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Top rugby star told to retire immediately and ‘never play again’ after scans reveal brain injury diagnosis

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Top rugby star told to retire immediately and 'never play again' after scans reveal brain injury diagnosis

NEW ZEALAND women’s rugby international Grace Steinmetz has been forced into medical retirement at the age of 26.

Steinmetz was swiftly told that she could “never play again” after scans revealed a brain injury diagnosis.

Grace Steinmetz has been forced to retire from rugby

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Grace Steinmetz has been forced to retire from rugby
Brain scans meant that the 26-year-old had to hang up her boots

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Brain scans meant that the 26-year-old had to hang up her boots

She was capped three times by the Black Ferns after making her debut against Australia in 2022.

Steinmetz, who is the niece of former All-Black Paul Steinmetz, announced her retirement on Instagram.

She wrote: “Not how I pictured my rugby career coming to an end.

“Scans have come back showing a brain injury that means I need to hang the boots up, medically retire and never play rugby again.

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“Grateful that my health is still intact and we found out before it was too late.

“This game and the people within it have done so much for me, and I am super grateful for the last seven years I have had in this sport.

“Thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey and supported me along the way. I will understand one day.”

Steinmetz initially played for Wellington and in Japan in the sevens format before shifting to 15s rugby with Canterbury.

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Steinmetz is a qualified lawyer

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Steinmetz is a qualified lawyer

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She most recently joined Super League team Chiefs Manawa.

Head injuries are a serious issue in rugby, with a class action lawsuit currently underway from a group of British players.

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The players are claiming damages against the Welsh Rugby Union, Rugby Football Union and World Rugby for negligence, after they sustained brain damage through playing the sport.

Steinmetz is also a qualified barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.

She has established her own sports management agency, Athlete Advantage, and earned her real estate licence last year.

The natural full-back got engaged to fellow rugby star Rameka Poihipi earlier this year.

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Her fiance plays for the Maori All Blacks, which is often seen as a stepping stone to the All Blacks national team.

The couple, who will be married in December, met in Christchurch when Steinmetz was studying at the University of Canterbury.

Meanwhile, the Black Ferns face England on Sunday in the next match of their WXV1 campaign.

She is engaged to fellow rugby star Rameka Poihipi

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She is engaged to fellow rugby star Rameka Poihipi

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Ajaz Patel says Wankhede pitch could support defending small total on Day 3- The Week

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Ajaz Patel says Wankhede pitch could support defending small total on Day 3- The Week

Leading by 143 runs, New Zealand have just one wicket in hand but spinner Ajaz Patel is certain that life will not be easy even for Indian batters while chasing a small total on a Wankhede track that is deteriorating fast.

Ajaz Patel, who claimed 5/103 in India’s first innings, said how the third day will pan out will depend on how the wicket behaves in the first session.

“Whatever we score, we’re going to have to try and do our best to restrict India but it’ll be interesting to see how the wicket continues to play, Patel said when asked if New Zealand have enough on the board.

“It’s turning quite sharply, it’s inconsistent in terms of how much it does turn and bounce, but as a spinner it’s encouraging as well that you’re going to get something out of the surface and for batting it’s quite challenging,” he said.

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“It is certainly turning from both ends, it’s just the bounce is a little bit variable, so from a batting perspective that can be a challenge as well.”

Patel, though, said the pitch hasn’t been as favourable to the spinners in the morning.

“If we have seen the pattern in terms of the wicket, over the last couple of days in the morning, it probably doesn’t do as much as the afternoon.

“Whether that’s due to the rolling, or whether that’s due to the heat and the wicket drying up throughout the day, I’m unsure. It’ll be interesting to see how that wicket plays tomorrow morning, whether it kind of reacts the same way or whether it’s a little bit different.

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Patel heaped praise on Rishabh Pant, whose counter-attacking 60 nullified the advantage New Zealand had at one stage.

“I felt like I bowled really well but Rishabh batted exceptionally, he’s been phenomenal throughout this tour and he’s kind of the player that’s put pressure back on us, regardless of the situation.

“As long as you’re putting the ball in good areas and you have a good plan and a good set field, then it’s about him taking the option and he is being very, very good and taking the right options, he said.

Patel disagreed that New Zealand spinners have out-bowled the Indians but said they have grown collectively on this tour.

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“I don’t necessarily believe we’ve out-bowled the Indian spinners, the class of the Indian bowling attack is quite phenomenal… For us, as a spin bowling group, we’ve grown a lot and we can continue to show that everyone is quite capable, there’s a lot of communication between us and we make sure that we’re all aware of what the plan is at a certain given time,” he said. 

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Confusion as Peterborough awarded corner despite appearing to score

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Confusion as Peterborough awarded corner despite appearing to score



Watch the moment Peterborough United are awarded a corner despite appearing to have scored an equaliser against Newport County in the FA Cup first round.



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Motorsports

How Verstappen can seal a fourth F1 title in Las Vegas

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After his dominating display in winning the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, Max Verstappen could claim his fourth Formula 1 world championship in Las Vegas.

The Dutchman mastered the rain to storm from 17th on the grid to take the chequered flag and set the fastest lap in Sao Paulo, extending his lead in the drivers’ standings to 62 points.

Nearest challenger Lando Norris had an afternoon to forget as he slipped from pole position to finish sixth on a day when the McLaren driver would have been hoping to reel in Verstappen rather than fall further off the pace.

“From now, I just want clean races to the end. I’m not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever. I just want clean races,” Verstappen replied when asked about potentially sealing a fourth successive drivers’ title.

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In truth, after taking his first victory since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, Verstappen will no doubt be keen to wrap up the crown on the streets of Las Vegas on November 23rd.

With two races, two potential fastest laps and a sprint race to come after Vegas, there will be just 60 points available.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

That means Verstappen will join Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four F1 drivers’ championships if he wins the Las Vegas Grand Prix, repeating his success on the Strip last year.

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Indeed, Norris will need to outscore his rival by three points to keep his own slender title ambitions alive heading to Qatar, meaning a finish of eighth or below in Vegas for the Briton, without the fastest lap point, would see Verstappen crowned regardless of his own finishing position.

The Red Bull driver was an all-conquering champion last season but has had to watch as McLaren and Ferrari surpassed his team for speed and results this year.

Even so, the 27-year-old is now on the precipice of a fourth straight title, with only Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio having managed the feat previously – with Michael Schumacher clear on five consecutive championship successes between 2000 and 2004.

Verstappen will be champion in Vegas if:

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  • Verstappen finishes ahead of Norris
  • Norris is second and Verstappen is third with the fastest lap
  • Norris is third and Verstappen is fourth with the fastest lap
  • Norris is fourth and Verstappen is fifth
  • Norris is fifth and Verstappen is sixth
  • Norris is sixth and Verstappen is seventh
  • Norris is seventh and Verstappen is eighth 
  • Norris is eighth and Verstappen is ninth
  • Norris is ninth, 10th or fails to score

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Sidemen Charity Match to return as fans say ‘we will be there no matter what’ after huge announcement

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Sidemen Charity Match to return as fans say 'we will be there no matter what' after huge announcement

THE Sidemen Charity Match will be returning next year.

The YouTube charity football match has gained huge attention since its first edition back in 2016.

The Sidemen have announced that their charity football match will be returning next year

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The Sidemen have announced that their charity football match will be returning next yearCredit: Alamy
The social media match has raised millions for charity

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The social media match has raised millions for charityCredit: PA

And fans are ecstatic to learn that it will coming back for the sixth time in 2025.

An announcement on the official Sidemen X account read: “The Sidemen Charity Match returns…

“Sign up at sidemenfc.com to get the latest updates”.

And ticket information is set to be released on November 10.

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Fans couldn’t hide their excitement for the event, taking to social media themselves to react.

One wrote: “We will be there no matter what”.

While another added: “PLS I NEED TO BE THERE!”

A third commented: “OMG I pray that I am able to go this time”.

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And a fourth posted: “Cannot wait.”

Sidemen member and internet sensation KSI hinted that the event will reach new levels next year.

Luke Littler in brand new business venture as darts star, 17, teams up with Sidemen

Writing on X: “It’s finally time. Our BIGGEST one yet!”

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Previous editions of the match have seen internet superstars such as KSI, Chunkz, IShowSpeed, MrBeast and Noah Beck take to the pitch.

While the game has been refereed by former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg for the last two years.

Most importantly, the event has been a success when it comes to raising money for charity.

The previous five games have raised in excess of £3.7MILLION for organisations including Teenage Cancer Trust and CALM.

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It’s not known where the 2025 match will be held with previous editions being played at West Ham‘s London Stadium, Charlton’s The Valley and Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium.

West Ham's London Stadium hosted last year's match

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West Ham’s London Stadium hosted last year’s matchCredit: Alamy

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Motorsports

Verstappen’s Brazil brilliance cools needlessly ugly F1 title fight

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The faces of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and McLaren driver Lando Norris said it all in the deafening aftermath of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The relief was breaking across those respectively long furrowed brows. A sudden pressure release squirting uplifting and cooling air as if it were illicit water on inner tyre tread.

The 2024 Formula 1 title is now essentially done, the relentless questioning of the contenders set to rescind, all with Max Verstappen’s superb win in Brazil. It soothed a championship battle that had got horribly ugly.

Verstappen was letting off steam of his own on the podium. Rejoicing in what is remarkably his first win since holding off Norris back in June’s Spanish GP. Once again, he had delivered magic at a wet Interlagos – one of F1’s best spectacles.

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Verstappen’s first lap was indeed worthy of Horner’s “up there with Donington 1993” comparison. His confidence to immediately power around two cars at Turn 3 – where he’d shone so strongly here back in 2016, a performance that featured a pitstraight gaffe of which there was no repeat last Sunday afternoon – was superb.

That was allied with how well the Red Bull starts in low-grip conditions. And yet Verstappen’s confidence to pull dive after dive at Turn 1 knowing any race-ending contact would blow the title fight wide open with Norris starting ahead was impressively unwavering. Even for a man so iron in his desire to be forever unyielding.

Verstappen's charge through the field was one of the performances of the season

Verstappen’s charge through the field was one of the performances of the season

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

His move to finally seize the race lead at the second post-red flag safety car restart from the race’s other star, Esteban Ocon, came out of nowhere. The world champion had lost ground as the Alpine powered away with Verstappen-esque poise on a very tough day for all involved. The Red Bull was so far back as the braking zone approached.

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But Verstappen nailed it while Norris was slipping off the road in the background at Turn 1 under pressure from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – the only driver to offer the winner any resistance on his rise. In one corner the 2024 season was encapsulated.

Norris erred when perfection was needed. Verstappen commanded with an RB20 back on song. Leclerc showed more mettle amid Ferrari’s own wild performance swings these days.
And, in the brief battle before the red flag and Leclerc’s green-flag pitstop, hypocrisy raged on the radio waves.

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but to see Horner and Verstappen’s fans complaining about an iffy-looking race control call, given the Dutchman was the beneficiary of the greatest handout from such in F1’s history at Abu Dhabi 2021, was truly pathetic

“He was squeezing me onto the while line, not leaving a car’s width,” cried Verstappen. That’s despite Leclerc having given him room and not imperilled the lines that were so disgracefully crossed in 2024’s previous two events. And it wasn’t the day’s only toxicity.

After being dumped out of early Sunday morning’s surprise qualifying session in Q2, Verstappen had raged at what he viewed as “bullshit” race control decision-making.

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This is exactly what the FIA is trying to stamp out with its ill-defined and handled curse crusade amid accompanying concerns for the wellbeing of race officials, and it unleashed the online vitriol torrents. This came the day after the decision to wait an age to activate the Virtual Safety Car when Nico Hulkenberg pulled off in the sprint race.

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but to see Horner and Verstappen’s fans complaining about an iffy-looking race control call, given the Dutchman was the beneficiary of the greatest handout from such in F1’s history at Abu Dhabi 2021, was truly pathetic.

On a super-sized F1 Sunday, Verstappen showed both of his incredible and inexcusable sides

On a super-sized F1 Sunday, Verstappen showed both of his incredible and inexcusable sides

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Sometimes, these things just happen. And until evidence of a conspiracy emerges – as with Red Bull’s tyre water-cooling trick suspicion – they can only be treated as such. The scale needed to keep such a ruse quiet makes it so improbable, but this didn’t hold back the howls. These reappeared on Sunday morning when race control took 50 seconds to red flag Q2 after Lance Stroll’s first crash of the day.

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This enraged Red Bull – even though Verstappen had been eliminated by not getting a better lap in immediately after the previous Q2 restart, as Norris had managed.

Horner’s “if they’d red-flagged it immediately, there’s time for another lap” theory, with only 1m37s left on the clock when Stroll crashed, is shattered immediately. This is from taking qualifying’s quickest red flag call (eight seconds after Alex Albon’s day-ending Q3 crash from yellows first being displayed) and applying that hypothetically to Stroll’s case instead.

There was just barely enough time for anyone to get out of the pits and start a lap given the times were coming in around the 1m25s-mark – let alone from the pitlane’s far end, as Red Bull enjoyed as the 2023 constructors’ champion.

Verstappen’s reaction is exactly what the FIA should be penalising – not naughty press conference faux pas, intentional or otherwise.

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Now, the race result will shove this unedifying episode into oblivion on F1’s history book pages, into which Verstappen has a real shot of one day going down as the greatest ever.

But, if he wants to achieve that without relying on the overwhelming title and victory statistics he could still one day earn, those Austin and Mexico professional fouls will have to stop for good. Leclerc’s tactics of last Sunday show the way forwards.

Leclerc was Verstappen's biggest challenger in on-track battles in Interlagos, which sparked a retort from the Dutch driver

Leclerc was Verstappen’s biggest challenger in on-track battles in Interlagos, which sparked a retort from the Dutch driver

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

The upcoming Qatar GP racing guidelines rewrite may take that out of Verstappen’s hands, but even with what had come before it was still so pleasing to see his greatest of races play out without a single real moment of racing controversy.

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Verstappen himself insisted how at the start of the Senna S “the camber helps you naturally a little bit”. But he did all the dives, the daring, the destruction of the field and with it, surely, Norris’s slim title chances.

And for that alone, Verstappen, deserves nothing but the heartiest of congratulations.

Verstappen is within reach of his fourth world title

Verstappen is within reach of his fourth world title

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

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Ireland v New Zealand: ‘He tackled like an Exocet’ – Scott Robertson’s time playing club rugby in Ireland

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Ireland v New Zealand: 'He tackled like an Exocet' - Scott Robertson's time playing club rugby in Ireland

When flying back home after his spell with Ards, Robertson had written to his mother in New Zealand to say when he returned to Ireland it would be as an All Black.

If that seemed fanciful at the time, the back rower was true to his word, debuting for his country in 1998 and, three years later, lining up against Ireland in a Test match that marked the debut of Richie McCaw. During that trip, he made time for a visit to the Heron home and has stayed in contact since.

Whether it be making out a rehab schedule for the family’s son Steven after a knee injury playing rugby or, years later, regularly checking in with their late daughter Gillian during her treatment for cancer, Heron believes Robertson has long displayed the “special attributes” that have allowed him to ascend to one of the most coveted jobs in the sport.

From his playing days, through Super Rugby successes when coaching the Crusaders and now leading the man in charge of the All Blacks, the family and those at Ards RFC have watched his rise in the game with pride from the other side of the world.

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“It’s been great for us all to say we played on the same pitch as Razor Robertson,” adds Workman.

“To see him coaching is fantastic. We’re very proud to have that association. We’ve a history at the club of international back-row players with Nigel Carr and Phillip Matthews and to say that he played for Ards has been a fantastic honour.

“We’ve all watched his career with interest and been very proud that Ards was a bit of an education for him.”

Some have managed to secure tickets for Friday’s big game and are hoping to meet up with Robertson afterwards, although Heron notes they will face an unusual dilemma during the preceding 80 minutes.

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“The only problem in the family’s position is who do we support? Ireland or Scotty?”

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