Sports
Nations Championship: No Finn Russell for Scotland against Argentina as Jonny Gray returns
Finn Russell will not feature in Scotland’s opening Nations Championship match of the summer series but could feature against South Africa, says head coach Gregor Townsend, who welcomes back Jonny Gray.
Fly-half Russell, 33, has not fully recovered from the calf injury that kept him out of the latter part of Bath’s domestic campaign and was not considered for the match at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Cordoba on Saturday (20:10 BST). The Scots face the Springboks in Pretoria on 11 July then Fiji at Murrayfield on 18 July.
Tom Jordan starts at 10 in Russell’s absence, with Fergus Burke among the replacements.
Gray returns against the Pumas, having missed this year’s Six Nations, while fellow lock Scott Cummings, 29, and prop Pierre Schoeman, 32, will win their 50th caps.
“Great for [Jonny Gray] to be back in the squad,” said Townsend. “Since his move to Perpignan, he’s played very well so his form’s been rewarded with this opportunity. It’s nice obviously nice that him and Scott Cummings are playing together.
“Jonny was at Glasgow when Scott came through as an 18-year-old. It will be great to see them both back int he second row again.”
Overall, the XV in Cordoba shows eight personnel changes to the team that finished the Six Nations with defeat to Ireland in Dublin in mid-March.
Full-back Kyle Rowe, centre Rory Hutchinson, wing Jamie Dobie, fly-half Tom Jordan, hooker George Turner, prop Elliot Millar-Mills and Cummings are the players joining Gray in coming in to the side.
Kyle Steyn moves from left to right wing to accommodate Dobie. Prop Zander Fagerson and wing Darcy Graham, who started in Dublin, drop to the bench.
Gregor Hiddleston could make his Scotland debut off the bench.
“We’ll have to gel quickly,” Townsend said.
“It’s our first game since we played in Dublin. We’ve got a lot of evidence in the Six Nations and November that when we get our game in place in attack and defence, we can cause problems to any team in world rugby and do more than that, convert opportunities.
“I believe that our squad now is much deeper and we use that bench to continue what the starters are doing or actually raise the energy.”
Scotland: Rowe, Steyn, Hutchinson, Tuipulotu (capt), Dobie, Jordan, White; Schoeman, Ashman, Millar-Mills, Gray, Cummings, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.
Replacements: Hiddleston, Sutherland, Z Fagerson, Samuel, Brown, Horne, Burke, Graham.
Sports
Gervonta Davis named top target for all-American mega fight: “The biggest and best fight”
Gervonta Davis has been named as the most desirable opponent for another American star, even if his ring return continues to hang in the balance.
The 31-year-old has not fought since March 2025, back when he retained his WBA world lightweight title with a controversial draw against Lamont Roach.
After that, ‘Tank’ was in negotiations for an immediate rematch with Roach before turning his attention towards a more lucrative exhibition match with Jake Paul.
This was supposed to take place last November, only for Davis to be removed from the event following accusations of domestic violence.
Having now been made WBA ‘champion in recess’, the American finally appears to be plotting a comeback fight, quite possibly against WBO world welterweight champion Devin Haney.
News emerged towards the end of last month that the respective teams of Davis and Haney are in talks, despite the latter having been ordered to face mandatory challenger Keyshawn Davis.
Following his title-winning triumph against Brian Norman Jr in November, ‘The Dream’ has seemingly passed the grace period for a voluntary defence and must now agree terms with Keyshawn by July 20, otherwise their contest will go to a purse bid hearing.
Regardless of his son’s mandatory obligation, though, manager Bill Haney has told Ring Magazine that ‘Tank’ remains at the top of their hit list.
“The biggest and the best fight I think, that everyone in culture, sports and entertainment would love [to see], would be ‘Tank’. He’s at the top of the list.”
Bill went on to claim that he has already spoken with Al Haymon, Davis’ promoter, about staging the possible Haney fight.
Sports
As India top dope offenders list again, Anti-Doping Bill to be tabled in Monsoon Session | More sports News
New Delhi: On the day India continued to top Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) global list of dope offenders, the Sports Ministry assured that the National Anti-Doping Bill will be tabled in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament.In AIU’s list, India accounted for 162 dopers, ahead of Kenya (148) and Russia (60). It includes individuals who are serving bans for doping offenses by virtue of testing positive for banned substance and/or tampering, evading testing, trafficking, or missing whereabouts.Under the amended bill, trafficking and distribution of prohibited substances to athletes will carry a jail term of five years.“Until now, athletes were penalised for such infractions. They would get suspensions or bans. But we need to go after those who supply them with these substances, including medical practitioners,” said a Ministry official.The public consultation period for the amended bill expired on June 18. The Monsoon session of the Parliament begins on July 20.The amendment is similar to the one proposed in 2018. At that time, a jail term of four years and a fine of Rs 2 lakh was sought for organised crime syndicates and anyone who was found guilty of supplying banned substances to athletes.However, the provisions were scrapped from the bill that was eventually passed in 2022 and amended once again last year as the government sided with the idea of a “preventive legislation, rather than a criminal legislation.”India has also topped World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) global list for the past three years.
Sports
‘What’s our tolerance there?’: Australia ready to risk Ellyse Perry’s fitness for Women’s T20 World Cup final | Cricket News
Australia are prepared to take a chance on Ellyse Perry if needed for Sunday’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s, with head coach Shelley Nitschke saying the all-rounder could play even if she is not fully fit.Perry retired hurt during Australia’s semi-final win over West Indies at The Oval after feeling what the team described as “minor quad awareness”. She walked off after facing seven balls, with Australia later saying the decision was taken as a precaution because they were in control of the match.Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Nitschke said Australia had not trained since the semi-final, so there was still no clear update on Perry’s condition. However, she admitted that a World Cup final changes how teams assess a player’s fitness.“Yeah, potentially,” Nitschke said when asked if Perry could play without being fully fit.“I think there’s still certain things that she wants to be able to do as well, [to] be able to still contribute to the team and hold her own, whether that’s in the field or running between the wickets. But there is that element of, this is a World Cup final, so what’s our tolerance there? So certainly a slightly different lens than perhaps some other times.”Nitschke said the team remains hopeful Perry will be available for the final.“Hopefully she’s come through okay and is available on Sunday,” Nitschke said.“We don’t really have a clear picture of what that looks like.“We’re confident, but just not completely 100 per cent sure of how that’s gone at the moment.”Perry has been Australia’s leading run-scorer in the tournament with 185 runs at an average of 46.25 and a strike rate of 135.03. She has scored half-centuries against Pakistan and India, including a 38-ball 56 against India that guided Australia to victory and ended Harmanpreet Kaur’s team’s campaign.She has also taken four wickets during the tournament.Australia will play their first global tournament final since 2023 when they take the field at Lord’s on Sunday. Perry, who missed the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground because of a hamstring injury, is now racing to be fit for another chance at a World Cup final.
Sports
Terence Crawford says Ryan Garcia will lose world title if he faces one man next: “It’ll be an upset”
Terence Crawford suspects Ryan Garcia could lose his WBC title later this year, depending on whether he faces a physically superior opponent.
The 27-year-old claimed his world welterweight title in February, dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory after scoring a first-round knockdown.
In doing so, Garcia returned to the win column after suffering a points defeat to Rolando Romero, which followed his no-contest against Devin Haney in April 2024.
Sandwiched between those two results was, of course, his year-long doping ban, but now it seems the American has rediscovered some measure of form.
Hoping to build on this momentum, Garcia is likely to defend his title against mandatory challenger Conor Benn, potentially in Las Vegas on September 12.
Like Garcia, Benn was previously embroiled in a doping scandal but has since been involved in two middleweight encounters with Chris Eubank Jr, losing their first contest before scoring a unanimous decision victory last November.
The 29-year-old then unanimously outpointed a faded Regis Prograis this past April, dominating their 10-rounder at a catchweight of 150lbs.
Given his apparent size advantage, Crawford has told Ariel Helwani that he could see Benn pulling off an upset victory over Garcia later this year.
“I think that’s a good fight. I think, of course, Ryan’s got the experience, but Conor’s got the size and the power.
“I think it’s gonna be an interesting fight … I’mma go with Conor. I think he’s gonna upset him. I’m gonna go out there and pick him.”
While Benn has been competing at higher weights in his last five outings, he does not appear significantly bigger than Garcia, who matches him for height and is perhaps even a bigger puncher.
Sports
Manny Pacquiao says Terence Crawford fight couldn’t happen for one reason
Manny Pacquiao faced a who’s who of excellent fighters across several divisions, but never managed to cross paths with Terence Crawford despite both holding belts at 147lbs at the same time.
The eight-division world champion made his professional return last year, fighting then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios to a draw. With a professional rematch against Floyd Mayweather put on hold indefinitely due to the American’s legal troubles, he is now looking for another major fight.
It will not come against Terence Crawford, who retired in December following his victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Speaking to Vibe, ‘PacMan’ was asked if there was any fight he wanted that never happened, and he named none other than ‘Bud’ Crawford, believing their shared promoter at the time, Bob Arum, ‘preserved’ the American.
“The Crawford fight. Because Bob Arum preserved him. I’m under Top Rank promotions, and he was under Top Rank promotions before, so I would’ve loved to fight him. But it never happened. Bob didn’t give it to me.”
When both men held belts at welterweight – Pacquiao after his record-breaking title win over Keith Thurman, Crawford on his run as WBO champion – the fight would have indeed been a stellar main event.
Pacquiao ended up being booked to face future Crawford rival Errol Spence Jr, but an eye injury for Spence saw Yordenis Ugas step in. Ugas beat the Filipino icon over 12 rounds before losing the belt to Spence, who would face Crawford for undisputed in 2023.
Ironically, Crawford has offered the exact same take on the fantasy match-up but with roles reversed, believing Arum wanted to keep Pacquiao away from him.
Sports
Wimbledon 2026 results: Arthur Fery reaches third round to keep British hopes alive but Katie Swan loses
However, Swan – making her first appearance at Wimbledon in three years – was unable to join Fery in the third round as she fell to a 6-1 6-4 defeat by American Keys.
Both Fery and Swan were watched on by Catherine, the Princess of Wales – a patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC).
“I didn’t know she was here. I probably would have been a bit more tight if I did,” said Fery, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and is set to earn least £185,000 in prize money.
Virtanen, the world number 140, caused the biggest shock of the men’s draw so far on Tuesday when he knocked out fourth seed Ben Shelton in a five-set win.
The Finn, who spent more than four hours on court against Shelton, won just four points on Fery’s serve in the opening five games, but when he was presented with a first break point at 5-5, he capitalised on it before serving out the set.
After suffering another nosebleed – a repeat of an issue he experienced against Dzumhur in the first round – Fery pulled himself level via a second-set tie-break and he did not offer Virtanen another break point before wrapping up the win.
Fellow Britons Jacob Fearnley and Jan Choinski will hope to follow suit later on Thursday, when they take on Jaume Munar and Frances Tiafoe respectively.
Fery, ranked 114th in the world, will next face another unseeded player in either Zizou Bergs of Belgium or Portugal’s Jaime Faria.
Sports
DR Congo head coach learned of father’s death hours before World Cup defeat by England
Democratic Republic of Congo head coach Sebastien Desabre received the devastating news of his father’s death just hours before his team’s World Cup Round of 32 clash against England.
Despite the personal tragedy, Desabre led his side to an agonisingly close defeat, nearly securing an upset victory.
The emotional revelation was made public at the conclusion of his post-match press conference, when the team’s media officer, Jerry Kalemo, said: “We announce that the coach has lost his father. Our sincere condolences.”
Desabre, who will turn 50 next month, responded with a quizzical expression before simply saying “thank you”, a reaction that initially led to erroneous reports suggesting it was his first time hearing the news.
However, an official later clarified to Reuters that Desabre had been informed prior to the match in Atlanta.

The Congolese team had taken an early lead through Brian Cipenga and maintained it for over an hour before Harry Kane scored twice, ultimately securing a 2-1 victory for England.
The official added that Desabre’s father had been unwell for some time, though no further details were provided.
DR Congo are now heading home after their best ever performance at a World Cup, having reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history.
Congo earned a 1-1 draw against highly-fancied Portugal in their opening group game before suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat by Colombia.
Heading into their final group fixture against Uzbekistan, DR Congo knew they needed a victory to book their spot in the knockout rounds.
They fell behind early on but produced a spirited comeback to claim an impressive 3-1 victory. Newcastle striker Yoane Wissa scored twice, either side of Fiston Mayele also finding the net.
This meant that they went through to the last-32 to face England, and they pushed Thomas Tuchel’s men all the way before ultimately coming up short.
England are now through to the Round of 16 where they will play co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday night.
Mexico have won all four of their matches so far without conceding, while England are also unbeaten at this year’s World Cup.
Sports
July update: Dynasty RB Rankings for 2026
There seems to be a pretty strong consensus in the Fantasy Football world that the Mike McDaniel hire was a home run for the Los Angeles Chargers. People are talking Super Bowl again, and Fantasy managers are fired up about drafting Omarion Hampton, Justin Herbert, and Ladd McConkey. I have even heard some hype about Keaton Mitchell. The one guy who doesn’t seem to be getting the McDaniel boost is Quentin Johnston. That makes Johnston one of my favorite buys in Dynasty as we enter training camp.
It may be surprising to hear, but Johnston actually led the Chargers in receiving yards per game (52.5) and receiving touchdowns (8) in 2025. In his last 17 regular season games he has 72 catches for 987 yards and eight touchdowns. Those numbers would have made him WR22 on a per game basis last year. If he stays healthy, and McDaniel makes Johnston even a little more efficient, Johnston could be a top 20 wide receiver in 2026. He’s still just 24 years old, yet in current Dynasty consensus rankings he ranks as WR54. I’m not sure you can find a cheaper Dynasty buy that combines Johnston’s youth and upside.
I had Matthew Rupert from Couch Scouts on Fantasy Football Today Dynasty to discuss recent rankings risers like Brian Thomas Jr. and Christian Watson. Check it out:
Youth and upside may be about all Xavier Worthy has going for him. He only has 1,170 receiving yards in his first two NFL seasons combined. While his blazing speed still shows up on film, so does ho his poor ball tracking skills on deep passes. And Patrick Mahomes hasn’t exactly done Worthy any favors on those deep balls. Enter Eric Bienemy, who is returning to the Chiefs to replace Matt Nagy as offensive coordinator. While conventional wisdom says the coordinator in Kansas City doesn’t matter because it’s Andy Reid’s offense, it is also true that Mahomes’ best football has come with Bienemy on the sideline.
The Chiefs have told anyone who would listen that their big plans for Worthy in 2025 were blown up when Worthy collided with Travis Kelce in Week 1. The speedy receiver was never 100% after that, and his production showed it. The Chiefs didn’t add anyone who should cut into Worthy’s role, and we may see a concentrated target tree with Rashee Rice, Travis Kelce, and Worthy accounting for a large share of Mahomes’ targets. Worthy is still just 23 years old, and it used to be commonplace to expect talented wideouts to break out in Year 3. The fact that he has fallen outside of the consensus top 40 wide receivers shows that Dynasty managers have mostly given up on that possibility.
While the addition of Kenneth Walker could make the Chiefs more run-heavy, we also expect a significant reduction in Mahomes’ rush attempts with him coming off of the torn ACL. It’s also likely that having a run game that defenses have to worry about opens things up downfield for Worthy. At his current cost, it’s worth making that bet and seeing if the speedster can finally get on the same page with his quarterback.
Here are my updated Dynasty Wide Receiver Rankings:
Sports
Phil Mickelson dismisses misconduct expose as ‘click-bait narrative’
Phil Mickelson of Team HyFlyers GC reacts to the cheers of his fans as he walks up to the fourth green during the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship semifinals at The Cardinal at St. John’s in Plymouth on Saturday, August 23, 2025. Days after an article by Skratch Golf asserted that Phil Mickelson was kicked out of three golf clubs for inappropriate interaction with women and propositioned another woman by displaying a nude photo, the golfer denied all of the allegations.
Mickelson’s representatives issued a statement to The (New York) Post on Wednesday, describing the Skratch article as an “anonymously sourced drive-by shooting” focused on creating “a compelling, click-bait narrative over an accurate one.”
Last month, Golf Digest reported that Mickelson had his membership revoked at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., because of alleged nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact with a female club employee.
Skratch reported that, in addition to The Farms, Mickelson is no longer welcome at The Madison Club in La Quinta, Calif., and at The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe.
Skratch cited anonymous sources saying Amy Mickelson, Phil’s wife, was in part responsible for the clubs ousting him.
Ashley Perez, the ex-wife of golfer Pat Perez, also told Skratch that Mickelson showed her a nude photo of himself in 2015 and told her to come see him after Pat Perez fell asleep.
The statement from Mickelson’s representation read, in part, “Mr. Mickelson has never been expelled from a golf club. His membership has never been revoked by a golf club. Those decisions were his alone.”
Mickelson’s team also stated that the Skratch article misstated the golfer’s interaction with Ashley Perez, adding, “Mr. Mickelson’s willingness to apologize for his conduct should not be misconstrued as an admission of every allegation made against him.” The statement also noted that Skratch is affiliated with the PGA Tour, the organization Mickelson left to join the fledgling LIV Golf in 2022.
“None of those relationships mean Skratch cannot report independently,” the statement read. “They do, however, create a corporate relationship that reasonable readers may consider relevant when evaluating an extensive investigation into Phil Mickelson, one of the most consequential players ever to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.”
Skratch’s editor in chief, Ben Boskovich, told The Post that Mickelson and his representatives were given an opportunity to reply to the allegations before the article was published but declined to do so.
Boskovich added, “It’s bizarre that (Mickelson’s team) is now challenging our reporting through The New York Post. Skratch Golf stands by its reporting.” Mickelson, 56, won the Masters in 2004, 2026 and 2010; the PGA Championship in 2005 and 2021; and the Open Championship in 2013. He registered 45 wins during his time on the PGA Tour.
–Field Level Media
Sports
MLB DFS picks, Thursday lineup advice from daily Fantasy professional who’s won $2 million
Thursday’s Major League Baseball schedule features nine games, including a National League West battle between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Play begins at 12:35 p.m. ET, with the final first pitch set for 10:10 p.m. ET. Among the top options in the MLB DFS player pool include Nathan Eovaldi, Shohei Ohtani, Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., Matt Olson, Junior Caminero and Freddie Freeman. With only so much MLB DFS salary cap space, you’ll have to be judicious on who you select to compose your daily Fantasy baseball lineups.
Before making any MLB DFS picks be sure to check out the MLB DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy baseball picks from SportsLine’s Mike McClure.
Visit our DraftKings promo code review to see their latest offers and get started.
McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He’s also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best MLB DFS values on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They’re a must-see for any MLB DFS player.
McClure has turned his attention to MLB action on Thursday and locked in his top daily Fantasy baseball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top MLB DFS picks for Thursday, July 2
For Thursday, one of McClure’s top MLB DFS picks is Kansas City outfielder Starling Marte ($2,900 DraftKings, $2,200 FanDuel). Marte has been on a roll. He has three hits over his past two games. In 39 games this season, he is hitting .268 with four doubles, one homer and seven RBI. See McClure’s other MLB DFS picks right here.
McClure is also stacking Marte with outfielder Lane Thomas ($3,100 DraftKings, $2,600 FanDuel). Thomas has fared better on his home field this season. In 31 games played in Kansas City, he has registered six doubles and two home runs. He has a .357 slugging percentage and .677 OPS. See McClure’s other MLB DFS picks right here.
New to sports trading? Check out our Kalshi promo code review to see their latest offers.
How to set your MLB DFS lineups for Thursday, July 2
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday because of an optimal matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal MLB DFS lineups for Thursday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal MLB DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
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