Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz suffered a broken left big toe during a preseason workout and the team is uncertain when he'll be able to return.
The Magic revealed the injury on Sunday and said he has been placed in a walking boot and surgery will not be required.
A timeline for a return will be determined with "how he responds to rehabilitation and treatment," the team announced.
The Magic open training camp on Tuesday and play their first regular-season game October 19 against the Detroit Pistons.
The first overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Fultz's career has been marred by a series of injuries.
In his five professional seasons, Fultz has appeared in more than 20 games only once, playing in a total of 26 games the past two seasons due to a torn ACL.
In 18 games for Orlando in 2021-22, Fultz averaged 10.8 points on 47.4% shooting and 5.5 assists.
The oft-injured 24-year-old is entering the second season of a three-year, $50million contract extension that he signed in December 2020.
Lorenzo Sonego fended off the challenge of Alexander Bublik to win Sunday's Moselle Open final and earn a return to the top 50 in the world rankings.
In Metz, France, unseeded Italian Sonego swept to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory in the trophy match, collecting the third ATP title of his career.
He enjoyed a stellar week at the ATP 250 event, following up wins over Gilles Simon and Sebastian Korda with a semi-final victory against second seed Hubert Hurkacz, not dropping a set across his four matches.
Sonego, who reached a career-high ranking of 21st in February, had drifted to 65th in the months since, but the ATP said he would climb back into the top 50 as a result of his title run. The ATP's live rankings on Sunday showed him making a leap of 20 places to number 45.
Bublik, the seventh seed, had reached the final after Stan Wawrinka withdrew from their semi-final due to injury. He kept pace with Sonego on Sunday in a tight first set where serves dominated and neither man could force a break, with success for the Italian in the tie-break breaking the resistance of his Kazakh opponent.
The second set proved to be one-sided as Sonego added the title to his previous triumphs on tour, also extending his winning head-to-head record against Bublik to 4-0.
This indoor hardcourt success followed previous wins on grass in Antalya in 2019 and on clay in Cagliari last year.
Sonego said in an on-court interview: "This is a really emotional moment for me. I'm really happy because I played my best tennis this week. It's been a tough year and I want to enjoy this moment."
Liudmila Samsonova continued her recent run of excellent form by claiming the Toray Pan Pacific Open title with victory over teenager Zheng Qinwen.
Zheng beat top seed Paula Badosa and fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova en route to her first WTA final.
However, the 19-year-old was undone by Samsonova, who has now won 18 of her last 19 matches, claiming three titles in that run.
Her 7-5 7-5 success in Tokyo made it two successive titles won without dropping a set and will move her up to a career-high ranking of 23.
Zheng, meanwhile, will become the first Chinese teenager to be ranked in the top 30. She is set to move up to 28th in the world.
"It was a really tough match because huge congrats to Qinwen and her team because she's playing amazing," Samsonova said afterwards.
"Seriously, congrats guys. It was a nervous match today. We were fighting every point. It was tough."
Ekaterina Alexandrova is aiming high after overcoming some early nerves to beat top seed Jelena Ostapenko in the Korea Open final for her third WTA Tour title.
The 27-year-old prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 in Seoul to add to previous titles won in Shenzhen and 's-Hertogenbosch, the latter coming just three months ago.
Alexandrova is at a career-high 24th in the WTA rankings and is hoping to climb further before the year is out.
"You always want to achieve more. I want to go higher and maybe end the year in the top 20 in the best-case scenario," she said in her on-court interview.
Ostapenko advanced to Sunday's final after Emma Raducanu retired injured in the previous round and was aiming to become the first two-time champion in the event.
Second seed Alexandrova dug deep in the first set by recovering from a break down three times against the 2017 winner before saving a set point at 6-5 down.
The Russian looked far stronger in the second set as she posted her sixth bagel of 2022 to seal victory in a time of 85 minutes.
"I think it was tough for me to start because I was really nervous and I couldn't find my rhythm in the first couple of games," Alexandrova said.
"But the longer we played, the better I felt on the court. I think maybe somewhere in the end of the first set I finally found the rhythm and I just continued to keep it that way."
Anthony Joshua has made it clear he will sign the contract for a bout against Tyson Fury on December 3.
The 'Battle of Britain' clash seemed to be at risk of a collapse after Fury issued a Monday deadline for an agreement to be signed but AJ's promoter Eddie Hearn ruled out such swift action.
That raised concerns that the fiercely anticipated bout could fall through, with Fury threatening to walk away and fight someone else.
Joshua has now moved to calm such fears in a video posted on social media, expressing his intent to sign the agreement.
"I've been signing contracts for years. It ain't in my hands, it is with the legal team, that's why you hire lawyers. You know the history of boxing, make sure you get your legal terms right," he said.
"That's why you have good management and good lawyers. Of course I'm going to sign the contract, it's just with some lawyers at the minute."
A fight between Fury and Joshua would likely set the heavyweight scene for 2023, with the winner then poised to face off against Oleksandr Usyk in a unification bout.
Joe Joyce's victory against Joseph Parker in Manchester on Sunday has set the Brit as the mandatory challenger for Usyk's WBO title, though he may have to wait for his shot.
Ian Foster warned New Zealand have "quite a bit left in this tank" after they retained their Rugby Championship title on Saturday.
The All Blacks thrashed Australia 40-14 at Eden Park on Saturday to put one hand on the trophy and South Africa were unable to dethrone them, beating Argentina 38-21 later in the day when they needed a bonus-point win by a margin of at least 39 points.
Defeats to the Springboks and the Pumas following a home series loss to Ireland had seen Foster come under huge pressure, but the head coach was backed to stay in the role.
The All Blacks boss says there is plenty more to come from his side less than a year before the Rugby World Cup starts in France.
He said on Sunday: "There is still quite a bit left in this tank. We saw that even last night. The building blocks are nice, but there are still a lot of finishing touches we're not quite getting right. But what a great spot to be in.
"It's up to us to make sure they're areas we can now tidy up. Some of the conversion rates in our line-breaks, for example, and I was disappointed we let them back on the scorecard in that last 10 minutes … they're small things but could be important things in 12 months' time."
Foster expressed his pride over the way his players have overcome adversity to win the title.
He said: "It's very special. It's been a different journey to other Rugby Championships we've won. To do it from behind the eight-ball at the start … it's not the way we wanted, but it's very satisfying. I'm really proud of the effort the boys have put in."
Foster added: "In life you don't know what it's going to chuck at you. You can only deal with the situation you're in and no one can walk in those shoes but yourself.
"What have we learnt? That under pressure we stay tight, under pressure we've sought solutions that have made us uncomfortable at times, but the goal is to get the performance right."
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper will be patient with head coach Matt Rhule amid their losing streak, sources say.
Back-to-back defeats to start the season against the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants, both of which were by a single score, have extended the Panthers winless streak to nine games – the longest such run in the NFL.
Despite that run, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport states that sources have informed him a change would only be made in the event of an 'epic collapse or a horribly embarrassing outcome'.
Improvements must be shown, however, and the situation could change later in the season, though for now the hierarchy will be patient amid the push for a turnaround.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield is still settling into the offense following his blockbuster trade from the Browns in July, while Christian McCaffrey is starting to build-up steam and the defense is in the top 10 overall in the NFL.
The Panthers have a tough schedule in the coming weeks, tackling the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the end of October.
That may see the losing streak extended as a result, with Rhule holding a 10-25 record as an NFL head coach and the Panthers are 1-25 in games where they have allowed 17 or more points.
Rhule signed a seven-year contract with the Panthers upon his arrival in 2020, which shows sights have clearly been set on the long-term picture.
Eddie Hearn says there is "no chance" a contract for an all-British heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will be signed by Monday.
WBC champion Fury on Saturday warned Joshua he will "move on to fight someone else" if Joshua does not agree terms that have been offered at the start of next week.
December 3 has been pencilled in as a date for the English duo to do battle in what would be a mouth-watering and long-awaited bout.
Hearn, Joshua's promoter, says Fury must be patient as there is no way a deal will be struck so quickly.
He said on the Seconds Out YouTube channel: "There is no chance this fight will get signed by Monday. There is no need for this fight to get signed by Monday.
"If he doesn't [want to fight Joshua], and I guess he doesn't, then he'll do what he'll do and the fans might even fall for it."
Hearn this week stated the first offer from the Fury camp was not acceptable, but "positive conversations" had taken place between the two parties.
He revealed Fury will be fighting Joshua if he is realistic with his deadline.
"We have a meeting on Monday, with DAZN, with BT, with everybody, but it's going to take time," added Hearn. "If he wants to put a time frame on it of Monday then it’s clear to the whole public he doesn't want the fight.
"It's not going to get signed on Monday so if he's walking away on Monday the fight's off."
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert remains questionable for Sunday's matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars and a final verdict will be a 'game-time decision'.
The sixth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft sustained a rib cartilage fracture in the Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and did not practice on Friday.
Herbert has said he will do whatever he can to be available for the game, stating: "I'm certainly going to do everything I can to prepare and be ready to play on Sunday."
It appears the decision will be a last-minute one, with NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reporting he is a 'true game-time decision today based on how he feels'.
If Herbert cannot feature, 13-year veteran Chase Daniel will get the start and took first-team reps on Friday in Herbert's absence.
The offense would be severely impacted without Herbert, however, and the Jaguars will fancy their chances of an upset that could be detrimental to the Chargers' campaign.
Brandon Staley's side lost to divisional rivals the Chiefs last time out and will not want to suffer another defeat at the hands of a fellow AFC side even at this early stage.
Francesco Bagnaia apologised to his team after a last-lap crash at the Grand Prix of Japan struck a blow to his MotoGP title hopes.
The Italian was going all out to try and pass championship leader Fabio Quartararo in Motegi on Sunday, but found himself in the gravel following a costly mistake.
Quartararo finished eighth, extending his lead over Bagnaia to 18 points with four rounds to go following a race that was won by Jack Miller.
Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi revealed Bagnaia was quick to hold his hands up for his error.
"He has already said that he's sorry for the mistake he made," Tardozzi told BT Sport.
"He was not able to accelerate out of the corner like the other Ducatis. We need to know why. His front tyre overheated so he could not brake hard.
"When it cooled down he was able to recover and gain something on the brakes."
Tardozzi says Bagnaia needed to think of the bigger picture.
"Yes. The goal was obvious." he added.
"You start the year trying to win as many races as possible. But at a certain point you have to think about the championship.
"You look to [the other] contender. Since Aragon, we look to Fabio every week. Losing two points is better than losing eight points."
Fellow title contender Aleix Espargaro also endured a nightmare, starting from the pits rather than sixth place as he had to change his bike before the start due to a technical issue and finished way back in 16th.
Espargaro said: "They made a mistake, and they didn't remove the fuel-saving map which doesn't allow you to go over 4-5,000 RPM or more than 100k per hour.
"I tried everything, but it was not working."
He added: "I changed bikes in the pits, but the second bike had the soft rear tyre [instead of the medium] and I can't ride with that tyre.
"I knew it from the beginning. The bike was just pushing the front. I was also very nervous and making a lot of mistakes, so I decided to stay out on track just to wait for a red flag or whatever. But it didn't arrive."
Mathieu van der Poel abandoned the UCI Road World Championships on Sunday after he was left "mentally broken" from being arrested in Sydney.
The Dutchman was charged with two counts of common assault at Kogarah Police Station following an alleged incident involving two teenage girls at a hotel on Saturday evening.
Van der Poel was granted conditional bail by New South Wales Police and will appear at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old had been among the favourites to be crowned world champion in Wollongong, but withdrew with 230 kilometres to go after revealing he only got back to his hotel from the police station at 4am.
Christoph Roodhooft, boss of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team Van der Poul rides for, said: "It was really unexpected. Obviously there were children bouncing at his door [in the hotel] and after the third he was p***** off with them. He went out and it seemed like it was children, teenagers, and someone called the police and they asked him to go to give an explanation.
"He was asked by the police to tell them what happened, then he could sign [papers] and then he could go. There were children in the corridor playing and he went out to ask them to stop but obviously not in the right way."
Roodhooft added of Van der Poel's withdrawal from the race: "We didn't talk about the situation, but sporting wise he was really disappointed. He didn't sleep all night and mentally he was a bit broken. He was expecting a lot from today and he did everything he could in the last two months after his bad Tour de France. He found joy and happiness again in cycling and was hoping for a nice race again."
Prior to the start of the race, Van der Poel explained what had occurred the night before.
He told Sporza: "It's true, yes. There was a small dispute. It was about noisy neighbours and they are quite strict here. I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door continuously.
"After a few times, I was done with it. I didn't ask so nicely to stop. Then the police were called, and I was taken. I wasn't back in my room until four o'clock."
NSW Police said in a statement: "About 10.40pm (Saturday 24 September 2022), a 27-year-old man was at a hotel on The Grand Parade, Brighton-Le-Sands, when he was allegedly involved in a verbal altercation with two teenage girls – aged 13 and 14.
"It's further alleged the man then pushed both teenagers, with one falling to the ground and the other being pushed into a wall causing a minor graze to her elbow.
"Officers from St George Police Area Command attended and arrested a 27-year-old man shortly after. He was taken to Kogarah Police Station and charged with two counts of common assault.
"He was granted conditional bail to appear at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday 27 September 2022."
Jack Miller stormed to his first victory of the season and Francesco Bagnaia's MotoGP title hopes suffered a blow when he crashed on the last lap of the Grand Prix of Japan.
Ducati rider Miller dominated a dramatic race on a dry Sunday in Motegi to the chequered flag, with Brad Binder second and Jorge Martin edging out Marc Marquez to take his place on the podium.
Fabio Quartararo could only finish eighth, but it proved to be a good day for the championship leader as title rival Bagnaia ended up in the gravel when he tried to pass the Frenchman from ninth place.
That costly mistake left Quartararo leading by 18 points with four rounds to go, with third-placed Aleix Espargaro having endured the nightmare of starting from the pits rather than six place as he had to change his bike before the start due to technical issue and finished way back in 16th.
Marquez claimed his first pole for three years on a wet Saturday, but it was Binder who got off to a dream start as he bolted from third on the grid to hit the front.
Martin then passed Binder, but Miller took the lead with 22 laps to go and never looked like losing it in a brilliant ride from the Australian.
There was a yellow flag after Takuya Tsuda retired with his bike on fire in his homeland and Marquez was scenting a 100th podium in the premier class in his 150th race when he moved ahead of Miguel Oliveira into fourth place.
Binder then passed Martin late on to take second before Bagnaia paid the price for pushing a little too hard on the last lap, missing out on points in a stunning finale.
Miller, who started in seventh spot, eased to his fourth MotoGP victory and eight-time world champion Marquez had to settle for an impressive fourth spot in his second race back following a fourth operation on his right arm.
Aaron Judge remains rooted on 60 home runs for the season after he was kept homerless for the fourth straight game in the New York Yankees' 7-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Judge had one walk but ended up none-for-three with two strikeouts and a fly out to medium center as the wait draws on to pull level with Roger Maris' franchise and American League (AL) record of 61 home runs in a single season.
The Yankees outfielder was left frustrated when he tried to hold his swing on a wide 2-2 fastball but umpire Chris Conroy signaled a third strike.
"Even for a guy that hit 60 home runs, he still doesn't hit them every day," Yankees coach Aaron Boone said. "A lot of things got to line up to go deep, even for the best of the best. So as long as he continues to take good at-bats and make good swing decisions, it'll happen sooner rather than later."
Judge's showing meant his batting average dropped to .314, with Boston's Xander Bogaerts going two-for-four to move ahead of him at .315, denting the Yankee's triple crown hopes.
Anthony Rizzo's seventh-inning two-run blast earned the Yankees the win in front of a sell-out crowd after scores were locked at 5-5.
Manoah helps Blue Jays claim key win
Alex Manoah led the way as the Toronto Blue Jays regained the top AL Wild Card spot with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Manoah sent down seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts – including his 300th career K - allowing only four hits with two walks.
Whit Merrifield hit a seventh-inning three-run blast to open up a three-run lead, capping a strong week after two homers against the Rays on Thursday.
The win means the Blue Jays (85-67) lead the Rays (84-68) by one game for the first AL Wild Card spot. The Seattle Mariners (83-68) are next.
Padres make ground in NL Wild Card hunt
Yu Darvish claimed his 16th win of the season as the San Diego Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-3 to climb into second spot in the National League (NL) Wild Card race.
Darvish finished with eight strikeouts across six innings, allowing only five hits and two runs, but the Padres pulled clear with a six-run seventh inning.
Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim both had two-run singles amid the seventh inning where they turned a tight game into a rout. The Padres move to 84-68, ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies (83-68) in the NL Wild Card race.
The Chicago White Sox have confirmed that manager Tony La Russa will not return to the dugout this season.
La Russa, 78, has been out since late August due to a heart ailment, which had initially forced him to step away from his role indefinitely.
The White Sox manager has been advised by doctors not to manage again this year, after undergoing additional testing and medical procedures over the past week. It remains to be seen if he returns in 2023.
Bench coach Miguel Cairo will continue as acting manager for the White Sox, who have under-achieved this season with a 76-75 record to be second in the American League Central.
La Russa had returned to lead the White Sox in 2021, his second stint in charge after leading the side from 1979 to 1986, before lengthy stints with the Oakland Athletics (1986-1995) and the St Louis Cardinals (1996-2011).
He is a three-time World Series champion, triumphing in 1989, 2006 and 2011, and is a four-time Manager of the Year winner.
Local hope Brandon Nakashima will take on Marcos Giron in the San Diego Open final after the latter shocked top seed Daniel Evans in Saturday's semi-finals.
World number 58 Giron upset Evans 6-3 7-5 in one hour and 46 minutes, qualifying for his maiden ATP Tour final.
San Diego native Nakashima progressed into the decider after getting past Australian Christopher O'Connell 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
Nakashima's triumph means he is into his first tour-level final of the season and it has come in familiar territory.
The fifth seed needed one hour and 50 minutes to beat O'Connell, who had the edge in the key statistics, including 8-7 aces, 34-31 winners and 13-16 unforced errors.
But Nakashima came up big when it mattered, managing the only break of the match in the first set, before triumphing in a tiebreak.
Giron produced the surprise result against world number 25 Evans, who was chasing his first-ever ATP Tour title.
The American sent down 11 aces, while he also hit 40-25 winners. Evans was unable to convert any of the three break points he generated throughout the match.
The Internationals have charged back into contention ahead of the final day of the Presidents Cup but still trail 11-7 at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.
USA had led 8-2 heading into Saturday's action that included four morning foursome matchups followed by four fourball contests, with Australia’s Cam Davis and South Korean Kim Joo-hyung starring for the under-dog International team.
The Internationals won two of the morning's foursome matchups and three of the fourball contests to make up major ground but will need win 8.5 points from the 12 on offer on the final day with singles to determine the winner.
If the International team win, it would be the greatest last day comeback in Presidents Cup history and their first victory since 1998 in Melbourne, the team's sole triumph.
"I'm almost in tears," Internationals captain Trevor Immelman said. "I'm so proud of these guys. We've fought so hard. We've had to be so patient."
"We’ve got a very long way to go. We know how tough the Americans are in singles. But today was a great day for us. This team has been through a lot."
Debutant Kim Joo-hyung had one of the moments of the day, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to clinch a 1up victory with Kim Si-woo against the previously unbeaten Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
The South Korean emotionally reveled in victory after the putt, having holed a 54-foot eagle putt on the 11th hole. In a seesawing fourball contest, Schauffele also putted in from 37 feet on the 15th.
Davis, paired with compatriot Adam Scott, was crucial with late putts in their 1up fourball victory over Sam Burns and Billy Horschel.
On the par-five 16th, Davis sunk an 11-foot eagle putt to win the hole, before making a 14-foot birdie putt to claim the 17th. Davis backed that up with a nine-foot birdie putt to tie 18 and secure the win.
The unbeaten Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas defeated Hideki Matsuyama and Taylor Pendrith 4 and 3 for USA's only fourballs win, while Im Sung-jae and Sebastian Munoz never trailed as they got past Tony Finau and Kevin Kisner 3 and 2.
In the morning's foursomes, Lee Kyoung-hoon and Kim Joo-hyung defeated Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 2 and 1 and Adam Scott teamed up with Hideki Matsuyama to knock off Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa 3 and 2.
USA got victories as Spieth and Thomas won against Im and Corey Conners 4 and 3 and Finau and Max Homa beating Kim Si-woo and Davis 4 and 3. Spieth and Thomas are the third duo in Presidents Cup history to go undefeated in the first four rounds.
"We're in a good spot," USA captain Davis Love said. "We have a lot of guys hitting it good. They just made more putts than we did.
"We always feel like we're at an advantage in the singles. We've had some great singles days in the past."
Tyson Fury has warned Anthony Joshua he will "move on" if the contract for a fight in December is not signed by Monday.
A 'Battle of Britain' bout has risen to the top of the agenda following Fury presenting an offer to AJ after it became clear a unification bout against Oleksandr Usyk would not occur this year.
Joshua accepted terms for the bout but official confirmation has not yet arrived, with an apparent delay in the 2012 Olympian putting pen to paper on a deal.
That has led Fury to concede he is not optimistic about the fight taking place and made it clear he is happy to move on to fight someone else.
"They've had the opportunity to agree to this fight for about a month I'd say," he said ringside at Joseph Parker's fight against Joe Joyce in Manchester.
"They've had the contract for over a week, still not signed, still a few more excuses they're gonna come back with.
"We'll know more on Monday I think, the two broadcasters are gonna meet on Monday and then we'll know from there. If it's not done by Monday then I'm moving on.
"I'm not waiting around for some guy who's lost three of his last five fights, he's lucky that I'm giving him a world title shot.
"I'm sick of setting deadlines. They either want this poxy fight or they don't. I was just saying to somebody else before I don't mind inviting these people to my party but they're not gonna come to my party, my banquet, and try and dictate to me.
"They either wanna do it or they don't. And if they wanna do it, sign the contract, and if they don't, do one.
"This is the fight that I've been trying to make since 2017, and I've been unsuccessful every single time. I was optimistic three or four weeks ago that the fight might happen. Today, I'm not very optimistic.
"I'm definitely fighting on December 3, whoever it may be I don't really care."
Novak Djokovic played a vital role in Team Europe opening up a four-point lead in the Laver Cup as he won in singles and doubles upon his return to the ATP Tour after a three-month absence.
Djokovic had not played since taking his grand slam count to 21 with the Wimbledon title in July, but he looked as if he had hardly been away as the Serbian beat Frances Tiafoe and then teamed up with Matteo Berrettini in the doubles.
Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal at the US Open earlier this month and combined with Jack Sock on Friday to defeat the Spaniard again in what was Roger Federer's last ever match, but the American could not get to grips with Djokovic in Saturday's final singles contest.
Djokovic's 6-1 6-3 win secured two points for Team Europe to put them out in front, and he was involved again in the last of the day's action as the team's advantage doubled to four points.
Berrettini and Djokovic tussled with Sock and Alex de Minaur and ultimately had too much, winning 7-5 6-2 in less than an hour and a half.
Earlier, Taylor Fritz's three-set triumph over Cameron Norrie put Team World briefly back on level terms.
Fritz made a brutal start but ended up being forced to a match tie-break, eventually coming through with a 6-1 4-6 10-8 victory.
That wiped out the two-point lead Berrettini had given Europe in the first match of the day, with the Italian edging Saturday's most gruelling tussle.
He saw off Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (13-11) 4-6 10-7, and despite finding himself on court for over two hours, Berrettini was still sharp enough to emerge victorious alongside Djokovic.
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber accepts his team have plenty of room for improvement with just under a year to go until their Rugby World Cup defence gets under way.
The Springboks could only beat Argentina 38-21 in the final match of the Rugby Championship on Saturday, and that meant New Zealand took the trophy.
South Africa required a try-scoring bonus point plus a winning margin of at least 39 points at Kings Park in Durban, but the Pumas would not be rolled over in such a manner.
The daunting title target for the Boks had been set when the All Blacks posted a crushing 40-14 victory against Australia earlier in the day.
Before their 2019 World Cup win, the Boks won a three-match Rugby Championship. The 2020 championship was cancelled due to the pandemic, but the All Blacks have now carried off the title in 2021 and 2022, this time around serving to ease some of the pressure on coach Ian Foster.
It was tight this year, with New Zealand and South Africa both winning four of six games, but the All Blacks managed one more bonus point and a superior points difference.
Nienaber is already looking forward to November away games against Ireland, France, Italy and England, as South Africa look to gather themselves for a big push into next year. The World Cup begins in September 2023 in France.
"We are not there yet, we need to find consistency," Nienaber said. "In that regard, we will get a good idea where we are on the end-of-year tour.
"We play the number one [Ireland] and number two [France] in the world in the first two games of the tour. So it will be a challenging tour for us."
South Africa had not scored 39 points in a match, let alone won by that margin, since a 40-9 defeat of Georgia in July 2021.
They last beat Argentina by such a hefty points margin in 2013, when posting a 73-13 landslide win, but the Pumas are far more competitive nowadays, as wins over Australia and New Zealand in this championship showed.
Nienaber said his players still felt they could pull off the improbable against Argentina when they took to the field.
"We saw it as a realistic target, we took on the task full on," Nienaber said, quoted by Supersport. "We needed to get a 39-point winning margin to win the trophy, and we all bought into it.
"In the end we came up short, but you can never take a win in the Springbok jersey for granted, victory is always special. We are glad we came out on the right side of today's result, even if we didn't get what we needed to win the championship."
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