Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson hailed Henry Pollock as a "world-class" talent following the back row's brilliant try against Sale Sharks.

The 20-year-old collected his own chip over Sale scrum-half Gus Warr to touch down and make the score 17-17 - but Saints eventually lost 27-24.

Pollock scored twice on his England debut against Wales during the Six Nations and is now being spoken of as a possible for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia in the summer.

"He has that ability to both change the game and inspire the people around him," director of rugby Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton.

"He can do things others can't do - yes, [he is] world-class."

England wing Tommy Freeman, who added a try to the five he scored during the Six Nations, described his young team-mate as "different gravy".

Despite their efforts, the 2024 Premiership champions suffered their eighth defeat in 13 league games this season and are 11 points adrift of the play-off places with five left to play.

"We showed a lot of heart and wanted to do that after last week's game [a 33-0 home loss to Leicester Tigers] - there are some things to take away that are pretty positive," Freeman added.

"As the game opened up, we moved the ball and started to play how we wanted to play, we asked questions and created some tired legs for them, and it felt we were in the drivers' seat.

"But a few errors and some penalties we gave away, and they managed to get the scoreboard [moving]. It kind of cost us, so we'll get back to the drawing board and be excited for Clermont in a different competition next week."

The last 16 European Champions Cup tie against Clermont Auvergne on Friday now assumes even greater significance for Saints in their quest to add further silverware this season.

"They're all massive games [now] - this was a huge game as well - and we've got to make sure we continue to work hard in training and give ourselves the opportunity to be better than we were tonight," Dowson said.

Rugby union should consider banning head coaches from matches if their players are repeatedly involved in head-on-head tackles, says former England women's boss Simon Middleton.

In the Women's Six Nations opening round, France centre Gabrielle Vernier was sent off for a head-on-head hit in their win over Ireland, followed by Wales' Georgia Evans receiving a second yellow card for a similar tackle in their defeat by Scotland.

In this year's men's Six Nations, Ireland centre Garry Ringrose received a red card for a head-on-head tackle on Wales' Ben Thomas.

Middleton - England head coach from 2015 to 2023 - suggests that three illegal head-on-head tackles in a game should result in a one-match touchline ban for that team's head coach.

"You want to make it impactful and resonate," Middleton told BBC Sport.

"If I am a defence coach and I know the action of my player is going to impact the availability of the head coach then I am probably going to be more diligent and aware of the consequences of what I am coaching.

"As a head coach you are charged with overseeing your coaching group so ultimately the buck stops with the head coach.

"I do think reducing head contact in rugby is moving in the right direction, but there has been a notable change in terms of the nature of incidents now being more head-on-head than shoulder-to-head."

Middleton coached the Red Roses to the World Cup final in 2022, where his side lost to New Zealand after playing the majority of the game with 14 players following a high, head-on-head tackle by wing Lydia Thompson.

The 59-year-old says more detail around tackle height from his coaching team could have prevented the red card.

"We paid a huge price for it in the World Cup and rightly so as that was the correct decision and we have to live with that," he said.

"I look back on the build-up to the World Cup and think 'what was our part in that?' We clearly played a part.

"We have to be accountable as it is never just about the players, it is about why the player has actioned in that way. There are some things you can't control but most of the actions are a product of what they are coached."

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said he is happy at the south coast side and is hoping to make history at the club as they chase their first major trophy, amid speculation linking the Spaniard with a move to Tottenham Hotspur.

With Spurs languishing 14th in the Premier League after 29 matches and bowing out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup under boss Ange Postecoglou, Iraola has been touted as a possible option for the north London side if they part ways with the Australian.

The Europa League is Spurs' only hope of winning silverware this season in what would be the club's first trophy since winning the Carabao Cup in 2008.

The 43-year-old Iraola, who joined Bournemouth in June 2023, has helped the club reach the FA Cup quarterfinals, where they will host Manchester City on Sunday. His side are also looking to qualify for European football for the first time and are five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in 10th spot.

Asked if he can achieve all his management goals at Bournemouth, Iraola told reporters on Friday: "I want to do my job the best I can. I don't know how far we can go, where we will finish. I want to do my job the best I can.

"If I don't do the job very well, they will find someone else. I'm really happy here. We have a great opportunity to make history and it would be amazing for me personally, for the club to achieve new heights, but we know that we have to be realistic.

"There are better teams than us and we have to fight against teams that are very good. We will try to give the best level we have."

Iraola was also asked about 19-year-old centre back Dean Huijsen, whose impressive first season at Bournemouth has generated interest from Real Madrid, a source has told ESPN.

Dutch-born Huijsen made his international debut for Spain against the Netherlands in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-finals on March 20.

"We are not surprised [with the transfer talk], probably because he has now made his national team debut, he has played well, probably they are talking more about him," Iraola said.

"He has been playing consistently and I think he has performed very well. He has faced very difficult forwards but we already knew he was a very good player when he came in the summer."

NJ/NY Gotham FC and U.S. women's national team defender Tierna Davidson exited Friday's NWSL 0-0 draw against the Houston Dash in the 44th minute due to a left knee injury.

A Gotham FC spokesperson confirmed the left knee injury and said that Davidson would be evaluated upon return to New Jersey.

"Tierna is a warrior, is our captain. It was devastating seeing her coming off the pitch how she did, but then seeing her on the pitch at the end of the game, it was also a message from her to the team of how strong she is," Gotham FC coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after the game.

"I know that whatever it is, we're gonna be with her, we're gonna support her. She's in safe hands. We have a fantastic medical team and I hope [the injury] is the minimum it can be because she's been outstanding for us and outstanding for her country."

Davidson, who won the 2019 World Cup and 2024 Olympics with the United States, was defending a cross near the endline when she fell to the ground and grabbed her left knee. She walked off the field with assistance from the trainers and was visibly upset.

After hugging assistant coach Michelle Betos on the sidelines and briefly sitting down, Davidson walked to the locker room with further assistance from a Gotham FC trainer.

Davidson tore her ACL in March 2022. She returned to the field in early 2023 but missed out on a roster spot at the 2023 World Cup as she continued to regain her form.

She was called up to the USWNT roster for an upcoming pair of games against Brazil, which serve as rematches of the 2024 Olympic gold-medal match. Davidson was one of the USWNT's starting centerbacks at the Olympics alongside Naomi Girma.

Girma has not appeared for the USWNT in 2025 and is not on the latest roster, as she deals with an ongoing calf injury.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Since UCLA lost its final home game of the season to USC at the start of the month, Lauren Betts has changed her mindset. She decided nothing will get in her way.

"Just be aggressive no matter what and do whatever I need to do to help my team," she said.

That has never been more clear than through the start of the women's NCAA tournament, especially UCLA's 76-62 win over Ole Miss on Friday in the Sweet 16.

Betts finished with 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting and 10 rebounds, becoming the first Division I player to have 30 points, 10 rebounds and shoot at least 80% from the floor in back-to-back games over the past 20 seasons, in regular-season or postseason play.

"That's insane," Betts said.

Betts' 93.8% shooting from the floor tied the record for the highest field goal percentage in an NCAA tournament game. She is also the third player in the past 25 years with multiple 30-point, 10-rebound games in a single NCAA tournament and the first since Brittney Griner in 2013; the other player to do it was Elena Delle Donne in 2012. All three of them did so in consecutive games.

"[We] have a generational player on our team," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "She's not only dominant for herself, but she makes everybody on the floor better, and so you just want to put the ball in her hands as many ways and as many times as possible. ... But Lauren is a dominant player on both sides of the ball. ... That's why she's one of the top players in the country, and that's why she makes us better, and that's why we're in the Elite Eight."

Heading into the game, Close didn't think Betts had to touch the ball on every possession, but she had to be involved in the play. If she wasn't, it meant Ole Miss' defense was taking the Bruins out of their normal actions.

It quickly became apparent that the Rebels couldn't do that.

"Whatever we tried didn't work," Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. "And it didn't work for 33 other teams -- or 32 other teams either, it seems like. ... Anytime they got in a bind, they just threw it to her. That is a luxury. You don't have to run a play. ... You can just throw it into your dominant post player. And she is that."

The Rebels threw some double-teams at Betts, but for the most part, they played her one-on-one and relied on their perimeter pressure to make it difficult for the Bruins. In the first half, Ole Miss had some success, trailing by only one point at halftime. Betts admitted the pace of the game had her "dying" early on.

But in the third quarter, UCLA made some adjustments and blew the game open, mainly playing through the middle of the floor.

The Bruins started the quarter on an 8-0 run, punctuated by Kiki Rice's first 3-pointer of the night -- forcing Ole Miss to call a timeout. Rice scored or assisted on all eight UCLA points during the run, and UCLA went 7-of-10 off Rice's passes. Rice and Londynn Jones combined for 20 points in the second half after scoring two before halftime.

Still, Betts' presence was the difference for her team, as the Bruins scored 35% better with her on the court than when she was off.

"She's so dominant every day in practice, and I know you guys don't see it, but it's just like every single day she comes with the same consistency," Rice said. "When we do get in games, it's like throw the ball up to Lauren. She will score, get me an assist. But I think just having her on my team, I'm so grateful to have her on my team and not be playing against her."

As dominant as Betts was on offense, she was equally impactful on defense, limiting the Rebels to 2-of-16 shooting on shots she contested. Until early in the fourth quarter, Betts single-handedly outscored Ole Miss in the paint.

"I take a lot of pride in my defense," Betts said. "That's something that the coaches have always held me accountable to, and I think that's something that I just try to bring to my team -- that competitive edge when it comes to defending."

After playing in their third consecutive Sweet 16, Betts' historic performance propelled the Bruins to their first Elite Eight since 2018.

They will face LSU, which knocked them out of last year's third round in a brutal loss, during which UCLA gave up a three-point lead with two minutes to go and the Tigers won by nine.

That loss left a sour taste in their mouths, Rice said. Getting past the Sweet 16 was a hurdle for the Bruins. But their aspirations are bigger than the Elite Eight.

"UCLA looks like a team that can win the national championship because who's going to stop [Betts]?" McPhee-McCuin said. "They're going to have their work cut out for them. ... But they are very tough as long as [Betts] is playing."

INDIANAPOLIS -- With 2.8 seconds remaining with the score tied in a Sweet 16 game Friday, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called a clever baseline inbounds play that will long be replayed on March highlight reels.

Cougars wing Milos Uzan inbounded the ball to forward Joseph Tugler about eight feet from the basket. Tugler, immediately realizing that Purdue guard Braden Smith fled his spot guarding the inbounder, dropped a quick pass back to the unguarded Uzan, who leaped unimpeded to the basket and laid the ball in.

The shot delivered No. 1 Houston to a 62-60 win over the No. 4 Boilermakers. It was give, go, layin and win for one of this NCAA tournament's most memorable moments.

"That was beautiful," Uzan said of the way the play unfolded. "Especially in a moment like this, Sweet 16 to go to the Elite Eight."

The winning shot capped a 22-point night for Uzan, gave Sampson one of the signature wins of his career and propelled the top-seeded Cougars to a matchup with No. 2 Tennessee on Sunday. For a Houston program that has reached six consecutive Sweet 16s, the moment will resonate as one of the most indelible amid a gilded run for the program.

"Given the stakes, given what was at play here, given the fact that we've been in this moment two consecutive years and couldn't quite get over the hump," Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson said.

Houston squandered a 10-point lead in the final eight minutes, as Purdue tied the score with a Camden Heide 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. It came on a sweet dish from Smith, who finished with 15 assists, and only because Tugler cheated off Heide in the corner to leave him open.

That set the stage for Houston's final possession, which saw a missed shot by Uzan and missed tip by Tugler before the ball was deflected out of bounds off Purdue. An official review confirmed the ball belonged to Houston and gave the Cougars a chance to set up the winning play.

Cougars players and coaches declined to reveal the play's name in the locker room afterward, but it is a play that they run plenty.

Kellen Sampson said the Houston staff had initially considered an inbounds play that was some type of lob to the rim. But he said his father, whom he refers to endearingly as "Chief," overruled them and wanted to use dynamic guard L.J. Cryer as a decoy, even as Cryer fought through a 2-for-13 shooting night.

Tugler started the chain reaction that led to the open layup by setting a sturdy screen on Purdue's C.J. Cox, who was guarding Cryer. Sampson told Tugler, "Make sure you hit him," since officials rarely call an off-ball foul in those situations.

Tugler, who is 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, hit Cox hard enough on the screen that Smith, who was guarding the inbounder, darted to the opposite corner to cover Cryer to make sure he didn't get an open shot.

Tugler then darted the opposite way, where Uzan hit him with the inbounds pass at the midpoint of the lane. Tugler's instincts then kicked in, as he realized no one was guarding Uzan and immediately dropped a slick bounce pass back to him.

"It was an instinct play," Tugler said. "I can pass the ball. I trusted myself, and I trusted [Uzan]."

Tugler grew up playing on outdoor courts with chain-link nets in Monroe, Louisiana. And Kellen Sampson complimented how that background led to the play.

"Nobody on our team has played on outdoor courts more than Jo," Kellen Sampson said. "And so the fact that was an instinctive play, that's him. We got a lot of guys that have personal trainers. Joe's personal trainer was a blacktop court and a double rim."

Uzan capped the play with an easy, two-handed finish, as Cox was late to challenge the shot after Smith switched to his man. Kelvin Sampson said once Tugler slipped down from his screen, his biggest worry was Uzan standing flat-footed and watching the play.

"Don't be a neutral observer and stand out of bounds and wonder what Jo's going to do," Kelvin Sampson said. "Make sure you get both feet inbounds so when you catch it."

Smith explained that he vacated Uzan because he'd seen the play on film and didn't want Cryer to hit a shot in the corner.

"I could have stayed," Smith said. "There's a lot of different things that could have went into it. I just didn't want Cryer coming off to hit that shot."

Instead, Uzan capped a night where he hit a career high six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points with his biggest basket. On a night when Houston's offense struggled in spots, as it shot just 38% from the field, everything unfolded in perfect order for the last field goal to go down.

"We didn't have our best," Kellen Sampson said. "To win six [NCAA tournament games], you're going to have to win one where the gun doesn't fire right."

NEW ORLEANS -- Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry returned Friday night after a two-game absence because of a pelvic contusion and said that though he will "feel it for a while," he avoided a break in the bone.

Curry had 23 points and six assists to help the Warriors snap a two-game losing streak with a 111-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center.

His return came just over a week after he took a scary fall in the second half of a win over Toronto last Thursday. Fortunately for the Warriors, Curry did not suffer a hairline fracture in his tailbone as he did when he fell hard on stairs that were courtside during a game against Houston in the 2020-21 season. That injury, which cost him five games, happened during the season when fans were not seated near the court due to COVID-19.

"It just reminded me of '21 when I fell into the stairs in Houston," Curry said. "I think that [this time it didn't] break anything or have any bone damage, was mostly just a deep serious contusion that I'll feel it for a while. But I can play and I can't make it worse as long as I don't land on it again."

Curry shot 7 for 21 against the Pelicans, including 5 of 16 from behind the arc. He said his timing and endurance -- he logged 34 minutes -- were a challenge.

But a week off at this point of the season is extremely beneficial.

"I thought he looked great," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "He was moving really well. Took care of the ball. I thought Steph played an excellent game. He probably missed his last five or six 3s, so the numbers don't look great, but he looked like himself. And I think the week off did him a lot of good."

The Warriors rested Curry against Milwaukee on March 18 after Kerr was adamant that his star was exhausted and needed a night off. He played just over a half in the next game against Toronto before suffering the pelvic contusion.

"I felt good before it," Curry said of how rested he is after the injury. "I mean, I know there's all that talk with the volume or the load that I've been through, but physically, I felt well and felt good and had some juice every night. Mentally, I was away from the team for three days [right after the injury] so that was just kind of weird but could fill the cup up a little bit.

"Then, thought I was going to play in Miami and kind of went through the routine but wasn't able to go. So it was another two days to kind of get my mind right. I think it should be a good run all the way to our last game. You got nine games left, so we got to win as many as we can."