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McIlroy: America is the best country in the world

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Rory McIlroy has described the United States as the greatest country in the world on the eve of the Ryder Cup.

The Northern Irishman will spearhead the European challenge as they attempt to beat the Americans at Bethpage Black this week.

Having already been booed during practice, the world number two is expected to be targeted by a raucous, partisan home crowd when play gets under way in New York on Friday.

Yet that has not affected McIlroy’s love for a country where he and his family are mainly based and where he has spent the majority of his professional career.

The 36-year-old, who this year became only the sixth player to complete a career grand slam, said: “Everyone wanted to make it in America, it’s the land of opportunity and I still believe it’s the best country in the world.

“We are here and we are playing for history.”

“If you come here and work hard and dedicate yourself, you can be or do whatever you want.

“I am unbelievably grateful and lucky that I got to come to America early on. I think success is celebrated here. I think there’s a wonderful sense of work ethic.

“I live here. My wife is American, my daughter is American. I have a lot of affinity towards this country and I think everyone that lives here should have that same affinity because it is a wonderful place.”

That will not stop McIlroy from doing his utmost to steer Europe to victory over the weekend.

Europe are defending the trophy but have not won away from home since 2012 and have done so only four times since the contest was expanded to include players from the continent in 1979.

McIlroy said: “Basically since 2012, the home team has won convincingly every time.

“Whatever team is the one to break that duck I think is going to go down as one of the best teams in Ryder Cup history. We are here and we are playing for history.”

Rome , Italy - 30 September 2023; Rory McIlroy of Europe speaks to Joe LaCava, caddie for Patrick Cantlay of USA, after their match during the afternoon fourball matches on day two of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Gett
Rory McIlroy speaks to Joe LaCava during the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome

McIlroy’s passion for the Ryder Cup was evident in Rome two years ago when he clashed with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava and tensions boiled over in the car park after play.

Even though he may have achieved more individually, he rates his team experiences among his career highlights.

McIlroy, appearing in the event for the eighth time, said: “I’ve always said I’m proudest of my individual achievements in the game but the most memorable moments and the most fun I’ve had in my career have been at Ryder Cups.

“Winning another away Ryder Cup, just considering how hard that has been over the past 12 years, would be one of the greatest accomplishments of my career for sure.”

On being targeted by the crowd, McIlroy hopes to turn the attention to his advantage.

He said: “I feel at times in the Ryder Cup I have engaged too much too much with the crowd, but then there’s times where I haven’t engaged enough.

“It’s really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.”


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Liverpool teenager Ngumoha signs professional deal

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Liverpool teenager Rio Ngumoha has signed his first professional contract with the Premier League champions.

Ngumoha, 17, scored a 100th-minute winner against Newcastle on his Premier League debut last month.

Liverpool have not confirmed the length of Ngumoha’s new deal.

The forward left Chelsea’s academy to join the Reds in September 2024 and has made five senior appearances for the club.

In January, Ngumoha became the youngest player to start a match for Liverpool – aged 16 years and 135 days old – in a 4-0 win over Accrington in the FA Cup.

He was also handed a Champions League debut this month when the Reds beat Atletico Madrid at Anfield.

Ngumoha has featured for England at various junior levels and made his debut for the under-19s on 3 September.

He was regarded as the best player in his age group at Chelsea but moved to Liverpool because he believed there was a better pathway to first-team football.

This was despite attempted assurances and several significant future contracts having been offered by the Blues.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot included Ngumoha in his first-team picture in pre-season this year, starting him against Athletic Club in August.

Playing from the left wing, Ngumoha scored just two minutes into the encounter and he left the field to a standing ovation midway through the second half.

That performance came on the back of an assist against AC Milan and goal against Yokohama F. Marinos in Asian friendlies.

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Harvey earns breaststroke gold as GB win six medals

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  • 12 minutes ago

Grace Harvey won gold in the women’s SB5 100m breaststroke as Great Britain added a further six medals to their tally at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.

Harvey, 27, finished nearly four seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Anna Hontar to win in one minute 42.88 seconds and reclaim the title she last won in 2022.

It was Great Britain’s 11th gold of the Championships.

“It was such an exciting race with Anna going out fast and that’s great competition for the SB5 class, but to bring home the win, I’m beyond happy,” said Harvey.

“I’ve been training breaststroke all season and this was the one, my child, my baby, so I gave it everything today and couldn’t have put another stroke in. That was the perfect race for me.”

Alice Tai, who won four golds in the competition’s first four days, added a silver medal to her collection alongside Bruce Dee, Roan Brennan, and Faye Rogers in the mixed 4x100m medley.

They set a British record of 4:31.65 as they finished behind Spain.

Earlier on day five, Rogers collected an individual silver in the women’s S10 100m butterfly, finishing just three-hundredths of a second behind Turkey’s Defne Kurt.

Elsewhere, Rhys Darbey broke the former world record mark as he finished second behind Brazil’s Gabriel Bandeira in the men’s SM14 200m individual medley. His time of 2:05.84 is a European record.

“It’s nice to go under that old world record mark, and for two of us to go under it is unbelievable,” Darbey said.

In the women’s SM14 200m individual medley, Olivia Newman-Baronius took silver and Bethany Firth bronze, with team-mate Poppy Maskill in fourth place.

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‘Trust what we’ve built’ – England & Canada unchanged for final

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Updated 21 minutes ago

England and Canada have named unchanged teams for the Women’s Rugby World Cup final on Saturday at Twickenham.

Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has opted to stick with the same starting XV and replacements who overcame a slow start to defeat France 35-17 in the semi-finals.

Zoe Aldcroft captains England in their seventh straight World Cup final.

England have not won the tournament since 2014, losing the past two finals to New Zealand.

Star full-back Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Amy Cokayne, Aldcroft, Abbie Ward and Alex Matthews remain from the starting XV defeated by the Black Ferns three years ago.

Scrum-half Natasha Hunt and Matthews also played in the 2014 final.

Centre Meg Jones and wing Jess Breach, who has scored six tries in the World Cup, will be the only England players to have started all six games in the 2025 tournament.

The Red Roses, who are on a record 32-Test winning run, have not lost since their defeat at Eden Park in the 2022 final.

They went into that match having won their previous 30 games, and are up against an in-form Canada side on Saturday.

England have a record-setting side that Mitchell trusts. When on form, they can be clinical in attack and resilient in defence.

“We are never going to be perfect, but to win this tournament you don’t have to be perfect,” head coach Mitchell said, urging his players to “trust what we have built”.

Kevin Rouet’s Canada, ranked number two in the world, have looked a class above all their opponents this tournament and delivered a remarkable semi-final performance to sweep past New Zealand and reach their first World Cup final since they lost to England in 2014.

Canada are semi-professional, and have had to crowdfund nearly a third of the budget for their World Cup campaign – they are currently 95% of the way towards their million-dollar fundraising goal entitled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup.

His side, who lost the semi-final 26-19 to England at the last World Cup, is captained by centre Alex Tessier and contains star goal-kicking lock Sophie de Goede.

Eight of the starting XV play in the Premiership Women’s Rugby league for English sides.

“I think we were very close in the last World Cup,” said Rouet, who was appointed just over six months before that tournament.

“We lost in the semi-finals against England and I would say all of the metrics were in our favour but not the score, so it’s kind of hard sometimes.

“But we were not ready on those high pressure games to deliver and I think that’s a big difference.

“We changed the way we play, for sure, and I think I saw a year and a half ago that we were going in the right direction and we do a lot of good stuff.”

Canada’s team contains three survivors from 2014 World Cup final defeat – flanker Karen Pauqin starts, fellow forwards Olivia DeMerchant and Tyson Beukeboom are named on the bench.

England have been professional since 2019 and are favourites to win a home World Cup in front of an 82,000-capacity, sold-out Twickenham.

Saturday’s crowd will surpass the 58,498 who watched England beat France at the same stadium in the 2023 Six Nations – the previous record for a XV-a-side match – and the 66,000 who watched the women’s rugby sevens at Stade de France during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“Our staff and players have worked hard to reach this stage of the tournament,” Mitchell said.

“Playing a World Cup final at Allianz Stadium [Twickenham] in front of a record 82,000 is a significant milestone for the sport.

“We are well prepared for the challenge against Canada. It is number one versus number two in the world, and we know the contest will demand a full 80 minutes. Our focus remains on staying in our process and executing effectively.”

His side defeated Canada by nine points when they met in the WXV1 last year in Vancouver.

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Women’s Rugby World Cup final: England v Canada

Saturday, 27 September at 16:00 BST

Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website and app

Line-ups

England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Harrison, Hunt; Botterman, Cokayne, Muir, Talling, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), Kabeya, Matthews.

Replacements: Atkin-Davies, Clifford, Bern, Galligan, Feaunati, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.

Canada: Schell; Corrigan, Symonds, Tessier (capt), Hogan-Rochester; Perry, Pelletier; Hunt, Tuttosi, Menin, De Goede, O’Donnell, Crossley, Paquin, Forteza.

Replacements: Boag, Kassil, Demerchant, Beukeboom, Royer, Senft, Apps, Seumenutafa.

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Why has Mitchell stuck with the same team?

Holly Aitchison impressed off the bench at inside centre in the semi-final win, while former England World Cup-winner Kat Merchant had called for Lucy Packer to start at scrum-half over Hunt.

Packer is quick to get the ball moving away from the breakdown, which could help get England’s backline firing better and mean they do not have to rely on individual moments of brilliance from Kildunne.

But Mitchell, as expected, has gone for consistency in selection instead of making a big call to unsettle his preferred matchday 23.

“It is about trusting what we have built already. Our players don’t always need to be perfect. We have been effective and that is all that matters,” Mitchell said.

“Canada have been outstanding and have played some really great rugby. We believe it is going to take an 80-minute performance.

“They have grown as well and are fitter. They deserve to be in the final.”

One selection which illustrates Mitchell’s point about selection being based on the trust they have built over the past two years – rather than being based on the semi-final – is the retention of Tatyana Heard.

The inside centre struggled against France but over time has formed a formidable partnership with Jones, who has been a standout performer and works best alongside her midfield partner.

Heard runs hard and straight, helping create space for Jones to use her lethal footwork, while replacement Aitchison is a different style of inside centre as a second playmaker.

Mitchell also values his bench combinations and the impact they can bring.

Both Aitchison and Packer performed well last Saturday and because of that will be expected to make an impact in the second half of the final.

England usually finish games strongly, with their bench adding impetus, and in a World Cup final that is likely to be vital.

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