Australia and New Zealand Welcome The World
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is well and truly underway.
The start of the tournament was marred by a shooting in Auckland at an incomplete building a few metres away from the Norwegian team hotel just a few hours before the start of the tournament.
The New Zealand government however moved to quickly assure it's citizens and international guests that the shooting was not in anyway related to the tournament nor was it an act of terrorism and that the safety of tournament attendees was secure.
The first game of the tournament would see co-hosts New Zealand claim a 1-0 victory over Norway through a solitary Hannah Wilkinson goal in the 48th minute.
A second win for the co-hosts against the Philippines on Tuesday will see New Zealand qualify for the knockout stages at this years showpiece.
Fans Flock To WWC
Worldwide lovers of football have responded in kind with over one million tickets sold.
New Zealand and Australia have seen 750 000 people arrive at their ports of entry combined to witness the biggest and most watch female sporting tournament in the world with over 2-billion views anticipated by the end of the tournament.
The opening ceremony of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup attracted 100 000 visitors alone.
The 2023 version of the event is set to smash all attendance and viewership records according to FIFA.
South Africa Fall Short
Reigning Women's African Cup of Nations Champions Banyana Banyana came agonizingly close to securing their first point at the tournament, going down 2-1 to Sweden in their opening match.
Banyana took the lead in an electric match on the 48th minute through a Hildah Magaia strike.
Sweden would go to equalize on the 65th minute through Fridolina Rolfo before breaking South African hearts on the 90th minute when Amanda Illestedt fired home for a 2-1 win for the one-time European champions.
Nigeria became the first African nation to claim a point at tournament after drawing 0-0 with Canada on Friday.
Co-hosts Australia secured a 1-0 win over Ireland meaning they two are one win away from the knockout stage.
Spain beat Costa Rica 3-0 in a show of their title challenge credentials.
Germany was also dominant in their first game, absolutely routing Morocco 6-0 in their opening match.
The reigning world champions the United States of America played out to a rudimentary 3-0 win over Vietnam on Saturday.
Banyana Banyana will next face Argentina in a must win match on Friday.
F1: British Grand Prix
The Silverstone circuit turned in a masterclass of world motorsport driving not only for driver standings leader Max Verstappen but for Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton manage to secure a podium finish coming in third after starting the race in 7th position on the grid.
Hamilton would go on to exhibit sheer driving excellence fighting his way up the grid to eventually finish third.
It was somewhat of an elementary win for Verstappen who converted pole position into victory at to claim a sixth successive win of his own and a record-equaling 11th consecutive triumph for Red Bull.
Lando Norris also produced a driving masterclass, brilliantly fending off Hamilton to claim second.
Verstappen is now 99 points clear at the top of the drivers' standings, moving closer to what appears to be an inevitable third successive title.
Red Bull are now 208 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructors' championship.
British GP result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
5) George Russell, Mercedes
6) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
7) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
8) Alex Albon, Williams
9) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
10) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
The Rugby Championship
It was a dominant display for the reigning World Champions South Africa and the second best side in world Rugby New Zealand.
The Springboks took the Wallabies to the cleaners, beating the Australians 43-12 in what can be labelled a signal of intent ahead of the Rugby World Cup later this year.
Elsewhere, the All Blacks demolished the Pumas of Argentina 12-41 as they too seek to make their World Cup credentials clear.
This past weekend was Week 1 of the three week Rugby Championship featuring the Springboks, the All Blacks, the Pumas and the Wallabies.
The weekend of the 15th will serve up a mouth watering clash in New Zealand as the reigning world champions visit Wellington in a clash of the titans between 1 and 2.
Australia will host Argentina on the 16th.
The Rugby World Cup will be played between Friday the 8th of September until Saturday the 28th of October 2023 in France, Europe.
The Ashes
Australia hold a 2-1 lead over England in the 5 Test series.
The third Test produced some of the fines batting and bowling in the 2023 Ashes yet.
Mitchel Marsh posted a top score of 118 runs for Australia while Mark Wood took 5 wickets for just 34 runs in 11.4 overs.
The 4th test in the Ashes series for 2023 begins on the 19th of this month
