James Forrester was the star of the show as Gloucester maintained their unbeaten record and went top of the premiership with a 28-7 win against Northampton.
Gloucester flanker Forrester, who is hoping for an England call-up this season, scored an excellent solo try to give his side a 10-7 half-time lead after David Quinlan's try had given the visitors an early lead.
A dispiriting day for North-ampton had started badly when skipper Bruce Reihana was forced off with a knee injury after just 10 minutes.
Ludovic Mercier kicked three penalties to increase the lead before Andy Hazell and Jack Adams crossed the line to put the seal on an emphatic win.
Saints coach Paul Grayson, who fears Reihana may miss the start of the European Cup campaign, said: "Our lineout ball dried up in the second half, and we couldn't keep a foothold in their territory. We made too many basic errors."
too strong
Leicester were too strong for newly-promoted Harlequins as they secured a 21-15 win to leave their opponents rooted to the bottom of the table.
Tigers winger Tom Varndell scored a try in the first minute before three Adrian Jarvis penalties gave Harlequins a surprise lead.
But Scott Bemand's try put Leicester back in front and when Harlequins' Will Skinner was sin-binned the writing was on the wall for the hosts.
Worcester are still searching for their first win this season after being beaten 17-11 at Bath.
Barkley injured
Nick Walshe's try early in the second half put Bath in control after Olly Barkley had kicked two penalties and, when Barkley limped out of the game, Shaun Berne stepped up.
Berne kicked a drop goal and a penalty to ensure there was no chance of a shock result despite Aleki Lutui's late try for Worcester.
Bath's acting head coach Steve Meehan fears Barkley may not be able to take part in England's forthcoming training camp ahead of the November internationals against New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.
"Olly went in to make a tackle and a boot flicked up into his groin. He's got a personal injury there, and I don't think he'll be doing a lot of running around at the England training session next week," Meehan said.
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