Category: 6. Sports

Samoa have described Saturday’s Rugby World Cup match against England, the hosts and favourites, as “mission impossible”; it would rank as one of the biggest ever upsets should they somehow manage to beat the Red Roses.

Samoa are 14 places below England in the world rankings and, while the Red Roses have been fully professional for more than five years, Samoa are yet to introduce full-time contracts. In their opening matches of this tournament England beat the USA 69-7, while Samoa lost 73-0 to Australia.

The different situation the teams find themselves in is something the England players are aware of and the back-row Abi Burton, who will make her World Cup debut, hopes this tournament will boost opportunities for every nation. “They are inspirational women,” she said of Samoa. “I think the different types of women who have come to this World Cup is unbelievable but they all come because they love rugby.

“That is one thing we all share. It’s really special for them to be able to share their story and it does make you reflect on what we have and how much rugby has grown in this country. How we have the opportunities we do.

“Hopefully this World Cup will give everybody more opportunities in their nations. Hopefully it will go up a level here, up a level in Spain, up a level in Samoa. That is what we want to do. We want to make it go up another level for everybody.”

The Red Roses have not gone with a full-strength team in Northampton, making 13 changes from their opener. This was always the plan; the head coach, John Mitchell, communicates his team news to players as early as possible and the thinking is to give everyone game time early in the tournament. The squad will have achieved that bar one player, Holly Aitchison, who has been injured and will hope to make an appearance against Australia next Saturday.

No matter who is on the team sheet, England have been formidable in their 28-game winning streak but the attack coach Lou Meadows says there is still more to come. “I would hope to think there are always things you haven’t seen because we are constantly trying to improve and test our game, tactically switch up as much as possible,” Meadows said, before singling out the fly-half Helena Rowland.

“It’s special to work with someone like Helena and the rest of the back line are electric, as well as our very mobile forwards. We’ve got an opportunity here to really play the picture in front of us.

“We have not really seen a lot of what Samoa can do because WXV [the tournament held outside World Cup years] footage doesn’t reveal too much. They have worked really hard on their game and we are really excited for the opportunity they have got in this tournament. I think it is going to be an opportunity again for us to test another side to our game to prove we can physically dominate still against a side like Samoa but equally how we can adapt to the pictures in front of us.”

The two nations have played each other only twice before, with England winning on both occasions: 53-0 in 2005 and 65-3 in 2014. Marlie Packer and Natasha Hunt are the only two players in England’s matchday 23 to have played Samoa, in the victory at the 2014 World Cup. None of the Samoa players have faced the Red Roses.

Mitchell said for nations such as Samoa it is less about what the scoreline says and more about the performance and pride of playing for their country on a World Cup stage. Nothing epitomised that more than the viral video of Samoa’s Fa’asua Makisi after the team’s loss against Australia.

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Makisi’s mother, Petra, flew from New Zealand to surprise Makisi, getting off the plane at 8am and travelling straight to the Pool A match in Manchester. The player’s reaction was complete shock and she burst into tears when she spotted her mum post-match.

“She was holding up a flag behind her and I screamed,” Makisi said. “It was a natural response. I couldn’t believe she was here in England and I fully had an emotional breakdown in front of the crowd.

“My mum has been my rock and she’s been one of the main reasons I’ve been able to come here and to see her here was really overwhelming, but happy tears for sure! Being the type of supporter my mum is, she will be here for all of our pool games and until we go home.”

Samoa also believe this tournament is an opportunity for the players to be offered a chance to play for Premiership Women’s Rugby teams. Bella Milo, the Samoa defence coach, said: “I think for them to be able to gain experience overseas would be awesome. In order for us to play at that level, being able to play against players from here and also being able to be looked after in terms of a PWR contract and the facilities they have, I think our players would be able to continue to grow and hopefully bring those opportunities back to Samoa.”

England are expected to win but the margin will become the focus as the game goes on. The record score at a women’s Rugby World Cup is the Black Ferns’ 134-6 victory over Germany in 1998. It is one record that the competition will not want to see broken on Saturday.

Toto Wolff has said he would welcome something of a Formula One supergroup returning to the sport in the form of Christian Horner, Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore potentially uniting to buy the Alpine team.

When asked at the Dutch Grand Prix what he thought of the concept, albeit a somewhat unlikely proposition despite rumours persisting that Horner is interested in purchasing Alpine if he can obtain the substantial financial backing required, the Mercedes principal was all in favour.

“If there was such an exciting project, these three guys coming together, all of the mafia reunited, that would give good content. The shark mafia. Three sharks,” Wolff said.

Horner was recently sacked by his Red Bull team and Ecclestone, F1’s long-term ringmaster and chief executive, has not been directly involved since Liberty media took over the sport in 2017. Briatore is executive adviser to the Alpine team and close friends with Ecclestone and Horner.

“That would be an exciting story and would create lots of buzz around Formula One,” Wolff added. “ I think we need that and Formula One has always been about the best racing with exciting drivers and great personalities. When you look back at the grand era of team owners and team principals around Frank Williams and Ron Dennis, Flavio, Luca di Montezemolo – maybe we need to work on that.”

On track in first practice at Zandvoort, McLaren maintained their hold on the front of the field with Lando Norris just having the edge over his teammate Oscar Piastri by two-tenths of a second, on a blustery, chilly day on the North Sea coast. Rain repeatedly swept across the circuit, weather that is expected to remain over the weekend including on Sundaytomorrow, and may yet play its part in the race.

Red Bull’s struggles remained all too clear at Max Verstappen’s home circuit, where he has traditionally been so strong, with three wins from the past four races. The Dutchman managed only sixth in first practice, almost a second off Norris and he also slid off track as the session closed.

In the afternoon session, with running limited due to crashes by Lance Stroll and Alex Albon, Norris was again on top, eight-hundredths in front of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with Piastri third, Verstappen fifth and Lewis Hamilton in sixth.

Honda opened the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with back-to-back victories on oval tracks. Alex Palou claimed his first career oval win May 25 at the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, followed by Kyle Kirkwood’s breakthrough victory June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Christian Rasmussen became the third driver to earn his first oval win this season, capturing victory in last Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.

Pato O’Ward and Palou added wins in July at Iowa Speedway.

Last year at Nashville Superspeedway, Andretti Global’s Colton Herta earned his maiden oval victory in the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot.

Of the nine previous INDYCAR SERIES races held at Nashville Superspeedway, the winners have combined for seven Indianapolis 500 victories and 14 series championships. Only Alex Barron and Herta have won here without going on to achieve either milestone.

Here’s a look at the top drivers to watch in this Sunday’s 225-lap race (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Favorites

Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet)

Newgarden’s 2025 oval season has been filled with misfortune: Mechanical failure while running in the top five at the Indy 500 led to a 22nd-place result, followed by a crash while leading at WWTR that wasn’t his fault. He earned a second-place qualifying effort and third-place finish at Nashville last year and enters this race off a seventh-place showing in Milwaukee.

Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet)

McLaughlin (photo, above) finished fifth at Nashville in 2024. His oval finishes this season have been inconsistent: 30th, 24th, fourth, 26th, and third, respectively, but he enters with three straight top-10 finishes on the season.

Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)

O’Ward finished second to Herta at Nashville last year. His 2025 oval résumé includes podiums in the Indy 500 (third), WWTR (second) and Iowa-1 (first), plus fifth at Iowa-2 and Milwaukee. He trails only Palou by just 13 points in oval standings.

Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)

Dixon (photo, above) placed 17th at Nashville last year but previously dominated the track with three consecutive wins (2006-08). This season, he has four top-10 finishes in five oval starts and ranks fifth in oval points.

Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)

Palou finished 11th in his Nashville debut in 2024, while focused on securing the championship. In 2025, he’s been stellar on ovals: wins at the Indy 500 and Iowa-2, plus finishes of fifth (Iowa 1), eighth (WWTR) and second (Milwaukee). With the championship clinched and only he and Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dixon and Kyffin Simpson testing here a few weeks ago, he’s THE favorite.

Sleepers

David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet)

Malukas finished second in the Indy 500 and led the most laps at WWTR before a late error dropped him to 12th. He also earned a top-five finish at Iowa-2 and placed eighth last week in Milwaukee. He was ninth at Nashville in 2024 and ranks fourth this season in oval points.

Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet)

Rasmussen (photo, above) has top-10 finishes in all five oval races this year. He won at Milwaukee, finished sixth in the Indy 500, third at WWTR and posted sixth and eighth at Iowa. He ranks third in oval points (168).

Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)

Herta (photo, top) is the defending Nashville winner, but it remains his only career oval victory. His 2025 oval finishes of 14th, 17th, 13th, 20th and 11th, respectively, suggest he enters this year’s race as more of a longshot than favorite.

Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 ROOT Insurance Honda)

This car finished ninth at Nashville last year with Malukas driving. Armstong (photo, above) has stepped up this season driving this machine for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian. He has four top-10 results in his last five oval starts, including a third-place at Iowa-2. He ranks seventh in oval points.

Conor Daly (No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet)

Daly qualified sixth and finished 10th at Nashville in 2024. His 2025 oval campaign has been solid: finishes of eighth, sixth, seventh, 16th and 13th. He ranks ninth in oval points this season.

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It may be only the second week of the Rugby World Cup but it is win or bust for so many teams this weekend and few games have that feeling more than the USA’s showdown with Australia in York on Saturday evening.

In many ways, this is the game of the round: and perhaps the tournament so far. The two sides began in contrasting fashion but there were few surprises in that regard, with Australia racking up a record score in defeating Samoa and the United States coming up short against tournament favourites and hosts England on the opening night.

Victory for the Wallaroos in York would guarantee qualification with a round to go, assuming England defeat Samoa on Saturday. In the Pacific Four series this year, Australia ran out winners by 27-19 and on paper at least would be considered favourites to progress. But while a performance similar to last weekend’s opener would be satisfying , head coach Jo Yapp is clear about the one thing which matters above all else. “The difference this week is it’s all about the win,” she said.

“If it’s not pretty, that’s OK, but it’s about getting the win this week and we know that.” Yapp will still be without captain Siokapesi Palu due to a foot problem that kept her out on the opening weekend, with the Wallaroos making four changes to the 23 that defeated Samoa so handsomely in Salford.

But the second-rower Michaela Leonard will retain her place and make her 40th Test appearance for Australia, becoming only the third player to hit that landmark. “She’s just a really professional athlete in her approach to everything,” Yapp said. “That has then allowed her to achieve what she’s achieving this weekend.”

While Australia are looking for much of the same again on Saturday, for the USA, they are already in now-or-never territory.

Defeat by England was hardly a surprise but it was always going to inevitably pile the pressure on this fixture, which had been earmarked by everyone as an early knockout fixture. The winner of this game most likely qualifies for the quarter-finals.

That is a point clearly not lost on the USA coach, Sione Fukofuka. He has made a staggering nine changes to the side that were beaten by England with a big-name omission too, as the centre and veteran of three Olympics Alev Kelter is dropped from the 23 entirely. “There were always going to be some changes,” Fukofuka said in the run-up to the game.

“If we perform well, get the result, we’ll earn ourselves the opportunity to play beyond the pool stages. Obviously it’s a must-win game so we’ve got to try and make some clear decisions around our opposition so there was a bit of a plan in place and then obviously some injuries.”

Emily Henrich will move in from the wing to replace Kelter and partner Ilona Maher in the centres with Cheta Emba and Erica Coulibaly on the flanks. With the prospect of Samoa in the final round of fixtures next weekend, the USA know that if they can raise their game in York on Saturday, qualification will be within their grasp.

Lose, however, and their World Cup journey will be over before it has even really begun. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Wales are also in last chance saloon to make their mark on this tournament. Substantive changes to the lineup for their match in Salford against Canada on Saturday are a last-ditch effort to try and salvage their hopes, barely a week into the tournament for a team that reached the last eight in New Zealand at the last World Cup.

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A devastating 38-8 loss to Scotland – who were ranked lower than them at the time – has left their hopes hanging by a thread, effectively needing to upset second-ranked Canada in order to have a realistic chance of progress to the knockout stages.

The Wales coach, Sean Lynn, has reshuffled his lineup with seven changes to try to keep their hopes alive with Scotland fancied to beat outsiders Fiji in Saturday’s second game at the Salford Community Stadium in Pool B.

“All 23 players selected have been told to be brave and to have no regrets when they walk off the field on Saturday,” said Lynn.

Wales had already lost co-captains Alex Callender and Kate Williams to injury suffered against the Scots, meaning flanker Bethan Lewis captains for the first time as she wins her 60th cap.

Ireland’s head coach, Scott Bemand, has also made several changes to his starting XV for Sunday’s match against Spain in Northampton. Molly Scuffil-McCabe replaces Aoibheann Reilly at scrum-half, while Anna McGann is preferred to Beibhinn Parsons on the right wing.

Loosehead prop Ellena Perry, hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, lock Eimear Corri-Fallon, openside flanker Claire Boles and No 8 Grace Moore come into the pack but star player Aoife Wafer is still not fully fit to begin her campaign.

Bemand’s side launched their Pool C campaign with a 42-14 success over Japan and will secure qualification for the quarter-finals with a second successive bonus-point win at Franklin’s Gardens. Ireland conclude the pool stage on 7 September against defending champions New Zealand in Brighton.

• Full 2026 calendar in place with Le Mans Classic Legend confirmed for 2-5 July
• Information on eligible cars, classes and driver pairings also confirmed

Further details have been announced regarding the new GT3 Revival Series, which will launch in 2026 under the guidance of Peter Auto and SRO Motorsports Group.

The inaugural season will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the category, which has become one of the most popular forms of racing worldwide. Several surprises will help to celebrate this major milestone throughout the year.

The five-round calendar, revealed by Stéphane Ratel during his press conference at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, will showcase classic GT3 machinery at some of Europe’s premier venues. The date for Le Mans Classic has recently been confirmed by Peter Auto and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest as 2-5 July, meaning the complete schedule is now in place.

Eligible cars span the first eight years of GT3 competition and will be separated into two categories: those homologated between 2006 and 2009 represent Gen I, while cars from 2010–2013 make up Gen II. A total of four classes will compete on-track at the same time, with Pro-Am and Am for both generations.

The series will be open to drivers with an FIA categorisation of Gold, Silver or Bronze, with a distinction made within the latter group based on experience, age and past success. Gold and Silver drivers will be permitted to compete in the Pro-Am class, where they will share with a Bronze. In the Am class, two Bronze drivers may share a car or elect to race solo.

All cars will use Pirelli tyres, with four new sets provided for the opening round and three plus a carryover set available thereafter. Wet tyres will be unlimited. A pre-season test at Circuit Paul Ricard is scheduled for 3/4 March, while the option of at-event testing is also under consideration.

As was the case in period, SRO will be responsible for managing the category’s Balance of Performance. The global leader in this field will apply the same rigorous approach to GT3 Revival Series as it does with modern-day equivalents around the world, thus ensuring the fairest possible conditions for all competitors. 

Le Mans Classic will utilise a unique format comprising 170 minutes of track time. There will be two 35-minute qualifying sessions, with the fastest time per car across both setting the grid for a qualifying race. This in turn establishes the grid for the main race. All other rounds will comprise 220 minutes of track time, with 80 minutes of practice running, two 20-minute qualifying sessions and a pair of 50-minute races.

One-off entries for Le Mans Classic will be possible for competitors who have run at least one of the preceding rounds at Circuit Paul Ricard and Spa-Classic. The entry process is set to open on 15 October 2025 and close on 15 February 2026. 

The GT3 Revival Series represents the latest chapter in SRO and Peter Auto’s shared history. Stéphane Ratel and Patrick Peter organised their first race together in 1993 before establishing the BPR Global GT Series along with Jürgen Barth.

Drivers and teams looking for further information or who would like to register their interest should contact gt3revivalseries@peter.fr and mariagiovanna.piva@sro-motorsports.com.

Head coach John Mitchell’s goal at the start of this year was to develop the talent in his England squad in order to have “one team operating as two”.

Mitchell believed just one team was not enough to play 13 Test matches this year.

The New Zealander dislikes the word ‘rotation’ and instead strives for seamless transition between his two squads.

He used 34 players in this year’s Women’s Six Nations and still managed to secure a seventh consecutive title.

The Red Roses fielded their strongest side in the opening game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup and comfortably breezed past the United States 69-7.

Up next in Northampton are Pool A’s weakest side Samoa, whose part-time players have had to crowd-fund to take their place in the tournament.

It is the perfect opportunity for Mitchell to hand 13 different players their first games in this year’s tournament.

But while the squad changes, the standards remain high as Mitchell’s side close in on a place in the quarter-finals.

Driving those standards will be former skipper Marlie Packer, after captain Zoe Aldcroft was ruled out of the rest of the pool stage having sustained a knee injury against the US.

That is a prime example of why building depth was Mitchell’s priority.

“Once we earn the right, [Aldcroft] will be ready for the quarter-finals,” Mitchell told BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly.

“We are all very calm [around Aldcroft’s injury]. This is tournament rugby, you have to deal with what is chucked at you. Some people call it adversity.

“You just have to be ready.”

At the start of August, 13 of Saturday’s XV started the 97-7 thrashing of Spain, showing how ruthless both of Mitchell’s sides can be – but also how hard it is to stay in the team.

Utility back Helena Rowland, who scored a hat-trick of tries playing on the wing against Spain, starts at fly-half on Saturday having missed the opening World Cup game with an ankle injury.

The 25-year-old last started at fly-half against Italy in the opening game of this year’s Six Nations and guided the Red Roses to a 38-5 win.

The fly-half jersey has been occupied by specialists Zoe Harrison and Holly Aitchison, but with Aitchison unable to shake off an ankle injury that has kept her out of action this month, Rowland has been called in at 10 to help manage Harrison’s workload.

Harrison is back to her instrumental best, which helped guide England to the World Cup final in 2022, and needs to be protected for the bigger challenges ahead.

Rowland’s incisive running game makes the Samoa match well suited to the Loughborough Lightning back.

“Helena knows she is the most versatile person within the group. She’s highly valued,” Mitchell said.

“She’s sort of first on the team sheet in terms of 23. Zoe [Harrison] has carried a huge load in that area since the warm-up matches, so it’s good to get Helena going.

“If you look at this combination, the majority of them have played together against Italy, Spain and now they get the opportunity in the World Cup.”

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Britain’s official cycling body has apologised after accidentally censoring the name of a small Welsh village on its event listing.

Three Cocks, in Powys, hosted two stages of a junior road race last weekend.

But the British Cycling website listed the village as the word Three followed by five asterisks before later correcting the mistake.

A spokesperson said the system decided to inappropriately “spare our blushes” when it automatically censored the name of the village.

The village hosted stages one and two of the national series which took place over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Stage 1 was a 76km (47.5 miles) sprint circuit on rural roads around the village. The other featured a 10km (6 miles) time trial.

The other stages were held in neighbouring counties including Monmouthshire and Blaenau Gwent.

British Cycling said: “We apologise for this accidental censorship which was caused by some overly sensitive filters on our website.

“Whilst it’s great to see this fantastic event getting such national attention, we’ll be having a serious look at the new systems we’re implementing to ensure that technology doesn’t override common sense in future!”