Ryan Moore landed his sixth and final winner of the week as Dawn Rising justified favouritism in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Trained by Joseph O’Brien, the six-year-old was having just his sixth run on the Flat, but he is a Grade Three winner over hurdles.
Never far from the pace, Dawn Rising had to be rousted along some way out by Moore but he kept on finding for pressure.
Typewriter then burst through against the rail looking a huge threat under Oisin Murphy but soon faltered and it was The Grand Visir who laid down the final challenge, going down by half a length. Run For Oscar stayed on for third.
Dawn Rising, a rare 2-1 winning favourite this week, was providing O’Brien with his second winner of the meeting after the success of Okita Soushi.
Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore picked up the top trainer and jockey awards for the week at Royal Ascot.
Finishing with four winners, O’Brien was landing his 12th trainer title and Moore his 10th jockeys’ crown following his six victories – fittingly taking the closing race, the Queen Alexandra Stakes, with the Joseph O’Brien-trained Dawn Rising.
The highlight for both was the emphatic success of Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening afternoon.
O’Brien said: “It is a privilege for us, we are in a very privileged position and really appreciate it.
“The team make it all happen for us all. We really appreciate it, it’s great to be a part of it.
“I suppose it is very hard to get away from Paddington (as highlight), he looks very different. He has come out of the race fine.
“We had plenty of placed horses too, and we have been delighted that they were placed.”
Saluting Moore, O’Brien added: “Ryan is a superstar, that’s the word that describes him best.”
Frankie Dettori was out of luck on his final Royal Ascot ride as Knockbrex trailed home well beaten in the Golden Gates Stakes won by Burdett Road.
Dettori went into an early lead on Charlie Johnston’s charge, but the writing was on the wall before the turn for home and he quickly backpeddled.
That left Liberty Lane in front but he too paid for his early exertions, as Neil Callan made stealthy progress on Michael Bell’s three-year-old.
Burdett Road (20-1) went several lengths clear and the race looked over. However, a combination of tiredness and being in front on his own meant he was in danger of being caught.
Lion Of War, briefly stuck in traffic earlier in the straight, came with a late rattle but the 9-2 joint-favourite could only close to within three-quarters of a length.
It was a second winner of the week for Callan having won the Queen Anne on Triple Time.
Saint Lawrence returned to winning ways in the Wokingham Stakes to oblige on his first start for Archie Watson and provide Hollie Doyle with a third victory at this year’s Royal Ascot .
A Listed winner at two for Roger Varian, the five-year-old had run several good races since but failed to get his head in front.
After two further runs for Varian this season, owner John Deer decided to move him to Watson, already on the mark twice this week with Bradsell and Rhythm N Hooves, both ridden by Doyle.
Drawn highest of all in stall 30, the high numbers looked a long way behind at halfway as the Swedish raider Duca Di Como set a blistering gallop on the far side.
Just over a furlong out the pace appeared to collapse in that group, though, allowing those drawn high to close up.
It was Doyle and Saint Lawrence (22-1) who finished fastest of all, to beat Apollo One by a length with Juan Le Pins third and Mums Tipple fourth for Frankie Dettori.
Carlos Alcaraz fired a Wimbledon warning to his rivals after claiming he feels like he has been playing on grass for 10 years.
The 20-year-old from Spain is only playing in his third tournament on the surface at the cinch Championships, and his first other than at SW19.
But Alcaraz will take on Australian Alex De Minaur in Sunday’s final at Queen’s Club after comprehensively beating America’s Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-4.
“I’m playing great and feeling great,” he said. “I’m really happy to play my first final on grass, and even more here at Queen’s.
“I’m getting better. I’m feeling better every match I play. I feel like I’ve been playing for 10 years on grass. I didn’t expect that.”
Should Alcaraz win the title – and it would be hard to bet against him – he will overtake Novak Djokovic as world number one, and be the top seed at Wimbledon.
“Honestly at the beginning of the week I didn’t know that I could recover the number one,” he added.
“But when I won yesterday they told me and it is an extra motivation. It’s in my mind and I’m going to go for it. Being top seed and number one is a dream.”
De Minaur reached his first Queen’s final after a grass-court masterclass against Holger Rune.
The 24-year-old ‘Demon’ won 6-3 7-6 (2) to become the first Australian to make the final since Lleyton Hewitt won his fourth title in 2006.
“He’s (Hewitt) played pretty decent here over the years. He’s got a pretty good record,” smiled De Minaur.
“I think I’m a little bit far away from that, but, you know, I would love to be able to put my name on the trophy tomorrow.
“He’s been a huge mentor and he’s my Davis Cup captain, so he’s been messaging me this week as well. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
De Minaur, the Australian number one, is the boyfriend of current British number one Katie Boulter, who won her first title at the Nottingham Open last weekend.
He added: “I was probably inspired by her last week. I mean, I think she put in a hell of a performance, all things considered.
“She’s playing her home tournament, she’s British number one for the first time, she’s non-stop playing more Brits so there’s always a lot of nerves and pressure.
“She went out there, had a great week, made the final and then the biggest match of her career, she played one of the best matches I’ve ever seen her play.
“To be able to stand and deliver in that crucial point and win her first title, I was like, ‘yeah, I’ve got to watch what she’s doing and learn myself’.
“I think I have tried to replicate that a little bit this week and just be nice and calm, have a positive mindset. You know, it definitely helps. I’ve got to get a couple more tips from Katie.”
Pyledriver once again showed his liking for Ascot when defying an absence of almost a year to win the Hardwicke Stakes.
The hugely popular six-year-old has been beset by niggling injuries since winning the King George V And Queen Elizabeth Stakes in July last year.
Winner of the King Edward VII Stakes at this meeting in 2020, he looked to have hampered his chance in the first half-mile by running extremely keenly.
PJ McDonald was riding his first Royal Ascot winner having replaced the injured Martin Dwyer, while trainers William Muir and Chris Grassick have worked wonders getting their stable star back to full fitness.
As if to advertise his superiority over his rivals, once he hit the front Pyledriver (7-2) wandered in front of Changingoftheguard and West Wind Blows but went on to cross the line a length and a quarter clear of the latter.
While acknowledging that playing in Australia has assisted in her development as a player to arguably become the best goal shooter in the world, Jamaica's ace Jhaniele Fowler says international players have given the Super Netball competition more flavour and flair.
Fowler, who represents the West Coast Fever shared her views in the midst of a debate about whether Super Netball should have a cap on international players, who currently make up 17.5 per cent of all players in the tournament.
Fowler, a five-time league MVP, believes the competition should remain open.
“International players do come in and make the competition rounded and exciting. We do bring a little bit of different flavour, a bit of flair, but just more talents and more skill set,” Fowler said in a recent interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Though the Australia Football League (AFL), the Australia Football League Women’s (AFLW) and the A-Leagues don’t have any official caps on international players –with the caveat that salary caps can limit star imports –the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) limits imports to two per team, while the National Basketball League (NBL) is capped at three.
In a global context, the Women’s Super League soccer competition in England has a “home grown players” clause where in a squad of 25 players registered in their squad cap, there must be at least 15 registered home-grown players. A home-grown player is someone who, irrespective of their nationality, has been registered with a club affiliated to the Football Association for three seasons – or 36 months – before their 21st birthday.
In the UK-based Netball Superleague, teams are permitted up to two overseas players, but a team cannot have more than one overseas player in the attacking, midcourt or defensive positions on the court at once.
But, where Super Netball is concerned, Fowler is one of seven Jamaican players in the Australian league, including Thunderbirds defensive duo Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson and Collingwood’s Shimona Nelson.
For Fowler, moving to Australia has made her a more complete player, as she pointed to improvements to her craft under elite coaches and, by extension, playing against the best in the world each week. But in the same breath, she is of the view that it is also a two-way street, as the Jamaican players have made the game more exciting.
“They’re amazing, they’re so athletic,” said Fowler.
“Just week in, week out, when you see the Jamaican players go out there, the commentators, everyone, has to talk about them because they have made such an impact in this league in their teams,” she added.
Former Diamonds head coach, and a current coaching mentor, Lisa Alexander, didn’t think there should be a cap on international players, but her stance was different while she was Australia’s coach.
“As a national coach with a different purpose, I thought differently in the past and did call for restrictions to be two imports per team. If we eventually become the best in the world like the NBA [is to basketball], then we must have a draft and salary cap,” she said.
Alexander explained that, without a cap, the Super Netball competition would continue to provide a world-class competition for Australian athletes to compete in, week in, week out.
Netball legend and Hall of Famer Jill McIntosh praised the strength of the league but pushed for a cap on the number of international players allowed in the competition.
McIntosh, who captained Australia to their 1983 World Cup win, said that while imports have been good for the league, she is worried that without a limit, potential Diamonds players could be benched.
“We’re not in the Olympics, so our World Cup is our pinnacle,” McIntosh said. “I want to see the sport survive and thrive.”
Meanwhile, veteran netballer Ash Brazill said she would like to see more teams added to the competition to give more opportunities to local players, given the spots taken up by international players.
“I can’t wait to see extra teams added to our league because in the end there are only 80 spots, and we have 25 internationals. It’s pretty hard as Australians to get one of those 55 spots that are left. I think we definitely need some more teams for the Australian pool,” said Brazill.
However, Fowler reiterated international players also improve world netball by affording more opportunities for players in countries that don’t have avenues to develop or play.
“I reckon it should just stay open because, if you look, there are still teams in the league that do not really have an international player on their team yet. I reckon I can safely say that, and if anything, some teams just maybe have one international player,” Fowler argued.
She continued: “But I reckon, yeah, bring the international players in, also give them the experience because other countries don’t have the competition back home to develop players.
“So, it would be good for netball on a whole because then you will see that the competition is not just Australia, New Zealand, England or Jamaica in top four – other countries are putting out and delivering as well. And then netball is just going to be even more exciting. You just don’t want to see the same countries winning all the time.”
That international rivalry will be put on show at the upcoming World Cup in Cape Town in next month, but first Fowler has a Super Netball semi-final to win.
Despite West Coast having an inconsistent season with “ups and downs”, the 36-year-old Fowler said they are proud to have finished in third spot, meaning they take on Melbourne Vixens in a knockout grand final rematch in which the Fever will have home-court advantage.
“Definitely, it will be pretty good coming up against the Vixens. They’re going to be a really tough team to beat, but we know that we have what it takes to win,” Fowler declared.
“The green army, they’re really loud, and they also always help to get us over the line, so we’re going to make sure to capitalize on having the home court,” she ended.
Khaadem caused an 80-1 upset in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Winner of the Stewards’ Cup in 2019, he was fourth in the corresponding race in 2020 but had always come up short when previously tried in Group One company.
Trained by Charlie Hills, he was given a typically patient ride by Jamie Spencer, who was recording his second big-priced winner of the week after the 50-1 success of Witch Hunter.
Highfield Princess, second in the King’s Stand on Tuesday, was prominent throughout leading one group, while The Astrologist and Kinross led the group on the far side.
The William Haggas-trained Sacred hit the front over a furlong out and it looked like she was just going to do enough to hold on, but Spencer had bided his time exquisitely and produced Khaadem to perfection.
Sacred was second, while the gallant Highfield Princess hung on for third.
Former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova will return to the top 10 after reaching her first grass-court final at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.
The Czech claimed her maiden singles grand slam title in 2021 but missed a chunk of last season with an elbow injury and dropped down the rankings.
Now the 27-year-old is back on the up and she is yet to drop a set so far at Edgbaston Priory, easing to a 6-3 6-2 victory over China’s Zhu Lin in the semi-finals.
Krejcikova said: “I’m really happy. Today was another difficult match, I felt it was really tough to play against my opponent today, so I’m really happy how I went through and I was really focused all the games.
“I played well. It’s really nice that I’m back (in the top 10) but it’s just a number, I want to keep going.”
It will be a battle of the top two seeds in the final, but second seed Jelena Ostapenko has had a contrasting path.
The powerful Latvian survived her third close three-setter in as many days, seeing off Russian Anastasia Potapova 5-7 6-2 6-4.
“Honestly I don’t know how I did it,” said Ostapenko. “Every match was a really tough match. It’s never easy and I always play a little bit up and down but in general I’m really happy.
“I think it’s important to win these kind of matches when you’re sometimes not playing your best and you just fight for every point. I will try to recover as good as I can and be ready for tomorrow.”
Age Of Kings bounced back from his run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to win the Jersey Stakes for Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot.
Down the field behind stablemate Paddington at the Curragh, he was the second string in this Group Three with Ryan Moore preferring the claims of The Antarctic, who never got involved.
Wayne Lordan was the man on board and he was never far from the early pace, set by Frankie Dettori on the favourite Covey.
With two furlongs to run Covey’s stride began to shorten and that left Age Of Kings in front and it became a question of what he had left in the tank.
Challengers emerged from out of the pack, the best of which was James Ferguson’s Zoology, while Streets Of Gold also made good late headway.
But Age Of Kings was able to hold on by a length and win at 22-1 to give O’Brien a fourth winner of the week.
O’Brien said: “He had a very good run in the Irish Guineas if you look back at it and it was his first run of the year. He’s made great progress from it. He’s worked a length or two off The Antarctic who we were worried about the trip, but we were sure this fellow would enjoy it.
“The form was there and Wayne kept things uncomplicated. He said the horse tried very hard and would get a mile.”
Lordan said: “He had a run in the Guineas because he was a long time off the track, and finished eight lengths behind Paddington, so for the first run of the year to do that is not too bad.
“It’s great to be coming over here for rides, especially for Aidan and to get a winner is fabulous. Any day here is special.”
Age Of Kings bounced back from a disappointing run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to win the Jersey Stakes for Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot.
Down the field behind stablemate Paddington at the Curragh, he was the second string in this Group Three with Ryan Moore preferring the claims of The Antarctic, who never got involved.
Wayne Lordan was the man on board and he was never far from the early pace, set by Frankie Dettori on the favourite Covey.
With two furlongs to run Covey’s stride began to shorten and that left Age Of Kings in front and it became a question of what he had left in the tank.
Challengers emerged from out of the pack, the best of which was James Ferguson’s Zoology, while Streets Of Gold also made good late headway.
But Age Of Kings was able to hold on by a length and win at 22-1 to give O’Brien a fourth winner of the week.
Alex De Minaur reached his first final at Queen’s Club after a grass-court masterclass against Holger Rune at the cinch Championships.
The 24-year-old ‘Demon’ roared to a 6-3 7-6 (2) victory to become the first Australian to make the final since Lleyton Hewitt won his fourth title in 2006.
De Minaur, the boyfriend of Britain’s Katie Boulter, is a proven performer on the grass; he is a former Eastbourne champion and also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.
Danish rising star Rune, by contrast, remains a work in progress on grass. His win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday was the first of his career on the surface.
De Minaur broke the Rune serve in the very first game and repeated the trick in the ninth to wrap up the opening set.
Rune, 20, fashioned a first break point at the start of the second, but De Minaur slammed the door shut with two consecutive winners and an ace.
De Minaur had a break point for 5-3 to take a stranglehold on the match, but he netted a simple forehand to let his opponent off the hook.
However, he totally dominated the tie-break, dropping just two points, on his way to victory in an hour and 40 minutes.
De Minaur, who beat Andy Murray in the first round, said: “I play pretty decent on grass and I’m having an amazing week.
“That was my best match so far, so happy days. One more to go. It’s a pretty special tournament so let’s hope I can go one better tomorrow. I’ll do my best.”
The semi-final was played in sweltering heat and twice interrupted by spectators needing medical treatment in the stands.
“I want to make sure the people who seeked medical assistance are all right,” added De Minaur. “Keep hydrated, it’s a hot one out there!”
Snellen just held off the late lunge of favourite Pearls And Rubies to provide Champion Hurdle-winning trainer Gavin Cromwell with a second Royal Ascot winner.
Sent off at 12-1 having won on her only previous outing at Limerick, she was produced with a well-timed challenge by Gary Carroll.
With a furlong to run there were any amount still in with a chance, but Carroll’s mount took a length out of the field.
That should have put the race to bed but Snellen began to drift to her left, allowing Pearls And Rubies and Ryan Moore a chance to close the gap. Unfortunately for favourite-backers, though, there was still a head between them when the line came.
Golden Mind and 125-1 shot Oddyssey dead-heated for third.
Cromwell said: “She’s been nice from the word go and is just progressing all the time.
“Her dam won over a mile and a half so I think she’ll stay further. I haven’t thought about Classics, we’ll enjoy today first.”
Frankie Dettori will arrive for his final day at Royal Ascot in the grandest possible fashion as part of the royal procession.
The 52-year-old has bounced back from a disappointing first day when he went winless and picked up a nine-day suspension – which he is appealing – to enjoy some spectacular successes, including the Gold Cup aboard Courage Mon Ami.
Dettori and his wife, Catherine, are in carriage four with Jamie Snowden and his wife, Lucy.
His book of rides on Saturday sees Covey as favourite for the Jersey Stakes, Free Wind a short price in the Hardwicke, Kinross fancied in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and Knockbrex the market leader in the Golden Gates Handicap. He also rides Mums Tipple in the Wokingham.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has denied comments he made about Nick Kyrgios following last year’s heated Wimbledon battle were racist in nature.
The Greek has been criticised on social media for saying during the Netflix documentary series Break Point that Kyrgios’ approach to tennis was “uneducated” and that he brought an “NBA basketball attitude” to the sport.
Writing on his Facebook page, Tsitsipas said: “Today, I want to address a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart; an unfortunate misunderstanding that has a distorted picture of my intentions.
“It has come to my attention that some individuals have misinterpreted my comments regarding Nick Kyrgios, labelling him as uneducated and accusing him of bringing a basketball mentality into tennis, insinuating racism where none exists.
“Let me take this opportunity to provide clarity and rectify any misconceptions that may have arisen.
“Firstly, I want to emphasise that I harbour no prejudice towards anyone based on their background, ethnicity, or interests. I deeply regret if my words were misinterpreted or caused offence, as that was never my intention.
“My previous remarks regarding Nick Kyrgios were not meant to undermine his intelligence or abilities. Instead, I simply intended to express my perspective on certain aspects of his playing style, drawing comparisons to the passion and intensity often associated with basketball.
“It was an attempt to highlight the dynamic and captivating nature of his approach to the game, not a criticism of his character or capabilities.”
The pair clashed in the third round at the All England Club, with Kyrgios engaged in a running dialogue with the umpire and calling for Tsitsipas to be defaulted after he swiped a ball into the crowd.
The Greek lost his cool and received a point penalty for recklessly hitting the ball before appearing to aim a shot straight at Kyrgios, who eventually won in four sets.
Kyrgios accepted Tsitsipas’ apology, writing on Twitter: “It was a very heated battle sometimes as players we go into these press conferences without digesting the match…. We’ve had some crazy battles and I know deep down you like my brand of tennis we are all good @steftsitsipas”
Rory McIlroy gave back the shots he made by holing in one on the eighth as he was left trailing the record-breaking halfway leaders at the Travelers Championship.
McIlroy aced the par three in the first round, but could only find the water second time around as he double bogeyed the hole en route to a six-under-par 64.
“I hit a pretty good shot, I just misjudged the wind a little bit and it came up short in the one place you couldn’t miss today,” said McIlroy, who is tied for 10th on eight-under-par – seven behind leaders Keegan Bradley and Denny McCarthy at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.
“Other than that, it was a really good round of golf.”
McCarthy followed his opening round of 60 with a 65 to set a commanding clubhouse target which only Bradley, who fired a second round 63, could match – their 15-under-par total of 125 setting a tournament record.
“It’s nice, but golf tournaments aren’t 36 holes unfortunately,” said McCarthy. “I know there’s still a lot of golf left and I’m playing some really nice golf, so I’m looking forward to having fun this weekend.”
Chez Reavie, who won the title in 2019, moved within two of the lead with a 63 with Eric Cole a further two strokes back.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland are among those in a large group alongside McIlroy on eight-under, one better than a group containing England’s Aaron Rai, Ireland’s former Open champion Shane Lowry and world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Matt Fitzpatrick was a shot further back while his successor as US Open champion Wyndham Clark shot a 67 to move to five under – Masters champion Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood missing the cut.
Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz became the first Reds player to hit for a cycle in 34 years and Cincinnati outslugged the Atlanta Braves 11-10 for their 12th straight victory.
De La Cruz led off the second inning with a double, hit a two-run homer in the third, had a run-scoring single in the fifth and completed the cycle with a triple in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the game.
The cycle is the seventh overall in Reds’ history and the first since Eric Davis on June 2, 1989. The 21-year-old De La Cruz achieved the feat in just his 15th game – the third fewest since 1900.
Cincinnati matched the 1939 and 1957 teams for the franchise’s longest single season winning streak since 1900.
Atlanta, which had an eight-game winning streak stopped, scored five runs in the first off Luke Weaver, with Travis d’Arnaud’s three-run homer the big blow.
Cincinnati got two runs back in the second inning on Jake Fraley’s home run and pulled within 5-4 an inning later on De La Cruz’s two-run blast.
Joey Votto’s first home run of the game in the fourth inning tied it, but the Braves went back on top in the fifth as Matt Olson’s homer scored Austin Riley.
The Reds went ahead for good with four runs in their half of the fifth. De La Cruz singled in a run and Votto delivered a three-run homer.
Atlanta got solo home runs from Ronald Acuna, Jr., Riley and Olson again in the eighth but was unable to push across the tying run in just its third loss in 18 games.
Ohtani hits MLB-best 25th home run in Angels’ loss
Shohei Ohtani extended his major league lead with his 25th home run and fell a triple shy of the cycle in the Los Angles Angels’ 7-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Ohtani homered off starter Kyle Freeland in the fifth inning and Mike Trout followed with his 16th home run to give the Angels a 4-2 lead.
Ohtani has at least one extra-base hit in 10 straight road games, a franchise record and the longest such streak in the majors since 2009.
Colorado, which had lost eight in a row, went ahead in the eighth on Elias Diaz’s grand slam.
Conforto leads Giants past Diamondbacks in NL West matchup
Michael Conforto had three hits and four RBIs to lead the San Francisco Giants to an 8-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a battle between the top teams in the NL West.
Conforto had a two-run double in San Francisco’s three-run third inning and came through with another two-run double as part of a four-run fifth. Patrick Bailey capped the uprising with a two-run homer.
The Giants have won 11 of 12 to get within 2 ½ games of NL West-leading Arizona.
Allianz Premier 15s chief executive Belinda Moore believes that women’s sport is beginning to “stand alone” as interest continues to grow.
The RFU announced in June 2022 that up to £220m would be invested into the professional women’s game over 10 years and Moore was announced as CEO of the Premier 15s last October.
It comes as part of an exciting time of growth in women’s sport which will be seen this summer with England’s cricketers and netballers in action alongside the Lionesses, who will be aiming to build on last year’s Euro win at the World Cup.
There has also been success in rugby as the Red Roses reached the World Cup final last November before scooping a fifth successive Six Nations title in front of a record-breaking crowd of 58,498 at Twickenham in April, and Moore insists women’s sport is now providing entertainment in its own right.
“We all know what an amazing job the Lionesses did and the growth that’s come off the back of that,” she told the PA news agency.
“One of the things they proved very eloquently was that women’s sport now is starting to stand alone.
“It’s recognised for what it is, so it’s not regarded as men’s sport – there’s a women’s brand of football, a women’s brand of rugby and they’re really entertaining games in their own right.”
Women’s domestic rugby is set to take centre stage on Saturday when Exeter Chiefs face Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier 15s final at the renamed “Queensholm” Stadium.
Neither team has previously won the competition and so far 8,000 tickets have been sold for the West Country clash.
“I’m hugely looking forward to Saturday, I think the two semi-finals set a really good benchmark for what we can expect this weekend,” Moore said.
“It’s been amazing to see the growth of women’s rugby, even in the short time since the World Cup last year and that crowd last year, and the crowd at Twickenham for the England-France game.
“They’ve sold over 7,000 tickets for this match this weekend, which is a huge uptake on last year.
“The great news is we can see the interest in the sport is growing and I’m looking forward to a cracking final at Queensholm, as they’ve aptly renamed it this weekend!”
Alongside plans to grow the Premier 15s competition, England are also set to host the World Cup in 2025.
Last year’s World Cup final saw hosts New Zealand beat the Red Roses in front of 42,579 in Auckland and Moore believes a home tournament is an ideal opportunity to keep generating interest.
She said: “The number of people who got up at daft o’clock in the morning, myself included, was a really big thing.
“It was a great one, the challenge always is when you play rugby of any description down on the southern hemisphere, it’s harder to get that wider attention in a busy, crowded sports market.
“So I think what you got primarily was rugby fans, which is brilliant, but what we also want to do is expand the game out to those who maybe don’t know it so well, sports fans or more general fans of women’s sport.
“The great news is we’ve got a strong base to build on, but we definitely need to build on it and 2025 I think will be that big springboard that puts women’s rugby in people’s living rooms at primetime and starts to change that narrative.”
Mel Reid moved to within a shot of the lead at the second women’s major of the year – nine months after quitting golf.
Ireland’s Leona Maguire fired four late birdies in a second round 68 to take the halfway lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in New Jersey, one clear of a group on four-under which includes England’s Reid after her 67.
She was joined by China’s Xiyu Lin and Norwegian rookie Celine Borge with first round leader Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa and Australia’s Minjee Lee, chasing her second major title after a second round 67.
For Reid, it is a big change from deciding to give up playing due to injury.
“I legit quit,” she said. “When I got my injury, I tried to play through it, which I kind of felt I had to. In September I literally told Carly (her wife), I’m going into the media, I’m not playing golf anymore.
“With things like that, if you just give me a bit of space, I do kind of work it out myself.
“I missed the competitiveness of it and I thought let’s give it one more go. I’ve just been really enjoying myself this year.”
Maguire birdied four of her final six holes as she took the halfway lead in a major for the first time.
“This is uncharted territory for me,” Maguire said. “Whatever happens this week, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot, and just sort of taking it one day at a time.
“I think this golf course demands that. I think you can’t think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead.”
Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow shot a second round 68 to be in a group on one-under with only 15 players under par on the Lower Course at Baltusrol.
World number nine Lexi Thompson birdied her last four holes to sneak inside the cut at four-over-par, but England’s Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Bronte Law and Laura Davies all missed out, alongside world number two Nelly Korda, number four Lilia Vi and number six Atthaya Thitikul.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
