Rugby World Cup 2015: France 32-10 Italy

France served notice they could be a serious threat at this year's World Cup with a business-like win over Italy.

Italy were made to pay for indiscipline in the first half as Frederic Michalak kicked France into a 15-3 lead.

France showed more adventure after the restart and Rabah Slimani touched down from Michalak's sweet grubber kick.

Giovanbattista Venditti hit back with a try for Italy, but veteran prop Nicolas Mas's first try in 81 Tests secured the win for France.

The one low point for France was an injury to winger Yoann Huget, who was helped off the field in the second half after appearing to injure his knee.

France's next game in Pool D is against Romania at London's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, while Italy face Canada in Leeds next Saturday.

But the key match is set to be France versus Six Nations champions Ireland, who thrashed Canada 50-7 in Cardiff earlier on Saturday. The Pool D runners-up will probably play reigning champions New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

Cricket Results

LV= County Championship - Division One

	Team
Last updated 17 September 2015 at 17:56
1	Yorkshire	15	10	1	4	43	42	0	265
2	Middlesex	15	7	1	7	29	42	1	217
3		15	6	4	5	42	42	0	205
4	Durham	16	7	8	1	26	45	0	188
5		15	5	4	6	28	42	0	180
6	Somerset	15	3	6	6	41	40	0	159
7	Sussex	15	4	7	4	35	38	0	157
8	Hampshire	15	3	6	6	28	35	0	141
9		15	2	10	3	39	41	0	127

Championship Points

Win: 16, Tie: 8, Draw: 5

Batting bonuses:

• 200-249 runs - 1pt
• 250-299 runs - 2pts
• 300-349 runs - 3pts
• 350-399 runs - 4pts
• 400 and over - 5pts

Bowling bonuses:

• 3-5 wkts - 1pt
• 6-8 wkts - 2pts
• 9-10 wkts - 3pts

Bonus points apply for first 110 overs of the first innings only. If teams finish level on points, most wins determines placing, then fewest defeats, then most points from head-to-head results, then most wickets taken, then most runs scored.

Promotions and Relegations

The top two teams from County Championship Division Two are promoted to Division One. The bottom two teams from County Championship Division One are relegated to Division Two.

County Championship: Worcs relegated after defeat by Durham

County Championship Division One, Emirates ICG

Worcestershire 350-7 dec & 217-9 dec: Pringle 3-45, Onions 3-63

Durham 277 & 291-7: Borthwick 99, Richardson 65*; Gabriel 2-56

Durham beat Worcestershire by three wickets

Durham 20 pts, Worcestershire 7 pts

Match scorecard

Worcestershire suffered relegation back to Division Two as Durham ended their County Championship campaign with a three-wicket win at Chester-le-Street.

Bottom-of-the-table Worcestershire needed a win to maintain their hopes of survival in the final round of games.

And after a hectic morning they declared on 217-9, a lead of 290.

Scott Borthwick put on 104 with Paul Collingwood (43) and although he departed for 99, Michael Richardson's unbeaten 65 steered Durham to 291-7.

Worcestershire deserved credit for their efforts to force a positive result out of a game which saw no play on the second day because of rain.

One-Day Cup: Gloucestershire beat Surrey in Lord's final

Royal London One-Day Cup final, Lord's

Gloucestershire 220 (47.4 ovs): Jones 50, Dernbach 6-35; Mahmood 2-28

Surrey 214: Sangakkara 60, Burns 56; Taylor 3-43

Gloucestershire beat Surrey by six runs

Scorecard

Gloucestershire kept up their amazing winning record in finals at Lord's as they pulled off a thrilling six-run One-Day Cup win over Surrey.

Jade Dernbach's superb 6-35, finished with a hat-trick, saw Gloucestershire all out for 220 in the 48th over.

Kumar Sangakkara (60) and Rory Burns (56) then shared a stand of 101 to put Surrey in control on 143-2.

But eight wickets went down for 71 runs as they were all out for 214 with three balls remaining in the final over.

It was Gloucestershire's ninth win in 10 Lord's one-day finals - and the perfect way for Geraint Jones, who had earlier hit a half-century himself, to bow out in his final game before retirement.

For dejected opposite number Gareth Batty - caught by man-of-the-match Jack Taylor in the final over to spark wild scenes of Gloucestershire jubilation - it was the former Worcestershire and England spinner's third Lord's final defeat, all of them by Gloucestershire.

They did not appear to have put enough runs on the board despite a Jones-inspired recovery from 108-5 to 220-7, in which Taylor contributed 35 off 26 balls.

And 15 deliveries were left unused after Dernbach finished off the innings by claiming the wickets of Jones (50), and then Craig Miles and David Payne for successive first-ball ducks.

Substitute Edinson Cavani scored his sixth goal in four games as league leaders Paris St-Germain hit back to take a point at third-placed Reims.

The Champions looked to be heading for their first defeat of the season when teenager Theoson Siebatcheu put Reims ahead six minutes from time.

But a minute later Cavani fired home a low shot to take Paris a point clear of Rennes at the top of the table.

Cavani and recent signing Angel Di Maria both started on the Paris bench.

Coach Laurent Blanc brought the pair on with 25 minutes to go as his side looked to avoid failing to score for the first time since losing 2-0 to Barcelona in April's Champions League quarter-finals following a bad headed miss by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Sir Alex Ferguson: Ex-Man Utd boss reveals reason for retirement

Sir Alex Ferguson says he would have continued as Manchester United manager had it not been for the death of his wife's twin sister.

Ferguson, 73, retired in 2013 after winning his 13th Premier League title.

United have struggled since, sacking successor David Moyes after 10 months and failing to win a trophy. The death of Cathy Ferguson's twin Bridget in 2012 was the catalyst for change.

"I definitely would have carried on," the Scot told the Daily Telegraph.

Cathy Ferguson talked her husband out of retiring in 2002.

"But this time when I told her I was going to retire she had no objection," Ferguson said.

"I knew she wanted me to do it."

Despite winning the league by 11 points in his final season, United failed to qualify for Europe in the following campaign, with Moyes' exit being confirmed once it was certain they would not secure a place in the Champions League.

The reversal in fortunes was a surprise to Ferguson.

"Even when I knew I was retiring we still tried to put some things in place, with players coming in," he said.

"The bus was still moving forward. Everyone was optimistic about where we were going."

Ferguson is about to launch a new book on the art of management, drawing on the experiences he gained working with some of the most famous names in the game, including Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo who was at United from 2003 to 2009.

"Dealing with an ego doesn't bother me," he said.

"You used to see Ronaldo standing in front of the mirror loving himself.

"But it was a nice vanity. The players used to throw jockstraps, boots and all sorts at him."

Newcastle's winless start to the season continued as Odion Ighalo's double led Watford to a second successive victory.

Newcastle1

Janmaat 62′

Watford2

Ighalo 10′, 28′

• FT 90 +5
• HT 0-2

Nigeria international Ighalo, who has now scored 20 goals in 24 league games in 2015, beat Tim Krul at the near post for the 26-year-old's first early on.

The striker then took Troy Deeney's pass to round Krul before the break. Daryl Janmaat gave Newcastle a lifeline from close range but Steve McClaren's side struggled to create chances despite moving off the bottom.

The Magpies overtook fellow strugglers Sunderland after their 2-0 defeat by Bournemouth,representing one of the few positives on another miserable day for home supporters at St James' Park.

They have seen their team win only three of 25 Premier League games in 2015 and despite a second-half improvement led almost single-handedly by Dutch right-back Janmaat, they have only scored three goals in six league games this season.

Their depressing form matches last term when Newcastle were winless in their first seven league games before winning five in succession under former boss Alan Pardew.

Leicester came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Stoke City and maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

Stoke2

Krkic 13′Walters 20′

Leicester2

Mahrez 51′ (pen)Vardy 69′

• FT 90 +6
• HT 2-0

Foxes striker Jamie Vardy held off the home defence to equalise after Riyad Mahrez scored his fifth goal of the season from the penalty spot.

Bojan, making his first start of 2015-16, had given Stoke an early lead from Marko Arnautovic's reverse pass.

Striker Jonathan Walters doubled the advantage but Stoke are still searching for their first win of the season.

Wenger: FA should investigate how Diego Costa escaped red card

The Football Association should look into how Chelsea striker Diego Costa escaped a red card at Stamford Bridge, says Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

But Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho accused Wenger of moaning asArsenal lost 2-0 and had two men dismissed.

Arsenal defender Gabriel was sent off after clashing with Costa at the end of the first half.

"He [Costa] will do the same again next week and the week after that and he always gets away with it," said Wenger.

When asked if the FA should take retrospective action, Wenger added: "That is the least they could do.

"Costa can do what he wants and yet he stays on and everyone who responds to him has to be sent off. He hits Koscielny in the face yet he gets away with it.

Manchester City missed the chance to move six points clear at the top of the Premier League as West Ham produced a clinical counter-attacking display at Etihad Stadium.

Man City1

De Bruyne 45′

West Ham2

Moses 6′Sakho 31′

• FT 90 +5
• HT 1-2

Victor Moses drilled in his first West Ham goal with a low 20-yard shot which crept inside Joe Hart's left-hand post.

The visitors doubled their lead when Diafra Sakho hooked in from six yards.

City's record signing Kevin De Bruyne fired in to halve the deficit, but West Ham held on to move into second place.

Yaya Toure's angled shot whistled past the Hammers' post after the break, while away keeper Adrian made a string of excellent saves.

City dominated the game, controlling 72% of possession and attempting 27 shots at goal, but were unable to find a way past an away side who are now three points behind them.