Big Evs proved his surprise Royal Ascot success was no fluke with victory in the Jaeger-Lecoultre Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood.
Narrowly beaten on his debut at Redcar in May, Mick Appleby’s juvenile was sent off at 20-1 for the Windsor Castle Stakes but ran out a clear-cut winner.
He was the 9-4 joint-favourite to follow up at Group Three level and a smart start meant he was soon leading the field in the hands of Jason Hart.
Purosangue came at him hard as the post loomed, but Big Evs kept responding to pressure and clung on by a neck.
Kylian, the other 9-4 favourite, appeared outpaced early on, but made late progress to place third and may well have finished closer with a clearer run.
Betfair cut Big Evs to 5-1 from 8-1 for the Gimcrack at York on August 25, although connections also raised the possibility of paying the £40,000 required to supplement him for the Nunthorpe on the same day.
He is an 8-1 shot with Paddy Paddy Power to become the first two-year-old to win the all-aged Group One since Kingsgate Native in 2007.
Magical Sunset finished with some gusto to secure the Whispering Angel Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood.
Richard Hannon’s filly won three times last season, including a Listed success, but could finish only fifth when favourite to make a winning reappearance in the Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury in April.
She had also troubled to fail the judge in four starts since, but bounced right back to the best in deteriorating conditions on the Sussex Downs.
Matilda Picotte cut out much of the running in the seven-furlong Group Three before being swallowed up by the chasing pack, and in the final furlong 4-1 joint-favourite Breege hit the front.
But Kevin Stott was biding his time in behind aboard 18-1 shot Magical Sunset and she picked up well once in the clear to get up and score by three-quarters of length.
Hannon said: “I think she would have been unlucky if she’d been beaten, she’s much better on this ground – she won the Radley Stakes at Newbury very well on it and that’s helped her today.
“She looked the best turning in at Sandown the other day and it looked to me like she didn’t get home, so we came back to seven furlongs today and I’m delighted. She won very well.
“The owner rang me and was actually pleased – that’s very rare! Group races are very hard to win. My god, there’s a massive bottle of Whispering Angel over there – he’s not getting that! That’s what you call tax…”
He added: “She’s a really sweet filly. She’s always been lovely, but she’s much better on that ground. She cost a few quid, mind you. She was unlucky in the Goffs Million, she’s getting her revenge slightly and getting her slice of luck.
“I think she’s entered in a Group Three in Deauville, so she might go there – she’ll have a penalty, obviously, but she’ll go wherever the soft ground is.”
Europe captain Luke Donald has named former skipper Jose Maria Olazabal as his fourth vice-captain for this year’s Ryder Cup in Rome.
Olazabal enjoyed a stellar playing career in the biennial contest against the United States before leading his side to victory in the famous ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.
The 57-year-old won a total of 20.5 points in his seven appearances, with 12 of those coming from 15 matches in partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros.
Olazabal, who was also vice-captain in 2008, 2010 and 2014, joins Thomas Bjorn, Edoardo Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts in Donald’s backroom team.
The two-time Masters champion said: “With my previous experiences in the Ryder Cup I am obviously thrilled to be back involved once again.
“I am really looking forward to feeling that special adrenaline flow, the intensity and the electricity that only the Ryder Cup can bring.
“It was a very nice surprise to be asked by Luke. I didn’t expect it, but I was delighted when the call came.
“I have no doubts that Luke will be a great captain. He has played in the Ryder Cup four times and won four times and he therefore knows what is required to perform well in the match.”
Donald, who was sent out first by Olazabal in the Sunday singles at Medinah, said: “To know he had that respect and confidence in me to go out and lead Europe in such a pressurised last-day environment meant a lot and this feels, perhaps, that I am returning that favour a little bit, as I have a huge amount of confidence in him.
“Just his mere presence brings energy to any Ryder Cup environment and I saw that first hand when I asked him to be involved in the Hero Cup we staged in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of this year.
“He was such a big part of that week, being with the players and sharing stories with them of just what the Ryder Cup is all about.
“People notice when Jose Maria walks into a room and you could see at the Hero Cup how much everyone respected him and admired him for all he’s done in the game. I could not be more excited to have him on my team.”
French trainer Christopher Head is excited to see how the “filly of my life” Blue Rose Cen shapes up against Nashwa in a mouthwatering Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.
Unbeaten in three starts this season, Blue Rose Cen landed the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and then produced a powerful performance over an extended 10 furlongs, winning a deep Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly by four lengths.
Last year she won four of her six starts, culminating in another top-class success in the Prix Marcel Boussac, to be crowned the French champion two-year-old.
Her first crack at the older generation comes on her international debut. And Head is relishing the chance to visit a track where Solow landed the Sussex Stakes for his father, Freddy, in 2015.
“Everything is all right – all lights are green,” said Head.
“She has had a brilliant preparation and we are very happy with her, and we can’t wait to get to Goodwood races.
“She is a wonderful filly, the filly of my life for now, and I’m really happy to have the luck to train her.
“It has been a tremendous season with her and we can’t wait to see what she is capable of doing at the Goodwood track.”
Head is a fifth generation of his family to excel in the thoroughbred business. He is the son of Freddy, the multiple champion-jockey-turned-trainer, and grandson of Alec, something akin to French racing royalty.
While this will be Head’s first runner at the undulating circuit, he is no stranger to British racing and is keen to see how far the daughter of Churchill can climb.
“It has been a very nice run and I think it is a very tactical racetrack and a very interesting one,” he added.
“I can’t wait to get into it, because there is such a good atmosphere at the races in the UK and it is really a unique feeling when you run a horse there.”
The Chantilly-based handler has no qualms that Blue Rose Cen will handle the rain-soaked ground.
“The ground should not be any issue for her,” he said. “She has already encountered various tracks and there is no problem at any of them.”
Though he initially felt she was a 10-furlong filly on pedigree, he is exploring the possibility of seeing her race over further.
“We will need to see her run, but there is a project about seeing what she is capable of doing in a staying capacity, such as the Vermeille, just to see if she is capable of going further,” he added.
“We don’t have the limit of the filly now – she looks like she can do everything! For now, she has the benefit of choice.”
Five fillies stand in her way, including Roger Varian’s Al Husn, who won the Group Three Hoppings Fillies’ Stakes, at Newcastle, and Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve, who won the top-level Prix Saint-Alary last season.
Nashwa, though, would appear to be Blue Rose Cen’s biggest danger. The John and Thady Gosden-trained four-year-old won this race last year, having previously given Hollie Doyle her first Classic success in the Prix de Diane.
The daughter of Frankel, who is rated 2lb superior on official ratings, will be conceding 8lb to the French raider due to the weight-for-age structure.
She took her time to find her form this season, and was narrowly beaten by Al Husn at Newcastle, but was subsequently an eyecatching winner of the Group One Falmouth at Newmarket, where she powered to a five-length success back over a mile.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Imad Al Sagar, who owns Nashwa, feels she is up to the task now she has found her form.
He said: “She’s in good form, actually. She came out of the Falmouth really well. I think it was so encouraging the way she did it at Newmarket.
“Everybody’s faith has been repaid, as it were. She looked good and had done well over the winter and, if anything, might have done a bit too well.
““She is a big, scopey filly and sometimes they just take a little while to come to themselves. It was never that she worked badly, she was always going nicely, but I think after Newcastle, it looked like she suddenly began to take hold of the bridle.
“She settled really well at Newmarket and showed a really good turn of foot, galloped out well and wasn’t stopping.”
Nashwa justified favouritism, beating Aristia by a length and three-quarters in the race 12 months ago, but Grimthorpe knows she faces a tough task against Blue Rose Cen.
He added: “We know she acts at Goodwood, anyway. It is a very interesting race and the French filly looks exceptional. It is going to be a good race.
“We are always hopeful, but the good thing is she is going into the race how we’d want her to.”
Jac Morgan will captain Wales on Saturday in what is effectively the first of three World Cup leadership auditions.
The 23-year-old Ospreys flanker takes charge for Wales’ opening tournament warm-up game against England in Cardiff.
Wales then go to Twickenham seven days later before hosting reigning world champions South Africa – and there is likely to be a different skipper each time as head coach Warren Gatland considers his options.
Hooker Dewi Lake, fly-half Dan Biggar, plus locks Adam Beard and Will Rowlands are also among realistic captaincy candidates.
Should Morgan or 24-year-old hooker Lake be handed the World Cup reins, it would echo Gatland appointing Sam Warburton as skipper for the 2011 tournament, when he was just 22.
“We’ve named Jac as captain for this match, and it is a great honour for him to be leading his country,” Gatland said.
“We will be looking at probably having a different captain for each of the matches as we give as many as possible in the squad an opportunity to impress, but also mindful about potential combinations as we get closer to naming the World Cup squad.”
Gatland is set to name his final 33-strong World Cup squad later this month, and there are early chances in the spotlight for an uncapped trio of Max Llewellyn, Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti, who all start against England.
And former England prop Henry Thomas, who qualifies for Wales through his father and has been able to switch countries under new World Rugby regulations, is among the replacements along with fellow uncapped forward Taine Plumtree.
Since the start of last year, players can switch to their country of birth – or their parents’ or grandparents’ birth – provided a minimum period of three years has elapsed since they were last selected for an adopted country.
Thomas, who won the last of his seven England caps against New Zealand in 2014, follows players like Jean Kleyn (Ireland to South Africa), Charles Piutau (New Zealand to Tonga) and Byron McGuigan (Scotland in Namibia).
Full-back Leigh Halfpenny, meanwhile, will win his 100th cap as Wales step up their World Cup preparations after tough training camps in Switzerland and Turkey.
Gatland added: “I have been really pleased with the players’ effort and commitment in Turkey, Switzerland and the mini camps in Wales, but now it is about putting what we’ve been training into practice.
“There is some great competition among the squad in all positions, and we’ve selected a team this week with a few debutants because we want to give them the opportunity to see what they can do.
“There is a lot to play for over the next three matches, and everyone is still in contention to make that final squad for France.”
Centre Llewellyn, who is the son of former Wales lock Gareth Llewellyn, will partner George North in midfield, with Cardiff props Domachowski and Assiratti also gaining immediate chances to shine.
Swansea-born Plumtree, meanwhile, goes straight into the matchday 23 after linking up with the Wales squad ahead of last month’s trip to Switzerland.
He has played Super Rugby in New Zealand and will be part of the Scarlets set-up next season.
For Halfpenny, Saturday’s game sees him reach three figures almost 15 years after he made his Wales debut as a teenager against South Africa.
He will become the ninth Wales player to clock up a century, and only the fifth back, joining North, Biggar, Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas.
Gatland said: “I would like to make a special mention for Leigh Halfpenny, who will win his 100th cap for Wales on Saturday.
“Reaching this milestone is an incredible achievement and testament to the player and person Leigh is. I know it will be a very special day for him and all his family.”
Dylan Hartley has urged England to install Owen Farrell at fly-half for the entire World Cup and its build up in the belief it will provide reassurance to the team.
Farrell is competing with George Ford and Marcus Smith for the role of chief conductor with the alternative option to pick him at inside centre, operating alongside one of his rivals for the number 10 jersey.
Head coach Steve Borthwick used both Farrell and Smith in the position during the Six Nations, while Ford is back in contention having fallen out of favour under Eddie Jones.
Hartley, who led England to the 2016 Grand Slam, insists his successor as red rose captain should start the Summer Nations Series opener against Wales on Saturday and then be retained, to send out a message.
“I would love for Owen to play at 10 and for Steve Borthwick to make his mind up and go with him for all these opening games,” Hartley told the PA news agency.
“The team ticks when there is certainty and I love the conviction of seeing Owen at 10. If he’s at 10 then it frees up Ollie Lawrence or Manu Tuilagi, or whatever combination there is outside him.
“As the leader, heartbeat of the side and world class player when given the reins, Owen is integral to how England will perform.
“He’s not just the fly-half and goalkicker, he’s everything to that squad. He’s not a young kid any more, he’s a battle-hardened warrior.
“He’s still matching where he needs to be physically, it’s not like they’re carrying him just for his experience, whereas you’d probably argue I was just there for experience and captaincy instead of performance.
“In that regard you hit a tipping point and my tipping point came pre-30-years-old. Owen ticks all the boxes for me.”
Borthwick has four Tests – Wales’ visit to Twickenham and clashes with Ireland and Fiji complete the schedule – to fine tune England ahead of their seismic opener against Argentina on September 9.
The Principality showdown is the only match to take place before Borthwick names his 33-man World Cup squad on Monday with the management team holding their final selection meeting on Saturday night.
Hartley, who is now exploring coaching consultancy roles, having retired in 2019, believes it is crucial England use the Tests to stitch together a winning run.
“You want to roll these games into the World Cup and win them all. You don’t want to experiment and I’d like to see conviction from the off. Don’t mess around and pick the team you would for a World Cup final,” the former Northampton hooker said.
“Pick a team against Wales to win, not to work on combinations. If you experiment with a player you might learn more about him, but you get more from a winning team. You go through the gears easier when you’re winning.
“Uncertainty can keep environments competitive and honest, but you also need a little bit of comfort.
“Injuries will come, but deal with those retrospectively and go win the games which will build momentum and confidence.”
Rugby is going through a challenging period amid concerns over concussion, its laws, finances and playing numbers, but Hartley believes the coming weeks in France will provide a much-needed lift.
“The game has taken bit of a shoeing but the best of rugby is displayed at rugby World Cups, so it’s timely,” the 97-cap front row said.
“You have the underdog stories – the teams you never get to see like Portugal and Chile – that emerge and are hugely positive.
“The game is in a tough place but with the quality of teams and calibre of athlete we’ll see at the World Cup, it will be a great advertisement for the game and we can stop talking about the negative stuff.”
:: All 15 Summer Nations Series matches are available exclusively on Prime Video in the UK.
Bluestocking will be given a couple of options at the upcoming Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York following her narrow defeat in the Irish Oaks.
Placed behind Warm Heart in both a Listed race at Newbury and the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Camelot filly comprehensively reversed that form in the Curragh Classic and looked the likely winner after travelling powerfully to the lead.
In the end she was outstayed by Epsom Oaks runner-up Savethelastdance, but lost little in defeat in being beaten half a length and is now bound for the Knavesmire.
Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte, said: “Whilst we thought the world of her, her form before the Irish Oaks wouldn’t have suggested she was going to put in a run like that, but we sort of always felt she had that in her.
“It was a huge run and I thought she had it won for most of the straight, but unfortunately we didn’t.
“We’ll look towards York for her. It will more than likely be the Yorkshire Oaks, but because she hasn’t won yet this year she has the option of the race we won with Haskoy last year (Galtres Stakes).
“You’d imagine she’ll probably go for the Yorkshire Oaks, but she’ll be in both anyway.”
Two other horses who have made a big impression for the Juddmonte team in the last week are Waltham and Task Force.
Trained by Ger Lyons, the three-year-old Waltham supplemented an impressive debut win at Leopardstown with a runaway six-length success in a conditions event at the same track. He now looks set for a step up to Pattern class, but Mahon feels talk of a tilt at Classic glory in the St Leger is premature.
“He’s a nice horse and he’s a horse that went into training late – he only went into training in May this year,” he said.
“He’s done nothing wrong in his two wins, he’s progressing nicely and stays well and something like the Irish St Leger Trial at the Curragh (August 20) would be next on the cards.
“He is a nice horse, but you have to remember he’s won a pretty uncompetitive maiden and he’s won a nice conditions race – it’s a long way off Group One standard.”
Task Force, trained by Ralph Beckett, is bred to be a bit special as a son of Frankel out 1000 Guineas heroine Special Duty and made a big impression on his racecourse introduction at Salisbury.
While plans are fluid, Mahon hopes he can go on to bigger and better things.
He said: “It’s not too many times you have a two-year-old that’s by a Guineas winner and out of a Guineas winner and he’s a nice horse.
“He’s a very late foal (born in May) and he’s been a little bit immature, but he’s shown up well at home, Ralph decided to bring him down the road for his first start and he won well.
“Again the quality of the race might not have been the strongest, but he did it in impressive fashion over what I’d imagine is his bare minimum trip of six furlongs.
“Without discussing it with Ralph, he would remind me of a horse who probably won’t have a huge amount of racing this year. If he had another two starts that would probably be the height of it as he’s a horse to look forward to for next year.
“I’d say he’ll step up to seven furlongs next time.”
When asked whether the Acomb Stakes at York could be a target, he added: “At the moment I think the plan is for Starlore to go to the Acomb, but if Task Force was in good form and Ralph wanted a go it’s not impossible we could run two of them.”
Finn Russell will captain Scotland in this Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against France – less than 10 months after Gregor Townsend left the fly-half out of his initial squad for the autumn series.
The 30-year-old will lead the team in the absence of Jamie Ritchie, who misses out with a minor niggle. Scotland medical staff hope the regular skipper will be fit to return for the rematch with France in St Etienne the following Saturday.
Head coach Townsend has restored most of his senior players, making 13 changes to his starting XV, after a largely experimental side defeated Italy last weekend.
Darcy Graham and Matt Fagerson are the only two to retain their places from the win over the Azzurri, while hooker Ewan Ashman – with just seven caps to date – is the least-established player in the XV to face the World Cup hosts.
Ritchie and George Turner – who played against Italy – are the only notable absentees from the starting XV.
Versatile Edinburgh back Blair Kinghorn has been given a chance to establish himself as the first-choice number 15 following the recent retirement of Stuart Hogg.
Russell being handed the captaincy marks a significant turnaround in fortunes for a player whose international future looked in serious jeopardy just under a year ago after he was a surprise omission from the autumn series squad, with Townsend citing concerns about his form and consistency levels.
However, following an injury to Adam Hastings that left him short of dependable options at stand-off, Townsend held clear-the-air talks with Russell and recalled him for the third of the four autumn Tests at home to New Zealand.
The number 10 – who has moved to Bath from Racing 92 this summer – shone against the All Blacks and Argentina last November and continued to flourish in the Six Nations, rediscovering the faith of Townsend who has rewarded him with the honour of leading the team this weekend, just five weeks out from their opening World Cup match against South Africa in Marseille.
Tadhg Beirne admits the scars of the last World Cup took a long time to heal and insists Ireland will do everything possible to avoid making the same mistakes.
Andy Farrell’s side go into the tournament in France at the top of the world rankings and buoyed by clinching a Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam on the back of a historic tour success in New Zealand.
Ireland were buzzing with similar belief under Joe Schmidt in 2019 before suffering an emphatic quarter-final exit to the All Blacks following a shock pool-stage loss to hosts Japan.
Munster lock Beirne believes the tone for that forgettable campaign was set during an underwhelming build-up, which included a record drubbing by England, and is determined to help prevent a repeat outcome as he prepares for Saturday’s warm-up clash with Italy.
“It was really disappointing to be honest, we had such expectations of ourselves and we probably felt like we didn’t fire on all cylinders,” he said of the 2019 tournament.
“Overall, just disappointment from the get-go.
“Even when you talk about warm-ups we didn’t particularly play well in them, did we? And that fed into the World Cup in terms of our performances over there.
“I think afterwards it took a long, long time to get over it so I’m certainly hoping that’s not the case this year and we’ll be doing everything we can to change that.”
Ireland begin the World Cup on September 9 against Romania in Bordeaux.
After hosting Italy, preparations continue when England visit the Aviva Stadium a fortnight later before a fixture against Samoa in Bayonne the following weekend provides a final chance for fine-tuning.
Beirne says the three upcoming matches are far from friendlies and acknowledges that any player not up to scratch is at risk of being dropped when head coach Farrell cuts his squad from 42 to 33 at the end of the month.
“You can certainly lose your spot in a World Cup squad if you don’t play well,” said the British and Irish Lion, who was restricted to a peripheral role for his country in Japan in 2019.
“As a squad we have a record at home that we are proud of at the moment, we are playing a certain type of rugby that we want to continue doing.
“We are looking at it very much as we would a Six Nations game or a November international game.
“It’s a Test match we want to win and we are going out there to prove a point, 100 per cent.”
Mike Phillips has urged Wales to inspire their fans at what he considers the most important World Cup in the nation’s rugby history.
The Welsh game has spent 2023 in crisis off the field due to a sexism and misogyny scandal at the Welsh Rugby Union and in dire straits on it, with Warren Gatland struggling to transform the team’s fortunes during his second spell in charge.
Wales, World Cup semi-finalists in Japan four years ago, have fallen to ninth in the global rankings, with supporters expecting Gatland’s side to make a major impact at the tournament in France next month very much in the minority.
“It’s more important this time,” former scrum-half Phillips said of Wales’ forthcoming World Cup campaign.
“The public needs it. It seems that it has just been a constant negative about Welsh rugby over the last 18 months. The public needs some inspiration.
“We all want to support success, just as with the football team reaching the World Cup.
“The Welsh people want to be inspired and there’s nothing like the national team to galvanise the game, all the way down to the grassroots.
“It would be nice to have people excited about what’s happening on the pitch.”
Wales play two warm-up games against England – the first in Cardiff on Saturday – and another at home to South Africa before embarking on their World Cup adventure.
British and Irish Lions trio Alun Wyn Jones – Test rugby’s most capped player – Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb have all left the international scene in recent months and there will be several new faces in France.
“There’s no pressure on these players but my only concern is that they’re not winning often, either for club or country,” said Phillips, who won 94 caps for Wales and another five for the Lions.
“Winning in sport is tough, it doesn’t just happen. Sometimes you need to grind it out. A few years ago that’s what they were doing.
“Gatland will have them fit but the game has moved on from when he was first in charge. There’s far more kicking now so the tactics need to be spot on, strong defence and discipline is key because games turn on a moment.
“You can’t keep picking the same guys forever. Ideally you would have a core group with 30 or 40 caps but we seem to have players either with lots or none.”
Phillips starred as Wales reached the last four of the 2011 World Cup, losing agonisingly 9-8 to France after skipper Sam Warburton had been sent off in the opening quarter.
He said: “The youngsters have to learn to become leaders, that’s how they will grow. Perhaps it’s good to throw them in the deep end.
“It feels similar to 2011 when Wales brought in a load of new young players like George North, Jonathan Davies, Rhys Priestland, Taulupe Faletau and Sam Warburton.
“They came back from the World Cup experience and won a Grand Slam, another title, and all went with the Lions in 2013.
“We may not know a lot about these lads now but they can be household names by the time they return.”
Wales meet Fiji – who famously knocked them out the last time the World Cup was held in France 16 years ago – in a crunch Bordeaux opener on September 10 before further group games against Portugal, Australia and Georgia.
England or Argentina are potential quarter-final opponents.
“Fiji is a monumental game,” said Phillips. “Getting that first win gives you momentum and takes a bit of pressure off.
“But Fiji are very physical and athletically they are absolute monsters. They are strong and powerful and seem to have a more tactical game now with their driving maul.
“Their scrum is pretty solid, they play in that Super competition (Super Rugby Pacific franchise Fijian Drua provided 19 of the most recent national squad), and they are going to be tough to break down.”
:: Mike Phillips was speaking at S4C’s 2023 Rugby World Cup launch.
Ospreys flanker Jac Morgan will captain Wales in Saturday’s opening World Cup warm-up clash against England at the Principality Stadium.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has yet to announce his World Cup skipper, though, and says each of the preparation games against England home and away, plus South Africa in Cardiff, could have a different player at the helm.
Centre Max Llewellyn, plus props Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti will make their Test debuts on Saturday.
And former England prop Henry Thomas, who qualifies for Wales through his father and has been able to switch countries under new World Rugby regulations, is among the replacements along with fellow uncapped forward Taine Plumtree.
Full-back Leigh Halfpenny, meanwhile, will win his 100th cap as Wales step up their World Cup preparations.
Paul O’Connell has no reservations about the possibility of Ross Byrne, Jack Crowley or Ciaran Frawley starting a World Cup match in place of influential Ireland captain Johnny Sexton.
Suspension has ruled fly-half Sexton out of his country’s warm-up matches against Italy, England and Samoa, leaving a trio of inexperienced understudies vying to stake their claim for the role.
Frawley remains uncapped at international level, while his Leinster team-mate Byrne and Munster man Crowley have just four Test starts between them.
Veteran Sexton will complete his three-match ban in time to feature in Ireland’s World Cup opener against Romania on September 9 but he is short of match fitness having not played since March due to injury.
Although forwards coach O’Connell acknowledges the stand-in options are Test rookies, he would back each of them to perform on the biggest stage if required.
“I’d be confident in all of them,” he said, ahead of Saturday’s Dublin clash with Italy.
“One of the strengths we have is that we’ve good clarity on how we’re trying to play the game and the players have to take ownership of that clarity quite a lot.
“You do figure out a guy that’s unsure very, very quickly. But all of our guys know how we want to play.
“They don’t have as much practice at it or as much experience as Johnny has of taking ownership of it but that’s why these few weeks will be great for them.
“We play differently to Munster and to Leinster and the guys that are there but there is a lot of similarities as well so it’s nothing massively new to them.
“They’ve all driven the ship for their provinces in big, big games and done really well. There’s a little bit of a tweak to how we do things and they’ve got to pick that up.”
Sexton’s last competitive action was four and a half months ago when he limped off with a groin issue during Ireland’s Grand Slam-clinching win over England.
The 38-year-old, who has 113 caps for his country, has been training fully with Andy Farrell’s 42-man preliminary squad this summer ahead of his last competition before retirement.
Ireland’s selection is due to be cut to a final 33 on August 28 and O’Connell has urged those who do miss out to not feel too disheartened.
“It’s not all or nothing,” said the 43-year-old, who represented Ireland at four World Cups between 2003 and 2015.
“You hope that by being in here, training with us, training with good players, that players are improving and they’re looking at their opportunity to get a chance, to try to get picked for the World Cup and, if they don’t, that they break in in the future.
“They all want to go to the World Cup for sure, but selection for the World Cup is not an all-or-nothing thing.
“I’m sure plenty of guys are going to be disappointed.
“They’ve their sights set on getting their chances and taking it but I think they’re all going to be better on the back of this pre-season.”
Los Angeles Rams star receiver Cooper Kupp left practice early Tuesday with a hamstring injury, and the team is not sure how long he could be sidelined.
Kupp’s final play of the day came on a route that he ran into the end zone. He appeared to come up slightly lame after finishing the route and walked over to the training staff before leaving the field.
Rams coach Sean McVay didn’t have any updates on Kupp.
“Obviously we’re much better when he’s here, and we hope he’s going to be OK,” McVay said. “If he’s not, we’ll see what happens, but the practice had to go on.”
McVay saw the play where Kupp appeared to injure himself but had no other details.
“He looked like he came up a little bit in a red zone route, and then I just knew they told me he was out of practice,” he said. “I have no more information than that.”
Kupp, 30, has been one of the league’s best receivers, but his season was cut short last year after he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the Rams’ final eight games. He still finished with 75 receptions for 812 yards and six touchdowns in nine games.
Kupp won the NFL’s triple crown of receiving in 2021, leading the league in catches (145), yards receiving (1,947) and touchdowns (16).
Sir Chris Hoy won a fifth Olympic gold after Great Britain’s men’s team sprint squad triumphed on a night of high drama at the London Velodrome on this day in 2012.
After Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish were relegated from the team sprint for a takeover infringement and Britain’s men’s team pursuit quartet set a world record, Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny progressed to the final of the three-man, three-lap team sprint in a world record of 42.747 seconds.
The British trio clocked another world record in a stunning finale, finishing in 42.600secs.
In a repeat of the final four years previously in Beijing, France’s Gregory Bauge, Michael D’Almeida and Kevin Sireau had to settle for silver, finishing in 43.013.
Hoy, 36, told BBC One: “It is quite overwhelming. We knew it was possible, this hasn’t come out of the blue. We knew that if we put together our best possible race on the day that it was possible but it’s easier said than done.
“We had the full support of the team behind us and we nailed it.
“That last ride I dug deeper than I have ever dug before. I didn’t want to let the boys down, they have been riding so well today.
“You can’t overstate what it means to us in front of our home crowd.”
Hindes said: “It’s unbelievable, I still can’t believe I am an Olympic champion, it’s a dream come true.”
Kenny added: “I can’t believe how quick we went today.
“Phil went off so quick, we were just swinging over the back of him, trying to keep up.”
Five days later Hoy won gold in the Keirin to overtake Sir Steve Redgrave and become the most successful British Olympian.
Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez became the third pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter, shutting down the Cleveland Guardians in a 2-0 win on Tuesday.
Valdez gave up just one baserunner on a walk in the fifth inning, but still faced the minimum thanks to a double play. He struck out seven and threw 65 of his 93 pitches for strikes.
It was the 16th no-hitter in Astros’ history and the first in the regular season by one pitcher since Justin Verlander against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 1, 2019.
Valdez’ historic outing – the first no-hitter by an Astros lefty- came hours after Houston re-acquired Verlander from the New York Mets.
Valdez joined Domingo German of the New York Yankees, who threw a perfect game at Oakland on June 28, and three pitchers from the Detroit Tigers, who combined for a no-hitter against Toronto on July 8.
Kyle Tucker provided all the offence with a two-run single in the third inning to help the Astros remain one-half game behind the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.
Cleveland has lost four of five while scoring just 10 runs.
Swanson powers Cubs to rout of Reds
Dansby Swanson homered twice and drove in five runs and the Chicago Cubs went deep seven times in a 20-9 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds.
Mike Tauchman homered and had four RBIs and Jeimer Candelario had four hits in his first game with Chicago since he was re-acquired in a trade with the Washington Nationals on Monday. He made his major league debut with the Cubs in 2016.
Nico Hoener, Miguel Amaya, Cody Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom all homered for Chicago, which tied a modern franchise record with seven home runs, last accomplished on May 17, 1977, against San Diego.
Reds starter Ben Lively was tagged for 13 runs and 13 hits over four innings.
Rays’ Eflin first in AL to 12 wins
Zach Eflin pitched three-hit ball over six scoreless innings to become the American League’s first 12-game winner as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees, 5-2.
Eflin struck out five and did not walk a batter to join Philadelphia’s Taijuan Walker as the only 12-game winners in the majors.
Randy Arozarena hit a two-run homer and Yandy Diaz also went deep as the Rays won their third straight to stay 1 ½ games behind East-leading Baltimore.
The last-place Yankees have lost 14 of 21 and were nearly shut out until Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu had RBI singles in the ninth.
Justin Verlander helped the Houston Astros capture a pair of World Series titles, and the club is hoping he can lead them to another championship.
Verlander was traded to the Astros from the New York Mets in a blockbuster deal hours before MLB’s deadline on Tuesday.
The Mets received two minor league outfielders - 22-year-old Drew Gilbert, Houston’s No. 1-ranked prospect, and 20-year-old Ryan Clifford, who was the Astros’ No. 4 prospect.
Verlander signed a two-year, $86.7million contract with the Mets last December, shortly after earning his second World Series title with Houston and third Cy Young Award.
The 40-year-old has been pitching well lately, going 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in six July starts, but the Mets have been a major disappointment and are tearing down the most expensive roster in major league history.
Fellow three-time Cy Young Award-winner Max Scherzer, who signed a three-year, $130million deal after the 2021 season, was traded to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
Hours after that deal was officially announced, Verlander became the 49th pitcher in MLB history to 250 victories.
Of those wins, 61 came while pitching for the Astros – tied with Jim Deshaies for the 15th most in club history.
Verlander was first acquired by Houston during the 2017 season from the Detroit Tigers and helped the Astros to the franchise’s first World Series title later that fall.
During his time with Houston, Verlander made 102 starts and posted a 2.26 ERA – the lowest in franchise history among the 46 players with a minimum of 500 innings pitched for the club.
The Astros have won five of the last six AL West crowns and have reached the AL championship series in each of the last four seasons, but enter August one-half game behind the first-place Texas Rangers.
Blue Jays acquire DeJong after Bichette injures knee
The Toronto Blue Jays moved quickly in finding a replacement for Bo Bichette in the event the All-Star shortstop would’ve been sidelined for a while, trading for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong.
Bichette, the AL leader in batting average (.321) and hits (144), exited Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles with a right knee injury.
The extent of Bichette’s injury was uncertain early Tuesday, but after trading for DeJong, it was reported that an MRI on the knee revealed no significant structural damage, and he’s considered day to day.
DeJong was considered the top shortstop on the trade market.
An All-Star in 2019, the 29-year-old is batting .233 with 13 home runs, 11 doubles and 32 RBIs in 81 games.
He is also one of the better fielders at his position, registering a .990 fielding percentage – second only to the Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa for the best among all qualifying shortstops.
To complete the trade, the Cardinals are getting 24-year-old pitching prospect Matt Svanson from the Blue Jays.
Phillies get All-Star Lorenzen from Tigers
The Philadelphia Phillies have bolstered their rotation, acquiring right-hander Michael Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers for 20-year-old infielder Hao-Yu Lee.
Lorenzen, who will become a free agent after this season, was named to his first All-Star team this year, going 5-7 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 18 starts. He has struck out 83 and walked 27 over 105 2/3 innings.
The 31-year-old began his career as a starter for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 before spending the next six seasons working out of their bullpen.
He signed with the Los Angeles Angels prior to last season and moved back into the starting rotation, going 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA in 18 outings.
He now joins a Phillies team that reached last year’s World Series and is in possession of the NL’s second wild card.
Marlins bolster lineup with sluggers Burger, Bell
The Miami Marlins added two key bats to their lineup at the deadline, acquiring infielder Jake Burger from the Chicago White Sox and first baseman Josh Bell from the Cleveland Guardians.
The Marlins (57-51) find themselves in rare playoff contention but are hoping to improve their 27th-ranked offence that scores 4.09 runs per game.
Burger, 27, is tied for eighth in MLB with 25 home runs this season but is batting just .214 in 88 games. Of Burger’s 63 hits this season, 41 have gone for extra bases.
Bell, who will turn 31 later this month, was a 2019 All-Star but will be playing on his fifth team since 2020.
In the deals, the Marlins sent pitching prospect Jake Eder to Chicago, while Cleveland added infield prospect Khalil Watson. The Guardians also acquired Jean Segura in the deal but are expected to release the veteran infielder.
AL East-leading Orioles add RHP Flaherty
Enjoying their best season in a decade, the Baltimore Orioles fortified their rotation by acquiring right-hander Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals for three prospects.
Leading the AL East with a 65-41 record and with a stacked farm system, the Orioles had the chance to be among the most aggressive teams at the deadline but held on to all eight of their prospects ranked by MLB Pipeline in baseball’s top 100.
Flaherty struggled earlier this season but was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five July starts.
Flaherty put together his best season in 2019, when he was 11-8 with a 2.75 ERA and threw nearly 200 innings.
Injuries have derailed Flaherty’s previous three seasons, but he has made 20 starts this year with a 4.43 ERA and 7-6 record.
Padres are buyers; adding Hill, Choi in trade with Pirates
The San Diego Padres are five games out of a playoff spot but are making moves to get back to the postseason.
The Padres acquired veteran left-hander Rich Hill and first baseman Ji Man Choi from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
This will be the 13th major league team for the 43-year-old Hill, who is 7-10 with a 4.76 ERA in 22 starts in his 19th MLB season.
Choi, 32, is batting .268 with four home runs and nine RBIs in 14 games since coming off the injured list after missing more than two months due to a left Achilles strain.
San Diego, which reached last season’s NL championship series but must pass five teams in the NL wild-card race, sent Pittsburgh three prospects - headlined by lefty Jackson Wolf.
What was expected to be a match-race between God of Love and Yellowstone, proved their undoing, as both went too fast, too early and it paved the way for the late-running Perfect Brew to snare the 19th running of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) Trophy race at Caymanas Park on Tuesday.
Piloted by reigning champion jockey Dane Dawkins, the Richard Azan-conditioned Perfect Brew closed from well off the pace in the small six-horse field to grab his more fancied rivals close to the wire and in a length and quarter win in the three-year-olds and upward Open Allowance contest over five-and-a-half furlongs (1,100m).
Dawkins, who was enjoying decent form on the day with two winners leading up to the feature event, rode the four-year-old Bern Identity-Moonlight Brew progeny with a great deal of confidence from the off.
Perfect Brew left post position five well and was expectedly urged by Dawkins in an effort to get into stride early, as God of Love (Anthony Allen) and Yellowstone (Tevin Foster) opened up a two or more lengths gap on the field, with Lure of Lucy (Phillip Parchment), being their closest pursuer at that point.
Despite being vigorously ridden by Dawkins, Perfect Brew continued to labour and was in fact, nowhere in sight when God of Love and Yellowstone left the half-mile (800m) and headed towards the homestretch.
By the time the fleet-footed frontrunners straightened, God of Love easily repelled Yellowstone's challenge and looked all over the winner inside the final furlong, but little did they know that Perfect Brew under Dawkins’s left-hand stick, had begun to roll and was rapidly closing the gap with each stride.
Before long, Dawkins and the Azan trainee had them measured and he inevitably swept by on the outside to complete victory in a flat 1:08.0. The splits were 23.0 and 46.2 seconds.
God of Love, stayed on for second, with Yellowstone third and Lure of Lucy, fourth.
While it was Perfect Brew’s second win from seven starts this season, it was Dawkins’s third on the day and 47th of the season, as he moved within 16 of leader Reyan Lewis, who was absent from the programme.
Dawkins earlier won aboard Rejected Raja in the third race for trainer Robert Pearson and also produced a late burst aboard Michael Marlowe’s Blue Persuasion in the fifth race.
Racing continues on Saturday with the running of the Jamaica Oaks Classic race, while the Blueriband Jamaica Derby event will be contested on Monday’s Independence Day card.
After a day of much-needed rest and recovery, Sunshine Girls Head coach Connie Francis is anticipating another solid performance from her team at the Vitality Netball World Cup, when they take on Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday.
The number four-ranked Jamaicans, who have won all four games contested so far at the tournament in Cape Town, South Africa, will be seeking to make it five-in-five, but the number 10-ranked Calypso Girls is not expected to make it easy.
Francis is very much aware of that given their history, so though her Sunshine Girls are enjoying a rich vein of form at present, she is taking steps to guard against complacency.
Jamaica’s most recent victory was a 61-49 scoreline against Uganda, while Trinidad and Tobago will be trying to bounce back from a 28-69 defeat to host South Africa.
The game is scheduled to begin at 9:00am Jamaica time.
“We are still on the right path of going for gold, the coaching staff has been rotating some players to ensure that when the big game comes around, we are able to get the job done. We are more than capable of putting on a good show when it comes to rest and recovery and as I always say, different combination gives you different games, so it was really good to get a day for them to unwind and come again,” Francis told Sportsmax.tv.
With the Jamaicans determined to break a lengthy medal-less drought at the tournament dating back to 2007 when the won the last of their three bronze medals, Francis pointed out that they will also be using tomorrow’s contest to fine tune aspects of their game, ahead of the top of the pool clash with reigning champions New Zealand.
“Our defence continues to hunt balls which is good, so going forward against Trinidad we will have a different combination and then possibly rotate some of our starters in that game just to keep them as fresh as we possibly can so the mind and the body will be aware that we still need to play, especially as we look forward to that game against New Zealand,” Francis said.
“We know they play a very structured type of game, their defensive line up and their attacking line up are both good, but we are confident that all of our players are more than capable of counteracting what they have. So, our focus is really on these games based on how we attack and our all-round defensive effort. We are already playing at a high percentage rate, so we just need to keep that up and really give ourselves a chance for that gold,” she added.
Victory against Trinidad and Tobago will assure the Sunshine Girls of a semi-final spot and by all indications, they will have number one-ranked Australia or number-three ranked England to contend with at that stage.
This is another reason why Francis stressed the need to stay locked in from the start of each game going forward, if they are to reach their ultimate goal.
“When you put fresh legs and fresh combinations in, it kind of keeps the consistency going, so it's important to get other players on court competing, not just seven or eight players. So going up against Trinidad we are confident but not overconfident, as we are focused on our possession game and taking care of the ball.
“So, we are going to send in a combination with some new players, not everybody will play, but it is an opponent to give more players longer playing time on court because we want it to be a case that any combination, we put out there, will be successful,” Francis ended.
Coeur D’or swooped late to claim a head verdict in the featured Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap on day two of the Galway Festival.
Trained by Dermot Weld and ridden by Chris Hayes, Coeur D’or was a winner on his penultimate run at Leopardstown, but he was allowed to go off a 14-1 shot in the handicap highlight.
The 18-runner contest proved typically competitive and it looked as though Dunum was going to take the win two furlongs out, only for No More Porter to battle his way to the front inside the distance.
However, Hayes had launched Coeur D’or down the outside and he grabbed the lead in the shadow of the post to take the prize in a photo, with Dunum a further three-quarters of a length back in third.
Weld said: “He is a very consistent horse, this was the plan and he delivered. He had been running very consistently all year and is a brave horse.
“I was worried about the ground as he is very effective on a slightly quicker surface. A mile is his trip but he was a very immature horse in his early days and took a long time to come to hand but patience paid dividends.
“He has two great owners in Stephen O’Connor and Mark Phelan and I’m delighted for them.”
Sharjah returned to the scene of one of his finest hours to make a seamless transition to fences in the Latin Quarter Beginners Chase.
Winner of the Galway Hurdle in 2018, he has gone on to become a multiple Grade One scorer, triumphing in the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting on four occasions.
He has also been second in two Champion Hurdles so had a clear class edge over his rivals, but he was making his debut over fences at the age of 10.
Always handy under Paul Townend, reunited with him for the first time since the 2021 Champion Hurdle, Sharjah jumped soundly throughout and came clear under no pressure to win by 11 lengths as the 1-4 favourite.
Mullins said: “He was very smooth and jumped like he did at home. Every time I schooled him, he always looked very capable and confident over fences and showed that today. If he wasn’t good, we wouldn’t have gone chasing with him, but he was so natural at home and did today what he has done at home.
“In today’s race he was meeting a lot less competition compared to what he had been meeting over hurdles for the past four or five years – none of those horses had ever run in a Grade One hurdle – and he enjoyed it.
“I imagine he’ll stay to winners’ races now and he would get nice ground for the Drinmore.”
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