UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards is set for a legacy-defining test on Saturday when he heads into his trilogy fight against Kamaru Usman as the underdog.
Edwards, 31, suffered the last loss of his career against Usman – a unanimous decision back in 2015 as he failed to solve the wrestling-heavy attack from the 'Nigerian Nightmare'.
It took nearly seven years for Edwards to earn the rematch, rattling off nine wins in a row over that span to force his way into a world title fight.
He got his opportunity at UFC 278 in August, and while he showed some clear improvement from their first meeting – including landing a rare takedown against Usman – the champion looked set to extend his perfect run in the UFC to 15-0 through four rounds.
But just minutes away from a decision victory, Edwards did the unthinkable. After repeatedly throwing his left roundhouse kick to the body and legs throughout the opening 22 minutes, Edwards sent the same kick high, catching Usman clean as he instinctively leaned into it and defended his body.
It was a moment that will live forever, with the man aptly nicknamed 'Rocky' coming from the clouds to score a monumental upset and conquer the fighting world.
The passion, pain and frustration from his decade-long journey to the top was evident during his famous post-fight interview, where he stared into the camera yelling, "You all said I couldn't do it – well look at me now".
Nobody can ever take that night away from Edwards, and people will still be talking about it long after both he and Usman have hung up their gloves – but the reality is that his dream run may be in its final hours as the trilogy approaches.
While Edwards has proved he is capable of defeating Usman – something none of his previous opponents can say – it is still hard to imagine how he can win three out of five rounds against the former champion.
The grappling advantage for Usman is significant, and he is likely to lean into that even further after the painful illustration about what can happen if he settles for a kickboxing match.
Even after Edwards fought off the grappling attack from Usman in the first round of their title fight, Usman almost assuredly took rounds two, three and four, and really looked in no danger down the stretch until the fight-ending blow.
Usman is simply better at winning rounds, meaning Edwards likely has to repeat his knockout finish to defend his belt for the first time in front of a packed O2 Arena.
It would be unfair to label the historic head-kick as a fluke, or luck. You do not accidentally set someone up for a perfect finishing shot and land it with such force, at such a desperate situation in the biggest fight of your life.
But the thing about once-in-a-lifetime knockouts is that, by definition, they don't happen twice – and a fighter the calibre of Usman will not make the same mistake again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are anxiously awaiting an injury update on star player Anthony Edwards after the former Rookie of the Year had to be carried off the court on Friday.
Edwards, who is averaging 25.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in his third season, had eight points in eight minutes before going down with an ankle injury early in a 139-131 double-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The former number one draft pick is living up to the hype on the offensive end, but he has also shown terrific instincts on the other side of the ball, currently tied with Tyrese Haliburton for the fifth-most steals per game (1.6).
Minnesota had been expected to spiral after Karl-Anthony Towns went down with a long-term injury in November, but Edwards had kept them afloat, currently sitting eighth in the West at 35-36.
But while they are just one game behind the six seed, they are also only one game in front of the Utah Jazz in 11th, and any Edwards absence with just 11 games remaining could decide the franchise's playoff fate.
Speaking immediately after the loss, Edwards said he knew straight away that his night was over.
"I couldn't walk on it, so I knew it was a wrap," he said. "See how it feels tomorrow."
Head coach Chris Finch did not have an update on his status, and lamented the crushing nature of the loss after leading in the final stages of regulation.
"It's a devastating loss," he said "We've got to win that game, you know?
"Up two with 26 seconds left, with the ball. No reason to do anything, other than just make them come get us, and we just throw it out of bounds. We couldn't get a shot off in some key moments, too.
"We battled, and battled. We changed defenses all night long, we played our butt off, and we got a chance to win the game – and you've got to win that game."
When asked about how they will move forward without their two top offensive options, Finch said it can not be used as an excuse.
"Nobody cares," he said. "We've got to keep fighting. We've got a heck of a game tomorrow [away against the Toronto Raptors], and nobody cares what's happened to the Timberwolves.
"We'll figure it out, we'll lace it up tomorrow and we'll fight – I know that. We still have other players who can put the ball in the bucket.
"Obviously, you lose Ant's dynamic big-shot making – of course you lose everything he brings – but we're going to have to rely more on ball movement, body movement, pass-pass combinations, those kinds of things.
"I thought we did a really good job in that three-man game with Kyle [Anderson], Mike [Conley} and Rudy [Gobert]… we have things we can go to, we just have to sift through it and figure it out."
Wolves center Rudy Gobert shared the sentiment that the team cannot feel sorry for themselves.
"We know that no one's going to help us," he said. "We're all we got.
"So we've just got to go out there, keep putting in the work, keep enjoying it and just learn from this situation. Win a game when we're in position to win a game."
The Chicago Bulls rode DeMar DeRozan's best game of the season to a thrilling 139-131 double-overtime home victory on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
DeRozan scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying basket to force overtime with 20 seconds remaining. He added nine more in the overtime periods, giving him a season-high 49 points on 15-of-25 shooting, including 17-of-18 from the free throw line.
The six-time All-Star logged 52 minutes of action – the third-most of any player this season (Immanuel Quickley 55; Luka Doncic 53) – while chipping in 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals and only one turnover.
His partner-in-crime Zach LaVine was playing a supporting role through three quarters, but he rose to the occasion from that point on, helping the Bulls claw back from a 10-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining.
LaVine had 12 in the fourth quarter, made the shot to force a second overtime, and kept it going with the Bulls' first five points of the final period. He ended up with 39 on identical shooting to DeRozan (15-of-25 from the field), continuing his excellent form since the All-Star break.
He came into Friday's contest averaging 30.7 points while shooting 54.8 per cent from the field, 47.5 per cent from deep and 91.5 per cent from the free throw line in the nine games since the break.
For the Timberwolves, Kyle Anderson put up his second triple-double from the past three games with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, while Rudy Gobert posted 21 points (eight-of-14) and 19 rebounds.
But the big story out of Minnesota will be the health of franchise player Anthony Edwards, after he went down with what looked like a serious ankle injury in the first half.
The win keeps the Bulls (32-37) just a half-game inside the play-in tournament placings.
Kyrie puts away the Lakers
The Dallas Mavericks have won back-to-back games for the first time in over a month after a buzzer-beating 111-110 road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
They were buoyed by the return of Kyrie Irving after a three-game injury absence, and he dominated the contest with a game-high 38 points on 14-of-23 shooting, with six rebounds and six assists.
Anthony Davis was strong for the Lakers with a team-high 26 points (nine-of-14), but a missed free throw with six seconds remaining meant his side only led by two instead of three. That proved to be the difference as Irving found Maxi Kleber for the game-winning three-pointer.
A win would have pulled the Lakers up into a tie for eighth, and left them just one game out of the six seed, but instead they fell to 34-37 and are in a tie for the 10th seed.
Tatum and Brown deliver another Celtics win
All-Star Boston Celtics duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points as they overcame the Portland Trail Blazers 126-112 on the road.
The Celtics had to deal with another big Damian Lillard outburst as he piled on a game-high 41 points (12-of-23 shooting), although his seven turnovers hurt the Blazers.
Tatum shot eight-of-20 and 16-of-18 from the free throw line for his team-high 34 points and 12 rebounds, while Brown was 12-of-23 for 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Veteran center Al Horford finished one assist shy of his career-high with 10.
The win is the Celtics' fourth from their past five games, pulling them to within 1.5 games of the Eastern Conference leading Milwaukee Bucks.
The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights made history on Friday as they knocked off one-seed Purdue 63-58 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In doing so, FDU became the second 16-seed in tournament history to advance into the second round, joining the 2018 UMBC Retrievers.
Adding to the unlikeliness of their upset, the Knights are the shortest team in all of division one basketball this season – among 363 teams – and they had to deal with seven-foot-four National Player of the Year candidate Zach Edey.
Edey still had his way, scoring 21 points on seven-of-11 shooting while adding 15 rebounds and three blocks. He became the first player in tournament history to put up those numbers and still lose, dating back to when blocks became an official stat in 1986.
It was the only shocking upset of the day, although the six-seed Iowa State Cyclones were totally outmatched in their 59-41 defeat at the hands of the 11-seed Pittsburgh Panthers.
Despite a quiet game from the top NBA prospect in action Friday – Keyonte George – the three-seed Baylor Bears had no issue sending home the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 74-56.
George, a six-foot-four freshman guard, is averaging 15.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists as a starter on a quality outfit, but he had just nine points against the Gauchos as the Baylor starters got an early rest.
The most eye-catching individual performance of the day came from reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, with the six-foot-nine senior piling up 25 rebounds in the six-seed Kentucky Wildcats' 61-53 triumph over the 11-seed Providence Friars.
Tshiebwe finished with 11 offensive rebounds to go with 14 on the defensive end, adding eight points, three steals and two blocks.
The other top seeds in action all survived and advanced, with two-seed Marquette beating 15-seed Vermont 78-61, three-seed Gonzaga getting the better of Grand Canyon 82-70, and three-seed Xavier surviving an early scare to overcome Kennesaw State 72-67.
Elena Rybakina is through to her second final of the year after upsetting world number one Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-2 in Friday's Indian Wells Open semi-final.
Rybakina, 25, added to her terrific recent head-to-head record against the 21-year-old Polish superstar, now with three consecutive straight sets victories since December.
The reigning Wimbledon champion, who became Kazakhstan's first grand slam winner, was all over Swiatek's serve from the jump.
The top seed ended up winning just 42 per cent (18-of-43) of her total service points, with Rybakina converting all five of her break point opportunities.
After taking the opening frame, Rybakina slammed the door shut by running out to a 5-0 lead in the second, hitting five aces in the set while Swiatek had just one for the match.
Rybakina will next face world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the decider after the Belarusian made similar light work of world number seven Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka, who has dropped only one set en route to the final, needed just 85 minutes to advance 6-2 6-3. She created 10 break point opportunities compared to Sakkari's four, with the Greek talent not able to pull another rabbit out of the hat after four consecutive three-set victories.
It will be the sixth overall meeting between Rybakina and Sabalenka, and a rematch from the Australian Open final, when Sabalenka took it 4-6 6-3 6-4 to extend her head-to-head advantage to 4-1.
It did not come as a surprise that Jimmy Garoppolo left the San Francisco 49ers, and maybe it should not surprise anyone that he ended up with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Garoppolo was introduced by the Raiders on Friday after a one-day delay due to some contract details.
In Las Vegas, he reunites with Josh McDaniels, the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator for the first three seasons of his career.
"Oh yeah," Garoppolo said Friday when asked if the Raiders were on his radar as he approached free agency after five seasons with the 49ers. "Right off the bat actually, one of my agents gave me the first list of teams, Raiders were right up there. I have the familiarity with Josh, Dave [Ziegler]. All that played a role."
The Raiders gave Garoppolo a three-year, $67.5million contract, including $34m in guaranteed money.
"I'm coming in with the mindset that I need to earn everything – I don't want to be given any 'You're the franchise guy' or whatever," he said. "I want to come in and earn it.
"I think it will come through hard work, working with teammates, being in the facility. All those little things will play a role. But yeah, I don't want to be given anything; I want to earn it.
"Just because I’m the quarterback, I'm not the leader because of that. I want to be the leader because guys respect me and believe in me… I think it will happen naturally. I don't want to force anything, be inauthentic. I just want to be myself and it's done me well in the past."
Garoppolo joins a Raiders team coming off a 6-11 season, but with an offense that includes wide receivers Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Hunter Renfrow as well as running back Josh Jacobs.
"Whenever you've got skill position guys like that, the run after catch, I'm a big believer," Garoppolo said. "I think if you give them an accurate ball, if you've got the right guys that can make a play – and we seem to have the right guys here."
While Garoppolo is familiar with McDaniels and his offense, it’s been a while since he worked with him. He acknowledged he will have to relearn the language of the offense.
"Basically like going Spanish to French," he said. "It won’t take long but Josh's offense, obviously, has evolved over the years and you've just got to pick it up as quickly as possible. But we'll be fine."
He made the point of saying he wants to take the Raiders to the Super Bowl championship.
"I know every player says that when they come up to their first press conference, but that’s my goal," Garoppolo said. "I want to go get a ring, get the silver and black back to where it should be. I know it's not an easy process. I went through it in San Francisco, lower end of the field when I first got there."
Adam Schenk stood alone atop the leaderboard at seven under through two rounds at the Valspar Championship, with major champions Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas both in the hunt.
Schenk, a 31-year-old American who has never won on the PGA Tour, was tied for the first-round lead after starting his week with a five-under 66. He followed it up with a 69 on Friday, collecting four birdies to go with two bogeys to earn the outright lead heading into the weekend.
Kramer Hickok was the only player one back at six under, shooting a pair of 68s, while some big names were breathing down his neck at the Innisbrook resort in Florida.
Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth (70) sat tied for third at five under, joined by fellow top-30 ranked talent Tommy Fleetwood (69), as well as Cody Gribble (65) and Davis Riley (68).
Spieth spoke positively of his round but found the windy conditions challenging.
He said: "I drove the ball maybe the best of the year today. Gave myself a lot of chances with some wedges. There's a lot of back pins and I just got a little tentative for a few holes.
"Then I decided to attack one on 10 and flew the green. I couldn't quite get my distance control down on some scoring clubs. But when the wind here is gusty like that and the green depths are so small, it gets really, really tricky and doesn't take much. Keep driving the ball like that, I feel like I can fine-tune some of the scoring clubs and maybe get a few more looks."
England's Matt Wallace (67) and Germany's Stephan Jaeger (72) featured in the five-man group rounding out the top 10 at four under, while two-time major champion Justin Thomas headlined the logjam at three under, still well in the mix after a 70.
After a horror quintuple-bogey nine during his first round, reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick was unable to recover and make the cut, missing out by two strokes at three over after a level-par 71.
US president Joe Biden is backing Ireland to topple England in Saturday's final round of the Six Nations.
President Biden hosted a St Patrick's Day event at the White House on Friday.
He has strong links to Ireland, with his mother, Jean, having been of Irish descent.
He is also a distant relative of former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney, who was among the guests at the Washington, D.C. gathering.
Biden, addressing his audience, said: "We've even got a few of my distant Irish cousins here today, including the well-known Irish rugby player Rob Kearney.
"Rob stand up. I want to see you after this, pal.
"You know, Rob, I expect, we know, and this is no offence to anyone in the room, who we are rooting for in the Grand Slam match between Ireland and England."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also present on Friday, as was former One Direction pop singer Niall Horan.
Ireland, the world's top-ranked rugby national team, will complete a Six Nations Grand Slam if they beat England in Dublin in the final match of this year's championship at the Aviva Stadium.
Novak Djokovic has been ruled out of the Miami Open after tournament organisers "exhausted all the options" in an effort to secure him a travel exemption.
The 22-time grand slam winner withdrew from the Indian Wells Open as he is unable to play in the United States.
He is not vaccinated against COVID-19, which remains a requirement of international travellers, but Djokovic had hoped to be granted special permission to enter the country.
US tennis authorities and a number of politicians also expressed support for an exception being made for the 35-year-old Djokovic, with US president Joe Biden urged to reconsider policy.
Even last week, Serbian superstar Djokovic was clinging to hopes of playing the Miami Open, which he has won six times.
However, tournament director James Blake told Tennis Channel there is no chance of that happening, despite extensive efforts.
"Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play," said Blake, a former world number four.
"We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands. We tried and he wasn't able to play."
Blake said he was in the same position as Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas, being unable to influence government-level decisions.
"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake said. "We'd love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion, won it six times here.
"Unfortunately, that's way above my pay grade."
Blake added: "We exhausted all the options we knew of. Hopefully Novak will be back this year and hopefully he will be back for all the later events in the States including Cincinnati and the US Open."
Leon Edwards wants to "put a show on" for the fans at UFC 286 in London as he prepares to face rival Kamaru Usman for a third time.
The duo both weighed in at 170lb on Friday at the O2 Arena, before squaring up one last time prior to clashing when it matters on Saturday.
Nigerian Usman suffered just a second loss of his professional career against Edwards in August at UFC 278, seven years after winning their first bout.
Edwards' shock win in Utah earned him the UFC welterweight championship, and his first defence will be against Usman.
Though born in Jamaica, Edwards and his family moved to England when he was young, and the 31-year-old is eager to impress at the first numbered UFC event to take place in the United Kingdom since 2017.
"I'm excited to be here tomorrow and put a show on for you guys, to do another head-shot and take him out again," Edwards said at the weigh-in.
Usman simply replied: "He's talking now so tomorrow night we're going to talk in that octagon."
The co-main event will see American Justin Gaethje go up against Azerbaijan's Rafael Fiziev.
The Seattle Seahawks have added to their talented young secondary with the signing of former New York Giants safety Julian Love.
Love has signed a two-year, $12million deal with Seattle, according to multiple reports, after helping the Giants to the Divisional round of the playoffs last season.
A fourth-round pick of the Giants in 2019, Love enjoyed his best season in 2022, emerging as a valuable and versatile defender.
He intercepted two passes, recorded five pass breakups, six tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
His 109 tackles were a career-high by a wide margin, Love's previous best tally having come in 2020 (61).
Used primarily as a deep safety but also deployed in the box and in the slot, Love allowed receivers to get open on 60 per cent of his targets in 2022, the eighth-best ratio among safeties with at least 200 coverage snaps, per Stats Perform data.
He will join a secondary that features one of the NFL's premier safeties in Quandre Diggs and cornerback Tariq Woolen, who recorded a league-leading six interceptions as a rookie last year.
The Seahawks will be hoping Coby Bryant can make further strides after an encouraging rookie year at nickel corner, while Jamal Adams will look to bounce back after tearing his quad in the 2022 season opener.
With Love's arrival, the Seahawks can claim to have one of the deeper and most talented secondaries in the NFL, which will likely be key as Seattle aim to build on a 9-8 season that ended in a Wild Card round defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.
The New England Patriots have secured free agent tight end Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal.
A second-round selection by the Miami Dolphins in the 2018 NFL Draft, Gesicki will reunite with new Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien – who recruited him to Penn State in 2014.
Gesicki caught only 32 passes for 362 yards in the 2022 season, his lowest totals in both since his 2018 rookie season, and did not fit into Mike McDaniel's offensive scheme in Florida.
Prior to that, the 27-year-old caught 73 passes for 780 yards in 2021, both career highs, ranking fifth among tight ends that season for the most receptions.
According to ESPN, Gesicki's one-year deal is worth up to $9million with the Patriots.
In five seasons in the NFL, Gesicki has totalled 231 receptions for 2,617 total yards, scoring 18 touchdowns.
The Patriots have rejuvenated their offensive options in free agency, signing wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, running back James Robinson and offensive tackles Riley Reiff and Calvin Anderson.
Jimmy Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders made their tie-up official on Friday as the quarterback was reunited with Josh McDaniels.
Garoppolo's move as a free agent was initially reported on Monday, with ESPN's Adam Schefter suggesting the quarterback had agreed to a three-year, $67.5million deal, including $34m guaranteed.
The 31-year-old Garoppolo was expected to appear at a press conference on Thursday, but that was postponed without explanation. Now the deal is complete, however, with the Raiders confirming it in a press release. Terms were not disclosed.
Garoppolo will replace Derek Carr, who has departed for the New Orleans Saints.
Raiders head coach McDaniels knows all about Garoppolo's game, having been his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the New England Patriots.
Garoppolo left his role as Tom Brady's Patriots understudy to spend five and a half seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, featuring in the team that went to Super Bowl LIV and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
He featured for much of last season with the Niners, despite losing his place as starter initially to Trey Lance, although his campaign ended early because of a foot injury.
Dillon Brooks has been fined $35,000 by the NBA for the "unsportsmanlike act" of pushing a camera person.
The Memphis Grizzlies guard-forward could be seen nudging the camera operator while trying to retrieve a loose ball during the second quarter of the 138-119 defeat to the Miami Heat on Wednesday at Miami-Dade Arena.
A statement from Joe Dumars, the NBA's executive vice president and head of basketball operations on Friday confirmed that Brooks had been "fined $35,000 for the unsportsmanlike act of shoving a camera person on the sideline after pursuing a loose ball".
It is not the first time this year that Brooks has been in disciplinary trouble, having been judged to have committed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected from the Grizzlies' game with the Cleveland Cavaliers last month after a scuffle with Donovan Mitchell in which he hit his opponent in the groin.
Brooks was suspended for one game without pay for the incident.
He got into a war of words with the Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green before and after a game earlier this month, also bumping chests with Green on court during the Grizzlies' win against the defending champions.
Brooks is averaging 14.2 points per game this season.
Toto Wolff conceded Mercedes can have "no complaints" if the team fails to improve and Lewis Hamilton seeks an exit.
The seven-time world champion was unable to compete with Max Verstappen for the title last season and a bid for the crown this year appears unlikely.
Mercedes remain behind Red Bull and Ferrari with their cars for the 2023 season and have also fallen behind Aston Martin, with Hamilton finishing fifth in the opening race in Bahrain last time out.
Hamilton remains tied with Michael Schumacher for the most all-time titles in Formula One and Wolff would not be angry at the Briton for walking away if Mercedes continue to fail to provide him with a car with which he could win an unprecedented eighth championship.
"If Lewis wants to win another championship, he needs to make sure he has the car," he said.
"And if we cannot demonstrate that we are able to give him a car in the next couple of years then he will need to look everywhere.
"I don't think he is doing it at this stage, but I will have no complaints if that happens in a year or two."
However, Wolff does not expect Hamilton to jump at an exit and is confident he will sign a new deal, with his current contract expiring at the end of the season.
"I am absolutely confident. We are talking when we want to do it, and how, but we just need to change some terms and the dates basically," he added.
"Lewis is at the stage of his career where we trust each other, we have formed a great bond and we have no reason to doubt each other even though it is a difficult spell.
"It will be so nice when we come out of the valley of tears and return to solid performances."
Ireland can make it a glorious farewell to the Six Nations for record-chasing captain Johnny Sexton as they chase a Grand Slam on Saturday, with England their visitors.
It will be Ireland's title and a clean sweep of wins if they get the better of Steve Borthwick's team at the Aviva Stadium, while Sexton's next points will make him the leading scorer in championship history. He stands level for now with former team-mate Ronan O'Gara on 557 points.
Celebrations could already be in full swing in Dublin before kick-off in the unlikely event of Wales upsetting France in Paris earlier in the day.
France are the only team who can deny Ireland Six Nations glory now, trailing by four points going into the final round of matches.
Bonus points could yet be a factor in the final reckoning, but Ireland will be optimistic they can take that out of the equation by getting the better of an England side who were thrashed last week by Les Bleus.
Scotland face Italy in the day's opening game, before attention turns to the race for the trophy.
Here, Stats Perform runs down key aspects to look at in the three games, with the help of some standout Opta data.
FRANCE v WALES
FORM
Fabien Galthie's France team were so impressive at Twickenham last week they brought a tear to the coach's eye. That 53-10 drubbing in London showed France at their best, and they have won each of their last three Six Nations matches against Wales.
The tide has turned in the rivalry, given France had lost seven of the previous eight battles between the sides in the competition. After last year's Grand Slam, France will believe they can ramp up pressure on Ireland by getting the win at the Stade de France, having won nine of their last 10 Six Nations home matches, including each of the last four.
Wales stopped a six-game run of defeats in the Six Nations by beating Italy 29-17 last time out, to the relief of coach Warren Gatland. It was their longest run without a Six Nations victory since a seven-game sequence in 2006 and 2007, when they lost six and drew one.
There are areas where Wales are still doing well. For instance, they have conceded the joint-fewest turnovers of any side in this year's Six Nations (44, level with Ireland), and only Ireland (30) have won more turnovers than Wales (23). However, it would be a surprise if France do not ramp up the pressure on Ireland with a comfortable win and perhaps a bonus point into the bargain.
ONES TO WATCH
France will look to wings Damian Penaud and Ethan Dumortier to trouble Wales. Five players in this year's Six Nations have a 50 per cent or better tackle evasion rate among those who have faced 20 or more attempted tackles, and Penaud (79 per cent) and Dumortier (51 per cent) are among them.
For Wales, Taulupe Faletau will win his 100th cap and become the eighth man to reach that landmark for the team. Veterans George North and Alun Wyn Jones are among those coming into the starting XV, with Gatland giving the old-stagers a chance to potentially sign off their Six Nations careers in style.
IRELAND v ENGLAND
FORM
Ireland have won their last two Six Nations clashes with England, scoring exactly 32 points in each of those games, and the men in green have bagged 13 wins from their last 23 encounters with this weekend's opponents.
After finishing strongly last year, Ireland are on a seven-game winning run in the Six Nations, and an eighth win in a row would be a record for the team.
That would be cause for celebration alongside the Grand Slam, which would be a third for Ireland in the Six Nations era after 2009 and 2018 clean sweeps. They are chasing a fifth Six Nations title in all, and a seventh Triple Crown in this six-team era.
England's defeat to France last time out was their heaviest ever in the championship, so they have recalled Owen Farrell after dropping the captain, as coach Borthwick looks for a major response.
This game could yet be tight. Ireland (37) and England (34) have conceded the fewest penalties in this year's Six Nations, and they have achieved the highest share of territory per game (England – 60 per cent, Ireland – 59 per cent). Something has to give.
ONES TO WATCH
Sexton scored seven points against Scotland last weekend to move level with O'Gara, so his first kick at goal on Saturday will be a big moment. The record has been in his sights since the start of his final Six Nations, and the 37-year-old should clinch it on home soil.
Dan Cole is poised to win his 100th Test cap for England. He starts among the replacements, ready to become just the fourth player to reach a century for the England men’s team, after Jason Leonard, Ben Youngs and captain Farrell.
SCOTLAND v ITALY
FORM
The days of this fixture being a wooden spoon decider are gone for now, with Scotland much improved in recent years. Italy, too, are a stronger side than they have been for a good while, so they will be frustrated to have lost four from four so far.
Scotland have won each of their last seven Six Nations matches against Italy, their longest winning run against any nation in the championship. Their last Six Nations loss to the Azzurri was a 22-19 setback at Murrayfield in 2015, which was Italy's seventh win over the Scots in the championship. Italy have had just six wins against all other teams in the championship combined.
Italy's recent record in the Six Nations is truly dire, losing 40 of their last 41 games, with the exception among those defeats coming on the final weekend of last year's championship, when they won 22-21 in Wales.
ONES TO WATCH
Scotland's Matt Fagerson has made the most tackles of any player in the 2023 championship (70), while team-mates Jonny Gray (37), Jack Dempsey (32) and Luke Crosbie (32) are the only players to have made 30-plus tackles without missing one. Fagerson, Gray and Dempsey feature this weekend. Their prowess could be key as Scotland look to cope without injured backs Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg.
Italy's Juan Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi are two of three players to have provided a championship-high six break assist passes in this year's championship, matching Ireland's Mack Hansen.
Sergio Perez has taken new power unit components ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver has taken a new energy store (ES) and control electronics (CE) for the second race of the 2023 Formula One season.
No penalty will be issued for the Mexican driver, though he finds himself in a tricky situation for the remainder of the campaign as only two ES changes are allowed over the course of the season, while three CE's are permitted.
Perez is now in a similar situation to that of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who was forced into an ES change ahead of the season opener in Bahrain and has taken another unit for this weekend – resulting in a 10-place grid penalty.
Leclerc, alongside team-mate Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Lando Norris, has also taken a second internal combustion engine (ICE) for Saudi Arabia, with three permitted during a season, while both Leclerc and Norris have taken an additional MGU-H.
Norris has seen further changes in the form of a new turbocharger, MGU-K and exhaust system for the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
Max Verstappen leads the championship standings ahead of team-mate Perez after a Red Bull one-two in Bahrain, with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso third.
Fraser McConnell is set to compete in the Grand Finale of the 2022/23 Nitro Rallycross Series this weekend.
(You can watch the final weekend of the championship on Sportsmax or the Sportsmax app)
The 24-year-old Jamaican will contest the final over three action-packed rounds on Friday, March 17, Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19 with championship points at stake.
"It has been a long and exciting season that started way back in June last year in England,” he said. “Initially, getting used to the electric race car was a steep learning curve while competing in a traditional combustion engine Supercar. However, I am very comfortable with the FC1 and look forward to closing the season with a strong performance."
McConnell's teammate Robin Larsson leads the standings. The two-time race champion has finished on the podium in all but one championship round this season. At Glen Helen on October 29 and 30, Larsson had to settle for second behind a dominant McConnell, who dominated qualifying before completing a weekend clean sweep.
He goes into the final weekend in third place in the Championship, 10 points behind European Rallycross champion Andreas Bakkerud. Dubbed 'The Flying Jamaican', McConnell returning to the site of his finest hour opens the door for a real late surge for the championship crown.
Brandon Miller was held scoreless by Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but Alabama's beaten opponents do not expect that to happen again.
Miller is projected to go in the top three of the NBA Draft, making him the top prospect playing in March Madness, with Victor Wembanyama in France and Scoot Henderson in the NBA G League.
But the Crimson Tide freshman failed to score a point in Alabama's 96-75 win on Thursday, having averaged 19.6 points per game this season up to that point, failing to reach double figures just once.
Miller is dealing with a groin injury and played only 19 minutes, although he still took and missed five field goals.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi coach Steve Lutz, who had previously suggested Miller would need to fall ill to be stopped, does not expect that performance to be repeated as the tournament continues.
"Maybe he had an off night. I really don't know," Lutz said. "I know that I watched him on tape and he's really, really good.
"So for us to have collectively done the job that we did on him defensively is a feather our cap, but I wouldn't expect that to happen again, to be honest with you."
Alabama coach Nate Oats added: "It was nice to be able to put up 96 without Brandon scoring a point.
"We were trying to play him limited minutes. We were able to keep him under 20. Hopefully, he can get a lot of rehab today and tomorrow and look a lot more like himself on Saturday."
Miller, for his part, was keen not to blame his injury.
"If that's what you want to call it, we can go with that," he replied when asked if it was the reason for his limited minutes.
Amid the excitement around his involvement in the tournament, Miller has also been the subject of significant attention for off-court matters.
Former team-mate Darius Miles was charged with capital murder following the shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near the Alabama campus, and police are said to believe Miller supplied the firearm.
Miller has not been charged, nor is he considered a suspect, and according to the university, he has been cooperating with the police as a witness.
The forward has attended the tournament with security detail, with Oats revealing he had been the target of threats before the team's first game.
"If you guys saw some of what I've seen sent his way, I think you would understand why that's the case," the coach said of Miller's security.
Miller added: "It doesn't bother me. I send it [the threats] to the right people, and then they handle it."
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