England's Rugby League side beat France 56-8 on Friday night, scoring 10 tries in a superb second half performance that augurs well for the World Cup later in the year.
Performances of note included the three tries for Warrington center Martin Gleeson, whose place in the side had not been guaranteed, and Hull KR wing Peter Fox’s touchdown in his first ever match for England. Stand-off Leon Pryce, who was named man of the match, and loose forward Kevin Sinfield had good performances, while the home side could not counter the energy of front-row forwards Jamie Peacock and Adrian Morley.
The French 13, who were made up of nine players from Super League club Catalans Dragons, did well to keep the score to 16-8 at the break.
PHOTO: AP
EIt was France who went ahead when Toulouse scrum-half James Wynne put the home side ahead. Thomas Bosc, the free-scoring Catalans half-back, added the conversion to put the French 6-0 in front, but from then on it was pretty much all England.
England’s other try scorers, Gleeson apart, were Pryce, substitute Maurie Fa’asavalu, Fox, Keith Senior, Jon Wilkin, Danny McGuire, and Paul Wellens.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
The Kashima Antlers won a record-extending ninth Japanese title on the final day of the J. League season yesterday, holding their nerve to beat the Yokohama F. Marinos 2-1. Watched by Brazilian legend and former player Zico, the Antlers went into the game at their packed home stadium with a one-point lead over Kashiwa Reysol in the table. A goal in either half from Brazilian striker Leo Ceara put the Antlers in control, but Yokohama struck in the first of five minutes of second-half injury time to set up a nail-biting finale, with Reysol winning their game 1-0. The Antlers saw out the
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS