The Guardian

The expansion club’s recruiting spree has been aided by generous tax breaks with the goal to assemble a competitive roster from day one As Brian To’o ran away to score a try and seal victory for the Panthers in Sunday’s qualification final against the Roosters, rugby league fans in Papua New Guinea had almost as much reason to celebrate as those from Penrith. The 28-year-old winger showed he was …

Inter and Roma lead Serie A, Como move up to third Real Betis beat struggling Villarreal in La Liga Inter fought back ⁠from two goals down ​to beat Udinese 5-3 on Monday, maintaining their perfect Serie A start alongside Roma , who won 2-0 at Torino before Saturday’s match between ⁠the joint leaders. Both sides have 12 points from four matches and share top spot before their encounter at the Stad…

All Blacks were valiant in 3-1 series defeat but Springboks sent another warning to rest of the world in Baltimore What is the enduring image of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series? The Springboks put the exclamation mark on their status as World Cup favourites by wrapping up the series 3-1 with victory in Baltimore on Saturday , but in months and years to come where will the mind immediately go when…

New Test head coach’s arrival and Root’s calming influence as captain add to promising signs in the post-Stokes era As Joe Root calmly ran the rule over the Test summer and reeled off the ways in which it had been “chaos”, “unusual” and “unsettling” for England, it felt telling that first among them was Ben Stokes calling time on his international career during a match and a series that were both…

New world No 1’s relationship with her previously banned coach, Stefano Vukov, remains under spotlight despite her rise to the top In the bitter aftermath of her straight-sets defeat by Elena Rybakina at the WTA Finals last November, an inconsolable Aryna Sabalenka walked over to her courtside player box and slumped into a chair. She had been completely overpowered by her opponent, a strange and …

Refereeing is now an impossible job owing to the culture of micro-analysis the Arsenal manager has helped to create A gentleman is never rude unintentionally, only by design. Nobody really knows who said this first. But it could easily be a line from the Elite Football Manager’s Guide to Press Conferences (Premier League edition). Because nothing happens by accident in these spaces. Every word sp…

The inaugural Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup was a special occasion not just for the teenagers playing on Lord’s hallowed turf, but for the English game as a whole State-school cricket has had its day at Lord’s, at last. On a ground that has this summer hosted men’s and women’s international Tests, the Women’s T20 World Cup final and the Hundred finals, on Thursday four school teams played in front o…

The Red Roses star with the famous curls on her shock Harlequins exit and why she can’t look too far ahead ‘because I will lose where my feet are’ Ellie Kildunne has almost a decade’s worth of experience in an England shirt. Her gamechanging moments have propelled her into the spotlight and helped England’s winning dominance, including last year’s World Cup title. The attention that brings is on …

Tottenham visit Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round Spurs are winless in 17 visits and yet to score a league goal Roberto De Zerbi has no doubt Dominic Solanke will rediscover his best levels as the head coach made clear he had left no stone unturned in the mission to solve Tottenham’s goalscoring problem. Spurs go to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday after the 0-0 home draw with Evert…

Leeds United’s magnificent start to the Premier League season continued with a statement victory over an appalling Newcastle United to move the Whites up to third in the table and offer further evidence a European push may not be beyond them this season. After one of the most eye-­catching performances of the season so far, Leeds humiliated Newcastle on a night where Matthias Jassle was given a s…

American actor accused of sexualising women’s sports British sprinter Amy Hunt leads storm of protest The US actor Sydney Sweeney is facing a backlash from female Olympians and other athletes, who have accused her of demeaning and sexualising women’s sports by appearing in a controversial advert for a sports prediction company. In the viral commercial for Novig, which was viewed more than 22 mill…

Former England batter starts role with white-ball teams Fleming also ‘right person’ to take Test team forward Brendon McCullum has revealed that he was the driving force behind the recruitment of Kevin Pietersen as a specialist mentor to England’s white-ball teams and said the new arrival had specific orders to “look across the environment and challenge me”. Pietersen spent his first day in the r…

Despite the drama on the court, the poor condition of Arthur Ashe Stadium was just one problem among many At the end of another comically late night and early morning in Flushing Meadows, when the remaining spectators were departing, a familiar scene was unfolding on the US Open tournament grounds. A handful of workers had congregated directly beneath a hole in the ceiling inside one of the tourn…

Matt Donohue is only human and made a mistake, but overall referees have started well this season There was a disappointing outcome on a big decision in the Manchester derby and no one will feel it more than the video assistant referee, Matt Donohue. On Sunday night, Pro Ref confirmed that Donohue had made a mistake in allowing Erling Haaland’s goal in City’s 1-0 victory to stand when Enzo Fernán…

Flanker says: ‘You almost have to be quite selfish’ Northampton still confident 21-year-old will stay Henry Pollock insists he has not yet re-signed for Northampton Saints and is “open to every opportunity” including playing abroad and trying out other sports. The England back-row forward is still widely expected to agree a deal to remain at Franklin’s Gardens but, for now, is refusing to publicl…