Category Sports News

Mark Williams beat Shaun Murphy 10-3 in the Xi’an Grand Prix final to become the oldest winner of a ranking event.

Aged 50 years and 206 days, three-time world champion Williams eclipsed the record previously held by fellow Welshman Ray Reardon, who was 50 years and 14 days old when he won the Professional Players Tournament in 1982.

The left-hander’s 27th ranking title puts him one behind fifth-placed Steve Davis (28) in the all-time list, with Ronnie O’Sullivan leading the way on 41 ranking event wins.

Reigning Masters champion Murphy, 43, was aiming for back-to-back ranking tournament victories after winning last month’s British Open in Cheltenham.

The Englishman continued his excellent form in China to reach another final, but was punished for any errors he made during an opening session which his opponent dominated with ruthless efficiency.

Williams seized control by winning the first four frames, pinching the third and fourth frames with contributions of 56 and 68 respectively after Murphy had held significant leads in both.

A superb 127 break in frame eight, to go with his six earlier half-centuries, ensured Williams went into the concluding session 7-1 ahead.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is not expected to return from a knee injury until after the November international break.

The midfielder suffered a medial collateral ligament injury in the Gunners’ win over West Ham on 4 October and had to be replaced during the first half.

Arsenal released a statement the day after, confirming Odegaard would miss the current international window, but did not set a timeline for his recovery.

However, the 26-year-old is set to remain unavailable until after the next set of international fixtures in the middle of November.

The news will come as a blow to manager Mikel Arteta given Odegaard’s importance to his team.

The start of Odegaard’s season has been plagued by injury problems, with the midfielder being forced off in the first half of three consecutive Premier League matches.

Arsenal face north London rivals Tottenham immediately after next month’s international break, and it remains to be seen whether Odegaard can recover in time for the derby on 23 November.

Norway took a significant step towards qualification for the 2026 World Cup on Saturday, beating Israel 5-0.

Before the start of this season, Henry Arundell’s last appearance in England was on a bitter December evening in Sale.

Playing for Racing 92, he endured a miserable outing. Shorn of confidence, short of pace, he was comprehensively outshone by fellow wing Tom Roebuck in a 29-7 defeat.

But playing for this Bath side is a heck of a tonic.

Arundell, still only 22, sizzled in the 38-17 win over Gloucester, setting up tries for Tom de Glanville and Ollie Lawrence with top-end speed and deft basketball-style offloads.

He has plenty of competition for his place in this stacked Bath team from fellow wings Will Muir and Joe Cokanasiga, before he even starts thinking of an England return.

But Arundell, who burst on to the Test scene with a debut try against Australia as a teenager back in 2022, will surely have another shot at the international game. Maybe fairly soon.

His performance was just one ominous aspect for the rest of the Prem.

Ewan Richards, two of whose three league starts last campaign came as front-line stars were rested for the play-offs, crossed for two tries in a barn-storming showing, while Santiago Carreras, making his Bath debut against his old team, filled in at both full-back and fly-half in a 20-minute cameo off the bench.

Is this the start of a new sort of unexpected at The Stoop this season?

Eight minutes gone, snappy ball off the top of the line-out, and fly-half Marcus Smith attacks just inside Saracens’ 10m line.

In seasons past, it might have been a twinkle of the toes from Smith or a pop to a bludgeoning run from inside centres Andre Esterhuizen or Lennox Anyanwu.

This time though, Smith punted an old-school up-and-under into the autumnal sun.

Max Malins spilled it, Chandler Cunningham-South seized upon the ball and five phases later Smith himself was plunging over.

In total, Harlequins kicked 32 times for 923 metres, compared to Saracens’ 27 kicks for 678m.

Smith pulled every club out of the bag on his return from British and Irish Lions duty, sliding in some cute grubbers and probing cross-field rakes, along with the high-altitude aerial stuff.

There was plenty to interest new England attack guru Lee Blackett.

“Was it Quins? I’m not sure but it was certainly a different way to win a game,” said Quins’ head coach Jason Gilmore, who had suffered defeats in his opening two Prem games since being elevated to the top job after Danny Wilson’s departure.

“I don’t think it’ll be something you’ll see in our game regularly. We are Harlequins and we want to use the ball and we want to be scoring four tries a game. That’s our DNA.”

In the end, just two tries were enough to give Harlequins a third successive win over their London neighbours in a typically feisty contest.

Saracens back row Ben Earl celebrated his try with two thumbs up to the home fans, while Quins wing Cadan Murley admitted beating a side with Owen Farrell restored was a major motivation for the hosts.

Never mind bare bones, Bristol are getting down to the marrow.

Bears boss Pat Lam was already missing 15 backs from his squad last week with first-choice half-backs AJ MacGinty and Harry Randall, last season’s top try-scorer Gabriel Ibitoye and big summer signing Louis Rees-Zammit among those out.

With Scotland star Tom Jordan now facing a likely suspension following his red card for a reckless shoulder into the head of Exeter number eight Ross Vintcent – and Josh Carrington and Jack Bates both coming off with apparent head knocks – the crisis only deepened in their win over the Chiefs.

It has meant a change of style and personnel.

“The forwards can see the issues with the backs and they said to the backs ‘don’t worry we’ll give you the platform’ and they certainly did that,” said Lam.

Stand-in fly-half Sam Worsley, who started the season in third-tier National League One with Dings Crusaders, came up clutch off the bench, converting Gabriel Oghre’s try from out wide before landing a monster penalty with the clock in the red, when he could have punted into the stands to end the game and take a one-point win.

Lam will be eyeing the autumn break and a chance for his squad to recover. Two matches separate the Bears from that respite.

As we enter the week in which Wasps went into administration three years ago, reminders of the talents affected by their demise, as well as those of Worcester and London Irish, were everywhere this weekend.

A combined team of those three teams stacks up impressively

Combined London Irish/Wasps/Worcester XV: Henry Arundell, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; Ollie Lawrence, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Fin Smith, Ben White; Danilo Fischetti, Gabriel Oghre, Afolabi Fasogbon, Chandler Cunningham-South, Joe Batley, Jack Willis, Ted Hill, Tom Willis.

Robbie Savage says he wishes he had turned down Strictly Come Dancing until after his coaching career – to avoid being labelled “another celebrity manager”.

The Forest Green Rovers boss is eyeing a first appearance in the FA Cup first round as a head coach when his side visit sixth-tier Worthing on Monday (19:30 BST).

Former Wales midfielder Savage, who featured on the hit BBC show in 2011, shortly after ending his playing career, has guided Rovers to second in the National League.

Appointed in July after success in his first managerial role at Macclesfield, Savage remains best known for his media profile and punditry – and will be back in the spotlight for the final match of the fourth qualifying round.

“Looking back now, would I have done Strictly before I was a manager? Probably not – that would probably have come after,” Savage, 50, told BBC Points West.

“But I’m a personality and I believe I’m an infectious character who tries to get the best out of people.

“I’m just a normal manager – an inexperienced manager giving it his best with a great staff. I’m just a passionate man who cares about whichever club he’s at.

Based in Nailsworth, which has a population of less than 6,000, Gloucestershire club Forest Green were taken over by green energy pioneer Dale Vince in 2010.

After a rapid rise, they spent seven seasons in the English Football League before relegation in 2024-25 and defeat in last season’s play-off semi-final.

Vince has raised Forest Green’s profile by implementing eco-friendly initiatives such as making Rovers all-vegan and winning recognition from the United Nations as the world’s first carbon-neutral football club in 2018.

Savage’s 22-year-old son Charlie – who has since joined Reading and been capped by Wales – spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on loan at Forest Green from Manchester United.

“Dale’s brilliant,” said Savage, who played 346 Premier League games for Leicester City, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County.

“We get on so well. I knew him from when Charlie was here. He cares.

“The food’s high in protein, it’s high in fibre. It’s a brilliant football club run by passionate, caring people who want you to do well, so I’ve embraced everything.

“Dale’s not employing me because of my profile. He said he didn’t know I was a celebrity – I was Charlie’s dad.

Savage has eight wins and one defeat from his first 14 league matches with Forest Green, likening the spirit there to the connection he enjoys with ex-England striker Chris Sutton as part of co-hosting duties on BBC Radio 5 Live football phone-in 606.

“Myself and Chris have a great camaraderie and togetherness, and that’s what I’ve got with my players and staff,” he said, praising the “warmth” and “friendliness” of people in the Cotswolds.

“The training ground’s amazing. It’s a beautiful part of the world to live in. It can be a bit lonely at times without your family, but that’s one of the sacrifices you make as a manager.

“I’m a football person who’s been addicted to, and obsessed with, football all his life. I don’t fear failure – never have.

“My two boys, Charlie and Freddie, said to me when I was going to take the job, ‘what’s the worst that can happen? You can get the sack, but give it your best shot’.

Monday’s hosts Worthing are 16th in the National League South and will be playing their first match since the reappointment of manager Adam Hinshelwood.

The former Brighton & Hove Albion defender led The Rebels to the FA Cup first round and the play-off final during the final season of his first spell in charge between 2017-24.

Savage has not scrutinised Hinshelwood’s team too closely because he believes Rovers have concentrated too much on their opponents amid a run of two draws and a 1-0 defeat at home by Rochdale on October 4.

“The [TNT Sports] cameras are there because everybody thinks it’s going to be an upset,” said Savage, adding he “understands” that because he played in the early stages of the competition with Crewe Alexandra, who he joined in 1994 after starting his career at Manchester United.

“It’s a brilliant competition. [But] I’ve not even thought about Worthing. It’s all about us.

“We know where they are in the table and how they play, but I’m not showing my players videos of Worthing. We’re going to give the utmost respect to a good side.”

The draw for the first round proper will take place shortly before kick-off at the 4,000-capacity Sussex Transport Community Stadium, where Savage does not expect the artificial pitch to prove a levelling factor.

“It’s the same for both sides and you can play fantastic football on it,” he explained.

Hull KR’s Grand Final-winning trio Mikey Lewis, Jez Litten and Joe Burgess have all been named in England’s final 24-man squad for the autumn Ashes Test series against Australia but there is no place for Super League’s Man of Steel winner Jake Connor.

Litten’s only previous cap arrived against France in 2023, while Burgess, who scored two tries in Hull KR’s triumph over Wigan on Saturday, returns to the England set-up after a 10-year absence.

But Connor, who was also omitted from the squad get-together in June, has been unable to convince head coach Shaun Wane he deserves a spot amid fierce competition in the halves.

Wane’s stellar options in those berths include captain George Williams, Wigan’s Harry Smith and Lewis, who won the Rob Burrow Award for man of the match with a sparkling performance at Old Trafford.

“I’m really excited by the 24 players we have selected ahead of this upcoming Ashes Series,” said Wane.

“There were some tough decisions to be made given the quality we have across both Super League and the NRL and that’s never easy, but I am confident that the 24 selected will give us the best chance of winning this series.”

Full-back AJ Brimson, who switched his international allegiance from Australia to England in May, is one of six players selected who ply their trade in the NRL.

Newcastle Knights duo Dom Young and Kai Pearce-Paul feature along with Dolphins centre Herbie Farnworth, North Queensland’s John Bateman and former Wigan lock Morgan Smithies, who is now at Canberra Raiders.

Jack Welsby, Morgan Knowles and Alex Walmsley are among a quintet of St Helens involved, while Wigan and Leeds Rhinos have three repesentatives each in the party.

Shaun Wane has provided the answers England fans were waiting for in naming his Ashes Test squad – notably in the halves.

Captain George Williams, Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis will tussle for the two spots with Jack Welsby and new Australia-born recruit AJ Brimson providing cover.

Notably that means no Jake Connor despite a Man of Steel year, while another significant omission is Wigan back-rower Junior Nsemba – having been a huge part of the promotional build up.

Lewis’ success with treble winners Hull KR means he is joined by team-mates Jez Litten at hooker and winger Joe Burgess – all stars of their Grand Final win over Wigan.

Star power is certainly provided by Herbie Farnworth after another magnificent season for NRL side Dolphins, along with fellow Aussie-based talent such as Dom Young and Kai Pearce-Paul.