UK News
Man denies throwing boiling water over another man at courthouse
The incident happened at Strabane Magistrates’ Court, County Tyrone, on Thursday morning.
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Key events
Leeds 2-0 Wolves: Tim Smith gets in touch to say: “A little harsh to say Justin’s goal “ went through” Bentley. He’d just made a great save and then was unsighted for a point blank overhead kick. Blame the defending all you want on that one. Oh and come on Leeds!”
Championship: Wrexham lead Stoke 2-0, which keeps their dimming playoff hopes alive
League One: Stockport lead 2-1 at Exeter, thus delaying the Cardiff promotion.
League Two: Notts County are losing to Barnet, which may delay Bromley’s promotion. Scratch that, it’s 1-1 Jodi Jones converting from the spot. So Bromley are on course.
Goal! Newcastle 0-1 Bournemouth (Tavernier, 32)
Huge goal in that mid-table concertina, Tavernier tapping in from close range as Bournemouth build on their great start and get the goal they deserve.
Leeds 2-0 Wolves: This could be a grim day for Wolves. Losing to Leeds and a win for Tottenham against Brighton could relegate them.
Via the BBC’s permutation guru Dale Johnson: “Wolves’ fate will be sealed if they lose to Leeds and Tottenham Hotspur beat Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday or West Ham United take at least a point in their Monday night game at Crystal Palace.
“Even if Wolves were to pick up a point in West Yorkshire, they could still go down if West Ham win and Nottingham Forest avoid defeat against second-bottom Burnley.”
Newcastle 0-0 Bournemouth: Rayan has missed a decent chance, laid on to him by a mix of Eli Junior Krupi and Evanilson.
Graham Randall gets in touch: “I don’t think I have seen a more spineless Leicester team in my life. Absolutely devoid of any ideas, tactics or anything that makes a team good. Commentators keep saying “ Leicester have a lot of quality” not sure where. Very depressing As it is. The Robert Johnson crossroads are a 10 hour drive away. Might take a trip there and see if I can find someone to make a deal with.”
Hellhounds on Leicester’s trail, certainly.
Goal! Hull lead Birmingham 1-0 through a goal from Joe Gelhardt. That may go a long way to maintaining their playoff spot.
In the Bundesliga, Union Berlin are playing Wolfsburg, the first game in charge for Marie-Louise Eta, their coach, though at half-time they are losing 1-0.
Newcastle 0-0 Bournemouth: My colleague Louise Taylor points out: “Anthony Gordon is officially injured but, given Eddie Howe’s pledge to not pick “anyone not 100 per cent committed to Newcastle” in the face of transfer speculation a lot of people have decided that 2+2 =4 Gordon dropped. Perhaps also significantly Sandro Tonali is not merely playing but named as captain.”
Goal! Swansea 1-0 Southampton (Stamenic, 20) The Saints no longer marching on?
Goal! Leeds 2-0 Wolves (Okafor, 20)
Leeds are rampant, and they are rolling their way to safety.
Goal! Leeds 1-0 Wolves (Justin, 18)
It had been coming, though who had a James Justin volley on the bingo card? It went through Dan Bentley.
In League One, it’s Stevenage 1-1 Lincoln, Tendayi Darikwa, the Zimbabwean scoring.
Newcastle 0-0 Bournemouth: An even contest at St James’, as 11th take on 14th.
While we sortied to Scotland, a big goal in the Championship, Josh Maja scoring for West Brom at Preston.
Dunfermline into the Scottish Cup final, beating Falkirk 4-2 on penalties
So, at 3-1, up steps Filip Lissah. Now for the crucial kick, and Tashan Oakley-Boothe slots so coolly. The Championship team are in the final, Neil Lennon’s men celebrating wildly.
Falkirk score – just – when Oxborough fails to keep Ben Parkinson out. But: Chris Hamilton hammers home.
Falkirk miss again, or more properly, Aston Oxborough saves from Liam Henderson. Up steps Charlie Gilmour, and it’s 2-0 to Dunfermline.
At Hampden, it’s penalties, and Brad Spencer smashes the inside of the right-hand post, Falkirk misses, while Josh Cooper converts for Dunfermline.
AFC Wimbledon are losing 1-0 to Plymouth, and that’s endangered the Dons, down in 20th.
At Hampden, it’s down to penalties, with Falkirk’s Henry Cartwright sent off for a second bookable in the 121st minute.
In League One, Stevenage lead Lincoln 1-0, and so the title party is on hold after Louis Thompson’s goal.
Goal! Bristol City 1-0 Norwich: Sam Morsy, not long since of Ipswich, scores the goal, the Royvolution rolls on. Cameron Pring got the assist.
Leeds 0-0 Wolves: An early chance for Calvert-Lewin, but he hits his shot straight at Bentley in the Wolves goal.
Away we go in the 3pm kick-offs
So much riding on these next two hours.
On Anthony Gordon, this Eddie Howe quote from Friday might well be pertinent: “I’m not going to play any player if I don’t feel they are 100% committed to the club and their future. That is generally across the board. I always do what I think is best for the team.”
Here’s Taha Hashim’s report from Brentford.
For Newcastle, the big news is Anthony Gordon missing out, with “a minor hip flexor issue” while Joelinton is suspended. Gordon has been linked with Bayern Munich this week. Jacob Ramsey, Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes each return, while Bruno Guimaraes returns to matchday squad for the first time since early February.
Andoni Iraola names the same Bournemouth team that triumphed at Arsenal last week.
Jeremy Boyce gets in touch: “Hand-on-heart Leeds-til-I-die (since childhood) fan here. Big afternoon up at crumbling Elland Road. A win today will surely see us safe, meaning that we can look forward to having the dosh for some much-needed ground improvements, also to sit back and enjoy watching Spurs getting done over at their lovely new cheese-shop home later by the loveable Seagulls. In the event of a Dan James kneed-in winner in stoppage time this afternoon, I predict a Kaiser Chiefs single will result.
“By the way, Spurs fans, we share your pain. A crap chairman/owner is the worst of all things. Ask Man U. Been there, done that, got the t shirt. Anyone remember Peter Ridsdale ? Preston fans, be careful what you wish for. The bottom line is, sometimes you’ve got to get down to get up.”
Leeds have named the same team that delivered that famous win at Old Trafford. Wolves have made just two changes from losing 4-0 at West Ham last Friday. Jose Sa is replaced by Dan Bentley in goal while Toti Gomes comes in to captain the side, Yerson Mosquera is suspended after a silly 10th yellow of the season last week.
Leeds v Wolves teams
Leeds: Darlow, Justin, Bijol, Struijk, Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson, Aaronson, Okafor, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Perri, Rodon, Longstaff, Piroe, Nmecha, Bornauw, Gnonto, Buonanotte, Gruev.
Wolves: Bentley, Toti, S Bueno, Krejci, Tchatchoua, Bellegarde, Andre, Joao Gomes, H Bueno, A Gomes, Armstrong. Subs: Brooks, Wolfe, Hwang, Arokodare, Lima, R Gomes, Mane, Olagunju, Edozie.
Newcastle v Bournemouth teams
Newcastle: Ramsdale, Livramento, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Miley, Tonali, Ramsey, Elanga, Osula, Barnes. Subs: Pope, Trippier, Wissa, J.Murphy, Woltemade, Willock, Burn, A.Murphy, Guimaraes
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert, Scott, Christie, Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier, Evanilson. Subs: Mandas, Brooks, Adams, Adli, Smith, Unal, Gannon-Doak, Diakite, Toth
For years, Andy Mycock didn’t know others found his surname funny. Now, he’s the one making the jokes.
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5 min: It’s all Scotland. England haven’t touched the back except to kick it from deep. Clarke on the ball again. They keep possession but don’t make much ground. Just no punch so Nelson kicks from hand but overcooks it. She hoofs it straight out which will hand England a line-out 10 metres inside their own half.
3 min: And it’s held up! Clarke was on the ball and she had support from behind as she pushed forward. She manages to wriggle away from the contact and gets over the line, but three English players hold her up and they get a relieving clearing kick from their goal line.
3 min: The scrum doesn’t get going and it collapses, giving Scotland a free-kick. They’ll tap and go from right in front….
1 min: From the kick-off, Sing’s clearing kick doesn’t go long so Scotland can launch off the line-out. They make great ground off first-phase strike play and Coubrough is away. But they soon knock on five metres short of England’s line as they looked to gather through the phases. Promising, but that’s a sloppy miss from the Scots and a wasted opportunity to land an early blow.
Kick off!
Really looking forward to seeing how Short, on debut at 6, gets on.
Murrayfield is bathed in beautiful sunshine. The crowd is buzzing. All the ingredients there. Can the players deliver?
And they’re off!
Maud Muir leads the teams out on the occasion of her 50th cap.
She is beaming the BIGGEST smile you will ever see. What a vibe!
England’s defence coach, Sarah Hunter, speaks on the long, long, list of absentees from the side:
It’s quite unheard of within an England squad over the years. As a coaching squad, we’re taking it in our stride.
It gives an opportunity to someone else and the great thing about our squad is that whoever comes in is welcomed and fits in.
If we think about it in a four-year cycle [between World Cups], it’s almost good that we’re having this situation now, that we can grow and develop some of the younger players coming through who might be there in four years’ time.
It might be accelerating them a little bit, but all of the players who have come in have been playing brilliantly for their clubs in PWR. They’ve been a credit to this group and it’s exciting that they get the opportunity.
There are 24 Scottish players in the wider 38-woman group who ply their trade in England’s PWR.
I don’t think that will count for much, but it does show that coaches in the best league in the world rate them.
Another Women’s Six Nations game, another record crowd.
This is the first time more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for a Scotland home game.
How about some stats I’ve dug up (pulled straight from Scottish Rugby’s own website):
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England (57%) and Scotland (55%) had the highest territory rates of any sides in Round One of this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
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Scotland had the highest ruck success rate of any side in last weekend’s fixtures (97.8%), while England’s average attacking ruck speed of 2.56 seconds was the quickest of any team last time out.
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Scotland (5/5) and England (8/8) were two of three sides not to lose a single scrum on their own put-in during the opening round of this year’s Championship (also France, 3/3).
Sarah Rendell – our eyes and ears on the ground today – has written a couple of banging pieces focussing on Scotland.
The first is a report from inside the Scottish camp as a contract dispute continues to bubble in the background:
The next is a preview looking ahead to this ‘landmark’ game:
England team
A trio of injured players – scrum-half Natasha Hunt, lock Morwenna Talling and back-rower Alex Matthews – who copped blows against Ireland, are unavailable.
Lucky for John Mitchell, his team is stacked with immense depth in every position.
Lucy Packer starts at 9 with a shuffle in the back row. Demelza Short makes her Red Roses debut in the 6 jersey with the aggressive Maddi Feaunati slotting in at the back of the pack.
Ellie Kildunne – who wasn’t quite at the races last week – shifts to wing as the impressive Emma Sing gets a shot at fullback.
Helena Rowland will play the creator at second receiver as the metronome that is Zoe Harrison will run things at 10.
England: Emma Sing; Jess Breach, Megan Jones (c), Helena Rowland, Ellie Kildunne; Zoe Harrison, Lucy Packer; Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne, Maud Muir, Abi Burton, Lilli Ives Campion, Demelza Short, Sadia Kabeya, Maddie Feaunati.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Sarah Bern, Haineala Lutui, Marlie Packer, Flo Robinson, Holly Aitchison, Mia Venner.
Scotland team
Just one change to the team that did the business against Wales.
Evi Willis moves into midfield, replacing Emma Orr at outside centre.
The pack remains the same while Francesca McGhie and Rachel McLachlan occupy the bench having missed out on the match-day 23 last week.
Scotland: Chloe Rollie; Rhona Lloyd, Evie Willis, Meryl Smith, Shona Campbell; Helen Nelson, Leia Brebner-Holden; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Elliann Clarke, Emma Wassell, Hollie Cunningham, Rachel Maclolm (c), Alex Stewart. Emily Coubrough.
Replacements: Elis Martin, Demi Swann, Molly Poolman, Holland Bogan, Rachel McLachlan, Rianna Darroch, Lucia Scott, Francesca McGhie.
Preamble
Hi everyone! Welcome to the second round of the 2026 Women’s Six Nations.
England have travelled north of the border in search of a 25th consecutive win over Scotland in the competition. And you wouldn’t bet against them, would you?
Scotland, though, will believe in miracles after they snatched a dramatic victory over Wales last week. Sure, this is a whole different kettle of fish. But momentum can play out in interesting ways in sport and, well, you never know. Right?
Oval Insights – a supercomputer of sorts, for those in the back – has predicted an English win by 35 points and give the visitors a 95% chance of leaving with all the marbles.
I guess it’s a question of how many today. But still plenty to play for as the improving Scots could show what they’re about with a performance to be proud of.
We’ll find out how they get on when things kick off at 1:30pm
Teams and other updates to come.
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