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Mitchell return instrumental to England’s Six Nations revival

Scrum-half’s contribution during the end of France win justified faith in giving Northampton man full 80 minutes

It wasn’t just the way Steve Borthwick used his bench that shaped England’s victory over France, it was the way he didn’t use it, too. Instead of bringing on Harry Randall, Borthwick backed Alex Mitchell to play a full 80 minutes, something he hasn’t allowed any scrum-half to do since Mitchell last did it during England’s tour of New Zealand.

Mitchell missed most of the intervening games while he was recovering from a neck injury, including the three defeats in the autumn when Borthwick chopped and changed between Randall, Ben Spencer and Jack van Poortvliet in the interim.

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European football: Bellingham says his red card was wrong after Madrid draw

  • Carlo Ancelotti also unhappy after Osasuna claim point
  • Napoli and Atalanta held, Milan win, PSG march on

Jude Bellingham said that he was wrongly sent off and Carlo Ancelotti was left fuming over several refereeing decisions after Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Osasuna, extending the visitors’ winless La Liga run to three games.

Bellingham said of the 39th-minute incident: “I do not want to go into the details of what was said, but I didn’t insult the referee and I hope they review the footage because it was a misunderstanding, but I am here to apologise to the team anyways.”

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NASCAR disqualifies Kligerman for too-low truck after flag-planting win at Daytona. He is appealing

Full-time television analyst and part-time NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman claimed the checkered flag for the Truck Series season opener and promptly planted it in the grass by the Daytona International Speedway logo. It's a winning tradition that journeyman Kligerman had done for all three of his truck wins, the first back at Talladega in 2012. Corey Heim was declared the new winner, and the adjustment to the standings gave actor Frankie Muniz his first career top-10 finish.

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Omar Marmoush’s rapid Manchester City hat-trick demolishes Newcastle

Omar Marmoush arrived in the winter window as a 20-goal forward for Eintracht Frankfurt and against Newcastle emphatically showed why, via a scintillating 14-minute first-half hat-trick that tore the opposition apart. For the Egyptian and Manchester City, joy; for the visitors, despair, as they were sent home reeling, on the back of a 16th consecutive Premier League reverse here.

At the break, a home fan suggested it was “the best first 45 minutes I’ve seen all season”: he was not far wrong, because when City are performing like this you see how Pep Guardiola might revive his embattled champions.

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