Daily Express - 23.08.2019

RUGBY: WORLD CUP WARM-UPS^ Daily Express Friday, August 23, 2019^65

DX1ST

By Alex Spink

UEFA Europa League

Play-Off Round First Leg

CELTIC (0) ............. 2 AIK (0) ................. 0

Forrest 48

Edouard 73

LINFIELD (2) .......... 3 KARABAKH (1) ..... 2

Stafford 40 Rherras 15

Lavery 45, 75 Gueye 90 (pen)

TORINO (0) ............ 2 WOLVES (1) .......... 3

De Silvestri 62 Izzo 43 (og)

Belotti 90 (pen) Jota 60

Jimenez 72

L WARSAW (0) ....... 0 RANGERS (0) ........ 0

Other Results: FK Suduva 0

Ferencvaros 0, Ararat Armenia 2 F91

Dudelange 1, Ludogorets 0 Maribor

0, Slovan Bratislava 1 PAOK 0,

Astana 3 BATE 0, FCSB 0

Guimaraes 0, PSV 3 Apollon

Limassol 0, AEK Athens 1

Trabzonspor 3, Feyenoord 3 Hapoel

Beer Sheva 0, Gent 2 Rijeka 1,

Espanyol 3 Zorya 1, Partizan

Belgrade 2 Molde 1, Braga 1

Spartak Moscow 0, Malmo FF 3

Bnei Yehuda 0, Strasbourg 1

Eintracht Frankfurt 0, AZ 1 Antwerp

1, FC Copenhagen 3 Riga FC 1.

CRICKET

SECOND TEST MATCH—Sri Lanka

v New Zealand (Colombo, day 1

close): Sri Lanka. 85-2 (36.3

overs).

T20 BLAST - SOUTH GROUP—Mid-

dlesex v Hampshire (Lord’s): Mid-

dlesex 128. Hampshire 131-3

(14.5 overs; J M Vince 69). Hamp-

shire (2pts) beat Middlesex by 7

wickets.

Essex v Sussex (Hove): Essex

168-5 (20.0 overs; D W Lawrence

59no). Sussex 159-9 (20.0 overs;

D Wiese 66; Mohammad Amir

4-29). Essex (2pts) beat Sussex by

9 runs.

BADMINTON

WORLD CH’SHIPS (Switzerland)—

Men’s Doubles: (4) M Ahsan & H

Setiawan (Ina) bt A Dunn & A Hall

(Sco) 21-19 21-16. Mixed Doubles:

(3) Y Watanabe & A Higashino (Jpn)

bt (11) C Adcock & G Adcock (Eng)

21-13 21-11; (9) T-C Man & T Ying

Suet (Hkg) bt (8) M Ellis & L Smith

(Eng) 21-14 21-14.

GOLF

SCANDINAVIAN INVITATION

(Gothenburg, Sweden)—First rnd

(Gbr & Irl unless stated): 62 W

Ormsby (Aus), 63 J Lagergren

(Swe), A Levy (Fra), 64 M

Fitzpatrick, 65 M Southgate, E Van

Rooyen (Rsa), 66 S Kim (Kor), D

Burmester (Rsa), G Green (Mal), J

Catlin (USA), J Morrison, 67 K

Samooja (Fin), A Bjork (Swe), N

Colsaerts (Bel), A Wu (Chn), A

Saddier (Fra), Hyo-won Park (Kor),

D Nyfjall (a) (Swe), S Soderberg

(Swe), C Bezuidenhout (Rsa), A

Connelly (Can), M Kawamura (Jpn),

B Hebert (Fra), M Woo Lee (Aus).

RALLYING

FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

(ADAC Rallye Deutschland,

Bostalsee, Saarland)—Special

Stage 1: 1 O Tanak (Est) Toyota

2m 39.4s, 2 D Sordo (Spa)

Hyundai 2:40.2, 3 S Ogier (Fra)

Citroen 2:40.3, 4 T Neuville (Bel)

Hyundai 2:40.4, 5 K Meeke (Gbr)

Toyota 2:40.8, 6 J-M Latvala (Fin)

Toyota 2:41.0, 7 T Suninen (Fin)

Ford 2:41.3, 8 E Lappi (Fin)

Citroen 2:41.3, 9 A Mikkelsen

(Nor) Hyundai 2:41.9, 10 G

Greensmith (Gbr) Ford 2:42.4.

SPEEDWAY

Premiership: Ipswich 54

Peterborough 36, King’s Lynn 55

Belle Vue 35, Swindon 53 Poole

37.

TENNIS

US Open Q’fying (Flushing

Meadows, New York)—2nd rd,

Men: M Trungelliti (Argentina) bt J

Ward (GB) 6-4 6-3. Women: H Dart

(GB) bt H Baptiste (US) 7-5 6-4.

TODAY’S DIARY

Premier League

Aston Villa v Everton (8pm)......................

(Live on Sky Sports Premier League)

Ladbrokes Scottish

Championship

Morton v Partick (7.05) ...........................

(Live on BBC Scotland)

CRICKET

Third Ashes Test—day 2 of 5:

England v Australia (Emerald Head-

ingley, 11am).

First Test—day 2 of 5: West

Indies v India (North Sound,

2.30pm).

Second Test—day 2 of 5: Sri

Lanka v New Zealand (Colombo,

5.30am).

t20 Blast - North Group:

Derbyshire v Northamptonshire

(Derby, 7pm). Durham v Yorkshire

(Emirates Riverside, 6.30pm).

Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire

(Grace Road, 6.30pm).

Warwickshire v Worcestershire

(Edgbaston, 7pm).

South Group: Gloucestershire v

Somerset (Bristol, 6.30pm). Kent

v Surrey (Canterbury, 7pm).

RUGBY LEAGUE

Betfred League 1 (7pm): London

Skolars v Hunslet.

SPORT IN BRIEF

well as being a double World Cup

winner, the All Black boasts a

professional record of 7-0 as a

heavyweight boxer.

Haskell will compete in the same

division as current champion Ryan

Bader, challenger Cheick Kongo,

MMA veteran Josh Barnett and

Fedor Emelianenko.

Bellator is considered the

second biggest MMA promotion in

the world behind the UFC and is

also home to former Geordie Shore

star Aaron Chalmers.

sitting ringside. Hopefully I don’t

get any of his blood on me.”

Haskell has trained with British

MMA fighter Michael ‘Venom’ Page

and worked as a television pundit

covering the sport.

He turned to MMA to help him

build strength and endurance as

well as “manipulate and move

people on the rugby pitch”.

There is speculation that moves

are afoot to get Haskell and New

Zealand rugby star Sonny Bill

Williams in the cage together. As

his octagon debut expected next

year.

England coach Jones said:

“Good luck to him, we’re really

pleased he’s doing well.

“He’s been a great England

player so it’s good to find that he’s

got a new career ahead of him.

“I don’t know whether he will be

any good or not but I’m definitely

buying tickets to his first fight,

I’ve already got an order in. I’ll be

By Alex Spink

FIGHTING

CHANCE:

Haskell in

MMA garb

EDDIE JONES vowed to be ringside

after former England rugby star

James Haskell announced he will

have a crack

at cage

fighting.

Haskell, 34,

quit rugby in May due to a foot

injury and has decided to give

mixed martial arts a go instead.

He incorporated the discipline

into his rugby training during a

77-cap career and has signed a

deal to fight in Bellator MMA, with

JONES BACKS HASKELL’S CAREER SWITCH

challenge going forward, being adaptable,

looking at what is happening in the game

and where we can take it.”

Told he had been labelled a kamikaze

kid, Underhill joked that he resented

being put in the same category as Curry

because “he is a nutter who has injured

far more people in training than I have”.

But he then agreed that a “healthy

disregard for your own wellbeing is pretty

essential if you are playing rugby in

general, so I will take that as a

compliment”.

Curry, 21, made a huge impact in his

first full season of Test rugby, not least

when cracking his head open crashing

into France star Damian Penaud during

the Six Nations.

“I don’t know why Sam is throwing me

under the bus,” he fired back.

“I’m probably the more

noisy one but we’re both

branded as pretty weird!”

Ireland have made 12

personnel changes and one

positional switch from the

side who beat Italy, with

Leinster’s Ross Byrne

set to make his

full debut at

fly-half.

15 Elliot Daly

14 Joe Cokanasiga

13 Manu Tuilagi

12 Owen Farrell (capt)

11 Jonny May

10 George Ford

9 Ben Youngs

1 Joe Marler

2 Jamie George

3 Kyle Sinckler

4 Maro Itoje

5 George Kruis

6 Tom Curry

7 Sam Underhill

8 Billy Vunipola

Replacements: Cowan-

Dickie, M Vunipola, Cole,

Lawes, Wilson, Heinz,

Francis, Joseph

HOW THEY LINE UP

England tackle

Irish with Curry

and Underhill

ADDED SPICE: Curry will

look to make gains

at the breakdown

Picture: LYNN CAMERON

EDDIE’S UNLEASHING

HIS ‘KAMIKAZE KIDS’

ENGLAND have pinned their hopes on
the “kamikaze kids” providing the
missing piece in their World Cup jigsaw.
Coach Eddie Jones responded to
England’s loss to Wales last Saturday
by deciding to unleash openside duo
Sam Underhill and Tom Curry on Ireland
at Twickenham tomorrow.
“They are like the kamikaze kids those
two,” he said. “They hit everything that
moves!
“Playing two guys who are pretty good
at the breakdown might give us an
advantage in that area.”
The pair were selected to start against
the Welsh at Twickenham a fortnight ago
only for Underhill to pull out with injury.
He was told of his selection for
tomorrow as he finished off a 1,000-piece
jigsaw detailing great British figures in
history.
Curry, meanwhile, was still trying to get
over the embarrassment of sleepwalking
into a TV set this week.
Both have been passed fit to get stuck
into the Irish with Jones believing a
change in the way referees have
interpreted the breakdown this summer
will play into their hands.
“There is a lot more contest in the
breakdown,” said the Australian, who
has also picked playmakers Owen Farrell
and George Ford together for the first
time in 14 months.
“The tackler is being allowed to
stay in the tackle which
means the ability to poach
has increased. I think that
this is potentially an
option for us because
Curry is definitely big
enough to play six.”
Asked to
explain his shift
in strategy for
the game,
Jones said:
“Sometimes
the
opposition
team doesn’t
allow you to
put the batter on
the fish, so you’ve
got to play a
different way.
“You’ve got to
fry or grill the
fish, find a
different way of
doing it.
“That’s all
part of the

PERFECT FIT:

Underhill has

recovered

from injury

to start

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