Rugby Union: New Zealand stepped up their World Cup preparations to secure a bonus-point 39-18 victory over Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener in Christchurch yesterday. Captain Richie McCaw, Ma’a Nonu, Charles Piutau, Kieran Read and debutant Codie Taylor all scored tries for the All Blacks while Dan Carter slotted 14 points from the boot. Pumas captain Agustin Creevy gave his side some respectability with two tries in the second half. New Zealand play South Africa away next week, while the Pumas return home to host Australia.
Athletics: Ethiopia’s world indoor champion Genzebe Dibaba broke the 22-year-old 1,500 metres world record yesterday when she clocked three minutes 50.07 seconds at the Monaco Diamond League. Running the last lap on her own after the pacemaker dropped out, the 24-year-old dipped inside Chinese Qu Yunxia’s previous mark of 3:50.46 set in Beijing on September 11, 1993. Dibaba, the younger sister of three times Olympic champion and 5,000 metres world record holder Tirunesh Dibaba, said on Thursday she would decide whether to run the 1,500 or the 5,000 at next month’s Beijing world championships after today’s race.
Olympics: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the scrapping of a plan for a controversial national stadium, the centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, after sky-rocketing costs sparked public outrage. Anger over the stadium, the estimated cost of which had climbed to $2.1 billion, almost twice its expected cost when Tokyo won the bid for the Summer Games in 2013, had become a liability for Abe as he pushes unpopular defence bills through parliament. The new stadium was also meant to have been the centrepiece of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Cricket: Australia ripped out England’s top order to take a grip on the second Ashes test after dominating the second day at Lord’s yesterday. Steve Smith struck a superb 215 to lead the touring side to 566 for eight declared before their rampant pace attack knocked over Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Joe Root to leave England tottering on 30 for four. Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes clung on grimly to prevent further damage as the Australians smelt blood. Stokes lifted spinner Nathan Lyon over long-on for six and the pair completed a gritty 50 partnership before England reached the close on 85 for four with Stokes unbeaten on 38 and Cook 21.