Metz have announced the arrival of defender Ismaël Traoré on a free transfer, with the Ivory Coast international having left Angers at the end of this past season after a seven-year spell at the club.

The 35-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Les Grenats, who were relegated to Ligue 2 after finishing 19th in the top flight last year and start life in the second tier next week against Amiens at home.

Traoré made 227 appearances for Angers, becoming a key member of the squad and taking up the captain’s armband, but was not kept on in what he described as a surprise, last-minute decision which could have been handled better.

The Ivorian now joins his fourth club in French football, with the Paris native having previously turned out for Sedan for a six-year spell before spending three years at Brest.

He becomes the eastern side’s first signing of the summer, although the club have also brought in László Bölöni to take over the manager’s spot from Frédéric Antonetti after last year’s relegation.

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Dave Rennie believes his Wallabies will be up against the best team in the world after France named a formidable outfit for the Paris Test, headed by their superstar halfback Antoine Dupont.The European champions are currently ranked second in the world but coach Rennie was adamant on Thursday that Les Bleus are at the moment without equal on the global stage.Since the French lost to the Wallabies in Brisbane in July 2021, they've been unbeaten, winning a Six Nations grand slam and now ready on Saturday to become the first generation of Les Bleus to win 11 straight Tests."We're well aware this side's the best in the world, regardless of what the rankings say," Rennie told reporters."They're unbeaten in about 15 months, they've beaten No.1-ranked side Ireland, so we're looking forward to the challenge. We're certainly going to go out there and give it a crack."Rennie said he believed the Gallic ascent has been clear for a number of years. "The best French players play in France, the most money in the rugby world is in France, so their best players don't leave, so they've got access to their very best. "There's phenomenal depth in the club sides here, 28 professional sides up here so there's a hell of a lot of quality players to pick from – and they've done it well. "They play a simple game. They've got massive forwards, good athletes, their backline can play when they want too, but they play a lot of territory and back their defence."Not to mention having one very special player in halfback Dupont."He's incredible," said Rennie. "Unbelievable running game and kicking game, he kicks well off both feet and incredibly long."Whether he's the best in the world, it's difficult to make comparisons with different positions, but he's certainly highly respected by us. He's had a hell of a couple of years."Dupont will be boosted by the return of his halfback partner Romain Ntamack following his recent injury troubles.After last featuring for the Top 14 leaders in September, No.10 Ntamack was the headline selection in the team as coach Fabien Galthie made 11 changes to the side that started July's Test win in Japan.Wallabies' No.10 Bernard Foley conceded: "They've been the world's best halves' combination for the last 12 months."They've got the world player of the year in Dupont and Ntamack has done really well at club and international level, so it's always a challenge to come up against the best."Charles Ollivon, who missed France's triumphant Six Nations campaign due to a lengthy injury lay-off, starts at flanker and joins Gregory Alldritt and Anthony Jelonch in the back row.France (15-1): Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Yoram Moefana, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont; Gregory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon, Anthony Jelonch, Thibaud Flament, Cameron Woki, Uini Atonio, Julien Marchand, Cyril BailleReplacements: Peato Mauvaka, Dany Priso, Sipili Falatea, Romain Taofifenua, Kilian Geraci, Sekou Macalou, Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert.Click Here: Portugal football tracksuit

Portuguese outfit Estoril have announced the signing of midfielder James Léa Siliki on a permanent deal from Rennes, with the 26-year-old putting pen to paper on a deal that will run until the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Cameroon international had spent last season out on loan at Middlesbrouh, in a spell which he himself described as difficult, in which he only made eleven appearances for the Championship side. He was even looking to leave early back in January.

With his Rennes contract expiring next year, he has made the move to last year’s 9th-placed side in Portugal, for a fee which has yet to transpire.

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Léa Siliki leaves Brittany having made 113 appearances for the first team after coming through the youth academy, scoring four goals in that time.

Memorable moments during his spell at the Roazhon Park include winning the Coupe de France in 2019 as well as setting up Ismaïla Sarr’s goal to make it 3-1 in a Europa League win over Arsenal in 2019.

L’Équipe report this morning that five men suspected of a breaking into the home of Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos’ father and holding him and the defender’s two sisters hostage are now set to go on trial.

The centre-back’s family had been at home in Chatou – in the Paris suburbs – and preparing to watch Marquinhos take on Nantes on March 14, 2021, when two individuals wearing balaclavas entered the home.

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The intruders would proceed to ask for jewellery, watches and money, before the bigger of the two elbowed the Brazilian’s father in the ribs after the latter told them he had nothing. The smaller of the men, described as the leader of the operation by the victims, then forced the two sisters – aged 14 and 16 – to follow him as he searched around the ground floor.

Having searched the house, and with one of the intruders continuing to punch the father, they then led the three victims into a closet and made off with €2,400, a golden bracelet and two luxury handbags.

The Versailles public prosecutor has now called for four of the five suspects to be tried in court, while a fifth individual will appear in a minors’ court. Investigators notably tracked down the suspects thanks to a stolen Peugeot 308 GT, which was filmed near the scene of the crime and was already being monitored by police.

After four of the alleged culprits were arrested on May 18, 2021, the minor admitted that he had moved the car at the request of an older individual but was unaware that it would be used for a robbery. The three others, aged 21, 29, and 30 years old had denied this but two of them had their fingerprints found on a balaclava in the car. They were then placed under investigation for “robbery with violence”, “kidnapping” and “criminal conspiracy” while the minor was placed under judicial supervision. All of the individuals have denied their involvement in the events.

A fifth suspect was arrested last April. The man, who was already incarcerated for home robberies, is nicknamed “Pikachu“, and is of small stature. Investigators are convinced that he was the second intruder, although he also denied these accusations. Marquinhos’ father has nevertheless identified the individual as indeed being one of the robbers.

A trial could be set to take place before the end of the year.

The Queensland Reds have claimed the inaugural Queensland-Saitama Shield, running out 55-30 winners over the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.In what was the first game between the clubs since 1991, eight players made their Queensland debut – Connor Anderson (Wests), Ben Navosailagi (Wests), Wilson Blyth (Bond University), Phransis Sula-Siaosi (Souths), Louis Werchon (Brothers), Floyd Aubrey (GPS), Taine Roiri (Easts) and Joey Fittock (Bond University) – in a capped Queensland fixture.Matt Faessler, Harry Wilson, Kalani Thomas and Suliasi Vunivalu scored doubles for the Reds in a comprehensive display by the visitors, with the victory seeing the side go unbeaten on their two-game tour of Japan.Queensland and Saitama share a sister-state relationship, with the Wild Knights and Reds coming together to form an innovative partnership in 2020.Queensland opened the scoring early, winger Vunivalu snatching a loose pass and racing 60-metres to score. Isaac Henry made no mistake with the conversion to give the visitors a 7-nil lead.Fellow Wallaby Wilson soon had his side’s second, the number-eight finding the line courtesy of a Vunivalu break and Thomas assist. Henry added his second conversion of the night to extend Queensland’s advantage to 14-nil by the seventh-minute.The Wild Knights responded with their first points of the clash in the 10th minute, flyhalf Kyohei Yamazawa slotting a penalty-goal.Faessler crashed over off the back of a rolling-maul for Queensland’s third soon after, before Yamazawa’s second penalty brought the scores to 21-6 in the 20th minute.A pair of rolling-mauls gave Queensland their next two tries, Sam Wallis and Faessler the beneficiaries.Thomas dove over to score from close range twice in the final 10 minutes of the opening-half, Henry adding his fourth and fifth conversions to extend the Queensland lead to 45-6 at the break.A flying Akira Takeyama collected an inch-perfect Wild Knights attacking kick to score the hosts first five-pointer of the night in the 54th minute, cutting the deficit to 45-11.Vunivalu proved too strong for his opposing winger in the 60th minute, beating him one-on-one to cross for his second try of the night, before Yamazawa added to his personal points tally with his team’s second try. The flyhalf converted his own five-pointer, bringing the scores to 50-18 with 13-minutes to play.Wilson became the fourth Queenslander to score a double in the 72nd minute, the number-eight juggling a cross-field Lawson Creighton kick and regathering to barge his way over for a try.Yamazawa made it a double himself with a superb solo chip-and-chase effort, once again converting his own try to make the scores 55-25 with three-minutes to play.Takeyama scored his second late, bringing the final score to 55-30 at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.Queensland Reds 55Tries: Matt Faessler 2, Kalani Thomas 2, Suliasi Vunivalu 2, Harry Wilson 2, Sam WallisConversions: Isaac Henry 5Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights 30Tries: Kyohei Yamazawa 2, Akira Takeyama 2Conversions: Kyohei Yamazawa 2Penalties: Kyohei Yamazawa 2Click Here: hurricanes rugby jersey

Clermont have tonight announced the signing of Polish international defender Mateusz Wieteska on a permanent deal from Legia Warsaw.

The 25-year-old has signed on a four-year deal with the Auvergne side, who finished last year in 17th place, just above Saint-Étienne in the relegation play-off spot, in what was their first ever top-flight season.

Wieteska arrives having been captain of the capital club, his formative team, with whom he won the Ekstraklasa title three times. Overall, he has 144 appearances in the Polish top flight and made his debut with his country’s senior side this year. He ostensibly arrives as a replacement for Cédric Hountondji, who made the abrupt decision to leave for Angers after a three-year spell at the club.

The Pole is the sixth signing of what has been a busy summer for Clermont, who have also registered the arrivals of former Lyon midfielder Maxime Gonalons, as well as Serbian centre-forward Komnem Andrić and goalkeeper Mory Diaw from Lausanne.

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Liam Williams returns from injury for Cardiff this weekend in the United Rugby Championship, providing Wales head coach Warren Gatland with a timely boost ahead of the Six Nations.

Williams starts at full-back for Cardiff when they take on Ospreys on Sunday, January 1.

Williams injury setback

The 31-year-old suffered a shoulder injury on his Cardiff debut back in September, which saw him missing the entire Autumn Nations Series campaign.

It was a major setback at the time for the Wayne Pivac-coached side as Williams had started all but one of Wales’ Test matches in 2022 before the Autumn, the loss to Italy being the only game he missed.

Having fully recovered from the injury, he now makes just his second appearance for the Blue and Blacks and is joined in the back three by fellow Wales internationals Josh Adams and Owen Lane.

Cardiff rugby director Dai Young said: “It’s great to welcome Liam Williams back, who, along with our other senior players, brings so much experience, drive and energy.”

🗣 Dai Young reveals both @JoshAdams951
and @SanjayWills
are fit and available to face the Ospreys on New Year's Day.

Tickets are still available but there's not many 👉 https://t.co/GkI4FGuNFu#YmlaenCaerdydd pic.twitter.com/gkcPb9BxQh

— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) December 29, 2022

Full-back options

If Williams maintains his fitness and regains his form, he is in contention for a back three role along with Scarlets’ full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who was recalled to the Test set up by Pivac in November.

Halfpenny returned to action against the Cheetahs in the Challenge Cup in mid-December after his injury that ruled him out the Test match against Australia.

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Louis Rees-Zammit, Adams and Gareth Anscombe all played at full-back for Pivac in Williams’ absence in November.

Gatland handed Williams his test debut back in 2012 and selected him for two World Cup campaigns and two Lions tours.

With Wales’ opening Six Nations match against Ireland taking place on February 4, Gatland is set to name his squad in the coming three weeks.

L’Équipe report this afternoon that newly-promoted Ligue 1 sides Ajaccio and Auxerre are keeping an eye on Bordeaux striker M’Baye Niang, who remains under contract until the end of the 2023/24 season.

The Corsicans are looking for an experienced forward for their first season back in the top flight, having been promoted with just 39 goals scored last season.

Auxerre, meanwhile, have made a verbal offer for Amiens forward Aliou Badji for around €4m but are also looking at the Senegal international, who Bordeaux have valued between €1m and €1.5m.

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The 27-year-old scored just three goals last season in 22 league appearances as Les Girondins finished bottom of the league, and was excluded from the squad for disciplinary reasons towards the end of the campaign. He previously scored 11 and 10 goals respectively in his first two years at Rennes.

With Bordeaux’s Ligue 2 status still unclear as a result of their administrative relegation, the former Milan and Torino man could now find himself back in Ligue 1 as soon as next season.

As reported by L’Équipe, tensions are rising between new Marseille coach Igor Tudor and his squad with the players unsure and unsettled over Tudor’s methods who is refusing to engage in any diplomacy with his team.

One source inside the OM camp told the paper that some players see this pre-season as their hardest ever and that “Tudor is sometimes cold and he’s undone everything Sampaoli did, the style, the atmosphere, and the squad are finding it difficult to switch to the opposite extreme.”

Meanwhile, another source told the paper that, in summary, Tudor effectively told his squad when he arrived: “’You don’t run enough, you don’t work enough and you don’t play as you should,’” while the squad don’t understand Tudor’s desire to change everything previous coach Jorge Sampaoli had established after they finished second in Ligue 1 last season.

Concerned, Dimitri Payet has asked for a meeting between the squad and the president Pablo Longoria but he’s still waiting for an answer from Longoria who fears undermining his coach, especially since OM picked Tudor partly for his rigour and disciplinarian attitude.

However, a meeting between Tudor and his squad will take place today to try and ease tensions. The staff sees only 80% or 90% of the squad to be following Tudor’s ideas while the club’s management have offered to sell multiple players who aren’t meeting Tudor’s standards if necessary. 

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Handre Pollard scored his first try for Leicester Tigers against Sale Sharks in their Premiership clash, but the Springbok fly-half was replaced soon afterwards.

Pollard joined the Premiership champions from Montpellier at the start of the season and made just his second appearance for the club on Friday after suffering an injury setback on his debut back in October.

Try scoring return

The 28-year-old earned his first start for the Tigers against Sale after debuting off the bench against Saracens two months ago. 

With Leicester trailing 16-0 at half-time, Pollard broke the deadlock for the visiting side when he intercepted a pass from fellow Springbok Robert du Preez and raced away to score his first Premiership try in the 46th minute.

Striking with a debut try 🤩

Handré Pollard secures the intercept and gets @LeicesterTigers on the board 🌟

Remember to catch the action on @btsportrugby 📺#GallagherPrem | #SALvLEI pic.twitter.com/63ed4m8UYd

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) December 30, 2022

The World Cup winner is struggling for match fitness, and it showed as he gingerly got back to his feet after scoring the try and was replaced by interim head coach Richard Wigglesworth soon after.

Things went from bad to worse for Leicester from there, as they would go on to lose the match 40-5.

Leicester’s injury woes

It was a tough night for the Leicester faithful, with Anthony Watson, Guy Porter, Olly Cracknell, Freddie Burns, and Pollard all leaving the pitch with injuries or niggles.

While Pollard looked uncomfortable after scoring, Wigglesworth said after the game that they had planned that the Springbok would only play half the match and that the Tigers kept him on the pitch for as long as they could.

“Handre was only due to play 40 minutes, but we managed him for as long as we could,” he said.

“He’s new to this team and new to us, but you can see his class. He will only get better and better for us.”

Wigglesworth felt that his side did not make the most of their opportunities and that, paired with the injury toll and the performance from Sale, was just too much.

“The injuries started to pile up in the second half, and that was to prove costly in the end,” he added.

“It felt a bit like we were on the back foot for most of the second half.

“The injuries are concerning for us, but at least that opens opportunities for others now – that’s how we’ve got to look at it.

“There were players playing out of position in the end, but players were doing things they shouldn’t necessarily be doing, and this is what happens.

“Sale are a quality side, and they’re up where they are in the table for a reason.

“Fair play to them; they made life extremely difficult for us on a tough night.”

READ MORE: Alex Sanderson admits to ‘harsh words’ despite dominant win for Sale over Leicester

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