Archive June 10, 2025

Zander Fagerson will “come back stronger” from his British and Irish Lions heartache, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has predicted.

The 29-year-old Glasgow Warriors prop was one of eight Scots selected for the Lions tour to Australia this summer but has been ruled out because of injury.

“He picked up his injury on Thursday and it was a new injury,” Townsend told the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast.

“He was in brilliant form for us in the Six Nations. He was in a real strong position to play Test rugby for the Lions, so to have that taken away, we know what happens in a sporting career and a rugby career, that you get injured at the wrong time, but he’ll bounce back, he’ll come back stronger.

“He has with previous injuries and he’s still young, young for a tighthead too, so if it doesn’t happen this time, I’m sure he’ll be an even better place to be a Test Lion in four years’ time.”

Townsend suggested that, while he was pleased with the Scottish representation in the Lions squad, even more Scots could have been involved.

The likes of Darcy Graham, Tom Jordan, Ben White, Jamie Ritchie and Rory Darge were all considered to be in contention and Townsend says those players have responded well to the disappointment of missing out.

With Scotland based in New Zealand and Fiji for their summer tour matches against the Maori All Blacks, Fiji and Samoa, the head coach says they have a great opportunity to keep themselves in the minds of the Lions coaches when injuries inevitably take a further toll on the squad.

“I think the most pleasing aspect of the players is how well they’ve played and how they’ve responded to the news they weren’t going to be in the Lions tour,” Townsend said.

“Darcy scored a hat-trick the week after he wasn’t selected. Rory was man of the match against Stormers, he’s been playing excellently. Jamie’s carried on his really good form, as has Tom Jordan.

“They’re still playing very good rugby, if not even better rugby than they played in the Six Nations, so that’s going to put them in the best position possible if there were changes to that Lions squad, which, if you go on history, it’s going to happen.

A relaxed-looking Emma Raducanu began her grass-court singles campaign with an impressive straight-sets victory over Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa at Queen’s.

The Briton smiled and interacted with the crowd as she secured a 6-1 6-2 victory on the Andy Murray Arena.

Raducanu needed just one hour and five minutes to breeze past world number 112 Bucsa and said it felt “incredibly special” to be playing at the home tournament.

“For us girls to have this tournament here finally, after watching the TV and seeing the men play [here], is really nice,” said Raducanu.

The world number 37 is one of four women remaining in the tournament bidding to become the first Briton to win the women’s title at Queen’s Club since Ann Jones in 1969.

Her progression to the last 16 follows that of Katie Boulter and Heather Watson earlier on Tuesday and Sonay Kartal on day one.

British number one Boulter overcame a stern 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4 test against Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic after Watson beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to set up a last-16 meeting with fourth seed Elena Rybakina.

It has been a difficult 12 months for Raducanu.

Left feeling “wary” after being targeted by a stalker during a match in Dubai, she has also had a period of uncertainty with frequent changes to her coaches and a series of back problems that have at times kept her sidelined.

But the 2021 US Open champion has started this grass-court season with a more familiar and stable set-up, including the return to her team of former coach Nick Cavaday.

She has also been “managing” the back issues and looked physically and mentally at ease in her maiden singles match at Queen’s.

Raducanu has played down her expectations at the tournament but, having got a feel for the grass alongside Boulter in their doubles victory on Monday, quickly made herself at home to the delight of a partisan crowd.

Cries of “Emma, we love you!” could be heard from fans throughout, while Raducanu returned the love by cheering and smiling towards the crowd after winning points and signing the camera lens “home turf” with a smiley face after her victory.

The heavily scrutinised Raducanu would surely benefit from a run at a tournament where she has quickly become comfortable but tougher tasks lie ahead.

Boulter said she had “dreamt” of playing at a Queen’s tournament after she came through a match filled with twists and turns against Tomljanovic.

After years of watching the men’s tournament, the 28-year-old said it was “special” to play in the inaugural women’s WTA 500 event at the iconic venue.

“I came out yesterday to watch Andy get his first court [named after him], which is special in itself,” she said.

“To get the women back here feels very special. It’s actually something I dreamt of, having come here the last couple of years to watch the men play, so I’m just really grateful to be on this court.”

In her first singles match of the season on the surface, Boulter navigated a tricky hold where she saw off break points before impressively breaking to love, but missed the opportunity at 5-4 to serve out the set.

Instead, Boulter relied on her serve to get her out of trouble in the first-set tie-break, smashing a forehand winner to take the set in just over an hour.

But things spiralled rapidly for Boulter in set two as she struggled to find any rhythm, falling down a double break and struggling to find the answers.

And, having relied so heavily on a strong serve in the first set, she double-faulted on the first point of the opening game in the decider, laying the foundations for Tomljanovic to break.

Now on a run of six games without a win for Boulter, the home crowd was flat and struggled to provide the Briton with the boost she needed.

That came soon after, though, as Boulter immediately broke back and rediscovered some momentum to win three games in a row.

More to-ing and fro-ing followed as neither player could hold their serve but Boulter eventually kept her calm at 4-4, holding serve before taking the match when Tomljanovic’s forehand dropped long.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s super-fight against Terence Crawford will take place in Las Vegas on Saturday, 13 September.

Mexican pound-for-pound great Alvarez will meet undefeated American Crawford for the undisputed super-middleweight title.

The blockbuster will be streamed globally on Netflix and has been billed the “fight of the century” by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority.

It will be the first fight to be promoted by Alalshikh in collaboration with UFC president Dana White.

“Turki wants to make the biggest fights that the fans want to see in boxing and this is right up my alley,” said White.

“Are you kidding me that the first boxing fight I’m going to get to promote is Canelo versus Crawford? It’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime fight.”

Alvarez holds all four recognised world titles in the super-middleweight division after the 34-year-old beat William Scull last month.

That resulted in him regaining the IBF belt and the undisputed super-middleweight title, and after the fight Crawford was confirmed as his next opponent, with the pair posing for a face-off in the ring.

Alvarez has 63 wins from 67 professional fights, with two draws and two defeats.

Crawford is a four-division and two-weight undisputed champion, and will be moving up from light-middleweight.

The 37-year-old possesses a flawless record, having won all 41 of his pro fights.

“My perfect record speaks for itself,” said Crawford. “I am the best fighter in the world and no matter the opponent or weight class, I have always come out on top.”