I Dig Sports
In golf, round three is "moving day". It's a tournament's watershed, where contenders rise and pretenders are washed away.
You can't win the title on moving day, they say, but you can certainly lose it.
Round three duly proved to be where England and Scotland's Six Nations fortunes diverged dramatically.
With leaders Ireland wobbling to a win in Cardiff, France Dublin-bound and the prospect of Italy and Wales to come - both distinct bonus-point birdie chances - England are in the title mix.
Scotland are not.
It is a big difference decided by margins of a single point and few millimetres.
England have spent much of the past six months on the wrong side of those final quarters and narrow scorelines.
Now, after shocking France at Twickenham a fortnight ago, they have found a happy habit of finding a way to win as the match teeters, nerves strain and muscles stiffen.
There were other similarities to a fortnight ago.
Scotland, like France, moved the ball with dexterity and speed that England aspire to, but seldom achieve.
The visitors dominated the attacking stats. They had more possession and territory. They made 13 trips to the opposition 22m, compared to England's four. They made nine line breaks to two. Nearly 200m more metres with ball in hand. Thirty-five defenders beaten compared to 10.
You could go on. And doubtless some Scotland fans will as they pick over the pieces of another defeat in which their endeavour and good intentions went to waste.
Frenchman Pierre Brousset's refereeing of the breakdown, where England won seven turnovers, and the scrum - where the hosts picked up three penalties - might also be part of the inquest.
Finn Russell's screwy kicking performance, in which three potentially decisive conversion shots slipped by, won't escape unnoticed either.
'Missed opportunities haunt Scotland on rough day'
When the going was good for Scotland, they were clever and relentless in getting to the edges and ripping England to shreds, the only team with any interest in playing rugby.
England kicked and tackled. Their fans sighed and groaned. Scotland could and should have been a dozen points clear, a buffer that might have seen them through. The rapier was doing a job on the bludgeon in that opening 40 and yet the rapier only led by three at the break.
England's defence was a car crash in the first half and a thing of ferocity in the second. It was the one part of their game that was world class as the contest wore on. Scrambling, scragging and shunting Scotland back with their power - this was a victory for defence.
When you've lost four in a row to Scotland you'll take the win in whatever form it comes. Ugly, sure. Flawed, no doubt about it. There's plenty wrong with England's attack and Steve Borthwick's ongoing battle to get the best out of his players, but nothing at all wrong with their belligerence and pride.
Everything almost came good in the end for Scotland with that searing break from Stafford McDowall and that finish out wide from Van der Merwe, but where was the damage done?
In their inability to be completely ruthless, in their difficulty dealing with England's power, in their travails in trying to get Van der Merwe as destructively involved in the second half as he was in the first.
England had no answer to him. They looked terrified when he ran at them, the first defender or two bouncing off him, the third hanging on for dear life in the hope that the cavalry was coming.
Van der Merwe was largely starved of ball in the second half. Scotland tried to go wide, but made poor decisions at times when a pass was on and at other times they were just smashed in the tackle.
Townsend said later that Scotland played better on Saturday than they did in some of the games his team has won against England. That's a stretch, but you could see his point. The memory of all those opportunities they opened up will haunt him.
Scotland had 59% territory and 58% possession. They scored three tries to England's one. They carried for 933m compared to England's 474m. They made nine line breaks to England's two. They beat 35 defenders to England's 10.
Stats, eh? None of them mattered. None of them offered comfort. Had England outclassed them they might find it easier to accept, but that wasn't the case.
The unavoidable sense is that, in part at least, the damage done to Scotland was largely done by their own hand - not punishing England when they had them on the ropes. A very bitter truth on a very rough day.
Russell misses conversion to hand England victory in dramatic final minutes
Watch as Scotland's Finn Russell misses a conversion in the final minute to hand England a 16-15 victory in the Six Nations.
WATCH MORE: Ireland beat spirited Wales to keep Grand Slam hopes alive
Watch highlights on Six Nations Rugby Special on BBC iPlayer.
Available to UK users only.
Ireland hold off resurgent Wales to stay on course for title
Wales: Murray; Rogers, Llewellyn, B Thomas, Mee; Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Smith, Dee, John, Rowlands, Jenkins, Morgan (capt), Reffell, Faletau.
Replacements: E Lloyd, G Thomas, H Thomas, Teddy Williams, Wainwright, R Williams, J Evans, Roberts.
Ireland: Osborne; Hansen, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; S Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan (capt), Clarkson, J McCarthy, Beirne, O'Mahony, Van der Flier, Conan.
Replacements: G McCarthy, Boyle, Bealham, Ryan, Baird, Murray, Crowley, Aki.
Red-card: Ringrose 34
Referee: Christophe Ridley (Eng)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Geo) & Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)
Television Match Official: Ian Tempest (Eng)
Foul Play Review Officer: Matteo Liperini (Ita)
England regain Calcutta Cup after Scotland miss last-gasp kick
The excellent Van der Merwe, whose surging runs and six tries have defined Scotland's supremacy in the fixture in recent years, gave England an unwelcome reminder of his talents inside five minutes.
After Ollie Sleightholme had kicked away possession to Blair Kinghorn, the powerhouse wing scorched outside Ollie Lawrence, drawing the England cover. Quick hands then released Tom Jordan down the line and the Bristol-bound centre slung a superb inside pass to put White in.
White celebrated the opening try long and loud in front of a silenced north stand, but the home team found a swift response.
They went straight down the other end and a spell of pressure and repeated short-range thrusts ended with wing Tommy Freeman plunging over the line, with the officials confident of a grounding that looked uncertain on television replays.
It was, however, a rare foray into Scotland territory.
The visitors headed to the tunnel having entered the opposition 22m eight times, with England only managing to get into the danger zone twice.
The pilfering of back-row twins Tom and Ben Curry and England's scrum supremacy, combined with some Scottish inaccuracy, kept the scoreline from having a similarly lop-sided look.
Jones added a try before the break, giving Scotland a 10-7 lead, as Kinghorn and Van der Merwe combined once more, finding angles, offloads and open field out wide.
Having been penned back for the majority of the match, England sprung forward thrillingly on the final play of the half as Lawrence rampaged through midfield and fed Marcus Smith.
With Freeman free on his inside, Smith couldn't find a pass and was snared by a covering Van der Merwe. On the next phase, Lawrence's ambitious offload landed over the advertising hoardings rather than in Sleightholme's hands.
How To Watch Trans Am Racing On SPEED SPORT 1 This Weekend
Mooresville, N.C. The 2025 Trans Am Presented by Pirelli racing series kicks off this weekend from historic Sebring (Fla.) Intl Raceway with live coverage beginning Saturday at Noon ET on SPEED SPORT 1.
Mike Skeen will lead the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series field to green in the No. 48 CUBE 3/Franklin Road/SLR-M1 Chevrolet Camaro. Skeen laid down a lap time of 2:04.196, breaking the track record set by Connor Zilisch in 2024 (2:05.062).
Sundays action features the TA series and GT class racing live on SPEED SPORT 1 beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Announced in Spring 2023, SPEED SPORT 1 is now available on nearly any connected device from mobile to smart tv, even game consoles and blue ray players. Importantly, the live racing network is distributed on mainstream platforms like Amazon Prime Video, PlutoTV, SlingTV, Fubo and more.
SPEED SPORT 1 is a FAST channel (no pun intended). F.A.S.T. is an acronym for Free, Ad-supported Streaming Television. FAST channels work much like a traditional cable channel, but are delivered over the internet to smart TVs, mobile devices, game consoles and other connected devices. F.A.S.T. is becoming the tv viewing preference for both cord cutters and cord nevers garnering nearly two-thirds of the U.S. television audience.
In addition to Trans Am, SPEED SPORT 1 recently announced other major domestic series additions to its lineup including IHRA, ULTD Off Road, F-1 Powerboats, National Rock Racing Series and more. SPEED SPORT 1 also broadcast live and on-demand action from Americas With a focus on presenting the very best live and fresh domestic racing from short track to road course, drag strip to the open desert, SPEED SPORT 1 is the festinate of choice for race fans everywhere.
Its easy to access SPEED SPORT 1.
On your Smart TV or connected TV download or open Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV, SlingTV, Fubo or any of the other apps listed here, then browse the channel guide for SPEED SPORT 1.
One your mobile device download the Amazon Prime or Pluto TV mobile app, or simply visit SPEEDSPORT1.com from your mobile browser.
Other devices (such as gaming consoles) browse your TV app options to access one of our platforms, download the app and enjoy!
For more information, visit SPEEDSPORT1.com!
Blaney Edges Cindric For Atlanta Cup Series Pole
Ryan Blaney got the better of Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric by .002 seconds to score the pole for Sundays NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
It was Blaneys 11th career pole position and his first of the season.
Blaney led a Ford-heavy final round, which featured nine in total out of the 10 spots available in the chase for pole position.
Thats a really cool effort by the whole 12 boys, Blaney said. The BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford Mustang was really good. It drove great. I think we got the 2 by like two one thousandths of a second, so that was close. I think it just shows the speed in all of our cars the Penske cars, the 21 is fast as well and also big props to everybody back home and everybody who is here Roush Yates Engines.
Hopefully, it carries over into tomorrow. Hopefully, they drive well, so it seems to be like we have a pretty decent handle on this place, but you still never know going into the race. Its a cool day today and looking forward to hopefully keeping all four of us up there tomorrow.
Behind the Team Penske front row was Josh Berry and the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford, who shares a technical alliance with Penske.
Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano starts fourth while Front Row Motorsports Todd Gilliland completed the top five.
The lone non-Ford in the top 10 was Richard Childress Racings Kyle Busch, who starts sixth. FRM had all three cars in the top 10 with Zane Smith (seventh) and Noah Gragson (10th).
RFK Racing drivers Chris Buescher (eighth) and Brad Keselowski (ninth) completed the top 10.
Bubba Wallace was the fastest Toyota driver in 14th for 23XI Racing. Teammate Tyler Reddick (18th) was the only other Toyota inside the top 20.
Daytona 500 winner William Byron starts 16th aboard the famed No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Cindric Earns High Praise From Hamlin For Superspeedway Skill Set
Its not often compliments are handed out between fellow NASCAR Cup Series drivers.
With high-stakes competition and an often-selfish mindset to win races for themselves and their team, those kind words are few and far between.
However, Austin Cindric received high praise from one of NASCARs top drivers Denny Hamlin.
On Hamlins podcast, Actions Detrimental, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spoke about Cindrics precise moves on drafting tracks, including last weeks Daytona 500.
Lets speak realistically, Hamlin began. Is this probably one of Cindrics best chances to win this year? Yeah. But do you see him making erratic, crazy blocks? No.
I think thats why, I said on this podcast last week if I didnt win, who would I think was gonna win? Austin Cindric. You can see that he is on another level mentally. But, Austin Cindric is just a guy I felt very confident in racing for the win against.
Not that I was going to get the best of him, but it was like, Oh Im gonna have a fair race here.
He knows what hes doing, I know what Im doing, this is going to be a good show.
Hamlin and Cindric were racing head-to-head for the lead on the final lap of the Great American Race at Daytona (Fla.) Intl Speedway until a crash triggered by Cole Custer ended both drivers chances of winning.
When asked about Hamlins compliment on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Cindric described it as special.
For me, it is a very high compliment, Cindric said. It is not often times you get to earn the respect but also hear the level of respect your competitors have for you. As superspeedway racing goes, Denny has been one of the best for the last couple of decades.
For him to have a high opinion like that is pretty cool. I think that is what made the end of the race significant and special to me.
The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford finished eighth last week as he heads to Atlanta eying his third career victory.
With such high praise from a three-time Daytona 500 winner such as Hamlin, what makes Cindric so good on superspeedway race tracks?
He claims its a mixture of a stout race car and preparation.
I think I could plead the Fifth and just just say that I have a fast race car every time; because I do, Cindric said. I feel confident that we can contend for the pole today and contend for the win tomorrow. But I think they are all different. I think if you expect yourself to contend every time we go to a drafting track, I feel like you have to prepare.
The process I have refined for myself over the years is very solid. I dont know if it is the best or not, hard to say, but I put a lot of work in. Usually those are the types of tracks that require that type of work.
Cindric qualified second on Saturday as teammate Ryan Blaney notched the pole for Sundays Ambetter Health 400.
Busch Thrills In Atlanta Truck Series Photo-Finish
HAMPTON, Ga. With seven previous NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Atlanta Motor Speedway trophies already on his mantle, Kyle Busch was obviously the odds-on favorite for Saturdays Fr8 Racing 208. And the veteran absolutely did not disappoint.
Pulling ahead of Stewart Friesen about 20 yards from the finish line, Buschs No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet held on for a slight .017-second win as the two passed side-by-side under the checkered flag. It was Buschs record eighth series victory at the track. He led a race high 80 of the 135 laps but, definitely earned his hardware this weekend with a half dozen trucks going door-to-door with the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion in the closing 20 laps.
Awesome run for this Spire Chevrolet and everybody at [sponsor] Gainbridge, Busch said, thanking the fans in the grandstands for coming out in the cloudy 50-degree Atlanta weather.
Just trying to make sure I stayed as far forward as I possibly could, Busch said of how he held off the field in the closing laps Those guys would cycle to me and get to the next one in front, next one in front of me and I just made sure to keep battling back and got back to the front so I could control it the best I could. That inside [lane] was good, they were rolling forward so it made for a heck of a race.
Im proud we had a heck of a race there to the finish and it wasnt single file. There was some mixing it up for these fans out here to see a cool show.
As elated as Busch was in claiming his record 67th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win and record 232nd national series win Friesen could only muster a slight smile conceding he gave it his best in the thrilling finish.
Just proud of my race team here, the Canadian owner-driver of the No. 52 Halmer-Friesen Toyota said. We had a shot. This is my favorite truck and well keep digging with it. We had a shot and I guess I got too far off my help there coming off the back on my last lap. I thought I could pack some more air on him coming out of three and surge ahead, but just had the surge at the wrong time and he came back.
With Busch and Friesen ultimately the pair fighting for the checkered flag, Tyler Ankrum and Bailey Curry crossed the finish line side-by-side just behind, a mere .001-second separating the two. Georgia native Chandler Smith finished fifth. All of these drivers giving Busch a challenge in those last laps.
Kaden Honeycutt, two-time series champion Ben Rhodes, reigning series champion Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-10 in a race that saw 19 lead changes among 11 drivers and only a pair of caution flags beyond the scheduled stage breaks.
Of note, championship favorite Corey Heim ran out of gas running third a single lap before the Stage 2 break and was never able to make up the three laps he lost to that, finishing 23rd. It was also a rough ending for 25-year old rookie Connor Mosack, who earned his first series pole position and led 30 laps, but was involved in a late race incident and finished 25th.
Jack Wood won the opening stage and Busch claimed the second stage win. Giovanni Ruggiero was the top finishing rookie in 11th place. Tanner Gray earned an additional championship point for claiming the Fastest Lap Bonus.
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins honored Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange during an emotional ceremony before Saturday's game against Washington.
Lange, who died Wednesday at 76, called Penguin games for 46 years and spent five decades in broadcasting before retiring in 2021.
The Penguins invited Lange's two sons, their families, and some of Lange's former broadcasting partners onto the ice before the opening faceoff. Longtime Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby along with Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang greeted them and then stood alongside them during a lengthy video package that featured some of Lange's iconic sayings, from "It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh" to "He beat him like a rented mule."
Fans finished the ceremony by giving Lange a long, loud standing ovation while one of his sons flashed a sign that read "Thank you Pittsburgh."
The team placed a large picture of Lange next to a table filled with a vase of yellow roses and a set of headphones along the lower concourse at PPG Paints Arena. There was another gathering of flowers and another set of headphones inside one of the radio booths on the media level, which was named after Lange in 2019.
The Penguins sported stickers on the back of their black helmets with a microphone and headphones set against a gold background.
Lange spent nearly five decades chronicling the franchise's rise from also-ran to Stanley Cup champion five times over, his unique delivery and quirky sayings serving as the soundtrack for iconic moments from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and longtime running mate Jaromir Jagr, as well as current stars Crosby and Malkin.
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lange in 2001 when he received the Foster Hewitt Award for broadcast excellence.
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