Now or never for Townsend’s Scotland with head coach in Six Nations spotlight

If not now, then when? The stakes are never low in the Six Nations but for Scotland and Gregor Townsend the 2026 championship feels more loaded with significance than most.Under the tutelage of the 52-year-old head coach, the many disappointments of recent campaigns have been met with an assurance that there is potential for success in this squad. Between now and mid-March would be a handy time to prove it.Scotland have lost 11 consecutive matches against Ireland, for instance, and have finished fourth in five of eight tournaments under Townsend. They were unfortunate to be drawn with South Africa and Ireland at the last Rugby World Cup, but luck should not come into it now, especially considering the time he has had to build as he approaches a decade in the post

‘We are all connected’: Winter Olympics opening ceremony stresses harmony and showcases Italy

A stunning curtain-raiser was a fitting celebration of the host country and the Games – with wider messages never far from the surfaceThis was an opening ceremony for the ages: effortlessly chic, bewitching and divine. Milan simultaneously delivered a three-hour love letter to Italy, and a plea for hope and harmony in a fractious world.But not everyone in the 60,000 crowd at San Siro was listening. As the United States team, led by the speedskater Erin Jackson, made its way across the stadium it was loudly applauded. But then the TV cameras panned to the US vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha, and the cheers turned to loud boos

USA’s downhill threat Breezy Johnson has learned to live with doubt and fear

In December 2024, Breezy Johnson glided into the starting gate on the Stifel Birds of Prey downhill course atop Colorado’s Beaver Creek, a sight for sore eyes and a bundle of nerves. “The anxiety will always be there until I’m in the downhill gate,” the 30-year-old said at Team USA’s pre-Olympics media summit in October. “Like, at no point can [I tell myself], I’ve got this thing.”Out of World Cup action for 14 months after whereabouts failures, she dropped on to Birds of Prey as bib No 32 in the 45-racer field – all women for the first time in the history of the legendary venue. With a few bends of her reconstructed knees, she snapped through the timing wand, charged through the Abyss (one of Birds of Prey’s steepest pitches) and kept carving her way through the 1

‘An experience you can’t buy’: Louis Rees-Zammit on his NFL adventure and fresh hope for Wales

Lightning-fast attacker lines up at full-back against England insisting that his gridiron tilt will only help his rugbyThe late, great Tom Petty wrote the song that, ultimately, defined Louis Rees-Zammit’s American football adventure. “Runnin’ down a dream, that never would come to me …” Twelve months ago Rees-Zammit was in New Orleans watching the Superbowl and still hoping to carve out a multimillion dollar NFL career. Now here he is, back in a Welsh rugby shirt and eager to make up for lost time.Sliding doors and all that. This weekend in America all roads lead to this year’s Superbowl in California: the Seattle Seahawks v the New England Patriots

Winter Olympic wonders, Premier League thrills and Super Bowl LX – follow with us

David Tindall kickstarts the weekend’s football programme with our unmissable rolling blog that rises early to provide all the breaking news from around the grounds. There’ll be wash-up from Friday night’s Premier League meeting of Leeds and Nottingham Forest, buildup to Saturday’s bumper seven Premier League matches, a full Championship and lower-division programme, plus plenty of swirl around Serie A and La Liga, with Napoli and Barcelona in action. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund have cut Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga lead by five points, drawing six behind the leaders and reviving a title race long considered dead. Bayern’s shock home loss to Augsburg – their first league defeat in 10 months – along with a hard-fought draw in Hamburg last Saturday have allowed Niko Kovac’s Dortmund to edge closer. Dortmund play at wobbling Wolfsburg, a day before Bayern’s home clash with Hoffenheim

England run risk by missing final T20 World Cup training to stay cool by the pool

Sitting in the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Mumbai headquarters, adjacent to the Wankhede Stadium, three days before the start of England’s World Cup campaign, Harry Brook was asked about captaining a T20 side in its latest, even-more-wild-scoring iteration, against opponents looking to flay sixes with ungodly regularity. “Yeah, you’ve got to stay with a cool head as much as you possibly can,” he said. “You’ve just got to try to be as calm as possible.”In England’s last World Cup fixture at the Wankhede, in 2023’s 50-over tournament, calm and cool heads were exactly what they were missing. After mystifyingly electing to field against South Africa on a searing hot afternoon, they effectively melted; Heinrich Klaasen scored a century, England chased 400 and were rolled out for 170