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Hall of Fame spot for BeeGee

All Black great Sir Bryan Williams is one of the latest inductees into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Williams has been named as inductee number

141, joining Aussie Stephen Larkham, Ireland's Ronan O'Gara, Frenchman Pierre Villepreux and Wales' Liza Burgess as those inducted this year. He is the 22nd New Zealander to be added, while the 1888-89 New Zealand native team are also in the Hall of Fame. Williams, who made

38 appearances for New Zealand between 1970 and 1978, is the first Kiwi to be added since 2014. The quintet will be honoured at a ceremony in Rugby in the United Kingdom next month.

Mortlock: Comment ‘laughable’

Former Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock has laughed off Steve Hansen's suggestion that the All Blacks would start as underdogs for the Bledisloe Cup opener. Hansen made the claims when announcing his squad on Monday, despite his side having won 15 of the past 19 meetings between the sides. “I think it’s pretty laughable that Steve could put it out there and claim that they’re underdogs,” Mortlock told AAP. “New Zealand’s dominance has been outstanding, not just against Australia but on a global stage.”

Roosters leapfrog Bunnies to go top

The Sydney Roosters replaced the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the top of the NRL table on points differential with an 18-14 win over their old rivals last night. The Roosters took the lead with a 15th-minute James Tedesco try and while the Rabbitohs twice levelled the scores, Sydney edged the contest for much of the match. The victory, the Roosters’ 100th against Souths, maintains their excellent form, having now won nine of their last 10 games since mid-May. Their only defeat in that time was 9-8 to the Storm, who can go top themselves if they beat the Sharks on Sunday.

Three birdies for Curry

NBA star Stephen Curry rallied with three birdies to shoot a one-over 71 in the first round of the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic. Making his second appearance in the $600,000 event at TPC Stonebrae, the Golden State Warriors ace rebounded from a bogey on the par-3 second hole with a long birdie putt on the par-5 third. He added birdies on the par-4 seventh and eighth — hitting the flagstick on No 8 — and closed with a par on the ninth.

No play on first day of second test

Play was called off for the day without a ball being bowled in the second cricket test between England and India at Lord’s yesterday. England leads the five-match series 1-0 after completing a thrilling 31-run victory at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Chris Woakes is expected to replace allrounder Ben Stokes, who is standing trial in Bristol on a charge of affray, in the England XI. England has already confirmed that 20-year-old Ollie Pope will replace Dawid Malan at No 4 in the batting lineup.

College basketball coach arrested

A college basketball coach threw a punch that killed a New York City tourist who mistook him for an Uber driver, police have said. Wake Forest assistant coach Jamill Jones attacked Sandor Szabo in Queens on Monday (NZT), causing him to fall and hit his head on the sidewalk, police said. Jones, 35, was arrested yesterday. He joined the Demon Deacons staff in May 2017.

Greek teen shocks Djok

Greek teen Stefanos Tsitsipas upset Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the Rogers Cup yesterday. The 19-year-old Tsitsipas broke the ninth-seeded Serb’s serve early in the third set and held serve from there to reach his first career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final. Top-ranked Rafael Nadal beat Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 7-6 (4) in a night match delayed by rain late in the first set. Nadal next faces sixth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Spurs make transfer history

Fulham signalled its determination to stay in the Premier League by becoming the first promoted team to spend over £100 million ($193m) in the northern summer transfer window. In an abbreviated trading period when English top-flight clubs collectively spent more than £1.2 billion, there was one anomaly by the close of business yesterday. For the first time since the summer transfer window was introduced 15 years ago, one team spent nothing: Tottenham.

Kiwi just misses out on medal

Josh Junior missed out on a medal on countback at the sailing world championships in Aarhus yesterday. The 28-year-old finished level on points with Pieter-Jan Postma but the Dutchman secured bronze by virtue of having finished ahead of Junior in the medal race. It was a disappointing outcome for Junior, who led overall heading into the final race which was struck by a massive squall that caused chaos in the fleet. He was one of a handful to capsize and saw his lead evaporate in a barrage of wind and rain.

NZ Poker Champs start

The top poker players in New Zealand will this weekend converge on Christchurch casino, hoping to take home a share of the likely $550,000 prize pool generated from one of the country's biggest poker events. The 2018 New Zealand Poker Champs start today with a $440 deepstack turbo tournament and culminates next weekend with a $1650 buy-in main event tournament which is expected to drum up a prize pool of $300,000.