3:03 AM BST ESPN staff The three-match Bledisloe Cup has been thrown into uncertainty with the shutdown of the trans-Tasman travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday announced an eight-week pause on the travel bubble as New South Wales struggles to manage a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney.
5:51 AM BST Australia and Melbourne Rebels winger Marika Koroibete will relocate to Japan to play with Top League club Wild Knights next season, the club said on Friday. Koroibete will link up with former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans at the Wild Knights, which won the Top League title this year after beating Suntory Sungoliath
4:00 AM ET Barcelona have hit a big stumbling block in their attempt to register Lionel Messi’s new contract — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: An ex-Man Utd star wanted by Chelsea. Jump to: Romero a Chelsea, Juve target after United exit | Premier League clubs’ COVID fears | Barca back out of
1:25 AM ET Associated Press Naomi Osaka‘s opening match in the Olympic tennis tournament has been pushed back from Saturday to Sunday. Organizers did not immediately provide a reason for the switch. They said only that the move came from the tournament referee. 1 Related Osaka was originally scheduled to play 52nd-ranked Saisai Zheng of
2:44 AM ET An important women’s bantamweight fight is off this weekend’s UFC card. The scheduled co-main event bout between Aspen Ladd and Macy Chiasson has been canceled because of an undisclosed Chiasson injury, UFC officials told ESPN on Thursday. The Saturday event in Las Vegas will go on with 11 fights. 1 Related ESPN
1:05 AM BST It took three attempts, but the Wallabies have their first piece of silverware under coach Dave Rennie. The Trophée des Bicentenaires will stay in Australia’s keeping until at least the end of next year following the Wallabies dramatic 33-30 win in Brisbane last week, which secured a 2-1 series win over a
12:53 AM ET TOKYO — The trio of players making the unprecedented jump from the NBA Finals to the Olympics are all scheduled to be in Japan by Saturday. The hope is for Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday to be available when Team USA opens play Sunday against France, according to coach Gregg
11:12 PM ET Associated Press BLAINE, Minn. — Rickie Fowler‘s improved driving helped him shoot a 5-under 65 on Sunday in the final round of the British Open. Looking for a late push in the FedEx Cup standings, Fowler carried over the strong play Thursday with a 7-under 64 in the first round of the
10:35 PM ET TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are sporting brand new Super Bowl LV rings to pay tribute to the NFL’s first league championship won in a team’s own stadium in front of hometown fans. The rings, unveiled Thursday night in a private ceremony for players, coaches, front office members, team employees
10:01 PM ET Heather Dinich Close ESPN Senior Writer College football reporter Joined ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of Indiana University Mark Schlabach Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior college football writer Author of seven books on college football Graduate of the University of Georgia While Big 12 officials search for answers from Oklahoma and Texas about
A positive COVID-19 test on Thursday resulted in the last-minute postponement of the scheduled second One-Day International between the West Indies and Australia at Kensington Oval, officials announced. “The second ODI between West Indies and Australia has been postponed due a positive Covid-19 test result from a non-playing member of the West Indies team,” said
6:49 PM ET The Tampa Bay Rays acquired slugger Nelson Cruz from the Minnesota Twins on Thursday in a four-player trade. The Twins received minor league pitchers Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman in exchange for Cruz and minor league pitcher Calvin Faucher. The 41-year-old Cruz, a seven-time All-Star, is hitting .294 with 19 home runs
6:58 PM ET New York Jets assistant Greg Knapp, a well-traveled NFL coach who worked with Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young and soon-to-be-inducted Peyton Manning over his 25-year career, died Thursday from injuries suffered when he was struck by a car while biking last Saturday in San Ramon, California. He was 58. The
6:13 PM ET Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Thursday he’d like to see additional changes made to the college football schedule if the sport plans to expand its playoff. Swinney and North Carolina coach Mack Brown both came out against the proposed 12-team playoff this month after surveying their players for feedback, but after sitting
6:35 PM ET If it seems to you like the 2020-21 NHL season just ended, you’re not incorrect: the Stanley Cup was awarded on July 7 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. But the league has spun forward to the offseason and preparations for 2021-22 quickly: The expansion draft was held Wednesday, in which the Seattle
3:55 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN The New Orleans Pelicans officially named Willie Green as their next head coach Thursday. Green is coming off a stint as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns, who just made a run to the NBA Finals, which delayed the timing of the Pelicans’ announcement. “After an extensive and collaborative search,
3:43 PM ET If Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC, it would break a long-standing “gentlemen’s agreement” between SEC schools that gives conference members “absolute veto power” over the addition of another school from their state, according to a former Texas A&M official. R. Bowen Loftin, who helped steer the Aggies into the SEC in
9:00 AM ET The CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals are upon us, with defending champions Mexico and fellow co-favorites United States navigating some stern tests during group stage action. Joined by Jamaica, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Canada, and invitees Qatar in the knockout round, El Tri and the USMNT will face further challenges if they