England

Kane dreams of lifting World Cup

Kane will lead the Three Lions as they look to make amends for their humiliating last-16 defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.

And despite England having not won the tournament since 1966, the Tottenham striker is feeling bullish about their chances of going all the way this time around.

"It's impossible not to dream about lifting the World Cup, it's the biggest competition in the world," he told a news conference. "For me, it's going to be a massive dream to play in it. It's impossible not to think about that.

Denver Test appears certain to go ahead

RLIF chairman John Grant was invited to attend the NRL CEO's meeting, along with representatives of the NZRL and England's Rugby Football League, to discuss with clubs and the RLPA concerns about the flight time and recovery process for players in the Test.

The RLPA is still working through some issues with the countries but there is an acceptance that the Test will go ahead after the NZRL outlined details of the insurance coverage and medical processes for Kiwis players.

Commonwealth Games: Zharnel Hughes disqualified for hitting Jereem Richards

Hughes was disqualified on the grounds he impeded Trinidad and Tobago's Richards in Thursday night's final at Carrara Stadium.

England lodged an appeal in the aftermath but it was unsuccessful and the disqualification stood.

Hughes had been leading Richards, who was in the lane to his left, by about a metre halfway down the home straight.

Richards was drawing level with Hughes less than 20 metres from the finish line when he was struck by the Englishman's straying left arm.

England 1 Italy 1

Napoli forward Insigne fired past Jack Butland in the 87th minute after the use of VAR had seen debutant James Tarkowski punished for a challenge on Italy subsitute Federico Chiesa.

Jamie Vardy capitalised on some swift thinking by Jesse Lingard to fire the hosts ahead in the 26th minute, and it seemed one goal would be enough for Gareth Southgate's side.

After a foul on Raheem Sterling, Lingard spotted the opportunity to take a quick free-kick, putting the ball down and re-starting play in a hurry to tee up his compatriot's seventh international goal.

Jones fronts up after Scotland loss

Huw Jones scored two tries, with Sean Maitland touching down in between, while Finn Russell delivered a man-of-the-match display to quell doubters that had sprung up in the first two weeks of the championship.

England were well off the pace at a raucous Murrayfield, regularly losing the battle on the ground and suffering from ill-discipline - giving away 13 penalties, one of which saw Sam Underhill sin-binned for a no-arms tackle.

Defeat was just Jones' second as England coach and the Australian offered no excuses for their below-par outing.

Hughes included in England squad

Hughes could come back into the side at number eight at Murrayfield in the absence of Sam Simmonds, who will miss the next two rounds with a shoulder injury.

Wasps forward Hughes has been sidelined for six weeks, but came through a demanding training camp last week.

Head coach Eddie Jones has also named prop Joe Marler and backrow forward James Haskell in a 29-man group for the Calcutta Cup showdown after the duo served suspensions.

Wayne Bennett set to remain England head coach

The 68-year-old's two-year contract with the Rugby Football League ran out after he guided England to the final of the 2017 World Cup but it is believed he has been persuaded to stay on in the job.

The RFL accepted a recommendation from rugby director Kevin Sinfield, the former Leeds and England captain who has conducted a review into the national team's performance at the World Cup, and confirmation of the reappointment of Bennett is expected early next week.

Care to make England history

Youngs has been ruled out for the remainder of the championship after suffering a knee injury in the opening-weekend win in Rome.

The Leicester Tigers star was taken off early in Sunday's encounter, his evident pain souring what proved to be a commanding 46-15 win for England.

Richard Wigglesworth was subsequently added to the squad and is named among the replacements as Care prepares to overtake Matt Dawson with his 78th England appearance.

Te'o, meanwhile, drops to the bench, with Bath man Joseph preferred at outside centre.

Red-hot England run rings around Italy

Owen Farrell, George Ford and Jack Nowell added one apiece and Farrell kicked four conversions and a penalty.

The score was harsh on Italy who resisted bravely until a flurry of England tries in the closing minutes.

The winners of the last two wooden spoons were refreshingly positive and replied with two tries of their own from Tommaso Benvenuti and Mattia Bellini with Tommaso Allan kicking a conversion and penalty.

England, who have won all 24 games against Italy, lost halfback Ben Youngs in the first half when he suffered a knee injury.

Vunipola suffers fractured arm

The back-row only returned from a three-month spell on the sidelines with a knee injury in the Premiership victory against Wasps last weekend and suffered another cruel setback at the Liberty Stadium.

Vunipola was replaced at half-time in the Champions Cup clash, which ended 15-15, and Saracens on Sunday revealed that an X-ray showed he had fractured his forearm, just three weeks before England start the defence of their Six Nations title against Italy in Rome.