The Breakdown | Storming ahead means increasingly little in era of rugby’s comeback kings

They won’t always say so publicly but every journalist is familiar with the concept of a “reverse ferret”. In the heyday of printed newspapers a piece might be filed in good faith only for new information to force a frantic, face-saving rejig for later editions. Plenty of coruscating “why oh why” match reports, confidently hammered out at half-time, have been known to morph into gushing symphonies of praise thanks to an improbable late twist.It may just be that one or two backpedalling ferrets were spotted in the west of Scotland on Saturday night. To be fair, those reporters in attendance had every excuse

Joshua v Paul makes Joe Louis’ ‘Bum of the Month’ look like the Rumble in the Jungle | Sean Ingle

Precisely 85 years ago, one of the most fearsome heavyweight boxers in history stunk out the joint. Joe Louis was in the midst of his “Bum of the Month club”: a staggering run of 13 world title defences in 29 months against an assortment of stiffs, wild men and colourful characters. And when he arrived in Boston on 16 December 1940, most believed that Al McCoy would rapidly become his next victim. Only it didn’t quite turn out that way.“McCoy was expected to crumple under the first punch Louis tossed in his direction,” the New York Times’ correspondent wrote

At Square One: inside the big barn that offers English cricket a brighter future

“Cricket is shit if you’re shit at cricket. But everyone has been shit at cricket. Even Ben Stokes. When someone threw a ball at him for the first time, he didn’t smash it six rows back. Ben Stokes was shit at cricket, and then he got good at cricket, and he got good quick enough to stay in it

Pat Cummins says Bondi terror attack ‘hit home pretty hard’ as tributes flow before third Ashes Test

Australia captain Pat Cummins has said the tragic events at Bondi beach ‘hit home pretty hard’ as they unfolded on Sunday night just down the road from his home in the neighbouring Sydney suburb of Bronte.As the cricket world prepares to pay tribute to the victims of the Bondi beach terror attack when the third Ashes Test gets under way in Adelaide on Wednesday, Cummins and England captain, Ben Stokes, revealed the profound impact the massacre had on them and their teammates.“Like most other Aussies and people in the world, I was just horrified watching on,” Cummins said. “We had just put the kids to bed and flicked on the news as that was coming through. Me and my wife were watching in disbelief

Usman Khawaja left out of Australia’s XI for third Ashes Test in Adelaide

Usman Khawaja could be facing the end of his international career after being overlooked for the third Ashes Test. Pat Cummins, who will return to captain Australia after what he called an “aggressive” rehabilitation from his back injury, has just about kept the door ajar for the opener.Cummins is one of two changes for the hosts as they look to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in this Ashes series. Nathan Lyon makes a comeback on his former home ground, with Brendon Doggett and Michael Neser the bowlers to miss out despite the latter’s five-wicket haul in Brisbane.But arguably the biggest call was to shoulder arms to Khawaja after his return from a back injury

Laying waste to Bazball just offers Australians an extra dollop of Ashes relish | Geoff Lemon

Adelaide comes across as a genteel city, but for a long time there was a contrasting degree of brutality to the Adelaide Test. At peak summer late in January it was a saucepan: hot, flat, home to impossibly long days. The mood changed in recent decades when it shifted to milder weeks in late spring, then further to nighttime contests. But with the third Test being a day match, and with forecasts this week as high as 39C, there’s anticipation of the old flavour returning. And if England’s 2-0 deficit becomes an Ashes-losing 3-0, we will see awaken in the Australian sporting public a concomitant lust for total destruction