Chapeau to you La Rochelle, it was a Champions Cup final for the ages May 21, 2023 You’d have been forgiven if, by the 12th minute of Saturday’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and La Rochelle, you’d turned over to Garden Rescue or Midsomer Murders because the match looked all but done and dusted. A brace from Dan Sheehan and a third try from Jimmy O’Brien gave Irish province Leinster a 17-0 [...]
Leeds linger in Premier League relegation zone with one game to go May 21, 2023 Leeds United will need to win on the last day of the Premier League season and hope one of their rivals slip up if they’re to avoid relegation. Despite taking an early lead, Sam Allardyce’s Leeds fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Europa Conference League finalists West Ham United yesterday in the [...]
Manchester City, Premier League titles and the many asterisks in European football May 21, 2023 Release the ticker tape, crank up Blue Moon and fetch Pep Guardiola’s dancing shoes: Manchester City are Premier League champions again for the fifth time in six years and the seventh time in a decade. With FA Cup and Champions League final appearances to come before the season is out, there is every chance that [...]
Murray OUT of French Open as Brit targets Wimbledon run May 21, 2023 Three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray will not compete at this year’s French Open in order to target Wimbledon. Despite winning on clay this month in the Challenger event at Aix-en-Provence, Murray will not take to the courts of Roland Garros next week. Murray joins the likes of Rafael Nadal, Matteo Berrettini and Marin Cilic [...]
Smart rugby ball all the range or unnecessary nuisance? May 20, 2023 Is there such a thing as too much technology in sport? Is there a desire to have every aspect of the game you love monitored by TV screens and officials anywhere but inside the stadium? Rugby was early to embrace of on-field technology, introducing a Television Match Official (TMO) at the highest level much earlier [...]
T20 Vitality Blast: Overseas players, schedule, and winning odds May 19, 2023 It is back, the competition many thought would have eroded since the inception of The Hundred. The T20 Vitality Blast competition gets underway tomorrow with all eyes pointing towards the traditional finals day at Edgbaston. It is an Ashes year, it is a one-day World Cup year and it is the year of the third [...]
Earth will have the field wound Round his little finger May 19, 2023 BANK on reigning champion jockey Zac Purton to partner New Zealand import ROUND THE EARTH to an overdue victory when he lines-up in the Lawn Bowls Handicap (8.00am) over nine furlongs at Sha Tin on Sunday. Purton, as per normal, has a host of winning chances on the 10-race programme, notably Prince of Porty, who [...]
Dragon could be on his way to Victory at Sha Tin May 19, 2023 HKJC Racing Club’s hospitality suite is expected to be jam-packed with enthusiastic young members at Sha Tin on Sunday, hoping to cheer on their two runners. The Tony Millard-trained Young Sparkle takes his chance in the Development Focus Para Sports Handicap (7.00am) over a mile and has looked like a winner waiting to happen for [...]
Europa Conference League: UEFA to investigate after AZ Alkmaar fans confront West Ham players’ families May 19, 2023 UEFA is expected to launch an investigation into the trouble that marred West Ham’s Europa Conference League semi-final victory at AZ Alkmaar, with Dutch police saying there have been no arrests yet. Pablo Fornals’ injury-time winner, that earned a 3-1 aggregate success and sent them to next month’s final in Prague, prompted a gang of [...]
‘Top man Sergio Parisse deserves Challenge Cup title to retire with’ May 19, 2023 I really love Champions cup and Challenge Cup finals weekend. It doesn’t matter how each team got there, what’s important is that they’re in with a shout of winning one of club rugby’s big prizes. That said, I think both matches this weekend in Dublin will see wins for the traditional European powerhouses, Leinster and [...]