World Cup looms beyond big Six Nations weekend

Ireland, Scotland face off in Japan

LONDON, Feb 7, (RTRS): Six Nations matches between England and France at Twickenham and Scotland and Ireland at Murrayfield need nothing to spice them up but the fact that both games will be repeated as key pool fixtures at the Rugby World Cup does add a layer of intrigue.

England go into the game on Sunday riding a wave of confidence after their superb 32-20 victory in Dublin last weekend, with pundits – who universally predicted an Irish victory – falling over themselves to rank the performance among the best since the glory days of the 2003 World Cup.

Buoyed particularly by the return of Mako and Billy Vunipola, England produced an all-round display of power, speed, aggression and finishing that would have sent shock waves through the camps of their rivals. in 2005 – and only two in the last 30 years.

The sides will meet again on Oct 12 in what should be the decisive match of their World Cup pool, which also includes Argentina, Tonga and the United States.

Ireland and Scotland also face off in Japan – in their opening pool game where the potential reward for the winners is likely to be avoiding New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

If the Scots can continue their recent strong home form against their Celtic rivals on Saturday it would give them a huge lift for September.

Scotland have won two of their last three home Six Nations fixtures against Ireland, and a World Cup warm-up in 2011, and coach Gregor Townsend will hope his high-tempo attacking approach will again pay dividends on Saturday.

The looked very good for most of last week’s victory over Italy, albeit with a late Italian try-flurry making the 32-20 scoreline less one-sided.

Ireland, however, present a far more formidable hurdle and will no doubt be better for a week of intensive remedial work under coach Joe Schmidt.

Wales coach Warren Gatland too will have had his players poring over their ipads after their errorstrewn first half in Paris. That they recovered via a tournament record turnaround to secure their 10th successive win was testament to their attitude - coupled with some gifts from the French on a sodden night.

They will fully expect to take that winning streak to a Welsh national record-equalling 11 in Rome, against an Italian team who already look set to go without a victory for the fourth successive championship. Nevada forward Jordan Caroline (front), drives to the rim past Colorado State center Nico Carvacho during the second half of an NCAA college basketball

game on Feb 6, in Fort Collins, Colorado. (AP)

VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania, Feb 7, (AP): Freshman forward Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 17 points, senior guard Phil Booth hit key baskets down the stretch and No. 14 Villanova remained perfect in Big East play by beating Creighton 66-59 in overtime Wednesday night.

Booth finished with 14 points and eight rebounds while Eric Paschall scored 15 and Collin Gillespie had 13 for the Wildcats (19-4, 10-0), who have won their first 10 Big East games for the first time in program history. Their previous best start in league play came in 2009-10 when they opened 9-0.

The defending national champions also became the first Big East team to start 10-0 in conference games since UConn won its first 11 in 1998-99.

Davion Mintz led Creighton (13-10, 4-6) with 19 points and Martin Krampelj had 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Bluejays were missing two starters after top scorer Ty-Shon Alexander was injured in practice Tuesday. He joined Marcus Zegarowski (broken hand) in street clothes on the bench.

In Fort Collins, Colorado, Jordan Caroline scored 30 of his season-high 40 points in the first half and Nevada beat Colorado State for its eighth straight win.

Caroline finished five points shy of his career best set Jan 7, 2017, at New Mexico. He added 12 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season, and his 41 career double-doubles are the most in Mountain West Conference history, breaking a tie with Kawhi Leonard and Andrew Bogut.

Caleb Martin added 25 points for Nevada (22-1, 9-1), including a dunk off a lob from his twin, Cody,

Mississippi State guard Robert Woodard (12) blocks a dunk attempt by LSU forward Emmitt Williams (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Starkville, Mississippi,

on Feb 6. (AP)

that capped a 10-2 run to end the game.

Nico Carvacho led the Rams (9-14, 4-6) with 24 points and 17 rebounds. Colorado State lost by 40 in Reno two weeks ago but gave the Wolf Pack a fight at home.

In Minneapolis, Ethan Happ had 15 points and 13 rebounds to help Wisconsin avenge a loss to Minnesota with its sixth straight win overall.

D’Mitrik Trice hit a 3-pointer with 1:44 remaining and 3 seconds left on the shot clock to give Wisconsin (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) a 52-46 lead and seal a fourth consecutive victory at rival Minnesota. Gophers coach Richard Pitino fell to 2-9 in his career against the Badgers, held to a season-low 34.5 field goal percentage (19 for 55).

Jordan Murphy (16 points, 19 rebounds) and Daniel Oturu (12 points, 11 rebounds) each had a doubledouble, but Minnesota (16-7, 6-6) missed 12 of 13 attempts from 3-point range, including three in the final 76 seconds.

In Starkville, Mississippi, freshman forward Naz Reid tied a career high with 29 points, including a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left, to lift LSU over Mississippi State in overtime.

The Tigers pulled ahead for good in overtime when Reid made a layup while being fouled. He added the free throw to give LSU an 89-87 lead with 59.5 seconds left. Reid’s biggest bucket came a little later when his 3 bounced high off the rim and straight through the net.

LSU (18-4, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) trailed the entire second half until Tremont Waters made a high-arching layup with less than three minutes left for an 80-78 advantage. The Tigers and Bulldogs both missed shots during the final seconds of regulation, forcing overtime.

Waters had 26 points and five assists. Kavell Bigby-Williams added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Mississippi State (16-6, 4-5) was led by Quinndary Weatherspoon, who tied a season high with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Reggie Perry added 19 points and 10 rebounds.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, Jalen Smith had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Maryland beat fading Nebraska.

Bruno Fernando had his sixth consecutive doubledouble, and 15th of the season, with 13 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for the Terrapins (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten).

Nebraska (13-10, 3-9) set season lows for points and field goal percentage (21 percent) while losing its sixth straight and dropping to 13th place in the conference.

Isaiah Roby led the Cornhuskers with 20 points and 14 rebounds.