France’s Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jégou arrested on sexual assault charges

  • Players currently on Les Bleus’ South America tour
  • FFR president says an investigation is under way

Two France international rugby players have been arrested after an allegation of sexual assault was made against them during Les Bleus’ South America tour. The president of the the French rugby federation’ (FFR), Florian Grill, told reporters in Buenos Aires that if the facts are proven they are “incredibly serious”.

The two players – the 20-year-old Pau lock Hugo Auradou and the La Rochelle flanker Oscar Jégou, 21 – are set to be taken from the Argentinian capital to Mendoza, where the alleged incident happened. Mendoza staged the first Test between Argentina and France on Saturday, when Auradou and Jégou both started.

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Bagnaia tops MotoGP standings after Martín crashes out in Germany

  • Martín slid off track with two laps to go
  • Brothers Marc and Álex Márquez finish second and third

Ducati’s reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia went top of the MotoGP championship after winning the German Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Marc Márquez after title rival Jorge Martín crashed while he was leading the race with two laps to go.

Márquez’s brother Álex finished third to make it two brothers on a MotoGP podium for the first time since Japan’s Nobuatsu and Takuma Aoki finished second and third in Imola 27 years ago.

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South Africa hold firm to seal narrow win over Ireland in pulsating first Test

  • South Africa 27-20 Ireland
  • Late tries from Murray and Baird not enough for tourists

The Ireland wing James Lowe went from hero to zero as the world champions, South Africa, underlined their status as Test rugby’s top-ranked nation with a gripping 27-20 win in Pretoria.

Lowe produced a sensational offload to set up a debut try for Jamie Osborne and thought he had brought Andy Farrell’s men level with a superb breakaway score in the second half.

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A racing certainty? What a Labour government would mean for the sport

British Horseracing Authority says it has been preparing for a change of government for many months

Few could have guessed when the field came under starter’s orders for the general election in May that betting and the Gambling Commission would turn out to be such fixtures on the daily news grid. Or, for that matter, that Keir Starmer would suggest, in response to a question on his political punting habits, that he “only bets on the horses”.

Assuming the price of around 1-33 is correct and that a Labour administration with a significant majority takes the reins this week, that may well prove to be the first and last significant mention of the turf – or gambling, for that matter – by a member of the new government for some while.

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Blues beat Chiefs to break 21-year Super Rugby title drought

  • The Blues sweep aside the Chiefs in a 41-10 drubbing at Eden Park
  • It was the first final between the NZ sides in their 28-year history

The Blues have broken a 21-year Super Rugby title drought, sweeping aside the Chiefs in a 41-10 drubbing at a sold-out Eden Park.

In the first ever final between the two New Zealand sides in their 28-year history, the Blues were dominant.

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The Breakdown | Ireland and South Africa should be mates but have rugby’s hottest rivalry

Next month’s Test double-header on South African soil will write a new chapter in an increasingly rancorous struggle

No sooner had Ireland claimed a 13-8 win over South Africa in the Rugby World Cup last year – an epic tussle in a tournament littered with all-time encounters – a thumping rendition of the Cranberries’ Zombie rang out around Stade de France. The song’s connections with the Troubles, the IRA and Ireland’s struggle for peace was lost on most South African fans that sweaty Saturday night in Paris. Their primary reaction to Ireland’s adopted anthem was rage.

“What’s in your heeeeaad, in your heeeeeeeaaaaad!” It was hard for them not to feel this was meant as a jibe; that the Irish, who have never seen their players lift the sport’s most glittering trophy, who had never even seen them reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, were rubbing South African noses in their success. That their No 1-ranked team had wormed their way into the subconscious of every South African by relegating the Boks to a stepping stone on their march to glory. The face of Rassie Erasmus, South African rugby’s god-king, said it all. He was seething. What was a friendly rivalry had now become personal.

This is an extract taken from our weekly rugby union email, the Breakdown. To sign up, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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