Category Sports News

Gallagher Premiership

Newcastle (10) 34

Cons: Connon 3 Pen: Connon 3 Tries: Blamire, Doherty, Hearle, Hearle, Stevenson, Pepper

Northampton (28) 35

With a five-try victory at Newcastle, the Northampton Saints kept their slim Premiership title defense alive.

After Jamie Blamire scored a try, Saints rallied to score four tries before half-time from hooker Craig Wright, prop Luke Green, Fin Smith, an early replacement, and debut winger Will Glister.

Before Saints scrum-half Tom James went over to push the visitors into a 35-15 lead, Connor Doherty, the center, gave the Falcons a reply shortly after the break.

In their final eight games, eight points clear of fourth-placed Gloucester, they must earn the most points to maintain their position as eighth in the table.

As Wright, age 21, scored on his first Premiership try for their opening try, they quickly opened up what appeared to be an unassailable lead in the north-east.

The game appeared to be over when James added a fifth try following Smith’s break and a pass inside from center Burger Odendaal.

Hearle finished well on the right wing when they swung play, and Stevenson then floated a pass to Ollie Fletcher in the corner.

Newcastle got their first point after Pepper intercepted and ran 80 yards for just one point in the final three minutes.

Alan Dickens, the senior coach for Newcastle, stated to BBC Radio Newcastle:

They scored three tries at the end of the first half, which was disappointing because we did a lot of good and put pressure on them.

To receive two bonus points for playing in the final fifteen minutes is a step in the right direction.

Replacements: Spencer, Rewcastle, Palframan, Baker, Leatherbarrow, Pepper, Arnold, and Fletcher.

Northampton: Glister, Odendaal, Hutchinson, Seabrook, Charlie Savala, James, West, Wright, Green, Munga, Lockett, Scott-Young, Pearson, Mapu, and Glister.

Walker, Haffar, Millar Mills, Mayanavanua, Augustus, Mitchell, Smith, and Witheat replace each other.

Rugby World Cup

Edinburgh (10) 17

tries: Thompson, Ritchie, and Lang

Hollywoodbet Sharks (6) 18

Makazole Mapimpi’s last-gasp try for the Sharks broke Edinburgh’s hearts and dented their hopes of qualifying for the Rugby World Cup play-offs.

Sean Everitt’s team persevered until the clock ran out and the Springbok wing Mapimpi dived into the corner while facing several double World Cup winners.

The raucous Hive Stadium fans, who had watched their side take the lead for the majority of the game but were ultimately left with just one point and vulnerable to dropping out of the top eight, had a sickening experience.

With six other teams within four points of them, they are currently in seventh place.

After some excellent pairing play with Matt Currie, James Lang launched himself up and into the corner after a nice hand to the far corner, and Jamie Ritchie touched down in a similar spot.

And just before the restart, Lukhanyo Am cut a break and added Aphelele Fassi to give the Sharks the lead and reaffirm their star power.

However, minutes later, Am was sent to the sin-bin for cynical play after being kicked through. After an incredible scrap, Edinburgh drew blood when Springbok team-mate Eben Etzebeth and Edinburgh’s Sam Skinner joined him.

After receiving a tap penalty in front of the posts, Edinburgh’s four-point lead was restored by Ross Thompson.

Following a thirty-hour battle, Edinburgh was held up over the try line in the scoreless final minutes before Sharks won a crucial scrum penalty that gave them position in the dying moments.

They exploited everything ruthlessly. Before Siya Musuku spun a flawless pass over Mapimpi, the forwards made the Edinburgh defense more sluggish.

Morgan Gibbs-White is wanted by Manchester City, while Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and Tyler Dibling are both targets by Manchester United.

Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, 25, is currently competing for attention at Manchester City. (Times: A subscription required)

Antoine Semenyo, a 25-year-old Ghana international, is currently in contention with Manchester United, but Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are in line with them. (Sky Sports)

If Southampton advance to Champions League qualification by winning this year’s Europa League, Manchester United will increase their interest in Tyler Dibling, a 19-year-old English midfielder. (ESPN)

Viktor Gyokeres, 26, is a striker for Chelsea who wants to join their Brazilian team, but the 26-year-old prefers to join Arsenal (A Bola – in Portuguese).

As Liverpool look to sign Sweden international Alexander Isak for a fee of 25 against Newcastle, Liverpool are closely monitoring Ollie Watkins, 29. Football Insider

Rasmus Hojlund, 22, a striker from Norway and Manchester United, is wanted by Napoli, Inter Milan, and Inter Milan. (Caughtoffside)

After failing to land the 25-year-old in January, Fulham are still interested in signing AC Milan and Nigeria winger Samuel Chukwueze this summer. (Calciomercato – Italian)

Kim Min-jae, a 28-year-old center-back from Bayern Munich, has been questioned by Chelsea and Newcastle regarding his availability. (Footmercato – in French)

Mika Biereth, a 22-year-old Monaco and Denmark striker, is on Everton‘s summer transfer target list. (Teamtalk)

Lewis Miley, 18, is interested in playing for a number of Premier League and Bundesliga clubs. (Romano-Fabrizio)

Jurgen Klopp, the 57-year-old German, is happy to decline any offers from Real Madrid or Brazil in the coming season despite the former Liverpool boss’ lack of interest in any managerial positions. (Sky Germany – in German)

London Pulse’s excellent debut in the Netball Super League season was capped by a close call, 61-56 victory over Manchester Thunder.

With their sixth straight victory in as many games, Pulse moves six points clear of Thunder in the standings.

Olivia Tchine’s skill as a goalie proved crucial as she bagged 37 goals for Pulse, bringing her total to 223 for the season.

Elmere van der Berg, the Thunder’s counterpart, managed 16 in the end, beating the South African.

At the half-time mark, Pulse, who joined NSL in 2019, had a slim lead of 29-26.

Pulse once held a seven-point lead in the third quarter, but Thunder stayed strong and cut the deficit to 43-43.

However, the home team’s work-rate and clinical finishing ultimately paid off in the final game of the match at London’s Copper Box Arena.

We knew they were a talented and capable team, so we simply needed to perform our own jumps first.

“It feels so good to be unbeaten. We feel like we can defeat any opponent because of how much confidence it gives us. We can presumably advance from this point forward.

Sam Bird, the head coach of the London Pulse, said, “That was a great game to play.” There was some really good netball all over the court thanks to Thunder, which were very strong.

We could have gone either way, but I believed we were more composed in the crucial last few seconds. We’re still pursuing improvements.

“We’ve been the most relaxed we’ve ever been, and I think that’s why.” We’ve already passed the threshold and have some good momentum going.

Karen Greig, Thunder coach, says, “I’m very proud of the girls. We were aware that today would be a difficult assignment for us, and there was some slack in the beginning.

The truth is that we have outperformed the superstar-filled London Pulse team. We could have extended the lead at one point in the fourth quarter.

Sixth round

Friday, April 18th.

Manchester Thunder 61-56 London Pulse

Saturday, April 19th.

Loughborough Lightning vs. London Mavericks (17:00)

Nottingham Forest vs. Birmingham Panthers (18:00)

Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia

Jeddah Dates: 18-20 April Start time for the race: 18:00 BST on Sunday

Lando Norris says he is “on the right track” for the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia after setting the pace in Friday practice.

The Briton led teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.16 seconds on a day that was hampered by a Yuki Tsunoda crash.

At the end of the second session, the Japanese, who had previously raced in two races this season, clipped the inside wall and was thrown into the wall on the outside.

McLaren once more appeared to have an edge over the competition: Max Verstappen from Red Bull finished the day third fastest, at least on one-lap pace, 0.280secs ahead of Norris’ best.

He claimed he had been working hard to improve his confidence while driving on the fast-paced Jeddah street track.

A respectable first day, Norris declared. Because of how fast it moves, how many walls, and how many near-misses it causes, everything feels chaotic around here.

“Today, I’ve been working more on myself and my driving than probably on the car.” gaining more self-assurance.

“A good place to start, productive, and empowering. On the right path, from what I wanted to learn today.

We are confident, in my opinion, but the rest are not far behind. I had hoped for a bigger gap than it did today, probably. We are quick, after all. We are confident in our vehicle. Not as cozy as we would like.

Piastri once said, “I’ve been feeling pretty good and the car is moving.” I’ve made a few cuts, which I need to make better use of tomorrow.

Verstappen finished third overall, but the Dutchman was behind Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of race pace both during the first and second sessions.

The four-time champion said, “We tried some different things, trying to find maybe a different direction, and we came away with a lot.”

Still, not where I wanted to be. You have to move away from what you feel in the car, I don’t really look at the gaps. Although it is slightly better over a lap, our long runs were still very challenging.

Leclerc finished the day 0.48 seconds slower than Norris, but he did not finish the day with a clean lap on the day’s quickest soft tires.

The championship leaders’ advantage appeared bigger than ever at any race this season, despite the fact that he and Russell appeared the closest thing to a McLarens’ challenge on a race run.

A challenging day, Leclerc declared. It’s a very difficult track, and at best, one’s confidence must be very high.

We changed a lot about the car, but it turned out to be very positive because I learned a lot. I believe that once we adjust the window, the vehicle will experience a little more performance.

Lewis Hamilton, a teammate, however, acknowledged his difficulties. The seven-time champion was 13th place, 0. 622 seconds slower than Leclerc, and eighth fastest, 5 places, and 0. 506 seconds behind in the first session.

Hamilton called him “not the greatest.” Our main concern was getting the tires to work today.

“Sunday usually goes backwards, but there isn’t much going backwards for me to leave.”

“The car needs to be improved. A few times throughout the session, the soft tyre didn’t appear until the soft tyre is reached. Tonight, we’ll make some adjustments, and we’ll probably come back stronger tomorrow.

The late in the second session race simulation runs were halted by Tsunoda’s crash.

The left-front track-rod was damaged when he first struck the wall, which caused the car to crash into the outside wall, where the front right also suffered damage.

Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia

Jeddah Dates: 18-20 April Start time for the race: 18:00 BST on Sunday

Lando Norris says he is “on the right track” for the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia after setting the pace in Friday practice.

The Briton led teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.16 seconds on a day that was hampered by a Yuki Tsunoda crash.

At the end of the second session, the Japanese, who had previously raced in two races this season, clipped the inside wall and was thrown into the wall on the outside.

McLaren once more appeared to have an edge over the competition: Max Verstappen from Red Bull finished the day third fastest, at least on one-lap pace, 0.280secs ahead of Norris’ best.

He claimed he had been working hard to improve his confidence while driving on the fast-paced Jeddah street track.

A respectable first day, Norris declared. Because of how fast it moves, how many walls, and how many near-misses it causes, everything feels chaotic around here.

“Today, I’ve been working more on myself and my driving than probably on the car.” gaining more self-assurance.

“A good place to start, productive, and empowering. On the right path, from what I wanted to learn today.

We are confident, in my opinion, but the rest are not far behind. I had hoped for a bigger gap than it did today, probably. We are quick, after all. We are confident in our vehicle. Not as cozy as we would like.

Piastri once said, “I’ve been feeling pretty good and the car is moving.” I’ve made a few cuts, which I need to make better use of tomorrow.

Verstappen finished third overall, but the Dutchman was behind Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of race pace both during the first and second sessions.

The four-time champion said, “We tried some different things, trying to find maybe a different direction, and we came away with a lot.”

Still, not where I wanted to be. You have to move away from what you feel in the car, I don’t really look at the gaps. Although it is slightly better over a lap, our long runs were still very challenging.

Leclerc finished the day 0.48 seconds slower than Norris, but he did not finish the day with a clean lap on the day’s quickest soft tires.

The championship leaders’ advantage appeared bigger than ever at any race this season, despite the fact that he and Russell appeared the closest thing to a McLarens’ challenge on a race run.

A challenging day, Leclerc declared. It’s a very difficult track, and at best, one’s confidence must be very high.

We changed a lot about the car, but it turned out to be very positive because I learned a lot. I believe that once we adjust the window, the vehicle will experience a little more performance.

Lewis Hamilton, a teammate, however, acknowledged his difficulties. The seven-time champion was 13th place, 0. 622 seconds slower than Leclerc, and eighth fastest, 5 places, and 0. 506 seconds behind in the first session.

Hamilton called him “not the greatest.” Our main concern was getting the tires to work today.

“Sunday usually goes backwards, but there isn’t much going backwards for me to leave.”

“The car needs to be improved. A few times throughout the session, the soft tyre didn’t appear until the soft tyre is reached. Tonight, we’ll make some adjustments, and we’ll probably come back stronger tomorrow.

The late in the second session race simulation runs were halted by Tsunoda’s crash.

The left-front track-rod was damaged when he first struck the wall, which caused the car to crash into the outside wall, where the front right also suffered damage.