South Africa thump New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington
Tourists score 36 unanswered points in second half
The All Blacks suffered their heaviest-ever Test defeat as South Africa beat New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington to revive their Rugby Championship campaign.
Cheslin Kolbe scored a try in each half and Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and André Esterhuizen also touched down at the end of ambitious and clinical attacks as South Africa ran in six tries to one.
Continue reading...Belgian rider wins his third stage of 2025 race
Jonas Vingegaard adds four seconds to overall lead
Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen sprinted clear at the end of stage 19 to seal his third win at this year’s Vuelta a España on Friday while Jonas Vingegaard added four seconds to his overall advantage over Joño Almeida.
After 160km of relatively flat riding in west central Spain, Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Philipsen burst to the front near the finish and never looked like being caught. Denmark’s Mads Pedersen was the first to make his move but could not hold off Philipsen and he crossed the line in second place with Venezuela’s Orluis Aular third.
Continue reading...Italian wins 12.2km time trial with time of 13 minutes
Almeida closes gap on overall leader Vingegaard
Filippo Ganna tore through the final third of Thursday’s shortened individual time trial to win stage 18 of the Vuelta a España in Valladolid, and third-placed João Almeida gained 10 seconds on the overall leader, Jonas Vingegaard.
Ganna, the Italian time-trial specialist, repeated his success of two years ago in the same city but had an agonisingly long wait after the Ineos Grenadiers rider was fifth out of the gate, setting a time of 13 minutes.
Continue reading...Injured pair ruled out of Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test
Tane Edmed will wear No 10 jersey for first time
Flyhalf Tom Lynagh and centre Len Ikitau have been ruled out of Australia’s Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday in a blow for the Wallabies.
Lynagh is nursing a hamstring strain following the last-gasp 28-24 win over the Pumas in Townsville, while Ikitau has a laceration on his knee that had failed to heal enough to take the field on Saturday.
Continue reading...Colombian outsprints Landa; Vingegaard retains lead
Stage shortened by 8km after protesters blocked road
Pro-Palestinian protesters continue to disrupt the Vuelta a España, with stage 16 ending on Tuesday 8km before the scheduled finish at Castro de Herville because of protests close to the line. The Colombian rider Egan Bernal won the stage, with Jonas Vingegaard retaining the overall race lead.
“We have a big protest at three kilometres before the line. We will decide the stage winner and take times at eight kilometres before the line,” the race directors announced on Radio Vuelta.
Continue reading...Colombian outsprints Landa; Vingegaard retains lead
Stage shortened by 8km after protesters blocked road
Pro-Palestinian protesters continue to disrupt the Vuelta a España, with stage 16 ending on Tuesday 8km before the scheduled finish at Castro de Herville because of protests close to the line. The Colombian rider Egan Bernal won the stage, with Jonas Vingegaard retaining the overall race lead.
“We have a big protest at three kilometres before the line. We will decide the stage winner and take times at eight kilometres before the line,” the race directors announced on Radio Vuelta.
Continue reading...Belgian wins in photo finish to keep sprint leader’s jersey
Vingegaard retains 48-second lead over Almeida
The Belgian cyclist Mads Pedersen sprinted to victory in stage 15 of the Vuelta a España on Sunday as Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard retained the overall lead in the 167.8km ride from Vegadeo.
Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), the points classification leader, attacked in the last two kilometres, beating Orluis Aular (Movistar) and Marco Frigo (Israel Premier Tech) in a photo finish at Monforte de Lemos.
Continue reading...Marc Márquez’s winning streak ends at home grand prix
Alex bounces back after crash in Saturday’s sprint race
Gresini Racing’s Alex Márquez ended his brother Marc’s remarkable unbeaten run by winning their home Catalan Grand Prix on Sunday, redeeming himself after crashing out of the lead in Saturday’s sprint for just his second career race victory.
Marc had won the last 15 sprints and races and had he won Sunday’s race would have had the opportunity to clinch a seventh title on Ducati’s home turf at next weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix.
Continue reading...Wednesday’s stage disrupted by pro-Palestinians
Team to wear monogram-branded kit for rest of race
The Israel-Premier Tech team have removed their full name from riders’ jerseys for the rest of the Vuelta a España after pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the finish on stage 11 on Wednesday.
The stage ended without a winner after organisers decided to take the time at three kilometres before the line as police struggled to contain hundreds of Palestinian flag-waving protesters in Bilbao. The Israel-Premier Tech team were also stopped on the road by a group holding Palestinian flags during last week’s team time trial in Figueres.
Continue reading...All Blacks bounce back from shock defeat to Argentina with 24-17 win
New Zealand’s unbeaten run in Auckland extends to 51 matches
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides.
Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches.
Continue reading...Portuguese rider wins stage 13 after brutal climb
Britain’s Tom Pidcock holds on to third spot overall
Portugal’s João Almeida held off race leader Jonas Vingegaardat the top of the brutal summit finish of Angliru to win stage 13 of the Vuelta a España on Friday.
The top two in the general classification battled it out for the stage win, leaving the rest behind in the final 5km. Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) did all the work on the climb and stayed ahead of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard in the sprint to the line.
Continue reading...Stage passes without incident after abandonment
Jonas Vingegaard retains overall race lead
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) outsprinted his Spanish compatriot Javier Romo (Movistar) to win stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, his second stage win of this year’s race, with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retaining the overall lead.
Palestine flags were in evidence again after protests had brought Wednesday’s stage to a premature end but the race passed without serious incident, while the Israel-Premier Tech team have said pulling out of this year’s Vuelta would “set a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling” in reaction to the incidents on stage 11.
Continue reading...French federation calls exclusion ‘a profound injustice’
World Boxing insists it warned all competitors of policy
French female boxers have been barred from competing at the inaugural World Boxing Championships in Liverpool after failing to meet a deadline for a genetic sex test that the French boxing federation (FFBoxe) said was incompatible with French law.
World Boxing, which issued a list of competitors for Thursday’s opening rounds with no French entrants included, said it would not comment on individual cases but added it had warned all federations of the policy.
Continue reading...Olympic boxing body stands firm over new testing rules
Gold medalist has appealed to Cas over eligibility bar
Imane Khelif has the right to appeal against World Boxing’s decision barring her from events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing but the Algerian has not entered the world championships in Liverpool, the World Boxing president, Boris van der Vorst, has said.
World Boxing, which will oversee the tournaments at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions in May, less than a year after Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting won gold in Paris amid a gender-eligibility row.
Continue reading...Juventus win 1-0 against Genoa after Vlahovic header
VAR drama mars Barcelona’s draw with Rayo Vallecano
Inter were handed a shock 2-1 loss at home to Udinese in Serie A despite taking the lead through Denzel Dumfries as the visitors responded with two goals before the break on Sunday.
Cristian Chivu’s side won their opening game 5-0 at home to Torino but looked well off that form despite opening the scoring in the 17th minute when Dumfries tapped in from a Marcus Thuram pass in the box.
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