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Itoje replaces George as captain as Murley & Beard called up
Maro Itoje has been promoted to England captain for the Six Nations, replacing Saracens team-mate Jamie George in the role.
Itoje, 30, led England to the Under-20 world title in 2014 but only stepped up to skipper Saracens this season in the wake of Owen Farrell's departure to France.
"I'm at a point in my career where I feel ready to give my all to serve the team and the fans with the captaincy, and also produce my best on the field," he said.
Hooker George and Bristol prop Ellis Genge will serve as vice-captains in Steve Borthwick's 36-strong squad.
In-form number eight Tom Willis is called up but Ben Spencer - who started the autumn as first-choice scrum-half - drops out to make way for Alex Mitchell's return from injury.
Leicester prop Dan Cole, 37, is also omitted, with his clubmate Joe Heyes and Sale's Asher Opoku-Fordjour brought in as tight-head options.
Bath's Ted Hill is selected with his clubmate Sam Underhill set to have surgery on an ankle injury while Harlequins wing Cadan Murley comes in to replace Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who is facing the possibility of an operation to fix a shoulder complaint.
Oscar Beard and Fraser Dingwall are the alternative midfield options to the first-choice pairing of Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade, but there is no place for Alex Lozowski.
Northampton's George Furbank is still out with a fractured arm, leaving Leicester's Freddie Steward as the sole specialist full-back, although Saracens' versatile back Elliot Daly and fly-half Marcus Smith are options in that position.
Sale loose-head prop Bevan Rodd, who partners Opoku-Fordjour in the front row at club level, fills the vacancy left by the retired Joe Marler.
"I've selected a squad where every player brings something unique to the group," said Borthwick.
"The Six Nations is always a fiercely contested and exciting tournament, and this year will be no exception."
England's Six Nations campaign begins away to defending champions Ireland on 1 February and their tough start continues when they take on France at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium seven days later.
England last won the title in 2020 but have not contended since then and finished third last season.
Borthwick's side endured a difficult autumn - losing to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in successive weeks - and in total they won five of their 12 games across 2024.
England's performance in the men's Six Nations will be the backdrop to a vote on the future of the Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney, which is set to be held in late March or April.
Hilsabeck Prepared To Finish What He Started In Outlaws Return
CONCORD, N.C. In his return to the World of Outlaws Late Models trail this year, Daniel Hilsabeck is ready to prove that you cant keep a good man down.
The Earlham, Iowa natives plans on making 2024 his rookie year with The Most Powerful Late Models on The Planet were derailed after he broke his wrist in a crash at Brownstown Speedway in June.
Hilsabeck underwent surgery and spent two months on the sidelines recovering, and now has his sights set on bouncing back in 2025 and contending for the Rookie of the Year Award.
I feel like weve got some stuff figured out with our race car, I got some stuff figured out with me, Hilsabeck said. How I need to be driving, what we need to be doing to the race car, what we need to be doing preparation-wise to race at a national level. I feel way more confident this year than I did last year, I know that.
While Hilsabeck has not made a World of Outlaws appearance since the accident, he did make some scattered starts across the Midwest last fall to get reacclimated with his machine in advance of the new year. The No. 22 team didnt take long to find their footing, as Hilsabeck racked up four top 10s with the MLRA in addition to a sixth-place run during the Late Model Knoxville Nationals in September.
That momentum has Hilsabeck riding high entering the new season, which will contain plenty of visits to tracks hes looking forward to returning to after missing out in 2024.
Ive never raced at Smoky Mountain, we went there and practiced one night but Ive never raced there, so thatll be interesting to go to, Hilsabeck said. I always like going to the two Kansas tracks, Humboldt and 81. Ive heard great things about the North Dakota tracks. Ive never been up there, but every time Ive raced a Modified up in northwest Minnesota, those were always really good tracks, and its kind of that same area.
Before Hilsabeck travels north this summer, hell head south to Florida to get the season started at Volusia Speedway Park with DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals (Jan. 22-25) and Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals (Feb. 13-15). While Hilsabeck admits he struggled in his first trip to the Worlds Fastest Half Mile last year, he learned plenty of lessons that he believes will help him contend with Late Model racings best this time around.
Its a whole different type of dirt, Hilsabeck said. The shape isnt a whole lot like Knoxville, but you kind of drive it the same. You carry a lot of speed and youve got to be able to turn without slowing down. The dirt threw me for a loop last year. It was rubbered down in the black and I was trying to run up in the brown dirt up high and I got freight-trained on the bottom in the Heat Race.
Went from third to sixth or something and didnt make the show. Back home, that black would be slick, but it rubbered fast enough that I didnt keep up with the surface. The dirt is definitely different down in Florida, but thats something that youve got to experience before you know what to do.
Kirkwood, Andretti Global Gain Backing From Chilis
INDIANAPOLIS IndyCars Andretti Global team picked up a recognizable consumer sponsor for the season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg.
On Jan. 14, Chilis Grill & Bar, a leader in the casual dining industry and the flagship brand of Dallas-based Brinker International, Inc., will serve as the primary partner on the No. 27 Chilis Honda of Kyle Kirkwood at the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida.
Its the NTT IndyCar Series season opening race and will mark the debut for Chilis in North Americas premier open-wheel racing series.
Delivery complete
We are excited to welcome Chilis as the primary partner on the No. 27 Honda of Kyle Kirkwood for the season opener on the Streets of St. Pete pic.twitter.com/PQH08JNAKR
Andretti INDYCAR & INDY NXT (@AndrettiIndy) January 14, 2025
Its great to have Chilis support of Kyles entry for the season opening race in St. Petersburg, said Andretti Global Chief Commercial Officer Doug Bresnahan. As a new sponsor with our IndyCar program, Im excited to see the impact of the partnership with our fans as well as Chilis customers and employees.
Chilis has established a strong presence in motorsports through their NASCAR partnership, and we are excited to expand their exposure within the sport of IndyCar.
Prior to partnering with Andretti IndyCar, Chilis made its major motorsports debut at the 2024 Daytona 500, challenging fans to Catch-a-Rita with a livery dedicated to the brands famous Presidente Margarita and covered with QR codes leading fans to redeem gift cards for margaritas.
Thanks in part to these efforts, three days after finishing fourth, Chilis sold more than 200,000 margaritas on National Margarita Day. In addition to a successful debut at NASCARs top level, Chilis wallpapered its entire menu on a NASCAR truck at the brands home track, Texas Motor Speedway, bringing to life the Follow Me to Chilis mantra that fans will see on Kirkwoods No. 27 Chilis Honda on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
Its a true honor to represent Chilis for the first race of the season, Kirkwood said. Theres immense excitement within our team to have Chilis on board. We all love Chilis especially their chips and salsa! 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for Andretti Global, and
I look forward to carrying Chilis along to victory in St. Petersburg.
Back for his fourth season in the NTT IndyCar Series, and third with Andretti IndyCar, Kirkwood heads into the 2025 season with hopes of continuing the pole-winning momentum he closed out the 2024 season with at Nashville Superspeedway.
Kirkwoods Chilis car will take to the track on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Feb. 28 March 2.
When the opportunity to expand our motorsports program in 2025 with Andretti and Kyle Kirkwood came up, we didnt need much convincing, said Chilis Grill & Bar Chief Marketing Officer George Felix. We teamed up with Spire Motorsports last year because we had a strong belief that race fans are also Chilis fans, and that was confirmed time and time again.
Coupling our 50-year legacy with an unmatched name like Andretti is an ideal way to expand our racing footprint this year, and we cant wait to invite more race fans to Chilis this year.
TULSA, Okla. While there are no Chili Bowl Nationals winners in the field on Tuesdays Warren CAT Qualifying Night at the SageNet Center, the field may be the most balanced throughout the field of all five qualifying nights.
Two-time USAC national midget champion Michael Buddy Kofoid, who finished second in last years Chili Bowl Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink finale, is among the leading contenders driving the No. 71 for Keith Kunz Motorsports Curb-Agajanian.
Six-time national touring series winged sprint car champion Brad Sweet returns to his midget racing roots aboard the No. 3t fielded by RMS Racing, while USAC veteran Kevin Thomas Jr. will wheel an Alex Bowman Racing prepared entry.
Veteran midget racers Zach Daum and Thomas Meseraull will also be among the contenders, while two-time Chili Bowl starter Kaylee Bryson will handle an Abacus Racing entry.
Midget regulars Hank Davis, Austin Torgerson and Jonathan Beason and winged sprint car racers Garet Williamson, Brenham Crouch and Hunter Schuerenberg also race on Tuesday.
Other notables competing on the second night of the 39th Chili Bowl Nationals are NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Ricky Thornton Jr. and Super DIRTcar Series title winner Mat Williamson.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Tuesdays high-speed Dakar Rally Stage Nine dash from Riyadh to Haradh served as a link between Saudi Arabias capital city and the barren wilderness of the Empty Quarter Desert with five-time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah scoring his first Ultimate class stage win in his Dacia Sandrider.
The Qataris 49th stage win of his illustrious Dakar career puts him 31 seconds behind the Ford Raptor T1+ of Mattias Ekström, who holds third place overall behind new Saudi leader Yazeed Al Rajhi and South African driver Henk Lategan.
We pushed all day on a very fast stage, Al-Attiyah said. Now, we need to do our best on every kilometer.
Belgian Guillaume De Mévius excelled again in second in his MINI to score useful World Rally-Raid Championship points in the second week of this Dakar, despite being over seven hours behind overall.
Today we started behind, so we knew we could push and try for a good time, De Mévius said. Thats what we did and overall the stage was good for us.
Argentine Luciano Benavides has hit a rich vein of form with back-to-back bike stage wins, which now leaves him just 7 minutes, 23 seconds off a podium finish. His Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Daniel Sanders still leads from Spaniard Tosha Schareina and Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren.
I kept my focus on the roadbook all day and it was more of a mental challenge than anything else, Benavides said. The dunes are the terrain that I like the most, so I cant wait to go there tomorrow.
Australian Sanders, who has five stage wins and a 14-minute, 45-second lead in his quest for a first Dakar title.
It was a good start but, after the first neutralization section, we came into somewhere that I remembered from other years, Sanders said. The dirt was really white, so I couldnt see the tracks properly. I was just trying to make sure I was on the right spots.
With Portuguese driver Gonçalo Guerreiro of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team just 27m58s off the Challenger class lead and SSV legend Francisco Chaleco López comfortable in third as he seeks another podium, the Friday finish is now in sight with three days of racing left.
It doesnt matter how fast you are, if you cant find the right way to go, Guerreiro said. Now its the dunes and I have no fear, lets go!
Wednesdays Stage 10 sees the remaining convoy tackle immense Empty Quarter Desert sand dunes that can reach up to 250 meters high, so all the competitors will be on high alert despite the short special distance.
Montreal Canadiens forward Emil Heineman will be sidelined three to four weeks after sustaining an upper-body injury in a traffic accident in Utah, the team announced Tuesday.
Per the team, the accident occurred Monday. Heineman was a pedestrian.
The Canadiens are beginning a two-game road trip Tuesday against the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City.
Heineman, 23, has totaled 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) and 14 penalty minutes in 41 games this season. He did not record a point in four games last season with the Canadiens.
The Sweden native was selected by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2020 NHL draft. He was traded to the Calgary Flames in the Sam Bennett deal on April 12, 2021, and he was shipped to the Canadiens in the trade involving Tyler Toffoli on Feb. 14, 2022.
Grades for all 32 NHL teams at midseason: Knights, Caps, Jets, Wild lead the way
With most NHL teams having played 41 games this season, it's time for another round of report cards.
Some teams have far outpaced their preseason expectations -- the Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals among them -- while others have fallen well short -- looking at you, New York Rangers and Nashville Predators.
In addition to an overall grade for each club at the midway point, we've also identified each team's class president and a player in danger of failing.
Note: Teams are arrayed alphabetically by letter grade. Ryan S. Clark graded the Pacific and Central Division teams, and Kristen Shilton graded the Metropolitan and Atlantic Division teams. Stats are through the games of Jan. 11. Preseason over/unders are courtesy of ESPN BET sportsbook.
Jump to:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF
CGY | CAR | CHI | COL
CBJ | DAL | DET | EDM
FLA | LA | MIN | MTL
NSH | NJ | NYI | NYR
OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ
SEA | STL | TB | TOR
VAN | VGS | WSH | WPG
A grades
Minnesota Wild
Record: 27-13-4
Preseason over/under: 93.5
Current points pace: 108.1
Class president: Kirill Kaprizov. Being on pace for a 50-goal and 100-point season only adds to the reality Kaprizov is one of the game's most dangerous players. There's also an argument to be had about him being one of the most valuable. The Wild aren't like other teams that have balanced scoring throughout their lineup. They have four players who have scored more than 50% of their goals and Kaprizov is among that quartet. His 23 goals and 27 assists -- with 15 of them being primary -- means he has played a role in being responsible for more than 40% of the Wild's goals.
In danger of failing: Yakov Trenin. Pointing the proverbial finger at Trenin is a bit repetitive, but it's that way because of the Wild's salary cap implications. The combined Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts mean the club must spend judiciously. Signing Trenin to a four-year deal worth $3.5 million annually meant the Wild were getting a player who could provide them with another double-digit goal scorer. Trenin had three goals through 37 games and is projected to score six goals after three straight seasons of more than 12 goals.
Grade: A+ (first-quarter grade: A+). Kaprizov is having the type of season that has him in the Hart Trophy discussion. Filip Gustavsson could end up being a Vezina Trophy finalist and Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Marco Rossi continue to show why they're an important part of the Wild's present and future plans. It's enough to keep them in the race for the Central entering January. But will it be enough in the postseason?
Lazio have parted ways with their falconer, the Serie A club said on Monday, after local media reported that he had shared images of his penile implant on social media.
Juan Bernabe, the man in charge of flying the club's eagle mascot before kickoff, was let go after Lazio became aware of the photographs and videos on his social media accounts.
Reuters has attempted to contact Bernabe for comment.
Bernabe is the instructor of Olympia, a white-headed eagle Lazio adopted in 2010. Olympia's flight over Rome's Olympic Stadium before matches has become a symbolic moment for fans.
The club said in a statement that they recognised supporters would be disappointed at the eagle's absence from home games.
"The club is aware of the pain the absence of the eagle will cause the fans but it has become impossible to associate our historical symbol with such [an] individual," Lazio said.
Bernabe was suspended by Lazio in 2021 after he was filmed at the stadium cheering for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
The Premier League have not charged any club with breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for last season, although Leicester City remain the most at risk of further penalties.
Newly promoted Leicester were referred by the Premier League to the independent commission over PSR infringements last March and were later charged, although the club lodged a successful appeal meaning they avoided any points deduction.
However, the Premier League had appealed the decision to acquit Leicester, with British media reporting that the case must to be brought to a conclusion before being charged for further breaches.
The Premier League said in a statement: "Issues as to the jurisdiction of the Premier League over Leicester City Football Club in relation to PSR compliance are currently the subject of confidential arbitration proceedings.
"Accordingly, neither the League nor the club will make any further comment at this stage about any aspect of the club's compliance or otherwise with any of the PSR or related Rules, save to say that no complaint has been brought against Leicester by the League for any breach of the PSRs for the period ending season 2023/24."
Walker left out of City squad amid transfer links
Manchester City's wantaway defender Kyle Walker has been left out of the squad for the clash against Brentford on Tuesday as he explores a move away from the club.
The England international, who has made 319 career appearances for City, has asked to leave for a club abroad in January and sources have told ESPN that AC Milan are leading the chase.
Walker sat out Saturday's FA Cup win against Salford City -- after which manager Pep Guardiola revealed his exit desire -- but the Spanish boss said he was still in contention for the Premier League game at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, Walker is absent from the 20-man matchday squad for the first time in the league since missing out against Everton in December through illness.
The 34-year-old was close to joining Bayern Munich in 2023. He is under contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2026 but a source has told ESPN that Milan are open to offering Walker a deal until 2027.
"I said to him now it's a question of the market," Guardiola said earlier this week.
"He is an incredible player with his incredible physicality, when he is focused he is unstoppable as a right-back, He's a top class player, if he is fit he can play one, two, three, four more years as a professional.
"I never see a player with these physical conditions in my career, and of course I never, never, never have a desire for one player, but he has to have agreement with the club and I'm sorry, I was never involved with all the players."
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