Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast are on the brink of a humiliating exit from their own tournament after a shock 4-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea. Two more goals from Emilio Nsue, the hat-trick hero from the win against Guinea-Bissau, and strikes from Pablo Ganet and substitute Jannick Buyla left the Elephants with only […]
Brighton failed to score at home for the first time in 23 matches as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Wolves at the Amex Stadium. Albion dominated possession in a tetchy Premier League contest but lacked a cutting edge in attack. Wanderers captain Maximilian Kilman hit the frame of his own goal early […]
French club Racing 92 have confirmed England fly-half Owen Farrell will join them next season. The 32-year-old will leave Saracens after 15 seasons to move across the Channel after agreeing a two-year contract. Farrell, who is to miss the Six Nations in order to prioritise his mental well-being, will become ineligible for international selection due […]
Mohamed Salah’s muscle injury is “more serious than first thought” and could keep the Liverpool forward out of action for nearly a month, according to his agent. On Sunday, Liverpool announced the 31-year-old would be returning from the Ivory Coast, where he was representing Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations, to undergo treatment with […]
Gregor Townsend expects Jamie Ritchie to respond positively to losing the Scotland captaincy as he challenged the Edinburgh flanker to get back to “his top level” and book himself a starting berth for the opening Guinness Six Nations match away to Wales. The 27-year-old replaced Stuart Hogg as skipper for the 2022 autumn Tests and […]
Michael Carrick has urged Middlesbrough supporters to dream of Carabao Cup glory even if he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. Head coach Carrick, 42, will send his Sky Bet Championship side into semi-final, second-leg battle with Premier League Chelsea on Tuesday evening knowing they could be just 90 minutes away from Wembley […]
Warren Gatland says he is excited about developing a new generation of talent that will start with this season’s Guinness Six Nations campaign. Gatland has named five uncapped players in his squad for the tournament, with 21-year-old Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins taking over from an injured Jac Morgan as captain. Morgan and his World Cup […]
Ireland coach Andy Farrell hopes his inexperienced group of flyhalves have learned enough in the shadow of Johnny Sexton to stand up and make the number 10 jersey their own following the retirement of their hugely influential former captain. How Ireland fill the void at flyhalf following Sexton’s near unbroken 14-year run in the shirt […]
Steve Borthwick admits England’s recent record in the Guinness Six Nations is unacceptable having repeatedly failed to deliver on expectations. Borthwick offers a damning win ratio of only 50 per cent from the last six Championships – a sequence that has included two fifth-place finishes under his predecessor Eddie Jones – as evidence of underperformance. […]
Irish players put in strong performances in the Dutch Eredivisie, the Championship, League One and the Northern Ireland Premiership this week. Statistics compiled by Sofascore show the top two performers were Ronan Chapman Hale and David Odumosu, who both play for Cliftonville FC. Hale scored two goals in Cliftonville’s win over Ballymena, securing him a […]
A tearful Elina Svitolina was forced to retire with a back injury only three games into her fourth-round clash with Linda Noskova at the Australian Open. The former world number three, who has made a very impressive return following the birth of daughter Skai last year, appeared the favourite to make the final from a […]
British interest in the singles at the Australian Open ended with Cameron Norrie’s five-set defeat to Alexander Zverev in the fourth round. The 19th seed came agonisingly close to another upset but lost out in a deciding tie-break. Carlos Alcaraz eased into the last eight in Melbourne for the first time while Zheng Qinwen is […]