OOH LA LA: The tournament hosts' surprise defeat came after a colorful opening ceremony at the Stade de France, complete with music, dancing and rugby legends
Argentina gatecrashed France's World Cup party on Friday when they kicked off the six-week marathon with a stunning 17-12 upset over the hosts in front of 80,000 people in the Stade de France.

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Hot tournament favorites New Zealand got their World Cup campaign off to the ideal start at the Stade Velodrome with a scintillating 76-14 rout of Pool C rivals Italy.

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HAVES AND HAVE NOTS: South Africa have an enviable record against a Samoan side who got a shock when they found out how expensive Paris is
Former champions South Africa will look to hammer home their credentials as potential tournament winners by beating two-time quarter-finalists Samoa at the Parc des Princes today in their World Cup opener.

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International news agencies resumed coverage of the Rugby World Cup on Friday -- just 90 minutes before the opening match of the tournament -- after progress in negotiations with the sport's governing body over media restrictions.

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DEATH BY THREES: The Spaniards buried their opponents in the first half with 3-point shots, racing out to a 45-24 lead as the Greek defense went soft
Spain routed Greece 76-58 on Friday in the second stage of the European Championship.

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Ireland will be trying to run up a big score when they open their Rugby World Cup campaign against Namibia. The Africans want to preserve their winning record against the Irish.

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By Paul Huang
Tseng Hao-jui's soft dribbler down the third base line with the bases loaded and two outs scored the go-ahead run for the La New Bears in the top of the 11th inning as they held on to edge past the President Lions 2-1 in Sinjhuang on Friday night to sweep the two-game series against their longtime rivals.

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German cyclist Erik Zabel won a sprint finish to take the seventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Friday, while Vladimir Efimkin retained the overall lead.

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US 400m runner Sanya Richards set a world record time in winning the Weltklasse Golden League meet on Friday, staying in the race for the million-dollar Golden League Jackpot.

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Rising star US Shawn Johnson helped the US match next year's Olympic hosts with a second gold medal at the World Gymnastics Championships on Friday.

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BASEBRAWL: A melee broke out in the fourth when a Boston hitter was nearly hit by a pitch. Both teams charged onto the field and threw punches
Boston handed an angry Baltimore pitcher Daniel Cabrera his 15th loss of the season on Friday as the Red Sox won 4-0.

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Venus Williams left the US Open the same way Serena Williams did, undone by all those big shots off the racket of little Justine Henin.

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Aaron Baddeley's six-under 65 propelled him into a tie with Jonathan Byrd for the lead at the PGA BMW Championship, with Tiger Woods sitting just one shot back.

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Taiwan's Teresa Lu, Australian Katherine Hull and young US player Kristy McPherson defied a rain delay to share the lead on Friday in the weather-disrupted LPGA NW Arkansas Championship.

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■ SOCCER
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