Former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has been announced by Rugby Australia as the new Wallabies head coach.

Schmidt coached Ireland from 2013-2019 where he won the Six Nations and was recognised as the World Rugby coach of the year in 2018. Prior to that he was a multiple trophy winner with Leinster.

More recently he was an assistant coach for the All Blacks from 2022 and during their runners-up finish in the World Cup last year.

Schmidt signed a two-year deal with Australia and takes over from former England coach Eddie Jones who left the role after the World Cup.

Rugby Australia (RA) chief Phil Waugh said Schmidt’s coaching background and experience was a significant reason for his appointment.

He said: “Given our stated plan to build a unified Australian Rugby system, Joe’s experience with Ireland and New Zealand – two of the most aligned Rugby nations in the world – will no doubt prove valuable as we move forward.

“He has a global view of the game from his experience in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and his appointment puts us in a strong position as we build towards the 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour.”

Schmidt said he is looking forward to starting in the role after a slump in Australian rugby in recent years.

He said: “I am conscious that the Wallabies have weathered a difficult period, and I am keen to help them build a way forward, with greater alignment and clear direction from RA.

“The upcoming Test matches against Wales will arrive quickly, post-Super Rugby, and the program through to the British and Irish Lions Tour next year presents plenty of opportunities and challenges – which I am sure will invigorate players and staff.”

The Wallabies failed to progress through the group stage in the World Cup, losing to Wales and Fiji, and have won just three of their last 10 matches.

Atletico Madrid dumped Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey on Thursday night, beating their city rivals 4-2 after extra-time at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Samuel Lino and Alvaro Morata twice had Los Colchoneros ahead, with Real  replying with a Jan Oblak own goal and Joselu header.

However, Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme netted for Atletico in the extra 30 minutes, taking Diego Simeone’s team into the quarter-finals as they seek to win the competition for the first time since 2013.

Jude Bellingham had a shot blocked for holders Real in the 11th minute, then team-mate Vinicius Junior was denied by Oblak nine minutes later.

Rodrigo De Paul saw his header saved at the other end two minutes later, before seeing a shot blocked soon after.

Former Real striker Morata had a 26th-minute shot saved by Andriy Lunin and then Vinicius shot over six minutes later.

The deadlock was broken six minutes before the interval when Lino slid in to convert from six yards after reacting smartly to Antonio Rudiger’s misplaced header.

However, the defending champions were level in the first minute of first-half added-time when Oblak turned the ball into his own goal as he attempted to deal with Luka Modric’s inswinging free-kick, under pressure from Vinicius.

Atleti regained their advantage in the 57th minute, Morata tapping in after Rudiger and Lunin had failed to deal with a ball which deflected goalwards off Eduardo Camavinga. The former Chelsea man was booked for celebrating the breakthrough with the Atletico fans behind the goal.

Rodrygo had a shot blocked 15 minutes from time as the 20-time winners sought an equaliser, which they got soon after Morata had been brilliantly denied by Lunin in the 81st minute.

Real broke away and Vinicius played in Bellingham, who crossed for Joselu to head in from six yards – less than two minutes after coming on as a replacement for Rodrygo. The goal was allowed to stand after a VAR check for offside.

The closing stages of the 90 minutes were more memorable for yellow cards than chances but Vinicius came close to an added-time winner with an audacious flick from Rudiger’s ball to the far post.

Griezmann gave Atletico the lead for the third time with his 175th goal for the club, 10 minutes into extra-time.

The 32-year-old France international, who last week became the club’s all-time record goalscorer with his goal in the Spanish Super Cup loss to the same opponents, beat Vinicius to the ball and held off the Brazilian before cutting inside and firing left-footed over Lunin.

Bellingham was denied by Oblak, then Dani Ceballos tapped in with nine minutes remaining after the keeper had spilled Bellingham’s shot. However, VAR ruled the effort out with the England man in an offside position.

Doubts about the outcome were ended in the final minute of extra-time when Memphis Depay set up fellow substitute Riquelme for Atletico’s fourth.

Cameroon striker Georges-Kevin Nkoudou believes his side have the “weapons” to get the better of defending champions Senegal in their Africa Cup of Nations clash.

Senegal got their title defence off to an ideal start with a 3-0 win over Gambia, while Cameroon had to come from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against 10-man Guinea in Group C.

However, Nkoudou remains in a confident mood ahead of Friday’s eagerly anticipated clash between the Indomitable Lions and the Teranga Lions at the Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro.

“It’s true that Senegal is the favourite, but as I always say we must never bury Cameroon, we remain a great team and a great nation,” Nkoudou said.

“They started this tournament with a very good victory against Gambia. For our part, we had a good match but unfortunately we only got one point.

“We have to put this behind us for now and focus on our match against Senegal which will be very difficult for both teams. I think we have all the weapons necessary to be able to put them in a more difficult position.”

Senegal can advance to the last 16 with a game to spare if they can make it two wins out of two, but head coach Aliou Cisse expects a reaction from Cameroon following their disappointing draw with Guinea.

“It was important to enter the competition with a victory, which encourages the players,” Cisse said.

“We are ready for the second match against a strong team, and we have prepared well for it. We know Cameroon well and it is a strong African team.

“Cameroon remains Cameroon. Our match against them is not revenge. Cameroon have already won many continental titles and we are going to face a team motivated to make up for the result they got in the first match.

“We have a competitive group and all players can participate, it doesn’t matter who starts the match, the most important thing is the performance provided.

“Our team does not suffer from a lack of efficiency and we scored three goals in the first match.”

Middlesbrough have rejected an offer from Aston Villa for Morgan Rogers, the PA news agency understands.

Villa have turned to Rogers to boost their attacking options but the bid has apparently been turned down.

Rogers, 21, only joined Boro six months ago but has impressed under boss Michael Carrick.

Unai Emery is looking to increase his forward options as Villa aim to maintain a surprise title challenge with the club third in the Premier League.

Jhon Duran could leave this month while Ollie Watkins is Emery’s only other frontline striker.

Rogers, who was born just outside Birmingham in Halesowen, started his career at West Brom – making one substitute appearance – and joined Manchester City in 2019.

He did not play a senior game for City and had loan spells at Lincoln, Bournemouth and Blackpool.

Boro signed him last summer and he has made 31 appearances this season, scoring six times, helping Carrick’s side into the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Rogers faced Villa in the FA Cup third round earlier this month, with Villa winning 1-0 at the Riverside.

Boro are 10th in the Championship but only a point outside of the top six and host Rotherham on Saturday before travelling to Chelsea – with a 1-0 first-leg advantage – for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi next week.

Barcelona came from behind to beat Unionistas da Salamanca 3-1 and reach the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

The third-tier team threatened an upset when Alvaro Gomez’s first-half goal gave them the lead.

However, Ferran Torres levelled in the closing seconds of the first half, before Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde netted in the space of four second-half minutes to complete the turnaround.

Unionistas were quickly on the front foot at Campo de Futbol Reina Sofia and Mario Losada shot wide in the first minute.

Marc Guiu had a shot blocked for the visitors, 31-time winners of the competition, before bringing a good save out of home goalkeeper Ivan Martinez.

Torres responded with a shot for the visitors on the half hour which fell just wide but Barca were behind five minutes later when Gomez volleyed a cross past goalkeeper Inaki Pena at the back post.

In the first minute of added time at the end of the first half, the visitors levelled when Torres’ shot had too much power for Martinez to keep out.

Defender Pau Cubarsi, 16, replaced Andreas Christensen at half-time for Barca, who also brought on Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski just past the hour mark as they sought the go-ahead goal.

After Lewandowski had brought a save out of Martinez, they got it when Kounde found the net with a well-struck 25-yard effort.

And in the 73rd minute it was 3-1 in similarly impressive fashion when Spain international Alejandro Balde shot powerfully home from distance.

Frenkie de Jong, playing his 200th game for the club, was on the pitch at the final whistle as Barca saw out the closing stages comfortably to ensure their place in the last eight.

Alessio Zerbin scored a late brace from the bench to guarantee Napoli their place in Monday’s Supercoppa Italiana final with a 3-0 victory over Fiorentina in Riyadh.

Napoli, the 2014 winners back when this tournament had a two-team format, set up a clash with either Serie A leaders Inter Milan or Lazio after Giovanni Simeone struck first in a semi-final played in Saudi Arabia.

Jonathan Ikone missed a penalty which would have taken Fiorentina in at the break level and the Tuscan club were thoroughly thwarted in their efforts to outwit Napoli, who rubber-stamped the win in the last 10 minutes with Zerbin’s quickfire brace.

Napoli were first to threaten amid a frustrating opening period, with Matteo Politano letting rip from distance only to see Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano push the shot wide for a corner.

In the 22nd minute the Azzurri made the breakthrough as Simeone collected Juan Jesus’ sumptuous ball from deep and buried it with a diagonal drive.

Fiorentina needed to change tack quickly or suffer a further setback and they got some false hope when Lucas Beltran tucked home only for the goal to be ruled out as Giacomo Bonaventura was offside.

Their luck appeared to have turned just before half-time, however, as Ikone went down in the Napoli box thanks to Mario Rui and duly won a penalty.

It was not to be for the French forward as he beat Pierluigi Gollini but also the crossbar with his wayward attempt from the spot.

When play resumed Napoli looked to rub salt in the wound but Jens Cajuste could not keep his strike down after being set up by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the edge of the box.

Arthur continued the trend of sending shots over the bar as Fiorentina began to probe more effectively come the hour mark.

Napoli seemed content to sit on their one-goal advantage and set up camp in their own half, leaving Fiorentina to chase the game. A revolving door of substitutions from the blue side took any momentum out of promising moves from La Viola, though.

Indeed one of those new Napoli faces made their introduction count in the 84th minute as Zerbin, freshly on the pitch for Pasquale Mazzocchi, took his time when the ball fell to him following a corner and calmly slotted in.

Two minutes later it was 3-0 and game over as Zerbin raced forward on a counter-attack to beat Terracciano with a low finish.

Jackson Irvine delivered again as Australia booked their place in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup on Thursday by beating Syria 1-0.

The midfielder scored for the second straight game to maintain the Socceroos' 100% start in Group B.

Australia won the title when hosting the tournament in 2015 and top the group on six points.

Irvine struck the winner when he turned inside the area and flicked a shot past Syria goalkeeper Ahmad Madanieh in the 59th minute at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. He had scored the opening goal in his team's 2-0 win against India on Matchday One.

The closest Syria came to scoring was when Pablo Sabbag fired powerfully against the post early on.

In the second match of the day, Uzbekistan put themselves in position to join Australia in the next round after a 3-0 win against bottom team India.

Abbosbek Fayzullaev, Igor Sergeev and Sherzod Nasrullaev all scored in the first half to effectively seal the win before the break.

There is still plenty to play for in the group. Second-placed Uzbekistan are on four points going into their final game against Australia on Tuesday and would go top with a win. A draw would be enough to guarantee they advance as runners-up.

Syria could also move onto four points if they beat India. That might be enough to see it progress to the next stage as one of the best third-placed teams, even if they do not overtake Uzbekistan.

It has been a poor start for India, but there is still a chance they could advance as one of the best third-place teams if they are able to beat Syria.

In the final contest on Thursday, there was a 1-1 draw between Palestine and the United Arab Emirates, who played for more than half of the match with 10 men.

The draw for the UAE opens the door for Iran to move clear at the top of Group C if they can defeat Hong Kong on Friday.

The Milwaukee Bucks expect to have Giannis Antetokounmpo back on the court soon, but coach Adrian Griffin wants his team to learn from their humbling defeat without the two-time former MVP.

Antetokounmpo sat out Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and saw the Bucks beaten 135-95 in his absence.

The superstar forward had played in each of Milwaukee's previous 29 games, although he was also on the injury report before Sunday's overtime win against the Sacramento Kings, scoring 27 points towards his seasonal average of 31.2 points per game.

While taking on an in-form Cavaliers team without Antetokounmpo was always likely to be a tough ask, Griffin offered the Bucks no excuses.

Indeed, he was particularly dismayed by the way in which Cleveland were allowed to race into a 22-2 lead less than halfway through the first quarter. Donovan Mitchell scored 12 of those 22 points on his way to 31 for the night.

"[It was a] tough night collectively," said Griffin, "but we've got to find the energy from the jump – especially being short-handed.

"You have to learn from this, because you can't allow this to happen again, especially at the start of the game.

"Before we looked up, we were down 20. We would literally come down and just shoot."

A big loss for the 28-13 Bucks allowed the 32-9 Boston Celtics to pull further clear at the top of the Eastern Conference, 117-98 victors over the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs' number one overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama scored 27 in his first game in Boston, but he was more impressed by the Celtics.

"Everybody can hoop on that team," said the French rookie. "Everyone's a threat on the court.

"But at the same time, they all know their roles, and they're all willing to share the ball, from the most important franchise guys to the role players.

"Everybody is ready to compete and to make the sacrifices."

Luke Littler recovered from a shaky start to power into the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Masters with some brilliant finishing.

Littler took the World Championships by storm over Christmas, the 16-year-old becoming front and back page news as he reached the final at Alexandra Palace.

Despite losing to Luke Humphries, Littler’s performances saw him fast-tracked to the top table of the sport and that included a place in the World Series event in Bahrain, where he faced Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung.

Littler looked certain to take the opening leg after his first 180 left him needing 84, but he amazingly missed seven darts at a double before Leung took out 107 to snatch the leg.

Leung also finished 83 on the bullseye to lead 2-0 before Littler kicked into top gear, the teenager taking out 151 and 136 in successive legs as he reeled off five in a row, despite missing eight darts at a double in leg seven.

Littler also hit treble 20, double 20 and double 10 for a somewhat unorthodox 120 checkout to seal a 6-3 win and set up a quarter-final with Nathan Aspinall.

Aspinall had earlier edged past Lourence Ilagan of the Philippines 6-5, Ilagan missing two match darts at 5-4, while Gerwyn Price beat Reynaldo Rivera 6-4 and Rob Cross saw off Tomoya Goto 6-3.

Japan’s Haruki Muramatsu hit a 170 checkout in the fourth leg but eventually lost 6-5 to former world champion Peter Wright.

A William Troost-Ekong penalty gave Nigeria a 1-0 victory over hosts Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.

The Nigeria captain struck from the spot early in the second half in Abidjan as the Super Eagles claimed their first victory of the tournament and leapfrogged the Ivorians in Group A.

Ivory Coast spurned a host of chances and paid the price after Ola Aina was adjudged to have fouled Victor Osimhen in the area following a review by VAR.

The result meant Nigeria drew level with Equatorial Guinea on four points in the group, while Ivory Coast have three with one game to play.

Napoli forward Osimhen went close to giving Nigeria an early lead when he outpaced Serge Aurier but he was unable to keep his shot down.

That proved a rare opening for Nigeria in the first half as Ivory Coast dominated.

Christian Kouame was a threat up front for Ivory Coast but headed well over under pressure from Troost-Ekong.

Kouame shot on the turn after Zaidu Sanusi failed to deal with a bouncing ball but goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali blocked.

Kouame also pulled back across goal to tee up Evan Ndicka but he volleyed straight at Nwabali.

Nwabali then kept out a long-range effort from Seko Fofana and Sanusi reacted quickly to block Kouame’s follow-up attempt.

Nigeria seized the initiative early in the second half after Aina appeared to kick Osimhen in a challenge. Play was initially allowed to go on but the referee reversed his decision after reviewing on the pitchside monitor.

Former Watford defender Troost-Ekong made no mistake as he smashed home the resulting spot-kick.

Ivory Coast responded but Ousmane Diomande headed well over and Ibrahim Sangare also missed the target.

Fofana went closer as the hosts stepped up the pressure but his shot flew wide and Ndicka missed with a back-post header.

Bright Osayi-Samuel spurned a chance to wrap up victory for Nigeria when he delayed a shot but Ivory Coast failed to threaten again despite applying late pressure.

A William Troost-Ekong penalty gave Nigeria a 1-0 victory over hosts Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.

The Nigeria captain struck from the spot early in the second half in Abidjan as the Super Eagles claimed their first victory of the tournament and leapfrogged the Ivorians in Group A.

Ivory Coast spurned a host of chances and paid the price after Ola Aina was adjudged to have fouled Victor Osimhen in the area following a review by VAR.

The result meant Nigeria drew level with Equatorial Guinea on four points in the group, while Ivory Coast have three with one game to play.

Napoli forward Osimhen went close to giving Nigeria an early lead when he outpaced Serge Aurier but he was unable to keep his shot down.

That proved a rare opening for Nigeria in the first half as Ivory Coast dominated.

Christian Kouame was a threat up front for Ivory Coast but headed well over under pressure from Troost-Ekong.

Kouambe shot on the turn after Zaidu Sanusi failed to deal with a bouncing ball but goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali blocked.

Kouambe also pulled back across goal to tee up Evan Ndicka but he volleyed straight at Nwabali.

Nwabali then kept out a long-range effort from Seko Fofana and Sanusi reacted quickly to block Kouame’s follow-up attempt.

Nigeria seized the initiative early in the second half after Aina appeared to kick Osimhen in a challenge. Play was initially allowed to go on but the referee reversed his decision after reviewing on the pitchside monitor.

Former Watford defender Troost-Ekong made no mistake as he smashed home the resulting spot-kick.

Ivory Coast responded but Ousmane Diomande headed well over and Ibrahim Sangare also missed the target.

Fofana went closer as the hosts stepped up the pressure but his shot flew wide and Ndicka missed with a back-post header.

Bright Osayi-Samuel spurned a chance to wrap up victory for Nigeria when he delayed a shot but Ivory Coast failed to threaten again despite applying late pressure.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has once again questioned his snooker future after squeezing into the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix in Leicester with a 4-3 win over Zhou Yuelong.

Just four days after his controversial eighth Masters triumph over Ali Carter, O’Sullivan said he was getting “no enjoyment” from continuing to move through tournaments with comparative ease.

O’Sullivan told ITV4: “I’ve got to really consider whether I can carry on feeling how I’m feeling out there – I just don’t get any enjoyment from the way I’m hitting the ball.

“I feel like it’s just hard work, I haven’t a clue where the balls are going, and a lot of it’s just guess-work.

“The worst thing is you’re winning bloody tournaments as well. If I was getting pumped every round playing like that it would be an easy decision to make.”

O’Sullivan had eased into a two-frame lead with breaks of 67 and 107 and looked set to extend that advantage before he missed a red to the top pocket to run aground on a break of 50 in the next.

Yet to beat O’Sullivan in their five previous encounters, Zhou responded in style with a 76 to narrow the deficit, then a nerveless 102 to level the match and confirm the change in momentum.

I’ve got to really consider whether I can carry on feeling how I’m feeling out there – I just don’t get any enjoyment from the way I’m hitting the ball.

Zhou, who had recovered from a three-frame deficit to push O’Sullivan to a final frame decider in their most recent meeting at the UK Championship in December, responded to falling behind again with breaks of 65 and 66 to force the decider.

The Chinese player got in first and potted a red and black, but missed his chance to the middle and O’Sullivan swept up with aplomb with a nerveless 90 to seal another seemingly unsatisfactory win.

“It’s been happening like this for 25 or 30 years, so it’s nothing new,” O’Sullivan added.

“It’s the only thing I’ve known and it’s hard not to do this because it’s my job, it’s all I know, so I’ve struggled through it.

“But I can’t accept bad cueing, I’d rather cue well and lose than cue awful and win tournaments. I get no satisfaction out of it, I really don’t.”

O’Sullivan will face Gary Wilson in the last eight after the reigning Northern Ireland Open champion saw off Tom Ford 4-2.

Defending champion Mark Allen was beaten 4-2 by China’s in-form Zhang Anda.

Zhang stormed into a 3-0 lead before Allen belatedly clicked into gear on the back of a break of 137, but the Antrim man left himself too much to do to stay in the tournament.