Category News

Summer tour second Test

Portugal (0) 7

Tries: Martins Cons: Aubry

Ireland (54) 106

Ireland secured their record Test victory by topping a century in their first capped international against Portugal at the Estadio Nacional do Jamor.

The world’s third-ranked side, whose previous biggest win was an 83-3 victory over the USA in June 2000, set new marks for points, tries and margin of victory.

Without their large British and Irish Lions contingent, Ireland’s interim head coach Paul O’Connell gave debuts to Alex Kendellen, Hugh Gavin and Shayne Bolton, with the latter pair each crossing twice among the visitor’s eight first-half tries.

Kendellen would then mark his own Test bow with a try as a further eight were scored after the break.

Portugal got their only score through flanker Nicholas Martins in the second half, although they did have an earlier one chalked off by the television match official (TMO).

After last week’s win over Georgia, Ireland finished their two-Test summer tour on a high and will next be in action when they meet New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November.

Portugal impressed at the 2023 World Cup when they beat Fiji and drew with Georgia in their first time at the tournament since 2007.

But this version of Os Lobos, however, finished only fourth in Rugby Europe after defeats to Spain and Romania and never looked competitive against far superior opposition.

Despite being without 17 players who are on Lions duty, as well as their head coach Andy Farrell who is leading the tourists in Australia, Ireland dominated from start to finish.

They took the lead with less than a minute on the clock when Stuart McCloskey crashed over from close range after some neat involvements from Jack Crowley.

As well as debutants Bolton and Gavin, Tommy O’Brien, who claimed a pair of tries on debut against Georgia last week, also crossed twice in the first half, with tight-head Tom Clarkson also going over.

The loss of the TMO, in a game played in front of fewer than 10,000 supporters, came only after Portugal had a score chalked off when Vincent Pinto’s pass to Nuno Guedes was judged to have gone forward.

After eight tries in the first half, Ireland matched that tally in the second period.

Their first after the restart came just 90 seconds into the half when captain Craig Casey marked a sharp performance by scampering between the posts.

Cian Prendergast, who missed out through illness against Georgia, barged over after a short line-out move with half an hour to go, while Martins’ response at least showed what Portugal are capable of with ball in hand.

It proved only a temporary slowing of Irish momentum, however.

Replacements Calvin Nash and Ciaran Frawley were the next players to cross, before Prendergast matched his Connacht team-mates Bolton and Gavin in scoring a second.

Portugal: Guedes; Bento, V. Pinto, Appleton (capt), M. Pinto; Aubry, Camacho; D. Costa, Begic, D. Ferreira, De Andrade, P. Ferreira, De Carvalho, Martins, Ruiz

Replacements: D’Cunha, Lopes, Souto, G. Costa, Almeida, Baptista, Campos, Avriagnet.

Ireland: J O’Brien; T O’Brien, Gavin, McCloskey, Bolton; Crowley, Casey (capt); Boyle, McCarthy, Clarkson, T Ahern, Murray, Baird, Kendellen, Prendergast.

Paris St-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is on Chelsea’s radar, Newcastle eye Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, while West Ham want Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz.

Chelsea are interested in signing Paris St-Germain and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, 27. (L’Equipe – in French)

Newcastle have rekindled their interest in Eintracht Frankfurt’s French forward Hugo Ekitike, 23, and hope to beat Liverpool to his signing. (Telegraph – subscription required)

West Ham are keen on signing former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz from Juventus, with the 27-year-old Brazilian having struggled to make an impact in Serie A. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)

Barcelona continue to work on deals for both Liverpool’s Colombia winger Luis Diaz, 28, and Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford, 27, but will not rush to sign either player. (Marca – in Spanish)

Sporting are ready to take disciplinary action against Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, 27, after he missed his deadline to report for pre-season training as waits on a move to Arsenal. (Guardian)

Juventus have offered Manchester United £8.65m plus bonuses to take English winger Jadon Sancho, 25 off their hands. (Sky Sports Italy – in Italian)

Aston Villa’s Argentina international Emiliano Martinez is still of interest to Manchester United but the two clubs are quite a way apart with their valuations of the 32-year-old. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Arsenal have made progress in discussions with 18-year-old English midfielder Ethan Nwaneri over a new contract. (Fabrizio Romano)

Bayern Munich are still monitoring France forward Christopher Nkunku’s situation at Chelsea but whether they move for the 27-year-old will depend on the rest of their transfer business. (Florian Plettenberg)

Newcastle United would have to agree a £100m deal to sign England striker Ollie Watkins, 29, from Aston Villa this summer. (Football Insider)

Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher is open to a Premier League return after the England midfielder, 25, was offered to Newcastle. (Teamtalk)

Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal and clubs in Italy have made enquiries about RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko after Arsenal distanced themselves from signing the Slovenia striker, 22. (Teamtalk)

West Ham have told Roma they are looking to sell Morocco defender Nayef Aguerd, 29, and will not let him leave the club on loan. (Gianluca di Marzio – in Italian)

“Who would have expected that?”

Iga Swiatek was not on many people’s radar to win Wimbledon – including her own.

The 24-year-old’s two-year reign as world number one – ended by Aryna Sabalenka last year – was underpinned by dominance on the clay and consistency on the hard courts.

Swiatek became known as the ‘Queen of Clay’ after winning four French Open titles in five years, while she also won the US Open in 2022.

But she now leaves Wimbledon as the champion, thanks to an astonishing 6-0 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova in Saturday’s final.

Not only was this Swiatek’s first Wimbledon title, it was her first Tour-level title on grass, having previously won the girls’ competition at SW19.

And as Swiatek herself said as she walked into her post-match news conference – who would have expected that?

“This one and the US Open for sure feel better because no-one expected that,” Swiatek said.

“It wasn’t a relief. It was more of just good tennis and working to make it happen without this baggage on your shoulders.

What makes victory even more surprising is Swiatek has been nowhere near her dominant best over the past year.

She did not reach a final for a year after her 2024 French Open triumph, slipping to eighth in the world – her lowest ranking since March 2022 – as a result.

There were a mixture of reasons – on and off the court – as to why Swiatek’s level has dipped.

Losing in the Olympic semi-finals in Paris last summer was a bitter blow, with Swiatek saying she cried for “six hours” afterwards.

In November, it was announced Swiatek had tested positive for heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample. She was subsequently given a one-month ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the result was caused by contamination.

But one person who did call Swiatek’s remarkable Wimbledon win was former Grand Slam semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic.

Petkovic saw a “new freshness” in Swiatek during the grass-court tournament in Bad Homburg – and also tipped her to win Wimbledon, as she said herself, “for irrational reasons”.

During Swiatek’s semi-final match against Jasmine Paolini, Petkovic spotted a large bird circling above Swiatek for around 10 minutes.

When the players changed ends, the bird followed Swiatek to the other side of the court, which Petkovic took as an omen.

“I said there and then she’s going to win Wimbledon,” Petkovic told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“For most of this year you could sense pressure and tension when she stepped on court.

Before this year, Swiatek had only reached the second week of Wimbledon once, in a quarter-final run in 2023.

After a shock third-round defeat by Yulia Putintseva last year, Swiatek said she had not given herself enough time to mentally recover from her French Open win a few weeks earlier.

Having lost to Sabalenka in the Roland Garros semi-finals this year, Swiatek went to Mallorca for a week’s training on grass before returning to competitive action in Bad Homburg.

Swiatek reached the final at the WTA 500 event, where a defeat by Jessica Pegula left her in tears, but it was an indication that her level on the surface had improved.

“I feel like I have developed as a player and I had time to practise a little bit more [this year],” said Swiatek.

“I would say we mainly focused on my movement and how I should stop before hitting the ball.

Swiatek replaced long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette late last year, and it has taken time for the tweaks she was making to bed in.

“When you make a big change and hire a new coach, it takes a while to see the changes,” said Petkovic.

“You feel you’re progressing and you’re expecting to see results right away. But it doesn’t happen right away.”

Swiatek’s serve is an area which Fissette has focused on.

The Pole won 79% of her first-serve points at Wimbledon – the joint-second highest in the women’s singles.

After the Wimbledon final, Swiatek said her serving was the best it has been in the entire grass-court swing, and Petkovic agrees.

“I think she got a bit hectic at the start of the season. Now something is different and she has a bit more patience with herself,” Petkovic said.

Genesis Scottish Open third round leaderboard

-11 R McIlroy (NI), C Gotterup (US); -9 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), M Penge (Eng), J Knapp (US), W Clark (US); -7 K Yu (TPE), S Straka (Aut), A Rozner (Fra), A Novak (US), T Kim (Kor), H English (US), L Aberg (Swe), M Schmid (Ger)

Selected others: -6 S Scheffler (US), -5 X Schauffele (US), V Hovland (Nor) -4 J Rose (Eng), G Forrest (Sco)

Rory McIlroy says he is now close to his Masters-winning form after putting himself in prime position for another Scottish Open title with an imposing third-round 66 to share the lead.

The Northern Irishman began the day four shots adrift of overnight leader Chris Gotterup but ended it alongside the unheralded American on 11 under.

The duo take a two-shot lead into the final day after English pair Matt Fitzpatrick and Marco Penge both bogeyed the last to card one-under 69s and drop into a share of third alongside Americans Wyndham Clark and Jake Knapp.

He compiled five birdies – including on all three par fives – with his sole bogey coming on the seventh after having to hack out of a fairway bunker.

The world number two clearly revels in competing at the Renaissance Club – posting the joint-lowest round of the day and his 11th consecutive score of 68 or lower on these links.

“I think I’m pretty close to being back to the level I was at going into the Masters,” said the 36-year-old.

“I think I’ve had a little bit of a lull, which I feel is understandable. When you do something that you’ve been dreaming your whole life to do, it was a huge moment in my life, my career.

Gotterup, the world number 158, followed his course record-equalling 61 with a level-par 70.

And Clark matched McIlroy’s 66 welcome to provide welcome relief amid his torrid season.

The 2023 US Open winner has missed the cut in two of his past three events and mustered just one top-10 finish this year.

“It’s just nice to be back in this position and let’s see if I can go put a good round together and have four solid days of golf,” said Clark.

“I’ve hit a lot of good putts all year and just haven’t holed anything. Now it’s nice to see the ball go in the hole. Made a couple adjustments and they seem to work.”

Ludvig Aberg was jostling for the lead before a triple-bogey seven on the 13th was sandwiched by bogeys as he spilled five shots in a wretched three-hole stretch.

The Swede’s 71 leaves him four shots back.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is one further adrift after a frustrating 71 in which he had to wait until the 13th for a first birdie.

Frenchman Romain Langasque provided a wonderful moment with a hole in one on the 145-yard par-three 14th.