Warren Gatland suggested he might need to get tough on his Wales players following their dismal Six Nations defeat to Scotland.
Wales suffered a second straight loss to start this year's Six Nations campaign as they went down 35-7 at Murrayfield.
It was Gatland's first defeat to Scotland in the tournament since 2001, when his Ireland team lost 32-10, having won all 10 of his previous matches against them as Wales head coach.
Gatland omitted experienced trio Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric out of his starting line-up for Saturday's meeting, yet despite some promising play either side of half-time, Wales lost for a 10th time in the space of 12 Tests, suffering their heaviest away defeat to Scotland in the process.
With the defeat following a 34-10 reverse on home soil to Ireland, Gatland hinted there will be no holding back as he and his coaches search for a turnaround ahead of hosting England on February 25.
He told BBC Sport: "We were okay in the first half and could have gone in ahead at half-time. Some of the things that affected us last week, our discipline, giving penalties away, and not being accurate, that was the most disappointing factor [again].
"We had six minutes in their 22, and have come away with bugger all, so we need to have a good hard look at ourselves – we need to get better, and probably be a bit tougher on the players.
"We were beaten by the better team today, congratulations to Scotland – I thought they played exceptionally well. Finn Russell was outstanding.
"Some of the young boys really stepped up and we were pleased with their performances."
Scotland, meanwhile, have started a Six Nations campaign with back-to-back victories for the first time.
The last time they won their opening two matches was back in 1996, when only five teams competed in the tournament, though Gregor Townsend sees plenty of scope for improvement if his side are to continue their run against reigning champions France.
"We'll be confident, winning really helps. We had a really good week where we weren't easy on the players as coaches, but the players weren't easy on themselves," he told BBC Sport.
"We had two tough physical sessions and there were areas we had to improve from Twickenham. The challenge only gets stronger.
"This display, while encouraging, will have to go up another level if we want to win in Paris."
George Turner went over in the first half for Scotland before he was sent to the sin-bin, with Ken Owens crossing for Wales while the hooker was off the pitch.
Wales should have scored a second try on the cusp of half-time, only for Rio Dyer to fumble an easy chance, and Scotland made them pay with four tries in the second half to secure an emphatic bonus-point win.
"It was [a complete performance] in the second half. The first half, we didn't get our game going," Townsend said.
"We didn't get through first two phases on enough occasions. Wales were competing hard at the breakdown, slowing our ball down or winning the ball back, but we did build a score which was pleasing.
"On the flip side, the second half we were getting the opportunities and they led to tries. That's an outstanding win for the group because Wales have been a top team for a number of years. To come away with any win is pleasing, one with a bonus point sets us up well."
Maxime Cressy sprang a shock by beating top seed Holger Rune to reach the Open Sud de France final, where Jannik Sinner awaits him.
Paris-born American Cressy won 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) in a little over two and a half hours, countering 10 double faults with 15 aces on his way to victory.
Rune, the Danish 19-year-old who sits ninth in the world rankings, had won his three previous matches against Cressy, including a second-round clash at the Australian Open last month, but he could not extend that dominance at the indoor event in Montpellier.
It means Cressy faces second seed Sinner, a player he lost to at a low-level tournament in Lexington in 2019, their only past meeting.
Sinner beat 18-year-old French wildcard Arthur Fils in Saturday's first semi-final, ending the teenager's eye-catching run with a 7-5 6-2 victory.
Fils had beaten Richard Gasquet and Roberto Bautista Agut on his way to the last four but found world number 17 Sinner was more than his match.
Last year saw Sinner reach just one ATP final, taking a title on clay in Umag, after making it through to five title matches in the 2021 season.
He had his best year at the grand slams, however, reaching quarter-finals at three of the four majors.
Cressy recognises the threat posed by the Italian, saying in an on-court interview: "Jannik Sinner is an incredible player, just like Holger Rune and everyone else in the tournament. I believe you've just got to bring your 'A' game every time and I'm really looking forward to it."
Competing well in France has been pleasing for Cressy, who is set to climb from 51st in the rankings and into the top 40 on Monday.
"I lived and grew up here, and I'm extremely happy," Cressy said.
Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie said "we have got a lot more in us" after Gregor Townsend's team routed Wales 35-7 at Murrayfield.
Wales were no match for their hosts in Edinburgh on Saturday, as Scotland cruised to a bonus-point win that sees them join Ireland at the top of the Six Nations standings.
George Turner went over in the first half but Ken Owens crossed for Wales, who should have gone into the interval on the back of a second try, only for Rio Dyer to squander a golden opportunity.
Scotland made Wales pay – Finn Russell combining twice with Kyle Steyn before Blair Kinghorn and Matt Fagerson drove through late on.
Their winning margin of 28 points marks Scotland's biggest victory over Wales in Test rugby, with the only other time they have beaten them by more than 20 points coming back in 1924.
Next up is a trip to reigning champions France on February 26, and Ritchie is hoping for more from his side at the Stade de France.
"It wasn't perfect but we did enough to get the job done," he told BBC Sport.
"We have belief that if we play to our best we can beat any team. It wasn't perfect today, we've got a lot more in us. We're looking to improve when we go to Paris, definitely."
Saturday's match marked the first Test at Murrayfield since the death of Doddie Weir, who passed away in November.
Scotland were presented the Doddie Weir Cup for their victory, and Ritchie said: "We're delighted and I'm glad to be holding Doddie's trophy.
"The first game here without him, we miss him so much, I'm just glad we have our hands on this. We're so delighted, I'm a bit all over the place at the moment – a bit emotional. I'm glad I could do this for [Weir's widow] Kathy and the boys."
Russell was the star of the show for Scotland, teeing up three of their tries and kicking 10 points.
He has now provided 10 try assists in nine Test matches for Scotland since the start of 2022, more than any other player from a Tier One nation in that period.
"I was just doing my job – making other boys look good," Russell joked after becoming the first Scotland player to register a hat-trick of assists in a Six Nations game.
"It showed the continuity in the squad. The boys were all on the same page and it allowed us to attack how we did today."
Scotland have won back-to-back games to start a Six Nations campaign for the first time, with the last time they had managed to triumph in their opening two games of the Championship coming in 1996, when it was the Five Nations.
Russell added: "Great game, great result for us. We knew we'd struggled before after the first games to back it up, and I think the boys put in a good performance today, which was great to have back here at Murrayfield."
Wales have lost their opening two games, conceding at least four tries in each match. It is the first time they have done so in back-to-back Six Nations Tests in the same year.
"When you're winning and you have that momentum, it's hard to lose. The flip side to that is the same," said captain Owens, with Wales having won just twice in their last 10 Tests.
"We've got to work hard next week. There's plenty of experience but plenty of youngsters coming through. There's new coaching staff, new players coming in, we just need to work hard.
"Turn the corner hopefully, against England, we've got to grind out a win, find a win and build that momentum. There are positives there. People are going to say there isn't but we believe in what we're trying to achieve, we work hard and try to deliver."
Belinda Bencic breezed through to the Abu Dhabi Open final after a commanding 6-2 6-3 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia on Saturday.
The world number nine, who is yet to drop a set this week, is into her second WTA final of 2023, having triumphed in Adelaide last month.
Haddad Maia arrived in the clash fresh from winning each of her previous six encounters with top-10 opponents, including her quarter-final victory over Wimbledon champion and Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina.
But the Brazilian had already spent almost eight hours on court in this event prior to this contest, in which Bencic dropped just five games on the way to wracking up her 11th win of the campaign – the joint-most on the WTA Tour alongside Melbourne winner Aryna Sabalenka.
She will play number eight seed Liudmila Samsonova in Sunday's final after the Russian defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-4 1-6 6-4.
After being edged out in the first set, Zheng responded to motor through the second and seemed to have the momentum going into the third, but Samsonova showed impressive resolve to see off three break points against her, before taking her first on match point.
At the Linz Open, top seed Maria Sakkari is out after going down 3-6 6-3 6-4 to sixth seed Petra Martic in a match that lasted over two and a half hours.
The Croatian will play Anastasia Potapova in the final after the number eight seed claimed yet another three-set victory this week to see off Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 and secure her fifth WTA final appearance.
Scotland's winning start to the Six Nations continued as they swatted aside Wales 35-7 at Murrayfield.
Having lost to Wales in the second round in 2021 and 2022, Gregor Townsend's side had little trouble in ending that run on Saturday, despite the early loss of Stuart Hogg to a head injury.
Warren Gatland had won his previous 10 Six Nations matches against Scotland while in charge of Wales, and matters might have been different for the visitors had Rio Dyer finished a routine chance.
Scotland made their luck count, Kyle Steyn twice combining with Finn Russell, who claimed another assist as Matt Fagerson rounded off the scoring after Blair Kinghorn's superb try had sealed the bonus point.
A pair of Russell penalties put Scotland 6-0 up inside 15 minutes before George Turner bundled his way through – the game's first try awarded after a TMO check.
Turner made a costly error three minutes later, with the hooker sin-binned for a high lunge on George North, and Wales captain Ken Owens swiftly made his side's numerical advantage count, with Dan Biggar adding the extras.
Dyer looked sure to claim Wales' second try on the stroke of half-time, only to fumble with the line at his mercy.
Wales sustained the pressure after the restart, but Hogg's replacement Kinghorn relieved the stress on Scotland's line with a superb break, and the hosts soon restored their cushion – Russell brilliantly picking a gap before flicking a backhand to Steyn two yards out.
The Russell-Steyn combination was on song again before the hour, with the winger latching onto a pinpoint cross-field kick to dive over in the corner as Scotland capitalised on Liam Williams' booking.
Kinghorn capped off a sublime team move to ensure Scotland joined Ireland at the top of the standings, with Fagerson adding further gloss in the final minutes.
Ireland boss Andy Farrell hailed the "astonishing" attitude of his players after they halted France's winning run and stretched their own streak to a record 13 consecutive home victories.
France had won 14 on the bounce before arriving in Dublin, but they went down 32-19 at the Aviva Stadium, with the hosts bagging a bonus point after tries from Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Andrew Porter and Garry Ringrose.
It was a performance that showed why many made Ireland favourites for the title from the get-go, as they followed up victory over Wales last weekend with another impressive display.
They head the world rankings and showed that standing is merited, with Farrell delighted, albeit saying he felt Ireland should perhaps have won by a heavier margin. All the same, the 13-point cushion was the most Ireland have beaten France by in the championship since a 25-6 success in March 1975.
Farrell told ITV: "It was a huge game and rightly so it was billed that way, because it was two great teams going at it, with the French unbeaten record and us going for our home record.
"It all gets thrown into the pot, but at the end of the day it's a victory in the competition we want to do well at, and we'll look at that performance and be unbelievably proud of it.
"The fight and the spirit that we had was astonishing at times, especially in that last 10 minutes.
"Garry Ringrose's try, he was dead on his feet, and then Bundee Aki coming back and dropping on loose balls and James Ryan kept getting up off the floor and taking the ball in for us. I could keep going on."
Farrell added: "The fighting spirit was great, but at the same time I thought we played some good stuff in the first half and should have come away with a few more points, and maybe again in the second half we should have come away with a few more points.
"That's not being greedy, because we got a bonus point, so we've got to be very happy with that, but at the same time we left a few things out there.
"So we're onto the next one, and it's Italy away and the same points are up for grabs."
Farrell was delighted Ireland got to 13 wins in a row at home for the first time, and doing so against a France side he rates so highly was doubly pleasing.
It was his first win over France, who had beaten Ireland in their most recent three encounters, and Farrell said: "I'm sure there'll be many battles down the line as well."
Keenan got Ireland's opening try, bursting through a hole in the French defence, but it was Lowe's score that particularly caught the eye.
He dived over in the corner, with most of his body in touch, and replays appeared to indicate it was a legitimate score after TMO checks.
It was a moment of acrobatic brilliance at high speed. Subsequent angles appeared to hint Lowe may have grazed the grass outside the playing area with a boot, but the try stood.
"He's useful out on that wing, the big lump," said Keenan. "It's brilliant for him and a great team performance."
Delighted to see off Les Bleus, Keenan added: "It was a long time coming. We've had a few tough losses and learnt from those. It was the one we were focusing on, so it's brilliant we got there."
Ireland halted France's 14-match winning run with a thrilling 32-19 victory in Dublin as Andy Farrell's remarkable team made a big Six Nations statement.
It had been France's longest ever streak of victories, but last season's Grand Slam champions were outscored four tries to one at the Aviva Stadium, with Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Andrew Porter and Garry Ringrose going over for the hosts.
In a battle between the top two in the world rankings, Ireland showed why they are number one.
Despite conceding an early penalty, the men in green had threatened the try line before cleverly tearing a hole in the French defence to allow Keenan to dash through to score.
Captain Johnny Sexton added the extras, but Thomas Ramos booted his second penalty of the afternoon to trim Ireland's early lead.
France added an exquisite try to power ahead, with Damian Penaud collecting the ball inside his own 22, charging through midfield and feeding Anthony Jelonch, before accepting a return pass and sprinting through to score.
Ireland hit back, Lowe delivering what looked to be an astonishing finish in the left corner.
The diving Lowe dotted down with one hand on the ball and most of his body out of play. A TMO check ruled he was off the ground, with Penaud's attempt to bundle the wing into touch failing to prevent the try. Further replays cast doubt on whether it should have been awarded.
Sexton failed to convert, then France's Uini Atonio was sin-binned after an ugly and high barge into Rob Herring, who departed for a head injury assessment.
Ireland capitalised on their extra man, Porter marking his 50th cap by crashing in from close range, and Sexton gave Ireland a 19-13 lead. Ramos struck a long-range penalty to reduce the deficit, but three more from Sexton made it 22-16 at the break.
Ross Byrne, on for the injured Sexton, slotted a penalty in the 60th minute to extend Ireland's lead, but Ramos hit back with a drop goal.
The game was Ireland's when Ringrose bustled in down the left to score and secure the bonus point. Their championship and Grand Slam prospects are looking up, with two wins from two, while France must dust themselves off and recover from this jolting setback.
Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali says Andretti's approach to gaining access to the grid is "not smart", adding other teams hold an interest in joining.
Andretti, partnering with General Motors brand Cadillac, expressed their desire to become F1's 11th team last month, though their potential addition would not occur until 2026 at the earliest.
The response of other F1 teams to Andretti's announcement was lukewarm, with the team's desire to base themselves within the United States – rather than in Europe alongside the rest of the sport – sparking concerns.
Team owner Michael Andretti has been vocal in his bid to join the sport, accusing existing teams of "greed" over an apparent unwillingness to further split existing prize funds.
F1 boss Domenicali is not convinced those tactics will reap rewards, telling Sky Sports: "First of all, we are very welcoming of everyone that is bringing value to the racing.
"I think we need to respect everyone. There are people like Michael Andretti being very vocal about their will to enter Formula One.
"But in my view [it is] not smart to say that teams are greedy.
"There are others that are much less vocal that would like to come into Formula One, so there is a process to respect and we will make sure together with the FIA that the process will be respected."
Andretti's bid for entry immediately attracted support from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, though he has since stepped away from the day-to-day supervision of F1 after a series of conflicts with teams.
Paul George is keen to see the Los Angeles Clippers work out a deal for Russell Westbrook as "we need a point guard".
The Clippers traded Reggie Jackson and John Wall away at Thursday's deadline, while Westbrook ended a difficult spell with the Los Angeles Lakers as he was traded to the Utah Jazz.
Sixth in the Western Conference, the Clippers were beaten 119-106 by the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday to fall to 31-28.
Speaking after the defeat – in which he surpassed 16,000 career points – George outlined his desire to be reunited with Westbrook, who was a team-mate on the Oklahoma City Thunder and could seek a buyout from the Jazz.
"If there's somebody out there, Russell," George said when asked if the Clippers should bring in a point guard. "If it makes sense, and obviously it goes with our team, we're all for it.
"We need a point guard. But [at] the same [time], I think we're good as well. If nothing happened, we got enough in this locker room to be able to make it work.
"But it would definitely improve our team if we had that traditional point guard to get us in things and make the game easy. So, hopefully, Russell sees this, and we figure something out."
Westbrook averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 assists and 6.2 rebounds on the Lakers this season, but Marcus Morris claims he could "play freely" and "be dangerous" at the Clippers.
"I'm campaigning, too, for him then," said Morris.
"He hasn't had an opportunity to play on a team where he could be himself and be able to play freely. Playing with the Lakers, it's like media, media, media.
"And from the outside looking in, like every time something bad went wrong – Russell Westbrook. Nobody else was really getting no blame, and it just kept spiralling down.
"But we accept him [with] open arms. Let him be himself. We need the personality, we need the veteran. He's been in the playoffs a lot of times, been to the championship.
"I want him to come. I think that you can't kill a wounded dog. You give him an opportunity to come back, it could be dangerous."
Luka Doncic is hoping to play alongside Kyrie Irving for the first time on Saturday, calling his new team-mate "probably the best ball handler ever".
Doncic was forced to sit out the Dallas Mavericks' 122-114 win at the Sacramento Kings on Friday with a heel injury, but is hopeful of featuring in the second game of a double-header against the Kings.
Irving – who joined the Mavs from the Brooklyn Nets ahead of this week's trade deadline – recorded 25 points and 10 assists at Golden 1 Center, with Dallas scoring 45 points in the first quarter to take control.
The Mavericks traded Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie for Irving, and Doncic was sorry to see his former team-mates leave, but is excited to see what Irving can bring.
"We'll obviously miss them here, but Kyrie's Kyrie, man," he said prior to Friday's game.
"NBA champion. Probably the best ball handler ever in the game. Amazing player, and he's going to be fun to play with.
"I never played with a guy like Kyrie, so it's obviously going to be a work in progress. But I think it's going to be fine. We both can play on the ball.
"For me, I think it's going to be a learning process, for sure. Outside of my first season, I didn't play off the ball. But with a guy like him it's going to be different."
On his recovery from injury, the Slovenian added: "Hopefully [Saturday] I can be back. Still painful. But it's way better every day."
The feeling appears to be mutual, as Irving said after Friday's victory: "I'm excited to see what that looks like with Luka out there.
"I'm constantly out on those breaks, so as much as we can make the game easier for each other and keep the pace going, that would be a benefit for us.
"But I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like with Luka out there and me running the wing, just shooters getting to their spots, and then if we don't have anything, just settling in the half court, we got some great options out there."
The Milwaukee Bucks made it 10 wins on the bounce as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-106, though Jrue Holiday had to be reminded of the fact.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was again the star of the show at the Crypto.com Arena, scoring 35 points along with eight rebounds and six assists, while Brook Lopez recorded 15 rebounds to go with his 22 points.
Antetokounmpo has scored 373 points during the successful 10-game period, the second-most points during a 10-0 stretch in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain, who had 416 as a rookie in 1959-60.
Asked after the win about the growing number of influential overseas players in the NBA, the Greek was glowing in his praise for his fellow international stars.
"It's been incredible," he told reporters. "It doesn't really matter where you're from right now, guys can come and compete and win games, guys can carry teams, you can be a franchise player.
"I feel like when I came in 10 years ago it was kind of hard, you saw I think only Dirk [Nowitzki] but now it's way more, from Luka [Doncic], to [Nikola] Jokic, from [Joel] Embiid, from [Pascal] Siakam, me, [Rudy] Gobert, both of the Bogdanovic's [Bojan and Bogdan], you see guys that are stepping up and helping their team win.
"People before set the path for us... and we have to set the path for the next generation, for people from overseas that 'you can come to the NBA and be that guy'."
Meanwhile, Holiday – who ended the game with 19 points – admitted he had not even realised he and his team-mates had won 10 in a row.
"There's a point in the season when things get repetitive, and winning has been," he said after the victory, emphasising the calm focus the Bucks have had in the last few weeks.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was pleased with his team after they followed up wins on the road over the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers with another against the Clippers.
"The guys' focus has been good, we're obviously in a good rhythm, it's good," he said.
"Now we have a couple of days without a game, catch up on our bodies and things like that so it was a very good road trip for us."
Friday marked two games with Kyrie Irving in the line-up, and two wins for the Dallas Mavericks as they beat the Sacramento Kings 122-114 on the road.
Irving – who was acquired before the trade deadline in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and three draft picks – led the Mavericks in scoring for the second game in a row as superstar Luka Doncic continues to recover from a heel injury.
He had 25 points against the Kings on five-of-14 shooting, hitting all 12 of his free throws, while also tying his season-high with 10 assists.
Irving was supported strongly by 22-year-old emerging Australian Josh Green, who chipped in 17 points on seven-of-12 shooting and a season-high seven assists, and rookie Jaden Hardy hit four of his five three-point attempts off the bench.
The Mavericks had been flailing without Doncic, having lost the first six games he missed this season, but they have now won three in a row during his current absence.
For the Kings, De'Aaron Fox was terrific with a game-high 33 points on 10-of-16 shooting, adding six rebounds and five assists, while All-Star selection Domantas Sabonis had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
With the victory, the Mavericks are now 31-26, sitting fourth in the Western Conference, while the 31-24 Kings are third.
Giannis accomplishes feat not seen since Wilt
The Milwaukee Bucks are the hottest team in the NBA and collected their 10th consecutive win with a 119-106 triumph against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 35 points (13-of-25 shooting), eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, giving him a total of 373 points during the 10-game winning streak. That is the most points by one player during a 10-game winning streak since Wilt Chamberlain's 416 during his rookie season in 1959-60.
At 39-17, the Bucks are just one game behind the 40-16 Boston Celtics in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and the league.
Embiid dominates the Knicks
Joel Embiid was unstoppable as his Philadelphia 76ers defended home court 119-108 against the visiting New York Knicks.
Embiid scored a game-high 35 points on 14-of-18 shooting, and his field goal percentage of 77.8 set a new season-high. He also added 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.
James Harden delivered, dishing a game-high 12 assists to go with his 20 points (seven-of-17) and eight rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey exploded for 27 points (nine-of-16) off the bench.
The 76ers (35-19) climbed up to third place in the East, while the Knicks (30-27) occupy the seventh seed.
World number eight Taylor Fritz is two wins away from his first title of the season after surviving a tough test against Marcos Giron 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-3 in Friday's quarter-final at the Dallas Open.
Fritz, who at 25-years-old is seeking the fifth ATP singles title of his career, allowed seventh-seed Giron only one break point opportunity for the entire match. Fritz himself only created two such opportunities, and further illustrating the closely-fought nature of the battle, Fritz edged the total point count 86-85.
With the win, Fritz booked his place against China's Yibing Wu in the semi-final after the 23-year-old defeated 34-year-old French veteran Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-4.
The other semi-final will be an all-American showdown after J.J. Wolf upset second seed Frances Tiafoe 4-6 6-3 6-4, and 37-year-old John Isner proved too much for Ecuador's Emilio Gomez in a 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 victory.
Meanwhile, Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas is one match away from a final in his home country after defeating Joao Sousa 6-4 2-6 6-1 in the quarter-final of the Cordoba Open.
Ramos-Vinolas will play Argentina's Federico Coria for a spot in the decider after he emerged victorious 6-3 3-0 (ret) against compatriot Francisco Cerundolo.
Heading into the quarter-finals, Francisco and his brother Juan Manuel Cerundolo were on a collision course to meet in the final, but now both are eliminated after 21-year-old Juan Manuel fell 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-0 to Bolivia's Hugo Dellien.
Dellien will play fourth seed Sebastian Baez in the other semi-final after eliminating Chile's Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1 3-6 6-1.
Scottie Scheffler won his first PGA Tour title 12 months ago at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and he is looking to defend that crown as he heads into the weekend with a two stroke lead at 10 under.
A large chunk of the field still have between five and eight holes remaining before they complete their second round, with a delay on Thursday creating a backlog as players had to finish their first round early Friday morning.
Scheffler was part of the early group and followed his opening 68 with a seven-under 64, and he was the only player to shoot seven under on his second trip around TPC Scottsdale.
It is shaping up as a tantalising battle at the top of the leaderboard after Jon Rahm's 66 clawed his way into a tie for second at eight under, where he is joined by round-one leader Adam Hadwin, who still has eight holes to play.
Im Sung-jae will have his sights set on posting the best second-round score, with time being called while he was six under through 12 holes, and tied for fourth with Wyndham Clark at seven under overall.
The only other player with a second-round score of six under or better was Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas, rebounding strongly from an even-par opener, and he has four holes remaining to try and match Scheffler's heroics.
Also in a tie for sixth with Vegas are former world number one Jason Day and current world number six Xander Schauffele, while the dangerous duo of Tom Kim and Jordan Spieth are one further back at five under.
Major champions Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy are still in the hunt at three under, Viktor Hovland is at two under, and Hideki Matsuyama is at one under with five holes to play.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa expressed gratitude to the team for an extended stay in concussion protocol.
The third-year quarterback was diagnosed with two separate concussions this season and was limited to 12 games. He hit the back of his head on the ground on both occasions.
Tagovailoa first entered concussion protocol in September after he was knocked unconscious during a 27-15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and didn't return until nearly a month later.
"For concussion protocol, I think the team did me the biggest service throughout that," he told USA Today on Friday. "They never allowed me to go through protocol normally until the season was done. So that’s why it might have seemed like it took forever, but they were just protecting me from myself. And me and my family are very thankful to the Dolphins.
"But it really entailed a lot of exertion, so like running, ocular and vestibular movements, so like balance, proprioception – things like that. Having went to see a doctor in Pittsburgh, got clear from him and then had to do a written test, memorisation."
Tagovailoa took another hard hit four days before the Cincinnati game during a win over Buffalo. He appeared to show concussion symptoms, but was evaluated and stayed in the game, drawing widespread criticism of why he was allowed to return.
He entered protocol for the second time on December 26, one day after a 26-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers. He sat out the remainder of the season, including Miami’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Tagovailoa said he is tired of being asked about his concussions, though he understands where people are coming from.
"For one, people haven't heard from me in however long after the incident, and I would say another thing is some people are actually genuinely worried about my health," he said. "I hear people telling… people that are in my close circle, like, 'Hey, you should retire, hey you should do this' – and I feel like I’ve heard it all.
"But I think I’ve had all the information that I need to move forward with the decision that I made with me and my wife and my family, and understanding that you're playing this sport, and understanding knowing the precautions that these things can happen. It's football. It's a physical sport."
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2023.
The four-team trade between the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers is at risk of falling through after Gary Payton II failed his physical with the Warriors on Friday.
Payton, who was a member of the Warriors' championship-winning squad this past season before joining Portland in free agency, was set to return to Golden State after they shipped off James Wiseman to the Pistons, while Saddiq Bey went from Detroit to Atlanta, and the Trail Blazers received Kevin Knox and five second-round draft picks.
A key part of the deal for the Warriors was shedding Wiseman's contract, with the franchise's status as a luxury tax repeater meaning they were going to have to cough up over $100million total to cover his $9.6m salary this season and $12.1m in 2023-24.
However, the Warriors are now faced with the option to void the deal entirely after it was revealed during Payton's physical that his abdominal injury – which has limited him to 15 appearances this season – will keep him out for "up to three months", per The Athletic's Shams Charania.
It seems unlikely that the Warriors would bring Wiseman back into the fold after making the tough decision to cut ties with their former second overall pick, and Payton's timeline should mean he can return this season if the Warriors are a playoff team.
They will have until Saturday to decide whether to finalise the deal or not.
Steve Spagnuolo is the definition of a football lifer.
He's been in coaching since 1981, when he took on a job as a graduate assistant at the University of Massachusetts and, since being appointed as a defensive assistant on Andy Reid's original Philadelphia Eagles staff in 1999, he has developed a reputation as an aggressive coach who is not afraid to send the house in order to get results.
Now 24 years on, he is again on coach Reid's staff, having served as the defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs since 2019. That description perhaps does not paint a completely accurate picture of a coach who is more versatile in his approach than he is given credit for.
Spagnuolo will indeed go on the attack. In the 2022 regular season, only four teams blitzed with six or more pass rushers more frequently than the Chiefs, who did so 6.6 per cent of the time.
But the fact his defense is set to go against the Eagles' offense in Super Bowl LVII is in part a tribute to Spagnuolo's malleability.
The Chiefs were in the top half of the NFL when it came to overall blitz rate in the regular season, but their rate of 26.9 per cent was only enough for 15th in the NFL.
Kansas City sent four pass rushers 70.8 per cent of the time when defending aerial attacks, but they still led the NFL in pressures with 299.
In other words, Spagnuolo's defense can win with the blitz, but it can also succeed frequently getting pressure with just four down linemen, which is critical for every defense in an era where two-high safety coverages that protect against explosive plays have never been more prevalent.
The Chiefs' defense finished the regular season as the eighth-best by yards per play allowed and ranked ninth by Stats Perform's Efficiency Versus Expected (EVE) metric.
It is in the postseason, though, where Spagnuolo's defenses continually come alive.
That was the case in 2007 when his New York Giants defense held the finest offense in New England Patriots history, one that propelled them to an beaten 16-0 regular-season record, to just 14 points in Super Bowl XLII.
His first season with the Chiefs ended in Super Bowl glory as they swarmed Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers late in the fourth quarter in an underrated aspect of Kansas City's 31-20 comeback win in Super Bowl LIV. In the 2020 postseason, only a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that ruined the Chiefs' hopes of a repeat at the final hurdle had more pressures than Kansas City's 55.
And this postseason the Chiefs have again risen to the challenge on defense.
The Chiefs have racked up seven sacks in the postseason, second only to the Eagles, and tallied 23 pressures of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the AFC Championship Game, the most crucial being a sack by Chris Jones that gave the ball back to Patrick Mahomes for a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
Spagnuolo, though, does not appear interested in taking credit for the continual joy his defenses find in the playoffs, pointing more to the impact of players like Jones than any schematic wizardry.
"I always say this, what you've done in the past or prior games doesn't mean anything going into these games, it's all about our guys stepping up and doing it again," said Spagnuolo on Thursday.
"Chris Jones, if he's having the game he had last week [in the AFC Championship Game] that certainly helps us, we need our best players to play their best football and I think it comes back to those guys, I think that's why in the big moments we've been able to do that.
"None of that matters now, it's a whole different game and different gameplan, hopefully we can find 60 more minutes of good football."
Speak to the Chiefs' defenders, however, and they won't hesitate to wax lyrical about their coach's prowess for putting them in positions to thrive.
Rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie has enjoyed an excellent rookie season, allowing a combined open percentage across man and zone coverage of 21.54 that is tied for the fourth-best among all corners, according to Stats Perform data.
McDuffie credits Spagnuolo's paternal influence and the varied way in which he uses his defensive backs as key reasons why he has thrived in year one.
McDuffie told Stats Perform: "He's very detailed, which could be tough at times because when you make one little mistake he catches it and it's like 'man yeah I was in the wrong', but he's such a loving dude, he's become such a father figure for me at least, I don't think I could have been here without just the guidance from him and the wisdom he's given me.
"I just love the mentality that our defense is aggressive, we are going to attack the offense, if you're a defensive player knowing you have an offensive gear like 'we're going to go attack the offense', it makes the game much more fun, because you can do so much more. I'm blitzing, I'm playing zone, I'm playing man. He's allowed me to do so much in the defense."
The numbers reflect McDuffie's words. The Chiefs have predominantly dealt in the kind of two-deep safety coverages that have proliferated across the NFL because of the threat posed by their own quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
Cover 4, Cover 6 and Cover 2 are the coverages in which they have primarily lived, however, they have also played Cover 2 man, where every coverage defender except for the two deep safeties plays man coverage, on 8.92 per cent of pass defense snaps, well above the league average of 2.7 per cent.
Kansas City's defense does often get extremely aggressive when blitzing, playing Cover 1 man, where every coverage defender plays man except for a deep safety, on 25.24 per cent of blitzes, and Cover 0 – where there are no deep defenders – on 18.57 per cent of blitzes.
But there are still a significant amount of zone blitzes mixed in. The Chiefs run quarters (Cover 4) when blitzing 19.52 per cent of the time and Cover 2 on 9.52 per cent of blitzes.
Spagnuolo does look to 'attack the offense', but he takes a multi-faceted approach to doing so, one which consistently pays off in high-leverage situations.
The Chiefs have 27 sacks in the postseason since 2019, 16 of which have come in the second half or overtime, with five in the final two minutes.
Perhaps it is therefore Spagnuolo's timing that is the foundation for the success of his playoff defenses.
Against the Eagles, picking his spots will be crucial.
Aggression will almost certainly need to be tempered given Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' aptitude for capitalising on attack-mode defenses through his prowess running the zone-read, the read-option and the run-pass option.
It sets up a fascinating battle between arguably the NFL's most diverse and devastating offense, which consistently makes life easy on its quarterback, and a defense that is significantly more dynamic than many believe and excels at putting quarterbacks in difficult positions in the most important moments.
For Spagnuolo, the challenge is to craft a gameplan that maintains the attacking tendencies of his defense while protecting against the array of dangers Hurts presents.
"There's a lot of responsibility football when you play that kind of offense," Spagnuolo said.
"If we can be good on first and second down to get them in the long third downs, then maybe we can do that [attack], short of that you're always facing the possibility of a run or an RPO on any down and distance, and if you're doing something, you know it could be a big play for you, but it might be a really big play for them."
It's quite the dilemma for Spagnuolo to solve. Fortunately for the Chiefs, history is on the side of him succeeding.
The Houston Astros locked up World Series hero Cristian Javier on a five-year contract extension on Friday worth $66million.
First reported by Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, securing the long-term services of their 25-year-old budding ace was one of new Astros general manager Dana Brown's "foremost objectives during his first month on the job".
After primarily operating as a relief pitcher in 2021, with only nine starts among his 36 total appearances, Javier was promoted to a full-time starter in 2022.
He made 25 starts, and his 2.54 ERA was the second-best on the team among players to pitch at least 100 innings, trailing only AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander (1.75 ERA).
The Dominican-born Javier made headlines in June when he struck out 13 batters in a combined no-hitter at Yankee Stadium, and his star went up another level in the postseason.
In Game 4 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Javier threw six no-hit innings to set up only the second World Series no-hitter in MLB history.
From his two combined starts against the Yankees and the Phillies in the postseason, Javier pitched 11-and-a-third innings for 14 strikeouts, one hit, five walks and no runs.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the new deal will pay Javier – who has never made more than $749,100 in any of his three seasons so far – $3m plus a $2m signing bonus in 2023, $7m in 2024, $10m in 2025, and $21m in both 2026 and 2027 when he would have been eligible to enter free agency.
Open Sud de France top seed Holger Rune stayed on course to make the final in Montpellier after a straight-sets defeat of Gregoire Barrere.
Last year's Paris Masters champion Rune, who is in the hunt for his first title of the season, beat the Frenchman 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) and is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
The 19-year-old looks sharp, but so too does Jannik Sinner. Two years Rune's senior, the Italian made light work of his good friend and compatriot Lorenzo Sonego on Friday.
Sinner took just over 90 minutes to triumph 6-4 6-2 and tee up a semi-final with history-making 18-year-old Arthur Fils.
Fils, the world number 163, beat Quentin Halys to become the youngest Frenchman to reach a tour-level semi-final since Richard Gasquet in 2004.
"I have seen him [Fils] play here at this tournament," Sinner said of Fils, as quoted by the ATP Tour's official website.
"He is very strong physically already. He understands the game very well. He started off the year very well, so it is going to be an interesting match for sure."
Sinner will be the favourite despite Fils' hot streak, while Rune will go up against Maxime Cressy in a rematch of their Australian Open second-round match.
Cressy went down 7-5 6-4 6-4 in that meeting in Melbourne last month, though has the chance for revenge after seeing off Borna Coric 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.
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