England routed Australia 35-18 in a rare moment of cheer for northern hemisphere rugby while New Zealand and South Africa moved halfway to Grand Slams on their European tours on Saturday.
The All Blacks racked up their biggest win over Scotland at Murrayfield, 49-3, and the Springboks came from 17-9 down to break Welsh hearts 29-25 in Cardiff.
Argentina beat Italy on Italian turf for a fifth straight time 22-16, France stayed unbeaten against Fiji 34-12, and Ireland struggled to put away Samoa 20-10.
PHOTO: AFP
Also, Uruguay and Romania finished 21-21 in Montevideo in their bid for the 20th and last berth in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the US edged Portugal 22-17 in Lisbon, and Canada beat Spain 60-22 in their first meeting.
Chris Ashton touched down twice as England’s backs outgunned Australia’s vaunted line for a first victory over a Tri-Nations side at Twickenham in four years.
While Australia’s James O’Connor struggled with the boot, Toby Flood kicked 25 points in a performance in which he, man-of-the-match Ben Youngs and Ben Foden constantly looked to attack.
The highlight was Ashton’s second try, from a 47th-minute turnover on England’s tryline. Courtney Lawes fed Ashton to break from 90m out and accelerate past Australia winger Drew Mitchell near halfway to help make it 26-6.
England’s first home win over a southern hemisphere powerhouse since a 23-21 triumph over South Africa in November 2006 also matched 17-point wins over Australia in 1973 and 1976.
The Wallabies lost to England in successive matches for the first time since 2003.
The All Blacks were rampant in a seven-try rout of Scotland, especially in the first half when they ran in four tries at a point-a-minute pace. Inside center Sonny Bill Williams, winning his second cap, offloaded in tackles to set up two tries and featured in a third to extend New Zealand’s unbeaten record against the Scots to 105 years.
Wales led 17-9 and had high hopes of only a second win over the ‘Boks, but the visitors scored 17 straight points to start the second half and stayed ahead on penalties.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),