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England crush Canada to claim World Cup glory at last

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Ellie Kildunne scored a wonder try as England banished their World Cup demons to be crowned champions by crushing Canada 33-13 at Twickenham Allianz Stadium.

Kildunne produced the individual highlight of the match with a thrilling solo score in the ninth minute, but it was the magnificent Red Roses pack that made victory possible in front of a record 81,885 crowd.

Four of England’s five tries were supplied by the forwards, including two for number 8 Alex Matthews, and there was the familiar sight of their scrum and maul grinding the opposition into submission.

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 27: A general view of England and Canada players walking out onto the pitch prior to the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Final match between Canada and England at Allianz Stadium on September 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by George Wood - World Rugby/World Rugby via Ge

And in defence they were responsible for shutting down Canada at a key stage in the second half when the tournament’s form team were taking advantage of a yellow card for Hannah Botterman to stage a fightback.

It was as England were defending their line at 26-13 ahead, with Asia Hogan-Rochester having run in her second try for the Canadians, that fears of another World Cup failure were at their strongest.

The Red Roses had reached the last six finals yet won only once, but on this occasion they held their nerve with their forwards facing down the uprising when it was at its fiercest.

How England would deal with their World Cup final gremlins was the great unknown heading to Twickenham, but it quickly became clear that it was Canada who were struggling with the occasion and overall the underdogs were disappointing.

Apart from scoring a brilliantly worked try through Hogan-Rochester, they had little to celebrate from a one-sided first half littered with errors and indiscipline.

England lost a line-out on their own throw to allow Hogan-Rochester to score, but that was the only mistake from their set-piece, which directly led to scores for forwards Amy Cokayne and Matthews.

It was the early touch down by Kildunne that truly lit up the first half, however, as she burst through Canada’s defence with a show of strength before using her footwork and pace to race over.

It was a try scored when there appeared nothing on for England, although the trail of red shirts left in her wake was also the result of soft tackling.

A Sophie de Goede penalty was all Canada could muster from a sustained attack on the Red Roses line and they looked dazed upon conceding another maul try, although this one was ruled out for offside.

England’s assault continued into the second half with prop Botterman continuing to cause havoc up front, and Abbie Ward was the next over after a series of forward drives.

Botterman was shown a yellow card for a tip tackle on Karen Paquin and Canada exploited the advantage almost immediately by sending Hogan-Rochester over for her second.

The Red Roses’ defence faced enormous pressure but the underdogs just could not make the decisive run or pass, and it was the scrum that came to the hosts’ rescue on successive occasions.

Canada had the momentum but England finally escaped their half and showed their class by ending waves of forward-led attacks with a second try for Matthews, bringing the fightback to a halt and enabling them to lift the World Cup for the third time in the nation’s history.

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‘I’m more convinced he’s gonna save it than they score’ – Brentford’s Irish on Man United win

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17 minutes ago

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27 September 2025

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BRENTFORD’S IRISH CONTINGENT are savouring a crucial home win over Manchester United. 

Keith Andrews’ side beat the troubled Red Devils 3-1 in the Premier League this afternoon.

Caoimhín Kelleher saved a Bruno Fernandes penalty in the second half, while Nathan Collins played the full game.

Brentford captain Collins conceded the penalty in the 75th minute after a tug on Bryan Mbeumo, the score 2-1 at the time.

While Michael Owen and Joe Cole are among the pundits who felt Collins should have been sent off rather than just booked, the Leixlip man played down the incident.

“I knew (I wouldn’t be sent-off . . . tactical,” he told TNT Sports in a post-match interview alongside Kelleher.


Nathan Collins fouls Bryan Mbeumo. Alamy Stock Photo


Alamy Stock Photo

“I had trust in him though (to save the penalty), I’ve seen him do it before. When he goes into a penalty, I’m more convinced he’s gonna save it than they score.”

“It was obviously important,” Kelleher added. “It come at an important time in the game, when we were 2-1 up. It was a big save and obviously we did well to finish it off and get the win.”

Collins hailed his Irish teammate, who joined the Bees from Liverpool this summer.

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“Ah, unbelievable. Since he’s come in, he’s been so part of the group, so fluid. We’ve needed him. He’s got that security that we need behind us, he’s been top-class.”

“It’s been brilliant,” Kelleher reflected on life in West London. “Obviously Nathan’s helped me a lot to settle in, the lads here have been really welcoming. It’s a really good club, we just need more games like this now.”

Brenford started the day just above the relegation zone in 17th place with one win, but their victory was fully merited with United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir making some impressive saves.

london-england-uk-27th-sep-2025-brentford-fc-manager-keith-andrews-smiles-and-applauds-the-fans-at-full-time-during-the-brentford-fc-v-manchester-united-fc-premier-league-match-at-the-gtech-commu
Keith Andrews celebrates at full-time. Alamy Stock Photo


Alamy Stock Photo

“I haven’t had many games as a manager, so it (ranks) pretty high,” said Andrews, having succeeded Thomas Frank over the summer.

“A lot will get made of me in a new role, but the one thing I take is just proud of what we’ve produced against a very talented set of players.

“I thought we dovetailed nicely between enticing them and hurting them.

“We tried to create overloads and it certainly felt how we played that (going) around and through at times would be on, and the players did that with real courage and conviction.”

Collins also outlined Brentford’s ambition to push on after their second league win of the season: they host Manchester City next week.

“I don’t think we’re at our best yet either. I think today we had spells where we weren’t good enough, we reapplied pressure on ourselves. There’s a lot more to come from us.

“This is the bottom standard and we work from that.”

– With reporting from Press Association

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Dorset delivers in Goffs Million for Ballydoyle

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27 September 2025

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Dorset held on to complete a big-race double at the Curragh for Aidan O’Brien with victory in the Goffs Million.

It was English raider Homestrait, who had not finished outside the first two in seven starts, that was first to show in Europe’s richest two-year-old contest as Brian Ellison’s charge set the pace for the first half of the race.

Dorset took it up just over three furlongs out with Andrew Balding’s New Monarch hot on his heels, but Jack Cleary was always in charge as his 17-2 shot galloped home one-and-a-quarter lengths clear of August George with the winner’s stablemate and 5-6 favourite Composing taking third.

O’Brien had earlier seen Hawk Mountain win the Beresford Stakes and stable representative Chris Armstrong said: “It’s fantastic to win this race. Fair play to Goffs for putting up a pot like this, it’s a major incentive to bring a good field and they got well supported today.

“His form has been in the book, in fairness, and he’s just done a few things wrong.

“Today we took the hood off him, we thought with it on in the National Stakes the last day he just didn’t show his true potential.

“He ran nicely in the Vintage at Goodwood behind the same horse (Zavateri).

“Jack gave him a lovely ride, he jumped, went forward and got a lovely position.

“In fairness when he asked him he really knuckled down. He’s definitely a Group horse and you’d have to maybe give him a go at the Dewhurst now and see.

“He’s a typical Wootton Bassett, he’s all there, he’s a strong traveller. Once Jack really asked him at the business end he knuckled down and went away at the finish.”

Meanwhile, Jim Bolger unveiled a potentially smart newcomer as Mumhan made his racecourse debut a winning one in the Kildare House Hotel Irish EBF Maiden.

Leveraging made the early running before being headed by White Smoke as they moved inside the final furlong of the six-furlong event.

Mumhan timed his run to perfection as the 8-1 shot got up on the inside rail to pip White Smoke close home and win by half a length under Declan McDonagh.

“He’s a good horse and he just needed a bit of time,” said Bolger of the son of Mehmas.

“He’ll probably go for the Killavullan (Stakes, Leopardstown) and then I’ll have to find a race to make him champion two-year-old!

“He was very green and should improve.”

Gazelle d’Or demonstrated his love for the Curragh with a third course victory of the season in the HearMed Your Health, Your Hearing Joe McGrath Handicap.

It was another good day’s work for Aidan O’Brien and Ballydoyle

Mint Man raced keenly and took up the early before hanging badly right and running in isolation along the far rail.

As Mint Man began to weaken, Michael Grassick’s daughter of Equiano took it up in the final furlong and was always doing enough in the hands of Chris Hayes as she held on to take the spoils at 9-1, a neck clear of Kendall Roy.

“This filly is a different filly over five. She was drawn one and she ends up over on the stands side, she lost a lot of ground to come over but she needs cover,” said Grassick.

“She just runs too keen over the six. She was a little bit unlucky in the Scurry and the last day, she probably should have been third or fourth the last day.

“She’s a hardy filly, I’d like to try to get a bit of black type with her. There are no five-furlong races, but I might look at the Listed race next weekend (Brigid’s Pastures Stakes).”

Engines On bowed out for the season on a high note with a three-quarters-of-a-length victory in the Schweppes Trophy Handicap.

John Kinsella’s five-year-old was only beaten into third by half a length in the Irish Cambridgeshire Trial last month but made no mistake on this occasion to complete a double for Hayes at 13-2.

“He had a great run in the Cambridgeshire,” said Kinsella.

“He won on his debut for us in Naas, over seven. We said we’d have a go at the Cambridgeshire, the ground probably wasn’t soft enough for him. He wants a dig in the ground.

“We ran him in Roscommon before the Cambridgeshire and he didn’t go at all on the ground, he was well beat that day.

“He came out of it grand though and everything was good. It was a good run in the Cambridgeshire and this was the plan since then.

“He’ll probably be put away now and we won’t make any plans just yet.”

Noel Meade’s Rowdy Yeats (10-1) came out on top in the McDonnell’s Bar Newbridge Rated Race after struggling on bottomless ground last time out at Roscommon.

Meade said: “The first day he ran he ran against Arizona Blaze and on his second run as a two-year-old Joe Murphy beat me with Cercene. So two Group One winners beat him on his two runs.

“He came out and won a six-furlong maiden and then he was beaten by a very good horse of Paddy Twomey’s in Cork (Currawood).

“Then I ran him over six and it was far too short for him. I’d say a mile would suit him even better, he (Colin Keane) said he was waiting for them there in front.

“He’s a very nice horse and there is a lot of racing in him. You love to have him, he’s a real nice horse and I’d say he can still go on quite a bit.”

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Maskill sets world record as GB end with 40 medals

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27 September 2025

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Great Britain’s Poppy Maskill broke her own world record to win the women’s S14 100m butterfly on the final day of the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.

The 20-year-old Cheshire swimmer won in one minute 2.58 seconds, lowering the mark of 1:03.00 she set in winning Paralympic gold in Paris last year.

Britain’s Olivia Newman-Baronius also dipped under the previous record, finishing less than two-tenths of a second behind her team-mate to claim silver.

There was also a gold medal for Britain’s Will Ellard in the men’s event of the same discipline, while Brock Whiston claimed silver in the women’s SB8 100m breaststroke.

The four medals took Britain’s tally up to 40 for the championships – 15 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze – as they finished fifth in the final medal table.

“I’m really happy with that,” said Maskill, after following up on the Paralympic success she had as a teenager in a race with three Britons in the top four, as Louise Fiddes finished just outside the podium places.

“To get the world record again was amazing and just an unreal feeling.

“I think I’ve done a good job this week being the first year [in the cycle] back after Paris. I’ll go back and look at all the little things I can improve with my coach Nick [Thompson] and can hopefully come back for more.”

Ellard, 19, beat Brazilian world record holder Gabriel Bandiera in a blanket finish to win the men’s S14 100m butterfly.

Whiston, 28, claimed her fourth medal of the championships, but was once again unable to edge out Spain’s Paralympic champion Anastasiy Dmytriv Dmytriv in the women’s SB8 100m breaststroke, after also finishing second to her at the Paris Games.

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