Welcome to this week’s Hugh Watches Sports post. In this edition we will reflect on the start of the Prem rugby season and the UEFA Nations League. We will also look back on a big tennis tournament, the latest Formula 1 race, a huge women’s football derby match-up, plus NFL’s second international fixture of the year. Let’s get into it.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS VS NEWCASTLE RED BULLS (RUGBY UNION)
A new season of Gallagher Prem rugby kicked off on Friday evening as defending champions Northampton Saints hosted Newcastle Red Bulls at Franklin’s Gardens. This was a battle between the team who topped last season’s league table and the team who finished bottom of it. However an array of changes across both the players and coaching staff meant Newcastle were not to be underestimated as they attempt to have a better campaign this time around. Meanwhile their hosts Northampton headed into the new season looking to successfully retain their title which they won by beating Exeter Chiefs in the Prem Rugby final in May. As the encounter got underway, Northampton picked up where they left off last season with a try inside the opening four minutes to take the lead. It came courtesy of James Pater before the reliable boot of Fin Smith kicked the conversion between the posts to put the champions seven points ahead. Although Newcastle fought back when a run from Werner Kok got them deep into opposition territory before they worked the ball across the pitch for Christian Wade to run in and score on the right wing. When Brett Connon then scored the conversion, Newcastle moved level on the scoreboard. The next notable moment in the game saw Newcastle’s Harrison Obatoyinbo shown a yellow card for a cynical trip on George Hendy after the Northampton man had got past him with some fancy footwork. In the time Obatoyinbo was off the field, Northampton took full advantage of having an extra player by scoring three tries. First, Pater picked up his second try of the evening after a well-worked move from the Saints following an attacking line-out. Next, Hendy opened his account in the new Prem campaign by diving over the try line after breaking through Newcastle’s defence. The home side’s quick-fire trio of tries was completed in the twenty-forth minute when Tommy Freeman got his name on the scoresheet. With one of those tries successfully converted by Smith, the Saints moved 24-7 up. Back to their full compliment of players, Newcastle were able to score their second try of the encounter late in the first half and it was Wade who again carried the ball beyond the try line. The extra two points were then added by Zack Henry to briefly cut the visitors’ deficit. I say briefly though because Northampton ended the first half with their fifth try as a quick exchange of passes opened up space for Alex Coles to score his first of the league season. With Smith stepping up to kick the ball between the posts, the champions held a comfortable 31-14 lead at half time. Moving into the second half, indiscipline proved costly again for Newcastle as Pouri Rakete-Stones received a yellow card. Then, an excellent sweeping move from Northampton set Freeman away on the right hand side and he ran in to score his second try of the evening. Another conversion from Smith further extended the home side’s advantage as they went twenty-four points in front. On fifty-seven minutes, Cam Jordan powered himself and the ball over Northampton’s try line to score on his Newcastle debut, ahead of Henry adding two points with a kick through the posts. However, just like when Newcastle scored their second try, Northampton responded immediately by scoring another of their own three minutes later. This time it was Freeman who carried the ball over the try line after more superb work on the right wing from the home side. That completed his hat-trick and, when Smith backed it up with a conversion, restored the Saints twenty-four point lead. With the champions now as good as assured of victory, they were playing full of confidence and scored two more tries late on to add further gloss to the scoreline. On seventy-three minutes, a loose pass from Newcastle saw the ball land straight into the path of Ollie Sleightholme who carried it to the try line to score. Then, Pater clinched his hat-trick with a dive over the try line. With both of those tries successfully converted by Anthony Belleau, Northampton reached fifty-nine points. In the closing moments of the match, there was a moment of cheer for Newcastle when Kok forced the ball beyond the try line on the left wing to score their fourth try of the game and therefore seal a bonus point. That meant that despite their resounding defeat, Newcastle would at least have a point on the board when they looked at the league table at the end of week one. Ultimately though, the evening belonged to Northampton who began their title defence with a 59-26 triumph on home soil. It was a dominant display from the champions and they will look to back it up on the road next week against the Bristol Bears. Meanwhile, Newcastle will go in search of their first win of the campaign when they host Leicester Tigers next Saturday.
ENGLAND VS SPAIN (FOOTBALL)
In their first match since winning the World Cup in the summer, Spain travelled to Wembley Stadium to take on England. This was the first of six games both teams will play in the group stage of the UEFA Nations League. Joining England and Spain in Group C are Czechia and Croatia who faced off at the same time as the match at Wembley. In the lead-up to this encounter, England have lost a number of star players with Declan Rice and Cole Palmer among those who pulled out of the squad. In contrast, much of Spain’s World Cup winning squad have returned to represent their country. Of the eleven players who started the World Cup final win over Argentina, only Pedro Porro misses out on this squad and that is due to an injury. As the match kicked off at Wembley, we didn’t have to wait long for a goal to arrive as England centre-back Marc Guehi lost possession to Lamine Yamal and the Spaniard took two touches before slotting a calm finish into the net via the inside of the far post. That put the visitors 1-0 ahead inside two minutes and they thought they’d doubled their lead soon after when Ferran Torres diverted Fabian Ruiz’s cross into the net but the goal was ruled out for offside. As the first half went on, Torres was proving difficult for the England defence to handle as he got in behind and one-on-one with goalkeeper James Trafford on two occasions. In the sixteenth minute, Trafford made a good save to deny the Spaniard, before in the twenty-seventh minute Torres’ shot beat Trafford but went wide of the far post. Later in the half, England began to find some rhythm in possession and a build attack’s of their own. However, their equaliser actually came courtesy of a swift counter-attack when Elliot Anderson won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and played it into Anthony Gordon, whose flick found its way to Jude Bellingham. The England star then carried the ball over the halfway line before playing a great pass back to Gordon who took one touch before burying the ball past Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon to level the score. That goal shifted momentum firmly in England’s favour and they seized it further four minutes later by taking the lead. A cross from Nico O’Reilly from the left hand side was headed towards goal by Harry Kane and deflected off Marc Cucurella on route into the back of the net. It was a superb turnaround from England as their captain Kane scored his eighty-sixth international goal to put them 2-1 up against the world champions. After a thrilling first half, the two teams returned to the dressing rooms at Wembley with the hosts a goal ahead. Early in the second half, England were gifted the opportunity to extend their advantage when they were awarded a penalty. It came as a result of Bellingham being tripped by Rodri in the penalty area, which was initially missed by the referee but the penalty was given after a VAR review. Up stepped Kane but surprisingly his effort bounced off the crossbar. Replays suggested that the England captain slipped as he planted his foot to take the penalty as a huge chance to score a third goal was missed by the hosts. It was also a relief for Spain who had made an uncharacteristically slow start to the second half. Although they soon re-discovered their form in the sixtieth minute as Dani Olmo picked up the ball on the right hand side and found Alex Baena in a central position just outside the penalty area who controlled the ball and then unleashed a superb strike which nestled into the bottom corner of Trafford’s goal. It was an excellent equaliser from Spain as they showed their clinical edge to get themselves back level. At this point, the game was beginning to become an end-to-end encounter with both side’s looking for a third goal. On sixty-six minutes, England’s Bukayo Saka went close as his curling effort from the right side of the penalty area drifted just wide of Simon’s far post. Then, on seventy-four minutes, a stunning incisive move from Spain saw Baena slip the ball through to substitute Mikel Oyarzabal and he provided a cool chipped finish to beat Trafford and put Spain 3-2 up. It was a phenomenal team goal from the world champions as they took the lead with just over fifteen minutes to go in London. From then on, the majority of the rest of the match was played in Spain’s half as England tried to make it 3-3. The closest they came to doing so was in stoppage time as Anderson passed the ball to Bellingham who carried it into the penalty area before firing a shot towards the near post where it was well-blocked by Simon. As referee Davide Massa blew his whistle to end a thoroughly entertaining match at Wembley, Spain clinched a 3-2 victory over England to begin their Nations League campaign. Looking ahead, both of these teams are in action again in this competition on Tuesday evening. Whilst Spain host Croatia, England will travel to Czechia for the second round of matches in Group C.
WTA SINGAPORE (TENNIS)
The Singapore Tennis Open was a brand new addition to the WTA calendar for 2026. Played in the second week of tennis’ Asian swing, the tournament is a WTA500 event which offers players a chance to compete before back-to-back WTA1000 event’s in Beijing and Wuhan begin next week. Headlining the draw in Singapore was this year’s Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva, although she and the rest of the top four seed’s had to wait until the second round to play as they received a bye in round one. When the draw came out, the stand-out match-up in the opening round saw seventh seed Maria Sakkari face Linda Fruhvirtova. After winning a tight first set, Sakkari ran away with the second to clinch a 6-4 6-1 win. Elsewhere in round one, Xinyu Wang picked up a big victory by defeating eighth seed Donna Vekic in straight sets. Moving into the second round, top seed Andreeva kicked off her campaign with a 6-2 6-2 triumph over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. However there was a surprise loss for third seed Alexandra Eala as she went down in three sets against Tatiana Prozorova. Elsewhere, fourth seed Elise Mertens reached the quarter finals without playing as she received a walkover in round two when Barbora Krejcikova withdrew from the tournament. As we reached the last eight stage of the event, top seed Andreeva met sixth seed Leylah Fernandez and they played out a thrilling match which was won 6-2 7-5 by Fernandez as she progressed into a WTA semi final for the first time this year. In the last four she would come up against Maja Chwalinska who defeated Mertens 6-2 6-2 to claim a spot in her second career semi final. Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw, we saw two more first time WTA semi finalists as Prozorova and Talia Gibson recorded respective wins over Wang and Sakkari. Unfortunately the time between the quarter finals ending and the semi finals beginning included some controversy which came when Prozorova withdrew from the tournament. Although it later emerged that she did not choose to withdraw and the decision was taken by a WTA physio based on concussion protocols, much to Prozorova’s disappointment. After being hit by a ball during her doubles match which was played after her singles quarter final, Prozorova’s forced withdrawal from singles handed Gibson a walkover and saw the Australian progress into her first WTA singles final. On Saturday in Singapore, the semi final between Fernandez and Chwalinska headlined the order of play. With the first set comfortably going the way of Chwalinska, Fernandez then fought back to take the next two and secure her place in the final courtesy of a 1-6 6-4 6-2 victory. In Sunday’s final between Fernandez and Gibson, the opening set was very close and tense. At 5-4 on Fernandez’s serve, Gibson had a set point but it was saved by the Canadian who went on to hold for 5-5. That turned out to be a crucial point in the match as Fernandez won the next two games to take the first set 7-5. With a one-set lead, Fernandez went from strength to strength in the second set as she cruised to the title with a bagel that sealed a 7-5 6-0 triumph. This success marked the sixth WTA title of Fernandez’s career and her second at WTA500 level. It was the perfect preparation for the Canadian as she picked up a top ten win and a title ahead of the upcoming WTA1000 tournament’s. Elsewhere on the WTA Tour this week, Kimberly Birrell won the WTA250 event in Korea by beating fellow Australian Maya Joint in the final.
AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX (FORMULA 1)
We witnessed the rare spectacle of a Grand Prix on a Saturday this weekend as the Formula 1 World Championship headed to Baku. Due to Sunday being Remembrance Day in Azerbaijan, the race was moved forward twenty-four hours. That meant that qualifying took place on Friday and it served up a shock for championship leader Kimi Antonelli as he made contact with the wall, leaving him sixteenth on the grid for Saturday’s race. In contrast, it was a dominant qualifying session for Antonelli’s teammate George Russell as he took pole position with the largest margin between pole and second of the season. Lining up alongside Russell on the front row would be Charles Leclerc, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Isack Hadjar on row two. The top six was rounded out by Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton who lined up fifth and sixth respectively. When the lights went out on Saturday afternoon, Russell made a great start to hold onto the lead, meanwhile Piastri beat Leclerc Down to the first corner and took over second place. Behind them Piastri’s McLaren teammate Norris also gained a position as he snuck past Hadjar at the start. At the end of a very clean first lap with no incidents despite the close walls around the Baku street circuit, Russell was at the front, leading Piastri, Leclerc, Norris, Hadjar, Hamilton and Max Verstappen. As the race began to settle down, the main action came from the Red Bull’s of Hadjar and Verstappen as they showed some exceptional pace. By the end of lap three, they had both overtaken Norris and sat in fourth and fifth respectively. That then became third and fourth when they both found their way past Leclerc. On lap seven, Verstappen the overtook his teammate to move into the top three, gaining five places since starting the race in eighth. Elsewhere on the circuit, we saw our first retirement of the race as Lance Stroll was forced to stop with an issue. Later on in the race he was joined in retiring by his teammate Fernando Alonso on another dismal day for the Aston Martin team. As for championship leader Antonelli, he was making progress from his lowly-starting position although not as quickly as he may have hoped as it took him over sixteen laps before he moved up into the top ten. On lap thirty, an accident for Alex Albon which saw him end up in the wall meant a safety car was required. That gave everyone the perfect opportunity to make their pit stop which they all duly did, however being behind the safety car bunched up the field, which was particularly frustrating for Russell who had built up an eleven second lead. When racing resumed on lap thirty-six, Russell kept hole of the lead but Piastri lost out behind him as Verstappen clinched second spot. Although the most dramatic moment of the race occurred behind them when Franco Colapinto locked up and collided with his teammate Pierre Gasly who then made contact with Norris which sent the reigning world champion into the wall. That incident ended Norris’ race and also ended up costing both Colapinto and Gasly as the damage they sustained meant they were told to pit and retire their car’s by the Alpine team. With plenty of debris on the track, the safety car re-emerged on the track whilst that was cleared. On the race restart on lap thirty-nine, Russell managed to hold off the challenge of Verstappen. Then, a lap later third placed Piastri had a huge lock-up going into turn one and went off the track. When the Australian returned he had slipped down the leaderboard to fifteenth, completing an underwhelming day for McLaren. On lap forty-three, Antonelli further improved his position by overtaking Hamilton to move into the top five. Moving into the final three laps, Verstappen was closing down the gap between himself and Russell to under a second. Their battle for the lead continued into the last lap, although it was briefly disrupted by double-waved yellow flags when Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac collided with the barriers. After passing Bottas, Verstappen raced Russell to the finish line but couldn’t deny the Brit a first Grand Prix win since Austria in June. This victory provided the ideal end to a perfect weekend for Russell as he qualified on pole position and then held top spot from start to finish in the race to secure his eighth race win in Formula 1. Joining Russell on the podium would be Verstappen and Hadjar as Red Bull sealed their first double podium finish in over two years. The point-scoring positions were rounded out by Leclerc, Antonelli, Hamilton, Arvid Lindblad, Esteban Ocon, Ollie Bearman and Carlos Sainz. In terms of the overall championship picture, Russell’s triumph means he closes the gap between himself and leader Antonelli to sixty-six points as we enter the final third of the season. Next up on the Formula 1 calendar is the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend, which is being held in Malaysia due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
CHELSEA WOMEN VS ARSENAL WOMEN (FOOTBALL)
A London derby headlined this weekend’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture list as Chelsea came up against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Both of these teams were coming off midweek 1-0 wins in the Champions League. So far in the WSL, Chelsea had taken seven points from their opening three games. Meanwhile, Arsenal had only taken five with two underwhelming draw’s against Crystal Palace and Manchester United seeing them drop points. Coming into this fixture, following results earlier in the day, Chelsea sat fourth in the league table with Arsenal in seventh. In the early stages of the game, Arsenal started better and had a greater amount of possession but failed to create any clear-cut opportunities to score. In fact, the first shot on target of the encounter came from Chelsea’s Lauren James in the twenty-fourth minute when her long-range effort was comfortably dealt with by Arsenal goalkeeper Anneke Borbe. Two minutes later, Arsenal created their best chance of the half as Alessia Russo dropped deep to pick up the ball and play it out to Lisa Baum on the right who then found Mariona Caldentey on the far side of the penalty area and her strike hit the outside of the post. From then on, Chelsea began to take over control of the contest and the blues went ahead in the thirty-ninth minute thanks to Alyssa Thompson’s first league goal of the season. It came when a combination of Ellie Carpenter and Melvine Malard won possession on the edge of Arsenal’s penalty area, before Malard laid the ball off to Keira Walsh whose shot was parried by Borbe and Thompson reacted quickest to smash the rebound into the roof of the net. It was an exceptional finish from the American as she kept control over her strike as the ball came at her quickly from close range. Just before half time, Chelsea almost doubled their lead when Carpenter’s pass down the right hand side set Malard in behind Arsenal’s defence although Borbe stood strong to make a crucial save and prevent her side from falling two goals behind. As the half time whistle blew at Stamford Bridge, the home side were 1-0 up despite having less possession. After the interval, Arsenal finally registered a shot on target in the fifty-second minute as Baum’s attempt from a tight angle forced Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton into action. Moving into the final thirty minutes, Chelsea appeared more likely to score a second goal than Arsenal did to find an equaliser with Malard going close twice. Firstly, the Frenchwoman’s flick at the near post from Carpenter’s cross drifted just wide of Borbe’s far post. Then, Lucy Bronze’s pass found Malard on the edge of the penalty area where she took a touch to steady herself before drifting a low effort past Borbe but also past the far post too. Despite attacking substitutions being made by Renee Slegers, Arsenal continued to struggle to provide any threat to Hampton. Whilst the score remained at 1-0, there was always a chance they could get back into the game but in truth Chelsea’s defence always looked comfortable, even in the latter stages of the second half. With a controlled display, Chelsea clinched a 1-0 win over their London rivals to move up to third in the WSL table. This victory continues their unbeaten start to the season and puts them two points behind league leaders Manchester City. As for Arsenal, another underwhelming performance saw them remain seventh, already seven points off the top of the league after four matches. Looking ahead to next weekend, Chelsea travel to West Ham United on Sunday, whereas Arsenal face the tough task of taking on Man City.
BALTIMORE RAVENS @ DALLAS COWBOYS (AMERICAN FOOTBALL)
On Sunday evening, the second NFL International game of the season took place as the Baltimore Ravens played the Dallas Cowboys in Rio. The match was played at the iconic Maracana Stadium which is usually used for hosting a different type of football but this week American Football took over the Brazilian landmark. Following the opening two weeks of the season, both the Ravens and the Cowboys headed to Brazil with a 1-1 record. After a week one win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Ravens suffered a surprise defeat against the New Orleans Saints last time out. In contrast, the Cowboys began their season with a loss to the New York Giants before responding last weekend with a 37-20 triumph over the Washington Commanders. As their week three encounter commenced in Rio, the Cowboys put three points on the board early on thanks to a twenty-eight yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey. Then, on their next possession, quarterback Dak Prescott led his offence down the field before handing the ball off for running back Javonte Williams to run in for the game’s first touchdown. When Aubrey then added the extra point by kicking the ball between the upright’s, the Cowboys went 10-0 up. After a slow start to the encounter, the Ravens offense managed to establish themselves in the game right at the end of the first quarter as running back Derrick Henry spotted a gap in the Cowboys defense and charged through it into the end zone for a touchdown. A first successful kick of the day for Tyler Loop secured the extra point and saw the Ravens reduce their deficit to three points at the conclusion of the opening fifteen minutes. As we moved into the second quarter, the Ravens seized momentum with Henry rushing in for his second touchdown, ahead of Loop adding the extra point. Then, after the Ravens defense won the ball back, the offense drove up the field again to present Loop with a chance to score a field goal from twenty-seven yards out. The kicker duly converted the field goal to put the Ravens 17-10 up after having been 10-0 down. With just eighteen seconds left on the clock in the second quarter, a field goal from Aubrey saw the Cowboys halt their opponent’s run of points and narrow the score to 17-13. At half time in Rio, the Ravens were four points up. Following a vibrant half time show, the third quarter began slowly with the defense’s mostly on top. With the Cowboys offense struggling to make much progress up the field, they opted to bring out Aubrey to attempt an ambitious fifty-nine yard field goal but it was blocked and they conceded possession. Twelve minutes into the second half, the first scoring play of it finally arrived as Lamar Jackson found Chris Moore in the end zone to score the Ravens’ third touchdown. When Loop then converted the extra point, the Ravens extended their lead to eleven points. That gave the ball back to the Cowboys offense who now needed to find a response. After a difficult last few possession’s, quarterback Prescott re-discovered his rhythm and drove his side into the red zone before playing a touchdown pass into the arms of tight end Jake Ferguson. Not content with just one extra point, the Cowboys opted to go for two and they were successful as Prescott found star receiver CeeDee Lamb in the end zone. As we reached the end of the third quarter, the Ravens lead had been cut to three points ahead of a crucial fourth quarter. The opening five minutes of quarter four saw a huge shift in momentum. First, Ravens running back Henry thought he’d scored a touchdown on third down but after a review the officials decided he was just short. Then, on fourth down, Jackson laid the ball to Henry but he was superbly tackled by Cowboys rookie defender Jaishawn Barham to end the Ravens possession without scoring any points. Things then further swung in favour of the Cowboys as a ninety-six yard drive up the field ended with KaVontae Turpin rushing into the end zone to score a touchdown. That put them into the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter and Aubrey’s extra point meant they were four points up with just under ten minutes left on the clock. As we entered the tense final moments of the game, the Ravens offense had the ball at the two minute warning as they searched for a touchdown that would put them back in front on the scoreboard. On 3rd down and goal with ninety seconds left, Jackson threw the ball into the hands of Matt Hibner in the end zone to put the Ravens 30-28 ahead. With Loop then scoring the extra point, the Cowboys got the ball back with a minute and a half to go, trailing by three points. That made things very simple for the Cowboys, they needed a touchdown to win or a field goal to draw level, anything else would see the Ravens clinch victory. With a touchdown proving evasive, Aubrey came out to attempt a twenty-three yard field goal and he scored it to seemingly take the game into overtime. However there were still seven seconds left on the clock and the Ravens offense decided to go big as Jackson threw a stunning pass to Zay Flowers. Incredibly that put the Ravens in field goal range with one second left on the clock, meaning Loop came onto the pitch with a chance to win the game with a walk-off field goal. The Ravens kicker stepped up and sent the ball between the upright’s from fifty-six yards to seal a remarkable 34-31 triumph for his side. It was a thrilling end to a sensational game in Brazil as the Ravens moved to 2-1 for the season in dramatic style. Elsewhere in week three of the NFL, the stand-out result came in Washington as the Commanders stunned reigning Super Bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks by defeating them 33-31. Meanwhile, in a potential Super Bowl match-up, the Denver Broncos secured a 30-26 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
