George Russell wants to better Lewis Hamilton this season, but the Mercedes man claimed he will not view his Formula One campaign as a success if he does so.
The Mercedes pair have failed to match the pace of rivals Red Bull and Ferrari this year, effectively confirming an end to the team's monopoly on the Constructors' Championship.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton in particular has struggled after his controversial last-gasp title loss to Max Verstappen last year, who is on course to defend his title.
That has led to questions over whether Russell is emerging as Mercedes' nominal first-choice driver, with the 24-year-old having nabbed three podiums to Hamilton's two so far in 2022.
But Russell will not view beating his team-mate as the bar for success.
"Obviously, I want to beat my teammate and I’m not going to take offence if he says the same," he told The Guardian ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
"But I would not see my season as a success purely because I've finished ahead of him more times than he had finished ahead of me.
"I would see it as a success if I was standing at the top step of the podium."
Russell grew up idolising Hamilton, who has been one of the sport's dominant forces since he broke through in 2007, and the Briton has nothing but respect for his team-mate.
However, the nature of their competition makes it difficult to form a friendship that would not get in the way, much in the sense Hamilton's bond with former Mercedes rival Nico Rosberg deteriorated amid a testy title tussle.
"I guess if you took an average look across F1 team-mates, that is probably the case," Russell added.
"There are a lot of people who get along in this paddock but overall, we are all fierce rivals. We are all here to be competitive and to try and win. You are in a battle."
Hamilton will start fifth on the grid at Silverstone, while Russell had to settle for eighth in qualifying.
Joe Joyce wants to fight the victor of Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, or take on Tyson Fury, after handing a four-round defeat to Christian Hammer.
The WBO number one contender cemented his place at the top of the pecking order for a big heavyweight clash after battering Hammer into submission at Wembley Arena on Saturday.
Joyce, who won silver at the 2016 Olympic Games, delivered another technical knockout to maintain his unbeaten professional record of 14-0 - and is now ready to have a bright lights bout against the very best the heavyweight division has to offer.
"What a performance, I enjoyed it so much," Joyce told Sky Sports. "I'm top level ready for the world stage.
"I'm ready for all comers, and I'm looking to fight the winner of AJ-Usyk, maybe Tyson Fury. I'm at that level."
The 36-year-old had not fought since last year as he recovered from a broken wrist, and could well have risked his shot at a major belt if he had lost to Hammer.
"He was tough, he was game and he hit me with some good shots early on," Joyce said. "Especially because I haven't fought for so long I have to warm into the fight."
Joshua and Usyk are set to go head-to-head in Jeddah next month, just under a year on from the latter's victory in London to claim the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles.
Donald Cerrone confirmed his retirement from UFC on Saturday, after a loss to Jim Miller, with a Hollywood dream now set to be pursued.
Cerrone, nicknamed "Cowboy", lost via a second-round submission to 38-year-old Miller in Las Vegas on Saturday.
That took his career record to 36-17, and after the bout, the 39-year-old confirmed his career was over.
Having placed his famous cowboy hat and gloves down in the octagon, Cerrone told Joe Rogan: "I don't love it anymore.
"It's hard for me to get up – this is the longest camp I've had in a long time – I just don't love it anymore.
"It's time to bow out, I've got to know when.
"This is the perfect event, sold-out crowd, Las Vegas, got my boys, one hell of a career man – hopefully one day I'll be in the Hall of Fame."
As for his next move, Cerrone – who has acted before – said: "I'm going to be a movie star baby!"
Cerrone has made 48 appearances in the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) and UFC, the most of all time.
Israel Adesanya retained the UFC Middlewieght Championship with a fifth consecutive title defence, winning via unanimous decision over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on Saturday.
In an ultimately tentative fight, the judges awarded the Stylebender the win in a 49-46 49-46 50-45 contest, making it four out of his last five title defences to come via decision.
Largely in control since coming back to fight at middleweight, the 32-year-old immediately called out Alex Pereira, who Sean Strickland via knockout earlier in the night.
Pereira also knocked out Adesanya at GOH 7 in 2017, before the latter joined the UFC the next year, with Saturday's bouts setting up an enticing rematch.
"One thing I was looking forward to was facing Jared as an opponent, but the second thing I was looking forward to was John Crouch versus Eugene Bareman," he said post-fight.
"Two great coaches, two great teams, and I'll tell you one thing, they had an excellent game plan. It was really hard to get my follow-ups going because they had a good game plan.
"We know who's next, that Poatan [Pereira]. Trust me. The first time, I told you, it was an error on my part spamming right hands and that was in kickboxing. Like I said at the press conference, next time I put you on skates."
Cannonier was initially content to stand up with Adesanya, only making sporadic take-down attempts and opting instead to chip away with leg-kicks and wait for big strikes.
More than his unique striking, however, the Stylebender was particularly assertive in the opening two rounds, initiating the exchanges as well as changing up stances.
Cannonier taking the third made for tight closing two rounds, but Adesanya ultimately did not take on any significant damage over the fight.
Importantly, whenever Cannonier would look to force the issue, the reigning champion managed to tag the challenger to halt any progress and retain his title.
Volkanovski dominates Holloway for 12th straight UFC win
In the co-main event, Adesanya's team-mate Alexander Volkanovski reaffirmed his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC, retaining the Featherweight Championship in a unanimous decision over Max Holloway.
Each of the judges scored the fight 50-45 to Volkanovski but even that belied just how dominant the 33-year-old was over the five rounds, showing extraordinary precision, explosiveness and tactical nous.
While the second fight between the two was closer, Volkanovski neutralised Holloway's reach and height advantage this time, with timing, quickness and power in his striking - cutting Holloway up badly above his left eye in the first round.
Vokanovski lacked the final blow but was in control, claiming a 3-0 record over Holloway on the way to a 12th straight win in the UFC, a fourth title defence and a 25-1 record in professional MMA.
Nolan Arenado sparked a record string of home runs and hit the game-winning drive for the St. Louis Cardinals, in their 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
With two outs in the first inning, Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carson sent Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Gibson deep, making it the first time in MLB history a team connected for four straight home runs in the opening frame.
The game was tied at 6-6 in the ninth inning when Arenado hit another home run, this time sending Seranthony Dominguez over left field.
Arenado's game-winning performance from four at-bats was impressive enough in isolation, before considering it was backing up from hitting for cycle in Friday's 5-3 defeat to the Phillies.
The Cardinals moved to within a game of the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, moving their record for the season to 44-36.
Yankees sweep Guardians in double-header
The New York Yankees are running away with the American League East, taking both games in a double-header against the Cleveland Guardians.
Matt Carpenter homered twice in the opening 13-4 win, before Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton hit consecutive home runs and Nestor Cortes shut the Guardians down for six innings, for the 6-1 win in the later game.
The Yankees are 25-6 since May 31, holding a seven-game lead over the Houston Astros in the AL and at 58-21, hold the franchise's second-best record over 79 games.
Freeman leads Dodgers to victory
Freddie Freeman continued his strong form for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting the first of three home runs in the opening inning of their 7-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Freeman, who leads the Dodgers for OBP at .391 for the season, hit his sixth home run since the start of June after sending Yu Darvish deep. Will Smith and Justin Turner then followed up with solo shots off Darvish to set up the victory.
The Dodgers are now one off 50 wins for the season, moving to 49-28 and extending their lead in the NL over the New York Mets to 1.5 games.
Nolan Arenado sparked a record string of home runs and hit the game-winning drive for the St. Louis Cardinals, in their 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
With two outs in the first inning, Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carson sent Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Gibson deep, making it the first time in MLB history a team connected for four straight home runs in the opening frame.
The game was tied at 6-6 in the ninth inning when Arenado then hit another home run, this time sending Seranthony Dominguez over left field.
Arenado's game-winning performance from four at-bats was impressive enough in isolation, before considering it was backing up from hitting for cycle in Friday's 5-3 defeat to the Phillies.
The Cardinals moved to within a game of the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, moving their record for the season to 44-36.
Yankees sweep Guardians in double-header
The New York Yankees are running away with the American League East, taking both games in a double-header against the Cleveland Guardians.
Matt Carpenter homered twice in the opening 13-4 win, before Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton hit consecutive home runs and Nestor Cortes shut the Guardians down for six innings, for the 6-1 win in the later game.
The Yankees are 25-6 since May 31, holding a seven-game lead over the Houston Astros in the AL and at 58-21, hold the franchise's second-best record over 79 games.
Freeman leads Dodgers to victory
Freddie Freeman continued his strong form for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting the first of three home runs in the opening inning of their 7-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Freeman, who leads the Dodgers for OBP at .391 for the season, hit his sixth home run since the start of June after sending Yu Darvish deep. Will Smith and Justin Turner then followed up with solo shots off Darvish to set up the victory.
The Dodgers are now one off 50 wins for the season, moving to 49-28 and extending their lead in the NL over the New York Mets to 1.5 games.
England’s Paul Casey, ranked 26th in the world, has become the latest player to join the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf Invitational.
Casey has won 21 times as a professional, including three times on the PGA Tour and another 15 on the European Tour. He also represented Team Europe five times in the Ryder Cup.
A back injury has kept Casey sidelined since he took part in the WGC Match Play Championship in March. He played two holes of his opening match when he conceded due to back spasms, before withdrawing from the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
He plans to make his LIV debut later this month at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Casey joins a growing list of players to accept PGA Tour bans and join the breakaway series, fronted by CEO Greg Norman and funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson are some of the marquee names that have come on board with the promise of big signing bonuses, hefty prize purses and an eased schedule.
Branden Grace posted a seven-under 65 in the final round on Saturday, leapfrogging Dustin Johnson and Carlos Ortiz to win LIV Golf Portland.
Two shots behind the co-leaders at the start of the third round, Grace reeled off four birdies in the final six holes, including three consecutive birdies between 15 and 17, to take out the tournament.
With the victory, the South African follows up compatriot Charl Schwartel's win in London at LIV Golf's inaugural event in June.
The South African quartet that makes up Stinger GC - Grace, Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Hennie du Plessis – could only manage second in the team standings, though, with Johnson's 4 Aces GC taking out first.
"What a day. It's been like this the whole day, the crowd came out and I played flawless golf," Grace said afterwards. "I played, really, really well when I needed to do something special. It came up and I managed to pull it off, but what a great day.
"I knew the back nine, I had to kind of dig deep. Carlos was playing great golf, DJ was coming back and I think, one of the big things for me today was the birdie on 13.
"Then I thought, 'Now, I'm in with it.' Obviously, the finish was just amazing."
Amid the news former Ryder Cup player Paul Casey defected from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed breakaway competition, Grace finished the tournament on 13-under, two strokes ahead of Ortiz who posted a three-under 69 on Saturday.
They were followed by 2020 Masters winner Johnson and another recent defector in Patrick Reed, who finished on nine-under after 54 holes.
Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson finished tied for 40th this week with a 54-hole score of 10-over. Through two LIV Golf events, Mickelson is a combined 20-over par.
J.T. Poston holds a three-stroke lead heading into the final round of the John Deere Classic after shooting a four-under 67 on Saturday.
Trying to complete a wire-to-wire victory after tying for second last weekend at the Travelers Championship, Poston sits on 19-under after 54 holes at TPC Deere Run.
The 29-year-old started strongly with three birdies on the front nine, but suffered a blip on the closing nine holes, with a birdie on 14 softening the blow of bogeys on 12 and 15.
He recovered to take momentum into Sunday with an eagle on the par-five 17th, forcing his way past the bunkers on his approach to the green to then one-putt and restore breathing room from the chasing pack.
Despite the solid form coming into this weekend in Silvis, Poston's lone win on the PGA Tour came in 2019, taking out the Wyndham Championship.
He leads a three-way tie for second between Scott Stallings, Denny McCarthy and Emiliano Grillo, who birdied four of the last five holes on Saturday to finish on 16-under.
Out of the top four players on the leaderboard, McCarthy is the lone player not to have won a tournament on the PGA Tour, with Stallings and Grillo's last wins coming in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Trailing them is Callum Tarren on 15-under, with Bo Hoag and Chris Naegel tied for sixth on 14-under.
Hoag, the world number 524, was Saturday's big mover with a third-round score of eight-under, opening the first four holes with two birdies and an eagle.
He more than compensated for his solitary bogey on 15 with birdies on 14, 16 and 17 to finish with the day's lowest score.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has warned the FIA set a dangerous precedent with regulations, after a progress update on their bouncing technical directive was issued ahead of the British Grand Prix.
The technical directive was controversially added at the Canadian GP to tackle the "safety issue" of aggressive bouncing drivers experienced at recent street circuits in Baku and Miami, as a result of aerodynamic changes to this season's cars.
Formula One's governing body analysed data captured in Montreal in order to devise a metric that measures vertical acceleration loads to ultimately limit oscillations, something Horner has been outspoken against.
While safety is the FIA's primary concern in limiting the porpoising experienced so far this season, the Red Bull principal believes it is wrong for the FIA to overtly dictate how the cars are set up.
"It is too late in the day to be introducing changes for next year," Horner said. "We haven't governed for that and the cost involved, sometimes the unintended consequences for changing philosophies, it will affect what you carry over and it will affect the design and development.
"The most important thing and biggest way to achieve stable costs is stability. The cars will converge. You can see that already, the cars are certainly looking more familiar and that will continue over the next six-to-nine months.
"The most important thing is don't d*** with it, leave it alone and the teams will sort it out."
Mercedes have experienced significant 'porpoising' issues which have in turn affected their performance, with Horner previously suggesting they are trying to make as much of an issue out of it as possible.
It is understood, however, all 10 teams performed within the metric's parameters in Canada.
Meanwhile, Red Bull lead both the driver's and constructor's standings coming in Sunday's race at Silverstone.
"I understand on the grounds of safety that this is being introduced because the porpoising on a limited amount of cars is obviously at an extreme level," Horner added.
"They [the FIA] are keen to have a mechanism to control that but hopefully it is only something that will be there for this year as it is something that hopefully all the teams will be on top of and cars will converge next year.
"It is certainly not a precedent that we want to set otherwise setups will be dictated by FIA directives."
Nick Kyrgios labelled Stefanos Tsitsipas "soft" and defended his on-court antics after the Greek called him a "bully" in the aftermath of their ill-tempered Wimbledon clash.
Kyrgios recovered from one set down to post an impressive 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (9-7) win over the fourth seed, setting up a last-16 tie with Brandon Nakashima with a scintillating performance on No. 1 Court.
But the contest was not without controversy, with Kyrgios frustrating Tsitsipas by calling for him to be defaulted after the Greek narrowly missed a spectator when firing a ball into the crowd at the end of the second set.
The Australian then labelled the umpire a "disgrace" during an extraordinary outburst, and his antics seemed to get under the skin of Tsitsipas, who was deducted a point for sending another ball towards the spectators before appearing to hit a couple of shots directly at Kyrgios.
While Kyrgios praised his opponent – with whom he played doubles at Wimbledon three years ago, as "a hell of a player" in his post-match interview, neither player was in the mood for niceties in their respective news conferences.
First up was Tsitsipas, who accused Kyrgios of "constant bullying".
"That's what he does," the world number five said of his rival. "He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself.
"I don't like bullies. I don't like people that put other people down.
"He has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him, which, if it's exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him."
Kyrgios, who has now claimed four wins in five career meetings with Tsitsipas, responded to that criticism shortly thereafter, alleging the Greek was not popular in the locker room and saying his inability to handle such matches would hold him back.
"He's that soft, to come in here and say I bullied him? That's just soft," Kyrgios said.
"We're not cut from the same cloth. If he's affected by that today, then that’s what's holding him back, because someone can just do that and that's going to throw him off his game like that. I just think it's soft.
"I don't know what to say. I'm not sure how I bullied him.
"He was the one hitting balls at me, he was the one that hit a spectator, he was the one that smacked it out of the stadium.
"I didn't do anything. I was actually like… apart from me just going back and forth to the umpire for a bit, I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don't think. I was not drilling him with balls.
"I feel great, the circus was all him today. I think if he's making that match about me, he's got some serious issues, I'm good in the locker room, I've got many friends, I'm actually one of the most liked [players]. I'm set.
"He's not liked, let's just put that there. I'm good, I feel good."
Kyrgios is just one win away from matching his best run at Wimbledon, having reached the quarter-finals in 2014 with a win over Rafael Nadal before being beaten by Milos Raonic.
Nick Kyrgios acknowledged having his "own tactics" after overcoming Stefanos Tsitsipas in a dramatic, ill-tempered affair to reach Wimbledon's last 16.
Kyrgios produced an outstanding display to rally after losing the first set on No. 1 Court, eventually prevailing 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (9-7) in an incident-filled match.
The enigmatic star set the tone with an incredible outburst after a frustrated Tsitsipas struck a ball into the crowd at the end of the second set, narrowly missing a spectator.
The Australian immediately called for his opponent to be defaulted, recalling Novak Djokovic's contentious exit from the 2020 US Open after he had accidentally hit a line judge in frustration after dropping a game.
Kyrgios could be heard calling the umpire a "disgrace", and then, after Tsitsipas had been let off with a warning, the unseeded talent asked: "Are you dumb?"
He then hit out at the umpire, yelling: "What are you talking about? Novak hit someone, it is the same, it happened right there.
"Bring out more supervisors, I'm not done. You can bring them all out, I don't care. I'm not playing until we get to the bottom of it.
"What happened to Novak when he hit the ball into a girl? She was injured. You can't hit a ball into the crowd and hit someone and not get defaulted."
But the drama was far from done as Tsitsipas flew into a rage of his own early in the third, having been hit with a point deduction for wildly firing another ball towards the crowd – but hitting the scoreboard instead – after Kyrgios produced a mischievous underarm serve when holding to love.
The fourth seed's frustration was evident as he then appeared to hit a couple of shots right at Kyrgios to boos from spectators, who vociferously cheered every point for the Australian.
But after producing some outstanding tennis to end the aggravated Tsitsipas' hopes of winning a first grand slam title, Kyrgios said he had no problems with the Greek, whom he played doubles with at Wimbledon in 2019.
"Honestly, it was a hell of an atmosphere, an amazing match, I honestly felt like the favourite coming in; I played him a couple of weeks ago, but I knew it was going to be a tough match," he said.
"He's a hell of a player, I had my own tactics out there – he knows how to play me, he's beaten me once, and obviously I've had success, so it was a hell of a match.
"I'm just super happy to be through, he was getting frustrated at times and it's a frustrating sport, that's for sure. I know you all think you can play, but it's very frustrating, whatever happens on the court, I love him."
Kyrgios now holds a 4-1 head-to-head lead over Tsitsipas, having also got the better of the world number five on the grass at the Halle Open earlier this month.
The 27-year-old also previously courted controversy during his run to the fourth round when he spat in the direction of a "disrespectful" fan during his first-round win over Paul Jubb.
But Kyrgios claimed his antics serve to drive interest in the sport, adding: "It's amazing, everywhere I go I seem to have full stadiums.
"The media loves to write that I'm bad for the sport, but clearly not."
The Washington Nationals have exercised the 2023 contract options of general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez, keeping in place the leadership duo who helped guide the franchise to a World Series title in 2019.
The Nationals opt for continuity despite being mired in a 29-50 season, likely their third straight losing campaign since winning the World Series.
"Mike and Davey have been leading the Washington Nationals for several years and it is only right to continue with them at the forefront," Nationals owner Mark D. Lerner said in a statement.
"Mike has led us through many different phases of our organisation, and we believe his work during this current phase will pay off in the end."
Rizzo, 61, is in his 14th year heading baseball operations for Washington, leading the organisation to four NL East titles and overseeing the acquisition of stars like Max Scherzer, Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon.
He was named baseball's Executive of the Year in 2019.
Since the franchise moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005, no one has managed more games for the Nationals than Martinez, who has a 295-330 record (.472 winning percentage).
"Davey has done a tremendous job in the clubhouse and in the dugout for five seasons," Lerner's statement said.
"His continued determination and unwavering support of his players makes us proud. We are lucky to have Mike and Davey leading the way."
Jamaica’s Under-23 Sunshine Girls secured a 64-34 victory over Barbados to move to 4-0 at the Caribbean Games at the Laura Flessel Complex in Guadeloupe on Saturday.
Jamaica, who scored a massive 65-18 win over St. Vincent & the Grenadines on Friday, will play Trinidad & Tobago in their final game on Sunday.
T&T hammered Guadeloupe 112-5 on Friday before losing a nail-biter 38-37 against St. Lucia on Saturday.
St. Lucia, after suffering a 44-36 defeat at the hands of Barbados on Friday, were dominant on Saturday with a 20-0 win over Guadeloupe.
Charles Leclerc has made it clear he intends to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, while suggesting he expects Ferrari to issue team orders.
The Scuderia driver has seen his title bid take a significant hit in the past few race weekends, sustaining a power unit failure in Baku and taking a penalty in Canada that saw him start at the back of the grid.
That has left Leclerc with a huge disadvantage in the championship chase – now 49 points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen – and his attempts to improve this weekend come amid increased competition.
Mercedes appear to have bounced back after their troubles in the earlier stages of the season, while Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz also seems to have found his rhythm – pushing Verstappen all the way in Montreal before securing a first pole position for Sunday's race at Silverstone.
While Leclerc is delighted for Sainz and made it clear the team come first, he hinted he expects Ferrari to make a strategic call for the race win if the opportunity materialises.
"If I'm happy to help Carlos to win his first race tomorrow? I think of course, I will be very happy if Carlos wins the race tomorrow, but I'm not going to hide that I want to win, too," Leclerc told a news conference.
"But I think what is most important is that we finished one-two, whatever way around it is, and if we can play strategic moves in between the cars, I'm pretty sure that we will.
"So, let's see how it goes tomorrow. But again, I feel confident with the car. So, let's wait and see."
Dry running was restricted in the build-up to Sunday's race, with qualifying a washout, but better weather is anticipated for the race, and Leclerc added he is confident with the car's set-up.
"Much happier this morning, compared to yesterday. Yesterday, it was very, very difficult to put a lap together," he said.
"But this morning, I felt quite confident with the car. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow."
Dan Biggar was bemused by criticism of Wales' approach to their first Test in South Africa, wondering if they were expected to "just roll the carpet out".
Wales came agonisingly close to a famous win in Pretoria, ultimately going down 32-29 following four costly yellow cards – including one for Biggar.
After playing a brief period with 12 men, Wales had 13 on the pitch when an unlikely try gave Biggar a conversion that would have secured an improbable late lead.
Instead, he missed the posts and was then punished for a knock-on at the other end, allowing Damian Willemse to settle the match from the tee.
There would have undoubtedly been some relief in the Springboks camp as they were ultimately able to celebrate following their first home game in front of a crowd since winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Trailing 18-3 at half-time, South Africa captain Siya Kolisi acknowledged afterwards: "They [Wales] got under our skin."
There were multiple confrontations between the two sets of players off the ball, and Kolisi added his team "did a couple of things out of character".
When Biggar subsequently faced the media, he could not understand why Wales were expected to shoulder the blame for incidents of this nature.
"I don't know what the referee expected us to do," he said. "Just come here, lie down and give South Africa everything their own way?
"From our point of view, we wanted to try to get in their faces, get in their faces and not take a backwards step. That's part of the game.
"We were coming here, and if you stand off South Africa out here, then you'll get steam-rolled pretty quickly. You need some aggression and competitiveness and get into it.
"I didn't see any issue. They were just as niggly, competitive and as abrasive as we were. From our point of view, that was perfect for us.
"The decisions will be analysed. But from our point of view, I don't understand why people are bothered about it.
"It's a Test match, and we're away from home against the world champions. I'm not quite sure what people expected from us, just roll the carpet out and applaud them off the pitch?
"I don't know what the issue is. It's a Test match and we were more than happy to get stuck into them. That's what Test matches are about.
"I really don't understand. I see it as a non-event. That's exactly what you want from a Test match; you want it confrontational, you want it aggressive.
"There was no dirty play or anything. We just went at it and got confrontational. It worked for us, certainly in the first half.
"I've got no issue whatsoever. Whatever happens on the field, you shake hands afterwards, and there is absolutely zero issue."
Rafael Nadal was quick to apologise for appearing to upset opponent Lorenzo Sonego when he called him in for a word late in a dominant Wimbledon win.
Nadal saw off Sonego in straight sets and was in complete control for much of the third-round match, only briefly losing his composure when the Centre Court roof was closed following a lengthy plea from the 27th seed.
When the contest resumed, Nadal – who had not faced a break point until that stage – was broken to love in a game in which he took issue with a noise Sonego made as he approached the ball.
Nadal appealed to the umpire for some form of discipline immediately after the point and then took the matter into his own hands following the game.
The Spaniard called over a bemused Sonego and seemed to admonish him, leaving the Italian clearly frustrated and engaging in a prolonged discussion with the umpire.
Nadal then broke back and quickly wrapped up a 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory, before the pair met again at the net.
The 22-time major champion first attempted to explain his actions to Sonego, then to the umpire and finally to the Centre Court crowd.
After a highly respectful first answer in his on-court interview – acknowledging his "best match" of the championships so far against "a great player", "the most difficult player I've faced" in this run – Nadal discussed the confrontation.
It was suggested the encounter had been "spicy", but Nadal interrupted: "Sorry, not spicy at all. From the bottom of my heart, I didn't mean it in a negative way.
"I feel very sorry if I bothered him – I just wanted to tell him something. I did it in a nice way, and I feel now really bad if I bothered him. I'm sorry for that.
"That's it. I was talking to him, and now I'm going to talk to him, but this was not a problem, I don't think, at all."
Rafael Nadal enjoyed serene progress into round four at Wimbledon with a stylish 6-1 6-2 6-4 defeat of Lorenzo Sonego on Saturday.
For the first time at SW19 this week, there was little evidence of Nadal's recent fitness problems as he completely outclassed his Italian opponent.
And on this form, the calendar Grand Slam appears a genuine possibility for the Australian Open and French Open champion.
Indeed, it was hard not to feel sorry for Sonego – and he did appear to have the sympathy of the Centre Court crowd – as Nadal's strokes painted pretty patterns around him.
The Spaniard remarkably dropped only two points on his own serve in the first set – both to double-faults. It was a similar story in Sonego's service games, too, as he held at the first attempt but then lost the next nine in succession.
Such was Nadal's superiority a relieved Sonego lifted his arms to salute the crowd as he finally held serve in the fifth game of the second and was given a generous cheer.
That small victory scarcely slowed Nadal, who wrapped up the second on his own serve and then blasted Sonego away in the opening game of the third to break once again.
Sonego soon found a more effective way to hold up his opponent, however, appealing at length for the Centre Court roof to be closed and eventually succeeding after a brave hold and a handful of points on Nadal's serve informed officials he was capable of dragging the contest out under fading light.
So it briefly proved, as Nadal – perhaps irked by the delay – lost his composure and was broken to love after Sonego made a noise as he approached the ball; Nadal deemed the umpire an unnecessary middle man and called Sonego over for a word, clearly upsetting the Italian.
A fired-up Nadal immediately broke back, and after finally delivering a little drama, the match – and Sonego's campaign – was over.
Data Slam: Rafa ramping up
This was Sonego's first meeting with Nadal, and he might have picked a better time to face this fiercely focused great. The 22-time major champion has now won 10 third-round Wimbledon matches in a row, including the past four without dropping a set. Sonego had a hard enough time merely winning a game for much of the match.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Nadal – 24/17
Sonego – 19/17
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Nadal – 2/4
Sonego – 2/2
BREAK POINTS WON
Nadal – 6/8
Sonego – 1/1
Alize Cornet compared herself to a fine French wine as she left Iga Swiatek's Wimbledon dream in tatters.
Frenchwoman Cornet, who eight years ago produced a Wimbledon sensation when beating Serena Williams, delivered another show-stopping result when she won 6-4 6-2 against top seed and world number one Swiatek.
It happened on the tournament's middle Saturday and on Court One, just as the victory over Williams in 2014 had.
Swiatek had reeled off 37 successive wins, landing six titles in the process, including a second French Open crown. However, she has appeared far from comfortable on the grass in London, and it was clear she would be ripe for such an upset if her performance level from the first two rounds did not improve.
Cornet, who at the age of 32 is competing in a record-tying 62nd consecutive grand slam tournament, will face Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.
In an on-court interview, Cornet said of her win: "It reminds me of the time I beat Serena on the same court eight years ago. I think this court is a lucky charm for me.
"I want to say I'm a huge fan of Iga. She is just so talented, and she's such an amazing player and such a nice ambassador of women's tennis, so I'm very flattered that I beat her today.
"I think this kind of match is what I'm living for and practising for every day. It really drives me, and I knew I could do it. Somehow I had this belief, even through she had 37 wins in a row.
"It was like, if there is a moment you can beat her it's now, on grass. She feels a little less comfortable than on other surfaces, so I was just believing very hard, very focused, and I have the best team by my side and the best crowd also.
"So I guess I like the upsets. It's a really nice feeling right now.
"I'm like a good wine. In France, a good wine always ages well. It's unreal, I'm playing one of the best seasons of my career. I feel great on the court. I'm having so much fun. Eight years later after my first qualification into the second week I can see I'm still there, I'm still so motivated, and I still have the fire in me."
Swiatek slumped from a 2-0 lead in the second set, dropping six successive games as the match slipped away.
The beaten Pole said: "I know I didn't play good tennis. I was pretty confused about my tactics. When I was practising I didn’t feel in the best shape. So I was aware this could happen.
"Usually when I'm coming back, I have some kind of a plan and I know what to change.
"Here I didn't know what to change. I was confused. On a grass court everything happens so quickly. I didn't tank it, but I just didn't know what to do."
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