Dewi Lake will captain Wales for the first time on Saturday after an injury-hit 12 months plunged his Test career into cold storage.
More than a year after his last Wales appearance against South Africa in Cape Town, the Ospreys hooker has a chance to display World Cup leadership credentials.
As the countdown continues to Warren Gatland announcing Wales’ World Cup squad, Lake follows flanker Jac Morgan in being appointed skipper against tournament warm-up opponents England.
A third leadership candidate is likely to take the reins when Wales host South Africa on Saturday week, then Gatland names his 33-player group for France.
Lake missed the whole of Wales’ international schedule last term as a shoulder injury ruled him out of their autumn campaign, then a knee problem put paid to any Six Nations hopes.
“It is always tough with injuries and then they always seem to pile on each other,” Lake said.
“One comes after the next and you think am I going to break this cycle of getting a good run of games and showing that I’m good enough to be selected?
“But no, I am grateful for the work of the people behind the scenes at the Ospreys put in with me to get me back fit. And here we are, I guess.”
Morgan set a high bar with his display when Wales saw off England 20-9 in Cardiff last weekend, delivering a performance that must surely have put him in pole position as potential World Cup captain.
“I think it is important to try to lead from the front, lead by example, as Jac did last weekend,” Lake added, ahead of the Twickenham rematch.
“Hopefully, if I can do anything as well as he has, then I will be on to a winner.
“There are boys that don’t need to be told anything. They have got the experience, they know what they are doing.
“Maybe some boys like a pat on the back if they have done something well or an arm around them if they’ve messed up. Some boys need to be shouted at if they’ve messed up because that is what kicks them into the next gear.
“Your (captaincy) style is all about knowing your team and knowing who you’ve got around you and being able to cater to how they are going to react to things.”
Gatland has made 15 changes for the England clash, with wing Josh Adams winning his 50th cap, while centre Joe Roberts makes a Test debut and the likes of fly-half Owen Williams, lock Rhys Davies and number eight Taine Plumtree also gain opportunities.
Roberts’ midfield partner Nick Tompkins said: “We are playing for a spot on that plane. It is something you can’t forget about.
“I would be lying if I said you weren’t a little bit on the edge. No-one really feels safe, no-one feels their position is locked down.
“It brings a lot of intensity and it brings a lot of positive emotions. This game, there is a lot on it. I definitely feel that way.
“A lot of people are talking about England coming back and trying to bounce back from the last performance, but you forget there’s 23 (Wales) players back there who are all fighting for their lives to be in the World Cup.”
American Ally Ewing set a daunting clubhouse target on day two of the AIG Women’s Open thanks to a brilliant second round at Walton Heath.
Ewing, who held a one-shot lead following an opening 68 completed late on Thursday, was among the early starters on Friday and stormed clear of the field with a birdie on the third and four in a row from the sixth to be out in 30.
The 30-year-old from Mississippi also picked up further shots on the 11th and 16th before dropping her only shot of the day on the last to complete a superb 66.
“I just kept trying to stay in the now, stay in the present, which is one shot at a time for me and fortunately those shots yielded a lot of really good opportunities I was able to capitalise on,” Ewing said.
“That stretch of golf (on the front nine) was really, really good and just a really solid day overall.”
Asked what it would mean to win a maiden major title this weekend, Ewing added: “It would be huge. It’s something I’ve obviously circled as something I want to accomplish in my career.
“I’ve had possible chances to do that, I’ve been in the last group, so for me it’s just going to be (about) leaning on that a little bit as well as leaning on the confidence I have in my game right now.”
At 10 under par Ewing enjoyed a five-shot lead over compatriot Andrea Lee and Japan’s Minami Katsu, with South Korea’s Kim Hyo-Joo and Lilia Vu another stroke back on four under.
Vu won the first major of the year, the Chevron Championship, in April but a tie for 35th in last week’s Scottish Open is her best finish in a strokeplay event since then.
“I feel like post-Chevron Championship I’ve been struggling a little bit and to finally, hopefully, be in contention by the end of today just feels really rewarding,” Vu said.
“I think every time I get in my own way, it’s when I’m too focused on winning.
“But if I just focus on playing my game then I’m in a good position to try and win instead of just getting really upset if I mess up on a hole, and I did that last week.
“I got upset when I was playing well, and then just couldn’t hold it together after because I thought it was just over. And I’m just trying to be in a better mindset this week.”
Jodie Cunningham has marvelled at the significant strides women’s rugby league has taken as St Helens and Leeds continue their rivalry with a historic visit to Wembley.
The famous stadium stages the Women’s Challenge Cup final for the first time on Saturday, where Saints will be bidding for a third successive title and a second win in a row over Leeds in the showpiece.
Both Saints captain Cunningham and her Leeds counterpart Hanna Butcher started their careers in fields that had to be cleared of litter beforehand and where they were cheered on by only their nearest and dearest.
Professional status is yet to materialise – Cunningham juggles her playing duties with being the national women and girls’ development manager for the Rugby Football League while Butcher is a surveyor for Kirklees Council – but this weekend represents another important step for the women’s game.
Cunningham told the PA news agency: “Playing at Wembley Stadium just feels like this weird dream I never thought I’d actually get to experience. I don’t think it was even a pipe dream when I first started.
“To play a final in somewhere that had a stand was something that would have been a dream back then. To have a game where it wasn’t just your family members in the crowd cheering you on, that was a dream.
“Most people didn’t even know that women played. If it came up in conversation and you said you played rugby league, you’d get asked, ‘is it touch?’ They had no concept of what that could even look like.
“Now, to think there are genuinely fans of the game or people who are just aware of it is just a mega step for us. It’s only building our fanbase and I think Wembley will give us an even bigger platform.”
Cunningham, who was part of the Thatto Heath Crusaders side that won four consecutive Challenge Cups from 2013 to 2016, admitted getting more attention brings much greater pressure.
Saints beat Leeds in the 2021 semi-final and then prevailed in a seesaw final last year although the Rhinos gained a measure of revenge 11 months ago en route to Super League Grand Final glory.
Cunningham added: “The stuff that the men have managed to do, the history of this club for winning many, many trophies, there’s a level of expectation that you’re going to bring in trophies.
“That’s what the club wants, thrives off and expects. We expect that of ourselves as well and retaining the Challenge Cup was a big, big target we put on ourselves.
“The first trophy available, the opportunity to retain it, there’s always pressure once you’ve won a trophy to keep hold of it, we’re definitely putting that pressure on ourselves.
“We’re going to be holding on to that trophy really tightly to make sure we don’t give Leeds the opportunity to take it back.”
Butcher – part of the Leeds sides who won the Challenge Cup in 2018 and 2019, beating Castleford in the final on both occasions – is confident Leeds can end Saints’ stranglehold on the competition.
She told PA: “It’s going to be really, really special walking a team out at Wembley, I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group of people. We’re a really close-knit team.
“We’ve just had a weekend away, it’s united us even more. We spoke about why do we dedicate so much time and why do we juggle our work and family life. The answer is we just want to be with each other and we know we can do something special.”
Luke Morris makes his first appearance in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup as he heads up the home team at Ascot on Saturday.
The 34-year-old – who took his career to new heights last year, winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Sir Mark Prescott’s Alpinista – has never before taken part in the team event, which was first run in 1999 and now includes four teams competing for points over six races.
The Great Britain and Ireland squad is made up of Morris, Tom Marquand and Declan McDonogh, and the trio will aim to defeat a European team, a Ladies team and a team representing the Rest of the World.
Morris said: “When I was asked to participate, I was hugely grateful. It looks a great, fun day with a real buzz about the place.
“The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is something that I have grown up watching.
“The prize-money is great and it is real competitive racing.”
Morris has some well-fancied mounts at the weekend, including Clive Cox’s Tis Marvellous in the Dash and Stuart Williams’ Quinault in the sprint race – the latter a horse who has won his previous six races.
“From a participant’s perspective, everyone is really behind the Shergar Cup,” said Morris, who is favourite to win the Silver Saddle award for top rider, ahead of Rest of the World captain Frankie Dettori and Saffie Osborne.
“I know lots of jockeys would like to ride in it, plus lots of owners and trainers like running horses here,”
“To be honest, there is not much to dislike. I think it is a great initiative and the fact it is still going strong after so many years proves that it does work.
“I know my teammates Declan and Tom very well. Tom is flying at the moment and Declan is a former Irish champion.
“Throughout all the teams, there is real talent on show and hopefully it will be a great day.
“Riding winners at the highest level is always the aim. I am fiercely competitive and enjoy winning. I want to ride as many winners as I can each year, in the hope that it unlocks the door to ride nice horses.”
Lingering pain from lost decades will make it all the sweeter for Hull KR and Leigh Leopards when they converge on Wembley on Saturday for one of the most unlikely Betfred Challenge Cup finals in recent memory.
Forty-three years have passed since Rovers beat their city rivals Hull FC to claim their solitary crown and the intervening years have seen relegation heartbreak and three further final appearances – most recently a 50-0 humiliation by Leeds in 2015 – they would rather forget.
Leigh’s long wait for a trip to Wembley ticked over half a century two years ago, and their return sustains an astounding revival for a club who changed their spots last summer, shortly after providing the appetiser for last year’s showpiece when, as the Centurions, they sunk Featherstone to win the 1985 Cup final for second and third-tier sides.
Bank-rolled by leopardskin-clad local businessman Derek Beaumont and welded by a brilliant spine including Edwin Ipape and Lachlan Lam, Leigh have made a mockery of pre-season expectations of struggle by catapulting into the thick of the Super League play-off picture, and the cusp of adding a third Cup win to previous successes in 1921 and 1971.
“The town’s not had much to cheer about in the Challenge Cup and that’s why it’s an incredible story that we’re there,” said Leigh head coach Adrian Lam, the instigator of his side’s stunning campaign, who played for Wigan in their 2004 final loss to St Helens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
“It’s always important to acknowledge the past successes and we’ve only won it twice. But we’re not there just to make up the numbers.
“There is a real opportunity to have an 80-minute performance and to give the town something else to cheer about.”
Rovers’ recent revival has been considerably more under-stated but under head coach Willie Peters they appear to have re-discovered an identity that harks back to their halcyon days of the mid-1980s – when they won two successive league titles – and promises much for their future prospects.
That fervent desire to re-emerge as one of the sport’s acknowledged powerhouses perhaps made their 2015 final thrashing even harder to bear, and ironically Rovers’ path towards Wembley redemption has involved two of the architects of their demise at the hands of the Rhinos.
Rovers favourite Ryan Hall, who has won his fitness battle ahead of the final, played on the wing for Leeds that day while Danny McGuire, who will stand alongside Peters at Wembley as Rovers’ assistant coach, crossed for the second of the Rhinos’ nine tries.
McGuire is adamant that Rovers have learned the tough lessons from that 2015 loss, pointing out the relatively muted celebrations that accompanied their uproarious golden point semi-final win over Wigan at Headingley last month that sealed their return trip to London.
“Arguably in 2015 Rovers were still living off the emotions of their semi-final win against Warrington ,” McGuire told the PA news agency. “I’ve had instances like that where you celebrate a semi-final win a bit too much, and it’s only through experience that you learn to handle those situations.
“That’s what happened in the dressing room after Wigan. The players know the magnitude of what they could achieve.
“The 1980 final is still revered in Hull and it is a constant reminder of all the great players who achieved things for this club and how they’re still held in high regard.
“It’s important that you learn how to handle your chance to make history. Willie has brought a real passion and no-nonsense approach and there’s a real feeling we’ve come out of the other side.
“It’s time for someone else to write a new chapter and this is their chance.”
If any further incentive was required, Rovers are determined to give 35-year-old captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall a rousing send-off in his last season for the club, with Peters also set to revert Mikey Lewis to full-back in light of the positive news about Hall, who limped out of the warm-up prior to their semi-final win with a calf strain.
For their own part a much-settled Leigh side with a ramming front row led by captain John Asiata will start as narrow favourites, which McGuire acknowledges is testament to the incredible progress made by a club that seemed for so long to remain one of the sport’s bit-part players.
“I’m really please with what Leigh have achieved,” said McGuire, who was joined by current Leigh pair Zak Hardaker and Tom Briscoe in the Rhinos’ 2015 line-up.
“They’ve been great to watch this season and their confidence will be sky-high. Like us they have overcome big odds to reach this final and one of us is going to make history.”
England want to develop their scrum into a “ruthless” weapon in time for the World Cup as Wales provide another important test of its progress at Twickenham on Saturday.
A major improvement in the scrum was evident during the Six Nations, when it emerged as the most effective in the tournament just months after being statistically the worst among tier one sides.
It wobbled in the opening Summer Nations match in Cardiff, however, and England are looking to bounce back in the second instalment of the double header.
Adding to the stakes for Saturday’s showdown between the old rivals is that should England fall to a defeat of any description, they will slump to ninth in the global rankings – their lowest position since the standings were introduced in 2003.
“We want to have a ruthless scrum. England want to scrummage,” scrum coach Tom Harrison said.
“Joe Marler and Dan Cole are in the squad and those two players want to scrummage.
“What we’re working on is if it doesn’t go right or there is a problem, how can we solve it quickly?
“How can we be so ruthless that if a team tries to do something against us, we can solve the problem?
“Against Wales I thought there were some good bits with our scrum and some bits to improve.
“I hope you’ll see a pack that’s going to work and one that will show physicality.
“Everything we’re doing is building towards the World Cup and we want to have a good performance against Wales.”
England are fielding a team that is close to their strongest XV as preparations for their opener against Argentina on September 9 ratchet up.
Owen Farrell leads the side and is joined by fellow big guns Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Billy Vunipola, with Elliot Daly and Henry Arundell adding finishing ability on the wings.
Jamie Ritchie has declared himself fit and ready to lead Scotland into the Rugby World Cup after shaking off his recent calf issue.
The captain sat out the previous two warm-up matches at home to Italy and France as a precaution after what he described as “a little niggle” but he returns to the starting XV for this Saturday night’s rematch with Les Bleus in the heat of Saint-Etienne.
Ritchie is raring to go ahead of his first outing since playing for Edinburgh in a United Rugby Championship match away to Ulster almost four months ago.
“I feel like I’ve had a good pre-season and I’m feeling good, really excited to get back playing,” he said at the captain’s run press conference at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Friday.
“I’ve been sad to miss out the last couple of weeks because I was looking forward to getting a run out at Murrayfield but I have had to wait until this week so I’m really excited to get going.”
Ritchie insists there was never any fear that the injury would cause him any major problems ahead of the World Cup, which gets under way in France in four weeks’ time.
“No, not really,” he said when asked if he was worried about being fit in time. “It was just a little niggle I picked up in the week of the Italy match.
“It was probably touch and go for the home game against France, we were just erring on the side of caution. I was always going to be good to go for this week.”
Head coach Gregor Townsend said on Thursday that Ritchie is “probably in the best shape I’ve seen him in the last few years”.
“That’s kind of him,” smiled the captain when asked if he agreed with Townsend. “I need to ask my wife! Yeah, I feel good. It’s been good to have an extended pre-season.
“I got more or less a full pre-season in last year post-injury but the start of that was probably inhibited by the fact I’d been out for eight months (with a serious hamstring injury sustained against England in February 2022) so this is the first full pre-season I’ve had off the back of a full season of playing.
“I’m feeling in good shape and looking forward to getting going.”
Scotland spent the early part of this week at their World Cup training base near Nice before flying up to Saint-Etienne, where they found temperatures in the high 20s as they went through their team run on Friday.
Although Saturday’s match kicks off at 9pm, balmy conditions are expected. Ritchie feels the heat his team have been exposed to this week – and on their previous trip to the south of France in June – will stand them in good stead for the demands of the tournament itself.
“Massively, it means we’re adapted to what it’s going to be like out here, particularly on the training side of things (when they’ll be in the south of France).
“We’re playing in different parts of the country and the game tomorrow is in the evening so it might not be in the direct sunlight. Hopefully we’ll be a bit more acclimatised to the heat but not feeling that direct sunlight.
“We’re in a great place, our training sessions have been consistent, they’ve started well and they’ve finished well. There’s not been a session where we’ve dropped off, even in the heat, which is testament to the guys’ fitness and how hard we’ve worked.”
Ritchie feels Scotland’s fitness was highlighted by their stirring second-half fightback against the French last weekend when they scored 22 unanswered points to win 25-21 after trailing 21-3 at the break.
The 26-year-old flanker is hoping they can build on that performance and pull off another victory even though Les Bleus have selected arguably their strongest XV for this weekend after fielding a predominantly second-string team in Edinburgh.
“We take loads of confidence from last week in that we didn’t necessarily start that well but we fought to come back and have a really great finish,” said Ritchie.
“Our fitness showed in that game, we really started to peak towards the end and played some of our best stuff.
“We also felt we were the better team in the Six Nations (when losing 32-21 in Paris in February) and we’ll be looking to show it tomorrow.”
Michael Dods says the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes is the “obvious race” for Azure Blue and it is “all systems go” for a York showdown with reigning champion Highfield Princess.
The four-year-old started her season by winning Newmarket’s Ellen Chaloner Stakes before heading to the Knavesmire where her match-fitness enabled her to account for John Quinn’s stable star in the Group Two 1895 Duke of York Clipper Stakes.
She was too keen in the early stages when a below-par sixth in the July Cup next time, but Darlington-based Dods is keen to head back to the Knavesmire for what is sure to be a hot contest and a rematch with what he is expecting to be a much better version of Highfield Princess.
“At the moment we’re thinking of going to York and the Nunthorpe,” said Dods.
“We’re pulling her back a furlong and it will be very competitive if the two-year-olds come in and also Highfield Princess was so impressive at Goodwood.
“We had had a run and Highfield had not when we met before and she’s obviously come on a lot from then.
“But it is the obvious race and at the moment the plan is to go there.”
Mecca’s Angel famously went back-to-back for Dods in 2015 and 2016, while the handler has also seen Mabs Cross rattle the crossbar in the five-furlong dash in 2018 and another of his mares, Que Amoro, pick up a silver medal behind Battaash in 2020.
However, Azure Blue will be running over the minimum five furlongs for the first time in her 15-race career when she bids to add her name to the roll of honour.
“We’re travelling into the unknown,” added Dods.
“They will go a hard gallop and hopefully she will be fine. We’re into the unknown a bit, but it’s worth a try.
“We’re looking forward to it and at the minute it is all systems go.”
Any rain at the Curragh would be welcomed by Ken Condon, as he prepares to saddle Moss Tucker in the Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint Stakes.
The Excelebration gelding has not been disgraced since downing Tenebrism at Cork at the beginning of the year and was last seen finishing third to Art Power at the track in the Sapphire Stakes last month.
A Listed winner over course and distance in testing ground last October, the five-year-old thrives when the mud flies and his handler is eager to see a drop of rain at the Kildare track to add some further ease to the ground ahead of the Group Three contest.
“He ran very well last time and although he was no match for Art Power, in the main he is very consistent and he’s been in very good form since,” said Condon.
“The forecast is unsettled and any more rain will be most welcome for him, he’s obviously at his best when it’s testing conditions. At the moment it is nice ground, but any rain will be welcome.
“I think he’s probably at his best over five furlongs on soft ground, but it is a case if he doesn’t go there, then he’s probably sat on the sidelines for a little while.
“With this unusual weather at the moment, we might be able to take advantage of it, but it is hard to know how much rain the Curragh will get. It is forecast and hopefully a bit will fall.
“It’s a nice Group Three contest and we’re hopeful of a good run.”
Adrian McGuinness’ Go Athletico was just ahead of Moss Tucker when chasing home Art Power for a silver medal in the Sapphire Stakes and is another looking to make his mark in the six-furlong contest.
Bought by owners Team Valor International and Shamrock Thoroughbreds for €165,000 in the spring, he has made a good impression since joining McGuinness and the handler is expecting a bold bid.
“We’re looking forward to a big run,” said McGuinness.
“We were very happy with him the last day and he ran into a good horse. He actually had quite an easy race because Colin (Keane, jockey) was easy on him when the other horse had gone and we were well beaten.
“I’m expecting a very big run from him and he did a lovely piece of work the other day. Ronan Whelan rides him and I think he’ll run a huge race – I’ll be disappointed if he’s beat.
“I know sprints can go either way and it can depend on split-second decisions, but he is a very exciting horse to have and I definitely do think he is going to improve a bit more.”
The sole UK raider in the contest is Michael Dods’ Commanche Falls, who was a Listed winner over the track and trip on his penultimate start before following up in the Hackwood Stakes at Newbury.
The six-year-old has only once finished outside the first three this term and the Darlington-based handler is confident his speedster is in good order ahead of his hat-trick bid.
Dods said: “Drying ground would be a help but he’s in good form, he’s won there. It’s going to be competitive but we’re hoping for a good run.
“He hated the ground at Newbury last time but still did well and it’s hard for these sort of horses because there are not a lot of races around. It was either back to Ireland or we don’t go anywhere.
“We’re under no illusions and it will be a decent race, but we hope he will run his race and run well.”
England and Wales meet at Twickenham on Saturday in their second World Cup warm-up Test.
Wales won the opening encounter, scoring 14 unanswered second-half points as tries from Gareth Davies and George North saw them home 20-9.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the key points heading into their latest clash.
England summon the cavalry
England have assembled their big guns as they enter must-win territory just two games into their World Cup warm-up campaign. Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George are among the front-line stars in action at Twickenham, and potentially only Ellis Genge and Tom Curry are missing from the strongest XV. With the pivotal opener against Argentina on September 9 fast approaching, England need a reassuring performance and to avoid a fourth successive defeat that would continue a worrying downward spiral.
Momentum key for Wales
Wales have not won back-to-back Test matches since November 2021 when they beat Fiji and Australia, so there is a need to build on last weekend’s impressive 20-9 warm-up victory over England. Head coach Warren Gatland has made 15 changes as the clock continues ticking towards his World Cup squad announcement, and Saturday’s encounter will be the final opportunity for many players to impress. Wales have lost on their last six visits to Twickenham since the 2015 World Cup, which underlines the size of challenge ahead, but there were hints of a feelgood factor returning as a 65,000 crowd roared them home in Cardiff.
Dewi Lake in the spotlight
Flanker Jac Morgan led Wales with distinction at the Principality Stadium last Saturday, putting himself in pole position to skipper his country at the World Cup. Gatland, though, has said he will use the August schedule to assess captaincy candidates, and 24-year-old Ospreys hooker Lake now steps forward on his international return after shoulder and knee injuries meant he did not play Test rugby last season. Lake is a proven performer at the highest level, and he is likely to soak up the extra responsibility that awaits him.
Vunipola and Earl take centre-stage
If given the chance, Daly and Henry Arundell will provide thrills on the wing, but it is in the back-row where England’s most interesting picks reside. Vunipola makes his first Test appearance since the autumn – and because of a knee injury his maiden outing of any description since April. As the squad’s only specialist number eight and most destructive carrier in the forwards, he needs to hit the ground running. Earl, meanwhile, is rewarded for his perseverance with a full debut after winning all 15 previous caps as a replacement. Dynamic in attack, the Saracens openside can help ignite England.
Warren Gatland’s stamp is all over Wales
Last season’s Six Nations campaign – which marked Gatland returning for a second stint as Wales head coach – was one to forget, with a fifth-placed finish being accompanied by major off-field issues that almost led to a players’ strike. Fast-forward five months, though, and Wales appear to be a different beast. Demanding training camps in Switzerland and Turkey were followed by victory over England – “too fit for them” were Gatland’s words as he left the Principality Stadium last weekend – and it has been the New Zealander in his element, relishing a fourth World Cup campaign and loving nothing more than a chance to prove the doubters wrong.
Finland’s Robert Helenius should be on holiday with his family in Lapland but instead this Saturday will attempt to stun Anthony Joshua and ensure he gets another shot at Deontay Wilder.
Helenius had just claimed the 32nd victory of his professional career when he was posed the question of whether he would accept Matchroom’s SOS call to step in as an 11th-hour replacement at London’s O2 Arena for Dillian Whyte, who failed a drugs test with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
With wraps still on his hands and sweat from a third-round victory over Mika Mielonen inside a 15th-century castle in Finland, Helenius decided to roll the dice and sent Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn a video on Saturday night to confirm he was in.
A day later and Helenius’ manager Markus Sundman sealed the deal over the phone while at a zoo with his family, which meant his 39-year-old boxer was set to be thrust back into the limelight.
Last October, Helenius suffered a vicious first-round knock-out loss to former world heavyweight champion Wilder in New York and, while many have viewed this fight for Joshua as merely a stepping stone to a bout with the ex-WBC belt holder, his last-minute opponent has other ideas.
“Yeah, I have to get a rematch. I have to redeem myself,” Helenius said of Wilder, who is being lined up to face Joshua in December or the start of 2024.
“I had just finished the last fight on Saturday and my manager came to me and said I have something to ask you.
“He said it was the Joshua fight and I was like, ‘oh man. Let me think’. And 10 minutes I thought about it and after that I was like, ‘yeah, let’s do this,’ This is what we do.
“I would probably be in Lapland in the forest. Tenting, fishing, hunting, relaxing.
“I haven’t had a lot of time but I have been hunting now and then. That was the plan.”
It is no longer the plan for Helenius, or his wife and three children, with his mind now cast back to 2017, when he sparred with Joshua ahead of the British heavyweight fighting Wladimir Klitschko.
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Victory over Klitschko at a sold-out Wembley helped take the Finchley boxer to the pinnacle of the sport, but recent years have been leaner with back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk followed by a laboured display against Jermaine Franklin in April.
It was in a shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in 2019 that Joshua’s previously untouchable crown slipped for the first time and there is much debate about whether he has been the same since, but the 29th opponent of his career knows a thing or two about mental scars from boxing.
Helenius insisted: “I can’t compare him to Wilder. I have also been sparring before with David Haye, I have been sparring the Klitschkos, both of them, I have been sparring Tyson Fury, Wilder.
“I have even been sparring Joshua when he was going against Klitschko so I have been a long time in this game.
“He is a tough guy. I think we went eight-round sessions. It was pretty closer. Hard-hitter, good technicals, a little bit robotic but his last fight, he made a good fight against Jermaine.
“I have seen that (change) but I think with his last fights, because he didn’t get knocked out against Usyk and his last fight he didn’t get knocked out, he did a pretty good fight and showed he has still got it.
“Of course you have to come over the gun-shyness after you get knocked out. I have been knocked out three times in my life and the first was the really bad one. I was probably depressed for two or three months after that.”
Johann Duhaupas inflicted that painful maiden loss of Helenius’ career in 2016, eight years after his debut, and perhaps unsurprisingly for a 36-fight veteran, the ‘Nordic Nightmare’ is reflective about his past experiences in the ring.
An aggressive style was adopted against Wilder for a reason but he was caught by a punch the American had been fine-tuning for Fury for years.
Helenius will bring a different style into Saturday’s fight and admitted victory against the odds would propel him into Finnish folklore akin to the notorious exploits of world-record javelin holder Seppo Raty.
“I think I would probably be elected for president,” he joked.
“I haven’t been in the ring for a while with him but now is the best time to win.
“Nobody will remember a coward.”
Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle homered and All-Star closer Felix Bautista escaped trouble as the Baltimore Orioles held on for a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros to avoid a series sweep on Thursday.
Bautista was called on to protect a 5-3 lead in the ninth inning for Baltimore but again struggled, giving up a run and loading the bases before getting Jon Singleton to pop up for the final out.
Bautista, who gave up a ninth-inning grand slam to Kyle Tucker on Tuesday, has allowed five earned runs in his last two appearances after giving up just five in his first 48 games this season. His season ERA went from 0.85 to 1.66 in this series.
Dean Kremer limited Houston to two runs and six hits in seven innings to join teammate Kyle Gibson as Baltimore’s 11-game winners.
Rutschman led off the bottom of the first against Hunter Brown with his 16th home run and Mountcastle’s two-run shot in the seventh extended the lead to 5-2.
The AL-best Orioles have gone 76 consecutive series of at least two decisions without being swept for the fifth-longest streak in major league history.
With Tampa Bay’s loss to St. Louis on Thursday, Baltimore owns a three-game lead in the East.
Jose Altuve went 4 for 5 with a home run for Houston, which dropped 2 ½ games behind AL West-leading Texas.
Phillies star Harper injured in win
Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto hit two-run homers and the Philadelphia Phillies overcame Bryce Harper’s injury in a 6-2 win over the Washington Nationals.
Harper left in the top of the fifth inning with what the team called mid-back spasms. He was undergoing evaluation and manager Rob Thomson said he’s day to day.
Philadelphia improved to a season-best 12 games over .500 and moved 1 ½ games ahead of idle San Francisco for the top spot in the NL wild-card race.
Turner’s 12th home run in the sixth inning gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead and Castellanos and Realmuto both went deep in the seventh off reliever Joe La Sorsa to make it 6-1.
Kershaw sharp in return as Dodgers stay hot
Clayton Kerhaw worked five effective innings in his first appearance in six weeks and the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the Colorado Rockies 2-1 for their ninth win in 10 games.
Kershaw allowed his only run on Elehuris Montero’s fifth-inning home run and two other hits with no walks and four strikeouts. The left-hander had been sidelined since June 27 with left shoulder soreness.
Ryan Yarbrough fanned four in three scoreless innings before Brusdar Graterol pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Max Muncy drove in both runs for the Dodgers, hitting his 28th home run in the seventh inning and drawing a bases-loaded walk in the eighth.
Andy Murray has withdrawn from his match with Italy’s Jannik Sinner in Toronto due to an abdominal strain.
The pair were set to play in the round of 16 at the National Bank Open on Thursday but Murray decided not to risk any further injury.
In a statement, Murray said: “I had a very similar issue last year in the tournament in Stuttgart before Wimbledon which forced me to miss the Queen’s Club tournament and I was able to play Wimbledon.
“It took me about 10 to 12 days before I was feeling good again.
“This is not as bad as that but obviously the danger if you compete and play on it is you make it worse.
“So, I’ll need to see how it develops over the coming days and hopefully feel better in a few days. I’m really sorry. Thank you.”
Jannik Sinner will now play France’s Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals after he overcame Australian Aleksander Vukic.
Jordan Spieth topped the leaderboard after round one of the FedEx St Jude Championship, where he scored seven under par with a score of 63.
He goes into round two in Memphis leading Tom Kim by one shot and admitted he has been working on his putting.
“Quite a bit of putting. I played really well at the British. Tee to green, I played well enough to win,” he said afterwards.
“I didn’t feel like I missed many of my lines. I just couldn’t quite get the matching of the line and speed on the greens.
“Now we come to slopey Bermuda and very fast slopey Bermuda where I feel a little more comfortable picking lines and kind of feeding the ball in using gravity.
“I think that helped, along with quite a bit of work as best I could in Texas right now, which is really from the hours of 7:00 a.m to noon before it’s almost unbearable.
“Just tightened some things up. I tried to play a lot just to shoot scores. I had kind of taken off playing a bunch, and I think that that helped a bit in the last couple weeks.”
England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai are the best of the British contingent, closing out Thursday on four under par.
Rory McIlroy sits a shot back on three under, after the Northern Irishman split three bogeys with four birdies and an eagle.
Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will make his first start since June 27 on Thursday after the team activated the veteran pitcher from the injured list prior to their game against the Colorado Rockies.
Kershaw missed the past six weeks with a sore left shoulder that prevented the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner from appearing in last month's MLB All-Star Game.
The 35-year-old prepared for Thursday's assignment by throwing a pair of simulated games, including a four-inning outing last week.
Kershaw was in the midst of another excellent season prior to being sidelined. In 16 starts in 2023, the left-hander has compiled a 10-4 record and a 2.55 earned run average that would lead the majors if he had enough innings to qualify.
The 10-time All-Star is 4-0 with a sensational 1.09 ERA over his past five starts and did not allow a run in three of those appearances. In his most recent start on June 27, Kershaw held the Rockies to one hit over six scoreless frames in a 5-0 Dodgers' victory at Coors Field.
Kershaw's return should help stabilise a Los Angeles rotation that has largely struggled in his absence. Dodgers starters recorded a combined 6.18 ERA in July, the second highest in the majors for the month.
“For the team, I know that we all get excited when he takes the baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Tuesday. “You just feel more comfortable and confident when Kersh is active.
Despite their starting pitching issues, the Dodgers have opened up a six-game lead on the second-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West and have won eight of nine games to begin August.
Wales & The West and Saffie Osborne lead the way in the William Hill Racing League, after a dramatic evening that saw fire engines called to Chepstow on night two of the competition.
London & The South took maximum points in the first race as Eve Johnson Houghton’s Cabinet Of Clowns (15-2) was steered by Charlie Bishop to a half-length success.
But the action then came to an abrupt halt when an electrical fault caused a fire in a kitchen at the track, with some water also coming through the ceiling in the weighing-room area resulting in the complex having to be evacuated.
A number of fire engines arrived at the scene and the track was eventually deemed safe, creating a near 40-minute delay to the contest scheduled for 6.00pm.
“There’s been an electrical fault upstairs in the weighing-room complex and it’s turned off all the power in the weighing room,” clerk of the course Libby O’Flaherty told Sky Sports Racing during the delay.
“We’re waiting for the fire engine to get here so we can deem it safe to carry on.
“It’s (the water) just by the door when you go in (to the weighing room), the water came through and that’s all been cleaned up.
“We’re just waiting for the fire brigade to tell us everything is fine.”
The delayed race was won by Rod Millman’s Chinese Knot, the 7-4 favourite being steered to victory by last year’s leading rider as Osborne bagged the first leg of a double.
The same jockey then crossed line first in the next, with Executive Decision (5-2 favourite) prevailing after a photo finish to get even more points on the board for the Wales & The West outfit.
Scotland were triumphant in the fourth contest on the card when Totnes (4-1) struck for Paul Mulrennan and Andrew Balding, with Ireland enjoying their first success of the series when Star Harbour (12-1) was a winner for Adrian McGuinness and Dylan Browne McMonagle.
In both of those races Wales & The West had placed runners and when Tim Easterby’s Manila Scouse took the penultimate race as the 8-11 favourite for David Allan and Yorkshire, the third- and fourth-placed horses gained even more points for the leaders.
The final event went the way of the North, with the 9-2 favourite Ramazan winning for Richard Fahey and Oisin Orr in a race worth £100,000.
The evening left Wales & The West with a significant advantage in front on 319 points, whereas Ireland sit in second with 242 and London & The South third on 231.
Osborne is the leading riding so far as she sits at the top of the jockey leader board on 161 points.
Jamie Osborne, trainer of Executive Decision and father of Saffie, said: “We’ve got a good spread of horses, we don’t have the biggest trainers in the world but I think in a way that’s a help.
“Some of the bigger trainers have other fish to fry, this kind of prize-money is very important to our owners.
“We’re well positioned, but we’re not yet a third of the way through the competition so we’re not home and hosed yet. But I’d say it will take a good one to beat Saff!”
Tom Pidcock took cross-country short track bronze on his mountain bike at the UCI Cycling World Championships but then had to defend himself against accusations of bad sportsmanship from German rival Luca Schwarzbauer after a final corner collision.
The reigning Olympic mountain bike champion made a late lunge for the inside line on the sharp final bend of the Glentress Forest course and surprised Schwarzbauer as the pair touched, sending the German to the ground and putting him out of the medals as New Zealand’s Sam Gaze beat Victor Koretzky to gold.
Schwarzbauer then made his feelings clear, claiming the move was deliberate on Pidcock’s part.
“Tom crashed me out, he completely rode into me in that corner,” he said. “I’m super disappointed for sure because a bronze medal would have been pretty safe. He’s Tom Pidcock, but that doesn’t give him the right to do something like that.
“I said a few words to him and said it was a very bad move in my eyes. At first he said, ‘It’s part of the racing,’ but then he realised I had crashed.
“But I think he knew already. When he rides like this I’m going to crash because he was straight into me and he used me as a barrier. Already before the corner actually – he ran full gas into it and I think no mountain biker would do this at all, like a pure mountain biker, the community of us.
“I know he’s Tom Pidcock and he’s a superstar, but this doesn’t give him the right to do that…He’s so aggressive, you can really see he’s the most aggressive rider, no one else rides like this. You can do this but in my eyes it’s not really sportsman (like).”
Pidcock played down the incident immediately after the race but, told of Schwarzbauer’s comments, he told the PA news agency: “What’s that famous saying? If you no longer go for a gap then you’re no longer a racing driver. Of course I did not mean to cause him to crash and I’m sorry for that.”
That incident aside, Pidcock was happy with his performance in a race where he came from well down the pack to put himself in contention, at one point making up nine places in a single lap as he rose from 18th to third.
Although he could not respond when Gaze made a big move on the final lap, Pidcock will take confidence going into Saturday’s cross-country Olympic race, his big target at these worlds.
“I’m pretty happy,” he said. “I only did this to prepare for Saturday but this morning I was pretty up for it and it’s nice to have a medal.
“This is not really my sort of race so it’s good for Saturday I think. My legs were not super but come the weekend I think it will be OK.”
Evie Richards then delivered a second bronze for Great Britain in the women’s race as France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot – Pidcock’s Ineos Grenadiers team-mate – successfully defended her title ahead of Puck Pieterse.
Richards, the 2021 cross-country Olympic world champion, admitted the excitement of racing at home played a part as she put herself on the front in the early laps before dropping back, and she was then unable to respond to Ferrand-Prevot’s winning attack on the final lap.
“I think it’s always a bit stupid when you go off the front but I always do it, don’t I?” she said. “I tried to calm down, it’s very easy to get carried away when everyone is cheering your name…
“It’s been a real hard few years since winning the world championships so to be back here is really amazing, and to win a medal is even better.”
Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from August 10.
FootballManchester City launched their away kit…
…while Roy Keane modelled United’s at the perfect time.
City have certainly come a long way since this moment!
Harry Kane’s potential move had both fans and Fantasy Premier League managers on tenterhooks.
…with differing opinions from former England star.
Southampton paid tribute.
Chasing the World Cup Golden Boot and pulling out a nutmeg – just a reminder that Amanda Ilestedt is a defender.
The quarter-finalists were ready.
Happy birthdays.
CricketSpencer Johnson had quite the debut for Oval Invincibles.
Shabnim Ismail’s hat-trick secured victory for Welsh Fire.
Henry Arundell has been urged to “trust his instincts” against Wales as Steve Borthwick backs England’s rising star to become a gamebreaker at the World Cup.
Arundell makes only his second start in eight Tests when Warren Gatland’s men visit Twickenham on Saturday, lining up on the right wing of a team that is close to Borthwick’s strongest.
Owen Farrell is present as captain and is joined by fellow big guns Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George, while Saracens openside Ben Earl makes his long-awaited full debut and Elliot Daly returns after 18 months in international exile.
A tame defeat 20-9 by Wales launched the World Cup warm-up schedule in disheartening fashion and it is hoped the inclusion of try-scoring Racing 92 sensation Arundell will address some of the finishing deficiencies evident in Cardiff.
The 20-year-old is the most exciting talent in English rugby and has electric running skills, but Borthwick insists he must not overthink his game.
“Henry is in great physical shape and he’s got such incredible natural talents that you want to ensure are always going to be there. We want him to trust his instincts,” Borthwick said.
“We want to give him the ball and I’m sure the opposition will know that and try to shut down the space, which may open up opportunities elsewhere.
“We’re aware of that but everyone is looking forward to seeing him. He’s a young man with a big future in front of him.
“When you look around world rugby right now you see teams who have players that can break the game up in different ways.
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“One of those ways is pace and Henry has pace. If we can get him the ball in space, and he in particular doesn’t need a huge amount of space, then he can make things happen.
“We’ve already seen him do that in an England shirt and we’re looking forward to seeing him do it more.”
Providing firepower on the opposite wing is Daly, the 30-year Saracen whose last England outing came in the 2022 Six Nations, after he which he was frozen out by Eddie Jones.
One of Borthwick’s priorities upon replacing Jones as head coach in December was to re-establish the versatile back with a booming left boot, only for a hamstring injury to rule him out of the entire Six Nations.
“Elliot was one of the first players I rang when I was appointed. He hadn’t been in the environment, hadn’t played an awful lot in recent times,” Borthwick said.
“He has been looking really good in training, he has multiple dimensions to his game and I’m looking forward to seeing that on Saturday.”
A starting XV populated with six Saracens produces a special moment for 2022 Premiership player of the season Earl, who after 15 caps as a replacement is finally thrust on to the main stage.
Earl was unable to convince Jones, despite his dynamic club form, and was even sent back to his club by Borthwick after two appearances off the bench in the most recent Six Nations but he has impressed during the World Cup training camp.
“What Ben Earl has, which I don’t see too many opensides possess, is the ability to link with the backs in attacking play and to keep the ball moving. That’s a rare talent,” Borthwick said.
“He has the pace to operate with the quickest guys. He is up there with the quickest guys in our squad. He is not quite Henry Arundell but not too many people are.”
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