Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City are coming up against an “exceptional player” in Ivan Toney as they travel to Brentford on Monday.
Toney, who scored twice when the Bees won at the Etihad Stadium last season, recently returned to action after serving an eight-month ban for breaching betting regulations.
The 27-year-old forward has struck in both appearances since completing his suspension and Guardiola is pleased to see such talent back on the field.
The City manager said: “He’s an exceptional player. Not just with the long balls, with keeping (the ball) and set-pieces, with the penalties as a guarantee.
“For many things they can link with him and he’s an extraordinary player.
“I’m so happy he is back and hopefully that period is forgotten in his life and for his family. Exceptional players always are more than welcome in the Premier League.”
Brentford beat champions City home and away in the Premier League last season.
The Toney-inspired first of those victories came in the final game before the World Cup break, as City endured an indifferent spell in the autumn.
The second, at the Gtech Community Stadium, was on the last day of the campaign as City, having already wrapped up the title, were preparing for the FA Cup and Champions League finals.
Nevertheless, Guardiola sees them as a serious threat as City look to maintain their recent momentum after eight successive wins.
He said: “We know in the past how difficult they have been. Even when we won it was always tight and we lost the two games we played last season.
“So we know the difficulty for the way they play, the standards that they have. They are clear and they believe it and they apply really well.
“It’s another game to face, a new challenge.”
City have a full-strength squad available with defender Manuel Akanji back in contention after a knee injury.
Erling Haaland could make his first start in two months after returning from a foot problem as a substitute against Burnley in midweek.
James Anderson led from the front as England bowled India out for 396 on the second morning in Visakhapatnam.
Anderson, 41 years old and with 22 years of international cricket on the clock, charged in for eight overs in the mid-morning heat in a metronomic spell worth two for 17.
He dismissed old adversary Ravichandran Ashwin and the dashing Yashavi Jaiswal, who finished with an outstanding 209, as England picked up their last four wickets for 60 runs.
There is plenty of cricket still to play but in keeping India below the 400 mark in what should be the best batting conditions of the match, England performed admirably. They then made a typically bright start to their reply, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett rushing to 32 without loss in six overs before tea.
With the hosts resuming on 336 for six, England captain Ben Stokes chose to lean on his most and least experienced players, pairing Anderson with newcomer Shoaib Bashir and leaving them unchanged for 75 minutes.
Anderson, taking the new ball, used all of his subtle skills in an excellent spell and set the tone with a pair of breakthroughs. An early lbw shout against Jaiswal was close but not close enough and it was Ravichandran Ashwin, who had annoyed Anderson by moving around at the non-striker’s end, who was first to fall courtesy of a thin edge behind.
Jaiswal took just 20 balls to convert his overnight score of 179 into an outstanding double ton, sweeping Bashir for six and four in successive deliveries before standing arms outstretched in a manner that called to mind Jude Bellingham’s favourite celebration.
The 22-year-old seems destined for cricketing superstardom but he soon learned why so few over the years have slogged Anderson and survived to tell the tale. Stepping away and aiming for the stands, he only got half a connection and picked out Jonny Bairstow at deep cover.
His work finally done, Anderson retreated for a well deserved rest with figures of three for 45 in 25 overs.
The next generation did the rest, Rehan Ahmed (three for 65) getting Jasprit Bumrah caught at slip and Bashir (three for 138) made short work of fellow debutant Mukesh Kumar.
That left a tricky window for the England openers but they made light of the challenge, sharing six boundaries to begin the job of building their side’s response.
Tom Brady won a record sixth Super Bowl as he led the New England Patriots to a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on this day in 2019.
Veteran quarterback Brady, playing in his ninth championship game, and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick masterminded victory in the 53rd edition of the NFL showdown at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to add another Vince Lombardi Trophy to their successes in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014 and 2016.
The 41-year-old threw for 262 yards and engineered the game’s only touchdown drive as Sony Michel punched the ball in to give New England the lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Starting at their own 31, Brady found Rob Gronkowski with a short pass for 19 yards, then out of the gun, hit MVP Julian Edelman for a 13-yard completion.
Now at the Rams’ 38-yard line, Brady found Rex Burkhead with a short seven-yard pass before picking out Gronkowski again and watching him beat two defenders to finish two yards shy.
From the only redzone visit of the night, Michel took advantage of good blocking to score his sixth post-season touchdown.
Speaking afterwards, Brady had no intention of calling it a day after helping the Patriots tie the Pittsburgh Steelers’ record for the most championships.
He told CBS: “It doesn’t change anything. It’s been a great year. I’m so happy for my team-mates. This is a dream come true for all of us.”
Brady’s 20-year stay in New England came to a close when he announced his departure in March 2020, but his love affair with the Super Bowl did not.
In February 2021, he steered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at the age of 43, throwing three touchdown passes in the process.
Two years later, Brady announced his retirement and insisted he would not change his mind as he had done 12 months earlier.
His sporting career took an unexpected and sideways turn in August of the same year when he became a minority owner at Sky Bet Championship club Birmingham.
Nikola Jokic recorded his league-leading 15th triple-double this season and Jamal Murray fell a rebound shy of one as the Denver Nuggets took down the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-108 on Friday.
Jokic had 27 points, a season-high 22 rebounds and 12 assists for his 120th career triple-double, a total bettered only by Russell Westbrook (198), Oscar Robertson (181) and Magic Johnson (138) in NBA history.
Murray finished with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, while Aaron Gordon scored 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points. The Nuggets have won five straight and 12 of 13 against the Blazers.
Scoot Henderson scored 30 points and Anfernee Simons had 29 for Portland, which played without Jerami Grant, who was a late scratch due to lower back tightness.
Clippers’ Westbrook hits milestone in win
Russell Westbrook scored 23 points to become the 25th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 136-125 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Westbrook, who shot 10 of 13 from the field and handed out nine assists, joined teammate James Harden on the list of players to score 25,000 points. Harden reached the milestone in December.
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 of his 33 points in the first half and Paul George added 18 as the Clippers won for the seventh time in eight games.
Jalen Ivey scored 28 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 26 for the Pistons, who dropped to 4-41 after a 2-1 start to the season.
Sabonis breaks Robertson’s record in Kings’ win
Domantas Sabonis tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds to break Oscar Robertson’s single-season franchise record with his 30th straight double-double to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 133-122 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Sabonis, who added seven assists, surpassed Robertson’s mark set from Dec. 6, 1961-Jan. 30, 1962.
De’Aaron Fox had 25 points and six assists and Malik Monk added 23 points, six assists and five rebounds to help Sacramento win for the fifth time in six games.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 31 points for the Pacers, who shot 54.1 percent from the field but were hurt by 21 turnovers to fall to 4-8 in their last 12 games.
American Scottie Scheffler shot an eight-under-par 64 to join Belgian Thomas Detry and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg in the halfway lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Scheffler hit eight birdies without a blemish on his card to sit at 11-under-par while battling a course wet from overnight rain.
The world number one said aside from the weather, it was “just another day”.
“Like on a lot of these back-to-front greens, it’s a big adjustment going from hitting a pitching wedge to hitting an eight iron to try to take off spin,” he said. “It’s little stuff like that you have to adjust to on the course.”
Detry failed to repeat his first day’s efforts of 63 at Spyglass Hill, shooting a two-under-par 70 at Pebble Beach while Aberg hit a seven-under 65 to join the leading trio.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy’s woes continued as he shot a 74 to finish one-over-par, while England’s Matt Fitzpatrick is four strokes off the pace after a 68.
Fellow Englishman Justin Rose is five-under-par after a 71 while Tommy Fleetwood hit a 72 to be two strokes further back in tied 44th.
Andy Farrell hailed Ireland’s ruthlessness and composure after their Guinness Six Nations title defence was launched with a record-breaking five-try demolition of 14-man France.
The reigning Grand Slam champions propelled themselves into pole position for further championship glory by dismantling the ragged pre-tournament favourites 38-17 in Marseille.
Ireland’s bonus-point success, secured by tries from Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Beirne, Calvin Nash, Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher, plus 13 points from Jack Crowley, was their largest winning margin away to France.
Les Bleus’ quest for victory at a largely subdued Stade Velodrome was damaged by the 32nd-minute dismissal of lock Paul Willemse.
“We’d take any type of win here in Marseille to kick off the Six Nations but the more the game was going on, the more you saw a performance building,” said head coach Farrell.
“I thought we got exactly what we deserved in the end.
“Our composure, it wasn’t all singing all dancing and the French side was always going to pose questions and the crowd was always going to get behind them.
“But we managed to silence them quite a lot through good composure.
“The main thing for me would be our ability to stay on it for the full 80 minutes and keep attacking the game.
“When you’re playing against 14 men for a long period, sometimes subconsciously you tend to shut up shop a little bit more,
“I thought our intent was pretty good and we were pretty ruthless when we needed to be, then obviously on top of that I thought our line-out in attack and defence was outstanding.”
Both sides came into a mouth-watering tournament curtain-raiser on the back of agonising World Cup quarter-finals exits.
Ireland began in the ascendancy but received a helping hand from the indiscipline of Willemse, who was sent off in the 32nd minute following a high hit on Caelan Doris having previously been sin-binned for a similar challenge on Andrew Porter.
Scores either side of half-time from Damian Penaud and Paul Gabrillagues and seven points from the boot of Thomas Ramos gave the hosts hope but Farrell’s men were a class above.
New Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony, who spent a spell in the sin bin in the aftermath of Gabrillagues’ try for bringing down the maul, said: “I don’t think it gets any better really.
“With the stress of the last couple of days I’d have given the whole lot up for a win tonight.
“Away from home, first game up, Friday night, Marseille, the Velodrome, I’d have been a happy man packing the whole lot in tomorrow morning if you’d given me the chance to take a win.
“It’s the biggest margin that we’ve beaten France by.
“I remember as a young fella watching Irish teams and you’d be hoping that they’d hang on in there, whereas it’s a different animal now.”
France were often rudderless in the absence of star man Antoine Dupont, who is sitting out this year’s championship to focus on his country’s sevens squad for the Paris Olympics.
Les Bleus head coach Fabien Galthie said: “It’s clear that the attack game wasn’t really up to scratch, we dropped the ball, had less speed. We need to up our game in attack and defence.
“The important thing is we pick ourselves up and assume that defeat.”
Asked about Willemse’s indiscretions, Galthie replied: “I’m not going to speak about the future of this great player who was doing all he could to defend for the French team.
“They were technical errors, we know the referees don’t give any ground when the head is involved and that is quite right.”
Judd Trump eased into the semi-finals of the German Masters with a 5-2 victory over John Higgins.
Scotland’s Higgins had taken an early 2-1 lead but Trump came roaring back in Berlin with four consecutive frames, including a run of three half-century breaks.
Trump will play Sam Craigie in the last four after he reached the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time with a 5-1 defeat of Ali Carter.
The 30-year-old confidently dispatched the defending champion in Berlin.
Carter was noticeably below par and allowed his opponent to storm into a 4-0 lead before finally getting on the board in the fifth frame.
But it came too late to alter the outcome, as a break of 89 saw Craigie progress to the last four.
The other semi-final will see Kyren Wilson take on Si Jiahui after both came through their respective last-eight meetings.
Wilson was a 5-0 winner against Fan Zhengyi whilst Jiahui won through 5-2 against Ryan Day.
The final will take place on Sunday.
Daniel Farke felt his Leeds side had produced an almost perfect away performance as they leapt to second in the Championship table with victory at Bristol City.
Wilfried Gnonto was the match-winner at Ashton Gate with a low left-footed shot from 10 yards in the 48th minute after running on to a long ball from Junior Firpo.
Leeds should have won by a wider margin as they outplayed their mid-table opponents, but a mixture of Max O’Leary saves and some poor finishing kept City in the game.
Farke was delighted with the majority of his side’s display but admits they will need to be more ruthless in front of goal if they want to secure promotion back to the Premier League.
He said: “The margin of victory should have been greater. It was almost the perfect away performance.
“We were so dominant and created so many chances, but I have to criticise our failure to put them away.
“If we want to be celebrating in May we have to be more clinical.
“We were playing a good side and they had one very big chance to equalise, which saw our goalkeeper make a very good save.
“We were breaking with three on one situations and not getting the final pass right over three yards.
“That has to change. But in all other respects I am so happy with the players.
“It’s great to have gone second in the table for our players and supporters. It means nothing to me with so long to go, but it is recognition of how well we are playing.
“We are playing really well and on a good run. But I know from experience how quickly things can change.”
City had one great second-half chance to equalise after 66 minutes when substitute Anis Mehmeti ran onto a Tommy Conway pass only to see his low shot saved at the second attempt by Illan Meslier.
But O’Leary made fine saves to deny the lively Crysencio Summerville on three occasions, as well as Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford.
The home side looked off the pace at times and head coach Liam Manning had no complaints.
He said: “First I have to give Leeds credit for being the best side we have played, but tonight we weren’t at the level we are capable of.
“Basic things went wrong like being caught in possession. They close space extremely well all over the pitch.
“I am frustrated because I know we can be so much better. The players seemed to tense up after making errors.
“Max O’Leary has been brilliant for us all season and he was great again in keeping us in the game.
“We had a chance to put things right at half-time and the message was to start doing the simple things well. Then we concede after a few minutes and it was a tough night for us.
“We have played the top sides and Leeds were the best. I expect them to sustain a promotion challenge.
“There have been a lot of games recently due to our FA Cup run, but I am not going to use that as an excuse. We have to work extra hard to bridge the gap to the top teams.
“But in fairness this was an out of character performance and the lads are as frustrated as I am.”
Ange Postecoglou feels there is even more to come from in-form Tottenham forward Richarlison.
Richarlison made it seven goals in as many Premier League matches with the crucial third goal in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Brentford.
Spurs have been without captain Son Heung-min for the last month due to his Asian Cup commitments, but the Brazil international has filled the void and started to repay his £60million price tag following a difficult debut campaign.
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Everton, Postecoglou said: “For me, it’s about trying to get players to fulfil their potential and with Richy, I still think there is growth there.
“If he keeps growing, well we the football club will be the beneficiaries of it.
“The goals are obviously important because that’s everyone’s measure, but I think his general game is improving and that’s the main thing for me. That’s what I’ve seen.
“The way we play and the kind of player Richy is, I was always confident he would score goals but we need more than that. I think his work rate now defensively, which was really important when we had Sonny up there hasn’t dropped off with Richy there.
“He’s working really hard for the team and the Ks (kilometres) he did the other night was right up there. Then his link up and hold up play is improving all the time. See I love that.
“I love when players still want to improve and do improve rather than say he’s played for his national team and been here quite a while. I can see him developing further and that’s what you want as a manager and coach. For us, he’s becoming a really important player.”
Minor groin surgery in November has been cited as a key reason behind Richarlison’s improvement, but Postecoglou has also fostered an environment at Tottenham that has allowed several players to flourish after previously mixed spells at the club or elsewhere.
He placed the credit firmly with the squad, adding: “I think the team has helped, but not just Richy, it’s a really strong dressing room in terms of the guys being really supportive of each other.
“We’ve had a number of guys coming back from long-term injuries or missed football and I think the reason they’ve come back and never felt disconnected is because of the dressing room we’ve created.
“For that, you need good leaders. Sonny is definitely that and (Cristian) Romero now, over the last few weeks, has grown even more. He’s a positive influence over everyone in the group and I’m sure Richy.
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“I see it on a daily basis, others don’t, but if you watch Emerson Royal train every day, you’d think he plays every game.
“He’s just outstanding with his attitude and demeanour around the place.
“There’s no time for anyone to feel down.
“When you see a guy like Emerson and like Fraser (Forster) or Ben (Davies), they train so hard every day, always have the greatest disposition, it doesn’t give anyone else an excuse to not feel up for it.”
Paris St Germain moved nine points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with a 2-1 win away at Strasbourg.
Goals in either half from Kylian Mbappe – who missed an early penalty – and Marco Asensio put the visitors two up before Dilane Bakwa scored 22 minutes from time to breathe life into the match.
Defender Abakar Sylla spurned a golden opportunity to steal a point for the home side in stoppage time when he looped a close-range header straight into the arms of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
It was the story of the game for Strasbourg, who had more than enough chances in the second to have earned a draw, though they were ultimately let down by poor finishing.
PSG should have gone ahead in the sixth minute but Mbappe’s spot-kick was saved by Alaa Bellaarouch after Lucas Perrin fouled Randal Kolo Muani.
The visitors took the lead after 18 minutes and Strasbourg had only themselves to blame.
Goalkeeper Bellaarouch dwelt too long with the ball at his feet and as he went to clear was closed down by Asensio. The ball deflected into the path of Mbappe, who was left with the simplest task of stroking it into the empty net for his 20th goal of the season.
The roles were revered shortly after half-time, with Mbappe this time the provider, his cross with the outside of the boot finding the feet of Asensio who took a touch and artfully placed it past Bellaarouch.
Strasbourg got the goal that their efforts deserved midway through the second half when on-loan Chelsea winger Angelo Borges crossed for Bakwa at the far post who knocked it past Donnarumma with an expertly taken first-time side-footed volley.
PSG goalkeeper Donnarumma made an excellent double save – first from Junior Mwanga then from Emanuel Emegha, the Italian springing sharply back to his feet to keep out the second effort.
Then came Sylla’s gilt-edged chance at the end, but the champions survived to extend their lead over Nice at the top of the table.
Yoane Wissa helped book DR Congo a trip to the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals with a second-half spot-kick in their 3-1 last-eight victory over Guinea.
The Syli National had hoped to move one step closer to securing a first-ever trophy in the continental competition, and took an early lead through Mohamed Bayo’s penalty.
DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba levelled things up before the break, after which Brentford’s Wissa took full advantage of Julian Jeanvier’s punishment with a powerful penalty of his own.
Arthur Masuaku netted the Leopards’ third directly from a late free-kick to wrap up the win and set up a final-four encounter with either Mali or tournament hosts Ivory Coast on Wednesday.
It was a lively start from Guinea, who quickly broke into their opponents’ penalty area and shouted for a handball when the ball bounced off the upper arm of Mbemba, with VAR ruling the contact was innocent.
Miscommunication between Guinea keeper Ibrahim Kone and defender Mouctar Diakhaby nearly spelled danger, both thinking the other had a handle on a loose ball, but Wissa could not capitalise on the early chance and fired wide.
Samuel Moutoussamy tried next for DR Congo, finding himself in plenty of space but only able to muster a weak effort, Diakhaby redeeming himself with the clearance.
Bayo toppled down inside the 18-yard box after making contact with Mbemba and, after some time, Algerian referee Mustapha Ghorbal pointed to the spot despite protests from the DR Congo players and manager Sebastien Desabre.
Bayo did not waste the chance, sending Lionel Mpasi the wrong way with a strike to the top-right corner for the 21st-minute opener.
The sides were back on level terms just six minutes later, when Guinea could not fully clear Masuaku’s corner and it proved costly when Marseille man Mbemba reacted quickly and lashed home the equaliser.
The Leopards had a chance to take a late first-half lead when Masuaku floated in a free-kick from the left touchline, narrowly missing Cedric Bakambu’s outstretched boot.
DR Congo had the better early chances after the break, but neither side could find a way to break the deadlock by the hour mark, when both managers made changes and Guinea substitute Facinet Conte scuppered his chance to make an instant impact.
Less than a minute later, DR Congo’s own substitute Silas Katompa Mvumpa was brought down by Jeanvier and Wissa stepped up, calmly powering past Ibrahim Kone as his side took a 65th-minute lead.
It was all over when Masuaku’s 82nd-minute free-kick dipped under the crossbar and in.
Leeds moved into the Championship automatic promotion places as Wilfried Gnonto’s 48th-minute goal earned a 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
The Italy winger beat goalkeeper Max O’Leary with a clinical left-footed finish from 10 yards after running on to a deflected long ball forward from Junior Firpo.
It was no more than Leeds deserved for a hugely impressive display in a largely one-sided contest, with their hosts out of sorts and only able to create a few openings.
City head coach Liam Manning made three changes from the 2-2 draw at Coventry, with Ross McCrorie, Matty James and Tommy Conway named in the starting line-up.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke made one team change, bringing in Gnonto for the injured Dan James.
Leeds made a bright start and had the first effort on goal in the ninth minute when Joe Rodon fired over from a Glen Kamara pass.
At the other end Nahki Wells had a low shot blocked after running on to a Cam Pring header.
Leeds had a great chance to take the lead after 13 minutes when Crysencio Summerville caught George Tanner in possession and raced clear down the middle only to shoot too close to O’Leary, who saved with a hand above his head.
O’Leary was in action again five minutes later parrying a Patrick Bamford shot from inside the box. Then Summerville cleared the crossbar from another good shooting position.
Leeds began to dominate and O’Leary denied them again after 34 minutes, blocking a close-range shot from Georginio Rutter for a corner after Bamford had outstripped Zak Vyner to cross from the right.
City were relieved to reach the interval on level terms, taking their time over throw-ins and set-pieces.
Leeds only needed to find an end product to their slick approach play, and they put that right immediately after the break with Gnonto’s clinical finish.
It should have been 2-0 three minutes later as Summerville robbed Pring and raced through to feed Kamara, whose shot was deflected for a corner with only O’Leary to beat.
O’Leary saved a low drive from the dangerous Summerville, but Leeds almost paid for not putting the game to bed in the 66th minute when Tommy Conway’s pass found Bristol City substitute Anis Mehmeti and his shot almost squeezed under advancing goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
Still Leeds squandered chances, the elusive Summerville firing wide after another penetrating break.
But there was little threat at the other end from a tired-looking Bristol City outfit and the final whistle brought scenes of celebration as the Leeds players saluted their large band of travelling fans.
Ireland ruthlessly capitalised on the absence of Antonie Dupont to launch their Guinness Six Nations title defence with a stunning 38-17 bonus-point demolition of 14-man France.
Both sides came into a mouth-watering tournament curtain-raiser in Marseille on the back of agonising World Cup quarter-finals exits.
Tries from Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Beirne, Calvin Nash, Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher ensured it was the reigning Grand Slam champions who stylishly bounced back at the first attempt to propel themselves into pole position for further championship glory.
France’s quest for victory at a largely subdued Stade Velodrome was damaged by the indiscipline of lock Paul Willemse, who was sent off in the 32nd minute following a high hit on Caelan Doris having previously been sin-binned for a similar challenge on Andrew Porter.
Scores from Damian Penaud and Paul Gabrillagues and seven points from the boot of Thomas Ramos gave the pre-tournament favourites hope.
But Ireland, aided by 13 points from Jack Crowley on his first Six Nations start, deservedly romped to another statement victory of the Andy Farrell era.
The two teams came into a blockbuster showdown seeking to ease disappointment at falling short in their efforts to lift the Webb Ellis Cup in the autumn and having each lost influential captains.
Dupont’s temporary unavailability, as he focuses on his country’s sevens squad for this year’s Paris Olympics, afforded a start to scrum-half Maxime Lucu, while Crowley was given a chance to stake his claim as long-term fly-half successor to the retired Johnny Sexton.
Farrell’s men began in the ascendancy and led through an early Crowley penalty before Willemse was ordered off for ploughing into prop Porter.
A relieved Willemse had just learnt his yellow card would not be upgraded to red on review when Gibson-Park latched on to a fine Bundee Aki offload to ensure Ireland capitalised on their temporary numerical advantage.
Three points from France full-back Ramos’ penalty briefly improved the mood in the stands before Beirne collected Crowley’s pass to easily beat Jonathan Danty and dive over under the posts at the end of sustained Irish pressure.
Willemse’s reprieve proved only to be fleeting as he was dismissed eight minutes before the break following another dangerous challenge, this time on Doris.
Ireland were in complete control but head coach Farrell would have been frustrated to only hold a 17-10 half-time lead after Penaud, who moments early was repelled by a superb Hugo Keenan tackle, produced a spectacular finish to Matthieu Jalibert’s pass.
The visitors set aside the setback to restore their 14-point advantage six minutes after the restart as Munster wing Nash marked his first Test start with a memorable maiden try after being freed by Doris.
Deprived of Dupont, France were largely rudderless in attack.
But Fabien Galthie’s side again cut the deficit when Gabrillagues’ score was awarded following a lengthy review, an incident compounded from an Irish perspective by new captain Peter O’Mahony being sin-binned for bringing down the maul.
Ireland once more earned breathing space 18 minutes from time when Sheehan peeled off a rolling maul to finish his own line-out.
The staggeringly-simple score secured a merited bonus point for the dominant visitors and proved to be the fatal blow to French resistance.
Yet there was more punishment to come for the ragged hosts as replacement hooker Kelleher bulldozed over to cap a fine Ireland performance and ramp up pressure on Les Bleus head coach Galthie.
Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) president Christopher Samuda says the value of their renewed partnership with Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) goes beyond money, as his organization advocates and understands that greater currency is derived from social investment in the human capital and infrastructure of sport, athletes, coaches and administrators.
This, as the extended five-year partnership valued at $75 million represents a significant boost towards the country’s preparations for international competitions, including the Olympic Games in Paris, later this year.
“This five-year cash investment at a value of $75 million will fulfill that purpose and serve to build out the Olympic infrastructure in a substantive way, while facilitating talent in transitioning to the greatest stage, the Olympic stage, where aspirations in sport will be realized, as we at the JOA, engender in stakeholders, responsible citizenship in sport,” Samuda told SportsMax.TV shortly after the signing at the JOA’s headquarters on Friday.
Samuda stated that reshaping the JOA to broaden involvement is the paradigm of the current executive, as he pointed to the SVL’s increased investment, from its previous $45 million agreement over three years, as a testament of their belief in, and by extension, commitment to the movement. Besides athletics, numerous other sporting disciplines will be hunting qualification to the Paris Games.
“The renewal of this multi-million partnership between the Jamaica Olympic Association and Supreme Ventures Limited at a significant increased value, demonstrates corporate confidence in the Jamaica Olympic Association, and SVL’s unwavering commitment to the Olympic movement and indeed sport. But its value goes beyond money,” Samuda shared.
“The activations which will be carried out under this partnership will demonstrate innovation in the delivery of sports, specific skills in areas including education, coaching, business and commerce, governance and management, science and technology, as well as branding and marketing. All this while giving strategic support to events, all with the objective of blueprinting the creation of a local sport industry which is an imperative of economic development,” he added.
Meanwhile, SVL’s Executive Chairman, Gary Peart, said the decision to renew their sponsorship was made as a commitment to Jamaica’s athletes. He also credited the JOA for their efforts and transparency throughout their partnership.
“They sold us on a vision, they updated along the way in terms of what the results have been, and it’s been an exceptional journey. We took the decision 18 months ago that we’d renew, it was just a matter of how the renewal would be," Peart said.
"We sponsor several initiatives in our business on an annual basis and JOA ranks in the top one or two in terms of what the whole process is, the returns, etc. Ultimately, this money helps not just the Olympic movement but athletes and their ability to shine on the international stage, and hopefully get gold when they participate. We at SVL, we’re just happy to assist with that,” he noted.
Peart also announced that SVL will be giving Jamaicans the opportunity to attend the games in France through various promotions to be announced in the coming weeks.
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