‘Have you forgotten everything?’ Mainz fans’ fury at Klopp’s Red Bull move

  • Fans of Klopp’s former club display banners at game
  • Kane hat-trick sinks Stuttgart; Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid

Jürgen Klopp has been criticised by fans of his former club Mainz for his decision to join the energy drinks company Red Bull and oversee its network of clubs. Mainz supporters held banners during their team’s Bundesliga game against Leipzig – a Red Bull-backed club – in which they addressed their former hero.

“Have you forgotten everything we gave you?” asked one huge banner behind one of the goals, referring to Klopp’s tearful farewell speech when he left the club after 18 years as a player and coach in 2008.

Continue reading...

The Lion king in waiting? Why Ireland’s new talisman Caelan Doris fits the bill

The country boy from Lacken who is now a world-class No 8 on enjoying captaincy, a fascination with psychology and his penchant for hot yoga

It will be another six months before Andy Farrell finally has to choose his British & Irish Lions captain for the 2025 expedition to Australia. Plenty of time for the landscape to change and, theoretically, for one or two surprise contenders to emerge from the shrubbery. Until, that is, you sit down with the staggeringly impressive Caelan Doris and realise there is little need for Farrell to look anywhere else.

A bold prediction? Hardly. It is not rocket science that a world-class player with the universal respect of his peers, a university degree in psychology and a warm smile might just fit the bill. Ireland have produced some illustrious Lions captains in the pro era, from Brian O’Driscoll to Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony, and another top-drawer candidate lurks quietly in the wings.

Continue reading...

‘Very special’: Archibald makes golden return at Cycling World Championships

  • Rider helps Great Britain defend team pursuit title
  • Archibald missed Paris Olympics with serious leg injuries

Katie Archibald struck gold on her return from serious leg injuries as Great Britain successfully defended the women’s team pursuit title at the Cycling World Championships in Denmark.

Archibald’s hopes of more Olympic success in Paris were dashed when she suffered a fractured tibia and fibula, dislocated ankle and ligament damage in a freak accident when stumbling over a step in her garden in June.

Continue reading...

India crumble to 46 against New Zealand for lowest Test score at home

  • Matt Henry takes five for 15 at the first Test in Bengaluru
  • Rohit Sharma’s side record nation’s third lowest Test total

India collapsed to their lowest Test total on home soil after Matt Henry and William O’Rourke helped New Zealand dismiss the hosts for only 46 runs on the second day of the first match in Bengaluru.

After the opening day was washed out by rain, India immediately regretted their decision to bat first as the seamers took centre stage. Henry claimed five for 15, while O’Rourke returned four for 22 to condemn Rohit Sharma’s side to their third lowest five-day total, only just surpassing the 36 they made in Australia in 2020 and 42 in England 50 years ago.

Continue reading...

AFL trade period: Bailey Smith heads to Geelong as deadline day ends with flurry of deals

  • Moves for Jake Stringer, Luke Parker, Tom Barrass sealed in last hour
  • Tigers armed with suite of picks after Bolton joins Dockers, Rioli to Suns

Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith will go to Geelong after a last-gasp AFL trade was struck. With about five minutes left before the 7.30pm AEDT deadline on Wednesday night, news came through that the deal had been struck after months of expectation. Also in the last hour of the trade period, Essendon forward Jake Stringer was offloaded to GWS after it had appeared that deal had fallen through.

Tom Barrass goes from West Coast to Hawthorn, Luke Parker and Jacob Konstanty have departed Sydney to join North Melbourne, and Caleb Daniel also joins the Kangaroos from the Bulldogs. In other late trades, James Peatling heads from GWS to Adelaide and Jack Macrae finally has his wish, of leaving the Bulldogs for St Kilda.

Continue reading...

Alphonse Le Grande loses Cesarewitch after jockey breaches whip rules

  • Apprentice Jamie Powell banned from riding for 28 days
  • Manxman promoted to first place after BHA ruling

“There is simply no excuse for using the whip four times or more above the permitted level [of six],” Brant ­Dunshea, the British ­Horseracing Authority’s chief regulatory officer, said on Tuesday, after the ­regulator’s whip review committee had ­disqualified Alphonse Le Grande and Jamie Powell from first place in the ­Cesarewitch Handicap at ­Newmarket on Saturday. “[Disqualification] sends a clear message that we do not tolerate misuse of the whip.”

But if it is not excusable then the fact that Powell has now been stripped of the most valuable and high-profile success of his career is, to some extent at least, explicable.

Continue reading...

FA Cup first round: MK Dons to host AFC Wimbledon among standout ties

  • League One leaders Birmingham to visit Sutton
  • Weston-super-Mare head up to Bristol Rovers

MK Dons will host AFC Wimbledon in the first round of the FA Cup. The two sides will go head to head in the all-League Two affair at Stadium MK next month, having already faced each other in the league this season, Wimbledon winning 3-0.

The League One leaders Birmingham were drawn away at National League club Sutton, while Wrexham, second in the table behind Birmingham, will travel to Harrogate. Bristol Rovers will host their near neighbours Weston-super-Mare of the National League South.

Continue reading...

Ryder Cup accused of pricing fans out of Bethpage Black due to $750 day tickets

  • Standard tickets for Rome last year cost just over £200
  • Online backlash over price hike for New York edition

Golf fans seeking to attend the Ryder Cup next year through the event’s “random selection” process face being charged $750 for day tickets for the competition proper. The cost of attending Bethpage Black in New York, where Europe are seeking to defend the trophy won in Rome last year, is only likely to increase the sense the Ryder Cup is pricing out ordinary golf fans as it moves towards the corporate classes. The online backlash has proved fierce.

Those who have not already bought Bethpage tickets can register for free via the Ryder Cup’s official site for the random allocation. Successful applicants for the event next September will be informed by early next month. Only single tickets for each day have been made available although those picked via the ballot may be able to buy up to four, if they can afford them.

Continue reading...

‘It’s been an incredible ride’: Wales and Lions centre Jonathan Davies retires

  • Davies won 96 caps and two grand slams for Wales
  • Centre played six Tests for British and Irish Lions

The former Wales, British and Irish Lions and Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies has announced his retirement from professional rugby.

The 36-year-old, who won 96 caps for Wales, left Scarlets at the end of the 2023-24 season having scored 55 tries in 209 appearances across two spells for the Welsh region.

Continue reading...

Now one of rugby league’s greatest sides, what next for Wigan Warriors? | Aaron Bower

This all-conquering team have cemented a place in the game’s folklore, but there will be no resting on their clean sweep this season

If there is one man who knows a thing or two about building a sporting dynasty, it is Sir Alex Ferguson. To that end, had we known the legendary Manchester United manager was the one to deliver Wigan Warriors’ motivational speech on the eve of the Super League Grand Final, the result would have felt like a formality before a ball had been kicked.

After all, it is not like this most outstanding of rugby league sides needs any additional help. Matt Peet’s team completed a historic quadruple with victory against Hull KR at Old Trafford on Saturday night. The first clean sweep of the Super League era and only the second in nearly a century.

Continue reading...

Katie Archibald: ‘My job satisfaction is a 10. The rest of my life is definitely not’

Katie Archibald, who returns to racing for GB at the worlds in Denmark, is eyeing the LA Olympics despite being upended by the death of her partner and a horrific injury

Katie Archibald reflects on the differences between sport, life and death with such moving insight that I have to look away. So much raw ­feeling is etched into her face, as her eyes fill with tears, that it seems intrusive to just sit and see such pain. I touch her arm lightly in attempted reassurance and then try to turn ­discreetly to the gleaming pine track where the GB men’s team pursuit squad race past at blurring speed.

The soft hiss of their bikes makes an eerie sound at the Manchester Velodrome as they prepare for the track world championships, which begin in Ballerup, Denmark on Wednesday. Archibald, a five-time world champion who won gold at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, will compete in the women’s team pursuit and Madison. Even being on the track will be an incredible achievement.

Continue reading...

The Ineos Effect: hit and miss as Jim Ratcliffe’s tentacles have gone global

Ratcliffe has built an empire of assets across different sports but his teams have enjoyed varying degrees of success

Should Sir Ben Ainslie’s crew achieve the seemingly impossible and bring home the America’s Cup it will be the biggest sporting triumph yet for Ineos, whose tentacles now lie across the elite landscape in six disciplines. Despite heavy investment and the oversight of Sir Dave Brailsford it has been a mixed bag so far for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company; they have struggled to make their mark in Formula One and cycling, while it may take a superhuman effort to restore Manchester United to greatness.

They have encountered accusations of using sport to airbrush environmental concerns around their business. Ending Britain’s 136-year wait for sailing’s most vaunted prize would, in the short term at least, guarantee favourable headlines.

Continue reading...