England will face Fiji, Australia, South Africa and world champions New Zealand in the 2012 autumn internationals at Twickenham.

The opening Test is against Fiji on Saturday, 10 November, before the hosts face the Wallabies on 17 November and Springboks a week later.

The series concludes against the world champion All Blacks on 1 December.

"These Tests are a massive challenge," said England number eight Nick Easter.

"The southern hemisphere has set the benchmark over the years. We know that they hold dominance so it is always good to pit yourself against them."

England will now play the Springboks four times in 2012 after a three-Test tour to South Africa next summer.

New Zealand will play on English soil for the first time since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup at Eden Park in October.

All Blacks and Bath fly-half Stephen Donald added: "The north v south rivalry is unique and always gives the big battles in every area of the park.

"Twickenham is a stadium steeped in history and playing England in their own backyard is a huge fixture to look forward to."

In their last autumn series at Twickenham in 2010, England were beaten by New Zealand (16-26) and South Africa (11-21) either side of a memorable 35-18 victory over Australia, and a 26-13 win over Samoa.

They have lost their last nine Tests against the All Blacks going back to 2003, and their last seven against the Springboks, their last win coming in November 2006.

England have won their last two Tests against the Wallabies, and all four against Fiji, who they last played at the 1999 World Cup.

England's next game is their Six Nations opener against Scotland at Murrayfield on 4 February.

Source: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/15674011.stm

PARIS (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic ran into a spot of bother before seeing off Davis Cup team mate Viktor Troicki 4-6 6-3 6-1 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.

Czech Tomas Berdych booked his place for the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-5 6-4 win over Serb Janko Tipsarevic. Berdych's win meant Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mardy Fish also qualified for the eight-man field in the November 20-27 event at the O2 in London.

The line-up for the season-ending tournament is now complete as Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and David Ferrer had already secured their berths.

While Murray breezed past a clueless Andy Roddick 6-2 6-2, world number one Djokovic made heavy weather of Troicki before explaining that he was still trying to adjust to the slick indoor conditions.

Djokovic's phenomenal performance in winning three grand slam and five Masters titles this season seemed to be a distant memory as he found himself trailing following an unusual string of unforced errors.

"It's only my second indoors event after December last year, so I'm still kind of getting used to the conditions," Djokovic told a press conference.

"But I'm happy with the way things are progressing and game-wise. Health-wise I think I could be a little better," he added, referring to his recent shoulder problems.

Troicki failed to seize his chance in the second set as Djokovic saved seven break points, converting his only two opportunities to level the tie.

Djokovic, who pocketed a $1.6 million bonus for just turning up at Bercy by virtue of an ATP rule designed to entice top players to show up at top events, stepped up a gear in the final set while a demoralised Troicki collapsed and dropped serve three times.

VERY SMART

Djokovic, who will next take on sixth seed Tsonga after the Frenchman beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-4, ended the one hour 55 minute contest with a scorching service return.

Murray produced a dazzling display as he demolished former world number one Roddick in just 61 minutes.

Briton Murray, who has never made it past the last eight in the Parisian indoor tournament, will next face the fifth seeded Berdych, a Paris Masters champion in 2005.

"I started the match well, which against him is always important, because he plays his best when he's ahead. He's able to put pressure on you and can kind of dominate the match with his serve," Murray told a press conference.

"But because I broke him earlier, I was able to dictate a lot of what happened out there. Played very well. Very few hiccups. I played very smart."

Roddick, the 13th seed, looked helpless throughout as world number three Murray sent him scurrying left and right with his sharp forehand.

Roddick crushed his racket in frustration when he conceded his fourth break against a focussed Murray, who gave up only 10 points on serve.

The Scot, who is on a 17-match winning streak after a hat-trick of titles during the Asian swing, ended his opponent's ordeal with an ace.

Fourth seed Ferrer also advanced with a clinical 6-3 6-2 defeat of Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov to set up a meeting with either American John Isner or Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Source: Reuters

AUSTRALIA needs to keep working to find the right mix of players if it is to regain the Cormac McAnallen trophy from Ireland, according to captain Brad Green.

An Australian side boasting just two members of the 2011 All Australian team was thoroughly outplayed by the tourists, losing the series by a combined 65 points.

Australia's 29 points in game two were the least in the history of the series and, coupled with a 44-point loss in game one, Ireland's aggregate victory was an apt indication of the difference between the teams.

Some of the Australian team, including its player of the series James Kelly, James Frawley, Bernie Vince and Andrew Swallow, showed they could compete and handle the round ball.

But other team members were extremely quiet over the course of the two games and not up to the standard required.

Some have called for a return to previous selection policies, when the All Australian side was picked to play Ireland, but Green doesn't believe the solution is that simple.

"I think it's a mix. It's a mix of guys between the best players and the guys that can play the game," Green told AFL.com.au.

"That's the best scenario we can come up with.

"It's hard, guys have to take time out of their leave and injuries - it was a 24-week season this year and the sub rule probably put the strain on a lot of players.

"We had eight players who pulled out in the finals series, so that's half of our side gone."

Criticised for a lack of effort in game one, Green felt his players had at least responded well on that front in the second clash.

"It's always disappointing when you lose a game of footy or in this case International Rules," he said.

"It was a spirited effort, but there were just some basics from us that cost us at the end of the day.

"Our effort was poor in the first game, but you couldn't question it this game.

"In the end it wasn't too big a gap, but it was still a loss."

Green is one of the strongest advocates of the series and said it allows strong friendships to be forged, which wouldn't otherwise have a chance to materialise.

"I love the series, I love playing it and it's something different that AFL guys can adapt to and come together for two weeks," he said.

"That's the great thing, you get to play with another 23 guys that become your mates and it's an amazing transformation that happens."

Source: 

https://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/125812/default.aspx

Juan Martin Del Potro saw his chances of reaching the ATP World Finals dented with defeat in the semi-finals of the Valencia Open.

The Argentine, who would have moved into ninth place in the standings for the season-ending event in London had he reached Sunday's final, instead lost 6-4 7-6 to Marcel Granollers of Spain.

Only the top eight in the list play in the round-robin event and Del Potro must now do well at next week's Paris Masters if he is to vault himself into the line-up.

His defeat means Tomas Berdych becomes the sixth man to be confirmed in the London showpiece with two more places up for grabs.

The 2009 US Open champion, runner-up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last week in Vienna, had looked to be getting back to something near his best after more than eight months out last year with a wrist injury.

But he saw Granollers come out on top in a close encounter with the Spaniard taking on either defending champion David Ferrer or Argentine wildcard Juan Monaco in the final.

It has been another dream run to the final for the world number 54 a year after he lost to Ferrer in the final.

The 25-year-old Catalan player had already beaten seventh-seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round and third-seed Gael Monfils in the last eight.

"I didn't think about reaching the final," Granollers said. "I just focused on the game at hand. I am very happy with how the tournament is going."

Source: 

http://www1.skysports.com/tennis/news/12110/7293813/Del-Potro-denied-by-Granollers

By Kelly Dwyer

Wolf Blitzer has long featured a dry sense of humor that stands in stark contrast to his rather awesome name, which sounds like the titular video game character your little brother played with on Sega Genesis 18 years ago. So we suspect he's working with his tongue placed firmly in cheek as he discusses his role in convincing then-Washington Wizards GM Michael Jordan to return to the NBA following a three-year absence in 2001.

From an interview with the Washington Post's Michael Lee:

"At one point, I said to him, 'This city would really explode if you put your uniform back on and starting playing a little bit.' And he laughed. Then I pressed him and pressed him. After the interview, he did it," Blitzer said in a recent telephone interview. "Now being an egomaniac that I am, I take personal credit. But I suspect there were other factors besides my excellent questioning that convinced him to come back and play."

Again, this is probably a sly joke on Blitzer's part. And a needed one, because it reminded of the forum in which he asked Jordan -- an awful (though no fault of Blitzer's) town hall meeting on CNN to discuss what was so terribly wrong with the NBA while using 47 descriptions of the same insinuation ("too young, too black," essentially) while ignoring the real problems (hand-checking and physical play was killing the offenses, stars were in short supply, and too few coaches let their teams run).

If you do take Blitzer at his word, jokes aside, understand that Jordan was going all out at Wizards practicethe day he signed with the team as GM and part-owner 13 months before the Blitzer back and forth. He was a regular with the team in practice throughout 2000-01, rumors began to spread about his slow build to a comeback midway through that season, but he waited until Sept. 10, 2001 (seven months after Blitzer's question) to admit (without much fanfare and late in the evening to the Associated Press, and on the steps of his go-to workout center in Chicago) that he was planning a full-fledged comeback as a player.

Of course Wolf is joking, though. Right? Right.

(Please tell me he's joking. HT: Tom Ziller at SB Nation.)

Source: 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Is-CNN-8217-s-Wolf-Blitzer-to-blame-for-Michael;_ylt=AnzhBsg1LWHoxKnbgArY0qyLvLYF?urn=nba-wp10028

By Julie Stott at Wembley Stadium

Sri Lanka removed Pakistan's openers early to gain the upper hand on the second day of the third and final cricket Test at Sharjah stadium here on Friday.

Sri Lanka, seeking a series-levelling win after losing the second Test by nine wickets in Dubai, removed Mohammad Hafeez (six) and Taufiq Umar (19) as Pakistan closed on 35 for two in reply to Lanka's first innings total of 413. The first Test in Abu Dhabi ended in a draw.

Pakistan looked shaky from the start as Hafeez was dismissed in the fifth over of the innings, edging an outgoing delivery from left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to slip for Mahela Jayawardene to take a simple catch.

Left-arm spinner Rangana then struck in his third over, inducing Umar to come out of the crease and had him stumped by wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva, much to the disappointment of a holiday crowd of near 8,000 made up of Pakistan expats.

At close, Azhar was unbeaten on 10 and Younis Khan yet to get off the mark, as Pakistan still trails by 378 runs.

Earlier, Saeed Ajmal led Pakistan's fight-back, claiming four wickets, after Sri Lanka, well placed at 300 for the loss of three, lost five wickets in the space of 59 runs.

Sangakkara, who also crossed 9,000 Test runs during the innings, showed pleasure at helping the team. “My job is to keep scoring runs and every Test is a new challenge.”

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka — 1st innings: T. Paranavitana c Younis b Gul 4, T. Dilshan c Younis b Ajmal 92, K. Sangakkara c Younis b Ajmal 144, M. Jayawardene lbw b Junaid 39, A. Mathews c Akmal b Rehman 17, K. Silva c Ali b Ajmal 39, K. Kulasekara lbw b Ajmal 15, S. Randiv lbw b Gul 1, D. Prasad c Akmal b Junaid 17, R. Herath (not out) 34, C. Welegedara b Gul 0; Extras (lb-5, nb-6): 11; Total (in 153.3 overs): 413.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-177, 3-261, 4-300, 5-304, 6-330, 7-331, 8-359, 9-413.

Pakistan bowling: Gul 29.3-10-76-3, junaid 27-4-94-2, Ajmal 51-4-132-4, Rehman 45-14-103-1, Hafeez 1-0-3-0.

Pakistan — 1st innings: M. Hafeez c Jayawardene b Welegedara 6, T. Umar st Silva b Herath 19, A. Ali (batting) 10, Younis (batting) 0; Total (for two wkts in 20 overs): 35.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-35.

Sri Lanka bowling: Welegedara 5-1-11-1, Prasad 4-0-9-0, Kulasekara 3-0-14-0, Herath 5-4-1-1, Randiv 3-3-0-0.

Source: 

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article2598714.ece

AAP

Gold Coast Suns midfielder Brandon Matera has re-signed to the AFL club through to the end of the 2014 season.

The son of former Fitzroy and West Coast player Wally Matera and nephew of former Eagles Peter and Phil Matera, Brandon played 12 matches and booted 15 goals with the Suns, before his year ended through injury.

"It was a bit of a disappointing way to end my first year, I suppose I would have loved to have played every game, but I worked hard during my recovery and am hoping for an injury-free season next year," Matera said.

Matera joined the Suns as one of the twelve 17 year olds made available to the club under the AFL's draft concessions.

Source: 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-02/matera-stays-with-suns/3614156/?site=sport&section=afl