New Zealand moved within a win of its third straight Women's Rugby World Cup after thrashing France 40-10 in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
The Black Ferns will contest Sunday's final against England, which survived a late rally to edge host Canada 20-14. New Zealand downed England 19-9 to win the 2002 World Cup final at Barcelona.
Fullback Amiria Marsh scored behind the posts in the first minute to open the scoring for New Zealand, en route to the defending champion's 14th straight win in World Cup play.
PHOTO: AP
French No. 8 Delphine Plantet scored the first try against New Zealand this tournament in the eighth minute after the Black Ferns pack was shunted off a five-meter scrum feed.
Center Huriana Manuel restored New Zealand's lead two minutes later and openside flanker Rochelle Martin scored twice more to leave the score at 20-5 at the break.
Emma Jensen extended the lead just over a minute into the second half, but French lock Corinne Devroute crossed the line shortly after to keep the game alive.
England opened its match confidently with a seventh-minute try to Charlotte Barras and a penalty from Karen Andrew to take an 8-0 lead into the break.
Kim Shaylor crossed for another unconverted try in the 43rd minute for a 13-0 lead.
Canada drew within six points after Julie Foster replied with a try in the 49th minute, which captain Kelly McCallum converted.
Barras scored her second try of the match in the 73rd minute and England held out a late Canadian rally in the final three minutes when Heather Moyse scored a converted try.
Canada will now face France in the bronze medal match on Sunday.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
RSS