Late Dainton try sees Wales beat debutants Scotland
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
England flanker Marlie Packer avoids ban for World Cup opener after red card
England have been given a boost with Marlie Packer cleared to feature in their Rugby World Cup opener after receiving a one-match ban for a red card. Packer was sent off for a dangerous clearout having been deemed to have targeted the lower leg of a Spanish player during the Red Roses ' 97-7 warm-up win at Welford Road. Her dismissal led to fears that the 35-year-old flanker would be unavailable for the opening game of the upcoming tournament against the United States in Sunderland on Friday 22 August. But Packer has received only a short ban, which will be served for next week's game against France in Mont-de-Marsan, and be eligible for selection come the start of the tournament. Packer was given a two-match ban, with the sanction cut in half after full mitigation was considered. A World Rugby statement said: 'Packer's actions were reckless, and although the initial contact was on the Spanish player's back, the secondary movement resulted in significant body weight being placed on the Spanish player's leg/knee. The committee also noted that the Spanish player avoided injury.' The veteran, a World Cup winner in 2014, skippered the side in Leicester despite losing the full-time captaincy to lock Zoe Aldcroft at the start of the year, and produced an impressive performance before her ruck misdeed. for England boss John Mitchell entering the tournament. The vastly experienced Alex Matthews, breakthrough star Maddie Feaunati, all-action openside Sadia Kabeya and Abi Burton, a former sevens stalwart, are the other specialist back rows in the squad alongside Packer. Captain Aldcroft and fellow lock Morwenna Talling can also feature across the back row.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Lions star Bundee Aki reveals he missed arrival of his daughter during Australia tour after wife gave birth in a CAR
BUNDEE AKI has revealed he became a dad again during the Lions' series win in Australia — with his wife giving birth in a car. The Irish centre held his hands up on his shocker in Sydney on Saturday in a 22-12 defeat, which saw the tourists miss the chance of a Wallaby whitewash. 3 3 After the Lions failed to clinch a series clean sweep, Aki then announced he had become a father for the fifth time two weeks ago. The 35-year-old has yet to meet new daughter Aine, who was born in the build-up to the opening Test win in Brisbane. Wife Kayla was in New Zealand with family when she got in touch to say she was ready to give birth before he helped the Lions to a 27-19 triumph. Aki recalled: 'Credit to my wife. She's a powerful woman. I was in the hotel in Brisbane and I knew we were overdue. 'The missus calls me and she's like, 'My waters haven't broken but I'm going to the hospital, I'm feeling contractions'. 'Five minutes later, her waters broke. I was like, 'Are you almost there?' This is like 40 minutes away from the hospital, so I said, 'You'll be all right, Mum is there'. 'Ten minutes later, she video calls me and I was like, 'S**t, what's going on?' I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car. 'They're both healthy. I knew it was good juju and we were going to have a good day.' BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK All of Aki's kids have first names starting with the letter A — Armani-Jane, Adrianna, Andronicus, Ailbhe and now, Aine. But their old man admitted he put in nothing close to an A-star performance in Sydney as the Lions were mauled in a monsoon. The game was suspended after half-time for 38 minutes due to lightning, with the Aussies 8-0 up through Dylan Pietsch's try and a penalty. Finn Russell was spotted in the dressing room flicking through his phone and Aki had his feet up on a bean bag before play resumed. But the Wallabies struck twice after the delay to get the victory. Aki had his worst game in an international shirt but fronted up. He said: 'I wasn't great. It was a poor game but you have those days and you have to live with it. 'We won the series and that's all we came for. 'Now, I want to enjoy my break. I haven't seen my family for eight weeks. I have a newborn child I haven't met yet.' Australia got it over the line thanks to a turbo-charged display from lock Will Skelton, who was on the wind-up all match, and second-half tries from Max Jorgensen and Tate McDermott. Jac Morgan and Will Stuart crossed to give the Lions some consolation — but Skelton had shown the Aussies the way. Wallabies scrum-half Nic White said: 'For once, someone stood up to them.' 3
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'We'll be ready for Europe,' insists Brendan Rodgers after Celtic need late winner to see off St Mirren
Brendan Rodgers promised that Celtic will be ready to qualify for the Champions League despite labouring to an opening day win over St Mirren. The Parkhead men required Luke McCowan's deflected strike with three minutes left to avoid slipping up as they began the defence of their crown. Rodgers finds out tomorrow which side Celtic will face in the Champions League play-off, with Sturm Graz, Basel, Dynamo Kyiv, Slovan Bratislava, Kairat Almaty, Qarabag and Shkendija all possible opponents. Last Friday, on the back of a quiet summer to date, he challenged the club's board to match his ambition. But he remains confident the team will be to his liking come the first leg of the £40million shootout at the end of the month. 'We'll be ready for the games,' he said. 'The players are working very hard. They are always tense games but we're in a good place and we'll take that game on when it comes. 'I'm feeling really good. The players are shaping up very well. There's real spirit and solidarity in the team. Whoever we get, it's going to be tough, but it will also be tough for them. And we'll accept whatever challenge comes.' Rodgers took a straight bat to questions over whether his team's solitary goal against St Mirren underlined the need to add more quality in forward areas. 'We got into a lot of good areas,' he said. 'We'll always take the game to the final third of the pitch, but we created a lot today. 'You have to give credit to the goalkeeper (St Mirren's Shamal George). He made some great saves. We were creative, dominated the game. 'To win the first game is always good and I'm absolutely pleased with the performance. 'St Mirren are such a hard team to break down. You have to be aware of the threat on the counter-attack, the physicality at set-pieces.' Asked if his side could have had three or four goals on another day, the Celtic manager said: 'I think everyone who was at the game or watched it on TV would say that. Sometimes you need a wee bit of good fortune as well. We didn't quite have that, but some of them hit the post and the bar.' Kieran Tierney's competitive return was cut short amid fears he had suffered another injury, but Rodgers revealed the defender was only suffering from cramp. 'He got a great reception and you see the qualities he has,' he said. 'He had a wee bit of cramp at the end. 'He hasn't played a lot of football. We need to build him and his fitness.' Manchester City defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was at the game, with a one-year loan deal now all but agreed. 'We're still waiting for clearance on that one,' said Rodgers. 'But he's up here ready for the move.' Saints boss Stephen Robinson felt his side gave an extremely good account of themselves. 'It was disappointing because we lost to a deflection,' he said. 'Our level of performance showed when Celtic were trying to waste time in the last five minutes of the game. Defensively, we were superb.'
