Category Sports News

Wales vs. Ireland at the Women’s Six Nations

Rodney Parade Date: Sunday, April 20th Kick-off: 5:00 BST

One of five changes made for Sunday’s Women’s Six Nations game against Wales is Ireland captain Edel McMahon.

McMahon was forced to play in the back row to take over Erin King, who earlier this week declared she would miss the rest of the tournament and the World Cup because of a serious knee injury. She was replaced after last week’s defeat by England.

Siobhan McCarthy replaces Niamh O’Dowd as loose-head prop elsewhere in the pack for her first Test start.

When Fiona Tuite comes off the bench, Ruth Campbell is renamed in the second row.

While Molly Scuffil-McCabe makes her debut at scrum-half ahead of Emily Lane, Enya Breen, who also missed the England game, makes her comeback as partner in midfield with Aoife Dalton.

Claire Boles and Sadhbh McGrath of Ulster are recalled to the bench.

Following Alex Callender’s return from foot injury, Wales has recalled her back row.

Wales are hoping for their first victory since losing to Scotland, England, and France, while Ireland are third with one win out of three games.

Replacements: Catherine Richards, Maisie Davies, Donna Rose, Natalia John, Alaw Pyrs, Sian Jones, Lleucu George, and Carys Phillips.

Ireland: Stacey Flood, Anna McGann, Aoife Dalton, Enya Breen, Amee-Leigh, Dannah O’Brien, Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Siobhán McCarthy, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang, Ruth Campbell, Dorothy Wall, Brittany Hogan, Edel McMahon (capt), Aoife Wafer.

Omer Riza, manager of Cardiff City, has apologized for calling some of the club’s supporters “clueless.”

With only four games left in the season and a big game away to promotion-chasing Sheffield United on Friday night, Riza is under pressure to keep the Bluebirds in the championship.

The 45-year-old’s comments on Wednesday sparked a backlash from the fanbase, with Cardiff City Supporters Trust calling Riza “disrespectful”

“I guess I was considering some messages that were a little too personal, and I chose to say what I said out of frustration and pressure.”

I’m sorry for the pain, to be honest.

Riza’s initial comments caused a backlash on social media, and the Trust called on the manager to “reflect on his ill-judged comments.”

Riza continued, “There have been high moments but too many low ones in recent weeks, as stated in an interview released on the club’s website prior to the Good Friday game against the Blades. It still needs to be fixed and changed, but it must begin now.

“Home and away, we must give ourselves the best chance to accomplish our goal of securing the championship football next season.”

After only four months as Yokohama F. Marinos’ manager, former England assistant manager Steve Holland has been fired.

Holland was appointed club 19th in the 20-team J-League after only winning one of his 11 league games while in charge.

The Yokohama F. Marinos are happy to announce that Steve Holland, who was appointed manager at the start of the 2025 season, has left the team.

Head coach Patrick Kisnorbo will remain in place as the vacancy, “for the time being.”

Holland helped the Three Lions to place second and third at the European Championship in 2021 and 2024 after serving as Gareth Southgate’s assistant for eight years.

The 54-year-old’s dismissal comes before Yokohama F. Marinos face Urawa Reds in the Asian Champions League quarter-finals and then Al-Nassr, who have Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks.

The Marinos finished last season in ninth place, their first title since 2022.

By securing semi-final spots on a dramatic night, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Chelsea all moved one step closer to European glory.

Ruben Amorim’s United resurrected in the Europa League with a remarkable comeback as they defeated Lyon 5-4 at Old Trafford and 7-6 overall.

Tottenham won Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 to advance to 2-1 on aggregate, which is impressive.

The first game of the Europa League and Conference League semi-final matches will take place on May 1st, followed by the second game, which will be played a week later.

As Ange Postecoglou prepares to win a trophy in his second season at Tottenham, Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt will take the field.

Athletic Bilbao, who defeated Rangers in the quarter-finals, will face Manchester United.

Bodo/Glimt, the reigning champions of Norway, are one of the most intriguing teams in European play.

Faced with them can prove to be a challenging proposition for unacclimatized opposition because their home games frequently take place north of the Arctic Circle, as Lazio discovered in the quarter-finals.

The Italians lost the first game 2-0 in Norway, and Bodo/Glimt won the subsequent shootout despite Lazio holding back 3-1 at home in the second leg.

Bodo/Glimt, who famously defeated Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 in the Europa League group stage four years ago, has not caused Lazio’s major league team to face off.

In 2022, the Norwegians defeated a Celtic side that is currently under the control of Postecoglou in a Conference League game.

Bodo is one of the most northernmost cities in the world, and it is very far away from other major cities, with the next closest major city at least nine and a half hours drive away.

Their fans are also renowned for having giant yellow toothbrushes for games.

According to the legend, the custom began 50 years ago when a fan attempted to start a chant and became alarmed that it was not going to take off by using a toothbrush to “direct” the crowd.

Athletic are a club that historically relies on Basque players to create their own emotions and identity.

The Europa League final will be played at their home stadium in San Mames, which gives players and fans a chance to experience once in a lifetime, but the current squad seems to be taking the pressure lightly.

Ernesto Valverde, a seasoned coach, has a calming influence on his team, who plays adroit but exciting football.

A star player like Nico Williams, who won the Spanish European Championship, will undoubtedly cause problems for Manchester United in the semi-finals.

Marcelo Bielsa led Athletic to the Europa League final in 2012, and he later became Leeds United’s manager.

The club’s roots can be traced to the late 1800s and the island of Djurgarden, which means “animal island,” which is situated in Stockholm’s heart.

The 3Arena, the city’s current home ground, is in the city’s Johanneshov district.

Djurgarden have won the domestic league 12 times, but this is their closest attempt in a European competition.

Although Chelsea’s semi-final opponents are approaching the end of the season, Djurgarden’s domestic campaign is just beginning. They have only won three of their first three games and have not had the best of starts.

Lucas Bergvall, a highly regarded teenager, played for Tottenham before joining them last year.

Bergvall quickly made an impression at the club, leading Aftonbladet to predict that he would become “Djurgarden’s biggest transfer ever” with one of his early performances.

Dakota Ditcheva, a Manchester boxer, claims she is “gutted” that the PFL will not be a fight until next year.

Ditcheva, 26, won the PFL’s 2024 flyweight world title, but the organization has since drastically altered its events, including changing the tournament status.

Ditcheva can only watch from a distance as the PFL’s other flyweights begin this month as Ditcheva competes in the newly launched “PFL Champions Series” in 2025.

Ditcheva told MMA Junkie, “I’m gutted that I haven’t had anything yet.”

“I’m like, Get me anything,” I say. I understand that PFL is difficult.

“They’ve got all the girls in the tournament,” they said. They now need to find someone to put up a good fight with me.

The PFL has informed Ditcheva that she will likely face the tournament winner when she next squares up against the winner in November.

What if the winner emerges from the matchup unharmed? If they are injured, what happens? “Ditcheva said,”

Do they want to fight me when they win the year’s end? “A person who has fought three times.

They might say, “I’m sorry, I’m hurt, or I don’t want to fight this year, I’ll do it in January.” That would take me a year to complete. Something will happen, but it’s testing for sure.

Ditcheva is not the only PFL star to speak out about the scheduling, with Patricio Pitbull, Patricio Pitbull, and other fighters requesting their release from the MMA organization.

Johnny Eblen, the former Bellator middleweight champion, admitted on social media in February that he hadn’t “heard a peep” about any fights.

British boxer Fabian Edwards, who lost to Eblen in his previous outing in October, has called on the PFL to get their best fighters fired.

It’s insane to watch all those guys watch from the sidelines for a year or more. I just hope they can figure out what needs to be done, Edwards said.

According to Millwall captain Shaun Hutchinson, the club has withdrawn Liam Roberts from the player of the year award vote to stop further abuse of the goalkeeper.

Jean-Philippe Mateta, 30, kicking the Eagles striker in the head in the Lions’ FA Cup defeat by Crystal Palace in March, sent Roberts off.

Roberts was given a six-game ban by the Football Association after suffering a severe laceration in Mateta’s ear, which required 25 stitches, and he hasn’t played since.

Roberts, who signed for The Den from Middlesbrough last summer and has made six appearances since, was accused of receiving death threats and abuse online following the challenge.

We want to be open and honest with you about a topic we’ve discussed as a squad in a statement sent to BBC Radio 5 Live as we approach the end-of-season awards ceremony and honor some of the campaign’s outstanding performances.

“You have been a huge help to Liam Roberts and his family during a very difficult time,” you have said.

We also understand that many of you have continued to support him by awarding him the season’s MVP.

With that in mind, the squad is concerned that a placed finish for Robbo could unintentionally bring up many of the negative stories and abuse from other clubs, which we have been working on for a while.

Following the FA Cup match, Robbo and his family endured unending, horrifying online abuse. We witnessed a teammate experience a nightmare, his name was dragged through the headlines, and he and his wife were threatened with death.

We have shared this opinion with the Millwall Supporters’ Club and can’t allow that to happen again.