Category Sports News

Valentin Royer defeated Cameron Norrie to advance to the Moselle Open second round, but Jacob Fearnley, a fellow Brit, suffered an early exit in Athens.

The in-form Royer, who had dominated a second-set tie-break, led the way for the 27-year-old Norrie, who won 6-3, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 after the French open.

Norrie, the second-ranked British player, won the Moselle Open final last year and said it was his biggest career victory last week over then-world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

In his quest for his first ATP Tour title since 2023, he next faces Arthur Cazaux, a native of his own.

Norrie remarked, “The entire match was not easy.

“Royer’s] first full year on the tour is almost in the top 50,” he said. I had to work hard.

Lorenzo Sonego defeated Jan Choinski of Great Britain at the same tournament earlier in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss.

With the eighth and final place still to be decided at the season-ending ATP Finals, Lorenzo Musetti’s progress will receive a lot of attention in Athens.

The ninth-ranked Musetti must win the title in order to advance to the Finals after world number eight Auger-Aliassime was forced to withdraw from the Moselle Open with a left knee injury.

Elena Rybakina becomes the first woman to reach the semi-finals on Monday in Riyadh as part of the ongoing WTA Finals.

Five British players will aim for success in the doubles competition on Sunday in Turin for the men’s Finals.

In earlier this month, Henry Patten, who plays with Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, and Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, were all ranked in the top ten.

England vs. Fiji: Quilter Nations Series

Venue: Twickenham Allianz Stadium Saturday, November 8 Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

After being touted as a potential replacement for the backline, England back row Ben Earl says he would not have any reservations starting a Test match in the centres.

After a string of comeos back in the second half behind the scrum, head coach Steve Borthwick made the suggestion that Earl might start the match in midfield.

According to Earl, “We’ve had discussions about it in the past.”

“I’d feel very happy to play there if and when Steve would, because I know he wouldn’t put the team in jeopardy.”

You must put your trust in him and your own self for the work you’ve already done if he thinks you’re ready to take that position.

“So yeah, I’d be happy at any time.”

After Tommy Freeman, who started 13 in the starting lineup, Tommy Freeman, Tommy Freeman, and Henry Pollock, who was back rowing, to take the starting spot, Tommy Freeman, Tommy Freeman, Tommy Freeman, and England defeated Wales 68-14 in the final round of the Six Nations in March.

Earl’s mid-game substitutions against Italy, Japan, and New Zealand were similar.

Earl, 27, believes that making significant adjustments to his game would be simpler if he moved into the center.

The performance “looks very, very similar” when you perform well as a back rower and a 12 or 13er, he said.

“I believe that scrummaging is the only time you might be doing something different.

I’m just trying to remain true to who I am as a player, not like this kind of trailblazing guy who has done a lot of everything.

In Saturday’s 25-7 victory over Australia, Earl recorded 73 metres with the ball in hand, more than all but two of his team-mates. The Saracens star attempted to get in the opening try from just inside the Wallabies half to get close to that figure.

Borthwick has also identified a forward who has the potential to play backs.

As a potential wing option, Pollock has been selected who has scored three tries for England in just over an hour of Test rugby.

Earl of Pollock remarked, “I think he’s quicker than I am.”

Earl said being compared to the 20-year-old, who has had a huge impact with his aggressive, exuberant style, is a stark contrast from having him as a team-mate.

Henry has been fantastic. He and I have been friends for years, Earl said, “It seems like he’s known us for years.”

When you’re in his camp, I believe that’s probably his strength because he’s just a good, likeable guy.

There isn’t anyone I disliked more than him when you’re in camp with him, but when you play against him about two weeks ago [Northampton’s win over Saracens], he’s an absolute bundle of energy. You want to be around him, right?

Elinor Snowsill, a former fly-half, calls it “very frustrating” when England place second place behind Wales’ best young talent.

Since turning her Wales career into a career in 2012, Snowsill has been in charge of one of the Welsh Rugby Union’s (WRU) player development centers.

She also serves as the head coach of Cardiff Met and Wales Under-18s, where she claimed that there is a “golden generation” emerging.

However, “headhunting” from across the border worries Snowsill.

She stated on the Scrum V podcast that some of England’s most gifted players in the age range have been contacted and asked to travel there instead.

Given the success of Wales-born Meg Jones and Lucy Packer, Snowsill said she “feels wrong” about playing for the world champions.

“You’ve seen the Red Roses’ high investment by the RFU,” said Bob. In contrast, she said, “Wales and Scotland have invested heavily in their respective pathways over the past few years.”

“They have a lot of players playing because England is so dominant right now.”

A number of Welsh players claim that this is what I want to do, though.

They watched Wales fail to win the World Cup in the first two stages before watching England win the trophy and the atmosphere.

However, Snowsill claims that having a Welsh birthplace has advantages.

Because we are a small country, she said, “We can really combine our resources.”

Snowsill praised the WRU’s additional funding for Gwalia Lightning and Brython Thunder as a Celtic Challenge champion.

With the intention of bringing Welsh talent back to Wales, it will allow for dual contracts, additional coaching staff, and resources.

If players aren’t returning to the team roster or playing a lot of rugby, “we’re going to be bringing them back,” she said.

However, Snowsill thinks the package must be competitive for players to stay in England, even if they aren’t playing on matchday teams.

With this new funding, the challenge is to make it as appealing as possible for us to stay in Wales and participate in the journey, she said. “We’ve worked hard to develop our talent.

It won’t happen overnight, he said.

However, I firmly believe that Wales will succeed in the upcoming World Cup and subsequent ones.

Philippa Tuttiett believes Wales would benefit from having just one professional team, whether that be the Celtic Challenge or the possibility of joining the PWR.

Every player should be supported in the most effective setting to pursue their goals, Tutiertt said on the Scrum V podcast.

How are you going to make two professional teams out of Wales’ bottom-seeded Six Nations team, which had 30-35 players in the World Cup? You must add even more players.

Tuttiett also emphasized the value of making players strive to be professionals rather than just receiving contracts.

When I was younger, I worked so hard to even join my club team. I’m not sure if it would have kept my hunger alive if someone turned to me when I was 18 and said, “There’s a professional contract,” she said.

Let’s not get too big too soon, I personally would prefer it to be a one-professional team and build.

At Euro 2028, co-hosts England may travel two games away from Wembley.

The Three Lions will play one of their three group games at one of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Villa Park, Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, and St James’ Park in Newcastle, according to BBC Sport. They will need to qualify for the tournament to advance to the final five English stadiums, where they will host games.

England would also have to play a game away from home if they qualified for the knockout round at Wembley because there are no last-16 games being played there.

Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland are all hosts by England.

The opening game will be held at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, as first reported by the Times.

At the official launch of Euro 2028 in London on November 12th, the full schedule will be revealed.

The FA and Uefa, the body responsible for football in Europe, have both declined to comment.

At Wembley during the Euro 1996 semi-finals, England reached every match of their own competition.

Apart from their quarter-final victory over Ukraine in Rome, they also hosted games at Euro 2020, which was played across several nations, and played all of their games at Wembley.

England, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland must meet qualifying requirements, according to Uefa, but any of those host nations who do not will be able to qualify will lose two spots in the finals.

Games will also be played at Glasgow’s Aviva Stadium and Hampden Park in Dublin.

The decision to remove the national team from their traditional home was largely driven by the number of recently developed and expanded stadiums in England, according to a senior source.

England’s men’s and women’s teams have played a number of games across the nation recently.

Due to Coldplay’s Wembley concerts, the men’s team played Andorra at Villa Park in Birmingham in September. The match was played at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground because the English friendly against Senegal in June and concert season clashed.

England have hosted home games at St James’ Park, Old Trafford, Manchester United’s Old Trafford, and Molineux, a Wolverhampton Wanderers’ ground since 2018.

Games have also been played at Leeds United’ Elland Road, Southampton’s St Mary’s, Leicester City’s King Power Stadium, and Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough.

Former England batter Jonathan Trott will leave his job as head coach of Afghanistan after next year’s men’s T20 World Cup.

The 44-year-old has been in charge of Afghanistan since July 2022 and has overseen a successful period including guiding the team to the semi-finals of last year’s T20 World Cup.

An Afghanistan Cricket Board statement said the decision was part of their “long-term strategic planning” for the “next phase of the national team’s growth”.

Trott said it had been “privilege” to coach the side and to “witness their passion, resilience, and hunger to achieve greatness”.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I will always remain a supporter of Afghan cricket,” added Trott.

Trott has coached Afghanistan for over three years but has never visited the country and still lives in Birmingham.

He travels when the players meet for camps in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to their main training base and hosts many of their fixtures.

The majority of the players live in Afghanistan and play in the domestic cricket leagues.

Ex-Warwickshire player Trott played 52 Tests and 68 one-day internationals for England, scoring 6,654 runs across both formats.

Former England batter Jonathan Trott will leave his job as head coach of Afghanistan after next year’s men’s T20 World Cup.

The 44-year-old has been in charge of Afghanistan since July 2022 and has overseen a successful period including guiding the team to the semi-finals of last year’s T20 World Cup.

An Afghanistan Cricket Board statement said the decision was part of their “long-term strategic planning” for the “next phase of the national team’s growth”.

Trott said it had been “privilege” to coach the side and to “witness their passion, resilience, and hunger to achieve greatness”.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I will always remain a supporter of Afghan cricket,” added Trott.

Trott has coached Afghanistan for over three years but has never visited the country and still lives in Birmingham.

He travels when the players meet for camps in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to their main training base and hosts many of their fixtures.

The majority of the players live in Afghanistan and play in the domestic cricket leagues.

Ex-Warwickshire player Trott played 52 Tests and 68 one-day internationals for England, scoring 6,654 runs across both formats.