Mack Hansen has been restored to Ireland’s starting XV as part of four personnel changes for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup clash with Tonga in Nantes.
Scrum-half Conor Murray, hooker Ronan Kelleher and flanker Josh van der Flier are also recalled following last weekend’s 82-8 thrashing of Pool B minnows Romania.
Johnny Sexton will captain a strong team at Stade de La Beaujoire, just seven days before Andy Farrell’s men take on defending champions South Africa.
Connacht wing Hansen made a 20-minute cameo during the victorious curtain-raiser in Bordeaux, having initially been left out of head coach Farrell’s opening matchday 23, despite being fit.
The 25-year-old’s late elevation to a spot among the replacements followed Robbie Henshaw pulling out ahead of kick-off due to a minor hamstring issue.
Centre Henshaw has seemingly recovered in time for this weekend after being named on a bench which also includes prop Dave Kilcoyne, who has been sidelined with a hamstring issue, and tournament debutants Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey and Ross Byrne.
Hooker Dan Sheehan has returned to training following the foot issue he sustained in last month’s warm-up win over England but remains an absentee.
Rob Herring will provide backup for Kelleher, while scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and lock Joe McCarthy, who joined the South Africa-born hooker on the scoresheet against Romania, also drop out, in addition to wing Keith Earls.
The world’s top-ranked nation are seeking to extend their record winning streak to 15 matches to keep themselves on course for the quarter-finals moving towards pivotal Paris appointments with the Springboks and Scotland.
Kelleher will pack down between first-choice props Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong to make only his second Test start since the 2022 Guinness Six Nations.
The 25-year-old’s opportunities have been restricted by a series of injury setbacks and the emergence of Leinster team-mate Sheehan.
Tadhg Beirne moves into the second row to partner James Ryan following his two-try turn at blindside flanker against Romania.
World player of the year Van der Flier comes in at openside flanker, pushing Peter O’Mahony into the number six shirt vacated by Beirne, while Caelan Doris continues at number eight.
Murray, who slipped behind Gibson-Park in the pecking order during 2021, resumes his long-term partnership with fellow veteran Sexton.
Fly-half Sexton last week came back from almost six months out through injury and suspension to become his country’s leading World Cup points scorer (102) by registering two tries as part of a 24-point haul.
With the South Africa showdown looming, Farrell has resisted temptation to rest the influential 38-year-old, who needs just nine more points to equal Ronan O’Gara’s national record of 1,083.
Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are retained in midfield, with Hansen in a familiar back three alongside fellow wing James Lowe and full-back Hugo Keenan. Ulster skipper Iain Henderson completes the bench.
Ireland team to play Tonga: H Keenan (Leinster); M Hansen (Connacht), G Ringrose (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Lowe (Leinster); J Sexton (Leinster, capt), C Murray (Munster); A Porter (Leinster), R Kelleher (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster), J Ryan (Leinster), P O’Mahony (Munster), J Van der Flier (Leinster).
Replacements: R Herring (Ulster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), F Bealham (Connacht), I Henderson (Ulster), R Baird (Leinster), C Casey (Munster), R Byrne (Leinster), R Henshaw (Leinster).
Alan King expects Trueshan to improve for his comeback run in the Betfred Doncaster Cup.
The seven-year-old has been a fantastic servant to his connections, with three editions of the Long Distance Cup at Ascot, a Goodwood Cup and the Prix du Cadran featuring on his big-race CV.
His well-documented preference for an ease in the ground meant that for the third year in succession he missed the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June and King subsequently opted to give his star stayer a wind operation and a midsummer break in the hope he could bounce back to his best in the autumn.
Friday’s Group Two feature will be Trueshan’s first outing since finishing fourth in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes in May behind a familiar foe in Coltrane, who also beat him in this race 12 months ago and is again in opposition.
“We’ve got to get him started, he’s been off a long time,” said King.
“We gave him a break after Ascot and he’s ready to start back. I think whatever he does he’s going to come on plenty for it, but I just felt with the rain coming it was worth getting a run into him.
“It’s his first run for a while and his first run since a wind op and sometimes they just need a couple of runs to give them their confidence back.
“I’m happy with him at home and I just want to see him run well.”
Trueshan again holds an entry in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup on October 21, while a return to Paris for the Prix du Cadran at the end of this month could also be on his agenda.
An intriguing switch to hurdles has also been mooted by King, but the Barbury Castle handler is keen to get his return out of the way before committing to future plans.
He added: “That (Cadran) is the plan, but let’s see how we go on Friday first.”
Andrew Balding expects the ultra-consistent Coltrane to run his usual solid race.
He said: “Coltrane is a real yard favourite and he has had a great season already. He won the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot, he was then second in the Ascot Gold Cup, he ran very well at Goodwood and obviously won the Lonsdale Cup at York last time out.
“The great thing about him is he seems to be effective on any ground and in any sort of style of race, which is a big help for these stayers.
“He obviously won the race last year, but he does carry a penalty this year which makes life a lot tougher.
“If Trueshan is anywhere near his best he will be a very tough opponent and Sweet William is an improving horse as well. It is not a straightforward task, but the horse is really well and he seems to thrive on his racing.”
Sweet William completed a hat-trick of wins earlier in the season for John and Thady Gosden before filling the runner-up spot behind Absurde when favourite for the Ebor last month.
Robert Havlin has been ever present in the saddle during Sweet William’s seven-race career to date and is looking forward to seeing him step up in class for this Qipco British Champions Series contest.
He said: “Sweet William is probably my best horse this year as he’s won three times and never been out of the first two. We think there’s more improvement to come and we think he might make up into an Ascot Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup type of horse next year.
“Since we put blinkers on he’s been ultra consistent. It was obviously another great run in the Ebor, but I was gutted when Frankie (Dettori, on Absurde) got back up after I’d headed him.
“He’s won over two miles and the Ebor was obviously a drop back in trip. He gets the trip well so there are a lot of positives, especially after all the rain.
“He doesn’t need soft ground, but he handles it very well.”
Aidan O’Brien’s Broome and the Ian Williams-trained The Grand Visir complete the five-strong field.
Christ Tshiunza admits he is “living a dream” as he prepares to make his Rugby World Cup debut for Wales.
Tshiunza’s journey has taken him from his birthplace – Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – to Exeter Chiefs, via Whitchurch High School in Cardiff after he and his family left a country rife with civil war 13 years ago.
To have now arrived at a World Cup just eight months after his 21st birthday underlines a searing rate of progress on the rugby pitch.
Tshiunza will make his first appearance in the tournament against Portugal on Saturday, when he will be partnered in the second-row by his Exeter colleague Dafydd Jenkins.
“It is very surreal, considering in 2010 I didn’t even know what rugby was,” Tshiunza said.
“I was with Mason (Wales centre Mason Grady) four years ago, we were going to a Wales Under-18s tournament in South Africa and we were just saying it would be class to be at the next World Cup, and now we are here.
“I feel like I am living a dream at the moment, so after all of this we will look back and think ‘wow, that was really good’. I am just happy to be here and I am trying to enjoy every moment so far.
“We (Jenkins and Tshiunza) are room-mates as well, and sometimes we just like lay in bed and look over at each other and say ‘what are we doing here, to be 20 years old, what have we done to deserve this?’
“It is still very surreal at the moment, but after this tournament we will look back and be glad we did it together.
“A year ago if we said we are definitely going to come to the World Cup, no-one would have believed us.
“We are all really grateful for the opportunity we have been given. It is an opportunity to play on the biggest rugby stage, we have all got to take this opportunity with both hands.”
While at school in Cardiff – fellow Whitchurch past pupils included Gareth Bale, Sam Warburton and Geraint Thomas – 6ft 6in Tshiunza excelled at other sports, including high jump.
And school memories, the people who taught him and guided him, in addition to his family and friends, will be recounted when he sings the Welsh national anthem on Saturday at Stade de Nice.
“At the time when you are younger you don’t realise how little things like that shape you as a player later on,” he added.
“Stuff like high jumps, I didn’t know that was going to help me with my lineout because I wasn’t playing rugby properly at the time.
“Throughout the years you look back and all the explosive lineout stuff maybe comes from the little stuff I did when I was younger.
“It is what I say to boys my age that haven’t really kicked on that everything they are doing now, and everything they did a few years ago is going to help them down the line. They just don’t know it yet.
“I started playing rugby a bit later on, in school, and if it wasn’t for the people I met in school I probably wouldn’t be here now.
“When I sing the anthem I will think about the people who helped me along the way, my school friends I started playing with, my school coach Steve Williams, he took me under his wing.
“My family that come to the current games now, they haven’t got a clue, they are like ‘where’s Christ, where’s Christ? Oh, good job, you did something well today’.
“They don’t know the rules, but I am glad they can come and support.”
Max Verstappen has told Toto Wolff to focus on his own team after he called the Dutchman’s record winning streak “completely irrelevant” and “for Wikipedia”.
Red Bull’s Verstappen became the first driver in Formula One’s 73-year history to win 10 consecutive races following his triumph at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month.
But moments after Verstappen’s landmark win, Mercedes team principal Wolff said: “For me, these kinds of records are completely irrelevant. Those numbers are for Wikipedia and nobody reads that anyway.”
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton crossed the line a distant fifth and sixth respectively for Mercedes at Monza’s Cathedral of Speed.
And when asked ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix for his reaction to Wolff’s unflattering appraisal, Verstappen said: “I mean, they (Mercedes) had a pretty s*** race, so he was probably still p***** off with their performance.”
Poking fun at what Verstappen perceives to be an obsession with Red Bull, he continued: “He almost sounds like he’s an employee of our team, but luckily he is not. It’s just important that you focus on your own team. That’s what we do and that’s what we did in the past when we were behind them and when they were dominating. It worked as a kind of inspiration.
“You should be able to appreciate when a team is doing really well. To see someone that dominant – it was very impressive at the time – and we knew that we just had to work harder, try to be better, and try to get to that level. And now that we are there, we are very happy, and we are enjoying the moment.”
Verstappen, now a victor at 12 of the 14 rounds so far, has not lost a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30, while his Red Bull team remain unbeaten this year.
But the Dutch driver has never won in Singapore and last season he finished only seventh. And Verstappen fears the high-downforce, low-speed nature of the Marina Bay Circuit could play into the hands of his rivals.
“We are not as competitive here as other tracks,” said Verstappen. “The streets are a little bit tougher for our car. We can do a good job, but it will be very tight.
“So, I want to try and continue that streak, but I know there will be a day that that stops. Normally, Singapore is a bit more of a risk and more chaos, but we are here to win.
“I never really looked at winning eight or nine, 10 races in a row. I just want to do the best I can. And every weekend is basically the same in terms of the pressure I put on myself to try and get the best result so nothing really changes.”
Trainer Luke Comer has been handed a three-year ban and faces costs in excess of €755,000 following an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board hearing.
The handler was found to have breached two rules in relation to 12 of his horses testing positive for methandienone and methyltestosterone, steroids that are classified as Prohibited At All Times (PAAT) substances.
A hair sample taken from He Knows No Fear – a 300-1 winner in 2020 – after finishing fourth in the Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown in October 2021 returned a positive result, with out of competition hair testing taking place on that horse and 11 others the following month.
They all returned positive results, with a nine-day hearing subsequently taking place in May this year.
While Comer “acknowledged the presence of the prohibited substances” on the first day of the hearing, he “categorically denies that either he or any of his staff were involved in doping the animals”, according to the IHRB report into the case.
Comer suggested “environmental contamination” could be to blame, pointing to the possibility of contaminated hay, but the Committee found evidence on that idea “difficult” to evaluate while the handler also conceded “an employee could have accidently caused contamination” or a “disgruntled employee could have interfered with the horses”, although there was no evidence to support either theory.
The Referrals Committee underlined Comer had not been charged in breach of Rule 273 (i) which concerns “any person who administers or attempts to administer or connives at the administration to a horse of any prohibited substance” and added Comer had spent an “enormous sum of money” in an attempt to establish the source of the drugs.
However, it said that “after considering a great deal of evidence” it was “unable to say, on the balance of probability, how the horses came to test positive for the PAAT substances”.
The Committee described the case as “quite unprecedented”, concluding it warranted a three-year suspension of Comer’s licence, beginning on January 1.
The handler was fined €5,000 in relation to He Knows No Fear’s positive test and a further €5,000 in respect of each of the 11 horses.
Comer, who “maintains he is not guilty of any misconduct”, was also found to have acted in “a manner which is prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good regulation of horseracing”, for which he was fined €20,000 based on the large number of horses which tested positive and the “reputational damage” to the sport.
He was also ordered to pay 80 per cent of costs incurred by the IHRB in prosecuting the matter – a figure estimated to be in the region of €755,000.
Kieran Shoemark says it is a “privilege not pressure” to team up with Gregory in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.
Shoemark was called upon by John and Thady Gosden for the ride aboard Soul Sister in the Grand Prix de Paris earlier in the season and will again be aboard a horse usually piloted by Frankie Dettori, with the retiring Italian picking his Derby mount Arrest over the Queen’s Vase winner for his final ride in a British Classic.
It is arguably the biggest ride of Shoemark’s career as he steps out on Town Moor aboard one of the leading fancies for the final Classic of the season, but he is relishing the prospect of linking up with the Royal Ascot scorer, who has an obvious chance of handing him a first victory in one of racing’s crown jewel events.
Shoemark said: “I’m very happy with my mount in the race and wouldn’t swap him. As soon as Frankie made up his mind I found out.
“He’s a high-profile horse in a high-profile race. He’s one of the market leaders and to be riding a favourite in a British Classic is hugely exciting.”
When asked if the ride aboard Gregory would represent the biggest moment in his career, Shoemark added: “I’ve never ridden a favourite in a Classic, so you could potentially say that. I’ve certainly felt more pressure going into other races, but if I were to win the race it would be my biggest career win for sure.
“It’s where I want to be, so it’s a privilege not pressure and I look forward to it.”
Gregory will head into the race having suffered his first career defeat when third under a penalty in the Great Voltigeur at York, but Shoemark believes a return to further for the Wathnan Racing-owned colt will be in his favour.
He continued: “It was well documented the strong tempo throughout the race in the Great Voltigeur and all credit to Gregory for maintaining that and still finishing his race.
“He was only beaten four lengths and the other two that were taking him on the whole way finished tailed off. I thought it was a massive run and we know he will benefit for the step up in trip, so it is all systems go.”
Unsurprisingly, owners Juddmonte are delighted Dettori has sided with their colt.
Racing manager Barry Mahon said: “John called this morning to say that Frankie had thought about it, and with the rain he was happy to ride Arrest and I suppose when you sit down and go through the different variables, he knows Arrest handles that type of ground which is a big thing.
“I think it will be a hot race and in fairness, I don’t think it was an easy choice to make for Frankie and I’m not sure I would be able to make it.
“Ultimately I’m sure the rain is what swayed him and if you look back to this day last week, when I spoke to John we both said it looks like we won’t be running. The forecast was giving very little rain at the start of the week but the last I read they were up to 30 millimetres, so it’s been a rollercoaster of a week and the more rain that falls the better.
“We know he handles soft ground well and I’m not sure there is a whole lot more coming between now and Saturday, but if there is, then an odd shower won’t do it any harm.”
Alongside Gregory and Arrest, the Clarehaven stable also has a fine third string in the supplemented Middle Earth (Oisin Murphy), a hugely impressive winner of the Melrose at York’s Ebor meeting.
The King and Queen have a live chance of tasting success in a British Classic with the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero, himself a Royal Ascot winner, albeit in handicap company in the King George V Stakes.
He subsequently won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, narrowly beating Simon and Ed Crisford’s Chesspiece and the two will lock horns again.
Aidan O’Brien runs four in Great Voltigeur winner Continuous, Alexandroupolis, Denmark and Tower Of London meaning there were no withdrawals at the 48-hour stage.
Leon Smith is expecting a highly motivated Switzerland on the other side of the net as Great Britain try to maintain their Davis Cup momentum in Manchester on Friday.
Britain began their campaign at a packed AO Arena on Wednesday with a 2-1 upset victory over last year’s runners-up Australia.
That gave them a great chance of righting the wrongs of last year, when they were eliminated after only two matches of the group stage in Glasgow, and progressing to finals week in Malaga in November but there is still a lot of work to do.
Switzerland, led by three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka, are already in the last-chance saloon having lost 3-0 to France in their opener on Tuesday.
“This is just the start, that’s what we talked about,” said captain Smith after watching debutant Jack Draper and Dan Evans pull off impressive wins against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alex De Minaur, respectively.
“We’ve got a massive match on Friday against Switzerland, who obviously lost 3-0 so they’re going to have to come out and do something.
“They’re going to have high motivation and they’ll be playing with a crowd this time, which obviously Stan wasn’t happy with the other day.”
Wawrinka took to social media to voice his dissatisfaction with the small turnout for their meeting against France but a similar crowd to Wednesday’s 9,290 is expected on Friday.
Given their performances against Australia, Evans and Draper are the front-runners to keep their singles spots ahead of top-ranked Cameron Norrie and Andy Murray, but Smith may yet spring another surprise.
Evans had a strong record against De Minaur but has lost all five meetings with Wawrinka, while Swiss number two Dominic Stricker beat fellow 21-year-old Draper at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals in their only previous match.
Smith welcomes the dilemma, though, adding: “People keep saying you’ve got really difficult selections – well, I’d rather that way to what it was many moons ago.
“I think it’s great, I think it’s testament to all the guys that everyone’s playing at the top of their game.
“We’ve got to weigh everything up because people have played a lot of tennis as well, potentially look at match-ups, but we discuss it as a group and ultimately we’ll make a call on it.”
Draper has managed only 10 tournaments this season because of a succession of injuries, the latest of which to his left shoulder saw him retire at the French Open and then miss Wimbledon, dropping him out of the top 100.
But time on the sidelines has not affected the Londoner’s ability to look like a top-10 player in the making and a run to the fourth-round of the US Open was his best yet at a grand slam.
“It’s been an incredibly challenging year for me,” he said. “I started the year at 38 in the world, everything was going great, and then just got hit by a load of injuries really. Maybe a few mistakes that I’ll learn from and stuff I could have done better.
“The one before Wimbledon was a real blow, I couldn’t play for a month or two, I spent loads of time in a bit of a rut trying to get out of it.
“I worked really hard to get myself back, I knew my time would come again because my tennis has always been there.
“New York was a massive boost for me, I needed it. Then coming here I’ve been really confident.
“It’s all coming together so hopefully I can just keep on going to the end of the season and finish really strong.”
Stuart McInally has been added to Scotland’s World Cup squad after his fellow Edinburgh hooker Dave Cherry suffered a concussion in an accident at the team hotel on Monday.
The 32-year-old slipped down stairs at the team hotel on a day off and hurt his head. He is now following return-to-play protocols, rendering him unavailable for at least the next 12 days.
The decision was therefore taken to end Cherry’s involvement at his first World Cup on medical grounds.
The situation has allowed McInally a remarkable and unexpected career swansong. The 33-year-old announced earlier this summer that he would be retiring following this World Cup but after being part of the provisional training group throughout the build-up, he was omitted when Gregor Townsend named his final 33-man squad last month.
McInally, who captained Scotland into the last World Cup in Japan, arrived in France last week as a standby following a concussion sustained by Ewan Ashman.
However, he has now been officially drafted in to the squad to replace Cherry, who featured as a second-half replacement in Sunday’s 18-3 defeat by South Africa.
Cherry told Scottish Rugby: “I’m hugely disappointed to be leaving the squad with concussion. I’ve loved my time in camp over the summer and gaining my first World Cup cap on Sunday.
“I want to wish the team all the best for the remainder of the competition.”
Ashman is continuing his return-to-play protocols and is currently on track to be available for selection for next Sunday’s match against Tonga in Nice.
Warren Gatland has underlined Wales’ desire to go one better than in three previous Rugby World Cup campaigns and reach the final.
They were semi-finalists in 1987, and then twice under Gatland – 2011 and 2019 – bowing out at that stage on each occasion.
A bonus-point victory over Pool C rivals Fiji last weekend sent Wales off and running, and if they repeat the feat against Portugal on Saturday it would further strengthen quarter-final ambitions.
Australia and Georgia still await, before a possible last-eight appointment with England or Argentina in Marseille next month.
“We have always been confident in the past about World Cups and the opportunity to get the team together for an extended period,” Wales head coach Gatland said.
“We think that we have done well in previous World Cups and would like to get to a final of a World Cup.
“I stated beforehand don’t write us off and that this team is capable of doing something special, and I still believe that.
“Part of the key themes and key message before this World Cup was to make sure we are a hard team to beat, and if we are a hard team to beat then things can happen for you.
“The first priority is to be a really tough team to beat, and if we do that and get things right and our preparation is good and we don’t pick up too many injuries, then there is no reason why we can’t continue to progress a long way into this tournament. That is the plan.”
Portugal are next up, with Gatland making 13 changes to the team that started against Fiji, retaining only wing Louis Rees-Zammit and number eight Taulupe Faletau.
The countries have met just once before – a World Cup qualifier in Lisbon 29 years ago that Wales won 102-11 – with Portugal making a first appearance in the tournament’s pool stage since 2007.
Gatland added: “From past experience with Taulupe, he is a player that gets better with more game-time.
“He hasn’t had a lot of rugby, didn’t play any warm-up games, so it’s just backing him up.
“With Louis, it’s the same sort of situation. He has been fantastic in the last five or six weeks, and I just want to keep him playing as well.
“They (Portugal) are kind of a similar version of Fiji. They play a lot of rugby, they’ve got some exciting players, they like to move the ball around, so we are kind of prepared almost in the same way we prepared against Fiji.
“I thought from a neutral last week if you were watching the games, it (Wales against Fiji) was probably the most exciting game of the weekend in terms of the rugby that was played.
“It wasn’t great being a coach sitting in the box in the last 10 minutes, I can promise you that, but hopefully we can produce another great game of rugby.”
Fiji almost wiped out an 18-point deficit during a frantic final quarter in Bordeaux, while centre Semi Radradra couldn’t gather a pass in the dying seconds that might have led to him scoring a match-winning try.
Wales, though, held on in nerve-shredding fashion to claim a victory that has installed them in many quarters as favourites to win their group.
“We were delighted with the win, delighted with the preparation, everything was going brilliantly for 60-odd minutes with the scoreline. And typical Fiji, they get a bit of a sniff and they came back at us really strong in the last period,” Gatland said.
“That game is done and dealt with, it is past us now and the focus is on Portugal. Hopefully we will do a good job on Saturday and then move on to Australia next week.
“It is a great opportunity for players on Saturday to stake a claim, and if they go out there and someone has a great performance then they are definitely in contention. That’s the way I look at it.”
The Jamaica Squash Association's annual general meeting (AGM) is set to take place on Thursday at 6:00 pm at its home base at the Liguanea Club in Kingston.
The primary decision on the agenda is the resolution to change the name to Jamaica Squash Limited, a charitable entity trading as Jamaica Squash. Amendments to the constitution are also expected to be discussed and approved.
The AGM will also see the the election of officers. The current executive committee members are Karen Anderson - president, Joey Levy - vice president, Gill Binnie - secretary, Deanne Pryce - treasurer, and committee members Douglas Beckford, Nathlee Boreland, Tahjia Lumley, Julian Morrison, Bruce Burrowes, and Stephen Dear.
Morrison, Burrowes, and Dear indicated that they would not be returning to the committee after the AGM.
Frankie Dettori has chosen to ride Arrest rather than Royal Ascot winner Gregory in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster – his final ride in a British Classic.
Dettori had looked sure to partner the John and Thady Gosden-trained Gregory given the way he won the Queen’s Vase in June over the St Leger trip – but Kieran Shoemark will now step into the breach.
Gregory only lost his unbeaten record last time out when dropping down to a mile and a half in the Great Voltigeur at York behind the re-opposing Continuous.
However, recent rain at Doncaster has turned the ground soft meaning Dettori will have a second chance at Classic glory on the Gosdens’ Arrest, who was sent off favourite for the Derby but could finish only tenth on good to firm ground.
He also disappointed on quick ground at Royal Ascot but was impressive back on a soft surface at Newbury against older horses in the Geoffrey Freer last time out.
The Clarehaven stable also has a fine third string in the supplemented Middle Earth (Oisin Murphy), a hugely impressive winner of the Melrose at York’s Ebor meeting.
The King and Queen have a real live chance of tasting success in a British Classic with the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero, himself a Royal Ascot winner, albeit in handicap company in the King George V Stakes.
He subsequently won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, narrowly beating Simon and Ed Crisford’s Chesspiece and the two will lock horns again.
Aidan O’Brien runs four, Great Voltigeur winner Continuous, Alexandroupolis, Denmark and Tower Of London meaning there were no withdrawals at the 48-hour stage.
The Atlanta Braves continued their dominance of the NL East with their sixth straight division title, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 behind Spencer Strider’s major league-leading 17th win on Wednesday.
Atlanta leads the majors with 96 wins and locked up another NL East crown in its 146th game, the second-quickest clinch in the divisional era.
The division title was the Braves’ record 26th, two more than the Yankees or Dodgers.
Strider limited the Phillies to one run and four hits in seven innings, striking out nine to raise his MLB-best total to 259.
Brad Hand fanned two in the eighth and Kirby Yates pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Austin Riley gave Strider all the support he needed with a two-run homer – his 35th - in the first inning off Christopher Sanchez.
Riley added a sacrifice fly in the third and Kevin Pillar had an RBI double in the fourth.
Sanchez pitched into the eighth inning and struck out a career-high 10.
Philadelphia remained 1 ½ games ahead of the Cubs in the race for the top wild-card spot in the NL.
Montgomery pitches surging Rangers past Blue Jays
Jordan Montgomery and two relievers combined to five-hit the Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers cruised to their fifth straight win with a 10-0 rout.
Montgomery allowed four hits over seven innings before Martin Perez and Ian Kennedy each worked one inning.
Nathaniel Lowe and Mitch Garver hit three-run homers and Robbie Grossman added a two-run shot to help Texas remain one game behind AL West-leading Houston.
The Rangers moved 1 ½ games ahead of the Blue Jays in the wild-card race, sending Toronto to its fourth consecutive loss.
Astros lose combined no-hitter in 9th inning
Hunter Brown and three relievers held the Oakland Athletics hitless for eight innings but the bid for history was broken up with one out in the ninth inning in the Houston Astros’ 6-2 win.
After Ryan Pressly retired Tony Kemp on a groundball to open the ninth, Zach Gelof walked before Ryan Noda grounded a changeup past Pressly and into center field.
Pressly allowed two runs before finishing up the two-hitter as Houston salvaged the series finale against the Athletics, who lost their 100th game.
Yordan Alvarez hit a three-run homer and Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker had solo shots as the Astros remained one game ahead of second-place Texas in the AL West.
Tadhg Beirne believes he and Ireland are still some way from hitting top form at the Rugby World Cup as they bid to avoid being scalped by Tonga.
The towering Munster forward is “gunning” to retain his starting spot for Saturday’s Pool B clash following a two-try turn in last weekend’s 82-8 thrashing of Romania.
Head coach Andy Farrell may opt to rotate his team in Nantes ahead of a crunch Paris showdown against reigning champions South Africa.
But British and Irish Lion Beirne – one of four players to claim a double in Ireland’s curtain raiser in Bordeaux – is eager to continue as he seeks to hit greater heights.
“Every player here wants to play,” said the 31-year-old.
“It comes around once every four years, you never know if you’re going to be fit for one, you never know if you’re going to be selected for one, and then if you get here all you want to do is put on the Irish jersey and go out and represent the country.
“I’m gunning to play again for sure. I still feel like I’ve a way to go to get to my best. I’m certainly trying to improve all the time.”
Tonga – ranked 15th in the world – are preparing for their opening match in France after the tournament schedule handed them a fixture-free opening weekend.
Beirne, who is normally deployed in Ireland’s second row but lined up at blindside flanker against Romania, is braced for a bruising encounter.
“I think physicality is going to be top of their agenda,” he said.
“They’re going to come and try and have a scalp off us for sure. They’re a serious side when you look at the team on paper. I’ve no doubt that they’re going to have a go at us.
“Physically, we certainly need to continue to step it up. From warm-up (matches) into Romania, we’ve slowly been building it but we’re nowhere near where we feel like we can be.”
Despite temperatures exceeding 20 degrees Celsius, Beirne turned up for media duties in Tours wearing a suit, shirt and tie as punishment for being slightly late to a team meeting.
He joked there may be a “French Revolution” in the Ireland squad due to the strict regime run by camp enforcers James Ryan, Jack Conan and Dave Kilcoyne.
“There’s a bit of a dictatorship going on at the moment,” Beirne explained. “We have three lads that call themselves the sheriffs, they’re in charge of any misdemeanours or any fines that need to be taking place.
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“Unfortunately, I turned up a couple of seconds late for a meeting and they decided to fine me.
“There’s a wheel of fortune back in the camp and they have all different punishments on it, so it could land on whatever.
“The reason it’s a dictatorship is because they’re claiming they’re above the law, so there could be a French Revolution yet.
“The power’s definitely going to their heads, particularly Dave Kilcoyne. He’s enjoying it a bit too much for people’s liking.”
The Texas Rangers' playoff push won't include Max Scherzer.
And should the Rangers make the postseason, it's unlikely the three-time Cy Young Award winner will be able to pitch then, either.
Scherzer is being shut down for the rest of the regular season because of a strained muscle in his pitching shoulder, the Rangers announced on Wednesday.
Texas general manager Chris Young added that should the Rangers make the playoffs, it's still unlikely he'd be able to pitch.
The 39-year-old Scherzer won't need surgery and will be evaluated in two weeks.
The MLB regular season ends in 2 1/2 weeks on October 1.
Scherzer exited Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays with one out in the sixth inning with what was then described as a right triceps spasm. The eight-time All-Star had not allowed a run while scattering three hits and striking out two.
With the win, the Rangers moved a half-game ahead of the Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot in the AL. Texas entered play Wednesday one game behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.
Acquired at the trade deadline from the New York Mets, Scherzer went 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 45 innings in eight starts for Texas. He finishes his 16th season in the majors with a 13-6 record to go with a 3.77 ERA in 27 starts, striking out 174 in 152 2/3 innings.
Scherzer is in the second year of a three-year, $130 million contract he signed with the Mets in November 2021. The contract includes an opt-out after the current season. If he declines to opt out, then he’ll be under contract for 2024 at a salary of $43.3 million.
Leon Smith hailed a “very good day” for Great Britain after wins for debutant Jack Draper and Dan Evans in Manchester secured victory over Australia.
Draper’s run to the fourth round of the US Open earned him not just a second Great Britain call-up but a first appearance, with Smith picking him ahead of his top-ranked player Cameron Norrie and former world number one Andy Murray for the opening tie of the group stage.
The 21-year-old fully justified his captain’s faith, thrilling a 9,000-strong crowd at the AO Arena by breaking Kokkinakis when he served for the match then coming from 4-2 down in the deciding tie-break to win 6-7 (6) 6-3 7-6 (4) after two hours and 52 minutes.
Evans then took to the court against world number 12 Alex De Minaur, the highest-ranked player in the four-team group.
Evans has struggled for long periods this season but found his form on the North American hard courts with a title in Washington and a strong performance against Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.
And he extended his tour-level winning record against De Minaur to 3-0 with a 6-1 2-6 6-4 victory, staying strong after the Australian fought back from 4-1 in the decider.
That gave Britain an unassailable lead, with a top-two spot in the group needed to secure progress to the quarter-finals and matches against Switzerland and France still to come this week.
“It’s a really good day for us,” said Smith. “Extremely difficult Aussie team but we’re difficult too. Jack showed again what he’s capable of, both in quality but also the heart and competitiveness he’s got. To steal it at the end when Kokkinakis served for it shows a lot of character. It’s a really good win for him.
“I said to Dan I think it’s one of the best matches I’ve seen him play, I thought he was absolutely brilliant against one of the in-form players on the tour. I just think Dan was amazing but it doesn’t surprise me.”
Australia avoided a clean sweep, with former Wimbledon champions Matt Ebden and Max Purcell defeating Evans and Neal Skupski 7-6 (5) 6-4 in the doubles rubber to make the final score 2-1.
For most of his long tenure, Smith’s team, based around Murray, virtually picked itself. Greater options have left him with more difficult decisions and he was criticised for his selection at the same stage last year, when Britain made an early exit.
There will have been great satisfaction for the Scot, therefore, in the performance of Draper, who has been kept off court for much of the season by a string of frustrating injuries but carried the confidence of his run in New York into this clash against another 6ft 4in heavyweight in Kokkinakis.
It was a match of a few crucial moments, with Draper missing a set point at 4-5 in the opening set and then unable to take advantage of momentum at the start of the decider. He looked in big trouble when he dropped serve at 4-4 before staging a rousing comeback.
Of his selection, Draper said: “Leon told me a couple of days ago. He said he wanted me to be out there and that he believed in me.
“I knew I’d played some tough matches at the US Open and I felt really good about my tennis. That helped the nerves a lot. I haven’t played too many great matches this season but I think that was one of them.
Evans admitted to nerves, too, but was proud of his performance, saying: “It means a lot. I played good tennis, I executed what we spoke about and I did it to pretty much as good as I’ve got. It was still a battle, no part of the match was easy, and that was for me the impressive thing that I pulled through.”
Australia, who made the final of the competition last year, must bounce back quickly for a must-win clash against France on Thursday, when the crowd is likely to be a fraction of what it was for this tie.
Captain and former world number one Lleyton Hewitt is a long-standing critic of the move away from the traditional home-and-away format, and he said: “We’ve just taken the great things away from what made this competition so special. It doesn’t feel the same.”
Joe Marler has carved out a niche as rugby’s ultimate maverick so it comes as a surprise to the England prop when Danny Cipriani claims there is no room for individuals in the game.
A theme of the now-retired Cipriani’s career was that of an unfulfilled talent on the international stage whose outrageous natural ability was never truly trusted by a succession of England coaches.
In the 35-year-old former fly-half’s autobiography, he suggests his face did not fit in the sport.
“Rugby has so many amazing qualities like camaraderie and teamwork. But it needs to allow people to be themselves,” said Cipriani in his recently released autobiography ‘Who Am I?’.
But as one of rugby’s most colourful figures and the source of several disciplinary storms, Marler disagrees with Cipriani.
“That is his experience. That is his story. That is not my story,” said Marler, who is expected to be on the bench for England’s World Cup clash with Japan on Sunday.
“Is Cips’ book fiction or non fiction? Do we know what section of the bookshop it will be in? I tried asking him the other night but he’s not answering.
“That is Danny’s view on it and I can’t deny his view on it. But that is not how I see it. That is his experience and he is more than entitled to share that.
“Martin Johnson was in charge for my first camp 13 years ago. I had a mohawk – think it might have been red or stars and a rat’s tail at the back. I looked horrific, actually.
“I remember Martin Johnson coming down the steps and he went: ‘Are you ready for training?’ I said ‘yeah, definitely’.
“He said ‘are you going to have a haircut before you get to training?’ I was like ‘Umm’. Then he just walked off.
“Now some people might interpret that as him being serious and it might be a case that actually you don’t fit the bill, you need to go and shave your hair off. But I took it as ‘he’s just joking’.
“Funnily enough I was sent home the next day! But I think it had more to do with the fact Andrew Sheridan’s back recovered. I’d like to think that!
“It’s up to the individual. You’ve got a choice in how you react to being told something.
“The perfect position would be everyone working towards what’s best for the team whilst still being able to show who they are, what they’re about, how they want to do it and how they can add to it.”
Marler is taking part in his third World Cup and has seen his Test career reborn since Steve Borthwick replaced Eddie Jones at the end of last year.
“Having been out of the previous environment for 18 months and then coming back into Steve’s environment and experiencing it for the first time in a World Cup camp and now here, there has been a huge difference in terms of how a lot of the group have felt, who they can be and how they can behave,” Marler said.
“It’s that’s had a massive effect on how the players are approaching training and how they are enjoying themselves both on and off the pitch.
“For me, I just try my hardest to encourage that environment to keep that consistent because it does need work. It does not just happen.”
Ireland sealed victory in the Racing League on a dramatic final night at Southwell.
Wales & The West went into the last of six fixtures with a two-point lead, but a treble for Ireland on Wednesday night saw the team snatch the crown from the defending champions.
Tosen Wish (6-1) opened Ireland’s account in the 38th race of the William Hill-backed competition, with Danny Sheehy doing the steering on Ado McGuinness’ charge.
Ben Curtis then secured a double aboard the David O’Meara-trained Gulliver and Thunder Moor for George Boughey in the Ireland silks, with Half Nutz and Faster Bee further bolstering their position with seconds on the card.
Ireland went into the final contest with a 48-point advantage, but Wales & The West manager Jamie Osborne opted to play his joker card, which doubled any points won.
Valsad, ridden by Osborne’s daughter Saffie and trained by Harry and Roger Charlton, duly obliged as the 4-1 favourite, but Star Harbour finished fourth for Ireland to give them a hard-fought victory, with seven points splitting the teams after 42 races.
Ireland team manager Kevin Blake was delighted to secure top honours, with his sides having previously failed to figure in the shake up, although he admitted he felt victory was unlikely three meetings in.
He said: “I think we were down 120 points at the halfway mark and two out of the first three weeks didn’t go well, but in fairness to the lads, they really started to get behind us.
“I just can’t believe it, but it is set up to be competitive and I genuinely feel for Jamie because he really thinks about this and is a genuinely one of the really good managers. It’s sweet to beat one of the good fellas.
“You could be Sir Alex Ferguson, but you are going to finish last if you don’t have trainers entering horses and running them, so we just lacked that in the first two years.
“Those first two years were hard, I’m competitive and it’s not easy turning up every week and getting a hiding, so this has turned out particularly sweet.
“I’m a difficult fella to get excited, but I’ve been jibby about this for the last couple of weeks and I’ve put a lot of hours into it.”
Jim Goldie and Paul Mulrennan made sure Scotland finished the competition in style, recording a double with Yaaser (5-1) and Sir Chauvelin (22-1).
Mulrennan said: “This is a really good competition and we’re racing around for really good money and every race is ultra-competitive. You can see the crowd that is here tonight, everyone is enjoying it.”
The Richard Hannon-trained Commander Crouch landed the opening contest for the London & The South team, with Sean Levey steering the 5-1 shot to a neck success.
“It was impressive, but I thought he could have done a little bit better,” said Levey, with the winning team having deployed a joker card to good effect.
“He’s still inexperienced and through greenness he hung all the way up the straight there and I was touch or go whether he was going to give it away, but he kept his head in-front.
“We were happy to come here today because albeit we had good weather last week, the ground has been coming up all ways. At the moment it is coming up more soft when he’s wanting it good and this is the first time he has got a consistent surface.
“We’re good with two-year-olds and hopefully he will keep improving”
Saffie Osborne was once again crowned queen of the Racing League, successfully defending the leading rider award she won 12 months ago.
The 21-year-old stole the show on the final night of action in 2022, registering a phenomenal Newcastle treble as her father Jamie’s West & The Wales region snatched the top spot and Osborne stormed to the top of the jockeys’ standings.
However, things have been much more straightforward this time around and the ante-post favourite’s charge to the title began in the very first race of the competition as she lit up the opening night at Yarmouth with a fabulous three-timer.
She was on the mark in the final race of the competition aboard Valsad at Southwell, with her total of 342 points seeing her finish 121 points clear of her nearest pursuer Dylan Browne McMonagle to once again bag the £20,000 prize.
“It’s been a good Racing League for me this year, I’ve been lucky to get some good rides,” said the jockey.
“Dad has done a phenomenal job of organising everyone and keeping everyone enthused and on top of that keeping everyone in the team happy.
“Obviously you have a lot of trainers who want to run their horses and getting to the last night and still having everyone relatively happy about the whole thing is a hard task, but he’s done a brilliant job of it.
“Of course I’m also grateful for all the owners who put their horses in and they are obviously not in their own colours.”
Osborne has been at the top of the charts since the very first race and it has been very much one-way traffic in the standings ever since and the momentum gained on that first week at Yarmouth is something she has fed off throughout the contest.
“I’ve been lucky that it came round at the right time. I made a good start at Yarmouth and have had a good run since then,” Osborne added.
“I think the two years before I had an awful first evening, so it was great to get a treble on the first evening and the ball has kept rolling really.
“It’s been brilliant and gets a lot of coverage and it’s been great for me to ride for other trainers.”
Frankie Dettori will make a late decision on whether Gregory or Arrest will be his final ride in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.
Both horses are trained by John and Thady Gosden, with Dettori having partnered ante-post favourite Gregory to win the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and finish third under a penalty in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York last time.
Dettori, who is planning to retire at the end of the year, was also aboard Arrest when he won the Chester Vase on his seasonal bow, with the Juddmonte-owned colt providing his last Derby ride when coming home a disappointing 10th at Epsom.
The pair then regained the winning thread when stepped up to just shy of the St Leger trip in the Geoffrey Freer at Newbury on his latest run.
Conditions at Doncaster could be key to Dettori’s pick, with Arrest at his best with cut in the ground while Gregory has yet to run on any worse than good going.
The ground on Town Moor is currently described as soft, with Dettori planning to make his call in the morning ahead of final declarations at 10am.
He said: “I’m looking forward to it and it’s a race that has been good to me in the past, hopefully long may it continue.
“I’ll decide who I ride in the morning, let me sleep on it.”
Dettori will be bidding for a seventh St Leger success, having last struck aboard Logician in 2019.
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