🏉 Ruck And Roll Coming Down Under

Good morning, it's Tuesday, 5 April

🔊 Sport Today Podcast

This morning, Sam Ferris and Martin Gabor are at the mic. 

Today's listen time: 10 minutes.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺  What we're watching 

🏀 11.20am - March Madness Men's Final - Kansas v North Carolina - Caesars Superdome, New Orleans - Foxtel, Kayo

⚽ 7.05pm - A-League Men - Mariners v Phoenix - Central Coast Stadium, Gosford - Paramount+

🏏 1.30am (Wed) - T20I cricket - Australia v Pakistan - Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore - Foxtel, Kayo

All times are in AEST

🏉 Double delight for World Cup bid 

And the winner is…Australia! It’s not official yet, but it looks like we could be getting some good news soon with 2 upcoming Rugby World Cups set to be played Down Under.

Golden points: You don’t want to go the early crow, but World Rugby says Australia is the preferred candidate for the 2027 men’s World Cup and 2029 women’s World Cup. 

• A few things have really helped the bid. Financial support announced at last week’s Budget helps, but the big one is there’s no rival competitor for either event. 

• This would be the first time Australia has ever hosted a women’s World Cup.

• The Wallabies have won it twice (1991 and 1999) and are currently 6th in the rankings. 

They said it: "Hosting two Rugby World Cups is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Australia and the rugby community and all aspirational future Wallaroos and Wallabies.” - This is going to be big according to Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan. 

What’s next: We’ll have to wait until 12 May for the final announcement.

Watch it: Australia last hosted the men’s World Cup in 2003. Sorry for bringing it up if you’re still getting over the final.

🏏 The West is best again 

It feels a bit weird talking about cricket in April. But Western Australians will happily chat about the great game after their state ended one of the sport's longest droughts.

Golden points: WA hadn’t won the Sheffield Shield for 23 seasons. But after 5 long days under the Perth sun, they can finally call themselves champions again.

• They didn’t technically win because the game against Victoria finished in a draw.  

• Sam Whiteman won’t have to buy another beer in WA for a while. He was named player of the match for scoring 85 and 123. 

• It’s fair to say WA has totally dominated cricket this summer… and autumn. They won the Shield, One-Day Cup and the men’s and women’s Big Bash Leagues.

They said it: “I'm really going to enjoy this moment and enjoy it with the boys, we've really earned this, it's been a few years in the making.” - WA captain Shaun Marsh has been waiting a while for this. 21 years to be exact.

🏉 Sea Eagles star has his wings clipped 

The groans from Sydney's northern beaches could be heard across the Spit Bridge yesterday afternoon. No, the B1 bus wasn’t late. This was much worse. 

Golden points: Sea Eagles fullback Tom Trbojevic has been ruled out for 4 weeks after he suffered medial ligament damage to his knee. It’s not good and he needs surgery.

• Losing any player is bad, but ‘Turbo’ is no ordinary player. He was the best player in the competition last year and Manly have won 33% of their games without him in the past 3 seasons.

• Trbojevic suffered the injury early during Saturday’s win against Canberra. Just to prove how good he is, he still ran for 289 metres, scored a try and got 3 Dally M votes. 

What’s next: Make sure you’re online when the team lists come out at 4.00pm (AEST). Reuben Garrick is expected to be named at fullback.

🏀 Nothing but net for South Carolina 

It’s party time in South Carolina because the Gamecocks are Women’s National Champions in college basketball.

The score: South Carolina defeated Connecticut 64-49.

Golden points: March Madness came a little late for South Carolina. But they won’t care because they outlasted 63 other teams to win the biggest college tournament.

• This game was just about over at 1/4 time when they jumped out to a 14-point lead.

• South Carolina were the pre-tournament favourites and it’s their 2nd title in six years.

• To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. And no team had been better than the Huskies, who went into the game with an 11-0 record in national finals.

What’s next: The south got it done yesterday. Now the north has the chance to win it all in the men’s final. North Carolina plays Kansas at 11.20am (AEST) and you can watch it on Foxtel and Kayo.

🎱 Robertson finds form right on cue 

Neil Robertson can chalk up his latest snooker win to pure Aussie grit.

Golden points: The trophy engraver was ready to put John Higgins’ name on the Tour Championship trophy. But luckily he didn’t rush into it because Robertson came back from 9-4 down to win 10-9.

• Higgins had 5 century breaks but could do nothing as Robertson won the final 6 frames to defend the title he won last year.

• Robertson is in hot form this season. That was his 4th title and has him 3rd in the rankings. 

They said it: “For me, he is the best player in the world. If he played more tournaments he’d probably be world #1.” - World #1 Ronnie O’Sullivan has an eye for talent. 

What’s next: There’s never been a better time to be in form than right now. That’s because the World Championship starts 16 April.

👀 Quick singles

🎾 Carlos Alcaraz continues to impress the tennis world after his record-breaking win in Miami. The 18yo is the youngest men’s winner of the Miami Open and is now the world #11 after the biggest win of his career.

🏉 Sarah Togatuki could miss the NRLW Grand Final after she was charged with a grade 2 careless high tackle over the weekend. The Roosters forward is off to the judiciary tonight to fight the charge so she can play the Dragons on Sunday.

⚽ Footballers in Australia will now be protected from online abuse thanks to a world-first initiative in Australia. The A-Leagues are using new software to protect players from seeing hurtful comments online.

🏆 It’s party time at Oxford after the prestigious university took out the 167th Boat Race. It was the school’s first win since 2017 as the famous race returned to the Thames for the first time since 2019 because of the pandemic. 

🎾 Nick Kyrgios isn’t a fan of clay or the French Open, and that’s why he won’t play at this year’s second major. But he will return there next year to play for the first time since 2017 because his girlfriend wants to see Paris. 

🏉 The Sydney Swans have suffered an injury setback with ruckman Tom Hickey set to miss the next 6 games. Hickey has a medial ligament injury in his knee and will be sorely missed because he came 6th in the club’s best and fairest last year. 

⚽ It’s a big couple of days in European football with the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League starting tomorrow. England’s biggest clubs Liverpool and Manchester City will be in action tomorrow, with both games on Stan Sport. 

🙃 Left of field…

Aussie Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has taken his shoey game to a new level.

Golden points: Ricciardo has teamed up with a designer to release a limited-edition glass decanter for everyone to enjoy a classy drop of wine.

• You’ll be the toast of the ball because the glass shoe allows the wine to breathe, which apparently makes it taste better.

• It’s a much more hygienic way to drink out of a shoe, but it’s probably not as cheap. They cost $700 and there are only 1100 of them available.

What’s next: Ricciardo will be hoping to do a shoey on Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix. We still don’t know if that would be from a glass decanter or a stinky shoe.

Watch it: See if the shoe fits your taste. 

📽 The highlight reel

He took the final wicket in his last Test match, and New Zealand great Ross Taylor continued the theme as he said goodbye to international cricket. There were no heroics with the ball, but Taylor did take the catch for the final wicket against the Netherlands. 

📸 Photo finish

Seriously, does Random Souths Guy turn up at every event in the world? If you haven't seen them before, South Sydney fans have a funny habit of showing up anywhere and everywhere. Here's one at WrestleMania. That is random.

🏃‍♀️ The finish line

🏆 Today's trivia answer

It's not as long ago as you think. They beat Canberra 19-18 in Round 23 last year.