Author: Sports News UK
Lionel Messi will play in a sixth World Cup as he captains holders Argentina at the 2026 tournament.The 38-year-old forward, who led his country to a third World Cup triumph in Qatar with a penalty shootout victory over France four years ago, was named in Lionel Scaloni’s 26-man squad on Thursday.With 26 appearances, Messi holds the current record for the most World Cup matches by any player – and will join Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, as the only male players to appear in a sixth edition of football’s biggest event this summer.Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez, who was named the…
To underline the push for changes, Sharrock recalled a Nike slogan. Bruce Sharrock: “Rugby has been the heartbeat of our country and we all want it to grow to that again.”“In order to remain No 1 you have to think and act like you’re No 2,” he said. “Rugby in New Zealand for too long has thought and acted like it’s No 1 when, quite frankly, it isn’t at the moment so we need to take a good look at what we need to do.”While NZR has, historically, retained most of its elite talent for the All Blacks, modern players,…
USA Rugby has named 37 players that have convened in Charlotte to begin final preparations for the Junior World Championship. This year’s tournament has been expanded to 16 teams and will take place in Tbilisi, Georgia, beginning on June 27. The USA has been drawn in Pool C and will play Argentina, England, and Ireland in the round-robin stage. Included in the training group are 15 players currently based abroad. Four come from Super Rugby academy programs – second row Kitiona Talaepa (Hurricanes), and outside backs Gavin Holder (Crusaders), Blake Miller (Brumbies), and Dane Mitchell (Waratahs). Finn Love, another speedster,…
England suffered a chastening pre-T20 World Cup defeat as they were completely outplayed by India in a 38-run defeat in Chelmsford. Chasing 189 to win, England stuttered to 150-8 as questions remain around their batting line-up before the tournament begins in June. Openers Alice Capsey and Sophia Dunkley fell cheaply before Amy Jones made a fluent 67 from 48 balls, but the run-rate climbed out of control as they collapsed from 120-3. The returns of Danni Wyatt-Hodge from maternity leave and Nat Sciver-Brunt from injury cannot come soon enough for England’s stuttering top order. Extras also proved a big difference,…
Ronda Rousey responds to Holly Holm. The first loss of Ronda Rousey’s UFC career came at the hands of Holly Holm in 2015 at UFC 193. Holm did an interview with MMA Fighting and said she’s open to a rematch, but highly doubts Rousey would accept. Rousey addressed those remarks during her appearance on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams. Rousey feels she’s a completely different fighter and would rock Holm, but went on to explain why that redemption is no longer important to her. “I said I’m retired, A, and B, I think that I am a…
The HSBC SVNS World Championship heads to Valladolid, Spain this weekend and so the referee teams are in place too. Some new and familiar names are in Nairobi as the Rugby Africa Women’s Championship has two more rounds to play. Precious Pazani (pictured top left) from Zimbabwe, will referee the probable decider as South Africa play Kenya on Sunday. Elsewhere, Joe James (bottom right) will referee the Championship Final in England between Worcester and Bedford (although there’s no promotion on offer as neither team met the necessary conditions). The PWR returns for its season run-in, as does Holly Wood, refereeing…
Two tournaments, each lasting three days, will decide where Australia finishes in the men’s rugby sevens World Championship standings.But if you ask Australia captain Henry Hutchison, a single day may seal his side’s fate.The second leg of the 12-team World Championship begins in Valladolid, Spain on Friday evening AEDT, with Australia facing Kenya and Great Britain in pool matches on day one.South Africa, the World Championship standings leader, is Australia’s final pool opponent on Saturday AEDT.”I think day one in Spain [could] be the most important day of our season,” Hutchison told ABC Sport.How rugby sevens star was inspiredWhen Isabella…
There are two doubles wildcards available for the tournament at Queen’s, and one is reserved for a team which includes a former world number one, a Grand Slam champion of the past 10 years or a current top-30 player.WIlliams has never liked the word retirement, preferring instead to say she was “evolving away” from tennis in 2022.She lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open, in what the world thought would be her final match.Williams had reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open the previous year, and won her last Grand Slam singles title…
Major League Rugby official Luke Rogan has been appointed to the Men’s Junior World Championship in Georgia, where he will take on a series of high-profile match responsibilities: June 27: New Zealand vs Japan (Referee) July 2: Australia vs Fiji (Referee) July 7: South Africa vs Wales (Assistant Referee 1) July 7: Georgia vs Uruguay (Assistant Referee 1) Full Junior World Championship Appointments » In addition, a number of officials from both USA Rugby and Major League Rugby have been selected as Assistant Referees for Test Matches in the inaugural World Rugby Nations Cup taking place this July. Appointments include Mike Lawrenson,…
Jannik Sinner, the No 1 men’s tennis player in the world, was still leading by two sets and serving for a place in the third round of the French Open when it became clear he was in significant danger on the baking clay in Paris on Thursday afternoon. He was undone in the second round of the only Grand Slam he has yet to win, not by the ingenuity of his opponent or even the immense pressure that comes with being the prohibitive favourite, but rather by his own body. The Italian – who had not lost a match since…