Archive March 9, 2025

Betfred Super League

Wigan (10) 44

Tries: Farrell (2), Eckersley, Marshall, French, Wardle, Field, Leeming Goals: Keighran (6)

Huddersfield (18) 18

Wigan Warriors shook off their Las Vegas jetlag to score six second-half tries and leave Huddersfield Giants still seeking their first Super League win of the season.

Huddersfield were the better team in the first half and led through scores from Adam Swift, Sam Hewitt and George Flanagan, with Liam Farrell and Zach Eckersley keeping the home side in touch at the Brick Community Stadium.

The Giants had led at the break in their three previous matches before losing, and this time they found Wigan in irresistible form in the second half after they had looked sluggish following their history-making jaunt to Nevada last week where they beat Warrington.

The opening 40 minutes had looked very different, as Huddersfield took the game to the Warriors, dominating midfield and looking like anything but a team that has lost its first three games.

They lost influential playmaker Tui Lolohea to illness before kick-off but that meant 20-year-old Flanagan forged a dynamic half-back partnership with Adam Clune, making his first appearance of the season after injury.

The excellent Clune sent Swift over for an acrobatic finish and, after Farrell and Eckersley had shown how clinical Wigan can be with two quick tries in reply, Hewitt edged the visitors back in front before Flanagan finished a brilliant move to give Huddersfield an eight-point lead at half-time.

The game turned from the restart as Wigan’s Tyler Dupree was pinged for a knock-on, Farrell made a successful captain’s challenge to the decision, and Wigan went up the other end to score through Farrell after Swift fumbled a high kick from Harry Smith.

The England scrum-half took control after that with a masterclass of kicking, passing, attacking breaks and sound defence.

Liam Marshall’s trademark athletic finish in the corner edged Wigan ahead, and then Smith’s stunning 40-20 kick set up another attack which ended with French pirouetting over the line despite the attentions of three tacklers.

Wigan were irresistible by this point and Harvie Hill and Leeming both had tries ruled out by video review as Giants struggled to cope with the whirlwind of attacking play coming at them.

Field stole some of Smith’s limelight by sending Jake Wardle over for a try against his old club, and then threw an outrageous dummy to race clear for his own fifth Super League try of the season.

Wigan Warriors coach Matt Peet said:

“Huddersfield came to play. They’ve been leading in all their games at half-time, and we were aware of that.

” We knew we’d have to be good for the first half and beyond to get over the top of them, and I just liked the way we went about our business.

“I thought the crowd played a big part, their energy probably lifted us in key moments, so credit to them, and yeah, I like it.

” We’ve got a good record when we go ahead in games, but it’s also good to face a different test sometimes. We spoke about it being a good challenge for us, and we didn’t get carried away one way or the other.

“I think they]the players] have enjoyed this week. They look after themselves. They’ve not made too much of a thing about it, to be honest”.

Huddersfield Giants coach Luke Robinson told BBC Radio Leeds:

“I need to go in the dressing room and ask some questions, and I need them to come up with some answers, because we are putting ourselves in a position to win games.

” Every single game we’ve played, we’ve been winning at half-time and looked really strong, and then we come out and make some really silly, selfish decisions.

“We ripped the ball, then another where we took somebody off the ball, and we don’t deal with kicks. The game was in our hands and it’s so frustrating.

” The game was ours to be won. The 40-20s killed us as well, when we looked like getting back into the game – it zaps your energy and takes away field position.

Wigan: Field, Eckersley, Keighran, Wardle, Marshall, French, Smith, Byrne, Leeming, Thompson, Nsemba, Farrell, Ellis.

Interchanges: Dupree, Hill. Walters, Forber.

Huddersfield: Gagai, McGowan, Bibby, Sutcliffe, Swift, Flanagan, Clune, Cudjoe, Murchie, Hewitt, Wilson, Golding, Rogers.

Interchanges: Deakin, Burgess, Rushton, Milne.

England (21) 47

Tries: Willis, Freeman, Sleightholme (2), M Smith, T Curry, Earl Cons: F Smith (6)

Italy (17) 24

England are best placed to take advantage of any final-day slip-up by Six Nations leaders France after they moved up to second in the Six Nations table with a seven-try victory over Italy at Allianz Stadium.

Wing Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice in an ultimately comfortable victory, but the hosts were made to sweat early on with Italy scoring two superb tries to stay within four points at half-time.

However, two scores in two minutes early in the second half, from replacement Marcus Smith and flanker Tom Curry, broke the visitors ‘ resistance and allowed England to see out the match in unusual comfort after a series of home cliff-hangers.

Tommaso Menoncello’s angled run repaired some of the damage, but was never going to switch the course of the contest.

However, England will be without centre Ollie Lawrence for their final-round trip to Cardiff after he was carried off with a serious-looking Achilles tendon injury, which could also affect his chances of joining this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour.

England will take on Wales in the second match of ‘ super ‘ Saturday on 15 March, kicking off at 16: 45 GMT at the Principality Stadium. They are one point behind France, who play Scotland in Paris later in the day, but 82 worse off in points difference.

Any pre-match thoughts of making significant inroads into France’s points difference advantage was pushed from Twickenham’s minds in the first half as the visitors shot back with accuracy and flair.

Tom Willis had battered over for the fastest try of the championship in a little over three minutes, while Elliot Daly – picked ahead of Smith at 15 – claimed well in the air and hit some good lines and the front row emerged from the first scrum with a penalty.

There was not to be a replica of France’s 11-try round-three rout of the visitors, though.

Italy full-back Capuozzo was the beneficiary for their first try as clever kicks ahead by Paolo Garbisi and Monty Ioane found space and pulled England’s defence out of shape.

Capuozzo later turned creator, thrillingly slicing through England with a scalpel-sharp change of direction to open up a route for Exeter’s Ross Vintcent to canter over.

England traded blow for blow with a cute Daly grubber, putting Tommy Freeman into the corner before good work from Ollie Chessum down one wing created space for Sleightholme to dive in the opposite corner.

They could easily have been behind on the scorecards at the start of the second half as well.

Italy surged straight into attack and wing Matt Gallagher was zeroing in on the corner, only to be chopped down by the covering Smith, on at 15.

A little over a minute later, Smith pelted up on Curry’s shoulder to take a pop-pass and scorch round Capuozzo to make it 28-17.

The passage proved to be a decisive swing in the momentum. Curry burrowed over two minutes later and Sleightholme had his second soon after when some improvised offloading, including by Jamie George on his 100th England appearance, beat the cover defence.

With Fin Smith slotting all six conversions in an impressive performance off the tee, England motored 42-17 clear.

England head coach Steve Borthwick told BBC Sport: “The injury to Ollie Lawrence resulted in an reorganisation of the backline but I thought the players managed that really well. It looks like he injured his Achilles but we don’t know to what extent.

” The way the team accelerated the scoreline was really good. This Italian side is really well coached and their battle at the breakdown is fierce. When we got quick ball and the contact area right, we took our opportunities.

England hooker Jamie George, whose mum Jane died in February 2024, spoke to BBC Sport about winning his 100th cap: “The whole week has been a little bit overwhelming. I am very thankful to everyone who has made it very special.

” My mum is on my mind all the time. She would have loved being here and will be looking down very proud today. It is an emotional day. I am super happy with the people who are here but do miss the one who isn’t.

“After missing the Ireland game I was just desperate to be out there, it reminded me how much I love playing for this team. I’ve had three amazing games.

“You have to be consistent for the whole 80 minutes and that’s the most important thing for us. We showed some pretty good things, especially in attack, but our mistakes put us under pressure.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Heyes, T Hill, Cunningham-South, B Curry, Van Poortvliet, M Smith

Italy: Capuozzo, Ioane, Brex, Menoncello, Gallagher, P Garbisi, Varney, Fischetti, Nicotera, Riccioni, N Cannone, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro (capt) Vintcent

Replacements: Lucchesi, Spagnolo, Ferrari, Favretto, Zuliani, L Cannone, Page-Relo, Allan

England (21) 47

Tries: Willis, Freeman, Sleightholme (2), M Smith, T Curry, Earl Cons: F Smith (6)

Italy (17) 24

England are best placed to take advantage of any final-day slip-up by Six Nations leaders France after they moved up to second in the Six Nations table with a seven-try victory over Italy at Allianz Stadium.

Wing Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice in an ultimately comfortable victory, but the hosts were made to sweat early on with Italy scoring two superb tries to stay within four points at half-time.

However, two scores in two minutes early in the second half, from replacement Marcus Smith and flanker Tom Curry, broke the visitors ‘ resistance and allowed England to see out the match in unusual comfort after a series of home cliff-hangers.

Tommaso Menoncello’s angled run repaired some of the damage, but was never going to switch the course of the contest.

However, England will be without centre Ollie Lawrence for their final-round trip to Cardiff after he was carried off with a serious-looking Achilles tendon injury, which could also affect his chances of joining this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour.

England will take on Wales in the second match of ‘ super ‘ Saturday on 15 March, kicking off at 16: 45 GMT at the Principality Stadium. They are one point behind France, who play Scotland in Paris later in the day, but 82 worse off in points difference.

Any pre-match thoughts of making significant inroads into France’s points difference advantage was pushed from Twickenham’s minds in the first half as the visitors shot back with accuracy and flair.

Tom Willis had battered over for the fastest try of the championship in a little over three minutes, while Elliot Daly – picked ahead of Smith at 15 – claimed well in the air and hit some good lines and the front row emerged from the first scrum with a penalty.

There was not to be a replica of France’s 11-try round-three rout of the visitors, though.

Italy full-back Capuozzo was the beneficiary for their first try as clever kicks ahead by Paolo Garbisi and Monty Ioane found space and pulled England’s defence out of shape.

Capuozzo later turned creator, thrillingly slicing through England with a scalpel-sharp change of direction to open up a route for Exeter’s Ross Vintcent to canter over.

England traded blow for blow with a cute Daly grubber, putting Tommy Freeman into the corner before good work from Ollie Chessum down one wing created space for Sleightholme to dive in the opposite corner.

They could easily have been behind on the scorecards at the start of the second half as well.

Italy surged straight into attack and wing Matt Gallagher was zeroing in on the corner, only to be chopped down by the covering Smith, on at 15.

A little over a minute later, Smith pelted up on Curry’s shoulder to take a pop-pass and scorch round Capuozzo to make it 28-17.

The passage proved to be a decisive swing in the momentum. Curry burrowed over two minutes later and Sleightholme had his second soon after when some improvised offloading, including by Jamie George on his 100th England appearance, beat the cover defence.

With Fin Smith slotting all six conversions in an impressive performance off the tee, England motored 42-17 clear.

England head coach Steve Borthwick told BBC Sport: “The injury to Ollie Lawrence resulted in an reorganisation of the backline but I thought the players managed that really well. It looks like he injured his Achilles but we don’t know to what extent.

” The way the team accelerated the scoreline was really good. This Italian side is really well coached and their battle at the breakdown is fierce. When we got quick ball and the contact area right, we took our opportunities.

England hooker Jamie George, whose mum Jane died in February 2024, spoke to BBC Sport about winning his 100th cap: “The whole week has been a little bit overwhelming. I am very thankful to everyone who has made it very special.

” My mum is on my mind all the time. She would have loved being here and will be looking down very proud today. It is an emotional day. I am super happy with the people who are here but do miss the one who isn’t.

“After missing the Ireland game I was just desperate to be out there, it reminded me how much I love playing for this team. I’ve had three amazing games.

“You have to be consistent for the whole 80 minutes and that’s the most important thing for us. We showed some pretty good things, especially in attack, but our mistakes put us under pressure.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Heyes, T Hill, Cunningham-South, B Curry, Van Poortvliet, M Smith

Italy: Capuozzo, Ioane, Brex, Menoncello, Gallagher, P Garbisi, Varney, Fischetti, Nicotera, Riccioni, N Cannone, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro (capt) Vintcent

Replacements: Lucchesi, Spagnolo, Ferrari, Favretto, Zuliani, L Cannone, Page-Relo, Allan

Champions Trophy final, Dubai

New Zealand 251-7 (50 overs): Mitchell 63 (101), Bracewell 53 (40), Kuldeep 2-40, Chakravarthy 2-45

India 254-6 (49 overs): Rohit 76 (83), Bracewell 2-28, Santner 2-46

India won by four wickets

India survived a New Zealand fightback to win the Champions Trophy with a four-wicket victory in Dubai.

India, dominant throughout the tournament, made a rampant start in pursuit of 252 only to lose three wickets for 17 runs, including captain Rohit Sharma for 76 and Virat Kohli for one.

Shreyas Iyer followed for 48 and Axar Patel holed out on 29 to leave 49 runs to get from 51 balls.

Hardik Pandya took India closer and, after he fell for 18, KL Rahul finished 34 not out as Ravindra Jadeja hit the winning runs with an over to spare.

That India always still felt ahead of the game was thanks to their spinners once again impressing by limiting New Zealand to 251-7.

Victory confirms India’s place as the world’s premier white-ball side.

Since being beaten in the final of the 2023 World Cup they have won the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy – a record third time they have won this event but first since 2013.

This tournament has flickered without ever catching light – much of the action overshadowed by the debate over the advantages India have had in playing all of their matches in Dubai.

In the end it got a tense finale – at least a finish closer than looked likely for much of the match.

First India’s spinners restricted and then Rohit charged.

Ultimately, India had to work, as hard as at any point in their unbeaten progression through this tournament, but their depth and quality is such that they were always favourites amid passionate support.

They were also freed by the T20 win last year, which ended their 13-year wait for a world title.

While it does not go all of the way to banishing the pain of the defeat in the final at home in 2023, it provides more silverware for the likes of Rohit and Kohli, who may not have continued in the format had they beaten Australia in Ahmedabad.

As has been the case throughout in Dubai, spin was far harder to face than pace.

Chasing a below-par score, Rohit pulled the second ball of the innings for six and dominated a stand of 105 with fellow opener Shubman Gill.

New Zealand’s fightback was sparked by a stunning one-handed catch by Glenn Phillips – his third such grab of the tournament – at extra cover to dismiss Gill for 31.

Kohli, usually the master of these chases, went lbw to off-spinner Michael Bracewell and Rohit was stumped when advancing to left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra.

The partnership of 61 between Axar and Iyer was important in steadying India, although both fell trying to accelerate. Iyer, having already been dropped, flicked to short fine leg and Axar tamely punted to long-on to give Santner and Bracewell a further wicket each.

However, the required run-rate was always under control. It only ever nudged slightly above a run per ball as Rahul remained calm, before Hardik pumped a towering straight six with the winning line in sight.

New Zealand started well after opting to bat, reaching 57-0 in the eighth over, but the introduction of spin again brought greater threat.

In Varun Chakravarthy’s second over, Ravindra overturned a caught behind decision and was dropped at deep square-leg before Will Young was pinned lbw for 15.

Kuldeep Yadav then bowled Ravindra with his first delivery for 37 and forced Kane Williamson to chip back for 11, leaving New Zealand 75-3, from which point the scoring stalled.

There were two separate spells of 10 overs without a boundary and only four boundaries came in the middle-over period – the least by any team in the tournament so far – as India’s spinners targeted the stumps and the batters struggled to get the ball away.

The first five wickets all fell to spin, with Tom Latham missing a sweep to be lbw to Jadeja and Chakravarthy bowling Phillips for 34 amid the struggle.

India batter Virat Kohli: “It’s an amazing feeling, lovely to be playing with such amazing youngsters. So much talent in the dressing room and they’re taking Indian cricket forward in the right direction.

” These guys are stepping up in a massive way and that’s why we’re such a strong team. “

India captain Rohit Sharma:” We’ve played some really good cricket throughout the tournament. To come out here and win it is great.

“The crowd has been magnificent. It’s not our home ground but they’ve made it our home ground”.

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner: “It’s been a good tournament. We faced some challenges along the way but we’ve grown as a group. We played some good cricket but we fell short to a better team.