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Sporting Jax to host Super League kickoff party ahead of inaugural season
Sporting Jax to host Super League kickoff party ahead of inaugural season

Yahoo

time6 days ago

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

Sporting Jax to host Super League kickoff party ahead of inaugural season

Sporting JAX is celebrating its first season with a free kickoff party at James Weldon Johnson Park. The event is set for Friday, July 25, from 5 to 8 p.m. and is open to the public. Fans can meet the team, grab autographs, enjoy live music, games, food, and giveaways. Advertisement Read: Florida AG threatens to sue swimming group over gender-participation policy The party is presented by Gainbridge and marks the start of Jacksonville's new pro women's soccer era. Sporting JAX plays its first preseason match on August 2 at UNF against Hibernian FC Women. A second match is set for August 10 against Wrexham AFC Women. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< The home opener is August 23 against DC Power FC. For more information, visit [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.

Officials to assess use of innovations by Rassie Erasmus against Italy
Officials to assess use of innovations by Rassie Erasmus against Italy

Times

time15-07-2025

  • Sport
  • Times

Officials to assess use of innovations by Rassie Erasmus against Italy

The match officials in South Africa's win over Italy are set to assess their handling of the home side's intentionally mistaken kick-off, one of two controversial innovations used by the head coach Rassie Erasmus in the match. The Springboks' 45-0 victory on Saturday in Gqeberha featured two unorthodox tactics that were widely shared and debated: the kick-off strategy — which guaranteed an early scrum and was criticised by the away team's head coach — and a lineout formation to set up a maul in open play. When the refereeing team meet this week to discuss their performance — as they do after every Test — they will assess their interpretation of the opening move of the game, which could have ramifications for future rulings. André Esterhuizen, the Springboks centre, ran ahead of Manie Libbok at kick-off and the fly half dinked the ball straight to his team-mate, ensuring it would not travel the requisite ten metres and the match would begin with a scrum. South Africa then conceded a free kick at the set-piece. 'We wanted to get the scrum badly to get into the game early on,' Erasmus said. 'We make a lot of little plans that sometimes don't pay off, that people don't know of.' Gonzalo Quesada expressed his surprise over the manoeuvre. 'I didn't take it very well, they can beat us without needing to do this kind of tactic,' the Italy head coach said. 'These last couple of weeks, we've been extremely respectful, coming here with a lot of humility — the land of the world champions and deserved double world champions. 'We know that when they prepared this game, they decided to dominate us and show us why they are the first team in the world. 'I was surprised because I don't know if it was something we did or said that created that first moment. They didn't need to do that to beat us.' Quesada had more praise for the Springboks' second innovation. Later in the game, South African forwards lifted a team-mate in the middle of the field to receive a pass from the scrum half, manufacturing a driving maul in open play. Law 9.26 states: 'In open play, any player may lift or support a team-mate.' The tactic has previously been used by Paul Roos Gymnasium's age-group sides. Regarding the kick-off tactic, one can interpret the existing laws in two ways. Law 12.5 states: 'When the ball is kicked: team-mates of the kicker must be behind the ball.' The first offence was that Esterhuizen was in front of the ball, therefore a scrum was awarded in accordance with the listed sanction. Law 12.6 adds that 'the ball must reach the 10-metre line', for which the sanction is either a scrum or a retaken kick-off, decided by the opposing team. Esterhuizen's role prevented that choice. There is no firm provision in law 12 that 'an offside player must not interfere with play', though that phrase exists in law 10, which governs offside and onside in open play rather than at kick-offs and restarts. However, Andrew Brace could have penalised South Africa under foul play under two edicts that, in effect, give officials the latitude to punish whatever they deem to be unfair. Law 9.27 states: 'A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship.' More pertinently for this incident, law 9.7 stipulates that 'a player must not intentionally infringe any law of the game'. If South Africa had discussed the tactic beforehand with Brace, it could easily be viewed as a deliberate infringement, with a penalty awarded to Italy. As with the in-field lineout, the Springboks do not have sole ownership of the deliberately mistaken restart. Immediate scrums used to be a feature of the wild days of French club rugby, when fly halves would deliberately kick the ball straight out to ensure an early confrontation on the halfway line. Supporters of Erasmus again have cause to celebrate the innovations of the world champions, and to revel in those who cry foul. South Africa's use of the 'bomb squad' in a 7:1 split of forwards to backs on the bench has intensified calls in some quarters to limit the impact of replacements. Less controversially, in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final, Damian Willemse took the unusual move of calling for a scrum from a mark in his own 22, in another show of Springbok brain and brawn. Novel tactics and the use of loopholes often bring about changes to the laws of the game, such as Italy's no-ruck 'fox' tactic against England in 2017 and the so-called 'Dupont law', which was recently altered to ensure players had to make more effort to return to an onside position during a kick chase.

Alford, Roughriders stun Argonauts in dying seconds to win 39-32
Alford, Roughriders stun Argonauts in dying seconds to win 39-32

National Post

time21-06-2025

  • Sport
  • National Post

Alford, Roughriders stun Argonauts in dying seconds to win 39-32

Mario Alford returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the dying seconds as the Saskatchewan Roughriders stunned the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night. Article content After the Argonauts tied the Week 3 CFL contest 32-32 with 23 seconds left on Friday night at BMO Field, Alford brought back the ensuing kickoff to secure Saskatchewan's second straight 3-0 start to a season. Article content Article content Article content 'Coach told me before we went out there, 'Let's get it to the 40-, 45-(yard line),' ' Alford told TSN's Brit Dort after the game. 'Then I saw the hole and I did what I do best. Article content 'I try to put my team in the best position possible to win. We were able to execute; shoutout to the blockers.' Article content While the defending Grey Cup champion Argonauts —who fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2019 — scored the opening points of the game on their first drive as quarterback Nick Arbuckle engineered a nine-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a five-yard touchdown pass to Dejon Brissett, it was the Roughriders who led the way for the majority of the game. Article content On Saskatchewan's first series, quarterback Trevor Harris and company put together a six-play, 75-yard drive highlighted by a 25-yard touchdown run by running back A.J. Ouellette, who had a similar 47-yard touchdown run last week against Hamilton. Article content With the convert, the game was tied 7-7 midway through the first quarter. Article content After a two-and-out by Saskatchewan's defence and a 35-yard punt return by Alford, Saskatchewan's offence went back to work as Harris connected with Dohnte Meyers for a 13-yard gain before the duo connected on a 32-yard touchdown pass on the very next play to put Saskatchewan on top 14-7. Article content Following another two-and-out by the Roughriders' defence, Harris and company went back to work as Mitch Picton made a highlight-reel 33-yard catch which led to a 16-yard field goal by Brett Lauther to make it 17-7 Riders. Article content Article content Near the end of the first half, the Argonauts got down to Saskatchewan's one-yard line on a 17-play, 76-yard drive which lasted more than seven minutes, but they couldn't come away with any points as Saskatchewan's defence forced a turnover on downs after a goal-line stand. Article content The Argos got the ball back before the half was up, and after Riders defensive back Marcus Sayles couldn't come down with an interception, Argos' kicker Lirim Hajrullahu nailed a 56-yard field goal to make it 17-10 at the break. Article content On the opening drive of the second half, the Riders added to their lead as Harris hit Meyers on a slant pass before the second-year slotback broke free and rumbled 70 yards to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game to make it 24-10.

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