Andy Farrell plays down Lions full-back fears but Daly faces tour-ending injury

Andy Farrell says he has his “fingers crossed” for Elliot Daly after the utility back suffered a potentially tour-ending injury in the victory over the Queensland Reds. Daly was taken to a Brisbane hospital on Wednesday for scans on a suspected broken arm, but the head coachsaid the British & Irish Lions do not have a full-back crisis with the first Test against Australia just over a fortnight away.If, as expected, the 32-year-old Daly is ruled out of the tour it will leave the Lions reliant on two specialist full-backs, Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan, who have yet to play on this tour. Kinghorn has only just arrived in Australia having helped Toulouse win the Top 14 title while Keenan was ruled out of the 52-12 win over the Reds through illness.It is hoped both players will feature against the NSW Waratahs on Saturday, by which time Daly’s prognosis will be clearer

‘It makes water wetter’: How Wimbledon keeps grass green in soaring temperatures

A special chemical is being used at Wimbledon to make “water wetter” to try to reduce water bills and tackle rising temperatures.As the championship welcomed rain on Wednesday after opening with scorching temperatures, Neil Stubley, Wimbledon’s head of courts and horticulture, said the tournament uses a soil spray to adjust the amount of water a plant root system can absorb.Stubley said: “It sounds a weird term but it makes water wetter. The surface tension of a water molecule, a plant root system, at a certain point, can’t penetrate it as the moisture gets smaller, because the surface tension is more. We can adjust that so that actually a plant root can tap into that water

British tennis player Jodie Burrage tells of online abuse after Wimbledon exit

The tennis player Jodie Burrage has said she has had to stop herself looking at her phone due to online abuse after her first-round Wimbledon exit.The British No 7 urged gambling companies and social media companies to do more to tackle online trolls, who she says often attack her appearance.Speaking after her to defeat to the 23-year-old American Caty McNally, Burrage said some of the abuse may have been from gamblers who had lost money.“I think it’s very simple to have someone’s ID connected to their account and that would, I think, quickly stop what people write and make them more accountable,” the 26-year-old said.“I’m just guessing that they’re gamblers, some of them say, ‘You’ve lost me this amount of money’ or whatever, so some of them are

Queensland Reds 12-52 British & Irish Lions: rugby union tour match – as it happened

“The Lions blew hot and cold at times,” says Rob Kitson in his report that has just landed.And with that I’ll sign off. Thanks to everyone who kept me company by writing in.Hope you all enjoyed that. See you soon

Daly injury blow takes shine off dominant Lions display against Queensland Reds

For the second successive game in Australia there is bittersweet news for the British & Irish Lions. Another half-century of points was a decent return against initially spirited opponents but, once again, they look likely to lose a potentially significant player to injury with the best-of-three Test series kicking off at this same venue in just over a fortnight.For now there is no official confirmation but Elliot Daly’s tour is expected to be cruelly curtailed after the nasty forearm injury he sustained in the second half. He was taken to hospital for X-rays on a suspected fracture which will almost certainly require the Lions to summon another replacement, having already lost the scrum-half Tomos Williams to a torn hamstring.As with Williams, Daly was emerging as a strong contender for the Test matchday 23 and was only called up late for this fixture after Hugo Keenan withdrew because of illness

Tour de France 2025: stage-by-stage guide to this year’s race

On the 50th anniversary of the first Tour finish on the Champs-Élysées, we could be in for a cliffhanger finishThe climbs of Mont Cassel and Le Mont Noir won’t be enough to split the peloton, so this is almost guaranteed to be a bunch sprint, unless it gets windy. A strong westerly would make this a nightmare with more than 140km of crosswinds, but if it stays calm it’s a first big test for Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and the other fast men. For the favourites, a first day of trying to stay upright.A punchy finale: three steep little hills in the final 30km, and a climb to the finish. There will be a selection here, with a strong chance of crashes as the riders battle for position before the climbs