All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter will be back for defending champions Canterbury Crusaders against the Perth-based Western Force in their Super 14 rugby match in Christchurch tomorrow.
Carter, considered by many pundits as the best player in world rugby, was missing with a neck injury as the Crusaders scraped a 34-33 win over the New South Wales Waratahs last Saturday.
While the Crusaders scored six tries to four and dominated the Waratahs, poor goalkicking from flyhalf Stephen Brett almost cost them the match.
But with the accomplished Carter back in the number 10 jersey, goalkicking will be the least of their concerns.
The Crusaders' main worry is the loss of All Black lock Chris Jack with a knee injury.
Jack's loss will hamper Canterbury's line-out against a Force outfit featuring Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe and the former Queenslander Rudi Vedelago.
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans has brought winger Caleb Ralph in at the expense of Scott Hamilton, while scrumhalf Andy Ellis replaces Kevin Senio and Michael Paterson replaces the injured Jack.
"While we've had to make a few changes, we've still been able to enjoy a fair bit of continuity, with all but Dan Carter having been involved in the match day 22 last week," Deans said.
Deans said he was not worried about Carter's readiness for the top-four match.
"He was involved in most of the preparation for that [Waratahs] match anyway, until we had to pull him out through injury," Deans said.
The Force have shown good form away from home this season, winning both their South African games and drawing with the Waratahs in Sydney.
They are coming off a good 22-12 win against the Natal-based Coastal Sharks last weekend.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
RSS