Manchester United’s world-record capture for Paul Pogba moves a step closer as West Ham shell out £6m on new left-back August 8, 2016 Manchester United’s world-record capture of Paul Pogba moved a step closer after the Juventus midfielder arrived at the club’s training ground for his medical. United are set to complete the £89m signing of Pogba, who departed Manchester in 2012 after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by. The Old Trafford club received just £800,000 in compensation. The [...]
Skipper Dylan Hartley focused on first hurdle as England bid for a record-equalling autumn August 8, 2016 England skipper Dylan Hartley is refusing to focus on anything other than the opening international of the season against South Africa as his side bid for a record-equalling autumn. Successive victories against the Proteas, Fiji, Argentina and Australia at Twickenham would match England’s all-time winning streak of 14 Tests, which was set by Sir Clive [...]
Rio 2016 Olympics: What to watch on Tuesday including James Guy, Michael Phelps, Chad le Clos, William Fox-Pitt, David Florence, women’s team gymnastics final and men’s rugby sevens August 8, 2016 Great Britain has gold medal hopes in multiple events on Tuesday in Rio – including swimming, eventing, gymnastics and canoeing – without being strong favourite in any of them. James Guy and the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay team stunned repeat winners the United States at last year’s World Championships and will look to [...]
Olympic champion Adam Peaty vows go faster and better his 100m breaststroke gold standard August 8, 2016 Olympic champion Adam Peaty has vowed to continue his gold rush after winning Great Britain’s first medal of the Rio Games with a world record 100m breaststroke swim in the early hours of Monday morning. The 21-year-old became the first British man to win Olympic swimming gold since Adrian Moorhouse in the same event at the [...]
World-class Russell Knox couldn’t be doing any more to earn a Ryder Cup wildcard pick August 8, 2016 But for a technicality, Russell Knox would already be assured of a place at the Ryder Cup, and the up-and-coming Scot could hardly be doing any more to remedy that situation. Knox, 31, earned a fantastic win at the Travelers Championship on Sunday to put him right in contention for a European debut against his [...]
Yerma at the Young Vic review: Billie Piper shows her acting chops but the production lacks poetry August 8, 2016 Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s play of the same name, the Young Vic’s new production of Yerma (Barren) is well acted and inventively staged, but undermined by a misguided impulse to modernise. The original was set in rural Spain, following a young woman penned in by society and her beliefs, whose increasingly desperate desire for [...]
Rio 2016: As non-sponsoring brands get more scope to cash in on Olympic fever, official partners may be getting a bum deal August 8, 2016 Rio 2016 may have be tainted by doping scandals, the threat of the Zika virus, and worries of violence, but if you’ve got the money, sponsoring the Olympics seems like a no-brainer. Around 3.6bn people saw at least one minute of London 2012, and Rio’s audience is expected to be even bigger still, providing the 11 [...]
Lizzie Armitstead fails to silence critics with Olympic medal after finishing fifth in women’s road race in Rio August 8, 2016 World champion Lizzie Armitstead refused to wallow in self pity after failing to end the furore over her missed drugs tests with an Olympic medal during the women’s road race at the Rio Games. Armitsead was unable to find her best form and finished fifth, following a week of turmoil during which she was given an [...]
Andy Murray begins Olympic title defence in style and heaps pressure on himself to win second gold medal August 7, 2016 Defending Olympic champion Andy Murray began his quest to retain his title with a crushing straight sets victory over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the opening round of the men’s singles at the Rio Games. Murray, Great Britain’s flag bearer at Friday’s opening ceremony, dispatched Troicki 6-3, 6-2 to progress to round two where he will [...]
Friendly round-up: Arsenal and Chelsea both suffer defensive injuries a week before start of Premier League season August 7, 2016 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger’s defensive crisis deepened a week before his side’s opening Premier League fixture as centre-half Gabriel was stretchered off during today's 3-2 friendly victory over Manchester City in Gothenburg. Wenger is short of defensive reserves after a knee injury ruled World Cup winner Per Mertesacker out for up to five months and Laurent [...]