McKinley Hunt’s double for Canada pushes Wales to brink of World Cup exit

Canada emphatically booked their place in the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup and inflicted a second successive defeat on Wales after another disappointing afternoon.Kévin Rouet’s Canada have lived up to the billing inside the opening fortnight with back-to-back victories that have been both impressive and eye-catching. They were far superior to the Welsh here, scoring six tries without reply to set up a showdown with Scotland next weekend, when victory in Exeter will confirm them as Pool B winners.On back-to-back weekends in Salford, Wales have flattered to deceive. However, while this was a disappointment against a very strong Canada side, the damage was done on the opening weekend against Scotland

Women’s Rugby World Cup needs jeopardy to stay in Monday morning conversations | Andy Bull

After all these years of asking for more, it’s churlish to complain when the Women’s Rugby World Cup delivered so much in one weekend. England’s victory pulled in two-and-half million prime time viewers on the BBC, 85,000 fans turned out across the four grounds, including a record-breaking 42,000 crowd in Sunderland, five hat-tricks, four packed fan zones, free concerts, and all those fireworks. It had almost everything anyone could have wanted. Almost. The one thing missing was a tight finish

County cricket’s restructure: what is being proposed and how will it work?

It feels symptomatic of English cricket’s dysfunctional nature that, having started the summer with five different options for a restructured County Championship, the 18 first-class chairs will conclude a tortuous process next week with a sixth on the table. International peace treaties have been negotiated quicker than talks over whether, and how, to cut a handful of playing days from a domestic calendar that, with four different competitions and formats to accommodate, is bursting at the seams.The tongue-in-cheek words of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director of the professional game, Rob Andrew, when announcing the review in April have proved prophetic. “We have 18 counties that agree it’s not right, but 19 different versions of what the answer is,” he said.Unlike the previous attempt to remodel the English summer three years ago that was commissioned by the ECB and led by Andrew Strauss, the current review has been undertaken by the counties themselves under the aegis of the Professional Game Committee [PGC], chaired by Warwickshire’s Mark McCafferty

Novak Djokovic fights past Cameron Norrie to become oldest man to reach US Open fourth round since 1991

At a time when Novak Djokovic could really benefit from some straightforward wins to ease through the early rounds of his final grand slam tournament of the year, nothing has come easily in New York. But under the bright lights on Friday night, Djokovic held off an impressive Cameron Norrie to reach the fourth round of the US Open with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3 win in his best performance of the tournament so far.The victory makes Djokovic, 38, the oldest man to reach the last 16 of the US Open in 34 years – since Jimmy Connors in 1991. He also ties Roger Federer for the most grand slam fourth round appearances in history with 69 appearances. “These kind of matches and performances always give me hope that I can go far, challenge the best players in the world,” Djokovic said

‘It’s bigger than me’: Taylor Townsend topples No 5 Andreeva in US Open shock

Taylor Townsend capped a whirlwind 48 hours at the US Open with one of the finest performances of her career, upsetting No 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the fourth round in New York for the first time since 2019 and equal her best performance at any major.The 29-year-old American, ranked outside the top 100 in singles but world No 1 in doubles, steadied herself after a nervy start and won four of five games to take the opening set. She then took complete control after getting broken early in the second, continuing to rush the net and ride the energy of a raucous crowd to win the last six games on the trot and close out a straight-sets win in 76 minutes. It was third career win over of a top-10 opponent, along with victories over Simona Halep here in 2019 and Jessica Pegula in Rome last year.A former world No 1 junior from Georgia who reinvented herself as a doubles star, she won 21 of 29 points when she came forward and struck nearly four times as many winners (23) as Andreeva (six)

Women’s Super League 2025-26 previews No 6: Leicester

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 10thLeicester’s rather muted pre-season got turned upside down with the announcement that the club had parted ways with the manager Amandine Miquel 11 days before the start of their campaign.On the face of it, the decision appears to be harsh on a manager who will feel she was building something after a rollercoaster of a first year. As injury after injury rolled in during the first four months of last season, Miquel cut an increasingly baffled figure at her side’s constant run of bad fortune and her lack of centre-forward options. Jutta Rantala, Lena Petermann and Noémie Mouchon sustained season-ending injuries; Shana Chossenotte was troubled by recurrent injury issues; and Deanne Rose and Hannah Cain continued their recovery from long-term problems. The defensive midfielder Saori Takarada and Ruby Mace were among those given a try-out in the No 9 role as Miquel tried to find a solution