Latest news with #TierOne
Hamilton Spectator
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
North Peace Minor Baseball team take ‘A' U-15 provincial title
MANNVILLE, AB. — A Fort St. John-based squad is on top of the baseball landscape after capturing the provincial championship title. The U-15 North Peace Minor Baseball's Black Sox took the U-15 Tier One Class 'A' championship this weekend, which took place in Mannville, Alberta. The fourth-seeded Black Sox qualified for the tournament by virtue of their winning the Montney League Baseball's U-15 'A' Division championship, which took place in Fort St. John back in June . Facing teams from Irma, Ponoka, Rimbey and Thorsby as well as hosts Mannville, the Black Sox opened it up on July 18th with a 7-2 loss to first-seeded Thorsby Bandits. It would be the only game the Black Sox would lose, as they rebounded with a win over the sixth-seeded Rimbey Rays by a score of 17-7 on Saturday, July 19th. On July 20th, the Black Sox advanced to the championship finals after defeating the host Mannville Mammoths in an 11-10 thriller in the semi-final. In the finals, the Black Sox faced the third-seeded Ponoka Bulls who had outscored their previous two opponents by a score of 23-14. However, the Bulls' dominance came to a halt, as the Black Sox prevailed by a score of 11-9. The provincial U-15 Tier One Class 'A' championship tournament took place in Mannville, Alberta from Friday, July 18th to Sunday, July 20th. reached out to the team's coaches for comment but did not hear back by publication time. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Mikel Arteta wants deeper Arsenal squad and end of ‘tier' system: ‘Now I'll change it'
Arsenal fans may have previously heard Mikel Arteta referring to players as being in 'Tier One'. Last season, he hypothesised about the difficulty of accommodating 'five full-backs that all feel that they are tier one'. This summer, Arsenal have internally described both Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke as 'Tier One' signings. Advertisement Speaking to reporters during Arsenal's tour of Singapore, Arteta confirmed: ''Tier One' means that they have the capacity to be starters basically.' Previously, Arsenal categorised their squad in terms of tiers — Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three – but Arteta suggested that system may be evolving. 'The Tier One, Two, Three system I don't believe in that much now,' he explained. 'The way the game's evolving, the demands we put in with 70, 75 games per season. 'At the end we want to build a team, like other clubs already have, where you look at the squad and you cannot really identify who is going to play tomorrow. If we get to that point, and that competitiveness has as well the right level of co-operation between the players, that's what we want.' As Arsenal look to move to a squad model with a wider distribution of top talent, the tier system is already becoming outdated. 'Now I'll change it,' said Arteta. 'Because that's going to mould, and now we're going to have the capacity as well to decide who is in the best condition to play this game hopefully. Because last year? No. 'Last year the line up was done, 'Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes.' Those five? Ok, those I have to play. 'Now give me another five who can do this and then…' and we played like this for seven months.' 'We need to get away from that, because those restrictions have limited our capacity to perform and then have the freshness that we need at the end of the season. 'Hopefully this season is going to be very different, and we can decide what is the best team with the best players to play against this opponent today, and then we want to change the game, the team — whatever the context is, winning, drawing or losing — we can change it immediately and have those players that can impact the result.' Advertisement The reshaping of the Arsenal squad is just one of the adaptations Arteta is making in his quest to end Arsenal's wait for silverware. 'The only thing that (the players) were talking about at the end of last season and the first day through the door is, 'OK, how are we going to be better? How are we going to do more?',' he said. 'We know that we are so close now in two big competitions and we just want to make the next step. There are going to be a lot of details and moments that have to go our way. We have to push for that to happen.' Arteta believes that, after this summer's transfer window, Arsenal will be closer than ever. 'Every year we have to see how things develop but I see the right balance in terms of maturity, experience, youth, hunger — and all these ingredients are there,' he said. 'The thing is there are another six, seven, eight clubs in the league that have the right ingredients to win and there is only going to be one winner. So we have to focus a lot on the things that we can control, that we can do, to achieve what we want at the end of the season.' Arsenal face AC Milan in the first friendly of their summer tour on Wednesday, July 23 at the Singapore National Stadium. Arteta's description of the tier system is an interesting insight into the squad-building approach at Arsenal — even if, as he suggests, it might be about to become outmoded. We can imagine that signings like Kepa Arrizabalaga or Christian Norgaard were categorised as 'tier two' additions: players with the experience and quality to play a supporting role in the squad, and step into the first eleven when required. It's interesting that Madueke, like Zubimendi, has been described as a 'tier one' signing. That makes sense, given the size of the fee — Arsenal could pay a total of £52million for the 23-year-old winger. It suggests Arteta wants more than two wide players he considers of 'starting' quality, affording him the ability to rest and rotate. Having lost Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to hamstring injuries in the second half of last season, Arteta and Arsenal appear to be mitigating against that kind of risk.
Straits Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Relief for Wales as win over Japan brings losing streak to an end
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Welsh relief greeted the end of their record losing streak when Saturday's 31-22 victory over Japan spared them the ignominy of going down as the worst side in test rugby. Wales held on for a narrow and nervy triumph in Kobe to level the two-test series and finally post a win after a streak of 18 successive defeats. Again they had a handy halftime lead over their Japanese hosts but, unlike in last week's first loss in Kitakyushu, this time they managed to hold on and claim success. "We were braver than last week. Last week we got in front and we probably tried to hold on to a lead,' said Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt, who was in tears at the end of the encounter. "When you have not won a game for a period of time, you start to get edgy, so the messaging this week was to be braver.' Wales captain Dewi Lake added: "It wasn't pretty but it's an important landmark for us today, to get that first win back on the board." Had Wales lost they would have set a record losing streak for a Tier One side, surpassing the sequence of France between 1911 and 1920. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia Air India crash report shows pilot confusion over engine switch movement Singapore More NSFs may be recruited to tackle scams: Police Singapore $3 cashback for hawker centre meals and shopping at heartland stores with DBS PayLah initiative Singapore 40% more sign-ups to programmes for adult learners at institutes of higher learning in last 5 years Singapore Wegovy, injectable drug used to treat obesity, now available via prescription in Singapore Business NTT DC Reit's Singapore public offer 9.8 times oversubscribed Multimedia Which floor is this? Chongqing's maze-like environment powers its rise as a megacity Singapore Over 20 motorists caught offering illegal ride-hailing services at Changi Airport and Gardens by the Bay Saturday's win was their first test victory in 644 days, since beating Georgia in Nantes in the last of their group matches at the 2023 World Cup in France. The losing run has seen Wales slip to a low of 12th in the World Rugby rankings. Sherratt thanked long-suffering fans, adding: 'Even during the Six Nations, I know it's been a hard time to support Wales. I hope you can enjoy tonight because we are certainly going to enjoy the next 24 hours. 'It's emotional, there's a reason why I've done it again. I'm so pleased for the lads.' Englishman Sherratt , who is the Cardiff coach, agreed to stay on for the two matches in Japan after taking over on a caretaker basis during the Six Nations when Warren Gatland left. Wales will now turn to appointing a permanent coach as they look to the November internationals when they host Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa at the Principality Stadium in back-to-back matches. REUTERS
Japan Today
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Japan Today
Wales look to future after ending 18-game losing run with Japan win
rugby union Interim head coach Matt Sherratt said Wales's 31-22 win over Japan on Saturday "has got to be the start of something" after ending their record 18-game losing streak. The Welsh survived another second-half comeback from Eddie Jones's side in Kobe to pick up their first victory since the 2023 World Cup and consign their wretched run to history. It was the longest losing streak for a Tier One country in the professional era. Sherratt oversaw four of those defeats after replacing Warren Gatland on a temporary basis and he backed whoever gets the job permanently to build on the long-awaited win. "Today is the end of a long season but for Welsh rugby it's got to be the start of something," said Sherratt. "The next guy coming in, a big motivation for the group was to let whoever that is start on a level playing field without the burden of the 18 in a row around his neck." Emotional scenes greeted the final whistle under the stadium's closed roof, after the Welsh came close to blowing another half-time lead in the same manner as last week's 24-19 defeat in the first test. A Josh Adams try and a Kieran Hardy double put Wales in control until Japan scored on the stroke of half-time and then added two more tries after the break. That cut the lead to two points until fly-half Dan Edwards, making his first start for Wales, scored a 75th-minute try to kill off Japan's comeback. "Around 65 (minutes), you almost felt the sense that things were going quite similarly to last week," said Wales captain Dewi Lake. "So to score that try in the dying moments, it sinks in that you've got the job done, you've won the game and that ultimately was our goal coming out here." Heat was again a factor with the temperature at 32 Celsius at kick-off, but Wales started strongly and scored in the ninth minute when Blair Murray fed Adams to canter over the line. Hardy slithered over for a second try, before Adams sliced through the Japan defense and teed up Hardy for a third. Japan hit back at just the right time, with substitute Shuhei Takeuchi rumbling over for a try on the half-time hooter to give the hosts hope for the second half. Scores from Warner Dearns and Dylan Riley then shifted the momentum squarely in Japan's favor, before Edwards secured Wales their first win since beating Georgia in October 2023. "It's been a long time coming," said Lake. "I look back at the tough results we had over the past 18 months, a couple of one-pointers, a couple of two-pointers, probably in the driving seat last week and let it slip. "So to dig in and get the job done today is an amazing feeling." Lake said the trust the coaches had shown in the players had been "a massive help". "The confidence that this will hopefully breed within this group will be huge for us going forward," he said. The Welsh win denied Japan their first back-to-back victories over a Tier One nation. Their win last week in Kitakyushu was their first over a Six Nations side since the 2019 World Cup on home soil, where they beat Ireland and Scotland. "It's not the performance we wanted," said center Riley. "We showed some good stuff, some bad stuff but ultimately we couldn't finish this week. "We'll have a bit of a break, reset, come back and back to work," he added. © 2025 AFP
Fox Sports
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
All Blacks under pressure to improve in the 2nd test against France on Saturday
Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The All Blacks are at a crossroads as they head into Saturday's second rugby test against France. After a fumbling performance in the first test in which they needed a late penalty to hold out a severely weakened French team, players and coaching staff are under pressure to produce huge improvement in the second match at Wellington. New Zealand was expected to easily beat a French team stripped of most of its Six Nations stars. Instead, it struggled to assert any dominance, losing the aerial contest and at the breakdown. Head coach Scott Robertson has laid down a challenge to players by naming a lineup which has only been changed in response to injuries. In doing so, he has placed pressure on players who under-performed last week to win more convincingly. 'I think the narrative has changed a little bit around what team they've brought,' Robertson said. 'We're focusing a little bit on continuity. "We want to give the players a chance to build their combinations. This is three-test series. We've got one down and there's a big one on Saturday.' Pressure will begin to come on Robertson if the All Blacks are unable to step up to a higher level on Saturday. Robertson lost four tests in his first season in charge and promised improvement this year. He may be called to account if he cannot produce it. However, not all the blame rests with the coach. Once again there is clear evidence that Super Rugby is not preparing Australian and New Zealand players for test matches. Australia also struggled in its first test of the season against Fiji. France has made 10 changes to its starting lineup for Saturday's second test. Head coach Fabien Galthie has been able to bring in five players who missed last weekend's test after being involved in the final of the French Top 14 club competition. The only players to retain their places in the starting lineup from the first test are Theo Attissogbe, who moves from fullback to the wing, Emilien Gailleton who moves from center to wing, flyhalf Joris Segonds, scrumhalf Nolann Le Garrec and hooker Gaetan Barlot who will captain the team. Four players in the starting lineup will make their test debuts, all of them in the forward pack. The France starting lineup cumulatively has only 50 test caps. The teams play their third and final test July 19 at Hamilton. Fiji faces Scotland Fiji head coach Mick Byrne says his team is capable of competing with Tier One nations and is ready to prove it again when it plays Scotland on Saturday. Bryne said Fiji's narrow loss to Australia last weekend shows its players are able to perform under pressure. Fiji produced a strong second half performance against the Wallabies before losing 21-18. 'I think we showed last week that we can mix it with the best teams in the world,' Byrne said. 'Handling pressure is something the players do all the time and they showed it last week." Scotland is coming off a narrow win over the New Zealand Maori last weekend as it heads into the second match of its Pacific tour. Japan plays Wales Japan hopes to make history by beating Wales in the second test at Kobe on Saturday. The Brave Blossoms won the first test 24-19 and now hope to achieve their first back-to-back wins over a Tier One nation. 'Japan has never had a record of beating a top-tier team back-to-back so we've got a chance to create history,' Japan head coach Eddie Jones said. 'But the more important thing for us is that we know we can play better.' Michael Leitch, 36, again will lead Japan while France-based scrumhalf Naoto Saito returns to the starting lineup. Ichigo Nakakusu and Halatoa Vailea, who came off the bench to score tries in the first test, have been named to start on Saturday. Wales will attempt to avoid its 19th successive test defeat. Dan Edwards will make his first test start at outside center, Freddie Thomas will join the starting lineup at lock and Archie Griffin comes in at prop. Aaron Wainwright will replace in the injured Toby Faletau in the backrow. ___ AP rugby:
