‘I’ve got nothing to prove’: George Ford on inspiring Sale and why 99 England caps are not enough

The tactically brilliant fly-half will attempt to overcome his former club Leicester in Saturday’s Premiership semi-finalShould Leicester fail to reach this year’s Premiership final they will have been floored by a familiar foe. George Ford spent two spells totalling nine years at Welford Road and made his Tigers first-team debut as a 16-year-old. It says everything about his enduring desire and dedication that, aged 32 and clad in the blue of Sale Sharks, his tactical decision-making grows sharper by the year.Whether he is kicking teams to death or slicing them apart with his deft short passing game, the GF menu of fly-half skills remains rich and varied. His fellow squad members all regard him as a coach in waiting, so good is he at steering them around the field and managing pressure situations

The unsinkable Pacers don’t need the lead. They just need the last word | Claire de Lune

Indiana didn’t lead for 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of Thursday’s NBA finals opener. But belief, defiance and Tyrese Haliburton’s dramatic flair made the final 0.3 countThis is why you play the games, as the old adage goes. In recent years, the later rounds of the NBA playoffs – and the finals in particular – have felt rote

Chess: Carlsen targets last classical hurrah at Stavanger after defeat against Gukesh

Magnus Carlsen’s shock loss to Gukesh Dommaraju was the world No 1’s first classical defeat by a ­classical world champion since he lost to Vishy Anand 15 years ago at the 2010 London Classic. It spoilt what should have been a winning ­position for him at Stavanger, where he was poised to break clear of the field. There are now suggestions that this will be Carlsen’s farewell ­appearance in classical. He told Take Take Take: “It’s a long time since I enjoyed a ­classical tournament.”Meanwhile, though, Carlsen could go out on a high on Saturday ­afternoon when he and Gukesh fight for first prize in the final round at Stavanger (4pm start), with Hikaru ­Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana also still in contention

Indiana Pacers 111-110 Oklahoma City Thunder: NBA finals Game 1 – as it happened

Before I go, read all about it right here.OK – goodnight, for real this time!Well, Indiana, what can you say? These playoffs, they have left multiple markets breathless with stunning, devastating comebacks, leaving those losers unable to recover over a long series. These were franchise altering losses. Ask the Knicks. Ask the Cavs

NBA finals: Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in final second to win Game 1 thriller

Nearly every analyst coming into this year’s NBA finals had the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Indiana Pacers comfortably. The first three quarters of Game 1 did very little to contradict those predictions until the final minutes, when all hell broke loose.The reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked like, well, the NBA MVP for much of the game as he led the scoring with 38 points. His Thunder team went out to an early 7-0 lead and were 57-45 up by half-time. The second half seemed to be going the same way with the Thunder 15 points up at one point in the fourth quarter

‘A great privilege’: Mal Meninga locked in as Perth Bears’ inaugural NRL coach

The Perth Bears hope the presence of Mal Meninga will give the NRL’s 18th team immediate cut-through in an AFL-dominated city after unveiling the Immortal as the head coach of the start-up franchise.At a press conference in Sydney on Friday, Meninga was locked in as the Bears’ inaugural coach on a three-year deal. It is his first foray into club coaching in more than 25 years.Meninga has renounced his role as coach of the Australian Test team ahead of an end-of-season Ashes tour. The 64-year-old will now set about building a competitive roster for the Bears’ first NRL season in 2027