RC Lens have today confirmed they have reached an agreement with Azerbaijani club FC Qarabag to sell attacking midfielder Abdellah Zoubir. The 26-year-old will leave the Ligue 2 side after two seasons at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where he totalled 7 goals in 69 games. Zoubir will have an opportunity to participate in this season’s UEFA Champions League, a competition which his new side will be competing in the preliminary rounds for group-stage qualification. The Lille-born midfielder has been much-travelled in his career thus far, having played for Grenoble, Istres, Hibernian (loan) and Romanian side FC Petrolul Ploiești before his move to Lens in 2016. H.W. Click Here: canterbury-bankstown bulldogs jersey

France head coach Fabien Galthie has named a tweaked starting line-up for his side’s clash against Japan in Toulouse on Sunday. Charles Ollivon will lead the side from the side of the scrum in the absence of the suspended Antoine Dupont, while Gregory Alldritt and Anthony Jelonch make up the rest of the back-row. Romain Taofifenua starts this weekend alongside the talented Cameron Woki in the second-row, with Uini Atonio starting next to Julien Marchand and Reda Wardi in the front-row. Settled backline Maxime Lucu steps in for Dupont at scrum-half and will be paired with the ever-composed Romain Ntamack. In the midfield, Jonathan Danty starts at inside centre despite…

Ligue 1 side AS Monaco are locked in negotiations with French second division outfit FC Lorient for 18-year-old goalkeeping prospect Illan Meslier, according to Goal France. The deal is being discussed around the €10m mark, and any eventual move would see the player join on a 5-year contract and he would not necessarily be loaned out immediately by ASM. Click Here: canterbury-bankstown bulldogs jersey He is an U18 French youth international and signed a professional deal with Lorient only as recently as February.

Scotland ran in eight tries as they eased past a 14-man Argentina 52-29, the Pumas having Marcos Kremer red carded at Murrayfield on Saturday. Kremer was given his marching orders in the 23rd minute for a dangerous clearout on Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie, which severely dented their hopes. For Scotland it was a fixture to remember for wing Darcy Graham, who scored a hat-trick, while Sione Tuipulotu (2), Duhan van der Merwe, Cam Redpath and Stuart Hogg also crossed. Finn Russell converted six of those scores as he was named player of the match. Click here for teams and scorers The hosts got off to a bad start though when they…

The transfer staff at Nîmes Olympique have continued their busy summer with the signing of young attacker Denis Bouanga from FC Lorient. Bouanga is Nîmes’ seventh arrival of this transfer window and will bring a goal-scoring presence from either the left or right wing. The Gabonese winger has signed a three-year deal with Nîmes and will be hoping to acclimate quickly to a club in a period of change. A product of Lorient’s academy, Bouanga becomes yet another member of the Breton’s club fruitful summer exodus with this transfer. Leaving Les Merlus for a reported €3m, the Gabonese attacker adds to the list of Lorient’s profitable departures, joining the likes…

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac was forced to field questions about his future ahead of his side’s Autumn Nations Series game against Australia. The New Zealander is under pressure after Wales went down to a 13-12 defeat to Georgia just eight months after they lost at home to Italy in the Six Nations. This year’s record is only part of the problem for some of Pivac‘s doubters though, with Wales‘ record of 19 Test defeats in 33 since his arrival hard to ignore. A head coach under pressure But with just 10 months left until the Rugby World Cup in France, the big question is whether the Welsh Rugby Union…

Le Progrès report that Lyon have offered captain Nabil Fékir a new contract. President Aulas had the following to say to the aforementioned publication yesterday about the player: “I never felt like he wanted to leave us. We do not need to sell. We are going to be playing in the Champions’ League and our footballing ambitions are already a strong argument. I am not worried about either Nabil or Marcelo (wanted by West Ham)… The English have money, but so do we.” Today’s edition of L’Équipe claims that Lyon currently have no offers on the table for Nabil Fékir, claiming that Liverpool’s decision to not come back is based on…

World Rugby said via a press statement that Wallabies scrum-half Nic White should have been permanently withdrawn from the match against Ireland earlier this month. White returned to action despite suffering head knocks in quick succession during the Autumn Nations Series Test on November 19 which Ireland won 13-10 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The 32-year-old left the field, underwent a head injury assessment (HIA), but returned to the field and finished the game. An independent investigation concluded that the second impact was not seen. As a result, it was not reviewed by medical officials while they were performing the HIA but if they had seen it, White would…

Ligue 1 champions PSG have made an enquiry for Swiss international left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, according to TF1. PSG continue to search for a left-back, maintaining parallel discussions with Wendell (Bayer Leverkusen), Raphaël Guerreiro (Dortmund) and Alex Sandro (Juventus) in the meantime. Click Here: manly sea eagles team jersey

The Challenge Cup returns this weekend as the tournament kicks off on Friday with Stade Francais and Perpignan hosting Benetton and Bristol Bears in their respective matches. Check out the team news below. Stade Francais v Benetton Stade Francais: 15 Sione Tui, 14 Nadir Megdoud, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Alex Arrate, 11 Lester Etien, 10 Léo Barre, 9 Arthur Coville, 8 Juan Martin Scelzo, 7 Mathieu Hirigoyen, 6 Giorgi Tsutkiridze, 5 Juan Johan Van der Mescht, 4 Mathieu De Giovanni (c), 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Lucas Peyresblanques, 1 Sergo Abramishvili Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Moses Alo Emile, 19 Baptiste Pesenti, 20 Nathan Huguen, 21 James Hall,…