France captain Antoine Dupont has been cleared to return to action following surgery on his facial fracture.

Scrum-half Dupont became a doubt for the remainder of his country’s home Rugby World Cup after suffering the injury during a 96-0 win over Namibia on September 21.

The French Rugby Federation announced the 26-year-old was back with Fabien Galthie’s squad at their base in Aix-en-Provence.

Les Bleus play Italy in their final Pool A match on Friday, with a likely quarter-final to come on the weekend of October 14-15.

“Antoine has been given the go-ahead to resume physical activity taking it step by step,” read a statement from the French federation.

“This activity will take place under the supervision of the French national team’s medical staff.”

Dupont was taken off in the 46th minute against Namibia after opposition captain Johan Deysel made a head-on-head tackle and was sent off.

Deysel was subsequently banned for five matches.

France’s health manager Bruno Boussagol said on Thursday he was “convinced” Toulouse player Dupont would not be available for Les Bleus’ upcoming match with Italy.

Bordeaux’s Maxime Lucu is expected to deputise in Lyon.

France assistant coach William Servat told a press conference on Tuesday he had “no doubts” Dupont would be available for the quarter-finals.

Galthie’s side, who have already beaten New Zealand, Uruguay and Namibia, are likely to face South Africa, Ireland or Scotland in the last eight of the tournament.

World number one Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka suffered a humiliating record defeat as Europe moved to within five points of regaining the Ryder Cup in Rome.

The American pair were five over par for the first three holes as they crumbled to a 9&7 defeat by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, the largest margin of victory in any 18-hole match in the event’s history.

Scheffler was pictured fighting back tears and being comforted by his wife Meredith as the enormity of the loss sank in, the previous biggest margin being 7&6.

The PA news agency understands Scheffler was keen to be given the chance to make amends in the afternoon fourballs, but was left out by US captain Zach Johnson.

The only bright spot of the morning session for the visitors came when Max Homa and Brian Harman secured a first win of the contest, the former chipping in for an eagle on the 16th to see off Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka 4&2.

However, moments later Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood completed a hard-fought victory over Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, the Northern Irishman holing the winning putt from 12 feet on the 17th to secure his third point.

“Last night we talked about enjoying what we did yesterday but coming out and showing no mercy today and the way Ludvig and Viktor started off set the tone,” McIlroy said.

“I’m delighted to get another point on the board for Europe.”

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton also had to work hard to secure their second victory together when they lost three holes in a row to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele to be pegged back to all square.

However, Hatton’s birdie putt on the 16th edged them in front again and Rahm then came agonisingly close to making a hole-in-one on the 17th.

Cantlay responded with an excellent tee shot of his own, but Schauffele’s birdie attempt from three feet caught the edge of the hole and span out.

That made the overall score 9.5 to 2.5 and meant Europe needed just five points from the remaining 16 for victory.

Europe captain Luke Donald had warned his side to be wary of the US players reacting like “a wounded animal” as they looked to overturn a record-equalling five-point deficit, but the only wounds on show from Scheffler and Koepka were entirely self-inflicted.

Hovland and Aberg were one over par for the first three holes but won them all, the Americans making a double bogey on the first, a bogey on the second and another double bogey on the third.

Aberg was then inches away from a hole-in-one on the fourth, another birdie on the sixth took the European pair five up and with both American players struggling badly it was only a matter of time before they were put out of their misery.

Hovland was full of praise for his partner, who only turned professional in June and was given a wild card after winning the final qualifying event.

“He’s a stud,” Hovland said. “He doesn’t miss a shot, so it’s easy when I’m playing well and he’s playing well and we are just feeding off each other.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler was reduced to tears after slumping to a humiliating record loss on day two at the Ryder Cup in Rome.

The American was pictured apparently crying after he and playing partner Brooks Koepka, a five-time major winner, were thrashed 9&7 by European duo Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg in the Saturday morning foursomes.

It was the largest margin of defeat in an 18-hole match in the competition’s history. The Americans failed to win a single hole and only broke par once in the 11 played.

The defeat compounded the misery for the visiting team at Marco Simone after they ended the first day trailing 6.5-1.5.

It also came after Koepka vented his frustration after Friday’s play, accusing European linchpin Jon Rahm of acting “like a child” after a dramatic comeback victory in the fourballs.

Prop Dave Kilcoyne believes Ireland’s players are “frothing at the mouth” to face Scotland and insists there is no sense of self-satisfaction following a euphoric win over South Africa.

Andy Farrell’s men underlined their status as Test rugby’s top-ranked nation by defeating the reigning champions 13-8 last weekend in Paris.

But progression to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals is not yet assured moving towards next Saturday’s return to Stade de France for a pivotal showdown with the Scots.

Munster loosehead Kilcoyne believes a memorable evening against the Springboks was “parked” during some well-earned time off as attention quickly shifted to the team’s final Pool B fixture.

“Lads went away and spent a bit of downtime and were itching to get back in, bouncing, and it’s all eyes on Scotland now,” he said.

“That game is parked, we’ve a couple of massive learnings from it and we definitely won’t be falling in love with ourselves.

“Paulie (forwards coach Paul O’Connell) had a few tips for us in areas we were deficient in and we were out there (in training) making sure we had them right for Scotland.

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“In a competition like this you’ve got to keep learning with every game and you’ve got to keep getting better.

“Next week poses a massive challenge to us again so we’ve got to prepare as best we can for that.

“Everyone’s frothing at the mouth to be involved.”

Kilcoyne is enjoying his second World Cup, having overcome the scare of suffering a hamstring tear during last month’s training camp in Portugal.

The 34-year-old remained in the French capital with other members of the squad to enjoy a couple of days off after the South Africa match before travelling back to camp in Tours ahead of schedule.

Kilcoyne feels the current Ireland setup is the best he has been involved in and praised the impact of head coach Andy Farrell.

“I’m loving it over here, you read people writing about the incredible environment Faz (Farrell) has created for the players,” said Kilcoyne.

“And I don’t say it for the sake of saying it, but I think his emotional intelligence is through the roof.

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“You look at that South Africa game, such a big occasion physically and mentally fatiguing and to have the foresight to give the lads two days’ break, he probably knew how mentally and physically fatiguing that game was going to be for the whole country.

“I’m not going to be saying about other coaching environments but this is definitely the best Ireland environment I’ve ever been involved in since I’ve been playing, 100 per cent.

“When there’s great camaraderie in the squad, you love being around it.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka suffered a humiliating record defeat as Europe continued to dominate the 44th Ryder Cup in Rome.

The American pair were five over par for the first three holes as they crumbled to a 9&7 defeat by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, the largest margin of victory in any 18-hole match in the event’s history.

That extended the home side’s lead to six points and it looked like there would be more to come as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood were three up with six to play against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in the opening foursomes.

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were ahead by the same margin in the bottom match against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, with Brian Harman and Max Homa putting the only American red on the board as they led Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka by one hole after 10.

Europe captain Luke Donald had warned his side to be wary of the US players reacting like “a wounded animal” as they looked to overturn a record-equalling five-point deficit, but the only wounds on show were entirely self-inflicted.

Hovland and Aberg were one over par for the first three holes but won them all, before Aberg almost made a hole-in-one on the fourth.

Another birdie on the sixth took the European pair five up and with both American players struggling badly, it was only a matter of time before they were put out of their misery.

World number one Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka were guilty of a comedy of errors as the United States suffered a nightmare start to day two of the Ryder Cup.

Europe captain Luke Donald had warned his side to be wary of the US players reacting like “a wounded animal” as they looked to overturn a record-equalling five-point deficit, but the only wounds on show were entirely self-inflicted.

Scheffler and Koepka covered the first three holes of their foursomes match with Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg in five over par to unsurprisingly lose all three, before Aberg almost holed his tee shot on the fourth to extend the lead.

Another birdie on the sixth took the European pair five up and there was more good news for the home fans as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood took command of their match with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

Pars on the first and third, either side of Fleetwood’s birdie on the second, took the European pair three up and although the Americans won the fifth, they conceded the next after struggling to find Spieth’s drive in the rough and being refused relief for an embedded ball.

Donald had unsurprisingly kept faith with the pairings who had secured an unprecedented clean sweep on Friday morning and saw Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton take an early lead against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Max Homa and Brian Harman briefly had some American red on the board with a birdie on the second, but had been pegged back to all square by Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka.

United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.

“There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.

“It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.

“It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”

Luke Donald unsurprisingly kept faith with his history-making foursomes pairings as Europe looked to extend their lead on day two of the Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a match in a day’s play for the first time.

The resulting five-point lead equalled the largest in the contest’s history, a margin most recently achieved at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on day one.

Donald’s only change was to send Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood out first, against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton switched to match four against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg remained in match two against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, with Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka taking on Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman.

United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.

“There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.

“It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.

“It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”

Luke Donald unsurprisingly kept faith with his history-making foursomes pairings as Europe looked to extend their lead on day two of the Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a match in a day’s play for the first time.

The resulting five-point lead equalled the largest in the contest’s history, a margin most recently achieved at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on day one.

Donald’s only change was to send Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood out first, against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton switched to match four against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg remained in match two against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, with Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka taking on Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman.

United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.

“There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.

“It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.

“It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”

Jose Abreu hit a two-run double that was nearly a three-run homer and Jose Urquidy delivered as an emergency starter to lift the Houston Astros to a 2-1 win over Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

The game remained scoreless until the sixth when Alex Bregman hit a one-out infield single, and Kyle Tucker singled one out later.

Abreu drilled a pitch from Zac Gallen deep to center that was initially called a three-run home run before video replay showed the ball hitting the line on the wall, resulting in a 2-0 Houston lead.

The hero for the Astros turned out to be Urquidy, who was called on to start in place of scheduled starter J.P. France, scratched due to a family emergency.

Urquidy, who has been used out of the bullpen since his last start on Aug 23, limited Arizona to two hits over six innings with three walks and two strikeouts.

Phil Maton and Hector Neris each worked one scoreless inning and Ryan Pressly gave up Gabriel Moreno’s RBI double in the ninth before getting Jace Peterson on a game-ending groundout.

The Astros pulled within one game of AL West-leading Texas and remained one game ahead of Seattle in the race for the final wild card.

Arizona still holds the second NL wild card but had its lead over Miami cut to one-half game with Cincinnati and the Cubs both two games behind.

Gallen failed in a bid to become the majors’ second 18-game winner, allowing two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Crawford hits slam as Mariners keep playoff hopes alive

J.P. Crawford hit a grand slam and Ty France and Josh Rojas also homered as the Seattle Mariners stayed in the thick of the playoff race with an 8-0 rout of the Texas Rangers.

Seattle has won three or four following a four-game skid to remain one game behind Houston in the race for the final AL wild card.

The Mariners are still alive in the AL West, sitting two games behind Texas and one behind Houston with two games remaining.

The Rangers remained a victory away or Astros loss away from securing a playoff berth. There also remains the possibility of a three-way tie for the division title.

Bryan Woo pitched out of trouble to keep Texas scoreless through 3 2/3 innings and five relievers finished up with the final four keeping the Rangers hitless.

Blue Jays on brink of playoff spot

Alejandro Kirk homered and drove in three runs and Bo Bichette had four hits as the Toronto Blue Jays moved a step closer to the postseason with an 11-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Brandon Belt and Matt Chapman also went deep for the Blue Jays, who maintained a one-game lead over Houston.

Toronto can clinch a wild card with a win or a loss by Seattle over the next two days.

The Blue Jays took control with three runs in the third – two scoring on Kirk’s single – and extended to a 6-1 lead with three more runs in the fourth.

Belt led off with a home run and Bichette and Cavan Biggio singled and scored when center fielder Manuel Margot let the ball roll under his glove all the way to the wall.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray said he wants Sky Bet Championship teams to feel his side’s attacking threat after they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 at Hillsborough to move up to fourth in the table.

A Dan Ballard header and two goals from Jack Clarke, the second a penalty,  ensured the Black Cats’ victory in a little more than half an hour.

Mowbray said: “We needed to start fast, we were mindful of our last away game at Blackburn. Tonight we started fast and gave ourselves a great platform to go on.

“To get three goals before half-time was great. The only thing, and I said it in the dressing room, I was a little disappointed we didn’t go on and score more.

“They are a young group of lads and they have to learn. I can’t really complain; to come away and score three goals is good.

“But you always feel in this stadium that one goal goes in and you never know, so we talked about not giving them chances and it wasn’t until the last few minutes that they had any.

“If anything, we had to let them feel our threat more in the second half and be more clinical; score some more goals. I want every team to fear us and sit players behind the ball as a result.

“We were happy to keep the ball but moving forward, I would like other teams in this league to feel our threat – that if they get it wrong we are going to score.

“Of course, it’s about winning but the bigger picture is I want us to be an even better team and when teams aren’t quite right, we can really damage them.

“But it’s another three goals away from home for the third time on the bounce, so we just have to keep rolling.”

Wednesday boss Xisco Munoz apologised to supporters, with his side making the joint-worst start after nine games in Championship history.

Munoz said: “We started so badly and everyone is disappointed. This is the level we are at and after the second goal the game was done. In the second half we had some better moments but not enough.

“In the first half an hour we have three shots and they have three shots but they score the goals. We need to change the dynamic and be better in the final third.

“We changed systems and we changed players. We continued to try to find solutions and we tried to take risks after the second goal but it’s very hard to react the way we want to.

“We need to try to change a lot of things and my way is to try to find solutions. To get results you need to earn them but it was impossible after the first half.

“The results are very poor, that’s clear. But if you ask me if we have improved since I arrived, then yes. It’s not easy and we need to manage the pressure.”

Wednesday are in disarray off the field, with chairman Dejphon Chansiri releasing a statement earlier in the day stating he would be putting no additional money into the club.

Munoz added: “I can’t speak about the chairman; my job is the football side of things and the focus is on the players.

“To the fans, I’m so sorry. I’ve been under pressure since the first day. It’s a big challenge but I will continue to fight every day.”

Mark Selby prevailed in a final-frame decider to see off Jack Lisowski and reach the semi-finals of the Cazoo British Open.

The four-time world champion trailed 2-0 but it was nip and tuck thereafter before Selby held his nerve to come through 5-4.

A break of 98 in the third frame got Selby on the board and he made it three frames in a row with a 132 to take the lead.

But Lisowski twice managed to level the contest before a break of 65 in a total of 103 carried Selby over the line to set up last-four clash with Xiao Guodong, who defeated Tom Ford 5-3.

The afternoon session in Cheltenham saw Mark Williams ease to a 5-1 victory over China’s Fan Zhengyi.

Looking for his first ranking event victory since British Open success two years ago, the Welshman produced two centuries in a one-sided encounter.

Williams next faces Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, who was a 5-2 winner against tour rookie He Guoqiang.

The San Francisco Giants have fired manager Gabe Kapler after missing the playoffs for the third time in his four-year tenure, the organisation announced Friday.

The move is a full reversal from the public vote of confidence given last month by chairman Greg Johnson and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, making Kapler appear to be a lock in the dugout in 2024.

At the time, the Giants were in position for a wild card spot in the NL playoffs but have since been eliminated from post-season consideration and are in danger of finishing below .500 unless they sweep their final series of the season. 

Zaidi appeared on local radio station KNBR Thursday, and his comments signalled a change of heart.

“I just think we have to look at everything," Zaidi said during the interview. “There's a time and place for everything. One hundred sixty-two games is a grind. We want our players to be comfortable being able to wash off those tough losses.

“But when you’re in do-or-die games, like we were in Arizona, you want them to feel different. I think we’re really going to have to ask ourselves if we were prepared to sort of elevate our level of focus in play for those games that really matter down the stretch.”

Entering play Friday, the Giants have lost 10 of their last 13 games, including a pair against division rival and fellow wild-card hopeful Arizona on Sept. 19-20. The combined score of those games was 15-5.

The Giants are 29-40 since the All-Star break.

Kapler, 48, was 456-411 as manager in San Francisco and helped the team win a franchise-record 107 games in 2021. The Giants’ reward for a historic season was facing the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers in the Divisional round, and Kapler’s squad was eliminated in a Game 5 nail-biter.

“Gabe led our team through an unprecedented pandemic in 2020 and a franchise-record 107 wins and post-season berth in 2021,” Zaidi said in a statement Friday. “He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the San Francisco Giants and I have tremendous respect for him as a colleague and friend.”

Before arriving in San Francisco, Kapler managed the Philadelphia Phillies for two seasons with a 161-163 combined record and no play-off appearances.