Frankie Dettori’s farewell to Britain got off to a perfect start, as Trawlerman battled back gamely for victory in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot.

The Italian is enjoying his final afternoon in European action before moving to America – and the first of his five rides ensured racegoers could enjoy a famous flying dismount.

Trawlerman (9-1) was left in front around half a mile from home in the two-mile affair, as pacesetting Maxident dropped away sharply.

Dettori looked a sitting duck as 11-10 favourite Kyprios reeled him in down the straight, passing him with two furlongs to run, but Dettori had saved something and showed all his skill in mounting another challenge.

Reining his mount back in, he switched to Kyprios’ outside and Trawlerman stuck his head out on the line to grab victory.

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri will allow Nicolo Fagioli to spend the seven months of his suspension for betting breaches seeking treatment for his addiction while keeping himself fit for potential involvement in the run-in.

Bianconeri midfielder Fagioli, 22, had five months of a one-year ban suspended this week and was fined 12,500 euros (£10,848), while he agreed to a therapy plan of at least six months to tackle his gambling problem.

The ban means Fagioli – who has the Turin club’s official support – will miss almost the entirety of the Serie A campaign that remains but he will be eligible for the final two games, against Bologna and Monza, in May.

Allegri hopes Juve will then be in a position to challenge for the Scudetto, if they have not already claimed their first championship since 2020, and Fagioli will be enthusiastically welcomed back into the fold to get the Old Lady over the line.

Before Sunday evening’s trip to title rivals AC Milan, the boss told a press conference: “We have said everything regarding Fagioli, the club have expressed their opinion and I agree.

“Now a journey begins for Nicolo that will bring him back to the field in May – these seven months will help him maintain his athletic condition while he engages in social work.”

Going into the weekend Juve were four points behind leaders Milan, with Inter wedged in between the pair, and Allegri plans to extend their three-match unbeaten run with a positive result that would certainly turn up the heat in the title race.

“We’re expecting a good and challenging match tomorrow, with first against third in the standings,” he said. “We know the difficulties this match brings, playing at San Siro is both beautiful and difficult.”

On their hopes of reclaiming their status as top dogs in Italy, he added: “Are we favourites? Our goal is to earn as many points as possible to reach the end of May in the top four.

“In the meantime, let’s enjoy tomorrow’s match against Milan and then we’ll see what we’ve been able to do.”

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is suspended alongside Fagioli, with the defensive trio of Mattia De Sciglio, Alex Sandro and Danilo out injured.

Milan, who have won four straight league games, are without the banned duo of goalkeeper Mike Maignan and defender Theo Hernandez, while English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is among the high-profile names still on the treatment table.

With Maignan unavailable, Rossoneri boss Stefano Pioli is planning to throw veteran stopper Antonio Mirante, 40, into action for the first time this campaign and has no concerns whatsoever about his ability to cope with the Juve attack.

He told reporters: “Will we change the way we play with Mirante in goal? No.

“Antonio knows how to read plays and watch the gaps, so it will be down to the outfield guys to better understand how Juve move and therefore how to deal with them.”

Storm Babet disrupted football in England and Scotland on Saturday as adverse weather conditions swept the UK.

Ross County’s home match against St Mirren in the cinch Premiership was the latest fixture to be postponed north of the border.

And in England, Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold was involved in an accident after a 40ft electricity pylon smashed onto a car in front of the England international, according to The Sun.

The high voltage power line was pulled up by 70mph winds and landed in front of Alexander-Arnold’s black Range Rover near Knutsford, Cheshire, the newspaper reported.

Alexander-Arnold reportedly slammed on the brakes before colliding with a BMW X5. Cheshire police said nobody was injured in the incident.

The footballer’s agent was contacted by the PA news agency, but declined to comment on the story.

The storm showed no signs of abating as downpours continued to batter the UK on Saturday, with three people dead and another red “danger to life” warning in place.

After conversations with the SPFL and Police Scotland, the decision was taken to call the St Mirren game off on Saturday morning with supporters’ safety in mind.

A club statement said a new date and kick-off time would be rearranged in due course.

County’s match at the Global Energy Stadium became the first fixture to be called off on Saturday but several others were already postponed on Friday, including Aberdeen’s home game against Dundee and Motherwell’s trip to St Johnstone.

Other Saturday fixtures to have fallen include Mansfield’s home clash with Forest Green in Sky Bet League Two, and Altrincham’s match against Dorking in the Vanarama National League.

Chesterfield’s home fixture against Gateshead has also been called off “on the recommendation of various external partner agencies”.

The Scottish Championship game between Arbroath and Raith Rovers – in the worst-hit area of Angus – was called off, as was Greenock’s match against Inverness.

Cove Rangers against Montrose in League One was also postponed along with two games in League Two – Elgin versus Forfar and Stenhousemuir against Peterhead.

Saturday’s race card at Market Rasen was also postponed due to standing water on areas of the track.

An inspection was held on Friday but the race course confirmed after 50mm of rainfall in the area that the decision was made to abandon the meeting.

Rotherham’s Championship game with Ipswich, scheduled to be played on Friday night, was also postponed due to the stormy conditions.

The area was hit with torrential rain which caused the River Don, which runs behind the AESSEAL New York Stadium, to burst its banks which left areas around the stadium flooded.

Xavi has urged Barcelona to “recover our ideology” before beginning a critical week of their season.

Barcelona have three home games in the space of six days, starting against Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga on Sunday.

Shakhtar Donetsk provide Champions League opposition on Wednesday and Real Madrid make the trip to the Nou Camp next Saturday for the first El Clasico of the season.

As LaLiga returns following the international break, leaders Real held a three-point advantage over Barcelona.

“At the start of the season, we’ve had some great moments of playing well,” said Xavi, whose side have dropped points in two of their last three league games with 2-2 draws against Mallorca and Granada.

“We must recover our ideology and get the three points by playing well.

“We are in a situation with a lot of absentees, but it won’t be an excuse for the game and to be able to play well.”

Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal have both been declared fit for the Bilbao clash.

But Frenkie de Jong, Jules Kounde, Pedri, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Sergi Roberto remain unavailable.

Lewandowski, Barca’s top scorer with six this season, is closing in on a return after ankle trouble and Xavi said the Poland forward “has a very good feeling” of returning against Real Madrid.

Xavi said: “He’s a great leader and always goes forward, he wants to be there and he’s hurting less and less every day.

“He has a very good feeling. He always pulls himself forward.

“But there is a lot of variety (in attack) and people with confidence in front of goal. That is great. Last year, we depended a lot on Lewandowski.”

On the potential return of other individuals, Xavi added: “The player’s feelings will tell when he will arrive. We won’t force anyone.

“Feelings are the key and they will mark the return of all of them.”

Bilbao began the weekend in fifth place, four points behind Barcelona after beating Almeria 3-0 before the international break.

The Basques side are managed by Ernesto Valverde, who won two LaLa titles and a Copa Del Rey during his time in charge of Barcelona between May 2017 and January 2020.

Xavi said: “Athletic are very strong physically and technically gifted. Valverde is a great coach and likes to press high.

“I’m expecting a difficult opponent, we have some injuries but that’s no excuse and we need our fans.

“We’re three points behind the leaders. But we have to keep working hard, to keep fighting, and to keep improving, because there is a long way to go in LaLiga.”

After delivering a stinging response to his critics by leading Wigan to Grand Final glory last week, Harry Smith is relishing the prospect of winning his second England cap in the first match of a three-test series against Tonga on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Wigan stand-off played an increasingly pivotal role in his club’s surge to the Super League title, culminating in kicking six points in their 10-2 win over Catalans at Old Trafford last weekend in the Betfred Grand Final.

It marked a glittering end to the season for Smith, who missed out on the prestigious Harry Sunderland man-of-the-match trophy by a single vote, and was all the more impressive given early season concerns over his inconsistency with the boot.

Ahead of the clash at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium, Smith told the PA news agency: “I’m very happy with how the season went in terms of leadership and game management, and winning the confidence of my team-mates and (Wigan head coach) Matt Peet.

“I got a bit of stick due to my kicking, and some of it was probably a bit unfair. I thought my overall performance, creating stuff for the team, was really good.

“I never really over-thought it. I knew the work I was putting in would pay off, and I just had to keep looking forward and not backwards. I feel like I’ve really managed to make those improvements in the last few months.”

Smith made his only previous England appearance in a one-sided 64-0 thrashing of France earlier this year and knows his side face a different proposition against a Tonga squad stacked with talent from Australia’s NRL.

In the absence through suspension of regular captain George Williams, Smith is set to form a new half-back partnership with Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis, one of two potential debutants in coach Shaun Wane’s 19-man matchday squad alongside Leeds’ Harry Newman.

For more experienced members of the squad, the series represents the chance to finally shrug off any lingering disappointment from last year’s dramatic golden point World Cup semi-final defeat to Samoa at the Emirates Stadium.

Smith added: “The Samoa game has not been mentioned much, because there’s obviously quite a lot of players in the squad who were not involved, but there are definitely some who still have that bitter feeling.

“It’s more about how we can move on with the aim of getting to a World Cup final in the future. It’s why we take up the sport, to play in the biggest games, and the difference between this and the France game is obvious.

“You can feel it in training, the intensity is much bigger than before the France game, because not only are you surrounded with really good players, but you know how good those are who you are coming up against.”

St Helens full-back Jack Welsby has been handed the honour of becoming England’s youngest ever captain on his home ground and will come face-to-face with domestic team-mate Will Hopoate in the opposite position.

Saints team-mate Tommy Makinson is another survivor from the Samoa nightmare and he believes Welsby’s ascent to the captaincy, in place of the now-retired Sam Tomkins, has been an inevitability for some time.

“I’m really proud first and foremost,” said Makinson. “It’s been coming and in his performances over the past two or three years, we’ve all seen what Jack can do.

“He’s a back-to-back Man of Steel candidate and all the accolades have come his way. He’s not really very vocal, but he’s honest, hard-working and more than anything he’s a good bloke, and that’s why everyone respects him.”

Ross County’s home match against St Mirren in the cinch Premiership is the latest fixture to be postponed due to the adverse weather conditions caused by Storm Babet.

The storm shows no signs of abating as downpours continued to batter the UK on Saturday, with three people dead and another red “danger to life” warning in place.

After conversations with the SPFL and Police Scotland, the decision was taken to call the St Mirren game off on Saturday morning with supporters’ safety in mind.

A club statement said a new date and kick-off time will be rearranged in due course.

County’s match at the Global Energy Stadium became the first fixture to be called off on Saturday but several others were already postponed on Friday, including Aberdeen’s home game against Dundee and Motherwell’s trip to St Johnstone.

Other Saturday fixtures to have fallen include Mansfield’s home clash with Forest Green in Sky Bet League Two, and Altrincham’s match against Dorking in the Vanarama National League.

The Scottish Championship game between Arbroath and Raith Rovers, in the worst-hit area of Angus, has been called off as has Greenock’s match against Inverness.

Cove Rangers against Montrose in League One has also been postponed along with two games in League Two – Elgin versus Forfar and Stenhousemuir against Peterhead.

Rotherham’s Championship game with Ipswich, scheduled to be played on Friday night, was also postponed due to the conditions.

The area was hit with torrential rain which caused the River Don, which runs behind the AESSEAL New York Stadium, to burst its banks which left areas around the stadium flooded.

Ancient Wisdom, impressive winner of the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket last week, is to be supplemented for next Saturday’s Kameko Futurity Trophy at Doncaster.

Trained by Charlie Appleby, the Dubawi colt improved his record to three wins from four outings with a dominant display on the Rowley Mile.

His sole defeat came at the hands of Richard Hannon’s subsequent Prix Jean- Luc Lagadere winner Rosallion in an Ascot Listed race in July.

Following a workout on Saturday morning, he impressed Appleby sufficiently enough to book a ticket to the final Group One of the UK season.

A post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from Godolphin, read: “Ancient Wisdom, brilliant winner of the Group Three Autumn Stakes on Future Champions Day @NewmarketRace, worked well this morning and the intention is to supplement him for next weekends Group One Futurity Stakes @DoncasterRaces.”

Ange Postecoglou has hinted opportunities for his fringe players could be on the horizon ahead of a busy week for Tottenham.

Spurs return to action after the international break with a Monday night clash at home to Fulham and face a quick turnaround with a trip to Crystal Palace four days later.

Yves Bissouma is suspended for the visit of Fulham, which should see Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg earn a first Premier League start this season, and Postecoglou has also urged fit-again Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Brennan Johnson to be ready if called upon.

“We’ve got a Monday night game and then we back it up with a Friday night game, so we’ll probably need a good deal of the squad to do those two games,” the Spurs boss explained.

“As good as we’ve been, there are still a few players like Brennan, (Rodrigo) Bentancur, Gil and Lo Celso who haven’t really played at all for us yet.

“Having them back, even in terms of training and raising the level, they are the things that will give us the focus to maintain and keep improving the performances.

“When there is competitiveness around the squad in training and playing, that guards against any complacency or anyone feeling comfortable about things.”

Bentancur is still “weeks” away from returning to first-team action after his anterior cruciate ligament injury in February, but Lo Celso will aim to make an impact over the next week.

Lo Celso was linked with a move away from Tottenham at the start of the summer before Postecoglou made clear his desire to keep the Argentinian, who then sustained a muscle issue in his only start of the campaign at Fulham in the Carabao Cup in August.

The midfielder is fit again now and made substitute appearances for Argentina against Paraguay and Peru during the international break.

Postecoglou said: “He is obviously very highly regarded within the Argentinian set-up because they always call him up and he played in both games.

“He didn’t play significant minutes but he played in both and played 15 to 20 in the second game. It is great for him and his confidence.

“Unfortunately he had a disrupted early part of the season but again another player we haven’t had a contribution from and that’s a pleasing thing for us.”

Postecoglou will hope to see Gil begin to contribute too following his return to full fitness after surgery on his groin in August.

 

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The Australian admitted Gil’s influence is even more critical with Ivan Perisic (ACL) and Manor Solomon (knee) out until 2024.

“Bryan can be really important for us,” Postecoglou insisted.

“It has been great to have him just working really hard at training. He’s missed all of this season so far and it’s well chronicled that we lost Ivan and Manor, who play in that left-wing position.

“Having Bryan fit and available again is great for us. He’s, I guess, in the same boat as everyone else because at some point he’ll be afforded an opportunity and then it’s up to him.

“He certainly has all the criteria and credentials to play in that position for us and, like I said, his training is getting stronger now, he’s part of the group and I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity.”

Middlesbrough announced they had sacked Gareth Southgate as manager on this day in 2009.

Southgate was appointed as Steve McClaren’s successor just weeks after captaining Boro in their UEFA Cup final defeat to Sevilla in 2006, his final match as a player.

The former England defender kept the club in the Premier League with 12th and 13th-placed finishes but Boro slipped into the second tier in 2009.

Southgate’s dismissal came just hours after the Teessiders ended a run of three successive home defeats with a 2-0 victory against Derby, which left them one point off the top of the Championship table.

In a statement released on the club website, chairman Steve Gibson said: “This has been the most difficult decision I have had to make in all the time I have been in football.

“Gareth has given Middlesbrough magnificent service as a skipper and, in very difficult circumstances, as manager.

“I appointed Gareth in a situation that was greatly unfavourable to him. He is a good man and has all the qualities and integrity that we wanted in a manager. However, the time is right for change and that change has had to be made.

“Gareth will always be welcome at our football club. English football needs people of his stature and we feel certain that this experience will serve him well.

“Gareth deserves another opportunity once he has had the chance to rest and refresh himself.”

Southgate then moved to the England set-up, managing the Under-21s before taking charge of the senior team in 2016.

He led England to a fourth-placed finish in the 2018 World Cup and reached the final of Euro 2020 where they were beaten by Italy in a penalty shootout at Wembley.

For a second straight night, the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied late to stun the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series.

Arizona scored three times in the eighth inning, highlighted by Alek Thomas' pinch-hit, game-tying two-run homer, to earn a critical 6-5 win over the defending NL champions in Friday's Game 4 that evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

After losing Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia by a combined score of 15-3, the Diamondbacks got back into the series with Thursday's 2-1 comeback victory in Game 3, in which they trailed 1-0 in the seventh inning and won it on Ketel Marte's run-scoring single off Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth.

Kimbrel came on in the eighth of Game 4 to protect a 5-3 Phillies' lead and again faltered. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off Arizona's half of the inning with a double and two batters later, Thomas drove a pitch into Chase Field's swimming pool in right-centre field to tie the contest.

Marte later singled with two out and Kimbrel hit Corbin Carroll with a pitch to set the stage for Gabriel Moreno, who greeted reliever Jose Alvarado with a single to center that drove in Marte for a 6-5 Arizona edge.

Philadelphia got the tying run in scoring position in the ninth when Kyle Schwarber doubled with two out, but Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald struck out Trea Turner to end the game and keep the momentum in Arizona's favour.

In a series where the home team has won every time thus far, the Diamondbacks will host Game 5 on Saturday.

Arizona took a 2-0 lead on Emmanuel Rivera's RBI single in the second inning and Moreno's base hit in the third that also plated Marte, but the battle-tested Phillies responded with five runs over the next four innings to forge ahead.

Schwarber got them on the board in the fourth with his fourth home run of the series and Brandon Marsh doubled home J.T. Realmuto in the fifth to create a 2-2 tie. The Phillies then took advantage of wildness and a defensive miscue by the young Diamondbacks to score twice more in the sixth.

Andrew Saalfrank, one of eight Arizona pitchers used on the night, walked Schwarber, Turner and Bryce Harper in succession to load the bases for Alec Bohm, who delivered an infield single to send home Schwarber with the go-ahead run. Third baseman Rivera threw errantly to home plate on the play, allowing Turner to score as well and put Philadelphia ahead 4-2.

The Phillies tacked on another run when Johan Rojas tripled in the seventh and scored on Turner's sacrifice fly.

Both Schwarber and Bohm had two hits and an RBI for the Phillies. Moreno finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs for Arizona, while Marte had two hits and scored twice.

England are ready for scheming from South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday but believe the World Cup will be decided in other areas.

Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus is accomplished at what Warren Gatland describes as “dark arts”, such as using mind games to give his side an edge, especially through the use of social media to “control the agenda”.

The most recent example is the suggestion that the Springboks used HIAs in their quarter-final victory over France last Sunday to give forwards Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi a rest – a claim denied by Erasmus.

Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth insists England know they will be targeted in the last-four showdown in Paris and even believes that their media output is being monitored closely.

“I’m sure that, with the smarts of their coaching team, they will try to throw stuff at us, no doubt. Will that be the winning and losing of this game? Probably not,” Wigglesworth said.

“It will probably be the big bits of the game that decides that and then they’ll give those little nuances a chance.

“I wouldn’t like to guess what they are going to try and do because I know they will watch and hear everything we say. I wouldn’t like to try and give anyone a head start.”

South Africa are aiming to win their fourth World Cup and enter the second semi-final as overwhelming favourites, while few people are giving England a chance.

“If there is pressure on South Africa, then they’ve shown they can deal with it,” Wigglesworth said.

“They dealt with it at the last World Cup and dealt with it in numerous games. It’s not something that we’ve been clinging on to.

“I’m super-impressed with them as an outfit. They’ve evolved a little bit but without changing their DNA, which we know is incredibly physical with a good kicking game on the back of a rush defence.

“That’s stuff that we’re going to have to deal with, but we also need to make sure that we’re giving them some food for thought.”

Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid scored 21 points in his 2023-24 preseason debut to help the Philadelphia 76ers to a 120-106 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

Embiid shot just 3 of 12 from the field, but went 14 of 15 from the free-throw line in the 76ers' final tune-up prior to Thursday's season opener against the Bucks in Milwaukee. The star center added five rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes.

Starting in place of the disgruntled James Harden, De'Anthony Melton contributed a game-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting to aid in the 76ers' victory. Tyrese Maxey chipped in 12 assists and three steals along with 15 points.

Harden's status for the regular season remains in question after the 2017-18 NBA MVP did not show up for team practices earlier this week. Harden requested a trade in the summer due to his displeasure over not receiving a contract extension.

Trae Young led Atlanta with 19 points and 10 assists but shot just 5 of 16 from the floor. The Hawks open their season on the road against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.

The Bucks will also enter their showdown with the 76ers off a win, as Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 26 points and Damian Lillard had 19 in Milwaukee's 124-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Desmond Bane shot 5 of 9 from 3-point range and put up 24 points for Memphis, which begins its season Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans as star guard Ja Morant begins a 25-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league. 

Elsewhere on the NBA's final night of preseason games, Kyrie Irving posted a 17-point, 11-assist double-double as the Dallas Mavericks earned a 114-104 win over the Detroit Pistons. 

The Mavericks rested Luka Doncic as they prepared for Wednesday's anticipated visit to San Antonio to take on the Spurs in Victor Wembanayama's official NBA debut. Josh Green started in Doncic's place and recorded 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a 4-of-5 performance from 3-point range. 

In Houston, rookie Amen Thompson compiled 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists to help the Rockets to a 110-104 win over the Miami Heat.

Thompson, the No. 4 pick in this year's draft, will make his regular-season debut Wednesday when the Rockets visit the Orlando Magic.

Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green added 20 points for Houston, which also received 16 points and 12 rebounds from Alperen Sengun.

In Toronto, the Raptors completed a 4-0 preseason with a 134-98 rout of the Washington Wizards behind Scottie Barnes' 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. 

Pascal Siakam finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists in Toronto's final game before Wednesday's opener against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. 

 

Jose Altuve's go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning put the Houston Astros a win away from another World Series trip with a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers in Friday's pivotal and testy Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

Altuve's blast off Rangers closer Jose Leclerc highlighted a wild late-game sequence that also contained a benches-clearing incident between the two AL West rivals when Houston's Bryan Abreu hit Texas' Adolis Garcia with a pitch in the eighth inning.

Garcia had belted a three-run homer off Astros starter Justin Verlander in his previous plate appearance, with the sixth-inning shot giving the Rangers a 4-2 lead.

After tempers cooled and order restored following the altercation, which led to the ejections of Abreu, Garcia and Astros manager Dusty Baker, Houston put two on with none out in the ninth after Yainer Diaz singled and Leclerc walked pinch-hitter Jon Singleton.

Altuve then sent Leclerc's 0-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his 26th career post-season homer and a 5-4 Houston advantage.

The Rangers did threaten in the bottom of the ninth when Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim opened their half of the frame with singles. However, Astros closer Ryan Pressly retired Texas No. 1-3 hitters - Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Evan Carter - in succession to give the defending World Series champs their third straight win of the best-of-seven series after dropping the first two games.

Houston can capture a third straight AL pennant at home in Saturday's Game 6. The visiting team has won every game of the series thus far, however, and the Rangers are 6-0 on the road during this post-season.

The Astros controlled the early part of Game 5 behind Verlander, who allowed just three hits and one walk through the first five innings as Houston held a 2-1 lead. 

Texas' bats then came to life in the sixth, as Seager laced a one-out double and Carter singled in front of Garcia's towering homer that put the Rangers in front.

Alex Bregman's solo homer off Jordan Montgomery in the first gave Houston an early advantage they held until Nathaniel Lowe homered off Verlander in the fifth.

The Astros went back ahead in the sixth when Bregman walked, took third on Yordan Alvarez's single and scored on Jose Abreu's base hit to center.

Montgomery allowed two runs on five hits through 5 1/3 innings, while Verlander surrendered four runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings.

 

 

New Zealand boss Ian Foster plans to enjoy a bowl of popcorn while watching England’s blockbuster with South Africa after his side eased into the Rugby World Cup final by dispatching Argentina.

Foster can put his feet up for Saturday evening’s colossal semi-final clash between Steve Borthwick’s men and the Springboks thanks to a crushing 44-6 success over Los Pumas in Paris.

The 58-year-old expects an “interesting contrast of styles” in the other last-four fixture and is not bothered who the All Blacks face in next week’s showpiece match at Stade de France.

New Zealand barely broke sweat in booking an unprecedented fifth World Cup final appearance and now have the luxury of an extra day’s rest as they await the identity of their ultimate opponents.

“I’ll be watching it,” said Foster. “I’ll probably have some popcorn and sit there and watch it and I don’t care who wins. We’re very much in a focus-about-ourselves stage.

“One thing that extra day does give us, it gives us a bit of a chance to have a break mentally and not to spend too much juice worrying about if it’s them, if it’s them.

“They’re both good teams. South Africa have been playing some brilliant rugby the last few weeks and are clearly on top of their game.

“But we’ve also seen an English side that just build away quietly and are probably starting to understand how they want to play and they’re starting to get really good at how they want to play and believe in that.

“It will be an interesting contrast of styles.”

All Blacks wing Will Jordan ran in a hat-trick during the seven-try rout in Saint-Denis to lift him above France’s Damian Penaud as the World Cup’s leading try scorer on eight.

The treble also saw the 25-year-old equal the record for tries in a single tournament, putting him alongside Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Julian Savea.

Foster was able to empty his bench long before the full-time whistle due to the emphatic scoreline and opted to keep the sin-binned Scott Barrett on the sidelines for around five minutes longer than required as the Kiwis finished with 14 men.

Asked if those situations could prove advantageous moving towards the final, Foster said: “I don’t think they’ll make a massive difference.

“Finals are finals and whoever we play, they’ll be a hundred per cent.

“It was an opportunity for us to make sure that we looked after our resources as best we could.

“We really didn’t see a need of putting Scooter (Barrett) back on, only from the perspective that if he had another little yellow card incident in the next five minutes, it might have made it a little bit niggly.”

Argentina were a shadow of the side who stunned Wales in the last eight.

A pair of first-half Emiliano Boffelli penalties was all they could muster.

Shannon Frizell’s double, plus further tries from Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith, added to their punishment.

Los Pumas head coach Michael Cheika felt New Zealand ruthlessly exploited each of his team’s errors and was unhappy with some of the refereeing, particularly during first-half rucks.

The Australian promised his players will respond to a difficult outing in the bronze-medal match.

“It’s not a sad moment; it’s a moment when I’m actually proud of my team,” he said.

“It’s not an easy path that we’ve been on. We’ve invested ourselves a lot in this. But we’ve lost on details. I’m sad for them.

“It’s hard but its a good thing it’s hard. On Friday, we will be there, have no doubt. We will not leave this way.

“We want to finish third. We’ve got things we want to show in the bronze final. Right now, we’re hurting.”

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