After a few weeks of byes Super Rugby is back to all hands on deck in round 10 with some huge clashes on the schedule. See all the teams and news as it unfolds below. (All times are AEST) Friday Crusaders vs Rebels, 5.05pm All Blacks star Scott Barrett will make a timely return for the Crusaders as Rob Penney’s bottom-placed side takes on the Rebels at home. The Crusaders skipper has been missing since the early rounds of the competition and he comes in for Jamie Hannah, who drops back to the bench. Penney has made several tweaks to his tight-five, with George Bower and Fletcher Newell replaci ..read more

Round six of the AFL provided us with plenty of talking points. Some teams are starting to build momentum whilst others are struggling to string together strong performances. Below I have given my thoughts on Round 6 and how the Brownlow medal votes should be shaping up. St Kilda Saints vs Western Bulldogs – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Western Bulldogs won by 60 points. What a ruthless performance from the Dogs. The heat was turned up during the week after their poor showing against Essendon, but they responded in the best possible way. Marcus Bontempelli. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via G ..read more

Has there ever been a team more “quietly” unbeaten and on top of the ladder, like Geelong this year? The Cats are a game and percentage clear of second spot, but you wouldn’t know it based on the commentary surrounding the AFL over the first seven rounds. Sydney and GWS have captured the most notices as early premiership favourites, Carlton have made headlines, Port have shown their usual capacity to dazzle and disappoint, while last year’s grand finalists Collingwood and Brisbane have mostly been in the news for the wrong reasons. Partly, the ridiculous stop-start nature of the season is to b ..read more

Super Rugby Pacific have named a key staffer of the A-Leagues football competition as their first CEO. Jack Mesley, who will commence in the role on July 22, is currently the Chief Commercial Officer at Australian Professional A-Leagues. Mesley said in a statement he was excited by the opportunity “to engage with the competition and the fans, to help deliver the best possible entertainment product and to drive deeper engagement with the game. “This is a monumental step for the unions and clubs to come together with a real intent to grow Super Rugby Pacific and put fans at the centre,” Mesley ..read more

As calls grow for the entire Rugby Australia board to be overthrown, new chairman Daniel Herbert described the agitators behind the movement as hypocrites and mudslingers. Ahead of next week’s Annual General Meeting, a collection of former Wallabies, ARU coaches and directors, who call themselves the Supporters of Overdue Australian Rugby Reform, called for a total cleanout of the RA board. The recent calls come after Herbert, as well as RA chief executive Phil Waugh, sat on the board and were involved in the high performance committee that presided over the Wallabies’ worst World Cup campaign ..read more

Canterbury forward Jackson Topine has instigated legal action against the club in the NSW Supreme Court after he claimed “deprivation of liberty” when he was subjected to “unlawful corporal punishment” for being late to training. Topine was punished in controversial circumstances by the Bulldogs for being late to training by being forced to wrestle his teammates one by one late last season. He left the training session and did not return to the club for the final weeks of the season. According to a NewsCorp report, the 22-year-old forward’s statement of claim lodged by his legal team alleges h ..read more

West Coast are set to rest No.1 draft pick Harley Reid against the Suns this weekend as the hype surrounding his breakout season hype goes into overdrive to ensure he is ready for the blockbuster against the Bombers the following round. And the 19-year-old could become a very rich teenager very quickly after it was revealed he will become a $1 million player in just his third season depending on clauses in his contract. According to Fox Footy, he will recieve huge bonuses if he finishes in the top 10 in the Brownlow Medal, top five in West Coast’s best and fairest or the AFL Rising Star award ..read more

Xavier Bartlett has been permission to extend his cricketing education with a spell of T20s in England, playing in the Blast competition for Kent Spitfires. The 25-year-old’s explosive BBL season with Brisbane Heat catapulted him to Australian selection, but threatened to derail his trip overseas as Cricket Australia took measures to avoid burn-out.    Kent had originally announced the quick bowler’s capture in February with Bartlett inked in for five of the opening seven four-day County Championship matches, and at least the first eight fixtures of the T20 Blast. However, CA put the ..read more

Three things in the world of rugby have caught my eye this week, and got me thinking very hard about the way forward, and the possibility of a bright shining future. The first was the successful return of Kurtley Beale to Super Rugby. This was huge, not only for Beale himself, but for any ageing person looking for inspiration. Beale proved that being 35 is no barrier to being a productive member of society, and that age is just a number, albeit a number that indicates how old you are. Anyone thinking that their glory days are behind them can now look at Beale and know that as long as you’re in ..read more

Kai Havertz has scored twice against his former team and Ben White also got a brace as Arsenal brushed aside a dismal Chelsea side 5-0 for their biggest Premier League win over their London rivals. The win on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST) ensures Arsenal will go into the weekend atop the standings, lifting them three points clear of Liverpool ahead of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Everton.  Man City are four points back before they play at Brighton on Thursday, with another game in hand. For Chelsea, it was another dispiriting loss after a 1-0 defeat to Man City in the FA Cup semi-fina ..read more