Category Sports News

British and Irish Lions v Western Force

As the 20-year-old starts for the British and Irish Lions for the first time, Henry Pollock must resurrect the energy and abrasiveness that have helped him so far in his meteoric rise, says head coach Andy Farrell.

In their first game of a tour of Australia on Saturday, Pollock will pack down at number eight.

Head coach Andy Farrell remarked, “You want people with belief and confidence because that helps when he takes the field.”

You don’t want a child to disappear under the radar and settle into a side in three weeks. You have a reason to choose him.

He resembles the eldest player in that regard. There is absolutely no difference. Everyone associates him with his charm. He is a fantastic lad.

He has been asked to continue with his try celebrations, and Farrell has given him permission to continue with them. He most famously checked his pulse while passing past Sam Prendergast in Northampton’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat of Leinster in the famous celebration.

He is undoubtedly not overawed. I mean, I adore that. He’s just being himself, and you want kids to be themselves. He “knows nothing about him,” Farrell remarked.

He has a real point of difference, and you can see that he is eager to learn.

He anticipates and takes action when he sees something. His line-running is decent. His physical prowess, his awareness of space, and his athletic prowess rank among the squad’s other talents.

He is “the whole time driven to change the world.” He also comprehends what areas of his game need to be improved on. He has a positive attitude.

In a Premiership defeat to Leicester, Pollock’s experience of senior top-flight rugby was limited to 30 minutes off the bench before the start of the season.

However, he was nominated for the Champions Cup player of the year, his barnstorming performances for Northampton this year, and his inclusion in the England senior squad, for which he scored two tries on his debut against Wales in March.

In another instance, Rugby Australia’s CEO, Phil Waugh, claimed that the Lions and the tourists are still negotiating a release date for more Wallabies stars from their Super Rugby teams.

Lions’ chief Ben Calveley claimed that if Australia prevented its Test players from playing in the pre-series matches, denying the visitors proper preparation, and lowering the building’s commercial value, they would violate the tour agreement.

Six of the nine Western Force players selected for a warm-up match against Fiji were ultimately allowed to show up against the Lions this weekend by Australia head coach Joe Schmidt.

We need to work together constructively to resolve the issue, Walsh told News Corp. newspapers.

Wimbledon 2025

Dates: 30 June-13 July Venue: All England Club

Emma Raducanu has been drawn against teenage wildcard Mimi Xu in an eye-catching all-British first-round match at Wimbledon.

If British number one Raducanu beats 17-year-old Xu, she will face either 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova or 32nd seed McCartney Kessler in the second round.

Raducanu, ranked 38th in the world, fell just short of a seeding for the championships and has been handed a difficult-looking draw.

The 22-year-old could potentially face world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the third round.

Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic – the two other British teenagers given wildcards – have also been handed tough draws against seeded players.

Klugman, 16, faces Canadian 29th seed Leylah Fernandez – who Raducanu memorably beat to win the 2021 US Open.

US Open junior champion Stojsavljevic, also 16, starts against American 31st seed Ashlyn Krueger.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s long-expected departure as Leicester City manager has been confirmed more than nine weeks after the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League.

The 48-year-old Dutchman oversaw 19 defeats and managed just five wins from his 27 matches in charge of the East Midlands club last season.

Leicester’s relegation was confirmed with five matches of the campaign remaining, but the former PSV Eindhoven boss saw out the season and held on to the job for another month after it concluded.

The protracted nature of Van Nistelrooy’s exit, which the Championship club says has been “mutually agreed”, was called “baffling” and summed up as “a mess” by former Foxes striker Matt Fryatt in early June.

Not only are the club now looking to regroup for their second season in the Championship in three years, they are also facing a potential points penalty for the upcoming season after being charged for allegedly breaching the English Football League’s financial rules.

In the statement confirming his departure, Van Nistelrooy said he wanted to “wish the club well” for the future.

“I would like to personally thank the Leicester City players, coaches, academy and all the staff I have worked with for their professionalism and dedication during my time at the club,” he told Leicester’s website.

Former Everton and Burnley boss Sean Dyche has been heavily linked to replace the Dutchman at the King Power Stadium ahead of their return to England’s second tier.

Leicester were 16th in the table and one point above the relegation places when Van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium.

Former Nottingham Forest boss Cooper was in charge for the first three months of the season – overseeing three wins and seven losses from 15 games in all competitions – after replacing Enzo Maresca, who left for Chelsea after winning the Championship title with the Foxes in 2023-24.

Two of the defeats that Cooper’s Foxes suffered came against a Manchester United team led by Van Nistelrooy as caretaker boss, the former Red Devils striker having stepped up from his former role as assistant manager at Old Trafford to temporarily replace compatriot Erik ten Hag.

Victory against West Ham in Van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge on 3 December gave him the ideal start, but three weeks later they were in the relegation zone.

And apart from a seven-day reprieve after beating Tottenham in late January, the Foxes spent the last five months of campaign in the bottom three where they eventually finished 13 points from safety in 18th spot.

The woeful end to the campaign was also one of record-setting proportions.

Jake Paul and Deontay Wilder are two men separated by weight, experience and tradition, yet orbiting the same strange boxing universe.

‘The Problem Child’ Paul fights Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on Saturday in Arizona, while his fellow American Wilder returns against Tyrrell Herndon on Friday in Kansas.

And really, thank goodness they’re not fighting each other, because that’s exactly the kind of boxing world we live in now.

If someone called you tomorrow and said, “Wilder v Paul next,” you wouldn’t flinch.

Picture this: Wilder wipes out Herndon in a round in a vintage ‘Bronze Bomber’ display.

Just 24 hours later, Paul is behind on all cards and then stops Chavez Jr late on in a thriller.

By Sunday morning, the clips go viral, the messages start, and someone makes a call.

Wilder v Paul outdoors in America later this year? It’s not impossible. Stranger things have happened.

Wilder was dropped five times by Tyson Fury in their trilogy. He looked a shadow of himself against Joseph Parker. And against Zhilei Zhang, I was about four feet away and he honestly didn’t look like he knew where he was. His instincts were scrambled.

He’s lost four of his last five and yet we’re still not convinced he’s finished. Why? Because Wilder has a gift that defies logic.

He owns one of the most dangerous right hands in boxing history – a punch so destructive that it wipes out most sensible analysis. When you can end a fight in the blink of an eye, you get chances. You get forgiven. You get watched.

He faces the relatively unknown Herndon in Wichita – and no, I couldn’t point it out on a map either. Herndon was stopped in two rounds by Olympic silver medallist Richard Torrez Jr, a terrific heavyweight who’s flying under the radar.

If Wilder detonates early and finishes Herndon quicker than Torrez did, expect someone somewhere to shout: “He’s back!”

And then he’ll want the big names again. He’ll talk about a Parker or Zhang rematch, or maybe even that long-awaited super-fight with Anthony Joshua.

Of course, there’s also Dave Allen. The fact Wilder’s even being linked with Doncaster’s Allen – and no disrespect to Dave, who we all love – shows just how far Wilder’s stock has fallen.

I get asked about Paul all the time – “Buncey, what do you make of him?”

I tell them that Paul is one of boxing’s best-promoted and best-matched fighters. He’s the sport’s greatest modern self-publicist.

He’s had just 12 fights but operates with the publicity machine of a 30-year veteran. That’s the reality.

This next one – against Mexican Chavez – is another masterstroke. Win, and Paul can truthfully say he’s beaten a former world champion. Never mind that Chavez has been unmotivated and underwhelming for years.

This is elite matchmaking, the kind Mickey Duff or Frank Warren would have admired in the 1980s. Find a guy with a belt in the past, a name the public still knows and has just enough miles on the clock. Time it right, get the win, build the brand.

In fact, smart matchmaking has always been Paul’s strategy. Even the Mike Tyson fight was cold, calculated business. It may have counted to both their records but it was just a glorious payday for Tyson, who didn’t really let his hands go and nor did Paul either. There was a degree of benevolence in that ring.

Paul upsets the purists when he fights UFC guys and then starts calling out the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or Joshua. His mouth is his crime, not his commitment to boxing. I’ve seen him in the gym – Paul trains like a world champion.

He’s raw, his footwork clunky, his technique mechanical, but his commitment is real. He trains like he’s going 15 rounds at Madison Square Garden.

As for Chavez, this could be redemption. If a motivated, fit Chavez – the kind we haven’t seen in years – shows up, he could give Paul a real fight.

Twelve years is a long time, not just for sports.

In the wintertime sunshine of June 2025, George North is practicing yoga on the north bank of the Brisbane River in the shadow of Story Bridge.

The former Wales winger claims that it is “probably the most Australian thing I’ve ever done.”

The sedate scene is far removed from the pulsing energy of the year-old North Irish Lions folklore.

No, not the equally jaw-droppingly brilliant 60-meter solo try from the first Test.

The second Test is taking place in Melbourne in the 60th minute. With nowhere to go, North has just received a through-the-legs pass from Brian O’Driscoll and is faced by his opposing number, Israel Folau, a winger with a 6′ 4″ and 17-stone stature.

North decides to pump his legs and use the Australia winger, who is now upside down on North’s back, as an improvised human battering ram, with the ball in hand. The hallucinations were thrown like skittles.

North recalls it in this manner, which is “a little silly, to be honest.” He continues, “Not my best thought.”

The Lions’ 137-year history is now defined by eminently legendary moments. The list goes on and on, starting with JPR or Jeremy Guscott’s drop-goals, Robert Jones arguing with Nick Farr-Jones, Sir Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer’s team talk, Matt Dawson’s dummy, O’Driscoll’s knife-through-butter try, and more.

The Lions lost by one point in the second Test, which North almost forgot happened in. It defined Australia’s 2013 2-1 series victory.

One thing North reveals to him when he interacts with Lions fans, as he did during his recent 10-day working vacation in Australia.

He claims that it’s most likely the Izzy Folau carry. Then it moves on to the drama and excitement that the Test series brought. Going to the decider [in 2013] was incredibly special both as a player and as a fan.

I never imagined I would be able to play for the Lions, and I never imagined I would be able to do so. I never imagined I would be able to do so, let alone travel twice to support your country.

After that tour, North’s life “got busy,” despite already winning the Six Nations.

He continues, “I’d just joined Northampton, so 2013 put me in a different bracket when I came home, and it was amazing to be recognized for what you do.”

What does he think of the British and Irish Lions, then? Is it that his 2013 or 2017 tour, which ended in injury before the start of his Test matches, was better?

“I consider the lions’ history. When you’re in that environment, you can’t help but feel and carry it, which is something he claims is incredible because it’s so special and unique.

“I was fighting hard every day and at my best,” I said, “because of the honor you have and the responsibility you have for that jersey.”

“It was probably the best rugby I’ve ever played,” I said in a personal statement. For me, it was undoubtedly a fantastic experience on the field, with the players I met, with the activities we engaged in, and with the opportunity to travel to such a wonderful country as Australia.

North, who won 121 caps for Wales, is still a 33-year-old fan and currently plays for Provence in the French second division. Does he miss it?

Like most ex-players, he reveals, “Do you know what, when I was]in Australia] I was going’maybe I can still go?”

I absolutely loved my tour, and I’m proud of what I did and did, but it’s time for these boys to start moving forward.

Does he have a 2025 forecast?

I was considering this,” I said. I’m going to go for Australia to win the first game, Lions to win the second, and then the third game to lose to Lions to win 2-1.

That is what, in my opinion, happened in 1989 to Australia.

Wimbledon 2025

Venue: All England Club, June 30 – 13 .

Three British players will enter the women’s singles draw for the first time in Wimbledon history, aged 17 and under.

After demonstrating their potential over the past few years, Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman, and Mimi Xu were given main-draw wildcard prizes.

Stojsavljevic, 16, has advanced most significantly since winning the US Open girls’ title last year.

Klugman, 16, made history by reaching the French Open girls’ final last month as the first Briton in almost 50 years.

The 17-year-old Xu has already defeated two top-100 opponents on the grass this year, ranking just outside the top 300.

The trio are now focusing on their Wimbledon senior debuts after getting their GCSE and A-Level exams finished.

“We’ve known for a long time that this is a good three-ball on the girls’ side,” Iain Bates, the LTA’s head of women’s tennis, told BBB Sport.

“All three players have different paths to the top of the game. However, their progress indicates that they are a formidable force right now.

6’8″ tall Stojsavljevic, who was born in west London to a Polish and Serb father, is a big server and clean ball-striker with a similar style to Maria Sharapova’s from a young age.

With her US Open victory, she won the only British woman to ever win a Slam title, and she is the youngest woman to do so since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia in 2006.

The English teenager has since won the British national title, defeating Klugman in the final, and advanced to the ranks of Queen’s and Nottingham’s professional circuit.

Stojsavljevic’s talent has been nurtured while she is pursuing her GCSEs at LTA’s National Academy in Loughborough.

Klugman, who turned 16 in February, has been hailed as a promising prospect for a while.

The Englishman emulated Coco Gauff, Chris Evert, and Caroline Wozniacki when she won the prestigious Orange Bowl junior championships in Florida in 2023.

Klugman chose to remain at home in Wimbledon rather than enroll in the LTA’s academy than Stojsavljevic and Xu.

She practices at the National Tennis Centre alongside Reed’s School’s Ben Haran, who is a former assistant to Jack Draper and Tim Henman.

Her two-months of clay preparation, including time spent at Rafael Nadal’s academy, helped her reach the Roland Garros final, but her solidity and touch on the net work well on the grass.

Xu is the trio’s senior member with the most experience, and he is already ranked 302nd worldwide.

The Welsh teenager joined national coach Katie O’Brien and Nigel Sears, who coached Emma Raducanu during her Wimbledon fourth-round run in 2021.

She also gained a boost from being invited to the British team’s BJK Cup practice match in November.

Alycia Parks, the world number 52, shocked American top seed Xu on her way to the Birmingham quarter-finals earlier this month, giving her career-best win.

For all three players, making their senior Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon is a significant achievement.

Following a discussion between the LTA and the All England Club about which players merit wildcards, they were given spots.

The trio will also receive at least £66, 000 in prize money to reinvest in their careers in addition to the valuable experience.

You would think that all of them are prepared for the opportunity to play if you looked at their profiles separately, “said Bates.”

I hope and anticipate that they will hold more Wimbledons, as I told them all.

“The first one is about competing against some of the world’s best,” they said.

I believe this is the ideal opportunity and moment for them.

Teenager players are limited to the number of tournaments they can register for and what level before turning 16; this includes.

Up to 12 tournaments can be entered into by players who are 16 under the rules. That grows once more when they reach the age of 17.

Bates added that “success in junior tennis is undoubtedly a strong indicator of long-term potential,” but it is not a guarantee.

Working through each stage of the professional tour, getting the support and encouragement they can, is what this group of three is really trying to do.