Live: Rugby League World Cup finals in Brisbane, ATP Finals in Turin and a packed international sports Sunday
Australia and New Zealand meet in the Rugby League World Cup men’s final at Lang Park in Brisbane on Sunday, with the women’s final between the same nations scheduled earlier at the same stadium.
Our live coverage spans multiple sports across the weekend, including the ATP Finals in Turin and midday WSL action; Emillia Hawkins will lead Nations League build-up covering Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland later in the day. The WSL’s two unbeaten sides meet at lunchtime: Andrée Jeglertz’s City sit top after a 5-0 win over West Ham, Chelsea were held by Everton last weekend and the leaders are separated by two points, Suzanne Wrack reports.
Australia and New Zealand opened the Rugby League World Cup with an eye-catching contest in Sydney four weeks ago and will meet again for the men’s title in Brisbane; the Kangaroos’ fullback Reece Walsh and the Kiwis’ Kalyn Ponga were the stars in that earlier game and are expected to play key roles at Lang Park. The women’s final at the same venue sees the Jillaroos aiming for a fourth consecutive title against the Kiwi Ferns, who won the first three editions, and the Guardian will provide live coverage of both finals.
Turin hosts the ATP Finals this weekend, featuring the world’s top eight men; world No 1 Alexander Zverev starts the tournament on Sunday against Spain’s Rafael Jódar, who became the first player to reach the ATP Finals in the same season he made his full ATP Tour debut. Zverev took top spot earlier this month after winning Roland Garros and the US Open—his first grand slam titles—and is bidding for a third Finals triumph; he is expected to top the four-man John McEnroe Group while Carlos Alcaraz leads the Ivan Lendl Group after winning the Paris Masters. Tom Bassam will live blog the opening matches.
England welcome Eddie Jones’s Japan to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, following a 45-22 win over Australia in last weekend’s autumn opener. Japan are ranked 12th in the world, and the second of this month’s four Tests has been designated a World Cup audition for Will Joseph, Max Ojomoh and Cadan Murley. Steve Borthwick reportedly already knows the bulk of his squad for Australia 2027, leaving around five places still to be decided. Alex Reid will host live coverage with Robert Kitson and Gerard Meagher reporting.
Nations League fixtures also feature Wales, who beat World Cup quarter-finalists 2-1 in Cardiff at the start of October and now travel to Oslo where the bottom two sides in Group A4 are fighting to avoid relegation to League B; Erling Haaland, the Nations League’s all-time top scorer with 22 goals, failed to score at Cardiff City Stadium. In Group A3, Spain have a 100% record and face England in Madrid on Sunday evening; England, managed by Thomas Tuchel, reached the match after a 2-1 victory over Croatia at Wembley and will attempt to finish top of the group having already secured a place in March’s Nations League quarter-finals. Harry Kane’s spot-kick settled the win against Croatia after Petar Sucic had cancelled out Morgan Rogers’ opener on the night the England captain became the country’s most capped player.
In cricket, England were beaten in the first ODI in Perth, bowled out for 131 in 33.4 overs after losing the toss, with the hosts reaching 132 for three in 23.3 overs; Mitch Marsh made a rapid 50 and Mahli Beardman took six wickets for 24 on debut. Tim de Lisle will provide over-by-over commentary for the second ODI, which moves to Adelaide before the three-match series concludes in Hobart on Wednesday. Other weekend highlights include the New England Patriots facing the Detroit Lions in Munich—the sixth regular-season NFL match in Germany—with the Patriots 5-4 and the Lions 6-2, and a busy day of jump racing featuring the Paddy Power Gold Cup Handicap Chase and Ben Pauling’s Meetmebythesea, while Old Park Star is set to start over fences in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novice Chase; Greg Wood previews the ‘Super Saturday’ card.
The schedule confirms the Rugby League World Cup double-header at Lang Park on Sunday, with the women’s final preceding the men’s, and a full slate of live blogs will follow other key fixtures including England’s Nations League meeting with Spain in Madrid on Sunday evening.
