I Dig Sports
France beat Wales to stay in Six Nations title hunt
France: Morgane Bourgeois; Kelly Arbey, Marine Menager (co-capt), Montserrat Amedee, Emilie Boulard; Carla Arbez, Pauline Bourdon-Sansus; Yllana Brosseau, Manon Bigot, Rose Bernadou, Manae Feleu (co-capt), Madouddou Fall-Raclot, Charlotte Escudero, Seraphine Okemba, Teani Feleu.
Replacements: Elisa Riffonneau, Ambre Mwayembe, Assia Khalfaoui, Kiara Zago, Axelle Berthoumieu, Lea Champon, Oceane Bordes, Lina Queyroi.
Wales: Jasmine Joyce; Lisa Neumann, Hannah Jones (capt), Courtney Keight, Carys Cox; Kayleigh Powell, Keira Bevan; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Jenni Scoble, Abbie Fleming, Gwen Crabb, Kate Williams, Bethan Lewis, Georgia Evans.
Replacements: Kelsey Jones, Maisie Davies, Donna Rose, Natalia John, Alaw Pyrs, Bryonie King, Sian Jones, Nel Metcalfe.
Referee: Holly Wood (RFU)
Assistant referees: Sara Cox (RFU) & Maria Heitor (FPR)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
FPRO: Rachel Horton (RA)
Last year in front of 48,778 at Twickenham, England recorded their highest points win (88) and 11th successive victory over Ireland.
However, Scott Bemand's side have dramatically improved over the past 12 months to record a shock win over world champions New Zealand at WXV1 in October, backed up by the 54-12 thrashing of Italy - a first away win in the Six Nations since 2021.
Ferocious and brave defence from Ireland frustrated the visitors in the opening period, with Mitchell's side lacking their usual first-half composure.
Fly-half Dannah O'Brien had joy finding space in behind England's back three and set up the opening try for Costigan through another well-weighted kick.
Mitchell retained his regular front-line starters that hammered Wales in Cardiff last time out, with the vast majority playing key roles in his side's third successive Six Nations Grand Slam and WXV1 title last year.
Lock Talling crossed from a maul for England's only first-half score, to show why Mitchell required his main stars in Cork to defeat an Ireland side who have made clear their intentions to compete at the World Cup.
Costigan, the first Ireland player to score a try against England since 2018, produced a stunning try-saving tackle on Jess Breach and full-back Kildunne spilled the ball over the tryline, as England began to take control of the game early in the second half.
A big factor in the defending champions eventually seizing control was the yellow card of prop O'Dowd, who was part of a struggling Irish scrum.
Harrison's show-and-go grabbed a vital try before Kildunne made amends for her earlier error by helping to set up Jones' score.
Prior to the game, Ireland had scored 10 points and conceded 205 in their past three championship games against England.
The difference in replacements proved pivotal in the closing stages as England ran up a scoreline that at one point looked unlikely.
The gap in quality may have closed over the past 12 months, but no score from Bemand's side in the second half shows much more work is needed if Ireland want to join the World Cup hosts as possible contenders later in the year.
The message about winning the collision from the leadership team quickly came to fruition when Jess Breach burst down the wing to score a disallowed try just over 30 seconds into the second half.
It was the start of a free-flowing half of rugby from the Red Roses, led by fly-half Harrison, who despite being known for her strong kicking game was lively with ball in hand.
"I really enjoyed Zoe's running game today, we know she can kick and distribute but I just liked how she got her head up early and saw space," former England fly-half and 2014 World Cup-winner Katy Daley-Mclean told BBC's Rugby Union Weekly.
"She was solving the problems in front of her, she is starting to develop into a really well-rounded 10 and coming into form at exactly the right time."
The biggest swing came when Mitchell unloaded his bench, which saw replacement prop Sarah Bern score twice and Kelsey Clifford grab her first international try.
Mitchell made 13 changes to his starting XV from the opening win over Italy to the hammering of Wales in Cardiff as he aims to build "two teams" before the World Cup.
"One thing England have is a massively good bench, Sarah Bern came on and was outstanding," added Mclean.
"Kelsey Clifford and Maddie Feaunati were brilliant, the list is endless. They all came on and added.
"It is great for England as it is competition but they know that very few teams in the world can live with you for 80 minutes and your bench."
England, who next face Scotland in Leicester next Saturday, are chasing a seventh Women's Six Nations title in a row and a fourth successive Grand Slam.
France are the last team to beat the Red Roses in the Six Nations back in 2018 and, after a convincing win over Wales, remain on course to set up a potential Grand Slam-decider at Allianz Stadium on 26 April.
Former Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton says England need to address how they begin games.
"They need to look at how they start the game, they struggled last week in the start against Wales and again this week," Middleton told BBC Sport.
"What they do have is a great capacity to regroup themselves and that strength in depth, but against better sides they won't get presented with as many opportunities.
"Other sides will not fall away as much as Ireland did."
Come World Cup time - in front of what are likely to be record-breaking crowds - being calm and regrouping under pressure is certainly a handy skill to call upon.
BRISTOL, Tenn. Kyle Larson pushed his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the top qualifying lap Saturday afternoon during preparations for Saturday evenings SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Larson turned a lap of 15.194 seconds at 126.287 mph for his first pole of the season and his eighth in 118 Xfinity Series starts. Hell share the front row with rookie JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch.
Zilischs teammates, Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier, share the second row, Chevrolet a sweep of the top four positions.
Ford drivers Ryan Sieg and Sam Mayer share row three.
Taylor Gray was the fastest Toyota driver in 11th.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix Saturday at the Bahrain Intl Circuit.
Piastri turned a best lap of one minute and 29.841 seconds, edging Mercedes wheelman George Russell for the top spot. It is Piastris second pole of the season.
Piastri was delighted with the effort.
I felt confident out there pretty much all weekend, Piastri said. FP1 was an experience for us all, I think it felt more like a rally car than an F-1 car, but from then on Ive felt really comfortable with the car.
[In] FP3 we had good pace. [In] qualifying the others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted, but [I] still delivered the laps when it mattered which was the most important thing, so [Im] very, very happy.
Ferraris Charles Leclerc took the third spot, while Kimi Antonelli was fourth in the second Mercedes.
Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpine, while point leader Lando Norris was sixth in the second McLaren.
AVONDALE La. Florida-based Brazilian Joao Vergara narrowly headed VRD Racing teammate Oliver Wheldon in perfect weather conditions to win the opening race of the USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire season at NOLA Motorsports Park.
Vergara took the lead from early pacesetter Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing) on the sixth lap and fought off a determined challenge from Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., to secure a well-deserved maiden USF Juniors victory.
Brazils Escorpioni rounded out the podium in third.
An impressive push on the final lap of the first qualifying session on Friday afternoon was enough for Wheldon to capture the first Continental Tire Pole Award of the new season, edging out Escorpioni by a 10th and a half.
The two front row qualifiers refused to cede any advantage as they rounded the first two corners in side-by-side formation before Escorpioni was able to inch ahead into Turn Three. The move cost top rookie Wheldon a little momentum which allowed Vergara, up from fourth on the grid, to slip into second place.
The top three immediately put some space between themselves and their pursuers, especially after third-fastest qualifier Liam Loiacono (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Queensland, Australia, slipped all the way back to ninth after the first lap of the 2.74-mile road course.
Escorpioni managed to put a little space between himself and Vergara in the opening stages, but his slender advantage didnt last for long. By lap five, the top three were back together again, and at the end of the back straightaway, under braking for Turn Nine, they were almost three abreast before Vergara was able to slip through into the lead. Wheldon followed him through, but try as he might, there was no opportunity to find a way past Vergara, who held on to score a fine win.
Wheldon not only became the youngest ever USF Juniors podium finisher, at a tender 14 years and 24 days, he also claimed a new fastest race lap, fractionally faster than his older brother Sebastian had managed just one year ago.
Zanella Racings Ty Fisher, from White Rock, Canada., hustled his way from eighth on the opening lap to a solid fourth after passing Mexican Rodrigo Gonzalez (DEForce Racing) a couple of laps from the finish.
Chevy Dominates Bristol Qualifying With Bowman On Top
BRISTOL, Tenn. Alex Bowman claimed his second pole of the NASCAR Cup Series season during qualifying for Sundays Food City 500 Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bowman, who has two poles and four top-10 starts this season, earned the seventh pole of his career with a lap of 14.912 seconds (128.675 mph) in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
It was also his second pole at the .533-mile concrete race track.
Honestly, it really wasnt the best lap for me. I kind of over-slowed entry to (turn) three, I thought, Bowman explained. So, yeah, just probably going out early. Typically, this place trends that the later cars are faster. But, you know, obviously todays scenario with tires are vastly different than what the racetrack is doing. So, yeah, hard to say.
Certainly was watching the clouds there at the end there were some big clouds coming. The 24 and the 11, guys that tagged the wall at the very end, I knew they were going to be good. So, yeah, happy that it held on.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified second in the Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet for his first top-10 start of the season.
Bowmans teammate, Kyle Larson, qualified third and completed a sweep of the top three for Chevrolet.
A winner of two consecutive races, Denny Hamlin qualified fourth for Joe Gibbs Racing, while Ryan Blaney starts fifth in his Team Penske Ford.
Jesse Love qualified 19th in his first Cup Series qualifying effort for Richard Childress Racing, while Cup Series champions Kyle Busch and Joey Logano each crashed on their qualifying runs.
I was just having to push it hard trying to make a fast lap, Logano said. It turned pretty good and I got a little bit down on that apron there and it kind of shoved me up. I kind of got free and then I got into the looser stuff and hit the wall. The last few times weve qualified here in the Next Gen car its been kind of sketchy to say the least.
Kirkwood Storms To Pole For 50th Long Beach Street Race
LONG BEACH, Calif. The last time Kyle Kirkwood won the pole at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was 2023. He also won the race.
The driver from Jupiter, Fla., hopes to repeat that in Sundays 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach by winning the pole on Saturday.
That would be massive, Kirkwood said. Winning any IndyCar race is impressive, but winning the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach would be historic.
It was Hertas second Verizon P1 Award at Long Beach and the third IndyCar pole of his career.
Kirkwoods fast lap was 1:06.1921 around the 1.968-mile street course in the No. 27 Honda for Andretti Global. That was a speed of 107.034 mph.
Teammate Colton Herta was second fastest at 1:06.4232 (106.662 mph) in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global.
When you are in an Andretti Global car at Long Beach, you know you are going to be quick and we were today, Kirkwood said. A front row lockout by Andretti Global with Colton Herta, you have to be happy with that.
Hertas second-place qualification effort ensured an All-Andretti Global front row.
It sucks, but you cant be made at Andretti Global sweeping the front row, Herta said. Im glad Andretti Global lets us race and me and Kyle have always raced each other well. I think we understand if there is an opportunity to pass, we will pass each other, but without taking any unnecessary risks.
Chip Ganassi Racing star Alex Palou has won the first two IndyCar Series races of the season. He attempts to make it three-in-a-row Sunday as he starts from the third position after qualifying at 1:06.6254 (106.338 mph) in the No. 28 DHL Honda.
Its good, Palou said. Tight qualifying as always. We thought it would be closer, but that lap by Kyle was pretty good. It was awesome.
Great starting position in third. Well see if we can go three-for-three.
Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the Fast Six.
For the second race in a row, neither Josef Newgarden nor Will Power of Team Penske advanced out of the first round. At the Thermal Club on March 22, none of the three Team Penske drivers including McLaughlin made it to the second round of qualifications.
After Fridays practice session, Newgarden was confident this weekend would not be a repeat of what happened at Thermal.
That prediction did not come true, however.
This is a very tight series where inches and tenths of a second make a difference, Newgarden said. Its hard when youre on your fast lap and get held up in Turn 10.
Youve already used up your alternates and that exit off the hairpin is crucial to the following lap. We know there is speed in the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet. Unfortunately, we are behind a bit following qualifying, but we will rally tomorrow.
The cars too good.
At the checkered flag of that group, Herta bounced off the wall and the checkered flag and appeared to break the tow-link on the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda.
Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren was the fastest of that group in the No. 7 Chevrolet at 1:07.2092, followed by Herta, Felix Rosenqvist, Pato OWard, Marcus Armstrong and David Malukas.
McLaughlin saved the day for Team Penske by qualifying third in the second group of the first round. Defending Long Beach winner Scott Dixon was the big name that didnt advance out of the first round as he was seventh.
The lap I was on was on target for quick time, but I should have done the lap earlier, Dixon said. The car in front of me aborted so I had to do the same thing.
Kirkwood was the fastest in that group at 1:06.9367 in the No. 27 Honda for Andretti Global. Palou was second followed by McLaughlin, Nolan Siegel, Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi.
McLaughlin also advanced out of the second round when he was sixth at the time. That session ended when Christian Lundgaard, who was fifth fastest at the time, stuffed the No. 7 Chevrolet into the tire barrier in Turn 9 just seconds before the checkered flag ended the session. Because of that, the Arrow McLaren driver lost his two fastest laps and will start 12th in Sundays race.
Advancing into the Fast Six were Kirkwood (1:06.4219) followed by Herta, Palou, Ericsson, McLaughlin and Rosenqvist.
No Arrow McLaren driver made it into the Fast Six after the team swept the front row in the previous IndyCar race at The Thermal Club.
I believe we had enough to transfer into the Fast Six, but bummer for me, bummer for Christian and bummer for Nolan, Pato OWard said. This hasnt been our best place in the past, but well see what happens in the race.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The United States Hockey League on Saturday named Ethan Wyttenbach of the Sioux Falls Stampede the inaugural winner of The Gaudreau Award in honor of the late Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
The league established the award to pay tribute to the brothers who died last summer when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey.
"This award was created to honor their legacy and to serve as a shining example of excellence, character, and heart both on and off the ice," said USHL president and commissioner Glenn Hefferan, who is also a New Jersey native. "Johnny and Matthew left an immeasurable impact on the communities where they lived and played. They were not only exceptional players and teammates but, most importantly, extraordinary people. Their love for the game was only surpassed by their love for their families."
Wyttenbach was Sioux Falls' top scorer this season despite missing time with an injury. Before getting hurt, he also led the team in community service hours. The league said he spent time filling food bags at Feeding South Dakota, served dinners at the St. Francis House and rung bells for The Salvation Army, along with school visits and youth hockey practices.
It's been a long month for Aaron Ekblad. The worst is almost over.
The Florida Panthers defenseman spoke out for the first time Saturday since being suspended 20 games without pay for violating the NHL and NHL Players' Association's policy on performance-enhancing drugs last month, something he said was an inadvertent mistake.
He is back on the ice with the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers for workouts but can't play until Game 3 of Florida's first-round playoff series.
"There's so many ways you look at it," Ekblad said, when asked what the suspension has been like. "Respect and integrity and character, family, name, my teammates, fans. Every single which way you look at it -- the money that I lose on top of all that, not that I care about it in a sense. I'd give it all back to play and take it all back again. So a lot of regret, but it is what it is and I have to find a way to move forward."
Ekblad, in a statement through the NHLPA, said in March the news that he had failed a random drug test shocked him: "Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel. I have let my teammates, the Panthers organization and our great fans down. For that, I am truly sorry."
His absence has been part of a long list of Florida players missing from the lineup in recent weeks.
The Panthers lost Matthew Tkachuk in February and hope to have him back for Game 1 of the playoffs. Brad Marchand missed his first few weeks with Florida after being acquired from Boston. Aleksander Barkov has missed a few games down the stretch, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and forward Sam Bennett might be back Monday, and the Panthers are giving some other regulars a bit of rest as well.
Seeing Ekblad back on the ice, even just for practice, was enough to make Panthers coach Paul Maurice smile. Ekblad wasn't able to be around the team for weeks as part of the suspension; he can now do everything other than play games.
"It lets him go in and buy a lot of dinners for the guys, right? His credit card will take a beating and have a little bit of fun," Maurice said. "But he steps on the ice and it's another 6-4 or 6-5 guy on your blue line, and now all the guys in red look big. It adds a little something."
Ekblad has been on the ice -- just not with teammates. He had some friends skate with him at times, like former Florida defenseman Keith Yandle, but they couldn't be in the team facility when the Panthers were there.
"I was still able to skate and work out and draw up my own on-ice programs as best I could," Ekblad said. "I'd watch the games, I'd see something [Gustav Forsling] would do and I'd try to mimic it and practice the next day, so it was a good lesson in being my own coach for a little bit. ... A lot of hours skating and working out alone, but it was good. It was fun to put myself to work in a way that I hadn't before."
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