Wales captain Hannah Jones joined the other home nations’ captains at the draw which was live on BBC’s The One Show on Thursday night.

“It’s a really exciting group, we know Canada is going to be one of the favourites going in, so that will be a really good, challenging game,” Jones told BBC Sport.

“Scotland is always close, me and Rachel [Malcolm] were talking before the show, we played them at the last world cup, and we were like maybe it might be again.

“And then Fiji, I’ve never played Fiji before, so that’s quite exciting. I watched them play against Scotland a couple of weeks ago with the offloading game, so it’s a different type of rugby and I’m excited to play that game.”

Two teams from each pool will progress to the knockout stages and Jones is hopeful Wales can make it to the last eight.

“It’s really exciting, you never know what’s going to happen in a Rugby World Cup,” she added.

Jamahal Hill takes umbrage with those who think Khalil Rountree can beat him.

Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) put up a valiant effort in his title loss to light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira earlier this month at UFC 307. Rountree won the first two rounds, before getting battered and finished in the fourth round.

In his most recent outing, Hill (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) suffered a first-round knockout loss to Pereira at UFC 300 in April. He was scheduled to face Rountree at UFC 303 in June, but withdrew due to injury. His performance against Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) drew comparisons to Rountree’s, but Hill is confident that he would handily beat Rountree if they ever fought.

“The way that Pereira beat Khalil, for one – Pereira couldn’t beat me fighting that way,” Hill told Sportskeeda. “And two, that’s how I would’ve beat Khalil from the jump. He would’ve gotten beat like that even earlier in the fight. Pieced up with hands? Come on, bro. That’s what I do. People got recency bias and things like that. If anybody thinks that Khalil is on my level, let’s see him go and win a fight because he’s not even – we’re not even in the same bracket right now.

“He got a title shot just because he was an easy mark for the champ, he’s a favorable matchup for the champ. He’s No. 8, coming off a loss. I’m in the top five. He’s got to get a win before he gets up and before that’s even a thing. And if he does get a win, and that ever does materialize to be a thing, anybody who thinks he can beat me, bet $1 million on it. Bet your house on it. Real talk. I bet nobody going to bet nothing that they really want to lose on that. Nobody’s taking that bet.”

Hill revealed that he already signed a contract for his next fight. “Sweet Dreams” didn’t announce the opponent, but with former title challenger Jiri Prochazka also recently signing a contract, many are speculating it could be him.

FURIOUS Frank Warren has slammed accusations Fabio Wardley shattered Frazer Clarke’s face with dodgy gloves.

Clarke, 33, needed emergency Saudi Arabian surgery to rewire his smashed jaw following a brutal first round KO defeat in Saturday’s British and Commonwealth heavyweight title rematch.

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His promoter Ben Shalom claims Wardley’s customised 10oz Fly gloves are being investigated after British Boxing Board of Control’s medical chief Neil Scott likened Clarke’s injury to being hit with a BRICK.

Shalom said: “A doctor told me there’s no way in hell any boxing glove should be able to inflict that level of damage.

“It’s an ongoing process, something we are looking at, to see how these customised gloves are different.

“We were warned repeatedly by Frazer’s team about what gloves could be used.”

It’s a disgrace Shalom has tried to tarnish Fabio’s win and reputation with such a dangerous suggestion

Frank WarrenFabio Wardley’s Promoter

However, Warren, 72, stormed: “Frazer was a gentleman all week and has praised Fabio’s brilliant performance.

“The only person who has mentioned any suggestion of impropriety is Ben.

“It’s a disgrace Shalom has tried to tarnish Fabio’s win and reputation with such a dangerous suggestion.

“The British Boxing Board of Control checks and approves all gloves at the Friday meeting – which is filmed these days – and no issues were raised.

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“I will be taking Shalom to the Board for bringing the sport into disrepute with this libellous allegation and questioning the integrity of the Board and everybody involved in the Riyadh show.”

Warren’s ruthless reply was to comments Shalom had given to the Sportsman Boxing youtube channel, claiming: “There was a lot of talk during the week as to the gloves that were being worn by Fabio Wardley.

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“A doctor said to me that there’s no way in hell any boxing glove should be able to have that level of damage.

“It’s an ongoing process, but during the week we were warned repeatedly by Frazer’s team about what gloves could be used.”

A spokesperson for the BBBofC told SunSport: “There is no investigation. The gloves were approved.”

Formula 1 is to drop the award of a bonus point for fastest lap from the 2025 season.

The decision, made by the world motorsports council of governing body the FIA, comes in the wake of a controversy over RB’s Daniel Ricciardo taking the point away from title contender Lando Norris in the last race in Singapore.

RB are the sister outfit of Red Bull, whose driver Max Verstappen is in a championship battle with McLaren’s Norris.

Verstappen is facing an increasing threat from Briton Norris, who has cut the Dutchman’s drivers’ championship lead to 52 points.

The bonus point is only awarded to a driver who finishes in the top 10 so Ricciardo, who finished 18th in Singapore, did not get the extra point.

You can say Shavkat Rakhmonov has a certain “aura” or call him the “boogeyman” of the division – Belal Muhammad is ready to shut all that down.

At UFC 310, Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) puts his recently acquired 170-pound title on the line against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov. It’s a quick turnaround, as Muhammad won the belt at UFC 304 in July by soundly winning a unanimous decision over Leon Edwards.

Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is viewed as one of the scariest fighters in the division, if not the entirety of the sport. He’s fearless and aggressive, and has never needed the judges to determine the winner of a fight. However, Muhammad believes Rakhmonov hasn’t been in there with someone like him, who can force him into difficult situations.

“He’s mentally tough, he’s mentally strong, and if it comes down to grit for grit, he’s going to beat a lot of these guys based off of his toughness and his will to win,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “Now you’re going against someone with a stronger will. Now you’re going against somebody that’s  tougher. Now you’re going against somebody that won’t back down, won’t fold.

“So now, it’s how he’s going to react now, and I don’t think that he’s really had to face that type of adversity in the UFC yet. He really hasn’t. He’s always been in the lead. Now he’s going to be falling behind. Now you’re going to be getting to later rounds. Now when it starts getting tougher and you can’t breathe, and you’re getting tired and this is not working, and that’s not working, how do you make your adjustments?”

The champ says he’s been through those trials and tribulations under the bright lights already, so he’s prepared for those moments. To his point, Rakhmonov has not been scheduled for a five-round fight in the UFC. In fact, he’s only reached Round 3 once, in a Fight of the Night against Geoff Neal last March.

Muhammad doesn’t like the assumption that just because Rakhmonov hasn’t been into deep waters, he can’t perform well.

“I just think that he doesn’t get tired, this, this and this – he hasn’t been in front of me,” Muhammad said. “No matter who you are, who’s in front of me, you’re going to get tired fighting me. I don’t care what your path was like, what your cardio regiment is, I’m a different fighter. I’m a different pace than anybody you’ve ever seen.”

Muhammad believes he will present new challenges for his undefeated opponent. He’s confident his approach and his experience as a perennial underdog will carry him to victory against another undefeated opponent that some see as unbeatable.

Just like Sean Brady, who was undefeated before Muhammad got a hold of him in 2022, the champ sees a path to putting a blemish on another pristine record.

“We see weaknesses in these guys,” Muhammad said. “He may have a zero next to his name, but we see holes. That’s what we see in those zeros, those are the holes that we see, and we’re going to walk through those holes.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.