‘Long overdue’: England players finally follow in footsteps of giants | Aaron Bower

First series against Australia since 2003 starts on Saturday and there is no shortage of motivation for the home side

The pantheon of players who have represented England and Great Britain in the past 22 years is a modern‑day who’s who of the game. Sam Burgess, James Graham, Sean O’Loughlin, James Roby … the list is long, storied and impressive.

You could argue there is plenty dividing those players, not least their ferocious rivalries at club level in Super League. But the one thing they have in common is that they were never able to represent their country in the most intense series of them all, the Ashes. Since 2003 the concept has been on hiatus but, finally, on Saturday it returns in some style.

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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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New Zealand v England: final men’s T20 abandoned – as it didn’t happen

England’s T20 series against New Zealand finishes on a rather damp note but the tourists claim 1-0 win

Here we go! That’s tough on the two Tims, who had made a rollicking start.

After three balls: NZ 8-0 (Seifert 8, Robinson 0) Wood’s first ball is an inswinger that swings all the way to the square-leg boundary, with an easy nudge from Tim Seifert. The second ball is a dot, and the third is another four – a full toss, thumped through the covers. But then …

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Felipe Mora double leads Timbers over RSL and into MLS Playoffs’ next round

  • Justen Glad scores for RSL after two from Mora

  • Kamal Miller header seals result for Phil Neville’s side

Felipe Mora’s first-half brace halted an extended dry spell and helped lift the Portland Timbers to a 3-1 victory over visiting Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference wild-card game on Wednesday night.

Kamal Miller’s late header gave eighth-seeded Portland some insurance as the Timbers sealed a first-round series meeting with Western Conference No 1 San Diego FC. The best-of-three set will begin Sunday in Southern California.

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Chicago Fire brush aside Orlando City to win first MLS playoff game since 2009

  • Hugo Cuypers scores twice to win Wild Card match

  • Chicago advances to face Philadelphia in Round 1

Hugo Cuypers recorded a second-half brace and the Chicago Fire picked up their first playoff win in 16 years with a dominating 3-1 triumph over Orlando City in an Eastern Conference wild-card match on Wednesday night in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Brian Gutiérrez also scored for the eighth-seeded Fire, who ended the longest playoff-victory drought in MLS history. It also was Chicago’s first postseason match since 2017.

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