Former champions Leinster sealed top spot in Pool Two and a place in the European Champions Cup quarter-finals despite letting slip a commanding half-time lead to draw 20-20 at Wasps on Saturday.
Converted tries by winger Fergus McFadden and scrumhalf Isaac Boss put Leinster 20-6 ahead at the break, but Wasps then came alive and Matt Mullan went over after 61 minutes, with Andy Goode converting from the left touchline.
Wasps’ No. 8 Nathan Hughes then dived over the maul to touch down and Goode’s trusty boot leveled the score with 10 minutes remaining at the Ricoh Arena.
Photo: AFP
Ian Madigan missed a late penalty for Leinster while Goode had a chance with a last-gasp drop goal.
A draw was enough for Leinster to book a last-eight place and leave Wasps sweating on being one of the three best runners-up having edged out Harlequins to second spot in the group.
Harlequins crushed Castres 47-19.
In Pool Three, reigning champions Toulon ensured they will be at home in the quarter-finals after a 26-3 triumph against Scarlets, while Leicester Tigers’ hopes of squeezing into the last eight were ended by a 26-7 defeat in Ulster.
Northampton Saints were destroyed 32-8 at home by Racing Metro in Pool Five, although both sides had already ensured their places in the quarter-finals.
Racing Metro topped the table on 24 points, with Northampton on 19, enough to take one of the three best runners-up berths.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later