England boss Shaun Wane admitted he wanted to clinch a series whitewash over Tonga “so badly” following their 26-4 victory at the AMT Headingley.
The hosts were keen to secure a clean sweep from the start of the tie and crossed the whitewash twice in the first 26 minutes thanks to Ben Currie and Matty Ashton.
Both teams finished the half with a temporary man less after Matty Lees and Keon Koloamatangi were sent to the sin bin for a scuffle which caused a mass brawl.
England took no prisoners in the second half and cruised into an unassailable lead as Elliott Whitehead marked his final cap with a try before Harry Newman crossed for his first international score, but England’s defence was finally breached when Eliesa Katoa grabbed a consolation for the visitors.
Wane was proud of his players throughout the series and thinks they deserve full credit for a 3-0 success.
He said: “Unbelievable approach what we’ve done and how we’ve done it.
“I’ve nothing but praise for the players, the main mention is to them. I so badly wanted to win this game, no matter what. Two-nil didn’t matter to me, so to win in this fashion is great. I was desperate.
“You look at how the players have behaved and I think they’ve been outstanding and they’ll go from strength to strength.
“We stuck to our task well and they can play, athletic, big, they tested us, but the desire to defend and the detail was absolutely outstanding.
“We’ve got a really good team spirit, it’s very much like a club team. We spend time with each other and there is no club cliques and that’s been the most satisfying thing for me. We look like a club team and that’s why we’ve got the success today.”
Wane still has nightmares about England’s World Cup semi-final defeat last year but insists his side will now get stronger and did not think they would limit Tonga to just five tries in three games.
He added: “It will always haunt me, it doesn’t make it better, but how we played that game will always be there.
“I never thought we could manage that (five tries in three games). You look at their talent, that was a tough ask and you look at the physical side, big athletes, so to do that, the credit the players deserve is untrue.
“I’d love to do another three weeks. I’m back to walking my dogs next week and I’d love to do another three weeks. We’ve had a great time.
“When you score tries like that, it beggars belief when you hear stupid comments about us not being entertaining.”
Tonga boss Kristian Woolf handed full credit to England following the defeat but was proud of his team.
He said: “England were exceptionally good. Sometimes you have to sit back and applaud the tries they came up with, good tries and some good plays, they did a good job of scrambling.
“We didn’t deserve the scoreline if you look at the effort, I was proud.
“We showed up with a great attitude and I thought we showed that throughout the game and when the score looked like it could have blown out we hung in, we kept defending and trying to find points.
“We were disappointed to go down 3-0, there’s no doubt about that, and we’re certainly disappointed in the scoreline, but I’m not disappointed with the way our group have come over here. They have put their footy first and I’m very proud of them as a group of players.”
Decorated trio Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Leigh Halfpenny enjoyed a fitting send-off from international rugby as Wales beat the Barbarians 49-26 in Cardiff.
The Wales stars, who won 352 caps between them, took centre-stage at the Principality Stadium.
Billed as a tribute match, all three played their part, with Wales full-back Halfpenny contributing five conversions, while official player-of-the-match Jones scored a try and captained a Barbarians side that saw flanker Tipuric among his team-mates.
A crowd of 53,000 provided a party atmosphere under the stadium’s closed roof as Wales posted a third successive victory over the invitation side.
First-half tries by hooker Dewi Lake, wing Tom Rogers and fly-half Sam Costelow sent Wales on the way in their last game before hosting opening Six Nations opponents Scotland on February 3.
But the non-cap fixture – its scheduling had been criticised in many quarters with all four Welsh professional regions play league games on the same weekend – saw the Barbarians hit back impressively.
Fijian scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli scored two tries, and when Jones crossed early in the second period, Wales led by just two points, with Nicolas Sanchez adding a conversion double.
Replacements Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright and Kieran Hardy (2) claimed second-half touchdowns for Wales, though, with Halfpenny, who received a prolonged standing ovation when he went off after 67 minutes, and Cai Evans each adding two conversions, with Barbarians flanker Tom Hooper also scoring a try, converted by Ben Donaldson.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland included 12 World Cup squad members in the starting line-up, while there was an opportunity for Dragons prop Lloyd Fairbrother with five tightheads unavailable, including Tomas Francis, Dillon Lewis and Henry Thomas.
The Barbarians, coached by Scott Robertson and Eddie Jones, featured a host of players fresh from World Cup duty, headlined by Australian trio Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota and Rob Valetini.
It was the invitation team’s first Cardiff visit for four years, but they fell behind inside three minutes when Wales shredded their defence.
Costelow’s brilliant reverse pass to centre George North caused the damage before supporting hooker Lake crashed over and Halfpenny converted.
Italian referee Andrea Piardi was quick to punish both teams’ indiscipline, and after Wales lock Adam Beard was yellow-carded for a technical offence, Wales conceded a try within 60 seconds of his departure.
The Barbarians applied pressure inside Wales’ 22, and Kurovoli threw a dummy pass that Wales’ defence bought as he touched down.
Halfpenny and Wales prop Corey Domachowski both required treatment for knocks suffered during a lively opening quarter, and Wales went close to a second try when North led a break-out, but wing Rio Dyer’s chip and chase was scrambled to safety.
Wales continued to press, though, and they pounced 10 minutes before half-time courtesy of North’s audacious pass through his legs that an unmarked Rogers gratefully collected, and Halfpenny’s conversion made it 14-5.
Dyer and North were heavily involved in Wales’ attacking game, but their third try came following clever work from scrum-half Tomos Williams.
His inch-perfect kick over the top of the Barbarians’ defence was gathered by Costelow, whose try was converted by Halfpenny and opened up a 21-5 interval advantage.
Costelow, who took a blow his shoulder just before half-time, was replaced by Evans as Wales looked to capitalise from a healthy lead.
Kurovoli cut the deficit, though, with his second try after 47 minutes – Sanchez converted – and when Jones touched down to rapturous applause shortly afterwards, the Barbarians were firmly back in contention.
But Plumtree’s score, again converted by Halfpenny, calmed Welsh nerves, and after Barbarians replacement Asafo Aumua was yellow-carded, Wainwright claimed a fifth try, with Halfpenny adding the conversion before a flurry of late scoring.
England scored two tries in each half to complete a series whitewash over Tonga with a convincing 26-4 win at the AMT Headingley Stadium.
The hosts started the game in the same dominant fashion as they had finished in Huddersfield and ran over twice in the opening 26 minutes through Ben Currie and Matty Ashton before Matty Lees and Keon Koloamatangi were sent to the sin bin.
England continued to be ruthless in the second half and Elliott Whitehead bowed out of international rugby with a farewell try before Harry Newman got in on the act, but England were denied a clean sheet when Eliesa Katoa grabbed a consolation for the visitors in front of a series-high attendance of 15,477 fans.
England were keen to mark a clean sweep and threatened to score first when Currie burst down the right and crashed over the try line only to be held up by the Tonga defence.
The hosts did score the first try of the game in the 14th minute as South Sydney Rabbitohs prop Tom Burgess picked a gap in the Tongan line before setting Harry Smith through and he offloaded to Currie to finish a well-worked England move.
Tonga got to grips with the contest for a few minutes following the try. They capitalised on some lazy England possession and looked to outnumber them on the left side until Tyson Frizell threw the ball into touch.
England extended their advantage in superb fashion – Newman broke the line and set Ashton free in the corner and he dived over for his third try in the last two games.
After Smith kicked a penalty to make it 14-0, both teams had a player sent to the sin bin after Lees was sent to the floor by 18th man Junior Tupoa. The England prop was being held to the ground by Koloamatangi, who in turn had his hair pulled by Lees and that sparked a mass brawl between the two sets of already heated players.
It only took five minutes for England to open their account in the second period. They broke down the left and Tom Johnstone found Currie before he gifted Whitehead a path for his 12th international try on his 27th and final cap.
Tonga’s challenge to get back into the contest was made even harder before the hour when Konrad Hurrell was sent to the sin bin as he appeared to punch Mike McMeeken.
Whitehead thought he had claimed his second try of the afternoon when he latched onto Danny Walker’s grubber kick but the video referee adjudged him to lose control before grounding the ball to keep the score 20-0.
England made their temporary man advantage count to put another score on the board after Smith’s superb cross-field ball found Newman and he powered over on his home ground for his first international try.
Tonga worked the ball from right to left and Katoa barged over the line to bring up their first score of the game, but it was nothing more than consolation as England wrapped up the series in style.
Bahamian Rhema Otabor picked up her country’s second Athletics medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile when she claimed silver in the women’s javelin throw on Friday.
The 20-year-old produced a best distance of 60.54m, her first throw over 60m, to finish second behind Colombia’s Flor Denis Ruiz who threw 63.10m for gold.
The USA’s Madelyn Harris took bronze with 60.06m.
This continues an excellent season for the Nebraska Junior.
She also took top spot at the NCAA Championships in June with a 59.49m effort, the Bahamian national title with 59.75m in July and NACAC Under-23 title with 57.48m later that month.
Boothill looked a Graded horse in a handicap when running away with the valuable Byrne Group Handicap Chase at Ascot.
Trained by Harry Fry, he had won his two previous handicap chases but his last four runs had all come at a higher level.
The eight-year-old won the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton last Christmas and was not disgraced thereafter but looked a cut above his rivals off a mark of 149.
Sent off the 7-2 favourite, he was nursed into contention by Jonathan Burke as Saint Segal set a scorching gallop.
When the leader began to falter, First Flow and the strong-travelling Frere D’Armes had a chance, but as soon as Boothill put in a huge leap at the last the race was over and he powered four lengths clear of First Flow.
Burke told Sky Sports Racing: “It was always the plan to come here first but with all the rain we were worried.
“It wasn’t as soft as what the rest of the country is, though, and it was a very good performance.
“He can be keen and he doesn’t miss fences, when he does it can be disastrous but he missed the one near Swinley Bottom which allowed me to fill him up.
“He pinged the last and galloped all the way to the line.”
Fry said: “He’s entered in the Hurst Park (Ascot, November 25) so we need to decide whether to stay in handicaps or step him up in class again.”
Venetia Williams tends to do well at Ascot and her French recruit Victtorino looked a long way ahead of the assessor in the Sodexo Live! Gold Cup Handicap Chase.
Having just his second start since joining Williams, and first over fences, the five-year-old was a long way clear at the last but met it on the wrong stride.
Unanswered Prayers and Yeah Man were closing rapidly but both fell independently and the 20-1 chance won by six lengths.
“It was only his second run in this country and his first over fences, and he was the only five-year-old in the race. I have to say I’m very excited and really thrilled,” said Williams.
“He ran in a novice hurdle at Exeter and was beaten a long way. We won this with Houblon Des Obeaux and he was only six at the time.
“He’s a big horse and always looked in a comfortable zone apart from at one fence. My agent found him in France and his price was bearable for me. The future looks rosy.”
Dan Skelton may have gone north to Wetherby but he will have been watching on with interest as his Knickerbockerglory (10-1) fairly bolted up in the Seat Unique Handicap Hurdle.
In what looked a competitive race on paper, the lightly-raced seven-year-old turned it into a procession.
Fry’s Altobelli did his best to give the yard a big-race double and gave vain chase in the straight, but he was four and a quarter lengths away at the line.
Tristan Durrell may not have even needed the 5lb he was able to claim and said of his first Ascot winner: “We were expecting that, he goes brilliant fresh and he loves the ground.
“If you can get him in front, that’s what he loves, so we were hopeful.”
The winner is now 10-1 for the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham with Betfair.
Paul Nicholls remains confident Bravemansgame will put up a staunch defence of his King George crown despite suffering defeat in his bid for back-to-back victories in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase.
Britain’s leading staying chaser was a comfortable winner at Wetherby 12 months ago before trouncing his rivals in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
He went on to finish second to Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and third in the Punchestown Gold Cup and was slightly odds-on at 10-11 to make a successful reappearance in the hands of Harry Cobden.
With Ahoy Senor faltering, Bravemansgame took over the running heading out onto the second circuit and some prodigious leaps in the back straight looked set to propel him to another big-race success.
He appeared to be getting the better of the Mouse Morris-trained Irish raider Gentlemansgame all the way up the home straight, but a bad mistake at the final fence took the wind out of his sails and his race-fit rival took full advantage, getting on top to prevail by a length and three-quarters.
Coral eased Bravemansgame to 2-1 from 7-4 to provide Nicholls with a 14th King George win over the festive period, but the Ditcheat handler is defiant.
He said: “I was pleased with him, he just got a bit tired on the ground and the other horse had obviously had a run.
“This time last year, you’d get away with horses needing the run a little bit on better ground, on this ground you don’t.
“He’s not been away, he’s not had a gallop anywhere. He’s done exactly as he did last year, he’ll take a step forward and the King George will be a different ballgame.
“We always almost expect too much first time out. Everything that we’ve run first time out on that ground has just taken a bit of a blow. If it had been good ground like last year, it wouldn’t have happened.
“Harry said he missed the last and just went for his girths. We’ve given the winner 6lb, our targets are the King George and the Gold Cup and it hasn’t made any difference to how he’ll run in the King George at all.
“That is as deep a ground as we’d run him on and Harry just said fitness caught him out on the day. We don’t like losing, but he’s run very well.”
Ahoy Senor finished last of five as a hot favourite for last year’s Charlie Hall and again disappointed, this time being pulled up by Derek Fox.
Lucinda Russell’s eight-year-old will be given the opportunity to bounce back at Newbury on December 2.
Peter Scudamore, Russell’s partner and assistant, said: “Derek said he was tired. I wish he’d run better, but he’ll go to the Coral Gold Cup.”
Gentlemansgame came of age by beating Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.
Having just his third run over fences, the Mouse Morris-trained seven-year-old was nibbled at in the market into 7-2 and he became the first Irish-based winner since Francis Crowley’s Sackville in 2001.
Gentlemansgame won a beginners chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival but was not seen again until being beaten into second by Easy Game at Gowran in September.
Always highly thought of by Morris, who finished second in the corresponding race in 1998 with Boss Doyle behind Strath Royal, he was the trainer’s first winner in the UK since he landed the Grand National with Rule The World in 2016.
Ahoy Senor set out to make all but by halfway his jumping had once again slowed him down and last year’s winner Bravemansgame took it up.
It stayed that way until Darragh O’Keeffe brought the grey up to challenge, but at the second last the favourite had seemingly seen him off.
However, Bravemansgame jumped out of Harry Cobden’s hands at the final fence, landing on top of it and halting his momentum, allowing the Irish raider to gain the upper hand and win by a length and three-quarters.
Morris said: “I’m very happy with that, he jumped super. He was a bit fiddly at one or two, but that was to be expected on his third run over fences.
“He was taking on a seasoned, Gold Cup horse (Bravemansgame). We came here because I was limited as to where I could go. The owners (Robcour) had their other horse going to Down Royal (Gerri Colombe) and it would be stupid to take each other on.
“It’s a long way to the Gold Cup. I suppose Leopardstown at Christmas would be the obvious place to go, but we’ll see how he comes out of it.
“He’ll stay all day and we’re living the dream.”
On his Wetherby win, Morris added: “It’s a nice race and a super track with lovely people, so why not come over?”
Lando Norris saw off triple world champion Max Verstappen to take pole position for today’s sprint race in Brazil.
The British driver, 23, beat Verstappen to top spot by 0.061 seconds in Interlagos with Sergio Perez third.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will line up from fourth and fifth respectively for Mercedes.
Norris believed he could have taken pole for tomorrow’s 71-lap main event, but for a McLaren strategy blunder in Friday’s rain-hit qualifying session.
However, the young Briton made amends by delivering the quickest time for today’s 24-lap dash to the chequered flag.
Norris, who is seeking his first win in Formula One, said: “It felt like one of the worst laps I have done so I am a little bit surprised to be on pole.
“But I feel like we have made up for yesterday. I have no idea how the sprint will go, but the pace has been good this weekend and the car has been quick.”
Perez was a tenth back from Norris, while Russell finished 0.235 sec behind, with Hamilton 0.318 sec adrift.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified sixth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo.
Q1 ended early after Esteban Ocon crashed out following a collision with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Ocon was on a hot lap, but briefly lost control of his Alpine though the left-hander at Turn 3, and thumped into Alonso.
The Spaniard was off the racing line, affording space for Ocon, but the Frenchman clipped Alonso’s Aston Martin which sent him into the tyre barrier at Curva do Sol.
“F****** idiot, Fernando,” said Ocon after he sustained significant damage to the rear of his machine.
Alonso limped back to the pits with front suspension damage leaving his mechanics scrambling to get his machine ready for Q2.
A 28-minute delay followed as the barrier was repaired but Alonso was unable to continue. He will start 15th.
The double world champion’s team-mate Lance Stroll qualified an impressive third for Sunday’s grand prix. But the Canadian will line up three places from the back for today’s sprint which gets under way at 3:30pm local time (6:30 pm GMT).
Botox Has provided Caoilin Quinn with the most notable success of his riding career so far with victory in a gruelling renewal of the bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby.
The conditional jockey won a valuable handicap hurdle on the Betfair Chase undercard at Haydock last season aboard Gary Moore’s seven-year-old, who is also a former winner of the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell under the trainer’s son, Josh.
Botox Has had not been seen in competitive action since finishing fourth in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January – and while Quinn was unable to use his claim in this Grade Two contest, he proved more than up to the job.
Much of the pre-race focus was on the Philip Hobbs-trained Thyme Hill and Jeremy Scott’s stable star Dashel Drasher, two high-class performers on the staying hurdling scene.
Dashel Drasher adopted his customary role at the front, but it was hard work from some way out, while the other 7-4 joint-favourite Thyme Hill was unable to land a telling blow in the testing conditions.
Botox Has (15-2) himself was off the bridle early in the straight but kept pulling out more and recovered from an untidy leap at the final obstacle to get the better of Red Risk by a length, with Dashel Drasher narrowly beating Thyme Hill to third place.
Quinn said: “It’s unbelievable, I’m speechless, to be honest, what a performance that was. He was giving weight away to a lot of them, but one thing he has on his side is he’s very tough.
“When push comes to shove, he digs deep. I didn’t think he enjoyed the ground today, we thought he would, as he does like it soft, but for whatever reason he didn’t travel as well as he did when I rode him at Haydock.
“It’s very tiring ground and I just thought it was the best thing to go and let him pop the last, but I knew he had loads left.
“It’s an unbelievable training performance. I’ve said to loads of people, he (Gary Moore) is an absolute genius.
“He’s had his problems this horse, he had a niggling problem which meant he didn’t go to the Cheltenham Festival last season. He (Moore) has got him back as good as ever and I’m very grateful.”
Api Ratuniyarawa has appeared in court charged with sexual assault, hours before he was due to play for the Barbarians against Wales in Cardiff.
The 37-year-old Fiji international, from West Northamptonshire, had been due to be on the Barbarians bench for the match at the Principality Stadium, and Wales international Aaron Shingler was called up to replace him.
South Wales Police said: “Api Ratuniyarawa, 37, from West Northamptonshire, was due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court this morning charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by touching.”
Ratuniyarawa was released on bail to appear at Cardiff Crown Court on December 4.
Barbarians said in a statement: “As soon as we were contacted by South Wales Police we co-operated fully, assisting them with their enquiries.
“On their advice, we can’t comment any further as the investigation is ongoing.”
The charges against Ratuniyarawa were first reported by the BBC, and Wales Online said they related to alleged incidents at a Cardiff bar in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Ratuniyarawa played for London Irish last season, after signing from Northampton Saints.
The London Irish website said: “The Fijian lock forward arrived at Franklin’s Gardens from Agen in the 2016/17 season, spending the best part of five years with Saints before departing for the capital.
“Having made over 100 appearances for Northampton, Ratuniyarawa’s experience expands onto the international front after appearing in both the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups for his native Fiji.
“A 10-years and 36 caps later, Ratuniyarawa’s international career began miles down the road from Irish’s headquarters in Sunbury when he took on England at the national stadium back in the 2012 autumn internationals.
“He brings with him accolades aplenty, both personal and as a team, attaining the ‘Breakthrough Player of the Year’ award at Northampton whilst also winning the first Premiership Rugby Cup.”
39-year-old Donald Thomas once again proved that age is just a number after securing bronze in the men’s high jump at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile on Friday.
The 2007 World Champion had a best clearance of 2.24m, the same height as silver medallist Luis Joel Castro of Puerto Rico.
Cuba’s Luis Enrique Zayas took gold with 2.27m.
Jamaica’s Lushane Wilson and Cristoff Bryan were seventh and 10th with best clearances of 2.21m and 2.15m, respectively.
Draymond Green congratulated the NBA on a "job well done" following the start of the league's inaugural in-season tournament.
The new competition started on Friday, with seven group-stage games played. The other pool games will be played on six other days across the month of November.
Green finished with 15 points as he helped the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 141-139.
And the four-time NBA champion believes the tournament is a great idea.
"We talk about this in-season tournament and it's a playoff game," Green said.
"It was a fun game to play in. The intensity level was there.
"It's a job well done to the NBA, adding this type of excitement in November, because there'll be some dark days in November, but you get games like this, you can appreciate them. It was great."
The Warriors won in contentious circumstances, with Stephen Curry's layup with less than a second to go allowed to stand after a video review.
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic starred for the Denver Nuggets, with 33 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists while shooting 14-for-16 from the field in a win over the Dallas Mavericks.
"What I marvel at is just the consistency," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of Jokic.
"I mean, the guy is just great every night. He's just a great player. I just love how he impacts the game in every way, shape and form. It's really the definition of greatness."
Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers saw off the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat overcame the Washington Wizards.
There were also wins for the Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers.
Cheltenham Festival heroine You Wear It Well made a successful reappearance with an all-the-way victory in the bet365 Mares’ Hurdle at Wetherby.
Jamie Snowden’s charge won four of her six starts last term, including the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park in March. She also finished second in the Grade One Challow Hurdle at Newbury.
The six-year-old was a 2-1 shot for her comeback in Listed company, with Nicky Henderson’s Luccia the favourite at 11-8, and it turned into a straight shootout between the pair in the home straight.
Luccia was travelling better at one stage, but You Wear It Well refused to bend in front, digging deep for Gavin Sheehan to claim top honours by three lengths.
“It’s very special. She had a penalty for those Grade Two wins last season, so to do that with that penalty is great first time out,” said Snowden.
“She’s big and strong and she’s a legend. Gav gave her a wonderful ride. She’s quite feisty and takes a bit of riding, so fair play to the whole team.
“We were probably a little bit keen and a little bit fresh early on, but she’s jumped great bar the last and picked up well and galloped to the line.”
Paddy Power, Betfair and Coral all cut You Wear It Well to 8-1 to claim a second Festival win in the Mares’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park next March and she looks set to be kept against her own sex in the meantime.
“We were thinking about going chasing with her this year, but the mares’ hurdle programme is a lot better than the mares’ chase programme,” Snowden added.
“We’re quite keen to stay in mares’ company, so you’ve got the Sandown race, the Warwick race and then Cheltenham in March. That looks the obvious thing to do, but we’ll take it step by step.”
Sheehan was earlier in the winner’s enclosure aboard Kim Bailey’s The Edgar Wallace (9-2), who jumped his rivals into submission in the Bet Boost At bet365 Handicap Chase.
Making his first competitive appearance since February, the eight-year-old was slick over his fences throughout and proved two lengths too strong for the gallant William Cody.
Bailey’s assistant, Matthew Nicholls, said: “He jumped class and galloped well. Gav hasn’t ridden much for us, but he’s given him a lovely ride.
“He had a few issues last year that we’ve fiddled with and if that worked then he was a very well handicapped horse. We came here hopeful because he’d been showing us an awful lot at home, but until they go and do it you never know.
“He’s back on track and he probably doesn’t want an awful lot of racing as he puts a lot into it.”
Cherie D’Am maintained her unbeaten record in the 6 Horses Challenge At bet365 Novices’ Hurdle.
A point-to-point winner at Hexham 12 months ago, the Great Pretender mare made a successful debut under rules for Dan Skelton in a Uttoxeter bumper in the spring.
The five-year-old was the 6-5 favourite to beat the boys on her seasonal reappearance and hurdling bow – and having been given a patient ride by the trainer’s brother Harry Skelton, she cruised into contention before pulling five lengths clear of Wild Side Of Life.
“That was lovely. A lot of ours have been needing a run and it’s not for any other reason than usually at this time of year the ground is good to soft and that’s how fit we’ve got them – we’ve got them good to soft fit,” said the winning trainer.
“Of course, the more days that go by and the more pieces of work you get into them, they will get a little bit fitter for this type of ground.
“She’s obviously a very, very talented mare. When we bought her after her point-to-point we thought she looked pretty smart and then we loved her after her bumper.
“She’s going the right way. I probably don’t want to go too deep too soon, so we might give her one more run and then go up in grade.
“I’m not afraid to run her in a slightly better race, but I’m not going to go for the Challow Hurdle on her next run.”
England scored 11 tries in a ruthless 60-0 victory over Wales at Headingley.
Amy Hardcastle opened England’s account with two tries before further scores from Shona Hoyle and Caitlin Beevers seemingly put England out of sight at the half-time break.
England showed no mercy in the second period, rushing over the whitewash seven more times courtesy of a Tara-Jane Stanley double alongside contributions from Lacey Owen, Georgia Roche, Tamzin Renouf, Keara Bennett and Emily Rudge.
England took the lead in the eighth minute. After the hooter sounded for a repeat set, the hosts threw the ball right to left and Hardcastle was waiting on the left edge before she flew over the whitewash, with Stanley’s kick making it 6-0.
England had the lead but looked to grow further into the contest and had a second just under 10 minutes later as Roche sent Hardcastle over for her second of the afternoon.
The home side threatened to take the game away from Wales just 24 minutes into the contest and after some neat work from Tara Jones and Jodie Cunningham, the ball landed in the hands of Hoyle who bundled over beneath the sticks to make it 16-0.
Wales attacks were few and far between in the first period but after Vicky Molyneux, in her final game before international retirement, was sin-binned they had a chance to open their account five minutes before the break – only for Georgia Taylor to knock on with the try line at her mercy.
England made Wales pay for their missed chance with another try on the hooter as Hardcastle broke away with a length-of-the-pitch run before she was brought down just before the line by Leanne Burnell, only for Beevers to dive over in the next play to put them 20-0 up heading into the interval.
The second half started in the same fashion with England dominant, and they opened their account for the half just five minutes after the interval when Stanley proved too strong for the Welsh defence.
England had 30 on the board with half an hour still to play when Owen crashed over on her debut appearance.
Five minutes later, England added another when NRL star Roche weaved her way through the Welsh defence single-handed and touched down to help make it 36-0.
England seemed to put points on the board every time they came forward and Stanley yet again picked holes in the Wales line before she crashed over and added the extras.
Renouf was next to get in on the act as she easily ran over and Stanley’s kicking proved to be excellent, landing her sixth conversion, this time from the touchline.
Bennett added another before Rudge scored England’s final try of the afternoon under the posts to cap off a dominant display.
Orne made every yard of the running to win the rescheduled Betfred Horris Hill Stakes at Newmarket.
Saved over from an abandoned Newbury card, the Group Three event looked wide open on paper and so it proved in the race.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained Orne had made a winning debut at Kempton and was not totally disgraced when upped in class for the Group Three Autumn Stakes.
The winner of that contest, Ancient Wisdom, subsequently came out and won the Group One Futurity Trophy, so the form looked strong, but Orne was still sent off at 10-1.
He proved difficult to settle in the early stages for Robert Havlin but once he did drop the bit, he was allowed an easy lead.
Going into the dip, Havlin stole another length and, despite drifting close home, held off Witness Stand by a length and a quarter.
“It wasn’t the plan to make the running. He went last in, but he was first out. Normally he doesn’t do a stroke when he is in front. I went on a fresh bit of ground, and he found a rhythm,” said Havlin.
“Just towards the end, he got a little bit lonely and ducked left, but he has done it well in the end.
“It wasn’t the plan to go on the far side as I wanted to drop in and get a lead and get there late. When I ended up in front, I could see there was fresh ground there so I thought I might as well go there.
“He didn’t stay the mile in the Autumn Stakes. He travelled good and he handled the ground, but he just didn’t stay. He could get quicker this horse over the winter. “
The VirginBet November Handicap will now be run at Newcastle next Saturday after Doncaster’s final Flat meeting of the year was switched to the all-weather track.
Town Moor is currently unraceable due to waterlogging and, with no significant chance of improvement, approval has been given to transfer the card to the North-East venue.
Arena Racing Company’s Mark Spincer said: “The VirginBet November Handicap is a really popular fixture at the end of the turf season in Britain.
“It is a huge shame to lose the fixture at Doncaster, but there is simply no chance that the track will be in a position to be fit for racing in time.
“Doncaster raced on very heavy ground at the Kameko Futurity meeting just over a week ago, and we have seen significant rainfall since then, with anywhere between 25mm and 50mm more forecast through the coming week.
“We appreciate the impact on those looking for a final opportunity on the turf before the season comes to a close, but the track will simply not be ready in time.
“We would like to thank our colleagues at BHA, as well as sponsors VirginBet and the European Breeders Fund and to ITV and Sky Sports Racing for facilitating this move.”
Willie Mullins-trained duo Vauban and Absurde have fared well in the Lexus Melbourne Cup draw, being allotted stalls three and eight respectively.
Vauban is a firm favourite to win the race that stops a nation at Flemington on Tuesday after this season adding some impressive Flat form to his high-class hurdling exploits.
The five-year-old romped home by seven and a half lengths in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot before winning the Group Three Ballyroan Stakes at Naas.
Absurde was runner-up to his stablemate at Ascot and has since claimed victory in the Ebor at York.
Mullins finished second in Australia’s biggest race back in 2015 with Max Dynamite and believes he has the ammunition to go one better this time.
Ryan Moore is set to partner Vauban and Mullins said: “I think he’s as good as Max Dynamite and maybe better, we’ll find out that on Tuesday.
“It’s our strongest chance ever, it probably will be my strongest chance ever.
“We wouldn’t want to forget Absurde either, he did it very well with Frankie (Dettori) in the Ebor, Frankie gave him a terrific ride there.
“He has quarantined very well, and I think he’s in great shape.”
Zac Purton has been booked to ride Absurde and Mullins feels he has improved since clashing with Vauban at the Royal meeting.
“I think it’s going to be a different race and I think Absurde is going to be a different horse as well,” added the Irish trainer on racing.com.
“He’s learned to settle a good bit more and now that he’s got a nice draw, I think he’ll be able to put him where he wants him and that’ll make a huge difference.
“There was probably 20 lengths between them passing the winning post the first time around at Royal Ascot, there won’t be that here, I hope.”
Joseph O’Brien has already sent down two previous winners in Rekindling and Twilight Payment and this time relies on Okita Soushi.
He was also a Royal Ascot scorer in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes but struggled in the Caulfield Cup last time out and is an outsider here after being drawn out wide in stall 20.
Defending champion Gold Trip will line up alongside Vauban in stall two, former William Haggas inmate Soulcombe is in four and Caulfield Cup hero Without A Fight, previously trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, has drawn 16.
England won the inaugural WXV title with a 33-12 victory over New Zealand in Auckland.
A year after a heartbreaking loss to the same side in the World Cup final, the Red Roses claimed a comprehensive win in the new international team competition.
England made the perfect start with Alex Matthews grabbing the first of five tries in the fourth minute, and the lead was soon increased by a second for Lark Atkin-Davies.
They crossed for a third in the 23rd minute, a simple finish from Sarah Bern, before Ellie Kildunne was denied when replays showed her foot in touch before she went over.
New Zealand got on the board two minutes before half-time, Kennedy Simon scoring their first try, and a second in the 49th minute from Katelyn Vahaakolo fuelled hopes of a comeback from the hosts as they made it 19-12.
But Morwenna Talling finished off a period of England pressure with a fourth try and Zoe Aldcroft made sure of the victory before the unlucky Kildunne had another effort chalked off.
The Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets were among the victors as the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament began.
A last-second layup from Steph Curry was the difference for Golden State in their 141-139 group stage win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Curry finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Lu Dort top-scored for the Thunder with 29.
It also went down to the wire in Portland, where the Trail Blazers eclipsed the Memphis Grizzlies 115-113 in overtime.
After a back-and-forth first half, neither side was able to gain much of an advantage through the final two quarters.
Shaedon Sharpe’s clutch free throws drew the Trail Blazers level with eight seconds left on the clock before he blocked Luke Kennard’s attempt from the corner on the other end to force overtime.
Both teams continued to trade baskets until Jerami Grant’s late three proved enough to get Portland across the line.
A late flurry from Damian Lillard lifted the Milwaukee Bucks over the New York Knicks 110-105.
He finished with 30 points, including two clutch threes in the dying minutes, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 22 points and eight rebounds.
The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Chicago Bulls 109-107 on the back of 41 combined points from Dorian Finney-Smith and Mikal Bridges.
Elsewhere, the Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards by seven points, Myles Turner scored 27 to lead the Indiana Pacers over the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-116, and the Denver Nuggets cruised past the Dallas Mavericks 125-114.
The in-season tournament sees each NBA team play a four-game group stage in November, with the group winners advancing to knockout rounds.
The winning team claims the NBA Cup, and its players earn 500,000dollars each, with the final to be played in Las Vegas on December 9.
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