Previous changes to the rulebook surrounding contestable high balls now mean the player collecting is less protected as teammates are now unable to escort opponents, being penalised if they do so.

World Rugby has confirmed no new law changes will occur following the conclusion of the annual Shape of the Game summit.

Previous changes to the rulebook surrounding contestable high balls now mean the player collecting is less protected as teammates are now unable to escort opponents, being penalised if they do so.

Irish wing James Lowe said the move has “brought a bit of a different dynamic to the game”, while on a separate note, the French Rugby Federation have expressed their worries over the depowering of scrums.

But World Rugby chair Dr Brett Robinson and World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin both said neither issue had been discussed during the week and that there were no plans to alter how both elements of the game are currently officiated.

On the issue of the high ball, Gilpin said: “Those changes have obviously made more of a contest for the ball in the air. Player safety is still vital in that space so we’re going to remain vigilant around the safety aspect and what that contest in the air looks like. But there’s been a broad appreciation for the changes, the players have adapted brilliantly, and it’s opened up space in the game, so there’s no desire to change anything.”

It had been reported in France that Australia and New Zealand were in favour of minimising the influence of scrums in matches but Robinson allayed fears of any imminent alterations at the set piece.

He added: “There’s be in no way any discussions about depowering the scrum. The principles of contest, and the primacy of contest is everything; the principles of all body shapes and sizes being able to take part. We had John Eales in the room this week towering over people, and we need a game that enables us all to be able to participate. That contest is at the heart of things.”

Gilpin and Robinson were speaking during a wide-ranging press conference during the Shape of the Game week, where an agreement has been made to focus more on the fan experience and a greater alignment in the application of law by officials at every level of the game.

Other topics of discussion looked at how better to celebrate the sport and how to continue the growth of the women’s game.

Robinson said: “The feedback from around the world is that the game on the field is broadly in a positive place. We’ve been guilty in the past of being too keen to play and tinker with laws. The message this week is to focus on better explaining, selling and celebrating our sport in what is an ever more competitive environment.

“Our heritage and our values are strengths, and so too is our capacity to innovate. By continuing to enhance the rugby experience – how we present the game, how we tell our stories, how we connect with fans and how we protect our players – we will futureproof the sport and unlock even greater global relevance and value.”

Peel Land has extended the public consultation period on its proposed development masterplan for land at Gibfield Park, between Daisy Hill and the Wigan Road area of Atherton, for a further two weeks and announced plans for an online webinar.

The non-statutory pre-planning application consultation being held by Peel Land will now run for a further two weeks until Monday, March 9.

The emerging plans have seen many nearby residents voice opposition.

Peel said that they had already received ‘more than 500 representations’.

Amanda Coleman

A campaign group ‘Say No To Gibfield Park Development Plans’ are strongly opposed to the plans.

Last week group member Amanda Coleman, said: “For decades, it has been a place residents find solace amidst the rush of daily life and wildlife flourishes.

“But now, we are at risk of losing this precious space to the relentless march of development.

“Concrete jungles are spreading like wildfire across Greater Manchester and Atherton is no exception. “The planned development on Gibfield Park not only threatens our community’s health and well-being but also obliterates one of the few remaining areas where nature is allowed to flourish. This is unacceptable.”

An online webinar will be held on Tuesday, March 3 with interested parties able sign up to attend via the website. Attendees will be able to hear more about the proposals and direct questions to the project team.

Land west of Gibfield is included in the Places for Everyone Plan, adopted by Wigan Council in 2024.

Within the plan, the land is allocated for the development of 500 homes and up to 45,500sqm of employment space, proposals that would support the

development of part of a new link road to Junction 5 of the M61.

The developer said the masterplan also includes the creation of a new country park with wildlife habitat enhancements on an area of land between Atherton and Westhoughton, which will remain within the green belt.

A Peel Land spokesman, said: “We’ve already had more than 500 representations via the different communication channels, and would like to thank those who have engaged with the consultation process so far.

“We have been asked if the consultation period can be extended and are keen to capture as many views as possible on our proposals, so we have therefore decided to extend the consultation period by a further fortnight to four weeks.”

Following the masterplan consultation, feedback will be reviewed and the masterplan will be finalised taking account of issues raised and then submitted to the council for approval.

Once approved, it will then be a material consideration in future planning applications, which will also be subject to further public consultation on the details.

More information can be found at https://gibfieldpark.consultationonline.co.uk/.

Residents will find a link to register for the webinar on the website.

After the standard vows to stand up for her community, the plumber-turned-parliamentarian apologised to her customers who may need drains clearing or leaks fixing.

“Now, to my customers, I’m sorry, but I think I might have to cancel the work that you have booked in, because I’m heading to Parliament,” joked Ms Spencer, who becomes the Green Party’s fifth MP.

“And when I get there, I will make space for everyone doing jobs like mine.

“We will finally get a seat at the table.”

Born in Bolton, the lifelong Greater Manchester resident joined the Green Party in 2022, and became a councillor the following year.

She left school at 16 and studied a technical certificate at Bolton College before training for a national vocational qualification (NVQ) in plumbing with a housing trust.

While serving on Trafford Council, Ms Spencer ran as the Green Party candidate in the 2024 mayoral election in Greater Manchester.

The Gorton and Denton by-election was her second bid to become an MP after she finished fifth in Warrington North in the 2024 general election.

At 34, she is the Green Party’s youngest MP.

Ms Spencer now lives in Trafford and in her work as a plumber retrofitted houses to make them more energy efficient.

During her by-election campaign she was also training to be a plasterer.

“I didn’t grow up wanting to be a politician,” she said in her victory speech on Friday.

“I’m a plumber, and two weeks ago, during all this, I also qualified as a plasterer, because even in chaos, even under pressure, I get things done.”

Ms Spencer supported Zack Polanski in his bid to become the Green Party leader last year, and in September was appointed the party’s migration and refugee support spokeswoman.

She has campaigned against greyhound racing and has four rescue greyhounds, which she took with her on parts of the campaign trail.

Celebrating her 4,402 majority after she secured 14,980 votes, Ms Spencer said: “We have shown that we don’t have to accept being turned against each other at all, and we did this with the people who live here, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, just as we have always done in this constituency and in the whole of Greater Manchester, because this is Manchester, and we do things differently here.”

In her emotional victory speech, she said people were being “bled dry” and were “sick of our hard work making other people rich”.

A free playtest for Bungie’s Marathon has launched to strong numbers across Steam and Twitch, as the developer vows to fix ‘loose ends’ before launch.

The development of Bungie’s Marathon has been tumultuous to say the least, between delays, stolen art controversies, and studio layoffs, but that hasn’t deterred people from giving it a shot.

The extraction shooter, from the studio behind Destiny and Halo, launched a Server Slam playtest on Thursday (February 26) across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. While the game will cost £34.99 when it launches on March 5, this test is free for everyone until Monday March 2 at 6pm GMT.

The success of any live service title is dependent on its ability to retain players beyond its early honeymoon period, but the early signs for Marathon are positive, based on interest in the Server Slam.

The most positive indicator is the position of Marathon on Steam’s top sellers list in the US. As of February 27, the shooter is the third highest selling game on Valve’s storefront, behind only Resident Evil Requiem and Counter-Strike 2 (and so ahead of Arc Raiders).

Most notably, it’s jumped up 58 places over the past week, so clearly people are putting in pre-orders amid the Server Slam. It’s a slightly different picture if you switch to the UK top sellers on Steam, with Marathon in seventh, but it’s still a decent position.

Over on Twitch, it’s positive too. At the time of writing, Marathon has over 33K viewers, which is higher than Arc Raiders (26.4K), Fortnite (19.7K), and Minecraft (24.4K). So, it’s only below Overwatch, League Of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Valorant.

As they are both extraction shooters, Marathon’s success is inevitably going to be measured against Arc Raiders. As per SteamDB, Marathon’s concurrent peak player count is 143,621, which is quite far below Arc Raiders’ peak at 481,966 players.

Even if you compare them on their 24-hour peak numbers, Arc Raiders is still higher at 183,197, while Marathon sits at 143,621. It’s important to reaffirm, Marathon’s Server Slam is free right now, whereas Arc Raiders, which costs £32.99, achieved its highest player peak in January this year, several months after it launched in October.

There’s every chance Marathon could soar in popularity when it fully launches and beyond, just like Arc Raiders, but it’s not a common trajectory for most live service games, so we’ll have to see if it can maintain momentum.

At the very least, Bungie has been responding to complaints in quick fashion. Just a few hours after the Server Slam launched, the developer posted a list of issues which it is looking to address, including a confusing user interface, laggy mouse input, and performance woes.

‘Thanks to all of your feedback, we’ve got crucial intel that will help us make updates during the Slam and tie up any loose ends as we continue towards March 5,’ Bungie wrote on X.

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Asif Vali, 56, was jailed at Bolton Crown Court on Thursday (February 26) for a string of sex offences committed over a decade ago.

He denied all the charges, which were two counts of exposure, two counts of sexual assault and a single count of assault by penetration.

After a three-day trial, a jury found him guilty of the offences which were committed against a woman in Bolton in 2013.

They also found Vali, of Hill Cot Road in Astley Bridge, had performed sexual acts on himself in front of her “on more than one occasion”.

In what the court heard was “the leading offence”, Vali had sexually assaulted her in February of 2013 but she threw a cup of coffee over him before escaping.

Asif Vali (Image: GMP)

Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said Vali had “all the trappings of a successful life” and had “developed some standing in the local community”.

At the time of the offences, Vali was the manager of boxing champion and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan.

Judge Clarke said: “You began by sending sexualised messages to her – she made it clear in her replies your advances weren’t welcome, but your sexual behaviour became worse.”

He called Vali’s behaviour “disgusting” and said his sexual advances were “both unwelcome and offensive to her”.

He said: “This was the most disgusting behaviour – unfortunately she was afraid of you and felt unable to report it.

“She knows what you know – that she offered you no encouragement at all.

“Hopefully these proceedings will bring some closure knowing that she has been listened to, heard and believed.”

Manchester United host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, with Michael Carrick hoping to welcome one player to his matchday squad

Manchester United will be looking to make it six wins from seven games under the guidance of interim head coach Michael Carrick when they host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. United are back in action on Sunday afternoon (2pm).

The match comes just six days after they got back to winning ways with a 1-0 away victory over Everton. Benjamin Sesko’s 71st-minute goal was enough to separate the two sides. That result saw United open up a three-point gap to both Chelsea and Liverpool in fifth and sixth place.

The injury situation at Old Trafford is also looking better compared to the start of the season. With that in mind, here’s a look at the latest news from the treatment room at Carrington.

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Patrick Dorgu

Injury: Hamstring

The full-back has been unavailable for the last four Premier League games due to a hamstring injury suffered in the win over Arsenal last month. But there is hope that he could be back soon, with Denmark head coach Brian Riemer saying that there is a chance that he could be back for next month’s World Cup play-offs.

What Carrick has said: “Pat, unfortunately, he’s going to be out for a period of time. We’re still working through how long that’s going to be. We weren’t sure whether it was a little bit of cramp or whether it was something a little bit more serious, and at the moment, it looks a little bit more on the serious note.”

Possible return date: Vs Leeds United (H), April 11.

Matthijs de Ligt

Injury: Back

The defender has been out of action since the end of November with a back injury, with him missing the last 15 games in all competitions.

What Carrick has said: “Matthijs, he’s had a back issue, which has been a little bit slower to progress, really. It’s something we’ve been working through, and he’s getting there. He’s in the right direction, but, as I said, he’s just a little bit further behind.

“It’s one of those things that’s disappointing, but it’s just a part of football, unfortunately, so we’ll get him back when we can.

“It’s just the nature of the injury and the issue in the back. It’s a difficult one to pin down, especially time-wise. He’s definitely improving, so that’s a good thing, and we’re just working towards that really. There’s not much more I can give at this stage.”

Possible return date: Unknown

Mason Mount

Injury: Knock

The midfielder has missed the last four Premier League games with a knock but is closing in on a return to action.

What Carrick has said: “Mason is getting closer, really. He’s on the grass and he’s getting closer, he’s looking to train and be in around it pretty soon.

“He’s getting close. He’s just had to be patient really and he’s a big player, so we’re looking after him, making sure he’s ready for a big finish to the season.”

Possible return date: Vs Aston Villa (H), March 15.

Lisandro Martinez

Injury: Knock

The centre-back was not included in the squad for Monday night’s Premier League win over Everton, having previously started the last nine league games. It’s reported that the issue is only minor and he could make a quick return.

What Carrick has said: “Unfortunately, he just picked up something during the week. It doesn’t seem too bad at all, but we’re just kind of working through that at the moment, so he’s not available tonight.”

Possible return date: Vs Crystal Palace (H), March 1.

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NASA said Friday it’s adding an extra moon mission by Artemis astronauts before attempting a high-risk lunar landing with a crew.

The shake-up in the flight lineup and push for a faster pace came just two days after NASA’s new moon rocket returned to its hangar for more repairs and a safety panel warned the space agency to scale back its overly ambitious goals for humanity’s first lunar landing in more than half a century.

Artemis II — a lunar fly-around by four astronauts — is off until at least April because of rocket problems.

The follow-up mission — Artemis III — had been targeting a landing near the moon’s south pole by another pair of astronauts a year or two later. But with long gaps between flights and concern growing over the readiness of a lunar lander and moonwalking suits, NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman announced that mission would instead focus on launching a lunar lander into orbit around Earth for docking practice by Orion capsule astronauts in 2027.

The new plan calls for a moon landing — potentially even two moon landings — by astronauts in 2028.

“This is going to be our pathway back to the moon,” Isaacman said.

The first Artemis test flight was plagued by hydrogen fuel leaks and helium flow problems before liftoff without a crew in 2022, the same things that struck the Space Launch System rocket on the pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center earlier this month.

Isaacman stressed that “it should be incredibly obvious” that three years between flights is unacceptable and that he’d like to get it down to one year or even less.

During NASA’s storied Apollo program, he said, astronauts’ first flight to the moon was followed by two more missions before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. What’s more, he said, the Apollo moonshots followed one another in quick succession, just as the earlier Projects Mercury and Gemini had rapid flight rates, sometimes coming just a few months apart.

“No one here at NASA forgot their history books,” Issacman said. “We shouldn’t be comfortable with the current cadence. We should be getting back to basics and doing what we know works.”

To pick up the pace and reduce risk, NASA will standardize Space Launch System moon rockets moving forward, Isaacman said.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel recommended this week that NASA revise its objectives for Artemis III “given the demanding mission goals.” It’s urgent the space agency do that, the panel said, if the United States hopes to safely return astronauts to the moon. Isaacman said the revised Artemis flight plan addresses the panel’s concerns and is supported by industry and the Trump administration.

___

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Police are appealing for anyone with information about the crash to come forward

A woman has died following a two-car crash in south east Wales. Emergency services were called to reports of a collision on the B4293 between the villages of Itton and Devauden, near Chepstow, Monmouthshire, at around 5.55pm on Thursday.

The Welsh Ambulance Service and officers from Gwent Police attended the incident which involved a Nissan Micra and a Range Rover.

The driver of the Nissan Micra, a 54-year-old woman from Cwmbran, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family have been informed, the force said in a statement on Friday.

Gwent Police is appealing for anyone with relevant information, including CCTV or dashcam footage, to contact the police force via its website, call 101 or send a message on the Facebook or X social media pages, quoting log reference 2600061951.

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