ild throw on a routine grounder by Matt Dominguez. Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Samardzija started the inning with a single and the Cubs loaded the bas

France suffered their first defeat in this years Womens Six Nations tournament when they were beaten 10-8 by Wales in Neath.The result means unbeaten England lead the way after three rounds of the tournament, two points clear of France and Wales. And England will next face Wales in a pivotal showdown at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday March 12 (live on Sky Sports 5).Having lost their tournament opener in Ireland, Wales made it two wins in a row with a hard-fought victory over France at The Gnoll.And the Welsh have also confirmed their place for the 2017 World Cup, because they cannot now be overtaken by Scotland. Safi NDiaye scored a first-half try for France The hosts made a superb start, taking the lead after just three minutes when full-back Dyddgu Hywel received the ball on the 22 and ran a lovely line to touch down.France winger Caroline Boujard then dropped a kick when looking certain to score, but the visiting forwards were impressive, and No 8 Safi NDiaye scored a pushover try on the quarter hour.However, brave Welsh defending held up the French pack on the line on a pair of occasions, meaning it was 5-5 at half-time.Wales lost Shona Powell-Hughes to the sin-bin just before the break, though, and France went in front five minutes after the interval, courtesy of an Audrey Abadie penalty. The French take possession of the ball at the lineout during their defeat in Wales But Wales then reclaimed the lead with a wonderful try, sparked by a superb run out of defence from Bethan Dainton, and finished when prop Megan York raced down the touchline after receiving from Elen Evans.France threw everything at the Welsh in the final 20 minutes but the hosts refused to buckle and held on to secure a first win over the French since 2008.In Sundays other match, Italy opened their account for the tournament with a 22-7 victory over winless Scotland.The two strugglers met at the Stadio Arcoveggio and Italy claimed an early lead when player-of-the-match Melissa Bettoni went over from close range.And the other Italian prop, Elisa Cucchiella, also scored a first-half try, diving across the line after the hosts had moved the play to the right.Francesca Schiavon added the conversion and also kicked a first-half penalty, meaning Italy were 15-0 up at the break.Manuela Furlan then scored the third Italian try of the day, Schiavon adding the conversion once again to make the scoreline 22-0, which was somewhat harsh on the Scots.The visitors responded almost immediately, centre Lisa Thomson powering through to score a try, which Lana Skeldon converted.However, although Scotland fought hard to get back into the match, that proved to be the end of the scoring.Also See:WATCH: Browns masterclassKearney targets strong finishEngland 21-10 Ireland recapFixtures and resultsRugby Union on SkyCustom Buffalo Sabres Jerseys . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Fake Sabres Jerseys . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. https://www.cheapsabres.com/ .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Buffalo Sabres Store . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Buffalo Sabres Pro Shop . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. CHICAGO -- Ryan Sweeney credited his teammates with helping him have one of his best days at the ballpark. Sweeney had a career-high six RBIs, including a three-run homer, and the Chicago Cubs routed the Houston Astros 14-6 on Sunday. The centre fielder drove in runs in each of his first four at-bats, capping the stretch with his longball to right-centre. He also had two doubles and a run-scoring grounder in the second inning. "Anytime youre scoring 14 runs with 16 hits, its contagious," said Sweeney, who started in place of the injured David DeJesus. "Everybody hit the ball great today and it was fun to watch." Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo added a two-run home run and finished 3 for 3 with four runs scored and four RBIs. Chicago scored its most runs and had its most hits (16) this season. All nine starters reached base for the Cubs. "We have to give ourselves opportunities and eventually, somebody is going to come through," Rizzo said. "So we just have to keep giving ourselves opportunities." The Cubs outburst helped erase a pair of errors from shortstop Starlin Castro, who now leads the majors with 14 errors this season. Castro has also struggled at the plate, with just 13 hits in his last 98 at-bats. "The whole thing is not going real well right now so hopefully this day off can recharge him and get things going in Milwaukee," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said about Castro. Starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (5-7) won his second straight, with five strikeouts and no walks. It was his first start without yielding a walk this season. "Anytime I dont walk somebody, usually the outcome is in the positive side of things," Samardzija said. "I attacked the zone, had a couple of three-ball counts, just wanted to stay there and not give any freebies up and just let our defence work." Houston pitcher Jordan Lyles (4-2) lost for the first time since May 12. "We got him to throw a lot of pitches and his velocity started going down," Sweeney said. "We made him throw more and get away from his strength (the fastball) and make him throw more off-speed pitches and we hit him.dddddddddddd" Houston first baseman Chris Carter finished with a career-high three doubles among his four hits. He drove in two runs and scored twice. "It was good to see him drive the ball the other way," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Hes been doing that this last week or so and its coming together." Chicago pulled away in the fifth inning with consecutive hits by Alfonso Soriano, Rizzo and Sweeney. Each scored to give Chicago an 8-3 lead. Soriano hit his first triple of the season and Rizzo then hit a looping single to shallow centre field. Sweeneys double sent Houston centre fielder Justin Maxwell sprinting toward the warning track and the ball bounced off his glove. Rizzo beat the relay throw to home plate. Second baseman Darwin Barney added a two-out RBI single to score Sweeney. Jose Altuve tried sparking an Astros rally for the second straight day, this time leading off the fourth with a single. Jason Castro followed with a double and Altuve scored on J.D. Martinezs groundout. Carter had a run-scoring double to centre field and Castro scored on Starlin Castros first error, a wild throw on a routine grounder by Matt Dominguez. Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Samardzija started the inning with a single and the Cubs loaded the bases on an error by shortstop Marwin Gonzalez and a walk. Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run single to get the scoring started. Rizzo followed with a sacrifice fly to right field and Sweeney doubled in two more runs. NOTES: The Cubs are expected to make a roster move, possibly adding a position player, before Tuesdays game against the Brewers. The Cubs currently have 13 pitchers in the majors. . Sveum watched the Chicago Blackhawks victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday night. He said if he could live another life he would be a hockey player. "Its such a true sport," Sveum said. "You cant do anything but play hard the whole game. Its OK to be physical. Its OK to fight." . Houston centre fielder Maxwell hit in the leadoff position for the first time this season. ' ' '