Penrith won its club-record sixth match in a row while Brisbane stayed marginally ahead of the Canberra Raiders in first place in Australia's National Rugby League.
The Panthers beat the Wests Tigers 26-4 to join reigning premiers the Sydney Roosters tied for third behind the co-leading Broncos and Raiders, each with 18 points.
The Panthers were barely extended and had the match clinched at halftime after tries to hooker Luke Priddis, winger Brett Howland, halfback Craig Gower and fullback Rhys Wesser -- his 14th of the season.
Brisbane beat the Bulldogs 24-0 to stay on top with a 9-2 record while Canberra fought back from a 10-0 deficit to beat the New Zealand Warriors 18-10, its eighth win in 10 matches.
St. George Illawarra held on for an 18-16 victory over cellar-dwelling South Sydney. With four minutes remaining Souths won a scrum against the feed 10 meters from the Dragons' line but referee Bill Harrigan allowed Brett Firman to re-feed the scrum and relieve the pressure. Brett Kimmorley scored three tries to lead Cronulla to a 30-24 win in Newcastle over the Knights.
Cronulla's Paul Gallen became the first NRL player to be sent off this season after committing a high tackle on Sean Rudder with 15 minutes remaining. The ensuing penalty put Newcastle ahead 24-20 but the Knights were not able to hold on despite their one-man advantage.
Kimmorley regathered a Jye Mullane grubber which bounced off an upright to help give Cronulla an unlikely lead. He then grabbed his third intercept of the match and complete his hat trick.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB