Category Sports News

Scotland’s first encounter with the Maori All Blacks, a first on their Pacific tour, will be led by Glasgow Warriors center Stafford McDowall.

In addition to Sione Tuipulotu, who was then injured, McDowall led Scotland in their Six Nations match against Portugal in November and played in all five of their matches.

One of two vice-captains who starts at scrum-half is his Warriors team-mate, George Horne, who plays back-row for Bath, Josh Bayliss.

Despite the fact that the Whangarei game is not a formal Test match, Horne is the most experienced player in Gregor Townsend’s starting 15 with 36 caps.

Rory Hutchinson, who was initially dropped out of the squad before getting injured with Edinburgh’s Matt Currie, is playing at fly-half and Adam Hastings is at Northampton Saints center.

In their most recent game, the Maori All Blacks defeated Japan XV 53-20.

According to Townsend, “The Maori and New Zealanders in particular, bring a physicality and a real quality to the contact area.”

“But they have a lot of talented players on their team, especially in the backs, where they look to express themselves.”

Hepburn, Hurd, Williamson, Brown, Masibaka, Burke, and Dobie are the replacements.

Fin Richardson, a Glasgow prop, and his teammate Nathan McBeth are the first to join a senior Scotland side in the forward, and Patrick Harrison, from Edinburgh, is the hooker.

After recently returning from a spell with the Kobe Steelers in Japan to join the Harlequins, George Turner will make his country return from the bench.

Fergus Burke, the uncapped flyhalf for the Saracens and Alexander Masibaka, who was born in New Zealand but qualified through Scottish grandparents, are also available in place.

Harry Paterson and Arron Reed both play for Scotland for the first time in a year on the wings, with Harry Reed from Sale and Harry Paterson from Edinburgh.

Ollie Smith, who has recovered from a knee injury, and second-row Cameron Henderson and openside flanker Andy Onyeama-Christie, both of whom have been recovering from lengthy layoffs, have also not played internationally since the 2023 World Cup.

With only two games left to go, the squad includes Darcy Graham, Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn, Grant Gilchrist, and tour captain Rory Darge, who is also more experienced.

The evidence for our selection comes from our previous summer tour, which I believe included 11 new caps, a number of those players playing Tests in November, and then playing in the Six Nations, Townsend said.

The short-term plan is to go out and play well this weekend, put pressure on selection for the Fiji game and the Samoa game, and make the most of it all, so they leave a really positive impression on our minds as coaches for the upcoming season.

Diogo Jota, 28, passed away in a car accident.

Andre Silva, the Portugal forward’s brother, also perished in the accident in Zamora, Spain.

The 26-year-old also played football professionally for Penafiel, a second-tier club in Portugal.

Jota and his brother passed away on Thursday at around 00:30 local time, according to The Guardia Civil.

They claimed that their Lamborghini, which had been overtaking another vehicle, had blown out of control, and then caught fire.

Jota recently wed his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, who he had three children with.

He most recently shared images of the ceremony, which took place on June 22.

Jota also played for Portugal as they defeated Spain in the Nations League final in June, helping Liverpool retain its Premier League title last year.

A statement from the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) read, “Portuguese football as a whole is completely devastated.”

Diogo Jota was a remarkable person, respected by all team-mates and opponents, and someone who was a lot more than an amazing player, with almost 50 international appearances. He also had an infectious sense of joy and a reference in the local community.

We now have two champions missing. We will do everything in our power to honor Diogo and Andre Silva’s passing every day. “Our football has suffered irreparable losses for Portuguese football.

Before Portugal’s Women’s Euros game against Spain on Thursday, the FPF has requested that the governing body of European football, Uefa, observe a minute’s silence.

Jota started out in the professional ranks at Pacos de Ferreira before moving to Atletico Madrid in 2016. He also spent the 2016-17 season on loan at Porto, where his brother was a young player.

A club statement read, “FC Porto is in mourning.”

Jota helped Portugal win the Nations League in 2019 and 2025 with 14 goals in 49 appearances.

The death of Diogo Jota, an athlete who devoted his life to Portugal’s name, and his brother is tragic, according to Portugal’s prime minister Luis Montenegro.

Players have been raising their bats with astonishing regularity over the past two weeks at county parks all over the country.

In the most recent two rounds of the County Championship games, there have been fewer than 59 centuries scored.

With seamers left unsure of how to use the unfamiliar Kookaburra ball, it becomes both a batter’s paradise and a bowler’s nightmare.

The most impressive score ever recorded against Durham was 820-9, which was Surrey’s highest total for 18 years and fourth highest in championship cricket history.

All Championship games will use the Kookaburra ball during these two matches, as well as the two matches that will follow at the end of the month, as opposed to the Dukes in traditional English matches.

What distinguishes the two, though?

Six rows of threads are used to hand stitch a Dukes ball. Bowlers who are looking for seam and swing movement are more likely to find it because it maintains its shape for longer than the Kookaburra, which results in greater seam pronounced.

The Kookaburra uses machine-stitched components, not using the same level of craftsmanship. It does initially swing, but it gradually loses shape and softens.

However, it is more suited to cricket played on dry, hard pitches, as are typically found in Australia, to withstand the abrasive surfaces.

Following Sir Andrew Strauss’ 2022 high-performance review into English cricket, the Kookaburra is being used.

Following a demoralizing 4-0 defeat in the previous Ashes series down under earlier that year, it was followed.

One of the suggestions was to improve bowlers’ abilities and better equip English bowlers for international competitions.

The theory was to promote more high-quality spin and genuine pace bowling, the two factors that determine international cricket.

In 2023, four rounds of matches were played with Kookaburra balls, with two in April and two more in August and September, before four more were staged.

18 matches ended up with eight victories in 2023, but 17 draws from 18 matches were caused by the Kookaburra combined with the Kookaburra.

Red-ball cricket’s best form of play has something for both batters and bowlers, at its best.

However, Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath was harsh about the use of the Kookaburra after watching only 21 wickets fall in their match against Nottinghamshire last week at Trent Bridge.

I’m still not sure why we are using the Kookaburra ball, he said, “but the match as a whole was not a great watch for spectators as a whole.”

“We don’t play Test cricket in England with a Kookaburra, and the people who are going to play in that series probably need to be using a Kookaburra ball as well,” he said.

Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann, who is now in charge of Northamptonshire, concurred with those sentiments.

A high-scoring match between Kent and Canterbury ended in a draw for him as well.

He said the Kookaburra ball is intended for Australian conditions on more difficult wickets with some carry.

400 or higher for individual scores:

(Dom Sibley, Surrey v. Durham) highest score: 305.

Surrey v. Durham: 820-9 Dec.

Average first inning score: 429.75

Over 450 in the first innings: 15

4th century in a game (surrey vs. Durham, northants v. Kent).

Average runs per match: 1194.66

27.05 wickets are taken in a typical match.

11th-wicket hauls

Best bowling teams: 9 to 14 (Northants v. Middlesex)

However, the Kookaburra’s use has attracted some supporters.

England Test captain Ben Stokes may not have liked Durham’s decision to concede 800 runs to Surrey, but he acknowledges the benefits of the game’s wider implications.

That includes Tim Southee, England’s new bowling coach, who has played 107 Tests for New Zealand and primarily uses the Kookaburra ball.

Tim has a career that benefits from being able to get batters out even when things don’t go your way, Stokes said.

He explained to our bowlers that “he’s taught them something that has been invaluable for them, and that it’s not always going to work out in your favor.”

What will we do as a team to try to put some pressure on when the ground is flat?

Even though bowlers find it difficult to use the ball, Warwickshire seamer Ethan Bamber acknowledged that attempting to improve is a job for the cricketer.

He told BBC Radio WM, “It’s different. The ball doesn’t give you as consistent assistance.

It makes you develop different skills and tough, long days of cricket, and it makes you play good games – we almost had a cracking game against Somerset last week. That’s occasionally really good.

There has been a lot of work for bowlers as batters have accumulated runs for fun and scored centuries in every position from one to nine.

Only 11 five-wicket hauls have been recorded in these games, of which seven were made by foreign bowlers who are already familiar with the Kookaburra.

Warwickshire’s Australia A off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli scored two runs to lead the team.

He has been hired to cover these Kookaburra games for a four-game Championship outing.

According toRocchiccioli, “The ball ages differently.” If you brought a group of Dukes into some Australian cricketers’ hands while they were still living there, it would be exactly the same. We must make an effort to adjust.

In the middle of your summer, you play with the dry wickets. It resembles something else the same.

The boys haven’t bowled with them as much as I have, so there will be pain points and challenges.

The majority of the previous two matches were played under blue skies, which are considered ideal for batting, on hot days.

When the outfields are barrier and faster, again in the batters’ favor, get a very dry summer.

The famous 1976 Test between England and West Indies, when Viv Richards scored 291 in those conditions with a yellow outfield, is a classic example.

In addition, the Dukes’ ball has helped batters in the past fortnight, with England’s victory over India at Headingley marking the 10th-highest total of runs in Test history with a victory over India.

Ground staff have been put to the test by shoehorning in Championship games between a glut of T20 games.

Some of these games, including the run-fest at the Kia Oval, have been played more toward the edge of the square because they prepare wickets for the biggest games at their venues on the most central pitches.

That results in a lop-sided short boundary that good batters can exploit with a good pitch.

Although the Dukes ball is currently dominant, it will likely be different in September with 10:30 BST starts and plenty of Dukes ball.

As the Dutch-born lock prepares to make his All Blacks debut against France on Saturday, New Zealand coach Scott Robertson has described Fabian Holland’s rise as “movie stuff.”

In the first Test at Dunedin, Les Bleus will face the 22-year-old in the starting XV.

Holland, a native of Castricum in the Netherlands, moved to New Zealand five years ago to pursue his dream of playing professional rugby after watching the All Blacks Sevens team play there in 2014 at the age of 11.

He appears to be excited. Robertson said on Thursday that he was moving from Zeeland to New Zealand.

He has come a long way, he says. It’s a fantastic tale. A youngster felt the need to travel to another country to play a game he loves, and he saw the All Blacks as the best option.

It’s “film stuff, isn’t it?”

When Holland and his teammates trained at Castricum Rugby Club, where he had been a five-year player, DJ Forbes and Akira Ioane, the All Blacks sevens team, met.

In an interview in 2021, Holland stated that “as soon as I was on the field, I was a different little boy, to be honest.

There aren’t many nations like New Zealand when it comes to passion for rugby, and I’ve since developed an even greater passion for it.

“I’ve always wanted to go, but it never materialized for me.” I was 16 when I was given the chance to travel to New Zealand, and I’ve since done the same. It still makes me feel real even though it is real.

Holland first arrived in New Zealand for Christchurch Boys’ High School for six months, but he quickly rose.

He signed a professional deal with the Super Rugby side the following year and began a developmental contract with the Highlanders in 2021.

Christian Lio-Willie, who is also expected to make his All Blacks debut, will join him on Saturday along with his former Otago and Highlanders teammate Christian Lio-Willie.

Forsyth Barr Stadium, home to the Highlanders, would be the ideal venue for Holland’s first cap, according to Robertson.

Tommy O’Brien and Darragh Murray will make their debuts for Saturday’s Test against Georgia, according to interim Ireland head coach Paul O’Connell.

Jimmy O’Brien and Jacob Stockdale complete the back three for Ulster, who won the United Rugby Championship. O’Brien starts on the wing, and O’Brien has impressed for Leinster.

Connacht’s Murray will also make his first appearance for the game at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium (18:00 BST), and he will play alongside Cormac Izuchukwu from Ulster in the second row.

Michael Milne and Jack Aungier, the son of Ulster head coach Richie, and Connacht scrum half Ben Murphy, both of whom are debuting off the bench, could make their debuts.

The back line is completed by Jamie Osborne and Stuart McCloskey at the beginning.

The front row includes Leinster’s Ryan Baird, Ulster’s Nick Timoney, and Munster’s number eight Gavin Coombes, while Murray and Izuchukwu start at lock and are joined by Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, and Thomas Clarkson.

Caelan Doris and center Robbie Henshaw are both injured, and Ireland are without 16 players who are serving in Australia as members of the British and Irish Lions.

After injury-related campaigns, Iain Henderson and Rob Herring, two other experienced campaigners, were not chosen.

In preparation for this two-test tour, the squad’s application impressed me, and Saturday’s game offers a fantastic opportunity for this group of players, O’Connell said.

I wish Tommy and Darragh the best of luck and that the squad is determined to make it a memorable occasion for them and their families, as well as the four others who will be ready to make their mark from the bench.

Although the squad has few international caps, there is still a good mix of experience.

O’Connell will lead the Lions’ head coach against Georgia and Portugal in Lisbon a week later, under the direction of Andy Farrell, who is already in charge.

In their absence, O’Connell is joined by provincial coaches Denis Leamy, Mike Prendergast, and Colm Tucker on tour with Farrell’s assistants, Simon Easterby, John Fogarty, and Jason Goodman.

Ireland have won all five of their previous Test matches against Georgia, but this is their first encounter with a cap in Tbilisi.

Ireland: J O’Brien, T ‘OBrien, J Osborne, S McCloskey, J Stockdale, S Prendergast, C Casey (capt), J Boyle, G McCarthy, T Clarkson, C Izuchukwu, D Murray, R Baird, N Timoney, and G Coombes.

When France play France in their Group D opener on Saturday (20:00 BST), reigning champions England kick off their Euro 2025 campaign.

Who should head coach Sarina Wiegman choose, in your opinion?