British number two Cameron Norrie beat American Stefan Kozlov in straight sets to reach the second round of the Mexican Open.

Their only previous meeting ended in defeat for the 25-year-old Briton in Los Cabos, also in Mexico, in 2018.

Fellow Briton Jamie Murray reached the men's doubles quarter-final with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.

The pair are still on course for their third Acapulco title after beating India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 10-1.

They will face British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski in the next round.

This season's Premiership Rugby Cup has been scrapped because of continuing concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic.

New rules meant clubs would not have been permitted to use players in the cup competition who had played 20 minutes or more in their previous game.

Sale Sharks beat Harlequins in last season's final in October.

The game had originally been scheduled to take place on Sunday, 15 March 2020 but was postponed two days beforehand when a member of staff from one of the clubs showed symptoms of coronavirus.

In October last year it was decided that this season's competition would be "development focused" because of the shortened season.

However, Premiership Rugby said in a statement: "It was clear that in this unique season it would not be possible to add additional players to playing squads and properly prepare them for competition without compromising the clubs' Covid-19 training bubble which everyone has fought so hard to protect.

"In the light of these player welfare and competition integrity concerns the cup cannot proceed this season."

People ask you how you know when it is time to retire, and the honest answer is you just feel it in your stomach.

He will know in his heart that it is the right call, and he is not someone who would do something like this half-hearted.

I was lucky to captain CJ from his first Test start until I retired and what he gave in every game was a priceless loyalty.

You know you can rely on him, no matter what way you go he will be 100% behind you because he believes in the importance of the team over self.

When you say things in a changing room as a captain you want to believe people are buying into it. You can't underestimate the confidence CJ gives other leaders, when they say something he is looking at you nodding and you know he is going to give you everything to put what you're saying into practice.

As a player, CJ is one of those rare breeds who will only want to carry harder the more he gets knocked down.

Emotionally and physically, he is relentless. You can hear it now more than ever without crowds, when Ireland go to the scrum you will always hear CJ's voice.

"Come on front row, come on boys let's go". It is constant, and the more tired he gets the louder he becomes. These are the differences he makes outside of his immense rugby ability, they are massive energisers and they are so hard to find.

People are divided on the residency rule. What I can say unequivocally is that if every overseas player had CJ Stander's attitude to being an Irish rugby player and to representing the Irish jersey, it would only be a good thing.

I'm sure it wasn't the jersey he grew up wanting to represent, but that buy-in and emotion has made CJ a shining example of why the residency rule can be a huge positive.

So how can Ireland replace him?

They need to find somebody who can bring what he has brought.

The reason he was a big part of the successful 2018 team, and the reason he was able to come back from the red card in South Africa which broke his heart, is his durability.

He has come back from criticism, he has never failed to front up and he rarely misses a game because he will just turn up.

Ireland now need another number eight to step into that role just as CJ did when Jamie Heaslip retired.

You can build a back row around one mainstay. It was Jamie, then it was CJ, now Ireland are going to need someone else.

They can't have a number eight that is class one week but doesn't show up the next. That is now the big question, can Ireland find a mainstay to fill the void CJ will leave behind?

Time for Ireland to narrow gap to England

CJ's announcement aside, it remains a huge week for Ireland.

Even though neither side is playing for the title, there is a lot riding on Saturday's game against England.

Wales have shown that they are capable of bridging the perceived gap to England and France, now it is time for Ireland to follow suit.

A win could be the difference between finishing third or fifth in the table. You feel that a second consecutive third-place finish for Ireland, given all the change and disruption in the last two years, would provide a platform to work with, but coming fifth would leave a sour taste.

Regardless of the table, Ireland need this win. They need to prove that they are up there with England.

Ireland haven't beaten them since 2018. They have lost the last four games and have been physically dominated in each one.

This is a fact that England will take a lot of confidence from, but Ireland will not be focusing too much on. They will be using it as a motivation but their preparation won't be based on recent encounters, you don't want to dwell on negatives.

They want to be moving forward and for Ireland, whether they talk much about it or not, the physical domination has been what has killed them in the last four games.

England have been all over them at the breakdown and the line-out. Ireland are vastly improved in both areas, so there is reason to believe they can turn the tide this time.

Whether it's line-out defence, maul attack or the scrum, there is an area that England go to during their purple patch in a game because they think they can use it to turn the screw and take away the opposition's belief.

Ireland are going to need an area they can turn to when England are on top to stop their momentum and wrestle back control.

They need to quickly establish where England do not want to go and they need to take them there.

Character came through despite wobble at Murrayfield

Ireland's near collapse against Scotland was fair reflection of where they are at the minute. You cannot underestimate how much of the game is mental at this level.

When a team is playing with confidence, are 100% settled and know exactly what they're about, they would usually kick on having established a 14-point lead.

When the pressure came on they retreated slightly into their shells and turned it into a closer game than it should have been.

What they can take from it though is that at 24-24 they showed the character needed to get a win when they were on the verge of a confidence-destroying draw.

But they won. They will take confidence from the fact that they had the 14 point lead, and they will take confidence from the character they showed to get over the line.

The performance was less fast and loose than it was against Italy, but that was probably by design as opposed to a misfiring side.

Historically a tight and physical approach is the way Ireland have beaten Scotland. They aren't the sort of team you go out and try to play too much against because they love the unstructured game, the balls bouncing around and working off turnovers.

It felt like Ireland were set up to play a bit more physically, a bit more abrasive - and it yielded results.

They hammered Scotland at the attacking and defensive breakdown, they kept the ball for long periods, they made it tough for them and then utterly controlled the line-out.

Ultimately the Six Nations is about finding a winning brand of rugby. As a team you go down the road that you think will lead to a win, that's not to say you aren't constantly evolving or trying to be better, but when the pressure is on the only option is the gameplan that maximises the chances of winning.

It will be the same on Saturday, we want to see Ireland stand toe-to-toe with England up front, and get the better of them at the set-piece. Above all else, we want to see them win.

England flanker Tom Curry could develop into a player to match All Black great Richie McCaw, says forwards coach Matt Proudfoot.

McCaw led New Zealand to two Rugby World Cup triumphs, winning 148 caps and three World Player of the Year awards during his career.

"He's a special, special player," Proudfoot told BBC Sport of Curry.

Asked about the back row's qualities, Proudfoot continued: "His mindset for growth and improvement, his determination, his relentless training regime...how he takes onboard information, asks questions and makes sure that he adds the right thing to his game.

"When you see that in a player you know he will go a long, long way.

"If you look at the way Tom has improved in the last three or four years, if he just continues that growth, I think, in three, four years' time, he could be another McCaw."

Proudfoot revealed that, during his time on South Africa's staff, he had targeted Curry as a key part of England's team.

Curry made his second, third and fourth appearances for England during a three-Test tour of South Africa in 2018.

"In 2018 when England toured South Africa we highlighted him as one of the main threats in their team," he remembered.

"We actually tried to get to him a little bit and tried to pressurise him.

"I think in the first or second Test he was man of the match. He was 19 or 20 at that stage. It just speaks volumes for his character."

'We won't be happy to finish second'

Prop Ellis Genge says England can still take some pride from their Six Nations campaign if they beat Ireland in their final game on Saturday.

England's title defence will come up short after defeats by Scotland and Wales, but, after beating France last weekend, they could still finish second in the table if results go their way.

"We won't be happy to finish second, but as a group we have accepted how we started this competition now and parked that," Genge told BBC Sport.

"If we beat France and Ireland, it is not a bad place to be."

Genge also revealed that team-mate Ollie Lawrence was partly responsible for his stark peroxide-blonde hairstyle.

"I thought Ollie worked in Toni & Guy or had an apprenticeship there or something, because he was telling me everything and I listened," Genge added.

"He cut my hair and it was absolutely abysmal, proper bad. I had the worst fade I had in my life.

"So I thought if I dyed it blonde, no-one would be able to see it.

"In the past I have dyed my hair blonde and it has gone ginger. So I got this peroxide, it said leave it on for about 20 minutes, I left it on for an hour.

"It did burn, but I quite like it weirdly."

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Austin Dillon led the list of feature winners Tuesday during the second day of competition at the Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals.

Dillon led all 20 laps of the 604 late model feature and beat runner-up Shan Smith to the finish line by 3.592 seconds.

The NASCAR Cup Series regular was driving a car prepared by dirt late model veteran Cory Hedgecock.

The 602 Late Models kicked off the first set of features on Tuesday night, with Florida natives Trey Mills and Brenden Smith bringing the first main to the green.

Mills built a lead of a half of a straight away before John Brooks lost a podium spot due to a wreck on the frontstretch.

Gage Griffin gained the runner-up position on the restart, and held it through another caution period one circuit later.

Griffin closed in on Mills for the lead before the final caution with eight laps complete.

Curtis Thomas took the second spot on the restart, though he and Griffin went door-to-door through the halfway point.

Logan Walston took the final spot on the podium one round later, as Mills continued on to victory by over a second over Griffin. Walston rounded out the top five.

It was seven years after Bristol last held dirt racing when Mills was born.

Spencer Singleton held off a hard charging Cass Fowler late in the second feature to earn his spot in Saturday’s main event.

Seth Wimpey had a big lead erased late in the third and final 602 feature, but continued on to victory over Dustin Diem.

In the modified division, Wisconsin’s Tyler Wilson and California’s Jerry Flippo were the first to the stripe at for the first of three qualifiers.

Flippo took the early lead, and brought Iowa’s Justin O’Brien with him into the runner-up spot.

The lead duo pulled away from the rest of the field, but O’Brien relentlessly stalked Flippo for the top spot through seven circuits.

O’Brien’s first attempt at the lead came the following lap, as he peeked to Flippo’s inside.

Flippo remained the leader as the battle for the lead caught up to the rear of the field, but a caution saved Flippo from have to protect the lead in lapped traffic.

Ricky Alvarado made a stab at the second spot on the following restart, but O’Brien closed back in on Flippo after the latter pushed hard on the exit off of turn two near the halfway point of the twenty lapper.

The field re-stacked one final time after the last caution of the race with four rounds remaining.

Mark Noble moved past Alvarado for the final spot on the podium as Flippo continued on to victory over O’Brien.

Kyle Heckman made it two-for-three for California, as he won qualifier number two over Minnesota’s Aaron Johnson, while Iowa’s JD Auringer dominated the final feature over Clay Money.

In Sport Mod action, Cody Smith of Texas, and Minnesota’s Adam Bohlman led the field to the start of the first of three qualifying features.

Trey Stamper used a lap three restart to climb from seventh to first in the opening three circuits.

On the following restart, Brady Bjella charged from fifth to second as Stamper built a two-and-a-hald second lead by the halfway point.

Bjella caught Stamper in traffic, running to the leaders inside down the backstretch with a lap and a half remaining.

Bjella took the lead on the final trip down the backstretch, stealing the win late in the eighteen lap event by two-tenths of a second.

Justin Blevins of Virginia and Andrew Durham from North Carolina dominated the second and third features respectively, winning over runners-up Scott Busch and Zack Tate.

The finish:

604 Late Model Feature 1 (20 laps): 1. Austin Dillon; 2. Shan Smith; 3. Jackson Jise; 4. Joseph Joiner; 5. Kyle Lear; 6. Corey LaJoie; 7. Kevin Copher; 8. Tyler Arrington; 9. Anthony White; 10. Thomas Fiebelkorn; 11. Terry Poore; 12. Darrell Dow; 13. Tim Anderson; 14. Ben Sukup; 15. Jonathan Stockdale; 16. David Marlow; 17. Kyle Courtney; 18. Pete Cochran; 19. Curtis Glover; 20. Eric Pollard; 21. Luke Flemming; 22. Tony White; 23. Justin Carey; 24. Kevin Goodwin; 25. Bodi Henry; 26. Jarrod Carey; 27. John Harrison.

Other feature finishes are pending due to the late finish to the program.

HAMPTON, Ga. – John Hunter Nemechek and Kyle Busch will resume their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series battle this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway right where they left off two weeks ago.

The pair will share the front row for Saturday’s Fr8Auctions 200, with Nemechek receiving the Cometic Gasket Pole Award courtesy of the highest metric score among the 40 trucks entered to compete.

Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

Nemechek earned the pole with a perfect metric score of 1.0, factoring in his win from Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, the fastest lap from that event and his top seeding in the point standings after three of 22 races this season.

Busch will start second looking to keep Nemechek from scoring a second straight Truck Series victory, after finishing runner-up to his young hire last time out at Las Vegas.

Toyota Tundras swept the top six starting positions for the Atlanta Truck Series event, with ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton and Halmar-Friesen Racing’s Stewart Friesen sharing the second row and Ben Rhodes and Austin Hill starting fifth and sixth, respectively.

Zane Smith and Sheldon Creed roll from seventh and eighth in a pair of GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverados, with Todd Gilliland and Brett Moffitt filling out the top 10 starters.

Ross Chastain, who finished second in Truck Series points two years ago and is now racing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series, starts last in the 40-truck field in his return to Niece Motorsports.

To view the complete starting lineup and full performance metric breakdown, click here.

Saturday’s Fr8Auctions 200 takes the green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

It’s the first race of an afternoon doubleheader with the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the 1.54-mile quad-oval.

HAMPTON, Ga. – NASCAR Xfinity Series point leader Austin Cindric will start first when the green flag waves over Saturday’s EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Cindric, the driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, received the pole courtesy of the highest metric score among the 40 cars entered to compete.

Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

Cindric earned the pole with a perfect metric score of 1.0, factoring in his win from Phoenix Raceway, the fastest lap from the event and his top seeding in the point standings after five of 33 races this season.

Jeb Burton will join Cindric on the front row courtesy of a tiebreaker over his Kaulig Racing teammate, A.J. Allmendinger. Burton and Allmendinger both had metric scores of 5.55, however Burton’s No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro was higher in car owner points.

Brandon Brown rolls off fourth ahead of Harrison Burton, with Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider and Jeremy Clements filling out the first five rows of the grid.

Martin Truex Jr., making his first Xfinity Series start since the 2010 season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, starts 18th in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra.

JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson, an expected championship contender, will roll off 30th Saturday after suffering an engine failure at Phoenix Raceway last weekend.

To view the complete starting lineup and full performance metric breakdown, click here.

Saturday’s EchoPark 250 takes the green flag at 5 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FS1, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

HAMPTON, Ga. – Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hamlin, who won the event in 2012, received the Busch Pole Award courtesy of the highest metric score among the 39 cars entered to compete.

Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

Hamlin earned the pole with a metric score of 2.0, factoring in his third-place finish at Phoenix Raceway, the fastest lap from that event and his top seeding in the point standings after five of 36 races this season.

Phoenix winner Martin Truex Jr., one of Hamlin’s teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, will join him on the front row, with Team Penske stablemates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski sharing the second row at the 1.54-mile quad-oval.

Chase Elliott completes the top five, followed by Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Ryan Blaney.

Two-time Atlanta winner Kyle Busch rolls off 19th Sunday.

To view the full starting lineup and metric performance breakdown, click here.

Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 goes green at 3 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Statistically, Kasey Kahne just completed the greatest six-race stretch of his career with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

His four top-10 finishes were highlighted by a hard charging 23rd-to-fifth bid at Magnolia and a pole position at The Rev.

The Enumclaw, Wash., native didn’t just fill the seat and turn some laps to collect points; he became a true contender to win on a nightly basis with the World of Outlaws.

By virtue of Kahne’s impressive numbers, his early-season success has the Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb No. 9 in a solid position within the World of Outlaws owner point standings – with a potential championship in mind.

Beginning this weekend at Cotton Bowl Speedway, James McFadden will begin his driving tenure with the team – sitting 82 markers out of the point lead – and Kahne will return to his role as team owner of McFadden’s No. 9 and Brad Sweet’s NAPA Auto Parts No. 49.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Kahne said on his driving duties. “I don’t really remember driving to every race this early in the year before; just running the World of Outlaws tour is pretty cool. I’ve really enjoyed it this last month or so. I’ve been working with the team more and more, and that’s been fun. Racing and running up and down the road, though, I kind of feel like a real World of Outlaws driver at the moment.”

Since established in 2006, the KKR No. 9 has been one of the most potent rides in the sport, and Kahne takes immense pride in that.

McFadden, of Warrnambool, Australia, will become only the third driver in 16 years to pilot the No. 9 on a full-time basis with the World of Outlaws.

Indiana’s Joey Saldana first drove the No. 9 for seven years from 2006-’12 and collected 68 wins before Daryn Pittman took the wheel from 2013-’18, another highly-successful relationship which brought 47 victories and Kasey Kahne Racing’s maiden World of Outlaws championship in 2013.

Now, it’s McFadden’s turn to build that heritage.

“To me, I think the No. 9 car is one of the best sprint cars in the country when we put it on the track,” Kahne noted. “We want it to be in the title hunt and competitive every single night, which is tough with the guys out here. Overall, that’s our biggest goal, though. I’m excited to get James in the car this week.

“We’ve worked to get everything in a good spot these first few weeks of the season.”

For McFadden, a sensational Australian talent, this new full-time opportunity marks his third season at KKR.

He began driving the No. 9 in 2019 and has since racked up 40 starts, one win, 13 top-five finishes, and 22 top-tens with the World of Outlaws.

His lone win came at Lake Ozark Speedway last October, where he’ll return as the defending Jason Johnson Classic champion next weekend on March 27.

For Kahne, this is his chance to continue bonding with the well-established organization he has built at Kasey Kahne Racing. The 18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner believes their team environment is partially responsible for his early-season success behind the wheel.

“I’ve really enjoyed racing this year, but I enjoy a lot of just because of the team that I’m with,” Kahne mentioned. “Working with these guys is why I think I’m having the most fun right now. I won’t be driving anymore, but I’ll still have the same group on both teams and I’ll still be working with everybody and traveling up and down the road.”

Justin Adams will continue as crew chief on McFadden’s No. 9 for the remainder of the year.