Trinidad and Tobago secured their first medal of the Pan American (PanAm) Games courtesy of the Men’s 3X3 basketball team, which edged Venezuela 21-20 in the third-place playoff in Santiago, Chile on Monday.
The twin island republic, who had knocked off Brazil in Sunday’s quarterfinal, lost in their semi-final contest 21-9 to the United States. The Americans eventually won gold, 21-15 over hosts Chile in the final.
Trinidad and Tobago's National Basketball Federation vice president of organising and development Daron Lall was over the moon and said the fraternity appreciates every effort the team put out.
“We are extremely proud of our team. These guys have been working extremely hard over the last eight to ten weeks. We played some powerhouses. Thank you to the team and the coaching staff for all they did. We know the struggles they went through and the obstacles that happened, but we are grateful as a country for putting us on the map. It’s emotional," Lall said.
At the Centro Acuatico, TT swimmer Nikoli Blackman had another tough day in the pool as the settled for sixth place in the men’s 100m freestyle B final. He clocked 50.81s.
In the earlier heats, Blackman placed sixth in heat three of four, in 51.01s. His time was 17th fastest overall but good enough for the B final. Racing out of heat four was compatriot Zarek Wilson, who was eighth fastest to the wall in 58.37s.
Meanwhile, one of CARICOM’s best hopes for a PanAm Games boxing medal in Chile, Keevin Allicock was eliminated Monday.
The Guyanese lost his featherweight quarter-final bout to American Jahmal Harvey, the 2021 world champion in the 57kg division. Top Barbadian Charles Cox also lost his light heavyweight quarterfinal, going down 4-1 to Haiti’s Cedric Belony-Duliepre.
Cheltenham Festival victor Stage Star is due to make his seasonal debut at the Cotswolds track in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding had a successful time of things last season, enjoying a graduation to novice chasing when banking four wins including in the Grade One Turners Novices’ Chase at the showpiece fixture in March.
After a summer break the seven-year-old is now being prepared to return to action over the same course and distance in November, where he heads the ante-post market with the sponsors at 6-1.
“We’re very happy with him and we’re hoping to run him first time out in the Paddy Power,” said Dan Downie of Owners Group, to whom Stage Star belongs.
“He’s summered really well and Paul’s been delighted with him in recent weeks, so the plan is to go to Cheltenham with him.”
Stage Star – who was also a Grade One winner as a novice hurdler – has been very effective over a trip of two and a half miles, though connections do consider him capable of stepping up in distance in time.
“We’ll just see how we go, we’ve always thought he would get further but I suppose this will tell us a bit more and we’ll go from race to race,” said Downie.
Donald McCain’s Maximilian also runs in the silks of Owners Group and he too is limbering up for a first run of the campaign after Storm Babet scuppered plans for a Carlisle debut this week.
The chestnut was a Graded-winning hurdler last term when taking the River Don before finishing second in Aintree’s Sefton, with a novice chasing campaign the plan this time around.
“He’s good, he was going to run at Carlisle on Thursday but we missed a bit of work last week because of the storm,” Downie said.
“Donald’s gallops were affected a little bit so he will run in the next couple of weeks, the plan at the minute is to go novice chasing with him.
“You’ve got to keep an open mind and be flexible but he jumps very well at home and really enjoys it, so we’d be thinking of a novice chasing campaign at the moment for him.”
Jonbon and Shishkin were part of a small team of Nicky Henderson horses who took part in a gallop at Windsor on Tuesday, as both work towards targets next month.
Jonbon is being primed for a comeback in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham’s Paddy Power meeting on November 19, while Shishkin has the Betfair Chase at Haydock on November 25 in his sights.
Luccia, Chantry House, Dusart and a new French recruit called Excello were the others galloping at the Thameside track, which Henderson cannot wait to see back in action during the winter from 2024 onwards.
“It was a very good morning. The ground was beautiful. I actually had a walk around with them changing it, I know it’s not until next winter, but it’s going to be really good, I think it will be fantastic,” said Henderson.
“It was interesting because they raced on the Flat there yesterday and called it heavy but we’d have only called it good to soft, we felt it was lovely ground.
“We took six. Shishkin, Jonbon, Dusart, Chantry House, Luccia and an ex-French horse called Excello. They all had a nice time, they didn’t do anything spectacular, it was just a nice day out.
“We’re thinking of Haydock for Shishkin and the Betfair Chase, while the Shloer is a possible for Jonbon.
“They are all coming along nicely, a lot of our horses worked on the grass last weekend, they are all schooling and so far so good, a lot of them are ready to go.
“It’s completely different to last year when it was like a road. Our grass was beautiful last weekend, they’ll all work again this weekend but it was just about giving them a nice time today, an away day.”
One Henderson big gun who stayed back in Seven Barrows, is Constitution Hill. His comeback date is a few weeks away, so he remained at home for the time being.
“Constitution Hill doesn’t need to be ready until December 2 and the Fighting Fifth, he’s got a little bit more time so he’s well, he’ll work again on Saturday and I’m sure he’ll go away somewhere before Newcastle,” said Henderson.
Frankie Dettori picked up two whip bans totalling 16 days on his farewell to Britain at Ascot on Saturday.
The Italian was found to have used his whip once above the permitted level of six in winning the Long Distance Cup aboard the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman, the race that opened Qipco British Champions Day.
Taking into account it was a class one race, Dettori’s penalty was doubled from four to eight days.
The following race saw Dettori narrowly beaten on Kinross in the British Champions Sprint. As in the Long Distance Cup, he was found to have used this whip once over the limit and received the same suspension.
His ban is due to begin on November 7, which is the date of the Melbourne Cup.
Two other winning rides saw suspensions for the successful rider, with Sam James using his whip once over the allowed limit in making all aboard Poptronic in the Fillies & Mares Stakes. As this represents a fifth suspension within the previous six months for a breach of the whip rules, James was referred to the Judicial Panel.
David Allan also used his whip once above that allowed threshold in his victorious ride on Art Power in the aforementioned Champions Sprint.
A BHA spokesperson said: “Ensuring fairness is a key element of the rules and the penalties which are in place – in these cases those governing the most prestigious and valuable races – are intended to act as a deterrent against overuse of the whip. This is, in part, to ensure that all participants, and those betting on the race, have a fair chance.
“Over the course of the year, we have seen jockeys adapt superbly to the new rules and the overall offence rate has markedly decreased.
“The overall objectives of the rules governing the whip, which came about following a lengthy consultation process and have been refined through regular dialogue with jockeys, are to ensure its more judicious use for encouragement, improving the perception of its use and ensuring that outcomes of races are fair.”
World Rugby has approved plans to set up a new international league competition as part of part of a radical shake-up of the global calendar.
The bi-annual tournament is to be launched in 2026 and will be made up of two divisions of 12 teams, with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030. Matches will be staged in the July and November international windows.
In addition to a competition that has been tentatively named the ‘Nations Cup’, World Rugby’s council has given the go-ahead to the expansion of the World Cup to 24 teams in time for Australia 2027.
The revised format will consist of six pools of four teams and will see the creation of a round of 16 to take place before the quarter-finals.
The top two teams from each group will automatically qualify, as well as the best four third-placed teams.
Even though the number of sides is to be increased, the adjustment means the World Cup can be reduced from seven to six weeks from October 1 to November 13, 2027, while providing the same number of minimum rest days.
The draw for the next competition will take place in January 2026 in the hope of avoiding the lopsided groups seen in France over the last two months.
As part of the changes, the international window for November has been lifted from three to four weekends and the Six Nations will lose one of its fallow weeks.
Storm Babet continues to hit racing fixtures in Britain and Ireland but the forecast is less daunting for the major meetings scheduled to take place later this week.
The ground at Doncaster was described as heavy, waterlogged in places on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the Futurity Trophy weekend cards on Friday and Saturday.
However, the recent rain is expected to ease off at the South Yorkshire track, which is set to stage the final Group One contest of the season with Saturday’s Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes.
Clerk of the course Paul Barker said: “We’ve had around 7mm today, which has taken us to heavy ground and it is just a bit waterlogged around the mile shoot, so we are seeing if we can do anything about that.
“But the forecast is for things to improve later on this evening and then stay relatively dry until Thursday morning, when it should just be a case of getting a few showers, rather than the heavy stuff we’ve had since the weekend.
“So, once we get through today, hopefully everything will get a bit more manageable right through the rest of the week and we can start to put a plan together for Friday and Saturday.
“At least Friday’s entries were made after Saturday’s deluge and the Futurity is historically run on testing ground, so everyone who is planning to have runners are aware of what to expect.
“Other than that, all we can do is take it one day at a time and try our best to keep on top of everything.”
Cheltenham have no issues prior to kicking off their new season with The Showcase meeting on Friday and Saturday, when Grand National hero Corach Rambler and dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner Flooring Porter could return to action.
“It’s really exciting to get going again and we’re in great shape,” clerk of the course Jon Pullin told Racing TV. “We’ve had a really beneficial summer from our point of view and the turf manager’s point of view.
“Whilst we’ve seen significant rain, which did cause some problems around areas of the site, fortunately the track took it really, really well. We’re in a good position.
“It’s currently good to soft in the main and the forecast is for little bits of rain between now and racing, so I’d envisage that staying the same.”
Newbury are also scheduled to race on Friday and Saturday, with a couple of Group Three events on the second of those cards – the Horris Hill Stakes and the St Simon Stakes.
The Berkshire track is described as heavy, soft in places, with the warning that it will not be able to take substantial rain.
The forecast is for another downpour tonight to be followed by a mixture of sunshine and showers.
Clerk of the course George Hill said: “The bulk of the rain should be tonight but then it’s a variable forecast. It could be anything from 5mm to 10 or 15, or even an inch of rain.
“If we’re talking those higher kind of quantities over a 24-hour period, we’d be very much up against it, but the track is in good shape for this time of year and we’ll just have to hope for the best and see what we get.”
Tuesday’s meeting at Yarmouth and the Wednesday card at the Curragh were the latest casualties of Storm Babet and a sustained spell of heavy rain.
That followed last Saturday’s scheduled meetings at Stratford and Market Rasen being lost to the weather, along with Wednesday’s Worcester card and four upcoming fixtures at Southwell.
Kitty’s Light, who enjoyed an incredible end to last season when winning the Eider, Scottish Grand National and Bet365 Gold Cup is likely to have a spin over hurdles before his first major target – the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on December 2.
Trained expertly by Christian Williams, he pulled off a unique feat last term in winning three of the most prestigious staying handicaps.
Now rated 147, Williams has the Randox Grand National has his big aim this spring.
“He’s in good form and I might give him a run over hurdles before Newbury because he thrived on his racing last year,” said Williams.
“Hopefully we’ll then take him to Newbury for the gallops morning about a week before and the plan then will be all systems go for the Coral Gold Cup, we like to have runners in these prestigious races.
“He had a spin in a charity race at Chepstow recently and while I wouldn’t take much notice of that, it was great to see him on the racecourse.
“A lot of his season is geared around the Grand National but his other big aim is Newbury to try to win that. He’s 147 now so he should be in the top 34 for the National, he’d be very unlucky if he missed out. He will probably stay over hurdles apart from the Coral Gold Cup, though.”
The sponsors make Jonjo O’Neill’s Monbeg Genius their 6-1 favourite followed by Dan Skelton’s Midnight River after the initial entry stage.
Lucinda Russell has entered her two stable stars Corach Rambler and Ahoy Senor, while Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame has also been given the option by Paul Nicholls.
England insist Tom Curry is ready for Friday’s World Cup bronze final as squad and management rally around the flanker caught in a racism storm.
World Rugby is investigating an allegation made by Curry that he was racially abused by South Africa hooker Bongi Mbonambi in the first half of Saturday’s semi-final defeat.
Curry claimed to referee Ben O’Keeffe that he was called a “white c***” by Mbonambi and, after a complaint made by the Rugby Football Union, audio and video footage is being examined for evidence.
If the 25-year-old is picked against Argentina on Friday night it will be his 50th cap and attack coach Richard Wigglesworth is confident the alleged incident will not be a disruption as England prepare to sign off their World Cup.
“Tom is good. I know players will have got around him. Steve and the management team have been all over it. I’m sure he’s getting every bit of support that he needs,” Wigglesworth said.
“I’m not sure you can ever put yourself in those shoes and know that feeling. What I do know is he’s an impressive young man who, if selected on Friday, will pour everything into that England shirt as he has done on the previous 49 occasions.
“It will be dealt with by World Rugby. We get stuck into our prep for Argentina. The process is the process and we have no knowledge of how long that will go on for or the outcome, but we have to get ready for Argentina.
“Every week there is always some sort of thing you could be distracted by. It’s international rugby, there’s a lot you could be distracted by. You want to be in situations where there are distractions.
“This distraction is different, but it’s still noise that isn’t about Friday night, our prep and our desire to finish in the right way.
“World Rugby has been pretty vocal in following up things in the past and they need to do the same again.”
Connections hope to see Art Power shine in the sprint division for seasons to come after his triumph on Champions Day.
The Tim Easterby-trained grey was not especially fancied for the six-furlong Group One as he started at 40-1, but under David Allan he led from an early stage and always looked competitive when clearly comfortable on the soft going.
As the race neared the final furlongs his lead was reduced by the 5-4 favourite Kinross, ridden by Frankie Dettori, and at one point Art Power looked as though he was going to have to accept finishing second.
He did not fold, however, and rallied all the way to the line to prevail by a neck and give owners King Power Racing their first Group One success since Winter Power took the 2021 Nunthorpe.
“We were thrilled, it’s all about winning on those big days on the big occasions,” said Alastair Donald, racing manager to King Power.
“He’s been a great horse for King Power, he hasn’t had much luck in Group Ones as he’s been drawn badly or things have gone wrong for him, so he really deserved that.
“He showed great heart after being headed to come back and win, it was very exciting and I was thrilled for connections.”
The success is a third of the season for the six-year-old, who landed both the Greenlands and the Sapphire Stakes at Group Two level at the Curragh but was luckless when returning for the Flying Five in early September.
“He’s won two Group Twos and then in the Group One in Ireland it was a mess of a race, there’s a huge draw bias and the three hot favourites were all out of the top four,” Donald said.
“Two Group Twos and a Group One in a season, you’d take that with most horses!”
The Ascot victory vindicates the decision to geld the horse, who lost his form at the tail end of last season and was deemed to be a better prospect as a seasoned sprinter than a stallion.
“In his last three races last year he started missing the break and was rather colty, we thought before he went the wrong way he needed to be gelded,” Donald explained.
“His stallion value was low at that point and we thought there’d be more fun in gelding him and having him a racehorse for the next few years, he’s been such a sound horse, touch wood, that he should be around for two or three more seasons.
“He’s very much a favourite, he’s so eyecatching as he gets paler and paler and he’s a horse that people just seem to love watching.”
Former world number one Simona Halep has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against her four-year ban from competition for breaking anti-doping rules.
The 2019 Wimbledon singles champion was suspended by an International Tennis Integrity Agency tribunal in September, having been provisionally suspended in October 2022 after returning a positive test for the banned substance Roxadustat.
The tribunal ruled that the 32-year-old Romanian had committed intentional anti-doping run violations with reference to two charges, but she has now lodged an appeal with CAS for that finding to be overturned.
If the ban is upheld it means she will not be free to compete again until October 2026, by which time she will be 35 years old.
In a statement issued at the time of the ban, Halep said she had “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.”
CAS has not given a timeframe for the appeal to be considered, but noted that she would be free to appeal the court’s decision via the Swiss Federal Tribunal if it is unfavourable.
The next World Cup will be expanded to 24 teams as part of a new global calendar approved by World Rugby’s council.
The change that will come into effect for Australia 2027 is intended to provide more qualification opportunities for emerging nations as well as regional competitions.
Further details of the revised format for the group stage will be announced at a World Rugby press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
A new bi-annual international competition is also to be launched in 2026, comprising of two divisions of 12 teams with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030.
The matches will take place in the July and November international windows.
Poptronic is likely to bow out at the top following her thrilling success in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot.
Karl Burke’s four-year-old was sent off at a rather unfancied 22-1, but produced a career-best effort in the hands of Sam James, showing real bravery as she made every yard for a first success at the highest level.
It was a welcome return to form for the Lancashire Oaks scorer, who had disappointed in her two previous starts and Burke believes the switch to the inner track allowed her stamina to come to the fore in testing conditions on British Champions Day.
“She was brilliant and did very well,” said Burke.
“She has always been a very good filly and was given a great ride by Sam James.
“I think the switch to the inner track was to her advantage. It was half a furlong shorter and the way the race was run we got our own way in front. It all worked out brilliantly well.
“She’s a strong stayer over a mile and a half and over one-three and a bit we could make more use of her. She’s a galloper, but a high-class galloper.”
Poptronic’s Ascot success means she now has victories in every season she has been in training at Spigot Lodge, with the final act of her on-track career seeing her add a Group One triumph to her enviable CV.
Owned and bred by David and Yvonne Blunt, the daughter of Nathaniel is catalogued to be sold at Tattersalls later in the year where she will be one of the features in the Sceptre Sessions during the December Mare Sale.
“She’s got a date at the sales and as far as I know she will be going there at the beginning of December,” continued Burke.
“The owners were on a high on Saturday and thinking that over, but I think it is probably the right thing to do with her.
“She’s a winner at two, three and four with a couple of Group races in there and we’ve been very happy with her.”
Jerome Reynier was delighted with Facteur Cheval after his tenacious second-placed performance in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot.
The bay travelled over from France for the mile showpiece to round off a consistent season in which he had never been out of the top three.
In five Group-level starts prior to Ascot, the gelding had not been beaten more than a length and a half, finishing third to Anmaat in the Prix d’Ispahan, second to Paddington in the Sussex Stakes and third to Sauterne in the Prix du Moulin.
Big Rock was the runner-up on the latter occasion and on soft ground in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes it was the same horse who flew home to secure a six-length success.
His compatriot ensured the race was a French-dominated affair, however, with Facteur Cheval giving chase to make up a huge amount of ground from last place when finishing second ahead of a group of quality horses.
Reynier was thrilled with his horse, who was a 14-1 chance under Mickael Barzalona and did the stable proud on his final run as a four-year-old.
“It was great,” said the trainer. “He didn’t get the best run, as he was in a good position early on but he had to go behind Paddington and he ended up going backwards, unfortunately.
“He had to come back from behind and go around all the horses, it was almost impossible to make the second place but he was very courageous to give his all and go and beat the Aga Khan filly (Tahiyra) – it was just unbelievable.
“I thought he was going to struggle to finish but he is a swimmer, he loves that kind of ground.
“It feels like a win because Big Rock was unstoppable, we did what we could and finishing second was the maximum of his ability on the day.
“We weren’t too far from Big Rock on quick ground, so maybe one day we will be able to compete with him.”
Facteur Cheval will be given a break over the winter and could then be on his travels again in 2024, with Dubai and Newbury both mentioned as possible targets.
“It’s an amazing four-year-old campaign that he’s had, he’s been very consistent, even though he didn’t win a race this year,” Reynier added.
“He’s been second in the QEII, second in the Sussex, third in the Ispahan, third in the Moulin, they have been amazing achievements and we can’t wait for him to have a bit of a holiday and start off next year in good shape.
“He deserves a break, we could go to Dubai with him for the Dubai Turf for his reappearance.
“We’ll maybe come back to England for the Lockinge, he likes races with a lot of pace and sometimes in France he doesn’t get the pace he likes, we’ll see – we’ll talk to connections and we’ll decide together which is the best route to take.”
Richard Kingscote has paid a heartfelt tribute to Desert Crown after last year’s Derby winner was put down on Monday.
Kingscote had not long since ended his lengthy association with Tom Dascombe to ride for Sir Michael Stoute whenever Ryan Moore was unavailable in August 2021 when he partnered Desert Crown to a debut victory at Nottingham three months later.
The Nathaniel colt was not seen again until the following May in the Dante Stakes at York, where he impressed and then headed to the Derby as the favourite.
He cruised around Epsom, running out one of the most impressive winners in recent years, but sadly only made it to the track once more and eventually his injuries caught up with him.
Kingscote took to social media to say: “I have been asked about my thoughts on Desert Crown a few times.
“Firstly I’m most sorry for the staff at Sir Michael’s who adored him and who are all heartbroken.
“Secondly I’m sorry to racing fans in that we will never get to see how brilliant he could have been. And that I don’t have the vocabulary to explain how amazing he was.
“I will always be grateful to him for looking after me on those two big days last summer, he was a gentleman and an awesome racehorse.
“I feel blessed and somewhat embarrassed that it was me who got to feel his brilliance. RIP DC.”
Storm Babet continues to affect racing in Britain and Ireland, with this afternoon’s meeting at Yarmouth and tomorrow’s card at the Curragh the latest casualties.
There are also now inspections planned at Fontwell ahead of tomorrow’s fixture and at Clonmel for Thursday.
Yarmouth were forced to abandon their seven-race Flat card after an early-morning inspection, as “considerable rainfall overnight” left the track waterlogged.
Officials at the Curragh have cancelled Wednesday’s meeting following 21mm of rain last night, with the course currently unfit for racing and facing an unfavourable weather forecast.
Clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan said: “The forecast is for a further 5mm of rain today with the possibility of more rain moving in tomorrow, so there was no prospect of the situation improving here prior to racing.
“We’ve had a total of 77mm in the last week and the ground has been heavy since entries closed last Thursday.”
Fontwell have called a precautionary inspection for tomorrow morning at 7.30am.
The going is currently described as soft, good to soft in places, but “further significant rain” is expected this evening and early on Wednesday.
At Clonmel, the ground is heavy but currently fit for action ahead of racing on Thursday.
However, clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer reported: “Having spoken with Met Eireann, there is the possibility of a further 5-10mm of rain and some spot flooding tomorrow afternoon which will be on top of the 54mm of rain the track has had in the last week.
“With that additional rain forecast for tomorrow, we felt it was prudent to let people know as early as possible that we will need to have a precautionary inspection at 7.30am on Thursday morning.”
Last Saturday’s scheduled meetings at Stratford and Market Rasen were lost to the weather, along with Wednesday’s Worcester card and four upcoming fixtures at Southwell.
The Texas Rangers are through to their first World Series since 2011 with an 11-4 victory over the Houston Astros in game seven of the American League Championship Series.
The Rangers will come up against either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Arizona Diamondbacks, who face off for a place in the final in their deciding game seven on Tuesday.
Corey Seager’s early home run helped Texas grab the initiative straight away as they raced into a commanding lead.
Rangers led 4-2 in the third innings and they hammered in four more runs in the top of the fourth to secure a comfortable triumph as Houston were denied a third-successive World Series appearance.
Texas are the oldest club in Major League Baseball to not have a World Series to their name but will have the opportunity to get their first by playing four of the seven games at their home stadium in Arlington.
Former England winger Christian Wade announced his retirement from rugby union at the age of 27 on this day in 2018 as he looked to launch an American football career.
Wade, the fourth highest tryscorer in English club rugby on 82, was granted early release from his Wasps contract after nine years at the club to join NFL team the Buffalo Bills.
In doing so he halved his salary from the £250,000 a year he was earning in the Gallagher Premiership. The move never took off on the field either as he failed to make the Bills’ roster.
Slough-born Wade, who won his only England cap in 2013 against Argentina, described the decision to leave rugby as the hardest in his life.
He said: “After playing nine years of professional sport for Wasps, I’ve decided to leave for personal reasons.
“I would like to thank Wasps chairman Derek Richardson and Dai (Young, director of rugby) for their support, consideration and understanding in what is the most difficult decision of my life.
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“Rugby has privileged and honoured me with so many wonderful memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Wasps were third in the Gallagher Premiership and bottom of their Heineken Champions Cup group when Wade, who as well as winning one England cap also represented the 2013 British and Irish Lions on their tour of Australia, announced he was leaving.
“It’s very disappointing to lose a player of Wadey’s quality at this stage of the season,” Young said.
“The club held numerous discussions with him to try and convince him to keep pushing forward with Wasps but in the end it was clear this is the path he wished to go down. The club nevertheless wants to wish him all the best with his future career path.”
Using the NFL’s international player pathway program to facilitate the switch, Wade made waves by scoring a 65-yard touchdown as a running back in pre-season, but a regular season game eluded him.
The experiment lasted three years and in September 2022 he returned to rugby after agreeing a deal to join French side Racing 92.
Adolis Garcia homered twice and drove in five runs to set an MLB post-season record for RBIs in a series, and the Texas Rangers rolled to an 11-4 victory over the rival Houston Astros in Monday's Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to secure their first World Series appearance since 2011.
Garcia went 4 for 5 to cap a sensational ALCS in which he amassed 15 RBIs, the most by any player in a play-off series in MLB history. The Cuban slugger homered in each of the final four games and was an obvious choice for series MVP.
Corey Seager and Nathaniel Lowe also homered and rookie Evan Carter had a two-run double for Texas, which won Games 6 and 7 in Houston to improve to 8-0 on the road in these playoffs, tying an MLB record for consecutive away wins to begin a single post-season set by the 1996 New York Yankees.
Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy made history as well by becoming the first manager to win a League Championship Series with three different teams. The 68-year-old previously guided the San Francisco Giants to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and led the San Diego Padres to the 1998 Fall Classic.
He'll now try to end the Rangers' 61-year drought without a World Series title, the longest of the six current MLB franchises that have never won one. Texas lost to Bochy's Giants in the 2010 World Series and to the St. Louis Cardinals the following year in their lone other previous appearance.
The defending World Series champion Astros were bidding to become the first team to win three consecutive league pennants since the Yankees did so in four straight seasons from 1998-2001.
They fell behind early, however, as Texas scored three times off Cristian Javier in the first inning.
Seager started the scoring with a one-out homer and Carter singled and stole second before coming home on Garcia's base hit for a quick 2-0 lead. Garcia then stole second and came around on a single by Mitch Garver.
Javier was pulled after recording just one out and allowing three runs on four hits. The right-hander entered Game 7 with a 1.69 ERA while winning both of his two previous starts in this post-season.
The Astros got a run back in the bottom of the first when Jose Altuve doubled off Max Scherzer and later scored on Jose Abreu's single, but Garcia's first homer of the night restored Texas' three-run advantage in the third.
Alex Bregman got Houston back within two with a solo homer off Scherzer in the bottom of the third, but the Rangers scored four times off J.P. France in the fourth to break the game open.
After loading the bases with one out on two singles and a walk, Carter doubled to right to bring in two runs and Garcia drove in two more with a single that pushed the lead to 8-2.
Scherzer permitted two runs in 2 2/3 innings before being removed in favour of Jordan Montgomery, who tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his second win of the ALCS.
Lowe's two-run homer in the sixth stretched Texas' lead to 10-2. The Astros got a run back on Yordan Alvarez's RBI single in the seventh before Garcia went deep again in the eighth for the Rangers' final run.
Jake Allen made 36 saves and the Montreal Canadiens scored twice in the third period to earn a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Brendan Gallagher recorded the tie-breaking goal and Tanner Pearson scored on the power play in the third period to help the Canadiens to a second straight win and third in four games. Both also had an assist.
Gallagher gave Montreal a 2-1 lead by poking a loose puck past Buffalo goaltender Eric Comrie 3:31 into the third period, and Pearson made it a two-goal advantage with 3:07 remaining with his third tally in four games.
Justin Barron put the Canadiens ahead 2:56 into the contest, but the Sabres drew even on Jeff Skinner's power-play goal with 7:13 elapsed in the first period.
Allen was impenetrable from there, however, making 17 saves in the second period and 13 more in the third.
Comrie finished with 24 saves for Buffalo, which finished 2-2-0 on a four-game home-stand.
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