England dominates US in lightning-delayed rugby match
England's first game in the U.S. in 24 years was delayed for an hour by lightning in the area, and for another 40 minutes during the first half.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The coach who develops Gloucester's future stars
When lock Arthur Clark made his international debut by starting for England on Saturday in their comprehensive win over the USA, it was a moment of personal pride. But it was also a huge success for his club Gloucester. The 23-year-old has come through the junior ranks at Hartpury College and the Cherry and Whites' academy to now having 40 games under his belt. Next season, he will be one of 14 former academy graduates in the 40-player Gloucester senior squad. Wayne Thompson is the man tasked with finding the next Clark, or Jonny May, or Lewis Ludlow, Louis Rees-Zammit or Freddie Thomas - players who have all come through the club's academy to establish themselves in the first team. A former prop, who played down the M5 motorway at Bristol for 13 years, Thompson was appointed in May 2024 when the club's academy was revamped and expanded. "The academy is one of the key strategies for the club as a whole," Thompson told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. "My remit has been to help bring players through, identify players and ensure the next generation of Gloucester talent, a streamline of players coming through." Gloucester have spent 'wisely' - Skivington The importance of Gloucester's academy has only grown in recent years as the club aims to cut its cloth and become more financially sustainable. Owner Martin St Quinton has said Gloucester's ambition is to financially break even and, as such, their reliance on developing young talent has only increased. Thompson's role as head of academy has, in many ways, never been more important. Even more so in light of wholesale changes made to its structure last summer. As part of the Professional Game Partnership agreed between the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and Rugby Players' Association announced in September, the geographical boundaries for the 10 Premiership clubs' academies were re-drawn. With Worcester and Wasps both no longer in the top flight, the boundaries of Gloucester's patch has spread and now includes Birmingham, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and as far as Shropshire and Oxford, as well as Gloucestershire. The setup for academies across the league has also altered and must encompass three phases - a foundation phase for age 15-16; a development phase for 17-18; and a confirmation phase, otherwise known as the senior academy, for those up to the age of 23. "The key thing for us as a club is having an affinity with the whole catchment now," Thompson said. "You've got a natural affinity with the local area in and around Gloucester but how do we create that cultural connection with those Midland areas, Oxford, Henley? "The more we engage with the community and the academy, through stakeholders - schools, clubs, parents, you'll start to see that grow." 'Starting to see the fruition of work' After hanging up his playing boots in 2013, Thompson spent 10 years working at Hartpury University as the junior academy manager, leading their under-18s programme Rees-Zammit, former scrum-half Stephen Varney and current Gloucester winger Josh Hathaway have all prospered under Thompson's watch during that time. "I'd always had an affiliation with Gloucester, stepping across probably has helped those links with players, and giving them playing opportunity through that Hartpury pathway," Thompson said. "We're starting to see the fruition of that with the players stepping across and up into this Gloucester senior squad and developing in the academy." Of the most recent crop of academy players, in the past year 12 have represented England at under-18, under-19 and under-20 age grades - most notably centre Will Knight, who featured in the recent World Rugby Under-20 Championship, while Caio James and Deian Gwynne represented Wales. This summer, 10 players have moved up from Gloucester's under-18s team to the senior academy - six of whom have come from the new catchment area. Yet Thompson says the real test will be how many players they have named in the England Under-20 Elite Player Pathway squad for 2025-26 when it is announced next month. "It'll be interesting to see how many of the lads that have played in that under-19s, under-18s age group this year get pulled through," Thompson said. "That for me is probably going to be the initial marker for us as an academy as to how far we've come in this last year and how much of an impact this bigger area and the work we've put in has shown through." Director of rugby George Skivington said in May that the talent coming through Gloucester this coming season is as good, if not better, than it ever has been. Thompson agreed he is "extremely excited" by the prospect of the players in the building although the challenge is to ensure they continue to progress forward. "The athletic potential of these lads, it's a different size, shape of your stereotypical Gloucester lads coming through," Thompson said. "How do we make sure that transition in the next two or three years isn't lost? And that we are seeing these lads forming the majority of the Gloucester team in four, five years."
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
NHL Summer Splash Rankings: No. 25, Tampa Bay Lightning
The Hockey News' NHL summer splash rankings are in full swing, with the Tampa Bay Lightning coming in 25th place. We're focusing on each NHL team's off-season, weighing in on the teams that improved, stayed the same and got worse this off-season. We'll be breaking down all additions and departures, including hirings and firings. This isn't about who had the best or worst off-season, although there are some exceptions if a team did more or less than expected to support their core. You can see the teams that finished beneath the Lightning at the bottom. Now, let's focus on the state of the Bolts. Additions Pontus Holmberg (LW), Boris Katchouk (LW), Sam O'Reilly (C) The Breakdown: The Lightning made their big moves during the season, re-acquiring veteran center Yanni Gourde as well as right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Seattle Kraken for their playoff run this past spring. Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois signed Gourde to a six-year contract extension with an average annual value of $2.33 million – terrific value for a proven winner. In terms of NHL-level players added this summer, the Bolts only brought on former Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Holmberg. The 26-year-old Swede was mostly a bottom-six forward for the Maple Leafs last year, posting modest career highs in assists (12) and points (19) in 68 regular-season games. Holmberg was a non-factor in the playoffs, generating just a single assist in 12 games. He'll again be a third- or fourth-liner for Tampa Bay. Katchouk, 27, was one of the Lightning's additions signed to a two-way deal. He gets mentioned here because he's played 176 career NHL games, but he spent all of this past season in the AHL, and his career high in the NHL is 16 points in 58 games in 2022-23. O'Reilly, 19, is a prospect center acquired in the Isaac Howard trade with the Edmonton Oilers. He's a smart player who could make the bottom six in the future, but he's not expected to graduate to the NHL in 2025-26. Departures Nick Perbix (D), Cam Atkinson (RW), Luke Glendening (C), Isaac Howard (RW) The Breakdown: BriseBois spent most of his cap space to keep his team largely intact, but the Lightning did lose some experience on the free-agent market. Veteran defenseman Perbix signed with the Nashville Predators. He was a third-pair blueliner for Tampa Bay, averaging only 14:41 of ice time in 74 games. But he got a significant raise from the Preds, going from $1.125 million this past season to $2.75 million on a two-year deal. That was too rich for BriseBois to accommodate, so the Lightning's defense corps won't be quite as deep next season. Right winger Atkinson was mainly a fringe player this past year, with only four goals and nine points in 39 games. He was a frequent healthy scratch and was assigned to the AHL at times. Veteran center Glendening also appears to be moving on. The 36-year-old was a fourth-liner for Tampa Bay, averaging only 10:47 per game in 77 games. Neither Atkinson nor Glendening is irreplaceable, but their departure does affect the Lightning's overall depth up front. Ultimately, while things could've gone worse in the off-season for Brisebois and the Bolts, they did a decent-enough job keeping together a group that Lightning brass obviously still believes in. And the departures they did have aren't going to hurt their bottom line. Speaking of bottom lines… The Bottom Line The Lightning were ousted in the first round of last year's Stanley Cup playoffs by the back-to-back defending Cup-champion Florida Panthers. But there's still plenty to like about Tampa Bay – whether it's superstar sniper Nikita Kucherov, elite forwards Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, accomplished defensemen in Victor Hedman, Erik Cernak and Ryan McDonagh, or superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. You can't credibly argue that's not an impressive group. Keeping Gourde was a priority for BriseBois to ensure there's proven talent in the bottom six. Signing Hedman to a contract extension last July that kicks in this upcoming season was huge, and not having to trade core talent for cap space is a plus as well. Did Tampa Bay get better this summer? No. Did they stay the same? For the most part, yes – although there is, in our estimation, enough evidence to argue they got marginally worse for this upcoming season than their playoff roster in the grand scheme of things. Because of those reasons and the tight margin between the clubs that stayed largely the same, they're in the bottom quarter of the NHL summer splash rankings. We fully expect the Lightning to be a playoff team in the 2025-26 campaign. That said, we're also not sure Tampa Bay will be able to get out of the first round in next spring's playoffs. BriseBois has never been afraid to make big moves in-season, so that may be in the cards for the Bolts next year. Summer Splash Rankings 25. Tampa Bay Lightning 26. Toronto Maple Leafs 27. Dallas Stars 28. Calgary Flames 29. Los Angeles Kings 30. Winnipeg Jets 31. Chicago Blackhawks 32. Buffalo Sabres
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Forbes
UFC 321 Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane Opening Betting Odds
Tom Aspinall becomes heavyweight champion after beating Curtis Blaydes during the Heavyweight bout ... More at the Co-op Live Arena, Manchester. Picture date: Sunday July 28, 2024. (Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images) UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall gets his first official title defense on October 25 when he faces former interim champ Ciryl Gane in the main event of the UFC 321 pay-per-view fight card from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. We look at the opening betting odds for Aspinall vs. Gane UFC 321 Fight Card Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane Opening Betting Odds And Line Movement Not long after UFC CEO Dana White announced the UFC 321 main event, BetOnline came out with betting lines for the fight. Aspinall opened as the -350 betting favorite over Gane, who opened as the +285 betting underdog. Less than 24 hours since White announced the matchup, Aspinall has moved to -400, while Gane is now +300. UFC 321 Fight Card Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 27: Tom Aspinall of England reacts after his knockout victory against ... More Curtis Blaydes in the interim UFC heavyweight championship bout during the UFC 304 event at Co-op Live on July 27, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Tom Aspinall (15-3) had a 7-2 professional MMA record when the UFC inked him to a deal in 2020. Aspinall made his promotional debut in July 2020 with a 45-second knockout win over Jake Collier. The win earned the then 27-year-old his first 'Performance of the Night' bonus. A knockout win over Alan Baudot followed in October of that year. Aspinall made it three stoppages in a row in February 2021 when he tapped Andrei Arlovski in the second round of their matchup, a card that was headlined by Curtis Blaydes losing to Derrick Lewis by second-round KO. Aspinall's win over Arlovski broke him into the rankings at No. 13. First-round stoppage wins over Serghei Spivac (TKO) and Alexander Volkov (submission) followed the Arlovski triumph. The Blaydes matchup was next on Aspinall's schedule. The injury he suffered in that contest kept him out of action until July 2023 when he stepped into the Octagon to face Marcin Tybura. Aspinall showed no hesitation or ill effects from his knee injury, as he dispatched Tybura in 73 seconds, winning the fight by TKO. Then, with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones injured and out of his scheduled UFC 295 matchup against Stipe Miocic, the UFC tapped Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich to face off for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295. Aspinall won the bout, and the title, with a 69-second knockout. Aspinall defended the interim crown once, defeating Curtis Blaydes via knockout at the 1:00 mark of Round 1 of their UFC 304 matchup. Now 32, Aspinall has seven first-round stoppage wins and one second-round stoppage victory under the UFC banner. He has never gone past 1:09 of the second round in UFC action. Aspinall has earned seven 'Performance of the Night' bonuses during his UFC run. The only win he has where he failed to pick up a post-fight bonus was his win over Baudot in 2020. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 07: Ciryl Gane of France looks on before a heavyweight bout against ... More Alexander Volkov of Russia during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Ciryl Gane (13-2) is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC heavyweight rankings. The 35-year-old French competitor has only lost in UFC title fights, falling to Francis Ngannou by decision in 2022 for the undisputed title, and losing to Jon Jones via submission in 2023 for the vacant belt. Gane did capture the interim heavyweight belt in 2021 with a knockout of Derrick Lewis. Gane debuted with the UFC in 2019 following a Muay Thai career. He was 3-0 in MMA when he first fought inside the Octagon. Gane went 7-0 to begin his UFC career. His first loss came in a title unification bout against Ngannou. Gane enters UFC 321 on a two-fight winning streak. He defeated Serghei Spivac by TKO in September 2023. In his most recent trip to the Octagon, Gane bested Alexander Volkov via decision at UFC 310. Tom Aspinall Named UFC Heavyweight Champ LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 08: UFC CEO Dana White holds a press conference after the UFC 313 event at ... More T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) In June, then-UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones retired. The UFC named Aspinall the undisputed champion at that time. "Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC," White said during the post-fight press conference following the UFC Baku fight card. "I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and money, but we'll make it up to him," White added. "Tom Aspinall is a good guy. He's been incredible through this whole process that we've gone through. He's been willing to do anything – fight him anywhere at any time and do this. Now he's like, 'I'll fight anybody. Tell me who and I'll fight him.' Aspinall has been great. He's going to be a great heavyweight champion for us and I'm excited to work with him." "International Fight Week starts Monday in Las Vegas," White continued. 'Tom will be in Vegas all week with us, so we'll get together with him and figure out what's next.' Tom Aspinall Was The Longest Serving UFC Interim Champion LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 13: UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall attends the UFC 300 ... More event at T-Mobile Arena on April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Aspinall won the interim UFC heavyweight crown in November 2023 with a knockout victory over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. Aspinall took that fight on short notice when the original main event for that card, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for Jones's heavyweight title was scrapped following an injury to Jones. Despite Aspinall winning the interim crown, UFC CEO Dana White remained steadfast in saying that Jones vs. Miocic was the fight to make. That fight did not take place until November 2024. Jones held on to his belt that night, beating Miocic by TKO in the third round. By that time, Aspinall had already defended his interim crown, scoring a first-round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024. Aspinall, who has not fought since he defeated Blaydes, had been waiting for the title unification bout with Jones since Jones's win over Miocic in November. In late April, Aspinall became the longest-serving UFC interim champion, topping the 535-day reign of Renan Barao, who defended his interim title twice before being named undisputed champion. UFC 321 Official Fights Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane: For Aspinall's UFC heavyweight title Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida: Heavyweight Aleksander Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov: Light Heavyweight Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Chris Barnett: Heavyweight Ikram Aliskerov vs. Junyong Park: Middleweight Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo We will have more on UFC 321, including opening betting odds for the co-main event when that fight is made official.
