Author: Reuters

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Wallabies change 13 starters and hand captaincy to two-Test rookie for Japan clash

  • Nick Champion de Crespigny to captain Australia in Tokyo

  • No place for Carter Gordon after return to union from league

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has rested a host of stalwart campaigners and changed all but two of his starting side for Saturday’s Test against Eddie Jones’s Japan, which opens Australia’s end-of-season tour.

Schmidt has kept only halfbacks Tane Edmed and Jake Gordon from the starting team that lost to New Zealand at the end of the Rugby Championship with flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny captaining the new-look side in his third Test.

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Champions League roundup: Barcelona and PSG romp to victories

  • López hat-trick and Rashford double sink Olympiakos

  • Bayer Leverkusen 2-7 PSG; PSV 6-2 Napoli

A Fermin López hat-trick and two goals from Marcus Rashford powered Barcelona to a commanding 6-1 Champions League victory over Olympiakos, while Ousmane Dembélé scored on his return to the Paris Saint-Germain side as they won 7-2 away to Bayer Leverkusen in a battle of two 10-man teams.

The match got off to a flying start when the 22-year-old López opened the scoring from a rebound in the seventh minute and he doubled his tally in the 39th, finishing off a lightning-quick counterattack.

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European football: Nico Paz pearler helps Como climb above Juventus

  • Serie A: Como 2-0 Juventus, Milan 2-1 Fiorentina

  • Juve now winless in six games in all competitions

Juventus lost 2-0 at Como in Serie A on Sunday, suffering another disappointing result after five successive draws in all competitions for Igor Tudor’s side.

Como took the lead in the fourth minute when the defender Marc-Oliver Kempf volleyed in from close range at the far post following Nico Paz’s curling cross. Juventus thought they had equalised in the 36th minute when Jonathan David slotted home from close range, but the Canadian’s effort was ruled out for offside in the buildup.

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European football: Bayern extend perfect start as Kane punishes Dortmund

  • Kane scores as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund

  • Barcelona edge Girona via Araújo’s stoppage-time winner

Harry Kane scored once and helped set up another as Bayern Munich battled past Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Bundesliga’s Klassiker to maintain their perfect start to the season with their seventh straight win. Bayern had to survive considerable second-half pressure from the visitors before making sure of their 11th win in 11 matches across all competitions.

They lead the Bundesliga race with 21 points, five ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig. Dortmund, who suffered their first loss in 10 matches across all competitions, dropped to fourth on 14. Kane gave the hosts a deserved lead when he scored his 12th league goal in seven matches with a glancing header from a Joshua Kimmich corner in the 22nd minute.

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Apple swoops on exclusive F1 US TV rights amid expansion into sports

Deal reportedly closed for $140m a year, on the heels of worldwide success of Apple-produced Brad Pitt film F1

Apple has landed US broadcast rights to Formula One in a five-year deal that would help the tech giant bolster its streaming service with one of the country’s fastest-growing sports, following the success of its Brad Pitt-starrer F1: The Movie.

The two sides did not disclose the financial details of the deal on Friday. CNBC reported it was for $140m a year, much higher than the $90m the Walt Disney-owned ESPN was paying each season for F1, which it has broadcast since 2018.

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Former Israel-Premier Tech cyclist faces €30m damages claim after ending contract over ‘personal belief’

  • Derek Gee: ‘Decision weighed heavily on conscience’

  • Team says case will go before arbitral board of UCI

Canadian cyclist Derek Gee says he is facing a damages claim of €30m from his former team Israel-Premier Tech after ending his contract over what he described as “personal beliefs”.

The 28-year-old finished fourth overall at this year’s Giro d’Italia, but left Israel-Premier Tech shortly before September’s Vuelta a España, a race which was subject to pro-Palestinian protests linked to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

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Novak Djokovic battles into Shanghai semis as Vacherot’s dream run continues

  • Serbian made to work in straight-sets win over Bergs

  • World No 204 takes out Rune to reach the last four

Novak Djokovic battled past a spirited Zizou Bergs 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals for a 10th time, setting up a clash with surprise package and the world No 204, Valentin Vacherot.

In challenging conditions, Djokovic was made to work harder than the scoreline suggests by his Belgian opponent, who registered more winners than the four-time champion but was undone by unforced errors.

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Columbus Crew’s Darlington Nagbe to retire after four MLS Cups in 15 seasons

  • Nagbe has played the fifth-most MLS matches ever

  • Won championships with three different teams

Columbus Crew midfielder and four-time MLS Cup champion Darlington Nagbe will retire at the end of the season, the player and club announced Tuesday.

Nagbe, 35, ranks fifth in MLS history with 444 regular-season matches and has tallied 38 goals and 48 assists since being drafted No 2 overall by the Portland Timbers in 2011.

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European football: Harry Kane sets latest record in Bayern’s Frankfurt win

  • Kane scores 11th goal in first six Bundesliga games

  • Vinícius at the double as Real Madrid defeat Villarreal

Harry Kane set a Bundesliga scoring record and Luis Díaz netted twice as Bayern Munich cruised past Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 to continue a flawless start to the season with their sixth consecutive league win.

Kane, who also hit the woodwork from point-blank range in the second half, rifled in his 11th league goal in the 27th minute and became the first Bundesliga player to reach that mark after six matches. He has 18 goals in 10 matches across all competitions this season.

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Will Skelton and Jake Gordon to start for Wallabies in second Bledisloe clash in Perth

  • Coach Joe Schmidt makes five changes to XV for final Rugby Championship Test

  • James Slipper to play 151st and final game after announcing retirement

Lock Will Skelton and scrumhalf Jake Gordon are among five changes to Australia’s starting 15 for the final Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand in Perth on Saturday.

Skelton replaces the dropped Lukhan Salakaia-Loto after returning from club duty in France, while coach Joe Schmidt’s preferred No 9 Gordon returns for his first test since the British & Irish Lions series after recovering from a hamstring strain.

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Champions League roundup: Mbappé hat-trick leads Real Madrid rout of Kairat

  • Harry Kane and Bayern Munich punish Pafos 5-1

  • Atalanta fight back to defeat Club Brugge 2-1

Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid eased to a 5-0 away win against the Champions League debutants Kairat Almaty on Tuesday.

Xabi Alonso’s side bounced back in style from their humbling 5-2 La Liga defeat by Atlético Madrid on Saturday, with Mbappé taking his Champions League tally to five goals in two European games this season.

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European football: Koundé and Lewandowski on the mark in Barcelona’s comeback win

  • Hansi Flick’s side come from behind for nervy win

  • Milan go top after 2-1 victory against Napoli

Barcelona secured a 2-1 comeback win against Real Sociedad on Sunday that sent them top of the La Liga standings after they turned the match around with goals from Jules Koundé and Robert Lewandowski either side of half-time.

Barcelona’s sixth win in seven matches moved the champions on to 19 points, one point above Real Madrid, as Real Sociedad remained on five points after their fourth defeat of the campaign.

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Unstoppable Tadej Pogacar defends men’s road race world title in Rwanda

  • Pogacar reclaims rainbow jersey he won last year

  • Remco Evenepoel second, Ireland’s Ben Healy third

Tadej Pogacar lit up Kigali’s climbs with a trademark long-range attack to claim a second consecutive men’s road race world title on Sunday.

There was an air of inevitability surrounding the event in Rwanda as the Slovenian cemented his legacy among cycling’s all-time greats. Pogacar triumphed as the world championships were staged in Africa for the first time, with hundreds of thousands cheering from the roadside.

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Marc Márquez beats brother Álex to emotional MotoGP world championship

  • Francesco Bagnaia wins Japanese Grand Prix

  • Márquez takes unassailable lead with five races to go

Ducati’s Marc Márquez clinched his seventh MotoGP world championship at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday and his first since 2019 after he took an unassailable lead with five rounds to spare.

Márquez needed to outscore his brother, Álex, of Gresini Racing by three or more points by the end of the weekend, and finished second behind his teammate Francesco Bagnaia in Sunday’s race to clinch the title.

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Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu leads South Africa to nine-try rout of Argentina

  • South Africa 67-30 Argentina

  • Feinberg-Mngomezulu bags record 37 points

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 37 points in a stunning individual fly-half display as South Africa moved to the top of the Rugby Championship table with a 67-30 bonus-point victory over Argentina at Kings Park.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a hat-trick of tries as he beat Percy Montgomery’s Springboks record for most points in a single Test, to go with scores for the hooker Malcolm Marx, the wing Cheslin Kolbe, the scrum-half Morné van den Berg, the flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit (two) and the replacement back Manie Libbok.

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