Leicester Tigers: Steward; Watson, Kelly, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Heyes; Wells, Chessum; Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Joussain, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Wand.

Sin-bin: Reffell (13), Pollard (44).

Northampton Saints: Furbank; Ramm, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Freeman; F Smith, McParland; Iyogun, Langdon, Millar Mills; Mayanavanua, Munga; Kemeny, Scott-Young, Graham.

Replacements: R Smith, West, Davison, Thornbury, Pearson, Pollock, Garside, Sleightholme.

Sin-bin: Langdon (31), Pearson (59)

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway, it is a track where the Air Jordan paint scheme first won with Kurt Busch. Tyler Reddick has since won (at Talladega) with the Jumpman logo on the hood.

Which makes one think, now that he has driven for 23XI Racing — co-owned by Michael Jordan — for the past couple of years, what type of shoe game does Tyler Reddick have?

Here’s Reddick talking a little bit about sneakers with FOX Sports:

Since you race for Michael Jordan, I’m curious about your history with sneakers. Like, were you a big shoe guy before?

I like shoes, but I went to the dirt track and lived in a hauler. The hauler was dirty. The track’s muddy. That’s just no place for Jordans to be, honestly, if you really cared about wearing it more than a month. So I didn’t have a grand collection, that’s for sure. But we race asphalt everywhere we go now. We had that one dirt race, It’s been nice to know the only time I have to worry about what I’ve got on my feet is when I get out of the plane or walk to the rental car in the grass lot. Other than that, I know I can, for the most part, keep my shoes pretty clean.

Do you pay a lot more attention to shoes now that you drive for MJ?

I always did pay attention to shoes. But it’s just been really fun to … probably my favorite brand of shoe was Jordans. And now I get to just stockpile them. I’ve got many choices when it comes to what color I’m going to wear that day with what I have on the car, or what I’m feeling like wearing to the shop, or whatever I’ve got going on. Between the highs and lows, I’ve got plenty of options for summer and winter.

So do friends ask you now for shoes?

They have, yeah. Trying to figure out what I can put where and who can get what is a task.

Do you go back and forth like, I can give them, no, I should keep them. Or how do you balance it?

Anything I get shipment-wise, I’m keeping all of it because it’s my size. But, if I’m ever looking around and see a shoe that I like, but they don’t have it in my size, I try and think, “OK, who’s that size?” And decide if I’m going to get it or not.

I guess then not many people have your size of shoe?

I think the 9 is normal. The 9s are hardly ever in stock. Size 9, I feel like it’s kind of in that window of shoes that are hard to find.

And so how many shoes do you have? Do you have a storage space for shoes at home?

I’m out of storage space. I’ve got to take my workout/storage room and turn it into a shoe room. That’ll be fun.

It’s pretty wild? 

Yeah, you would think my wife would have all the shoes. But it’s actually me that has all the shoes.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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NEYMAR left fans in stitches after he bizarrely appeared in the ring behind Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn as they faced off.

The boxing rivals came face-to-face after Eubank‘s seventh round KO win over Kamil Szeremeta.

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There were heated scenes as Benn then stepped into the ring.

They were then seen facing off with one another, with football superstar Neymar making a surprise appearance in the background.

Eubank was seen putting his hand on the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain stars shoulder and saying: “This is my boy, we’re coming for you.”

Benn then replied in Spanish, with Eubank asking Neymar to translate before he whispered in his ear.

But the 32-year-old’s appearance, seemingly as a makeshift ref-come translator left fans confused.

It prompted one fan on social media to ask: “Nah why is Neymar acting as the referee for the face off?”

A second said: “HAHAHAHAHA WHAT?”

A third added: “Why is Neymar in the ring hosting a face off between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn????”

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Another said: “Neymar in the middle of Connor Benn and Chris Eubank JR like the promoter of the fight is killing me.”

A fifth said: “Neymar mediating a face off between Chris Eubank Jr & Conor Benn… 12 words you never thought you’d read in one sentence.”

SunSport’s own boxing reporter Chisanga Malata said: “Neymar squaring off Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr – after translating Benn’s Spanish trash talk – is an utterly, utterly bizarre scene.”

The UFC will close its 2024 pay-per-view-schedule with a championship doubleheader.

UFC CEO Dana White announced on Saturday that UFC 310 on Dec. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) will feature two title fights.

In the main event, Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) will put his welterweight title on the line for the first time against the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

And it’s not often a fighter will make his or her UFC debut in a title fight, but that’s what former RIZIN champion Kai Asakura (21-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will do when he challenges flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the co-headliner.

Muhammad, 35, claimed the 170-pound belt in July when he outworked Leon Edwards to a unanimous decision in their UFC 304 rematch. He is currently riding a 12-fight unbeaten streak.

Rakhmonov, 30, has been tearing through the competition inside the octagon as he sports a perfect record with a 100 percent finish rate. He hasn’t fought since December 2023, however, when he earned a submission win over Stephen Thompson at UFC 296.

Asakura, 30, signed with the UFC in June. He became a star in Japan through Road FC and eventually into RIZIN, which he competed in from 2017-2023. Asakura went 13-3 for the promotion with wins over notables including Kyoji Horiguchi and Juan Archuleta, both of whom he finished with strikes.

Predominantly a bantamweight throughout his career, Asakura will drop down a weight class for his UFC title bout.

Pantoja aims to successfully defend his title for the third time. Since a title challenge win over Brandon Moreno in July 2023, Pantoja has won back-to-back defenses against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg by unanimous decision. He rides a six-fight winning streak into this matchup.

The latest UFC 310 lineup now includes:

• Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov – for welterweight title
• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – for flyweight title
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque
• Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
• Virna Jandiroba vs. Tatiana Suarez
• Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
• Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
• Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van

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

Whereas Wigan were freescoring in their play-off semi-final win over borough rivals Leigh last week, Saturday’s Grand Final was a more cautious affair.

Hull KR thought they had got on the board first with a cool finish in front of their fans from Man of Steel Lewis, but the score was chalked off after replays showed Tyrone May knocked on in the build-up.

Wigan were temporarily depleted when young second rower Junior Nsemba left the field for a head injury assessment after taking a heavy tackle from James Batchelor.

Yet despite the impressive forward’s absence, Wigan wasted no time in seizing the initiative as French scored his second stunning try in as many matches after his epic touchdown against Leigh last week, the stand-off picking up possession just past halfway and going through in sensational style.

Showing just how tight the game was, Peet’s side took no chances as Smith dinked a drop-goal through the posts on the half-time hooter just to edge Wigan further in front at the break.

With so much at stake, it was unsurprising that Lewis cannoned what should have been a straightforward penalty goal off the posts and through just before the hour mark.

The Cherry and Whites really should have wrapped up the win with just over 15 minutes left when Jake Wardle was sent through into the corner, but he was brought to ground by some sensational try-saving defence from Ryan Hall and lost possession of the ball before he could reach the line.

But a late penalty, successfully kicked by Keighran in front of a wall of a vociferous and noisy Robins fans, wrapped up a remarkable fourth trophy of 2024 to cap off a season unheard of in the past quarter of a century.

More to follow.