All Blacks prop Greg Somerville and winger Marika Vunibaka each scored two tries as the Canterbury Crusaders beat South Africa's Bulls 40-21 in a Super 12 rugby match Saturday.
Somerville's international teammate Daniel Carter kicked 20 points -- four conversions and four penalties from nine attempts -- as the Crusaders closed on a place in the championship semifinals.
Tighthead prop Somerville scored two opportunistic tries and Vunibaka his sixth and seventh tries of the season for a Crusaders team which struggled for fluency. Carter missed his first attempt at goal then calmly kicked eight in succession to inflate the winning margin.
"They're a big, strong team and they really took it to us so we just had to grind it out," said Crusaders captain Reuben Thorne.
"It wasn't much of a match to look at but we got it in the end. They really attacked us and that cost us momentum. I don't think we put together more than two or three phases at any stage.
"But we'll take the points. It's pretty close at the top of the table and any points we can get we'll gladly accept."
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
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