Terence Crawford defends his WBO welterweight title against Shawn Porter on Saturday in the main event of a Top Rank on ESPN+ PPV card at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (9 p.m. ET).

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 34, of Omaha, Nebraska, won the belt by stopping Jeff Horn in 2018. In his most recent fight in November 2020, he defended the title in a fourth-round TKO victory over Kell Brook, his fourth consecutive defense. But Porter is considered the toughest test of Crawford's career so far, and Crawford understand the challenge.

"I respect everything that Shawn does. Shawn is athletic, he can box, he can bang, he can move around in the ring, he can cut corners and take angles," Crawford said on Wednesday's news conference. "I'm not going to sit here and say that I don't respect anything that he does. I'm just going to say that I do a lot of things better than Shawn."

Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), 34, of Akron, Ohio is a two-time welterweight champion who has victories over Devon Alexander, Paulie Malignaggi, Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia, among others. He lost close fights challenging for titles against Errol Spence Jr. and Keith Thurman, and aside from being the underdog against Crawford, Porter is confident he can leave the ring with a victory.

"He is a dominant fighter. Everyone he gets in the ring with, he dominates," Porter said in a recent news conference. "I want to be the one fighter that he can't dominate. Everything that is required to beat Terence, I got it. It's time to take on this challenge."

Mike Coppinger and Ben Baby are on site to bring you live results and analysis.

Buy the Crawford-Porter PPV on ESPN+ here

Fight in progress: Raymond Muratalla vs. Elias Araujo, 8 rounds, lightweights

Results:

Dogboe outpoints Diaz in all-action fight

In the buildup to Saturday night, the featherweight bout between Isaac Dogboe and Christopher Diaz was billed as the best fight on the Crawford-Porter undercard.

It lived up to the hype. In an action fight, Dogboe squeaked out a majority decision win, 97-93, 96-94, 95-95. Diaz was motionless as the scorecards were read and the crowd inside the Michelob ULTRA Arena had a mixed reaction to the decision.

Judge Tim Cheatham, who had the key 96-94 card, had Dogboe winning five of the final six rounds.

Dogboe (23-2, 15 KOs) showed why he was a former junior featherweight champion. The Ghanian pressed the action in the second half of the fight and pressed Diaz (26-4, 16 KOs), who hails from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. Between the fifth and the eighth rounds, Dogboe landed more than 50% of his power punches, according to CompuBox.

After the final bell, Diaz jumped on the ropes and celebrated, believing he won the fight. After the decision was read, Diaz walked past the ESPN TV crew and expressed his dismay with the decision. He ultimately blamed the loss on questionable judging.

Said Diaz: "We're in Las Vegas."

Lopez-Ochoa ends in no-decision after accidental clash of heads

An accidental clash of heads left Ochoa with a nasty gash over his right eye and resulted in a no-decision in the featherweight bout. The ringside doctor stopped the fight after the second round.

"I landed some good shots and was busting him up," Lopez said after the fight. "He was looking for a way out.

"This is so frustrating. I want to get back in the ring as soon as possible. I'm still ready to take on anybody in the featherweight division."

Lopez (15-3, 6 KOs), of Glendale, California, and Ochoa (12-2, 5 KOs), from Long Beach, California, were exchanging hard shots on the inside when their heads collided. Lopez was coming on strong toward the end of the second round but didn't receive the chance to follow up. He was fighting for the first time since a majority-decision loss to Isaac Dogboe. Ochoa scored a first-round knockout in his previous outing.

Balderas overwhelms, stops Cortez in Round 4

Junior lightweight Karlos Balderas saw a chance for a stoppage and took full advantage.

Balderas landed a flurry of punches on the overmatched Julio Cortez to pick up a fourth-round TKO win. Balderas (11-1, 10 KOs) stung the Ecuadorian with a right hook that opened the window for the stoppage. The prospect out of Santa Maria, California, zipped a left uppercut through Cortez's guard and whipped a right hand over the top that forced referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the fight.

The mismatch was apparent from the first round when Balderas hit Cortez (15-4, 11 KOs) with a right hand that knocked out Cortez's mouthpiece. Cortez was seriously hurt in the third round as Caiz hovered over the action but let Cortez make it to the bell. One judge scored the round 10-8 for Balderas.

Balderas, a 2016 U.S. Olympian, picked up his second stoppage win in as many fights after he suffered a TKO loss against Juan Rene Tellez in December 2019.

Johnson scores TKO victory in debut

Tiger Johnson dazzled in his pro debut and poured it on late for a big first victory. The welterweight prospect unleashed some big right hands to stop Antonius Grable in the first fight of Saturday's Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter undercard.

Johnson, who fights out of Cleveland, forced a stoppage at the 1:54 mark of the fourth round. Earlier in the round, Johnson scored a knockdown when a right hand popped the fighter out of Sarasota, Florida, and Grable's gloves touched the canvas. Grable (3-2-1, 3 KOs) was hurt again seconds later and the referee jumped in to stop the fight.

After the stoppage, Tiger went over to the ESPN broadcast crew and leaned over the ropes with a message for announcer Timothy Bradley Jr.: "I'm here."

Still to come:

• Title fight: Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter, 12 rounds, for Crawford's WBO welterweight title

• Esquiva Falcao vs. Patrice Volny, 12 rounds, IBF middleweight title eliminator

• Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Hassan N'Dam, 10 rounds, middleweights

NEW YORK -- Short of 40-man roster spots to protect prospects ahead of next month's winter meeting draft, the New York Yankees traded right-hander Nick Nelson to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday along with minor league catcher Donny Sands.

New York received minor league infielder T.J. Rumfield and left-hander Joel Valdez from the Phillies.

The 25-year-old Nelson was 0-2 with an 8.79 ERA in two starts and nine relief appearances over six stints this season. He stuck out 22 in 14 1/3 innings.

Nelson was 3-4 with a 3.81 ERA in five starts and 24 relief appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He made his big league debut in 2020 and is 1-2 with a 6.43 ERA in two seasons.

Sands, 25, split the season with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, hitting .261 with 16 doubles, 18 homers and 56 RBI.

Rumfield, 21, hit .250 with seven RBI at low-A Clearwater in his first season after he was taken by Philadelphia in the 12th round of this year's amateur draft.

Valdez, 21, went 1-1 with a 1.63 ERA in 15 starts for the DSL Phillies Red.

The entire landscape of Major League Baseball is virtually guaranteed to change from one season to the next. The annual awards that were handed out over the course of this week are yet another example of that.

Just to pick one race, let's go with the AL MVP competition. Just before the season, SportsBetting.com ranked the most likely candidates as Mike Trout of the Angels and Luis Robert of the White Sox. Based on what we saw in 2020 and, for Trout, over a multiyear period, the status of favorite for both made sense. Indeed, both played like MVPs while they were on the field, but injuries kept both players off the field so often that they were never factors in the race.

Meanwhile, eventual landslide AL winner Shohei Ohtani was tied for third in the futures market with the Yankees' Aaron Judge. But the AL finalists in addition to Ohtani were further down the list, with Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. coming in tied for eighth (at 20-1) and Blue Jays teammate Marcus Semien off the board entirely, so somewhere south of 100-1.

That's just one award, but that dynamic repeats for all of them, no matter where you're getting your odds. The reason is simple: Predicting the future is hard. It's hard in life. Hard in sports. Hard when it comes to teams. It's especially hard when it comes to players.

Let's do it anyway. Here's a very early stab at the 2022 MLB awards races. How early? So early, that you might even call it way too early.

A video claiming to show Chinese player Peng Shuai out with friends is "insufficient" evidence of her safety, says Women's Tennis Association chief Steve Simon.

"While it is positive to see her, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference," said Simon.

Peng, 35, has not been in direct contact with the WTA since making sexual assault allegations against a former China vice-premier two weeks ago.

The governing body of the women's professional tour has been told Peng is safe, and in Beijing, by the Chinese Tennis Association, although Simon said on Friday there has been no confirmation if that is true.

On Saturday, the editor of the Global Times - which is a Chinese state-affiliated media organisation - posted the clips of Peng which he said were filmed this weekend.

"The video content clearly shows they are shot on Saturday, Beijing time," said Hu Xijin.

However, the authenticity of the videos was questioned by BBC China media analyst Kerry Allen.

She said it appeared a date had been blurred out of the video.

"I am glad to see the videos released by China state-run media that appear to show Peng Shuai at a restaurant in Beijing," added Simon.

"This video alone is insufficient.

"As I have stated from the beginning, I remain concerned about Peng Shuai's health and safety and that the allegation of sexual assault is being censored and swept under the rug.

"I have been clear about what needs to happen and our relationship with China is at a crossroads."

Peng is a former world number one doubles player who has won two Grand Slam titles - at Wimbledon in 2013 and the 2014 French Open, both alongside Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-wei.

She also achieved a career-high singles rankings of 14 in 2011 and reached the US Open singles semi-finals in 2014.

Fears for Peng's safety have continued to grow since she said on 3 November she was "forced" into a sexual relationship with former China vice-premier Zhang Gaoli.

Peng made the allegations in a post on Chinese social media site Weibo and they were soon deleted from China's internet.

It is the first time such a claim has been made against one of China's senior political leaders.

Swiss star Roger Federer has added his voice to concerns about Peng's welfare, joining Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and many other top players in speaking out about the situation.

"I hope she is safe, the tennis world is united for her," said 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.

"I hope good news will come from her soon."

People across tennis - including other past and present players, coaches and journalists - have been demanding answers about Peng's whereabouts, as have other high-profile sports stars, actors and politicians.

Many have been using #WhereIsPengShuai on Twitter posts, along with a photo of her.

Wimbledon said it had been "working in support of the WTA's efforts" to establish her safety and was "united with the rest of tennis in the need to understand that Peng Shuai is safe".

Wales finish their Autumn Nations Series campaign by tackling Australia in Cardiff on Saturday, with both teams desperate for victory in their final game of 2021.

It started with a heavy defeat against New Zealand, before a narrow loss to world champions South Africa and then victory over Fiji.

Australia, under the tutelage of another New Zealander Dave Rennie, will be hoping to avoid a European tour clean sweep of losses, after being narrowly beaten by Scotland and outplayed by England.

Four consecutive wins against South Africa and Argentina in the Rugby Championship seems a distant memory now.

The Wallabies claimed 13 successive wins against Wales between 2009 and 2017, with eight of those victories being in Cardiff, but Wales have won the last two, including a 2019 World Cup pool game.

Some have written the match off as an end-of-year fixture with little to be enthused by. Time will tell but both camps will vehemently disagree with that assessment.

Pivac's half-term report

It is two years this month since Pivac officially succeeded his fellow New Zealander Warren Gatland as Wales head coach, and he has now reached the halfway point of a four-year World Cup cycle.

There have been contrasting fortunes, with Pivac's Test record showing nine wins, one draw and 11 defeats.

After a poor start, he masterminded a Six Nations title triumph last season when Wales were just seconds away from also achieving a Grand Slam.

The countdown to France 2023 is well and truly under way and there is little doubt Pivac has increased Wales' playing strength in depth ahead of next year's schedule.

Australia are once again in Wales' World Cup group, so this will represent a chance to lay down a marker for both sides two years out from the next global tournament.

Team news

Neither side will be at full strength this weekend for the 2021 finale. Pivac has made seven personnel changes this week, with number eight Aaron Wainwright, prop Tomas Francis and wing Josh Adams returning after being ruled out of the Fiji victory.

Scrum-half Tomos Williams, lock Seb Davies, prop Wyn Jones and centre Willis Halaholo also start. There is no room for British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies who captained the team against South Africa, with flanker Ellis Jenkins again leading the side.

Wales have suffered more injury woes this week, with WillGriff John and Will Rowlands ruled out through head injuries to add to a lengthy list.

So the autumn series has been a testing one to say the least, with injuries affecting the squad before and during what was always going to be a punishing programme - with Pivac potentially fielding 39 players in the four games.

The casualty count runs well into double figures, with Lions Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, George North, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau, Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty, Dan Lydiate and Leigh Halfpenny all sidelined.

Australia are without talisman and 118 times-capped skipper Michael Hooper, missing due to a foot injury, with prop James Slipper taking over the captaincy.

Pete Samu replaces Hooper at openside flanker, with hooker Tolu Latu, tight-head prop Taniela Tupou and left wing Filipo Daugunu all recalled.

Wing wonders

There will be much attention on the two opposing number 14s, with Wales' Louis Rees-Zammit and Andrew Kellaway both nominated this week for World Rugby's breakthrough player of the year award.

Kellaway is one of Australia's main attacking weapons, with fly-half Quade Cooper, centre Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete missing the tour.

Rees-Zammit, 20, scored a spectacular try that helped drive Wales over the finishing line against Fiji, outstripping the opposition defence on a 60-metre sprint as he chased his own kick.

Few players in world rugby possess Rees-Zammit's pace and there is an excitement that pumps through the Principality Stadium every time he has the ball in space.

Comparisons with Wales' record try-scorer Shane Williams will inevitably be made, but while Rees-Zammit is still at a fledgling stage of his Test career, there appears no limit to what he could achieve.

What they say

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac: "Australia will be very dangerous. Dave Rennie, like any coach, is a proud man and he'll want to rectify those losses.

"They've come off a long season. They'll be looking at it like us. One more big effort. Knowing Dave, he'll have them wound up and playing right on the edge, just like Dave Rennie sides always are."

Australia head coach Dave Rennie: "I know Wayne well. We've coached against each other in New Zealand and Wales. He's a good man. Stephen Jones, who was with Wayne at the Scarlets - you can see his imprint on the game. I've worked with Jonathan Humphreys (at Glasgow) and he wants to play an open brand of footy too. You can certainly see they're trying to put their stamp on the game."

"They've had a couple of losses and found their way past Fiji on the weekend. We haven't performed as well as we've needed to in the previous two Tests and we're keen to make up for it."

Line ups

Wales: L Williams; Rees-Zammit, Tompkins, Halaholo, Adams; Biggar, T Williams; W Jones, Elias, Francis, Beard, S Davies, Jenkins (capt), Basham, Wainwright.

Replacements: Dee, G Thomas, Lewis, Carter, Tshiunza, G Davies, Priestland, McNicholl.

Australia: Beale; Kellaway, Ikitau, Paisami, Daugunu; O'Connor, White; Slipper (capt), Latu, Tupou, Arnold, Rodda, Leota, Samu, Valetini.

Replacements: Fainga'a, Bell, Alaalatoa, Skelton, Swinton, McDermott, Foketi, Wright.

Match officials

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)

Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal (FFR), Nika Amashukeli (GRU)

TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU).

Gloucester maintained their perfect record in the Premiership Rugby Cup with another big victory as they beat Exeter 45-19 at Kingsholm.

Elsewhere, Leicester got their second win from two games with an emphatic 55-7 victory at Wasps.

Worcester began their campaign with an equally impressive win as they beat 14-man Bristol 68-13 at Sixways.

Alex Morgan went over twice in the first half as Gloucester sealed a bonus point before the break against the Chiefs, who pulled a try back shortly before the break through Rus Tuima.

George Barton scored Gloucester's fifth try three minutes after half-time before young Exeter winger Arthur Relton and scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne restored some respectability to the scoreline.

But replacement Jack Reeves got a sixth try for the hosts with three minutes to go to put them on 10 points from two games, while Exeter have yet to win a game in the competition after a bonus-point loss to Bristol last week.

At the Coventry Building Society Arena Kini Murimurivalu's first-half try for Leicester was added to by Calum Green, James Whitcombe, Hosea Saumaki and two for Guy Porter to see the Tigers lead 41-0 with 12 minutes to go.

Oliver Hartley pulled a try back with eight minutes left before Saumaki scored two more for Leicester in the final three minutes of the game.

Worcester had already scored five tries as they led 38-5 at Sixways, before Bristol had Charlie Powell sent off shortly before half-time after taking out Harri Doel in the air.

They scored five more after the break as Gareth Simpson and Tom Howe both scored twice, Billy Searle landing nine conversions to add to a try of his own.

Retiring Ireland captain Ciara Griffin was full of emotion after ending her career with two tries and a win over Japan, but insists she is comfortable with the decision she has made.

However, she claimed "now is the right time [to retire] for me and my family".

"That was a lovely way to go out and I will take a lot of solace from that. I want to relish this moment," she said.

Griffin led the team to victory even though they played for 52 minutes in Dublin with just 14 players after Hannah O'Connor's red card.

The captain, a schoolteacher, was in tears during the pre-match national anthems and was also emotional after her starring role on Saturday, with two second-half tries ensuring that Ireland signed off a difficult 2021 with back-to-back autumn wins over the USA and Japan.

"Everyone knows I wear my heart on my sleeve," Griffin said.

"It was the last time signing the anthem for your country and it is an emotional time and something that stands out. It got me.

"The game itself was a mix of everything, wasn't it?

"We acknowledged at half time the things we needed to work on and it was a complete team performance in the second half.

"There is a group of players in there who keep fighting for each other, they don't drop the heads.

"They are very close and have each other's back and when you have that, it's half the battle."

Departing Griffin and Griggs sign off with one last win

Griffin and outgoing head coach Adam Griggs bowed out with one last win - with a squad in transition facing into an uncertain future after failing to qualify for the World Cup.

The team dearly wanted to conclude a difficult few weeks - dogged by off-field controversies - with a home victory in front of their fans at the RDS but they were comprehensively outplayed by the adventurous visitors in the first half.

Yet the incoming coach Greg McWilliams will have been heartened by the battling qualities shown in the second half by a group of players still emerging and learning in the international arena.

Although Enya Breen gave Ireland the lead through a sixth-minute penalty, Japan were the better team in the first half, playing with a high tempo and plenty of accuracy.

That was in contrast to a transitional Ireland side, who conceded eight penalties in the opening half hour and struggled for rhythm and cohesion with so many knock-ons and poor execution.

The Japanese thoroughly deserved their 12-3 interval lead with Mana Furuta capitalising on a fast break by Ria Anoku to score the opening try after 17 minutes.

Ireland suffered a blow when number eight O'Connor received a straight red card for leading with the head on Nijiho Nagata in the 28th minute.

The visitors bossed the closing minutes of the first half with an extra player, and Seina Saito finished off a brilliant team try, with Japan's forwards taking on and beating a physically stronger Irish pack.

Ireland transformed in second half

Whatever was said by Griggs in his final team talk at half-time, or by Griffin, the players certainly responded.

Griffin led by example, charging down Japan's clearance kick for Ireland's first try four minutes after the restart.

Their line-out problems and handling errors of the first half melted away when Griffin crashed over off a pick and go under the posts. Breen's conversion put Ireland 15-12 in front with one quarter of the game still to play.

A bad penalty miss by Breen kept Japan in the game and they had some late pressure, but a huge tackle by Griffin helped Ireland turn the ball over, one final little cameo to give the fans a glimpse of what they will miss in 2022 and beyond.

Ireland: Delany; Doyle; Considine, Naoupu; Sheehan; Breen, Dane; Feely, Jones, Djougang; McDermott, Monaghan; Griffin (captain), McMahon, O'Connor.

Replacements: Moloney, O'Dwyer, Healy, Caplice, O'Leary, Hughes, Touhey, Roberts.

Japan: Anoku; Nagura, Futura, Kobayashi, Imakugi, Otsuka, Tsukui; Kato, Nagata, Lavemai; Tamai, Yoshimura; Saito, Suzuki, Nagai.

Replacements: Komaki, Kokaji, Kitano, Minami, Nagata, Ito, Abe, Yamamoto.

Referee: Clara Munarini (Italy).

Stuart Hogg became Scotland's leading try scorer as they earned a third Autumn Nations Series win in four by edging past Japan at Murrayfield.

Darcy Graham gave the hosts an interval cushion and, although Rikiya Matsuda's boot and a Tevita Tatafu effort kept Japan in touch, Stuart McInally's try ultimately proved enough for Scotland.

The victory added to successes over Tonga and Australia, as Gregor Townsend's side followed up defeat by world champions South Africa with this unconvincing win over their troublesome visitors.

Every Scotland fan will suffer some kind of anxiety attack whenever Japan are the opposition, those World Cup memories from Yokohama in 2019 still vivid enough even though so much has changed for both sides in the meantime.

The Scots have advanced, the Japanese, starved of meaningful games and proper vision among those running the game, have regressed, though they made life uncomfortable here.

Scotland put in a mundane show, littered with errors and the kind of things that will have brought on a quiet seethe in Townsend.

Big players step up amid patchy performance

Scotland were accurate only in patches and one came early. They had a penalty in front of the posts but went for touch instead. Eventually, Van der Merwe forced his way for his ninth try in 13 Tests.

This was a struggle at times, though. Once again Scotland's discipline was awfully poor - they conceded 15 penalties against the Boks last week and another six in the first 25 minutes here - and the line-out was not exactly pin sharp either. They coughed up two early throws.

Matsuda put some deserved points on the board for Japan and added another three soon after when Scotland were done again at the breakdown.

Their 6-5 lead was warranted, but it was short-lived. When Scotland desperately needed somebody to put a fire under them - and the hushed crowd - it was Hogg, not for the first time, who did it.

His break, a skipping and stepping thing of beauty, put Scotland on the front foot in the first place. As Japan scrambled, the hosts capitalised.

They needed a few recycles to find the space but when they did it was Russell who fed Hogg to gallop over for his record-busting score. A 25th try for his country - what a haul, what a player. Russell's conversion was good.

Scotland's third score came before the break. Russell put in a poor kick, which was fumbled ridiculously, and the home side had a scrum. The fly-half then came on a screaming left to right run.

Graham got it and cut in off his wing to beat a Japanese defence who were not wise to his footwork. That is 10 tries in 22 Tests for him. The conversion made it 19-6 at the break.

Scotland see it out, but work to do

Scotland had only been fleetingly impressive. They had taken their tries well but had been average at best and their woes returned early in the new half when their inability to stay on the right side of the referee cost them points and a man in the bin.

Jamie Bhatti walked for another breakdown infringement and Matsuda put over the penalty that came with it. Then he put over another as Scotland lost their way once more. A comfortable 19-6 lead had turned into a ropey 19-12 advantage.

As soon as they were restored to 15, Scotland scored again, though. McInally got on the end of a line-out maul and nobody was stopping him.

Russell's conversion made it a 14-point game but Scotland's vulnerability was exposed again when, off a line3-out, Tatafu blasted through Hamish Watson and Javan Sebastian - on for his debut - to narrow the gap to nine.

Matsuda messed up the extras, but the try gave Japan momentum and hope. And yet another Scotland penalty - the count was sky high by now - gave Matsuda a chance to make amends, which he did.

With eight minutes to go it was now a six-point game, but Scotland saw it out from there.

They put it beyond Japan's reach with a late Russell penalty that secured their third win from four this autumn. A good return but on this evidence they have serious amounts of work to do if they want to get in the shake-up in the Six Nations.

These Tests were just the warm-up act. The big show is on its way.

'You can see how much it meant' - reaction

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg: "I think you can see by my reaction how much it [the new record] meant to me. The main thing, though, is we got a good win.

"We've managed to win three out of four Test matches in the autumn and the exciting thing for me is that we're not quite satisfied with everything that happened.

"We're yet to find that complete 80-minute performance but I think part of that was because we were put under a lot of pressure by Japan who managed to hold on to the ball for large periods."

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: "It was a real Test match. Japan showed the level of play we saw from them in 2019. They're the only team I can think of in world rugby who keep the ball in their own half and go through the phases.

"I've got to commend our defensive effort. We had to come through adversity too, with penalties against us and the yellow card. I felt our contact work in attack was the best it's been in the whole campaign."

Scotland: Hogg, Graham, Harris, Johnson, Van der Merwe, Russell, Price; Bhatti, Turner, Z Fagerson, Cummings, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, Bayliss.

Replacements: McInally, Schoeman, Sebastian, Skinner, Richardson, M Fagerson, Horne, Kinghorn.

Japan: Yamanaka, Matsushima, Nakono, Nakamura, Fifita, Matsuda, Nagare; Millar, Sakate, Ai Valu, Cornelsen, Moore, Leitch, Labuschagne, Himeno.

Replacements: Horikoshi, Inagaki, Kakinaga, Gunter, Tatafu, Saito, Tamura, Reily.

Referee: Brendan Pickerill (NZ)

England signed off on 2021 in style as they outfoxed and outfought 2019 Rugby World Cup final conquerors South Africa in front of a rapturous Twickenham crowd.

But Handre Pollard's boot kept the Boks in the fight as they turned the screw after the break.

Raffi Quirke finished off an incisive attack for England, but the world champions' mix of rock-solid mentality and physicality seemed to have won it when Makazole Mapimpi went over out wide on 69 minutes.

However, England fought to the death, as head coach Eddie Jones predicted they would have to, and fly-half Marcus Smith held his nerve to slot the decisive penalty in the 79th minute.

After a miserable fifth-place finish in the Six Nations earlier this year, the scalp of the world number ones and world champions is the biggest validation yet of the head coach's tactical reboot.

As Smith finally booted the ball dead after a nerve-jangling wait for referee Andrew Brace to rule on an aerial contest in the shadow of England's posts in the final passage of play, it felt like a landmark win.

One that points the way away from 2019's defeat in Yokohama and towards the promise of what might be in France in 2023.

England beat the best

England tore into their opponents in the first half, with a performance that buzzed with energy, invention and no little confrontation.

The eagerly awaited first scrum skirmish ended with England tight-head prop Kyle Sinckler grinning widely at opposite number Ox Nche and referee Brace's arm aloft to indicate a penalty to the hosts.

Jamie Blamire's first line-out as England's starting hooker was a clever trick play, bulleted to a grounded Maro Itoje inside the Springbok 22m.

The breakthrough try arrived shortly after as Smith and centre Henry Slade's quicksilver hands beat the Boks' blitz and gave Tuilagi a run into the corner that the covering Pollard was never going to stop.

South Africa arrived at Twickenham with the summer's Lions series victory still fresh in the memory. However, they have looked vulnerable at times in 2021 to a backline that can outflank their defence.

Australia beat them twice in a week back in September with the canny Quade Cooper at the wheel, while Finn Russell's eye for space frequently opened them up against Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend.

Even when England's front row were crumpled at a scrum on halfway, Blamire's hook and Ben Youngs' smart pass moved the ball away fast to create the hosts' second try, with Smith, Slade and Steward freeing Max Malins, on in place of the injured Tuilagi, to scamper down the left wing.

South Africa covered back without fully recovering and Steward made the most of his 6ft 5in frame to punch over from short range.

When Smith kicked a penalty for a 17-6 lead after 24 minutes, England's brave new world seemed almost surreal. Swing Low rang round the stands, the opposition were on the ropes and the hosts were crowing.

But it was never going to be so easy for long.

Pollard's boot, although far from perfect, chipped away at the lead, and the introduction of Vincent Koch, Malcolm Marx and Steven Kitschoff - the fabled 'Bomb Squad' front row replacements - seemed to sap England's belief.

Pollard slotted another penalty to sneak South Africa to 17-15 - just two points behind - with 25 minutes remaining.

England's scrum was suddenly stuck in reverse and South Africa, who have trailed in their past seven Tests, came on strong.

But such situations are the crucibles in which teams are bonded and names made.

England's young stars stood up. Malins threw himself under the wheels of a driven maul to hold up South Africa over the line before Quirke's superb supporting line took him under the posts from Joe Marchant's break.

Mapimpi's score and Frans Steyn's penalty seemed to have finally squeezed England out of the contest, but, as tempers frayed and lactic burned, the hosts landed the final punch.

South Africa infringed on the floor at the end of a scrappy passage of play and, with 15 seconds left on the stadium clock, Smith kept his cool from straight in front to bisect the sticks.

Man of the match - Freddie Steward

'A special occasion and a famous win' - analysis

BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones:

"This was a special occasion at Twickenham, with the muted indifference of the Australia match last weekend replaced by a crackling atmosphere as England thrilled the crowd with three great tries on the way to pulling off a famous win.

"In the second half England looked broken; they were leaking penalties at an alarming rate, bossed at the breakdown and in the scrum, and couldn't win a line-out, so will all that in mind this was a significant victory for Eddie Jones' men.

"Although Jones constantly refers to the World Cup in 2023, there is loads of rugby to play before then. The Six Nations is shaping up to be another fascinating tournament - with Jones facing a number of intriguing selection dilemmas as he looks to blend the old guard with the new."

Line-ups

England: Steward; Marchant, Slade, Tuilagi, May; Smith, Youngs; Rodd, Blamire, Sinckler, Itoje, Hill, Lawes (capt), Underhill, Curry.

Replacements: Dolly, Marler, Stuart, Ewels, Simmonds, Dombrandt, Quirke, Malins.

South Africa: Le Roux; Kriel, Am, De Allende, Mapimpi; Pollard, Reinach; Nche, Mbonambi, Nyakane, Etzebeth, De Jager, Kolisi, Smith, Vermeulen.

Replacements: Marx, Kitshoff, Koch, Mostert, Wiese, H Jantjies, E Jantjies, Steyn.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Lionel Messi scored his first Ligue 1 goal as Paris Saint-Germain opened a 13-point lead at the top of the table despite playing almost half an hour with 10 men in a 3-1 home win against Nantes on Saturday.

Messi found the back of the net with a curled left-footed effort from outside the box three minutes from time, adding to Dennis Appiah's own goal after Randal Kolo Muani had cancelled out Kylian Mbappe's first-half opener.

The result left PSG with 37 points from 14 games ahead of a Champions League trip to Manchester City on Wednesday, while Nantes are 11th on 18 points.

Messi has scored three goals in the Champions League since joining from Barcelona during the close season but the Argentine forward had not found the back of the net in his five previous appearances in Ligue 1.