Leicester 36-28 Saracens Tigers close gap on top four The temperature was zero at kick-off but when the pluses and minuses were totted up, Leicester were comfortably in credit and Saracens were out in the cold. A clinical and cohesive performance by Geoff Parling’s side has them looking upwards, contemplating the playoffs, while the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, must reflect on his team’s inconsistency. As the regular season reaches halfway this was a highly significant mid-table encounter: Leicester in fifth, and sixth-placed Saracens still have ground to make up on the top four, but the home side narrowed the gap with an accomplished win. There were plenty of illustrious names on the teamsheet but it was Billy Searle, the Leicester fly-half, whose headline-grabbing performance won him player of the match. At 29, Searle has already played for five different professional clubs in England and three in France. On this sparkling form you wonder why any of them let him ...
For the Ukrainian leader, there’s no coming back from the debacle. His country’s best hope now lies with Europe No matter their position on the Russia-Ukraine war, people who view the televised encounter between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office will likely be shocked. It didn’t morph into a full-on screaming match, but it came close. The meeting might have gone sideways anyway, but JD Vance ’s presence ensured that it became ugly – and quickly. The vice-president spoke over Zelenskyy, accused him of ingratitude for the assistance provided by the United States (“Have you ever said thank you?”) and of disrespecting Trump , his host, and, for good measure, scolded him for litigating his country’s case in public. That raised the temperature – a lot. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/v9AGDrN via IFTTT