Archive August 30, 2025

Betfred Super League

Wakefield (18) 48

Goals: Lino 8; Faatili, Smith, Nikotemo, Trueman, Atoni, Rourke; Tries: Russell 2, Faatili, Smith, Nikotemo,

Huddersfield (2) 2

Due to beating the Huddersfield Giants, Wakefield Trinity climbed into the top six.

Within ten minutes, Wakefield had a lead thanks to Matty Russell’s corner kick, and Caius Faatili’s lead was soon extended.

Seth Nikotemo and Jake Trueman crashed over for another pair of Wakefield tries shortly after the break, giving the hosts an 18-2 lead.

Russell found a second to end the game after Renouf Atoni and Josh Rourke had already fought back.

After being humiliated 34-0 at home by Leeds Rhinos earlier on Saturday, Trinity moved into the play-off places with a win.

In their final three games of the season, Wakefield square off against Castleford Tigers, Hull KR, and the struggling Salford Red Devils, and from this perspective, they appear to be in command to claim the sixth and final play-off spot.

Russell scored Wakefield’s opener with a series of quick passes that went out wide, and Faatili made use of a defense-wide gap to pass through for their second.

By the time Smith had finished before the break, the Giants had Taane Milne sent to the bin for a high arm on Rourke. However, they were strong and were back in full praise.

After Wakefield conceded a penalty due to a ball steal just before the hooter, George Flanagan’s only assist in the first half was from the kick.

After Trinity had once more carved open Huddersfield, Nikotemo scored a straightforward try to set up the second half. Trueman was not far behind, as Mike McMeeken sent him through.

As Wakefield broke the 30-point barrier, Atoni burst to the try-line, and Trueman’s fortuitous rebounded kick quickly made it possible for him to tee up Rourke for yet another.

Daryl Powell, the head of Wakefield Trinity:

“We won’t get too carried away,” he said. To give ourselves a chance to make an outstanding start in Super League, we have three crucial games to play.

It performed well, I must say. We were strong and effectively in charge for a lot of time.

Luke Robinson, the head coach of the Huddersfield Giants:

“The game’s scoreline was accurate. We just didn’t seem to have the same level of energy as last week, which would make things complicated.

“But Wakefield placed us in that position.” The physical battle was won by them. It becomes very challenging when you defeat someone both with and without the ball.

“They won’t throw the towel in,” they declared. That’s not the group we belong to. When there are downtimes, there has been a fightback and an upturn, which is one thing we have been good at this year.

Smith, Vagana, Cozza, and Atoni all exchange.

Huddersfield: Powell, Rushton, Greenwood, Greenwood, Greenwood, Cudjoe, Halsall, Milne, Gagai, Bibby, Rush, Land, Rogers, Woolford, Powell, Rushton, Greenwood, and Mulroe.

Golding, English, Burgess, Wilson, and more.

Grand Prix of the Netherlands

Date: 31 August 2018 Start time for the race: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Lando Norris said he would be looking for some “magic” to try to beat McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to victory in Sunday’s Grand Prix of the Netherlands.

Even though the Briton has won three of its previous four races, Piastri edged Norris by just 0.0112 seconds to take the lead in the championship.

Norris is concerned about his chances of winning the race because the twisty and constricting Zandvoort circuit makes it difficult to overtake.

“It will take some magic, some good strategy, or incredible tire saving or something,” said Norris.

Piastri couldn’t pass him despite closing on him on fresh tyres at the end of the race, which had won six races so far this season to Norris’ five.

Norris’s optimism about a repeat of his success in the Netherlands was unwarranted.

Not much I can do right now, he said, but it’s just a bummer (not to be on pole). Even with a lap of 0.01 seconds, that’s a small margin. Many of my chances are now gone because it is a track that is essentially impossible to overtake on, which makes it frustrating.

Throughout the entire weekend, Piastri had been lagged behind Norris, but constant improvement and striving to improve made it possible for him to gain advantage wherever it was important.

Both McLaren drivers are free to compete without team orders because of the potential for wet weather during the race.

That includes the option for the team to choose their own strategy when attempting to defeat their teammate, as Norris did in Hungary.

Andrea Stella, the team’s principal, stated that Piastri had not experienced any issues with the way Hungary had played out, and that the drivers were content to continue with this strategy.

“Both drivers, including Oscar,” acknowledged that racing has a certain degree of variability,” Stella said. There are “a lot of different scenarios that you can imagine and don’t always have your control over.”

And the Italian made it clear that Max Verstappen’s third-place finish would not affect their race. The Dutchman’s strong start would easily allow him to pass at least one McLaren driver in the first lap in the freestyle.

“We need to make sure we beat Max, who is 0.2secs away from us,” Stella said. “First thing we need to do is make sure that we do that in the interests of the team and Lando and Oscar.”

“First of all, we have to make sure we get the best result for the team, with Lando and Oscar finishing as expected, and McLaren is currently the fastest car, given the difficulties with overtaking and the possibility of some weather,” said McLaren.

We do have some guidelines for that when it comes to the options between our two drivers from a strategic perspective.

It’s always been within our rules, even though I’m not going to disclose what they are, based on what I’ve seen so far in terms of how the strategy has been used.

“So it’s perfectly acceptable that there are strategy deviations.

The strategy is not far between a one-and-a-two-stop in this situation, so I believe it will be interesting again for both the other drivers and the two McLaren drivers.

Lewis Hamilton, a Ferrari driver, improved this weekend after his struggles in Hungary, where he claimed he was “just useless” after qualifying 12th when team-mate Charles Leclerc was in pole position.

Leclerc and Hamilton place sixth and seventh, while Verstappen and Russell are fifth and fifth, with Isack Hadjar coming in fourth.

Hamilton had been a Leclerc champion throughout the weekend, but Hamilton came in behind by only 0.05 seconds in qualifying.

Hamilton continued, “I tried to approach the weekend in a slightly different way. a few adjustments before the weekend and before I even arrived. Although the car was a little unpredictable yesterday, we have made progress this weekend, so I’m grateful for that.

It’s definitely encouraging to see a positive outcome on my side of the garage, so I’m glad we’re there or somewhere else but not where we want to be. A track this length is incredibly slow, at 0.7 seconds. Because Charles was P1 last time, we must try to understand that.

“I’ve been trying to grow in confidence, and that’s what has happened.

It seems to have been one of the year’s most successful days, which has been attributed to some of the improvements made to my approach and process, which also makes it a little calmer overall.

Rangers and Celtic’s biggest domestic game of the season, the bunfight at the Not OK Corral of Ibrox on Sunday, is almost unapologetically closer to a meeting of the infirm than a battle of the Old Firm.

Rangers and Celtic have their own unique Newton’s Law, which states that when one is up, the other must be down, but this is not the case. For once, there is harmony. They will not survive, but they will still be in the horrors side by side after their humiliations in Europe this week.

It’s difficult to recall a time when both clubs were simultaneously in such a grim state with their supporters furious and their respective boards under siege.

You could spend the night deliberating whether the outcome was worse, Celtic falling to a team that is 255 places below them in the Uefa club coefficient rankings, or Rangers coming off with their worst ever European performance in Bruges.

It’s probably Celtic’s fault. In the Uefa rankings for Larne and Linfield, Shamrock Rovers, and St. Patrick’s Athletic on Tuesday, Kairat was placed second. Since they lost 5-5 to Artmedia Bratislava 20 years ago, it was their most harrowing failure.

The two gol & soulless games saw Brendan Rodgers’ charge sheet extend throughout Europe. Unarguable, he once more discussed the club’s lack of “agility” in the transfer market on Friday. Of course, his own errors in player evaluation and those of his head of football operations, Paul Tisdale, were not fully exposed.

By finally signing some players in the same manner as someone arrives at the airport after their plane leaves the tarmac, Celtic have handled their disappointment at leaving the Champions League. Why didn’t Marcelo Saracchi and Michel-Ange Balikwisha arrive in the building in time for the Kairat Almaty games?

Kasper Dolberg, a striker for Anderlecht and Denmark, and Sebastian Tounekti, a wing for Toulouse, are both rumored to be available. The delayed signing policy, which allows players to arrive in waves after the Champions League’s damage, really adds to the brains.

At the top of the Premiership, Celtic at least has the comfort of a six-point cushion. Both teams are limping into Sunday. They were only required to be half-decent in establishing that lead.

They have been fine, but nothing more. Rangers, in contrast, have been terrible. They have drawn three games, each 1-1, against Motherwell, Dundee, and St Mirren, and they have had some success.

Without a reliable striker but with a point to prove, Celtic could potentially run amok because of how terrible their defense has been. The farrago around Nico Raskin continues, and the Rangers midfield has been a disorganized mess.

On Friday, Martin and Raskin were confronted with a ton of questions regarding their relationship and whether the midfielder would make his Sunday squad. No, it appears to be the solution.

Rudi Garcia announced Raskin’s inclusion in his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein the day before. Raskin is therefore deemed capable enough to make an international team with honorable mentions from Napoli, Arsenal, AC Milan, Aston Villa, Brugge, and Brighton, but for some reason his face doesn’t fit at Rangers?

The Rangers attack has also had little impact overall. According to Opta’s “big chance” statistics, St. Mirren and Motherwell were matched by Rangers 3-3 on that front, while Dundee and St. Mirren were matched by 1-1 and 4-1 respectively. Miovski needs to alter everything.

Russell Martin, the manager, is requesting more time to fix things, but it might not be enough. You’ll find that the toxicity in the Rangers scene to be unmatched by experienced observers.

The managers have been counted in, they have been counted out again, and their patience has vanished. Martin was a controversial choice in the eyes of many fans, so Martin had to hit the ground running. He has instead fallen to the ground and fallen.

On Sunday, the club’s owners will visit Ibrox. The Rangers’ supporters will undoubtedly take advantage of this as a pre-game message. That message will grow even more vicious if Martin’s team ultimately loses the game. At that point, they will have a nine-point gap with Celtic. After four games? It’s a grisly thought.

The goalkeeper given the hospital pass at a media conference, Jack Butland, a Rangers beacon in the dark, made the speech on Friday. He made the wise decision because he is a rare Rangers player in good form. Outstanding Butland.

The power of sport can surprise you, which is its greatness. Rangers have won four games without losing against Celtic, which is a dominance for the longest time in terms of trophies.

A 3-0 victory was one of those games in January. Despite Celtic’s terrible failure on Tuesday night, few people saw it coming, just as few people saw anything positive happening for Rangers on Sunday.

Butland emphasized the importance of holding themselves accountable and feeling proud of their work. He praised the manager and said the players were with him. When you violate the rules, he said, “The manager can’t control things.”

Although defeat has to hurt, it must be taken on the chin. You must thrust your chest in and move on. It’s always a must-win [against Celtic]! Although we are aware of this, it also provides the best chance to display character or to demonstrate something that most people have doubts about. It’s a chance to put on a show.

It’s about attempting to regain some self-assurance, allowing some people to express themselves and emerge from their shells a little bit more, and trying to rebuild some people’s confidence. Characters and experienced players can raise their voices in the game. That is what we need to do over the weekend.

Wales vs. Fiji in the 2025 World Rugby World Cup

Exeter, Sandy Park Date: Saturday, September 6 Kick-off: 14:45 BST

Wales head coach Sean Lynn cut a much happier figure in this week’s post-match press duties despite their six-try defeat to Canada and subsequent World Cup elimination.

Wales’s 42-0 defeat leaves them without a chance of making it to the quarter-finals, despite having to defeat the world’s second-best team to keep their chances of making it to the knockout stages.

As expected, Canada established themselves as tournament rivals, but Wales’ significantly improved performance fared better than they had before.

In the opening moments, they were the better team, but they were unable to break through a tenacious defense.

After last weekend’s record-setting defeat to Scotland, Wales made seven starting changes, with Lynn advising his players that “if you don’t perform, you’re out.”

Bryonie King did herself justice in the back row, while experienced forwards Georgia Evans and Abbie Fleming added some much-needed physicality to the pack.

Carys Cox’s chances of starting against a Fiji side that had also been eliminated from the tournament increased as she advanced in the middle of the field.

“We could see improvements in the first 15 to 20 minutes, and that’s what I wanted,” Lynn said.

“Just empty those tanks in the next 40 minutes,” I told the girls when I came in at half-time.

Lynn gave a quick credit to semi-professional Canada for its performance.

You look at Canada and the way they move the ball, and they’re an offloading team, he said, “we knew today was going to be a big ask.”

The former Gloucester-Hartpury boss was also surprisingly content with what he saw.

We received a positive response as I requested, and that is what we received. We’ve got to move forward with small steps, he said, and everything we did out there impressed me greatly.

“I’m a proud Welshman and World Cup coach.” I’m enjoying it and think that we can progress quickly with this squad of players.

With 17 tries in the opening two rounds, Canada has undoubtedly set a precedent over reigning champions New Zealand and England.

And after confirming their place in the quarter-finals, Canada is eagerly anticipating a place in Twickenham’s final.