Meg Jones shines as relentless England sweep Wales aside to seal triple crown

There is an alternate universe in which Meg Jones played the Six Nations game between England and Wales in a red shirt instead of a white one. The Red Roses captain was born in Cardiff and can speak fluent Welsh, but she chose to play for England, being qualified through her mother. That decision is surely one of the most important to England’s current form with Jones an integral and irreplaceable cog in the machine.Jones was named captain with Zoe Stratford pregnant and she has more than stepped up to the plate. The 2025 World Rugby player of the year nominee has scored in two of the three opening matches of the tournament, bagging two here at a sold-out Ashton Gate

NBA’s Rwanda ties face scrutiny after sanctions-linked BAL withdrawal

As the NBA enters its postseason crescendo, its carefully cultivated image as one of the most progressive leagues in sports is once again in the spotlight due to its partnership with Rwanda, which has long been accused of human rights abuses and war crimes.In March 2026, the Trump administration announced sanctions targeting Rwanda’s military and four senior officials for its role in abuses and military aggression in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Shortly after the announcement, one of the top teams competing in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) – a premier continental league co-founded by NBA Africa – suddenly withdrew from the competition. As it turned out, that team had deep ties to Rwanda’s sanctioned military.“APR will no longer participate in the 2026 BAL season,” read a statement published by the BAL on 13 March

Cricket’s April wasteland: Cook and Pietersen row like barbecue dads in the battle for Bethell | Barney Ronay

April is the cruellest month,Breeding likes on the feed (nets with Virat).Mixing Mumbai with Derbyshire.A stirring of Billy Root between the rain.The Abu Dhabi T10 kept us warm.Summer surprised us, coming over the live stream withan interminable anecdote about sandwiches

59,000 runners, 93,024 energy gels and £100m for charity: the London Marathon is booming

The prodigious growth of running clubs, fuelled by young women, has seen the popularity of the event sky-rocketThere is always magic in the air on a London Marathon morning. But this year the event promises to dazzle and soar more than ever. A world-record 59,000 people will take part in Sunday’s race, raising close to £100m for charity while swallowing 93,024 Lucozade gels from Greenwich to the Mall. There are also whispers of a men’s world record attempt. But the biggest noise of all is coming from those hailing a new golden era of running

Victorian parlours, whiff-whaff and a Soviet spy: ping-pong’s coming home

A century on from the first tournament in London, the table tennis world championships are back – with a fascinating history attachedThe way Wang Chuqin plays, ping-pong is a physical impossibility. By the time you made it to the end of the first two words of that sentence, Chuqin, the men’s world No 1, has seen the ball, calculated its speed, direction, and height, judged whether it is travelling with topspin, backspin, left or right sidespin, or a combination of the four, decided how to return, forehand, backhand, attack, block, push, spin, and where to aim, shifted his weight, positioned his feet, rotated his hips, brought his racket into position, and hit the ball. By the time you got to that first full stop, he has done it all 12 times over.You almost certainly didn’t know it, but Thursday was world table-tennis day. The England Federation set up a trail of golden tables around London to mark the occasion, and raise a little publicity for the World Team Table Tennis Championships, that are being held in the city for the first time since 1954

Jim Furyk to lead US Ryder Cup team after Tiger Woods’s withdrawal

Jim Furyk is returning as US Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland, the PGA of America announced Friday, as the Americans try to get back on track against a European team that has dominated the last three decades.Furyk is the fourth US captain to get a second chance dating to 1979, considered the modern era of the Ryder Cup when continental Europe became part of it.The Associated Press reported that the Ryder Cup committee chose Furyk once Tiger Woods removed himself from competition after his 27 March arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.“Jim Furyk has been an influential figure in the United States team room for nearly three decades,” Nathan Charnes, vice-president of PGA of America, said in a statement. “He is a trusted, widely-respected leader and possesses a wealth of Ryder Cup experience that can only serve to strengthen our team