Rising star ‘Wreck-It Will’ Sherman has roots in US rugby’s past and eyes on its future

Will Sherman may be the future of US rugby, but his roots are in the game’s American past. The 22-year-old standout second-row forward for Anthem Rugby Carolina in Major League Rugby is the son of Wade Sherman, a member of a champion Cal Berkeley team that included Mark Bingham, who on 11 September 2001 was one of the Flight 93 passengers who fought their hijackers and kept it from reaching Washington.“There was a super old photo that my dad pulled up, and the first time I heard that story was from him,” Sherman said. “He was like, ‘That guy standing to my left is an American hero.’”Sherman “loves telling the story” of how his dad found rugby – which after all is the reason he found it too

NCAA women’s Final Four: UCLA 51-44 Texas; South Carolina 62-48 UConn – as it happened

On paper, South Carolina would be favored in the final. They beat an unbeaten and nearly unbeatable team convincingly. But as we’ve seen tonight, when you get the very best teams together in a competitive cauldron, what bubbles to the surface remains to be seen.Until then …Last bit on Auriemma – in the postgame interviews, Auriemma said he doesn’t regret what he said in his in-game interview about the officials, noting that he had a player change her jersey after it was ripped. But that player, Sarah Strong, ripped her own shirt

Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley have tense postgame exchange after South Carolina shock UConn in Final Four

UConn coach Geno Auriemma and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley had a heated exchange on the sideline after the Gamecocks beat the undefeated Huskies 62-48 in Friday night’s semi-final of the women’s NCAA Tournament.South Carolina ended UConn’s winning streak at 54 games and secured a return trip to the national championship game.As the two met in front of the scorer’s table with 0.1 seconds left, Auriemma appeared to go to shake Staley’s hand and began yelling in her direction. Staley responded with words of her own

County cricket: Gay makes hay on opening day to blast season’s first century

DIVISION ONESophia Gardens: Glamorgan 99-4 v YorkshireSouthampton: Hampshire v Essex 219-3Grace Road: Leicestershire 15-1 v Sussex 361Taunton: Somerset 292-6 v NottinghamshireEdgbaston: Warwickshire v Surrey 328DIVISION TWOThe County Ground: Derbyshire 391-4 v WorcestershireChester le Street: Durham 335 v Kent 50-2Lord’s: Middlesex 279-5 v GloucestershireWantage Road: Northamptonshire v Lancashire 346-7The spectre of the Ashes loomed over day one of a new Championship season, every innings, every wicket, a play in one act sent straight to the laptop of Brendon McCullum.England Lion Emilio Gay won the race to the first century of the season for Durham, a classy innings, fierce on the loose ball, and in tricky conditions at Chester-le-Street. When he was finally out, a fourth catch of the day to Kent’s Zak Crawley, he had pocketed 128 from just 140 balls.Crawley’s turn with the bat went about as well as Jamie Smith’s and Ollie Pope’s over at Edgbaston, two boundaries before falling lbw to Matthew Potts for nine.At Grace Road Tom Clark embroidered a stylish 101, as Sussex gave promoted Leicestershire a bloody nose in the morning session, racing to 155 for two by lunch

Foakes to the rescue for Surrey as County Championship makes its earliest start

The County Championship whirred back into life on Good Friday, with 3 April its earliest start in history. By extension, Rory Burns claimed the record for its earliest dismissal, with Surrey’s captain run out 10 minutes into the day’s play at Edgbaston in a scene usually reserved for the village green.Cricket really can be a sod sometimes. All that pre-season graft, all those hours dreaming big, only to plink a drive early on, think it has beaten mid-off, and set off for the run in good faith. The throw from Warwickshire’s Ed Barnard may have been wild but Kai Smith mopped up smartly at the stumps

Timeforshowcasing into Classic contention after Burradon success

Charlie Johnston picked up a decent bonus on top of the trainer’s share of the prize money after backing Timeforshowcasing for the Burradon Stakes at Newcastle on Friday at prices up to 25-1, and could now fast-track his filly into Classic company at either Newmarket or the Curragh next month.Timeforshowcasing was up against some promising colts and geldings in the Listed contest over a mile but travelled easily through the early stages before taking it up at the furlong pole and holding off the late challenge of Padraig Dawn by a neck.“All day I’ve been thinking, ‘what do people know that I don’t?’, because this filly worked last Thursday and I thought she was in phenomenal order,” Johnston said.“She was 6-1, went out to 10-1, then 16s and she’s won at 25-1. I hope my bookmaker gives best odds guaranteed