Rallying: Kris Meeke will take a healthy lead into the penultimate day of the Rally Argentina after winning three of Day One’s five stages. Northern Irishman Meeke won the day’s first, third and fourth stages to secure an overall lead of one minute 8.4 seconds ahead of Citroen team-mate Mads Ostberg. Jari-Matti Latvala had to settle for third place overall after gearbox problems on the final stage of the day. Champion and overnight leader Sebastien Ogier had a day to forget as he was forced to retire after encountering a fuel flow problem.

Equestrian: France has been disqualified from the Eventing competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics due to a positive dope test, with Canada qualifying instead. An FEI tribunal said the horse Qalao des Mers, ridden by Maxime Livio, tested positive for a controlled medication substance at the World Equestrian Games in Caen last August. The French eventing team had finished fourth to secure Olympic qualification. The top six – Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland and now Canada – secured places in Rio with Brazil earning an automatic slot as host nation.

Rugby Union: Six nations from North and South America plan to launch a Pan-American annual championship based on the successful European model, USA Rugby announced. Representatives of rugby unions from Brazil, Uru-guay, Chile, Argentina, Canada and the US met in Miami last week to discuss the plan. No name has yet been given to the championship which would be run under the guidance of the Pan American Rugby Association (PARA). The competition, which it is hoped will begin in 2016, would guarantee each nation five matches annually.