Maro Itoje insists England will do whatever it takes to win if a substance over style approach emerges as their blueprint for success at the World Cup.
George Ford kicked all 27 points in their rout of Argentina last Saturday as England responded to the third-minute dismissal of Tom Curry for a dangerous tackle by grinding the Pumas into submission.
It was a rousing riposte to a dismal warm-up campaign but having excelled in defence and shown the smarts to shape their gameplan according to events, a potent attack remains elusive.
Free running Japan are the next assignment at the Stade de Nice on Sunday and while Itoje would prefer to see England run riot, he will take a victory any way it comes.
When asked if it matters how the team win, Itoje said: “For me, it’s by any means necessary.
“Obviously, we like to score tries and we’d like to score loads of tries. But for me it’s by any means necessary as long as we get the win.
“Every game’s different and is going to present different challenges. The task is to find ways to get on the positive side of the result.
“We know Japan move the ball. We know they are a very clever team that comes up with clever plays. However, the goal and task is to enforce an English style of rugby on this game.
“We want to show our best hand and we want to defend it well. We want to impose our physicality.
“We want to get into our set piece game and when the opportunity is right our generals will fire us in attack. Yes Japan move the ball, but it is about us imposing our will on them.
“Japan run the ball more than Argentina and are very aggressive with how they play and the spirit and the energy of how they play.”
Japan are not the force that lit up the 2019 World Cup with the pandemic hitting them harder than any other international side as they were prevented from playing a Test for two years.
If, as expected, England dispatch a team who have fallen to 14th in the global rankings they will have clear sight of a place in the quarter-finals with group games against Chile and Samoa left to play.
But Jamie George accepts that if they are to progress further in the competition, they must develop more strings to their bow.
“If we’re going to win a World Cup, which is what we’re here to do, we know that we’re going to have to kick on from where we were,” George said.
“The great English teams that I watched growing up and that I have been a part of based their teams around great defence and great set piece.
“As long as we are doing that I think our attacking game flows off the back of that. We have got players who can do special things.
“You have just seen the start of us in this tournament. We hope you will see us score points in different ways.”
Little over 24 hours after his final ride in a British Classic, Frankie Dettori will be in big-race action at Bro Park as the next leg of his farewell tour takes him to Sweden.
The Italian, who is set to retire at the end of the year, is no stranger to racing in Scandinavia and looks to continue the hot streak of British-based riders in the feature Stockholm Cup International – a race won by Pat Cosgrave the last three years and by Dettori’s great friend Rab Havlin (2019) and Fran Berry (2018) before that.
Officials in Sweden are delighted to have the 52-year-old stopping off in Stockholm during his final season in the saddle and have already seen the ‘Dettori factor’ increase media interest in Bro Park’s key afternoon of racing.
“We are obviously happy that Frankie Dettori is coming over and that Sweden and Bro Park is a part of his farewell tour. It is a big thing for a small country like Sweden,” said Dennis Madsen, Head of Racing at the Swedish Racing Authority, Svensk Galopp.
“He has been here before and rode in the Stockholm Cup in 1996 on a Godolphin horse and visited the old Taby Park again about 10 years ago. So we are familiar with Frankie, but it is still a big thing and we have been delighted to be able to use him in the promotion of this raceday.
“He has already boosted the coverage in the media. Frankie is a big name in other countries and although racing is not a big sport in Sweden, he has managed to capture good media coverage over here and we are very excited for him coming.”
Dettori has secured the mount of defending Stockholm Cup International champion Hard One To Please and the four-year-old, who won the Swedish Derby in 2021, returns to Bro Park on the back of an easy victory in a Norwegian Group Three last time.
Despite happy with the condition of her charge heading into the contest, trainer Annike Bye Hansen admitted she is extremely nervous leading up to the big occasion.
She said: “I’m not really looking forward to it to be honest, I will be relieved when it is over. That is me, I get very nervous, I always get like this coming up to big racedays like this.
“I’m very happy with the horse and he looks ready to rock and roll, so it’s game on.
“The race is not a walk in the park, the French horse is good and Ayani won the Swedish Derby and we don’t know how good he is.
“We won it last year, but last year it was weaker. But saying that I think Hard One To Please has improved from last year as well.”
Dettori tasted glory when riding in Hungary earlier this month, but if he is to add another global prize to his CV then Hard One To Please will have to see off a strong cast which includes Christophe Ferland’s French challenger Big Call and British raider Outbox, who will be partnered by Hollie Doyle.
Archie Watson’s eight-year-old is a regular visitor to Bro Park and as well as going down by a nose to Hard One To Please in the Stockholm Cup International 12 months ago, also picked up the silver medal in 2021.
“He was beaten by a very good horse two years ago and was then narrowly beaten last year by a horse who runs against him again on Sunday, so the owners are looking forward to another bold show,” said Cosmo Charlton, head racing manager for owners Hambleton Racing.
“It’s an exciting trip over and we’ve had successful raids over there in the past. We’ve got some owners going out and we’re always very well looked after.
“Outbox is a horse who owes us nothing, we paid 16,000 guineas for him and he’s earnt I think over £600,000 in prize-money for us.
“He’s an old horse now but was a really good second at Newmarket earlier the season proving he retains plenty of his old ability. A reproduction of that type of form would see him go close I would have thought.”
Hambleton Racing recorded a double at Bro Park on this card in 2022 and will also be represented in the Bro Park Sprint Championship by Kevin Ryan’s Washington Heights as the operation attempts to replicate that success.
Max Verstappen faces a fight to take pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix after calling his Red Bull “unacceptable” in final practice.
As Carlos Sainz raced to the top of the time charts at the Marina Bay Circuit, Verstappen finished fourth.
The Dutchman is on an unprecedented 10-race winning streak with his Red Bull team unbeaten at the 14 rounds of the season so far.
But Verstappen bemoaned the handling of his car in the city-state, describing the upshifts in his Red Bull machinery as “unacceptable”.
He added: “These upshifts, what the f***. I am just struggling for rear grip. If I competed in drifting, I might win the race.”
Verstappen returned to the track in the closing moments of the one-hour running, ringing the neck of his Red Bull to move from sixth to fourth, 0.313 sec slower than Sainz.
But his struggles will give the chasing pack hope of finally stopping Verstappen and Red Bull with Ferrari holding the upper hand heading into qualifying later on Saturday.
Sainz and team-mate Charles Leclerc traded top spot in the two practice sessions here on Friday, with the former again fastest in the concluding running before the fight for pole.
Leclerc looked set to eclipse Sainz only to make a mistake in the second sector before backing out of his speediest lap, finishing fifth.
George Russell took an encouraging second for Mercedes, just 0.069 sec slower than Sainz, with Lando Norris third in his McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was sixth for Mercedes, within half-a-second of Sainz.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, who won here last year, finished eighth, 0.719 sec back.
Qualifying for the 15th round of 22 takes place at 2100 local time (1400 BST).
All 12 members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team made the halfway cut when the delayed second round of the BMW PGA Championship was completed on Saturday.
Nine groups had been unable to finish on schedule on Friday evening due to an earlier 80-minute fog delay, with enough players remaining to potentially move the cut mark to two under par.
However, that outside chance failed to materialise, meaning Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Nicolai Hojgaard could breathe a sigh of relief after advancing on the mark of one under.
The second day’s play at Wentworth had finished amid farcical scenes which saw four groups waiting on the 18th tee as they tried to beat the fading light and complete their rounds.
McIlroy’s group was the last of the four and when he eventually reached the green it was predominantly illuminated by the light from a giant scoreboard, but the 2014 winner two-putted from 45 feet for birdie to scrape through to the weekend.
Asked to describe the late-night drama, McIlroy said: “It was a s***show.
“The fog obviously delayed things but I’ve never remembered having that many players on 17 and 18. It’s not as if they teed us off in tighter slots or anything.
“It’s hard for me trying to play the last well and make the cut, it’s a bit of a mad dash and a scramble to get finished. I don’t know what you could do about that apart from less players in the field.”
Playing alongside McIlroy, rising star Ludvig Aberg had birdied the last three holes to complete a 66 and join fellow Swede Sebastian Soderberg on top of the leaderboard at 10 under par.
Adrian Meronk, who was controversially overlooked for a Ryder Cup wild card, was a shot behind alongside Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas Detry and Masahiro Kawamura.
Zach Eflin teamed with two relievers on a two-hitter as the Tampa Bay Rays earned a 7-1 win over the slumping Baltimore Orioles on Friday, creating a virtual tie between the American League East rivals for first place in the division.
Tampa Bay has now taken the first two matchups of this pivotal four-game series to move just percentage points behind Baltimore in the standings. The Rays, who trailed the Orioles by four games just six days ago, have won nine of 11 while Baltimore has tied a season high with four straight losses.
Harold Ramirez belted a three-run homer and Brandon Lowe had a solo shot to back a dominant outing from Eflin, who yielded only a solo homer to Heston Kjerstad and struck out eight over seven innings to collect his AL-leading 15th win of the season.
Randy Arozarena and Manuel Margot added three hits each for the Rays, with Margot and Lowe both finishing with two RBIs.
Kjerstad's homer was the first major league hit for the 24-year-old, who was promoted from the minor leagues prior to Thursday's series opener.
Orioles starter Jack Flaherty lasted just four innings and yielded three runs despite striking out six.
Rockies no-hit Giants over eight innings, rally to win in ninth
The Colorado Rockies took a combined no-hitter into the ninth inning in their game against the San Francisco Giants, then scored twice in the bottom of the frame to rally for a dramatic 3-2 victory to open a four-game series.
Chase Anderson kept San Francisco hitless before being pulled after throwing 101 pitches in seven innings, and the no-hit bid was extended into the ninth before J.D. Davis led off the inning with a double off Nick Mears.
The Giants later loaded the bases before Rockies reliever Matt Koch walked pinch-hitter WIlmer Flores to force in a run and break a 1-1 deadlock.
The tie was short-lived, however. Charlie Blackmon began the bottom of the ninth with a double off San Francisco closer Camilo Doval, who later walked Nolan Jones with one out to put the potential winning run aboard.
Elehuris Montero then delivered a single in which Giants left fielder Mike Yastrzmeski threw errantly to home as Blackmon slid across the plate, allowing Jones to come in as well with the deciding run.
The loss could prove costly for San Francisco, which fell a game behind Arizona and Cincinnati in the race for the National League's final wild card with both the Diamondbacks and Reds winning their games.
San Francisco also wasted a terrific effort from Logan Webb, who held Colorado to one run on four hits over eight innings.
Giolito fans 12 as Guardians snap Rangers' six-game winning streak
Lucas Giolito struck out a season-high 12 batters over seven scoreless innings to help the Cleveland Guardians snap the Texas Rangers' six-game winning streak with a 12-3 rout.
Giolito permitted just two hits and one walk to record his first win since Aug. 8. The 2019 All-Star, who was claimed off waivers by Cleveland from the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 31, had posted a 7.48 ERA while losing each of his previous five starts.
Josh Naylor went 4 for 5 with three RBIs to lead Cleveland offensively, while Andres Gimenez, Ramon Laureano and Kole Calhoun all homered as part of the Guardians' 15-hit attack.
Gimenez finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs and put Cleveland up 2-0 with his second-inning homer off Texas starter Jon Gray, who was pulled after allowing three runs in 3 2/3 innings.
The Rangers remained scoreless until Sam Huff's solo homer in the ninth. Catcher Austin Hedges later added a two-run single after pitching the bottom of the eighth and retiring all three batters he faced.
Texas missed out on a chance to regain first place in the AL West from Houston, which was dealt a 4-2 loss by the Kansas City Royals on Friday. The Astros remain a half-game ahead in the standings.
Simon Yates sealed victory in La Vuelta on this day in 2018 to complete a British clean sweep of the year’s Grand Tours.
The 26-year-old Bury racer headed into the largely processional final stage into Madrid with a one minute and 46 seconds lead and avoided any late mishaps to land his first Grand Tour title.
Yates’ success followed that of Chris Froome at the Giro d’Italia and Geraint Thomas at the Tour de France to round off an unprecedented year for British cycling.
The three titles had never before been held by three riders from the same country.
Yates said: “It’s astonishing really. Growing up I was so accustomed to seeing the French, Italian and Spanish riders lead the way, so for myself, Chris and Geraint to all win a Grand Tour in the same year just shows how far the sport has come in this country.”
Froome, whose Tour-Vuelta double in 2017 meant British riders had at that point won five Grand Tours in a row, paid tribute to Yates’ achievement, saying: “Simon has looked so strong over the last three weeks and it’s great to see him take home the maillot rojo. It’s been a perfect year for British riders.”
Justin Thomas found some much-needed form ahead of the Ryder Cup as he shot a second round 67 in the Fortinet Championship.
Sadith Theegala shot a second round 64 to tie SH Kim at 12-under-par on top of the leaderboard.
But it is the presence of Thomas, winless on the PGA Tour this season and reliant on a wildcard pick from Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, four strokes back in a tie for sixth which caught the eye.
Having hit just three fairways in an opening 69, Thomas switched to a longer driver he has been experimenting with in recent weeks.
“I could tell in one video I was getting stuck underneath it,” said the double Major winner, who hit eight fairways in the second round. “If I drive it like I did today, I’ll use it for the rest of my career.
“I had a good thought from just a little 10-minute range session that I felt like could get me through today and it worked pretty well.
“That’s a part of what I think has made me as successful as I’ve been in my career, I’ve been very good at adjusting on the fly.”
Thomas’ fellow Ryder Cup player Max Home was among those tied with him on eight-under par, one better than a group including English dup Callum Tarren and Harry Hall.
US Ryder Cup captain Johnson was among those to miss the cut.
Barbadian teenage sensation Zane Maloney welcomed an almost three-month break to reflect ahead of the final Formula 2 race for the year on November 25 in Abu Dhabi.
Formula 2 is the second tier to Formula 1 racing organised by the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, and held on select circuits on the F1 schedule.
It is the ultimate training ground for prospective F1 drivers, providing them with the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of F1 teams on some of the most challenging and renowned racing circuits in the world.
Maloney, 19, has been enjoying fairly good form this season with second-place finishes at the British Grand Prix in July at Silverstone, and the Dutch Grand Prix in August at Zandvoort, complemented by third-places at the Bahrain Grand Prix at the start of the season in March at Sakhir, and the Monaco Grand Prix in May at Monte Carlo.
He heads into the break occupying 10th position in the 22-driver standings on 96 points, after 13 of the 14 races on the schedule for this year, with the final race of the season at the Yas Marina circuit.
“I’d love to have a race next weekend to be honest, but I’ll just be focusing on life in general, have some time at home, train hard, and be back for Abu Dhabi,” the Rodin Carlin driver told F2.com website.
“We’re nowhere near where we want to be in the Championship, but we are there on pace. Hopefully, we’ll have a very good race, and I’ll put myself in a good position for what’s to come next year.
“It’s a nice circuit (Yas Marina). In terms of targets, it’s always to get on the podium and win races. We’ll see. I’m going to go home first, relax with family. The team are doing a great job, so we’ll be back in Abu Dhabi strong,” he added during the recent interview.
On that note, Maloney reflected on his recent setback when he crashed out of contention at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
“It was a really good race actually. I was P14 after the first lap. When the crash happened, I was probably net P10, and we would have already made up 10 places, which is a good day at the office. Pace was good, I was just driving down the straight and then one second later I’m heading to the wall,” Maloney shared.
“To be honest, I didn’t really take much away from the race. We knew that we had good pace all weekend, but I qualified bad, which put us in a difficult situation. Everything became difficult after that. We had good pace, but that wasn’t a surprise,” he noted.
As Sandals Resorts moves to deepen and strengthen ties with its international partners, it was the United Sates Travel Advisors turn to have their fun in the sun at the 19th annual golf tournament at the Sandals Golf and Country Club in St Ann.
After two days of enticing competition, which allows Travel Advisors to experience and, later sell Jamaica as the destination of choice for sports and tourism, it was Team 10 that finished tops in the four-man scramble format, played over 18 holes.
Pete Drab, Damon Spady, Megan Sams and Scott Austin made up the winning team that scored 58 across both days to end with a total of 116.
Team 10 won ahead of Teams six and eight, as they ended with a similar score of 123, after both had similar scores of 62 on Thursday’s first day and 61 on Friday’s final day.
Adam Anderson, David Anderson, David Schutz and Jeremy Lee made up Team six, while Team eight comprised of Craig and Angela Mansperger, Ro Gallo and Mike Tipple.
Aside from the main event, the serious side of the golf tournament, saw Sandals Foundation raising US$1,210 (approximately $187,000 Jamaican dollars) for its outreach programmes to assist those in need.
Mike Zuch and Linda Hyde bettered rivals in the men’s and women’s Closet to the Pin event, while Harold Kelly and Julie Gildner, finished tops in their respective categories of the Longest Drive competition.
Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray says it is “great” to have his father back in good health and in France to cheer him on at his fourth – and probably final – Rugby World Cup.
The 34-year-old’s dad, Gerry, suffered serious injuries earlier this year after colliding with a truck while cycling in County Limerick.
Murray emerged as a doubt for his country’s Guinness Six Nations match with France following the incident in February but continued to play amid difficult circumstances.
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Friends and family of the Munster star, including Gerry, will be in Nantes on Saturday evening to watch Ireland take on Tonga.
“They’re hugely excited, it’s probably the last one (World Cup) as well so they’re definitely making the most of it,” said Murray, who has been selected to start at Stade de la Beaujoire.
“Friends are starting to come over this weekend, a few people have follow-your-team tickets and things like that.
“My dad is on his way over on the ferry as we speak. He’s in good health and he’s back golfing and doing everything he loves. It’s great that he’s able to do it.”
Murray came off the bench in Ireland’s opening Pool B match – a resounding 82-8 win over Romania in Bordeaux.
He has been preferred to Jamison Gibson-Park this weekend and will partner fellow veteran Johnny Sexton at a fourth World Cup following their appearances in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
The British and Irish Lion is excited by what Andy Farrell’s side can potentially achieve during the coming weeks.
“I am really lucky to have made four,” he said. “I’ve seen in every cycle that people fall out through injury or through favour or form.
“It’s just a grateful one (feeling), I suppose. I’m really lucky to be part of a squad, especially this one.
“They’ve all been great craic and they have all been talented squads, but this one ticks a lot of those boxes, the camaraderie we have.
“I hope that shows from the inside out, we’re a really tight group and obviously with the potential we have.
“(I’m) just excited to be part of the environment and excited about where we can go.”
Wakefield head coach Mark Applegarth accepted responsibility for his side’s relegation from the Betfred Super League after their dramatic 20-19 golden point defeat at Leigh.
Applegarth said he was “hurt” by his side’s failure to extend their unlikely survival battle into the final week of the season but said they would face up to the prospect of Championship rugby next year.
He said: “I’m hurt, it stings, and as head coach the responsibility is on my shoulders.
“It sunk in as soon as I saw that drop goal go over. All I can do is apologise to our fans but I can tell them that we will be back.
“I’d like to think most of the fans can’t question any of the lads’ efforts. Skill, execution and composure is probably what has let us down, but definitely not effort.”
Wakefield’s survival bid looked bleak after Tom Briscoe opened the scoring for Leigh with just four minutes on the clock but two opportunist tries from Lee Kershaw early in the second half pulled them back on level terms.
Gareth O’Brien’s late drop goal looked to have won it for Leigh before Luke Gale kicked Wakefield into the extra period with just 19 seconds left on the clock – only for O’Brien to convert the decisive effort of a frantic extra period.
Applegarth was left to reflect on a season in which a stirring recovery could not hide the fact that 14 straight defeats at the start of the season proved too much to overcome.
“Ultimately the league table doesn’t lie and we weren’t good enough,” added Applegarth.
“We’ve got some tough decisions to make and we’ve got some improvements to make. We’ve got to be honest with each other and look at why this has happened.
“My job is to make sure we bounce straight back up. They (Leigh) flirted with it over the last few years and they’ve nailed it, so there’s a blueprint to follow right there.
“Mark my words, we will be back in Super League, and hopefully at the first time of asking.”
Leigh head coach Adrian Lam admitted his side were far from their best but praised their accomplishment at sealing a top six place with one week of the regular season still to go.
“I think we just looked a bit less tired after last week,” admitted Lam.
“There was a lot of stop-start to the game that kept them in it, and they got two tries against the run of play from dropped balls, so I was a bit nervous towards the end.
“But we just find a way to win this year in those situations, which has been so impressive with this bunch of boys and so many players out.
“I think some other clubs may have rolled over tonight but they just got bigger and stronger as the game went on.
“We’ve now got to try to build some confidence and belief off the back of that, and make sure we take it on.”
New Zealand overcame Namibia 71-3 in Toulouse with a ruthless display of attacking to get off the mark in Pool A of the Rugby World Cup.
The All Blacks began their tournament with a defeat to hosts France in Paris but had no such trouble in their second outing as Cam Roigard and Cam McKenzie each scored two tries to help Ian Foster’s side collect a bonus point and move second in the pool.
Namibia remain without a victory in 23 attempts at the World Cup going back to 1999 and never looked strong enough to pose problems for New Zealand – for whom Ethan de Groot was red carded in the final minutes – in a game played largely in torrential rain.
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The three-time winners drew first blood after only two minutes. McKenzie kicked on for Leicester Fainga’anuku to collect and he offloaded for Roigard to take over and score under the posts, with McKenzie converting comfortably.
It took only another six minutes for the lead to extend to 12 points when Roigard received the ball from a scrum and went over for his second try.
Namibia’s night took a further turn for the worse when centre Le Roux Malan suffered a bad knee injury, leaving the pitch on a stretcher and clutching an oxygen mask, moments after Tiaan Swanepoel had cut the deficit with a penalty.
Minutes later New Zealand pulled further ahead when McKenzie went over for a converted try, weaving through Namibia’s line to make it 19-3.
The bonus point was secured for the All Blacks with 15 minutes of the first half still to play, Fainga’anuku powering over and showing excellent hands for his team’s fourth try, before two tries in just over a minute made the score unassailable before the break.
First, took full advantage of the slippery conditions with two well controlled kicks along the ground to get in behind Namibia and drop on it as it crossed the try line, then McKenzie added his second of the game when he collected from Roigard off a scrum and crossed the whitewash to make it 38-3 at the interval.
De Groot ensured New Zealand began the second half in the same ruthless vain with which they finished the first, the prop crashing over just 30 seconds after coming off the bench despite the attentions of two Namibia defenders.
Beauden Barrett made the next try for Dalton Papalii, breaking out wide before slipping the ball across with a fine bullet pass for Papalii to go over under the posts, minutes before David Havili took advantage of a superb run through the middle from Roigard to go over the line and make it 57-3.
Caleb Clarke scored New Zealand’s 10th try when he got on the end of a cross-field kick from Richie Mo’unga to slide over the line.
De Groot was sent to the sin bin with eight minutes to play – later upgraded to a red card for dangerous play – but it did not halt New Zealand’s charge, replacement Rieko Ioane scoring to make it 71-3 near the end.
Lewis Ludlam’s understated influence has won the approval of Steve Borthwick after England’s unsung hero was picked ahead of Billy Vunipola at number eight for Sunday’s World Cup clash with Japan.
Vunipola has completed his two-match suspension for a dangerous tackle against Ireland last month but the hard-carrying Saracen is limited to a bench role for the Stade de Nice showdown.
Instead, Ludlam has been rewarded for his defensive masterclass as a replacement in the 27-10 win over Argentina on Saturday by filling the hole in the back row created by Tom Curry’s suspension, also for an illegal challenge.
Ben Earl switches from number eight to openside to accommodate the return of Ludlam, who played every minute of this year’s Six Nations and has been one of England’s most consistent performers of recent times.
The versatile Northampton skipper’s elevation above the less mobile Vunipola is a nod to Japan’s high tempo tactics, which assistant coach Kevin Sinfield has compared to Barcelona’s tiki-taka style of football.
Borthwick believes the quality of Ludlam’s performances deserve greater recognition.
“We’ve been really impressed by Lewis in training and I’ve been really impressed with his impact from the bench,” England’s head coach said.
“With the nature of this game and the challenge Japan pose, I thought Lewis was the right person to start. He carries, he runs hard and covers a lot of ground in defence, which I don’t think people often see.
“What he does often goes under the radar. He’s that type of player and we value that here. Lewis is a great energy giver. He is a great driver of this squad and very generous in helping other team-mates improve. You always need those type of players in your team.
“He has been a key leader of his club side for many seasons and I have seen that growth in him as a leader.”
Two further changes in personnel have been made in the front row where Kyle Sinckler and Joe Marler displace Dan Cole and Ellis Genge as starting props.
Sinckler has recovered from the pectoral injury that limited his game time during the warm-up Tests and prevented him from facing the Pumas in the Pool D opener in Marseille.
The 30-year-old tighthead will be making his first World Cup appearance since being knocked out in the final against South Africa four years ago.
“It’s great to see Kyle Sinckler back in the team. He probably could have played against Argentina but he’s now absolutely 100 per cent this week,” Borthwick said.
“I saw a great advancement in the consistency of his game in the Six Nations. What I see of him now is physically a guy who is in great shape.
“He’s exceptionally strong and he’s moving really well. I sense the hunger in him and a desire in him to want to do exceptionally well for England in this World Cup.”
Borthwick has retained the same backline that featured against Argentina with George Ford given another opportunity to argue his case for being viewed as first choice fly-half.
Owen Farrell completes his four-match ban – once again for a dangerous tackle – versus Japan and becomes available for the last two group matches against Chile and Samoa, forcing Borthwick to make a difficult call at 10.
England will march on to a place in the quarter-finals if they topple Japan, who are not the dynamic force that captured hearts and minds at the last World Cup when they reached the knockout phase for the first time.
Having risen to tier-one status, they have now slipped to 14th in the global rankings but at least opened the tournament with a thumping 42-12 victory over Chile.
Jamaican Formula Woman Driver Sara Misir will be in action on September 16 and 17 in the United Kingdom.
Misir and teammate Alana Carter will take to the grid on Saturday and Sunday at the Donnington Race Track in round eight of the GT Cup Championships.
Misir and Carter will race in the Lotus Emira GT4, making their 2023 debut on the European circuit.
"I'm back in the GT4 seat, and the Lotus is new to the GT Cup circuit, but it has been amazing so far in testing, so I can't wait to get on the track this weekend. There's a bit of rust as it's my first race in the UK for 2023, but I'm looking forward to a good showing, in my Jamaica colours," said Misir.
The GT Cup series then heads to Snetterton for October 6 and 7.
Action from the GT Cup is live on YouTube.
Rory McIlroy battled a last-hole “s***show” to keep the prospects of the entire Ryder Cup team making the cut in the BMW PGA Championship alive.
Following an 80-minute due to early morning fog, the second day’s play at Wentworth finished amid farcical scenes which saw four groups waiting on the 18th tee and Thomas Bjorn exchanging words with a drunk spectator up ahead on the closing hole.
With the 18th green predominantly illuminated by the light from a giant scoreboard, Mcllroy two-putted from 45 feet for birdie to finish on the projected cut mark of one under par.
The four-time major will have to wait until the second round is completed on Saturday morning to learn his fate, while playing partner Ludvig Aberg continued his brilliant form by sharing the lead with fellow Swede Sebastian Soderberg on 10 under.
Asked to describe the late-night drama, McIlroy said: “It was a s***show.
“The fog obviously delayed things but I’ve never remembered having that many players on 17 and 18. It’s not as if they teed us off in tighter slots or anything.
“It’s hard for me trying to play the last well and make the cut, it’s a bit of a mad dash and a scramble to get finished. I don’t know what you could do about that apart from less players in the field.”
Soderberg had earlier made an eagle on the 18th to complete a superb 64 and set the clubhouse target which was matched by Aberg, who birdied the 16th, 17th and 18th in his 66.
The Swedish pair enjoyed a one-shot lead over Adrian Meronk, Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas Detry and Masahiro Kawamura, with Tyrrell Hatton on seven under and Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick another stroke back.
Meronk said last week he was “shocked, sad and angry” not to receive a pick from Europe captain Luke Donald, especially after winning his third DP World Tour title in the space of 10 months in May’s Italian Open at the Ryder Cup venue on the outskirts of Rome.
“I have accepted it,” the 30-year-old Pole said at Wentworth.
“The first couple of days after were tough, but I have moved on and am focused on my game. I want to finish the season strongly and that is my only goal now.
“I know it’s easy to say, but it’s like having a bad round and letting it go. This one was a little bit tougher to accept because it wasn’t based on me and someone else made that decision.
“I definitely think it is wrong. I feel I’ve deserved it. I feel I’ve shown in the last two years that I’ve played really good on the DP World Tour. If you look at the results and the numbers, I thought it was enough, but there’s nothing I can do now.
“But I have been pretty good at accepting things in my career. I’m trying to turn all that disappointment and anger into motivation, especially this week.”
Meronk, who received shouts of encouragement in Polish as he completed his round, believes the captain having six wild cards is too many and that one should be held back until after the end of the DP World Tour’s flagship event.
“I’d say that four would probably be reasonable and I think leaving one or two picks for these big tournaments would be a good idea,” he added.
“This time the team has been picked basically after a four-week break and then playing two small events. I think one spot should be reserved after this week at least.”
Rahm looked in danger of missing the halfway cut when he thinned his second shot on the first into the face of a fairway bunker and ran up a double bogey, before also dropping a shot on the third.
However, the Masters champion responded with an eagle on the fourth, chipped in to save par on the sixth and covered his last 10 holes in six under par.
“None of those swings felt bad, it was just an unfortunate thing to happen on the first but you have put it on the fairway around here,” said Rahm, who carded a closing 62 here last year to finish runner-up for the second time in two starts.
Barbadian jockey Rico Walcott has landed a solid ride, the 6-1 morning line bet War Bomber in Saturday’s rich Ricoh Woodbine Mile at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Canada.
Only six horses will contest the CAN$1 million event over eight furlongs on turf and while War Bomber is only the fourth-best fancied in the field, the five-year-old gelding is coming off a big win in last month’s CAN$200,000 King Edward Stakes with Walcott and trainer Norman McKnight is hopeful he can register a repeat added-money win.
“I thought he raced fantastic in the King Eddie,” McKnight said in a DRF web site story. “He came out of the race in good shape. We breezed him the other day, and Rico thought he breezed better than before his last race. I hope he’s right. I hope he reflects that when he runs,” McKnight added.
The 34-year-old Walcott, a 13-time champion jockey at Canadian tracks including eight titles at Northlands Park, is having his first season at Woodbine and has already recorded two stakes wins at the Toronto Oval. Three other Caribbean jockeys have previously won the Woodbine Mile – Barbadians Patrick Husbands and Slade Callaghan and Trinidad and Tobago-born Richard Dos Ramos.
World-famous owners Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby won last year’s Woodbine Mile with the super three-year-old Modern Games and return – again with jockey William Buick -- with another Ireland-bred entry, Master of The Seas, an even-money favourite for the Woodbine Mile, jointly the richest race in Canadian racing along with the King’s Plate.
The event is a key prep for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at California’s Santa Anita Park in November and one of three Grade 1 ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup Day qualifiers on Saturday’s card, along with the Summer and Natalma stakes for two-year-olds.
The Woodbine Mile field also includes the 5-2 second favourite Shirl’s Speight who will be ridden by John Velazquez, the most successful Woodbine Mile jockey with five wins. Shirl’s Speight was fourth in last year’s Woodbine Mile.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has highlighted World Rugby’s inconsistent approach to disciplinary issues.
Tom Curry was sent off in the third minute of Saturday’s World Cup victory over Argentina for a dangerous tackle and received a two-match ban, yet similar incidents involving South Africa’s Jesse Kriel and Martin Sigren of Chile failed to produce a dismissal, citing or suspension.
It has raised concerns over the officiating of illegal challenges involving the head.
Borthwick also highlighted that when Owen Farrell was sent off for a dangerous tackle against Wales and then cleared by a disciplinary hearing, World Rugby intervened by appealing against the decision.
“There has been a large amount of commentary from different sources about what appears to be a lack of consistency and transparency in the decision making process,” Borthwick said.
“Now it’s not my role to comment on that, it’s World Rugby’s. I also note there was a tremendous amount of comment from World Rugby on Owen Farrell for a couple of weeks during our preparation for this tournament.
“It was a situation that went on and on with lots of comment from World Rugby. I note there hasn’t been very many comments from World Rugby – I’m told – in the last week or so. I will leave that to World Rugby.”
Jamaican rallycross sensation Fraser McConnell is gearing up for an exhilarating weekend of racing in Europe. On September 17 and 18, McConnell will take on rounds seven and eight of the Extreme E Championships, set to unfold in the picturesque landscape of Sardinia, Italy.
Competing under the banner of the X44 Vida Carbon Racing Team, formed by the legendary seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, McConnell and his teammate Cristina Gutiérrez are currently holding their own in the series, securing a fifth-place position in the standings after six rounds of intense competition.
One of the standout moments for McConnell and Gutiérrez came during the third round in May, when they displayed remarkable consistency and skill, maintaining their top qualifying form to seize victory at the Hydro X Prix in Scotland. This significant triumph not only marked McConnell's first win in Extreme E but also served as a pivotal milestone in their 2023 campaign.
The Extreme E 2023 season has been nothing short of electrifying, witnessing four different winners across six rounds of fierce competition. With a grid featuring 10 teams and 20 talented drivers, the stage is set for another thrilling showdown in Sardinia this weekend.
Speaking in anticipation of the upcoming races, the 25-year-old McConnell expressed his excitement, stating, "I'm really looking forward to this weekend. The team's spirits are high, and I'm eager to represent Jamaica proudly in a new country, as always."
As the competition intensifies, fans can follow the action live on C Sport, SportsMax, and YouTube. The excitement will continue to build as the Extreme E series heads towards its climactic conclusion in Antofagasta, Chile, scheduled for December 2 and 3.
Gareth Anscombe has revealed how he feared his Rugby World Cup hopes might have been destroyed by injury for a second successive tournament.
The Wales fly-half missed Japan 2019 after suffering an horrific knee injury during a World Cup warm-up game against England that sidelined him for two years.
Anscombe fought back to put himself on the international stage once more – then injury struck again during Wales’ World Cup training camp in Turkey earlier this summer.
An attempted tackle on George North left Anscombe with a thumb problem that resulted in scans and him having to wear a plaster cast for a month, ruling him out of Wales’ three pre-World Cup Tests.
“I suppose I had a night there in Turkey where I thought I was done again, and that was devastating,” said Anscombe, who starts Saturday’s Pool C clash against Portugal at Stade de Nice.
“You have some dark thoughts then, but thankfully I had some luck on my side for once.
“It didn’t look great at the start, and the initial prognosis was it was probably going to need surgery, but thankfully the scans came back better than first thought.
“I had to be in a cast for a month, which was difficult, but at least I could still run.
“I missed the warm-up games, but to have the backing of the coaching staff was great. They spoke to me and said I was still in their plans, which was nice to hear.
“It has been about getting myself right and ready for when an opportunity presented itself, and here we are this weekend.”
Anscombe is one of eight survivors from Wales’ 2015 World Cup squad to be involved eight years later, and he offers considerable experience through 35 caps.
And the New Zealand-born number 10 is relishing a chance to play his part as Wales aim to reach the World Cup knockout phase for a fourth successive tournament.
He features in a team showing 13 changes from the side that toppled Fiji, and it is Anscombe’s first World Cup appearance since he started at full-back against quarter-final conquerors South Africa eight years ago.
“We know there are parts of our performance that we need to improve if we want to progress deep into this tournament,” he added. “But it was a great start (against Fiji).
“There has been an element of confidence brewing. The more time we spend together, we always improve.
“You look back to the Six Nations, a new coaching group and a fairly volatile situation in Welsh rugby.
“We’ve just been able to get away from a bit of the noise, which I think has been important for us as a group. Getting away in Switzerland and Turkey, focusing on ourselves.
“You always need an element of luck in World Cups, with injuries and decisions. We just hope to slowly go about our work and ride the wave.
“We had fantastic support on the weekend. I think more people will jump on the plane over and get behind us. I think you see when Welsh fans get behind us, who knows what can happen.”
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