South Africa goes with same 23 for Rugby World Cup semifinal against England
A moment of silence will be observed at soccer games in Belgium and Sweden as a tribute to the two Swedish soccer fans killed this week in Brussels ahead of a European Championship qualifier. The Belgian league said that “next matchday all games in Belgian soccer will start with a minute of silence, in honor of the two Swedish football fans who lost their lives in the terrorist attack in Brussels. This minute of silence will take place at both Belgian and Swedish football grounds.” Investigators are still trying to determine the motive for Monday night’s attack, which occurred not far from the King Baudouin stadium where the qualifier took place.
England’s best player at the Rugby World Cup hadn’t started a match for his country until a month before the tournament. Ben Earl was far from assured of being in the squad for France before the World Cup warmup games took place in August. Earl was voted as the best player in the English league in 2022. Yet he was dropped from England’s squad midway through this year’s Six Nations and told by newly hired coach Steve Borthwick to go back to his club and get fitter. Earl’s hopes of making it for the global showpiece looked slim. Now England cannot do without him.
Sergio Ramos helped Real Madrid win 22 titles in a 16-year spell before leaving two years ago. He will face his former team for the first time on Saturday when Madrid visits Sevilla. Ramos re-joined boyhood club Sevilla last month. His new team is struggling and changed coaches during the international break that has just ended. Uruguayan coach Diego Alonso will debut against Madrid. Third-placed Barcelona hosts Athletic Bilbao on Sunday after a judge widened the scope of an investigation into the payment of millions of euros to a refereeing official to include its current president.
Tennessee and Alabama bring two of the Southeastern Conference's better defenses into Saturday's showdown. The 17th-ranked Volunteers visit No. 11 Alabama in a rivalry game that went down to the final play last season. Tennessee broke a 15-year losing streak in the border rivalry with a 52-49 win in the Top 10 matchup. A similar shootout seems unlikely because neither offense has been putting up big numbers. Alabama is led by quarterback Jalen Milroe and the Vols counter with Joe Milton III.
No. 10 North Carolina is hosting Virginia on Saturday in search of a 7-0 start. The Tar Heels are coming off a win against Miami. That game highlighted UNC's season-long trend of making adjustments at halftime then coming out strong in the third quarter. UNC has outscored opponents 71-24 in the third quarter this season. The Tar Heels have scored four touchdowns and a field goal on its first six drives after halftime. Virginia is coming in after an open week. Before that, the Cavaliers beat William & Mary for their first win of the season.
Floyd of Rosedale has a well-worn perch by now among the trophies displayed in the Iowa football building. Minnesota and Iowa have played for the 98-pound bronze pig every year since 1935. Floyd has resided with the 24th-ranked Hawkeyes for eight straight years and 18 of the last 22. The Gophers’ next opportunity to lay claim to Floyd comes Saturday when they visit Kinnick Stadium. They haven't won in Iowa City since 1999. Look for a low-scoring game. The matchup pits two of the nation's worst offenses.
No. 20 Missouri is coming off an uplifting win at Kentucky while South Carolina is smarting from a late blown lead against Florida as the two schools prepare to meet Saturday at Faurot Field. The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 18-0 in the fourth quarter for the bounceback win after a tough loss of their own against LSU. They need to keep winning to keep pace with No. 1 Georgia, which is a game ahead in the SEC East. South Carolina led the Gators with less than 5 minutes to go last Saturday before allowing a pair of touchdown down the stretch in a defeat that left the Gamecocks buried the standings.
Hugh Freeze is set to lead Auburn against his former team for the first time. The slumping Tigers host 13th-ranked Ole Miss on Saturday trying to snap a three-game losing streak. Freeze led the Rebels program for five seasons before leaving amid off-the-field scandals. Lane Kiffin's Rebels have won two straight to remain in SEC West contention. They snapped a six-year losing streak to the Tigers last season and haven't beaten Auburn in back-to-back years since 1952.
There is a rematch this week of last year's Big 12 championship game when TCU plays at Kansas State. The Wildcats won that title game in overtime last December after TCU had an undefeated regular season. Both teams go into Saturday's game coming off bounce-back wins last week. Also in the league this weekend, Oklahoma senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel faces his former team when the sixth-ranked and undefeated Sooners host league newcomer UCF. Gabriel is third nationally with 347 total yards per game. He threw 70 touchdowns in 26 games for UCF from 2019-21 before transferring to Oklahoma.
No. 14 Utah has fared well against No. 18 Southern California since head coach Lincoln Riley took over the Trojans. The Utes are one of three teams to knock off a Riley-led team more than once. The Utes beat the Trojans in the regular season a year ago and again in the Pac-12 championship game. When he was at Oklahoma, the teams that beat him more than once were Iowa State and Kansas State. Another big game in the Pac-12 will be Washington State at No. 9 Oregon. Both are trying to rebound from losses.
No. 11 Alabama likely hasn't forgotten what happened the last time it face No. 19 Tennessee. That's when the Vols defeated the Crimson Tide 52-49 and a sea of happy, Orange-clad fans tore out the goal posts and paraded them out of Neyland Stadium. Alabama hopes for a different outcome at home this time around to highlight play in the Southeastern Conference this week. Alabama slipped out of the Top 10 after falling to No. 9 Texas and a so-so outing in beating South Florida a week later. But the Tide have won four straight behind passer Jalen Milroe.
No. 4 Florida State has another strong test ahead when it hosts No. 16 Duke to highlight ACC action in Week 8 of the season. The Seminoles are 6-0 and off to their best start since 2015. The Blue Devils may get a boost this week with the return of injured quarterback Riley Leonard. Duke coach Mike Elko teased that the team may get their leader back from a high ankle sprain in time to face Florida State. The Seminoles lead the ACC in scoring and have given up the second-fewest points in the league.
No. 7 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State is the game of the week in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions carry an 11-game win streak to Columbus. They haven't won there since 2011. Lions coach James Franklin is 1-8 against Ohio State and 0-9 on the road against top 10 opponents. The Floyd of Rosedale trophy is on the line when Minnesota visits 24th-ranked and West-leading Iowa. The Gophers are looking for their first win in Iowa City since 1999. Northwestern is a long shot to watch as an 11 1/2-point underdog at Nebraska.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has hobbled off the field with a suspected ankle injury in the Cricket World Cup game against Bangladesh in Pune. Pandya was bowling the ninth over of the innings when he tried to stop a straight drive by Litton Das, twisting his left ankle and tumbling over. He got up and tried walking but fell back to the ground as the Indian medical team rushed in. He got up again and tried a practice run-up before consulting with skipper Rohit Sharma and walking off. Pandya is a key member of India’s team as the host nation attempts to win the competition for a third time.
Jaylen Brown wasn't considered to be a surefire NBA superstar when the was drafted in 2016. As he prepares for his eighth season, his play has forced the narrative about him to be rewritten. Last season was a defining year for Brown, who garnered his second All-Star selection and second-team All-NBA nod while helping lead the Celtics to within a game of back-to-back NBA Finals appearances. This summer he cashed in signing a five-year, $304 million extension. The richest contract in NBA history and immediately thrust him onto a tier reserved for only the league’s most elite stars. Now he says he's ready to provide the voice and leadership for a retooled Celtics roster with championship aspirations.
There are still blue-and-white streamers hanging over alleyways and banners all over the city celebrating Napoli’s first Serie A title since the days when Diego Maradona played for the club. But there hasn’t been much to celebrate lately in the southern city. Napoli has won only four of its opening eight matches and has already lost two with both defeats at home. It's a much slower start than a year ago when Napoli didn’t lose until January and remained unbeaten at home until March. So it’s plain to see why new Napoli coach Rudi Garcia is already under pressure entering Saturday's game at Hellas Verona.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The Pac-12 Conference is having a banner season in the midst of having teams about to scatter in all directions. Attendance is up around the league through the halfway mark, with a big tip of the cap to Colorado coach Deion Sanders for that. Ratings, too, are booming th…
The New Jersey Devils visit the New York Islanders for a matchup within the Metropolitan Division Friday.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the Cricket World Cup clash with India in Pune because of injury. Bangladesh has opted to bat first after winning the toss. Talismanic all-rounder Shakib suffered a quadriceps injury in the team's previous game and Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the side instead. Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed comes into the team for Shakib. Bangladesh has made one other change with medium-pacer Hasan Mahmud replacing Taskin Ahmed. India named an unchanged team. It is second in the standings with six points from three games and is the only unbeaten side in the competition alongside table-toppers New Zealand.
The Texas Rangers face the Houston Astros on Thursday in Game 4 of the ALCS. The Rangers lead the series 2-1.
The Arizona Diamondbacks face the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday in Game 3 of the NLCS. The Phillies are ahead 2-0 in the series.
South Africa has retained the same 23 for the Rugby World Cup semifinal against England. It's a rematch of the title game in Japan four years ago. The defending champion Springboks kept Cobus Reinach at scrumhalf and Manie Libbok at flyhalf. Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard are set to come off the bench, as they did in the 29-28 quarterfinal win over host France. Veteran No. 8 Duane Vermeulen starts again at the back of the scrum at Stade de France on Saturday. South Africa has won four of the five Rugby World Cup meetings between the teams, including in the finals in 2007 and 2019.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 has historically been one of the best leagues in the country, and two national titles in the past three seasons is more evidence of it. But the rich are getting richer this year with the addition of four more schools, headlined by Houston, when went to a Fi…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin is replacing one of the nation’s more experienced college quarterbacks with a guy who had thrown just one career pass before last week. Braedyn Locke is Wisconsin’s starting quarterback for the foreseeable future with sixth-year senior Tanner Mordecai out indef…
UNDATED (AP) — SMU, Stanford and Cal are joining the Atlantic Coast Conference next year. The league's expansion means a new scheduling format is needed for the 2024 football season. Schedules will be discussed at the league's annual fall meetings in Charlotte this week. North Carolina coach…
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Southeastern Conference increased travel rosters from 70 to 74 players this season. It's a change coaches pushed for at the SEC's annual spring meetings in May. It also helps with roster engagement that puts freshmen on the field and potentially keeps them out of…
Ashleigh Buhai has had a bogey-free round of 10-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA tournament in South Korea. Buhai is the 2022 Women’s British Open winner from South Africa. She took advantage of calm morning conditions on the newly-renovated Seowon Valley Country Club course outside Seoul. But it was a day for low scores — only 10 players in the 78-player, no-cut field were over par. American Alison Lee was in second place after a 63, followed a stroke back by Ayaka Furue of Japan and Minjee Lee. Defending champion and South Korean-born New Zealander Lydia Ko shot 67.
Canadian swimmer Maggie Mac Neil, Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, Dominican sprinter Marileidy Paulino and Ecuadorian cyclist Richard Carapaz are among the main athletes competing at the Pan American Games in Santiago between Oct. 20 and Nov. 5. The Pan American Games, the largest multi-sport event in the Americas, are held every four years and precede the Olympics by a year. Santiago will debut as host. The Opening Ceremony will be on Friday.
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