WORLD OF SPORT

▷▷▷ Goodbye gesture of the day Italy international defender Leonardo Bonucci took out a page in a nationl newspaper yesterday to thank Juventus fans for their support after agreeing a move to rivals AC Milan. Bonucci, 30, is joining Milan on a five-year deal after seven seasons in Turin, where he won six successive Serie A titles with Juventus and played in two Uefa Champions League finals. “Seven seasons have gone by. Seven seasons of victories, of dreams achieved, of maturity gained thanks to this exceptional bond with Juve,” Bonucci wrote in Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I truly always gave everything until the end. I have received, given and learned. And what I see today, looking back, is a splendid story worthy of ending in full respect and affection, without questioning anything I went through with the club, the captain, my colleagues and the fans.” Farewell performance of the day The Western Force made their final pitch for retention in the Super Rugby competition with an emotional 40-11 win over the New South Wales Waratahs in Perth yesterday. Tipped to be the Australian team cut from Super Rugby by the ARU, they made it successive wins to end the season by running in five tries to one to finish second in the Australian conference. While the Force’s future is uncertain, it was definitely captain Matt Hodgson’s last game and his team made sure it was a night of celebration, running in four unanswered tries in the first half against some lacklustre Waratahs defence. Hodgson scored a secondhalf try and then kicked the first, and only, penalty of his career after the final hooter, and he said: “If I could write a script I would write it that way. What the players did for me tonight was pretty special.” ▷▷▷ Surprise of the day The Canterbury Crusaders have been the dominant force in Super Rugby so far this season, and with 14 wins from 14 games under their belt had not unreasonable thoughts of trying to complete a perfect regular season with only one game remaining before the play-offs begin. They had been strong favourites to make it 15 in a row when they travelled to the Wellington Hurricanes yesterday, but instead they ended up slipping to their first loss of the campaign as they went down 31-22. If the Crusaders had triumphed they would have become the first side to achieve a 100 per cent record since their 2002 side achieved it. Tries from Jordie Barrett, Julian Savea, Wes Goosen and Vaea Fifita gave Hurricanes the win.