Exeter defence coach Omar Mouneimne has left the club in the wake of their worst-ever start to a Premiership season.

The Chiefs, who have lost all six of their games this season, have parted company with the 49-year-old former Worcester and Bristol coach.

The South African has been at Sandy Park since leaving the Bears in 2022 and will be succeeded by Haydn Thomas.

The former Exeter scrum-half has been University of Exeter and England U20s on top of his role as a backs and attack coach at Sandy Park.

He is also part of the England ‘A’ coaching setup.

This season Exeter have conceded the fourth-most points in the Premiership after six matches, at an average of 29 per game.

They were the first side to lose to Newcastle in 15 months when they were beaten at Kingston Park earlier this month, while at times Harlequins cut through Exeter’s defence seemingly at will in their bonus-point win at Sandy Park on Saturday.

“I would like to thank Omar for his hard work in helping us develop a new and transitional young group of players into a competitive Premiership squad,” director of rugby Rob Baxter said.

“However, I felt we needed to head in a new direction defensively and after some conversations between Omar and I, we agreed now was the right time for a change.”

Joaquin Buckley has never been one to hold his tongue, and he’s making sure his name is in the mix as a potential opponent for Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.

Originally, UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was to face the undefeated Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the main event on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, a toe injury has forced Muhammad out of the pay-per-view date.

While the promotion has not yet announced a plan to replace the fight, rumors have begun flying, including the thought that an interim title could be created.

Ian Machado Garry has been a popular name in discussion, but Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) believes he has a solid case to be inserted into the potential fight at UFC 310.

“Hey look, I’ma let you finish, but I got something to say,” Buckley started on an Instagram video, cutting in on a post-fight news conference video of Machado Garry talking about facing Rakhmonov. “Nobody want to see that fight. People want to see knockouts. People want to see finishes, and that’s exactly what we finna bring.

“Me vs. Shavkat. He got 18 finishes, 10 subs, eight knockouts. And your boy, I got 14 knockouts, and I just knocked out my last two ranked opponents. So what you think I’m finna to do to this dude?”

Buckley is currently running hot on a five-fight winning streak, undefeated since moving to welterweight last May. Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is undefeated in his entire pro career, although he has fewer knockout victories than Buckley.

“Hey UFC, this is the fight that y’all got to make,” Buckley said. “Like I told y’all, I’m coming to take the throne, and I ain’t playing.”

In his last outing at UFC 307, “New Mansa” knocked out former title challenger Stephen Thompson in the third round. During his post-fight interview, he called out former champion Kamaru Usman.

MAX VERSTAPPEN has snapped back at Damon Hill by roaring: “I’m a three-time world champion who knows what I am doing.”

Hill, who won a world title with ­Williams in 1996, accused Verstappen of acting like Wacky Races villain Dick Dastardly. 

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Seething Verstappen, 27, has hit out at his “biased” and “very annoying” critics after eyebrows were raised over his driving style after a 20-SECOND penalty for forcing title rival Lando Norris off twice in Mexico last weekend.

Hill described the F1 Red Bull driver as “daft and like Dick Dastardly”.

And he questioned whether Verstappen was capable of driving fairly.

But ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen responded: “I don’t listen to those individuals.

“I just do my thing. I am a three-time world champion. It is my tenth year in Formula One.

“I know what I am doing. Some people are being very annoying, and I don’t pay attention to them.” 

Norris trails Verstappen by 47 points in the title race with 120 to race for after the Brit came second and the world champ sixth in Mexico City.

Verstappen is due to serve a five-place grid drop for Sunday’s race in Sao Paulo for changing engine parts.

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Norris and Verstappen had been best pals on the grid.

But the pair have not spoken since Mexico.

McLaren driver Norris said: “It’s not for me to speak to him. I’m not his teacher, I’m not his mentor.

“Max knows he did wrong. Deep down he does. And it’s for him to change, not for me.”

🏁 Complete F1 2024 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix and start time this year 🏁

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F1 2025 grid

Here are the confirmed driver line ups for the F1 2025 season so far:

Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli

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McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll

Williams: Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz

Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg and TBC

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Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan

RB: Yuki Tsunoda and TBC

Haas: Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon

Leicester boss Amandine Miquel has confirmed that Noemie Mouchon will miss the rest of the season after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Mouchon, who joined Leicester from Reims in July, sustained the injury in training.

The 21-year-old is the fourth player in the Women’s Super League to suffer an ACL injury this season after Everton duo Aurora Galli and Inma Gabarro, and Liverpool’s Sofie Lundgaard.

“We weren’t sure straight away, but we have now assessed the injury to Noemie Mouchon. It’s probably the longest injury she could have,” Miquel said on Thursday.

“We can’t say a time right now but she’ll be out for the season.”

While everyone in the MMA space has had their say about the upcoming UFC heavyweight title fight at UFC 309, Stipe Miocic has laid low, preparing for the biggest fight of his career.

On Nov. 16, Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) will return to the octagon for the first time in 1,330 days. It’s not just any return. It’s the return. The man who many consider to be the greatest MMA fighter ever, Jon Jones, will stand across from Miocic, who is regarded as the greatest heavyweight, inside the cage at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The UFC heavyweight title will be on the line in what could be the last fight for both Miocic and Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC).

“I’m excited, honestly,” Miocic said on “BS w/ Jake Paul.” “It’s finally here. It was supposed to happen last year, unfortunately an injury took it away, but here we are. We’re three weeks away. I’m ready, man. I’ve been pumped. I keep quiet. I focus on task at hand, just worry about my fight. That’s all I worry about.”

Throughout the discourse about the heavyweight title picture, Miocic has largely kept his head down working. The fight was initially set to occur last November at UFC 295, but Jones tore his pectoral muscle, delaying the fight.

As a replacement for the lost fight, Tom Aspinall was crowned interim champion by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall, who has felt like the odd man out as he’s been denied an opportunity to unify the title, went on to record a rare interim title defense by stopping Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.

Some believe Miocic, who returns from a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou, doesn’t deserve to fight for the title while Aspinall is on such a roll. The UFC decided that a “greatest vs. greatest” fight was the way to go and has stuck with it despite heavy criticism.

Meanwhile, Miocic has remained relatively quiet while preparing to defeat Jones, who became heavyweight champ by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 last March.

With the fight now just around the corner, Miocic is confident he will be able to take control of the fight, and won’t wait around to find out what type of gameplan Jones will bring.

“Jon Jones does a lot of things good, but I have great coaches, great teammates, and they make me prepared for whatever happens,” Miocic said. “I’m not going to wait for what he’s going to do, I’m going to do what I want to do.”

At 42, Miocic knows he doesn’t have many days left in the sport. However, he’s not ready to say UFC 309 will be his last walk to the octagon.

“I don’t know,” Miocic said when asked about retirement. “I say it after every fight, I think about retiring. So, we’ll see. Right now, I’m just worried about the fight, and I can worry about that after it until it happens.”

Kella was the winner of the second series of Channel Four’s talent show, The Piano. His debut single, Eve & Frank, is out now.

The 23-year-old self-taught classical pianist only started playing the instrument aged 13 and, before he turned to music, he was football-mad.

Kella grew up in Bootle on Merseyside and says there was never any question over who he would support.

“My whole family were Liverpool fans,” he told BBC Sport. “So, I was brought up a Red too.

“My favourite players when I was growing up were Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard – that was my era.

“I was too young to remember Istanbul [Liverpool’s legendary Champions League triumph] properly. I can remember all the fireworks going off afterwards, but it is only a vague memory.

“The highlight for me is more recent – the Barcelona game where we got beat 3-0 at the Nou Camp but then they came to Anfield in the second leg and we thrashed them 4-0. It was an incredible night.

“From that team I loved Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk – he was a massive standout at the back and is arguably the best defender in the world – but that whole team under Jurgen Klopp was just ridiculously good.”

Kella was invited to play at Anfield’s Legends Lounge before Liverpool’s first game of the season against Brentford, when he opened the club’s new trophy room and was given a signed shirt by legendary striker Ian Rush.

“That was just unbelievable,” Kella added. “But when I was there, I was speaking to a few people in there about Arne Slot, and how he had such big shoes to fill.

“I could not imagine anything more daunting than taking Klopp’s job straight after he left, but Slot has absolutely smashed it out of the park.

“We are not just winning games, either. The results have been great but we are playing good football too.”

Kella plays a lot less football himself these days but he was in action this week in a charity game at Bootle FC to raise money for Zoe’s Place, a baby hospice in West Derby which is at risk of closure because of a lack of funding.

“It’s massive for Liverpool that this facility stays open so the whole city is doing as much as possible to raise the funds,” he explained.

“I even wore blue on the day – never again, though!”

Chris Sutton and Brad Kella were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.