Andy Farrell expects World Cup referees to be “red-hot” on foul play and says Ireland are striving to be rugby’s most disciplined team in the wake of another England red card.
Ireland benefited from the dismissal of England number eight Billy Vunipola on Saturday evening to retain their spot at the top of the global rankings by easing to a 29-10 Dublin success.
Vunipola’s second-half sending-off, for a high tackle on Andrew Porter, came a week on from team-mate Owen Farrell’s headline-grabbing red card against Wales.
England also had players sent off in their previous two fixtures with Ireland, with Charlie Ewels departing prematurely at Twickenham last year and Freddie Steward ordered off at the Aviva Stadium during the Six Nations in March, albeit that second decision was later overturned.
Ireland head coach Farrell feels there are “cards everywhere” at the moment and is determined to ensure disciplinary issues do not damage the World Cup ambitions of his Six Nations champions.
“It’s a red card that somebody will have a look at and make the right decision,” he said of the Vunipola incident. “It is what it is.
“We’re seeing more and more of that. It just highlights for us massively that it isn’t just the tackle height, it’s discipline in general.
“There are cards everywhere at the minute, isn’t there?
“And there’s a realisation as well that at the start of a competition, certainly in World Cups, referees are always going to be red-hot on stuff.
“So making sure that we’re the most disciplined side is something that we’re chasing down.”
Farrell welcomed back the bulk of his star names for their first international action since clinching Grand Slam glory against England five months ago.
Tries from Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose in a disjointed first half paved the way for victory before James Lowe, Mack Hansen and Test centurion Keith Earls added further scores following Vunipola’s 53rd-minute exit.
However, Dan Sheehan’s first-half departure due to a foot issue left Ireland with some cause for concern, particularly with fellow Leinster hooker Ronan Kelleher currently sidelined.
Farrell, who brought on Rob Herring in place of Sheehan, concedes the situation may become a worry but believes there is plenty of talent in reserve.
“Possibly, possibly,” he said. “Ronan’s going to be fine. The extent of Dan we don’t know.
“We’ve had Diarmuid Barron in camp as well, Tom Stewart’s been going great guns, so we’ll be fine.”
Defending women’s champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, five months removed from the birth of her first child, failed to advance to the semi-final round of the 400m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday.
The Bahamian star finished seventh in Heat 3 in 52.65. The 2022 bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados won the heat in 50.78 to keep her quest alive for another global medal in the one-lap sprint.
Meanwhile, all three Jamaicans advanced to the semi-final round of the competition. Jamaican champion Nickisha Price comfortably won Heat 4 in 50.38 over Cuba’s Roxana Gomez, who eased to second place in 50.86 and Gabby Scott of Puerto Rico, who was also an automatic qualifier, finishing third in a season’s best time of 51.07.
Candice McLeod was third in the opening heat in 50.37 to earn her place in the semi-final round. That heat was won by medal favourite Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland in an impressive 50.02. Cynthia Bolingo of Belgium ran a season’s best 50.29 to advance.
Charokee Young, meantime, sneaked into the next round as one of the sixth fastest finishers, when she ended up sixth in the sixth and final heat won by gold medal favourite Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic in a smart time of 49.90.
Young struggled to a time of 51.24.
Guyana’s Aliyah Abrahams was not as fortunate. She ran 51.44 to finish fifth in Heat 5 and failed to advance. Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke, who recently signed a professional contract, won the heat in 50.80.
Stand-in captain Courtney Lawes insists England will “relentlessly” strive for improvement and “won’t give up” following another major jolt in their bumpy road towards the World Cup.
Head coach Steve Borthwick is sweating on the availability of two key players ahead of the tournament in France after Billy Vunipola’s red card in Dublin compounded Owen Farrell’s disciplinary saga.
England struggled to convince with 15 men at the Aviva Stadium before Vunipola’s 53rd-minute dismissal for ploughing into the head of Andrew Porter helped the world’s top-ranked team cruise to a 29-10 success.
Yet flanker Lawes, who skippered his country as Farrell watched on from the stands, believes there were “a lot of positives” to take from a meek display.
“It’s obviously very disappointing,” he said. “The thing is if we just get certain things right in that game, it’s very different, it’s a very different game – and they are all things that we can control.
“But we have to be able to control them. There are obviously a lot of positives, which is great.
“If we tidy up a couple of areas, we’ll be a much different team and we’ve proved we can hang with the best as long as we get them right. But it doesn’t make it any less disappointing that we didn’t get it right.
“We won’t give up. We will relentlessly pursue the betterment of our team and that’s all we can do.”
England rarely offered a try-scoring threat on Saturday evening and were 12-3 behind at the break following scores from Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose.
Matters took a turn for the worse shortly after the restart when Vunipola’s shoulder-led tackle was upgraded from a yellow card to a red on review.
Tries from James Lowe and Mack Hansen stretched Ireland’s lead before Keith Earls added to the misery on the occasion of his 100th cap after Kyle Sinckler crossed for a consolation.
England should discover the fates of Saracens pair Vunipola and Farrell before hosting Fiji at Twickenham next weekend, with their World Cup campaign set to begin against Argentina on September 9.
Borthwick was unsure how much the uncertainty surrounding Farrell, who is awaiting the outcome of World Rugby’s appeal of the decision to overturn his red card against Wales, impacted England’s performance against Ireland.
But he accepts his team need greater cutting edge as they seek to turn winning into “a habit”.
“It’s always difficult to accurately evaluate that because it’s an unknown but it certainly hasn’t helped our preparation this week and we’re going to have to deal with it again this forthcoming week,” he said, referring to Farrell’s situation.
“We’re going to have to ensure we minimise any disruption and distraction of it to get the performance we want.
“We play against Fiji back at Twickenham next week and we want to make sure we get a win, we want to make sure we get an improved performance because winning is a habit and we want to make sure we start building that habit.
“The area we’ve seen we need to see more improvement is that conversion of opportunities in the final third.
“Do we want to see more progress? Absolutely. And that’s what we’ll be focusing our attention on over this coming week and beyond as we build into that first game of the World Cup.”
Jurgen Klopp was delighted with Wataru Endo’s Liverpool debut in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth after admitting the new signing would have had “no clue what to do” tactically.
The Japan captain only completed his £16million move from Stuttgart on Friday and was a late addition to Liverpool’s matchday squad after his international clearance narrowly came through on time.
But the 30-year-old was thrown in at the deep end when asked to come on moments after Alexis Mac Allister was sent off just before the hour mark – even if the task was made slightly easier as Diogo Jota made it 3-1 to Liverpool as Endo was waiting to come on.
“It was a horrible first game coming in,” Klopp said. “He did absolutely all right. But he came there, he had no clue what to do. I spoke in the morning with him about how with 11 players it would look, but 4-4-1 was not involved in our conversation.
“I don’t think he slept a lot in the last two nights but he came on and threw everything he had on the pitch.”
Endo’s job was to help Liverpool shut up shop at the end of a frantic fixture, in which Antoine Semenyo had fired Bournemouth in front just three minutes in amid a terrible start from Liverpool, before Luis Diaz levelled and Mo Salah’s penalty put the hosts in front before the break.
While Endo was making a full debut quicker than expected, Saturday’s match was a first Anfield appearance for both Mac Allister and fellow summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai.
The 22-year-old Szoboszlai won the penalty when he made the most of an outstretched leg from Joe Rothwell, and it was his shot which Neto could only parry to allow Jota to make it 3-1.
“His away debut was not too bad either,” Klopp said of the £60million signing from RB Leipzig. “I had to hold him back a little bit. He was the only one who has the power for more.
“He was part of the double six, running everything, but the general performance level he showed since he was here is really, really good. And his involvement in the goal is obviously super important.
“His shooting we didn’t see properly yet but we will probably see more in the future. Macca’s home debut was impressive as well, it just wasn’t as long.”
The win takes Liverpool to four points from their opening two fixtures after last Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea.
“I think it’s the minimum we should expect from these two games,” Klopp said. “When we look at the games we don’t say where we should win or lose but when you start at Chelsea I don’t think anybody goes there and books the points in, ‘OK we have them already’.
“Of course against Bournemouth, our first home game, we want to win. It’s an OK start. If we wouldn’t have won we would think differently.”
Bournemouth goalscorer Semenyo was the one change Andoni Iraola made to his starting line-up and the January signing from Bristol City suggested he is fully over the shin surgery he had at the end of last season with a strong display.
“He was really good (last week against West Ham) when he came in and gave us a lot of energy for 20 minutes,” Iraola said. “He has been training well and here he has scored. He finished really tired like a lot of players did but it’s good news.
“I think he can play both wings and as a number nine. He is physically powerful and we need this.”
The New England Patriots preseason game against the Green Bay Packers was called off Saturday night after rookie Isaiah Bolden was carted off the field early in the fourth quarter.
Bolden, a seventh-round pick by New England out of Jackson State, appeared to collide with teammate Calvin Munson while attempting to make a hit on a pass completion to Malik Heath of the Packers.
Bolden lay motionless on the field as medical officials tended to him. He was eventually carted off the field and the Patriots said after the game that Bolden had feeling in all his extremities. Bolden will be held overnight at a hospital in Green Bay for observation.
The teams conferred and decided not to continue the game with the Patriots leading 21-17 with 10:29 left in the fourth quarter.
The incident came more than seven months after Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the field on what appeared to be a routine tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2.
Hamlin has since returned to the Bills and played in his hometown of Pittsburgh earlier in the day and had three tackles in a loss to the Steelers.
Julio Rodriguez had set a major league record with 17 hits in four games and Dylan Moore hit a pair of home runs to lead the surging Seattle Mariners to a 10-3 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday.
With a single to left field in the seventh inning, Rodriguez broke a major league record set in 1925 by Milt Stock of the Brooklyn Robins.
Rodriguez finished 4 for 6 for his fourth straight game with at least four hits. He is 17 for 22 with two homers, eight RBIs and five runs in those four games.
Moore hit his first home run in the fifth inning and Houston starter Framber Valdez threw a pitch at the feet of the next batter, Jose Caballero. Caballero got up, put his arms out and started walking and talking toward Valdez, who responded. The benches cleared though no punches were thrown.
Houston’s Jose Altuve became the latest member of the 2,000-hit club with a single in the fifth inning. He is the third in franchise history to reach that plateau, joining Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.
Sam Haggerty also homed for the Mariners, who won their fifth straight and pulled to within 1 ½ games of the Astros for the second AL wild-card spot. Seattle maintained a one-half game lead over Toronto for the third spot.
Phillies’ Turner homers twice in 8th inning
Trea Turner hit two home runs during an eight-run eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 12-3 rout of the Washington Nationals.
Turner led off the eighth inning with his 13th homer of the season and followed Bryson Stott’s three-run homer later in the frame with another shot.
Turner is the first Phillies player to hit two home runs in an inning since Von Hayes on June 11, 1985, in the first inning against the New York Mets.
Nick Castellanos and Jake Cave also went deep for Philadelphia, which opened a three-game lead over San Francisco in the race for the top wild-card spot in the NL.
Urias hits another grand slam as Red Sox win
Luis Urias became the first Boston Red Sox player to hit grand slams on consecutive pitches in an 8-1 win over the reeling New York Yankees.
Urias took Yankees ace Gerrit Cole deep in the second inning with the bases loaded after he cleared the bases in his last at-bat against Washington reliever Robert Garcia on Thursday.
Urias is the first Red Sox player to hit grand slams in consecutive games since Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx on May 20-21, 1940. He also is the first player to hit grand slams in consecutive trips to the plate since Josh Willingham with Washington in 2009.
The Yankees were no-hit until Aaron Judge homered in the sixth inning. They have lost seven straight to fall three games under .500.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will come face-to-face for the first time since Alcaraz’s Wimbledon victory when they meet in the final of the Western and Southern Open.
The Spaniard eclipsed the 23-time major champion in the final at the All England club in July.
Alcaraz punched his ticket to Sunday’s final in Cincinnati with a 2-6 7-6 (4) 6-3 win over Hubert Hurkacz.
The world number one was forced to save a match point in the second set before wrapping up the win in two hours and 16 minutes.
Speaking in his on-court interview after the match, Alcaraz said: “I had a lot of break points, it was really tough.
“Obviously saving a match point is never easy but with my coach, we were talking about staying positive all the time and to stay there.
“We knew I was going to have my chances and I tried to take it.
“Every match against Hubi is really, really tough but I’m really, really happy that I was able to win.”
Djokovic gave himself an opportunity for revenge against Alcaraz after qualifying for the final with a 7-6 (5) 7-5 win over Alexander Zverev.
It was an even contest for much of the match, but the world number two used his veteran baseline prowess to take the advantage right when he needed it.
Djokovic said: “I’m pleased. I think there’s a few things I could’ve done better, but overall it’s a straight sets win against a great player in form, so I’m really happy.”
Alcaraz and Djokovic have met three times previously, with Alcaraz holding a 2-1 advantage.
The seemingly unstoppable combination of leading rider Reyan Lewis and champion trainer Jason DaCosta continued to wreak havoc on their pursuers as the two swept another feature contest, the Arthur Jones Memorial Cup, at Caymanas Park on Saturday.
They teamed up with the Carlton Watson-owned three-year-old American-bred bay colt Is That A Fact, who easily took apart Overnight Allowance rivals first time up in class, over six furlongs (1,200m).
In fact, Is That A Fact, was one of three winners on the 10-race card for the inform Lewis, who moved his tally this season to 73 wins and holds a commanding 17-race lead over reigning champion Dane Dawkins.
The Palace Malice - Valid Code Progeny Is That A Fact, entered the contest overwhelmingly favoured to secure the hat-trick, and that he did with consummate ease.
After being hustled early to join and later overtake Rojorn Di Pilot (Omar Walker) on the headlines, Lewis and Is That A Fact, were always comfortable, especially leaving the half-mile and from there it was a question of how far he would beat his eight rivals.
The answer, a resounding 7 1/4 lengths being eased at the end, as his more experienced rivals, had no response to Is That A Fact's devastating stretch kick that propelled him to a decent time of 1:13.0, after splits of 23.1 and 47.1 seconds.
Rojorn Di Pilot stayed on for second, fending off I’ve Got Magic (Phillip Parchment), while Taurus Boy (O'Neil Mullings) completed the frame.
Lewis’s other victories were Ali, in the first event –handing new trainer Donwell Dawes his first victory – and Patrick Lynch's Simba The Lion in the fifth race.
Lynch also saddled two winners Select Me (Ramon Nepare), who won the second event.
Meanwhile, Dawkins, determined to retain his title, had two winners on the card — Slam Dunk in the fourth race and Money Box in the final event, both for trainer Gary Subratie.
Racing continues on Sunday.
Bahamas remains in firm control of the 27th Goodwill Swimming Championships, as they have accounted for a number of the 45 records broken so far and rightly heads both the points and medals standings heading into Sunday's final day.
With Siann Isaacs leading their record charge on Friday's opening day, the Bahamians picked up where they left off and were responsible for 14 of the 25 records broken on an action-packed second day of action at the National Aquatics Centre on Saturday.
By virtue of their exploits, Bahamas heads the combined standings with 993.5 points, almost 200 points ahead of Jamaica on 785.5, with Trinidad and Tobago (645 points) in third.
Barbados (523 points), Suriname (380.5 points), St Lucia (140.5 points) and Grenada (three points), round off the table.
On the medals card, Bahamas have so far secured 91 medals (42 gold, 28 silver and 21 bronze), ahead of Barbados (16 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze), followed by Trinidad and Tobago (13 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze) and Jamaica (10 gold, 21 silver and 26 bronze). Suriname (four gold, 11 silver and eight bronze) and St Lucia (two silver and three bronze) are next.
With the hype and anticipation surrounding the three-day meet, the Caribbean's young sensations were never out to disappoint and much like she did on the first day, Isaacs, who has been in impressive form, again made the first splash where the record count is concerned on Saturday.
Isaacs led a Bahamas one-three finish in the girls' 11-12 200m individual medley (IM). She won in 2:46.69 to lower the previous mark of 2:49.17 set by Kaeyn Djoparto in 2019, finishing ahead of Suriname's Elya Powdar (2:48.15) and compatriot Samirah Donaldson (2:55.00).
Suriname's Joshua Busropan accounted for the boys' 13-14 200m IM record, clocking 2:27.72 which lowered the previous best of 2:28.77 set by Curaçao's Reyan Holder in 2019. He won ahead of the Jamaican pair of Matthew Kennedy (2:29.32) and Julian Willoughby (2:30.56).
The 50m freestyle sequence offer much excitement with Kaija Eastmond of Barbados topping the girls' 9-10 event in 30.09s. That time erased the old mark of 30.28s set by Trinidad and Tobago's Keryn Burke in 2019.
Taylen Nicolls (30.39s) of Bahamas and Aliyah Greaves (30.66s), also of Barbados, took the minor placing.
Nitayo Knowles of Bahamas also clocked a record 29.15s to win the boys' 9-10 event. He bettered Liam Carrington's previous time of 29.54s, as he turned back the challenge of Jamaican duo Noah Parker (30.69s) and Joel Sinclair (31.12s).
Christin-Alyssa Clarke (29.53s) led home Isaacs (29.93s) in a Bahamas one-two finish in the girls' 11-12 event, with Jamaica's Zuri Coke (30.02s) in third. Clarke's winning time erased the 30.23s set by Jamaica's Rebekah King in 2019.
The boys' 11-12 event also saw a record-breaking performance from Sean-Verno Dipokromo (27.31s) of Suriname. His winning time shattered the 27.83s which Guyana's Jaleel Anderson set in 2019.
Trinidad and Tobago's Shian Griffiths (28.07s) and Elliot Reid (28.22s) of Barbados, were second and third respectively.
Renae Chung (28.24s) and Noire Hunter (28.88s) secured a one-three finish for Jamaica in the girls' 13-14 event, separated by Ayoka Martin (28.35s) of Barbados.
Jamaica's Willoughby continued the record-breaking exploits in the boys' 13-14 event when he clocked 25.83s to lower 26.11s set by another Jamaican Nyles Davis in 2019. Busropan (26.18s) of Suriname and Lenin Hamilton (26.24s) of Bahamas, were second and third.
Bahamas won the girls' 15-17 event courtesy of Lauren Bridgewater (28.64s) ahead of Trinidad and Tobago's Zahara Alexander (28.73s) and Asha Davis (29.12s) of Jamaica.
The Bahamians celebrations intensified after the boys' 15-17 event, as Tristin Ferguson (24.35s) led a sweep with compatriots Caleb Ferguson (24.81s) and Zion Gibson (25.69s) joins him on the podium. The winning time erased the old mark of 28.54s set by Suriname's Hendrik Powdar in 2019.
From there, the swimmers moved into the 100m breaststroke sequence where a number of athletes, namely, Eastmond, Donaldson and Willoughby, among others again etched their names in the record books, before moving into the 50m butterfly sequence.
During that quick sprint, the outstanding Bajan Eastmond again topped rivals in record time, with Clarke of Bahamas, Brandon Balfour of the twin island republic and Jamaica's captain Khiara Roomes, also getting in on the action.
And much like they started the day, Bahamas brought the curtains down on day two on a high, topping the girls' and boys' 15-17 400m freestyle relays in record times.
The team of Bridgewater, Grace Farrington, Tia-Isabella Adderley and Bianca Johnson clocked 4:17.23 in victory, smashing 4:28.13 set by Suriname in 2019. Trinidad and Tobago (4:22.95) and Jamaica (4:30.65), were second and third respectively.
In the boys' event, the two Fergusons combined with Ayrton Moncur and Gibson to win in 3:46.09, ahead of Jamaica (3:52.91) and Trinidad and Tobago (4:01.58). Bahamas winning time lowered Trinidad and Tobago's 3:48.99 set in 2019.
Matt Fitzpatrick fired a four-under-par 66 to earn a share of the lead after the third round of the BMW Championship in Chicago.
Only a bogey on the par-four 18th prevented the Yorkshireman moving clear at the top of the leaderboard at Olympia Fields Country Club as he looks to cement his place at next week’s season-ending Tour Championship.
Instead Fitzpatrick will go into the final round tied with American world number one Scottie Scheffler, who hit seven birdies in his six-under-par round of 64, at 11 under par.
Rory McIlroy, who shared the first-round lead only to fall away on Friday, clawed back within three shots of the leaders as he shot a 67 to sit in a tie for fifth place with Norway’s Viktor Hovlund.
Brian Harman’s 67 sees him sit in third place, one stroke adrift of the leaders at 10 under, but it was back to reality for overnight leader Max Homa.
Homa had hit a course record 62 on Friday to fashion a two-stroke advantage but fell away on Saturday, a triple bogey seven on the seventh contributing to a one-over round of 71 that leaves him a further stroke back in fourth place.
It proved even worse for Homa’s fellow American Chris Kirk, who started the day in second place but hit back-to-back double bogeys in his five-over-par 75.
Sam Burns matched Homa’s course record 62 to surge 26 places into a four-way tie for seventh place on seven under alongside Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele and Denny McCarthy.
Coco Gauff scrapped her way to a maiden win over world number one Iga Swiatek to reach her first WTA 1000 final at the Southern and Western Open in Cincinnati.
The 19-year-old American showed her mettle to defeat the Pole 7-6 (2) 3-6 6-4 after losing their previous seven encounters.
Gauff trailed 5-3 and 6-5 in the opening set, but having dragged herself back into it, capitalised on a series of unforced errors in the tie-break to nudge ahead.
The Polish player’s response was concerted as she took the second set to level, but it was she who faltered in the third as the number seven seed converted her fourth match point to go through.
Gauff will face unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova in Sunday’s final after she got the better of Aryna Sabalenka in the other last-four clash.
Second seed Sabalenka took the first set on a tie-break, but Muchova hit back to win 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-2 and also clinch her first appearance in a WTA 1000 final.
Julian Alvarez’s fine first-half strike handed Manchester City a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle in their first home match since winning the treble on Saturday.
The World Cup winner curled a shot into the top corner after 31 minutes of a tight Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium and it proved enough for the champions to claim all three points.
Newcastle, buoyed by thrashing Aston Villa 5-1 in their season opener last week, had travelled in hope of claiming their first league win at City for almost 23 years.
Yet the hosts, despite making just two changes following their draining European Super Cup venture in Athens in midweek, were too strong and successfully nullified Eddie Howe’s side.
Pep Guardiola’s men were far from their fluid best, but they produced a professional performance to follow up their opening win at Burnley and in Alvarez and Phil Foden they had the brightest players on the pitch.
Newcastle fought to the end but it ultimately proved a frustrating night for the visitors, who had five players booked.
City started slowly but began to step up the pressure midway through the first half and threatened for the first time when Manuel Akanji curled a long-range attempt over.
Alvarez then whipped in a low cross but failed to find Erling Haaland before Mateo Kovacic and Foden both had efforts blocked.
Foden grew into the game and was a lively presence, having stepped into the playmaking void left by long-term injury victim Kevin De Bruyne.
Foden was instrumental in City’s goal, finding space and darting into the area before pulling back for Alvarez.
The Argentinian then did the rest, picking his spot from the edge of the area and firing a shot beyond Nick Pope.
Foden threatened to seize control of the game and was crudely pushed over by Sandro Tonali after another dangerous run. He then slipped Haaland in on goal but the Norwegian’s low shot rolled narrowly wide of the far post.
Haaland was close again early in the second half, first after holding off Sven Botman to shoot at Pope and then mishitting another shot wide, again from a Foden pass.
City’s failure to kill off the game allowed Newcastle to come back into it in the closing stages.
Harvey Barnes was presented with a good chance after a rare misplaced pass by Rodri, but he shot straight at Ederson from distance.
Miguel Almiron also had a powerful effort blocked but City continually got numbers back and remained dangerous on the counter-attack.
Both Foden and Rodri led late raids from deep, but neither could set Haaland free for the goal that would have sealed it.
In the end, Alvarez’s strike was sufficient and City, who began the evening parading last season’s silverware, could celebrate a job well done.
Reece Prescod has accused UK Athletics of emotional blackmail after his last-minute exit from Great Britain’s relay squad.
The 27-year-old will not race in the 4×100 metres in Budapest after pulling out on the eve of the World Championships this week.
Prescod claims he was told his reputation would suffer if he walked out of the squad but feels he had no option after suffering a hip injury in relay training three weeks ago.
The 2018 100m European silver medallist also revealed he was told he would not be part of the relay set-up in January, only to get a call asking him to return in July.
“The dust needs to settle for a little bit because some of the conversations that I had weren’t necessarily the most pleasant conversations,” he said, after qualifying for Sunday’s 100m semi-final in 10.14 seconds.
“They weren’t very nice and I was a bit upset about some of the conversations. It just wasn’t a nice environment to be in. I had a few different meetings on occasions and it kind of felt a little bit like emotional blackmail a little bit.
“I was kind of like ‘I don’t want to let down the country’ and they (UKA) were like ‘you know your reputation is going to be ruined if you do this.’
“It’s been quite hard, dealing with all the press and all the negativity. I’ve felt quite isolated at these championships if I’m being honest. I’ve felt quite distant from the team.
“But I’ve just had to say ‘you know what Reece, just get as far as you can in these championships and afterwards sit down with (Stephen) Maguire (technical director).'”
Prescod helped Great Britain to world 4x100m bronze in Eugene last year, just his second major senior medal.
He added: “There was a lot of pressure from the federation. It’s not that I didn’t want to be part of the team. I love the boys but I didn’t want to risk hurting myself.
“If I hurt myself in an exchange three weeks ago, for me to do exactly the same thing might potentially compromise running around the bend. So that was the kind of moral of the whole story.
(It’s come from the) hierarchy, if I am being honest. The other athletes are very supportive.”
Zharnel Hughes, Jona Efoloko, Adam Gemili, Jeremiah Azu and Eugene Amo-Dadzie remain part of the squad. British Athletics declined to comment.
Erik ten Hag cut a frustrated figure after Manchester United suffered a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham and insisted their wasteful display showed why Rasmus Hojlund was signed.
The Red Devils went down in the capital on Saturday night after Pape Sarr slid home the opener in the 49th minute before Lisandro Martinez deflected the ball into his own net late on.
United could have easily been ahead by this point with Marcus Rashford denied by Guglielmo Vicario and Bruno Fernandes heading wide from six yards, while Antony curled against the post minutes after Sarr’s goal.
Tottenham did also create plenty of opportunities in the first half but stepped up their display after the break to earn new head coach Ange Postecoglou a maiden Premier League win.
It left United to reflect on what might have been and Ten Hag, who watched them claim a nervy 1-0 win over Wolves on Monday, pointed to injured £64million forward Hojlund as a reason for optimism.
“You have seen today, the performance first half (was) very good, but you have to understand you have to score a goal,” he insisted.
“Because of the meaning of the first goal, players have to take responsibility. Focus, passion and desire in this moment to keep the overview and score the first goal.
“It’s about belief and we believe these players because of last year as well. They can score goals.
“But it is obvious why we signed a striker. If everything goes well, (Anthony) Martial is on (his) way back, Hojlund is coming, so we have more players capable to score a goal, but also the players on the pitch, they can score goals.”
Hojlund, who joined from Atalanta in a deal that could rise to £72million, is currently absent with a back injury and missed the Spurs clash.
Ten Hag named two goalkeepers on the bench with Harry Maguire out with a minor injury and Brandon Williams and Donny van de Beek also not considered due to the futures of the trio being uncertain.
He added: “Yesterday in final training, H (Maguire) was out with a small issue. So after September 1 everything can change, but we need players who are totally with their heads in our team.
“I won’t say the players you mention, they are not, but it’s also obvious that in this moment they are looking for something else.
“But when they are here they always do their best, every training (session).”
While United, playing under the cloud of continued talk about Mason Greenwood’s future, will go back to the drawing board ahead of Nottingham Forest’s visit next weekend, Spurs fans are back on cloud nine.
It has been a difficult 2023 with a disastrous March extending the club’s trophy drought and record goalscorer Harry Kane leaving to join Bayern Munich earlier this month.
A protest with hundreds of Spurs fans occurred before kick-off, arranged by the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, over the club’s decision to increase matchday ticket prices for this season, but there was a lively atmosphere inside the stadium.
Postecoglou credited the home crowd for helping his young, new-look team navigate their way through some nervy opening stages, but they delivered a superb display after with Sarr firing home from Dejan Kulusevski’s cross before Ben Davies’ scuffed effort was diverted past Andre Onana by Martinez.
“The atmosphere was incredible. Our supporters were outstanding. The energy they created in the stadium right from the first whistle was brilliant and it helped us. In the first half we just looked a bit nervous,” Postecoglou said before he reflected on taking everything in post-match.
“But we got them in at half-time and settled them down a little bit. Then I thought the boys were brilliant.
“You want to win and that gives everyone the joy they need but I felt the manner in which we played, it’s a great starting point so when the final whistle goes from my perspective that’s a fantastic fertile ground for me to get going.
“You want to feel that moment because I have always said, to me I love what football does to people, particularly in those moments.
“So, you kind of take a moment to think about the 60,000 here or the ones who were watching at home because they will be smiling for the rest of the week.
“I love that it does that, the game. For me that moment is just about appreciating I am pretty blessed to be doing what I am doing, being in the middle of a stadium leading a fantastic football club and then you start to think about next week, mate.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
