, it’s not a surprise.

“A link like that is an honour for us. It means that we did a good job, and especially Erling. In his case he made an incredible job.

“Is it true? I don’t know. It’s just to make a little bit of noise. It’s fine. Of course I ignore it. It doesn’t bother me at all.

“As long as the players are focused on what they have to do, the rest is not important.”

Inter Milan moved four points clear at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win over title rivals Juventus 1-0 in the Derby d’Italia at the San Siro.

The Nerazzurri made the breakthrough just before half-time when Juve defender Federico Gatti diverted a cross into his own net.

Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny produced a fine late save from Inter substitute Marko Arnautovic as Simone Inzaghi’s men put themselves firmly in the driving seat for the Scudetto.

Charles De Ketelaere scored twice as Atalanta consolidated their place in the top four with a 3-1 win over Lazio at the Gewiss Stadium.

Napoli came from behind to beat Verona 2-1 and close back up on the top six.

Cyril Ngonge scored against his former club to equalise after Diego Coppola’s opener with 20 minutes left before a fine strike from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the closing stages completed the turnaround.

Bottom club Salernitana fought out a goalless draw at Torino, but remain five points adrift of safety.

Real Madrid missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga after derby rivals Atletico Madrid scored a stoppage-time equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu.

Girona were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Sociedad on Saturday, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men could not make the most of their opportunity which could have sent them four points clear.

Brahim Diaz – drafted into the side after Vinicius Junior suffered a problem during the warm-up, so started on the bench – put Real ahead from close range after 20 minutes.

Atletico saw Stefan Savic’s goal early in the second half ruled out by VAR for offside, but eventually were level through a looping header from Marcos Llorente in the third minute of added time to leave the home fans stunned.

Celta Vigo had earlier edged clear of the bottom three with a 3-0 win at Osasuna, while fellow relegation-battlers Cadiz picked up a point from a goalless draw at Villarreal.

Real Betis and Getafe drew 1-1 at the Estadio Benito Villamarin. Mason Greenwood put the visitors ahead through an early penalty before Isco’s spot-kick levelled things up ahead of the break.

RB Leipzig ended a three-game Bundesliga losing streak to get their top-four challenge back on track with a 2-0 win over Union Berlin, who finished with 10 men.

Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko were on target either side of half-time, before Union captain Christopher Trimmel was shown a straight red card with 20 minutes left.

Lovro Majer scored twice in the second half as Wolfsburg came from behind to draw 2-2 against Hoffenheim at the Volkswagen Arena.

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In Ligue 1, Canada forward Jonathan David scored twice as Lille comfortably beat Clermont 4-0 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to keep up their top-four challenge ahead of Monaco, who drew 1-1 with Le Havre.

Second-placed Nice and Brest, who are third, cancelled each other out in a goalless draw at Stade Francis-Le Ble.

In Sunday’s late match, Alexandre Lacazette was on target with his 10th league goal as relegation-battlers Lyon beat Marseille 1-0 to move three points clear of the drop zone.

Panos Katseris’ second-half goal helped secure Lorient a 2-1 victory at fellow strugglers Metz, while Toulouse held off a second-half fightback to win 3-2 at Reims.

Rory Darge and Grant Gilchrist look set for Test match returns when Scotland continue their Guinness Six Nations campaign against France at Murrayfield.

Both players were sidelined for Scotland’s thrilling 27-26 victory over Wales in Cardiff, with flanker Darge nursing a knee injury and lock Gilchrist being suspended.

And their availability is timely, given that second-row forward Richie Gray could miss the rest of this season’s tournament due to a biceps problem, while Luke Crosbie suffered a shoulder injury as both players made early exits at the Principality Stadium.

“Grant will be available,” Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said.

“He trained all week, and it is good we have got a second-row back this week with Richie’s injury.

“Rory trained fully the last two days, so he will be good to go. It is timely that we’ve got two replacements there.”

Scotland were almost overwhelmed by a stunning Wales fightback that saw them score 26 unanswered points between the 48th and 68th minutes.

It left Townsend’s team hanging on by a point – they also had two players yellow-carded and conceded 14 successive penalties – before regaining their composure and closing out the game for a first win in Cardiff since 2002.

“We will look at each penalty, why we got on the wrong side of the referee,” he added.

“We have to show the players of being aware if a referee is penalising you, or if a team starts to get dominance, let’s not help them by giving more penalties away.

“The two yellow cards really cost us, just when the momentum swing went in their favour.

“There are going to be times when the opposition do gain momentum. We just can’t help them by going down to 14 men and giving penalties away.

“We had to contain Wales at the end, call a play and execute it. That was really good. But if we had lost, it would have been a big blow. No denying that.”

France will arrive in Edinburgh following a crushing 38-17 home defeat against Ireland, which was their first game since bowing out of the World Cup to quarter-final conquerors South Africa.

“They are a great side with world-class players and a massive pack,” Townsend said, of Les Bleus.

“France will be desperate to get a win on the back of the two defeats they’ve had – one in the World Cup and one against Ireland.

“But we also have an opportunity to play in front of our supporters and make sure we deliver the game we did for 42 minutes (against Wales), and the last few minutes. Don’t forget those!”