The Wallabies have moved to further acknowledge Australia’s First Nations people by adding jersey numbers in an Indigenous style for Sunday’s Rugby Championship clash with South Africa on the Gold Coast.
Dave Rennie’s side will become the first Australia team, of any sport, to wear both the coat of arms and as well as a First Nations design on its primary playing strip.
The First Nations style numbers will be an ongoing feature of the Wallabies’ main jumper, while the complete Indigenous jersey will again return for Round 5 clash with the Pumas in Townsville.
“It was the players who had been advocating for the idea of a permanent First Nations addition, and I’m pleased we’ve been able to come up with a solution with ASICS which will feature on the new-look jersey,” Rennie said via a media release.
“We place a great deal of thought as to when and where we will wear it, and Townsville is an obvious choice – it boasts a strong First Nations community who we represent, and when we wear this jersey, we feel it will provide us with an even stronger connection with our people.
“As a squad, we pride ourselves on culture and inclusivity, and that’s what the First Nations jersey represents, and to now have it on both jerseys is something special for our rugby community.”
Having first sported an Indigenous jersey in the third Bledisloe Cup Test of 2017, Rugby Australia and the Wallabies set in motion a push for greater recognition of the country’s First Nations people.
The jersey was then worn in a Test against England at Twickenham, before an updated, predominantly green strip, was used in the 2019 Rugby World Cup match against Uruguay.
A similar design was then last year worn against New Zealand and Argentina in Sydney, while the national anthem was also sung in the local Eora dialect as well as English ahead of the Test with the Pumas.
Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos hailed the latest additions to the game’s First Nations recognition as another huge step in the Wallabies’ promotion of inclusivity.
“It’s a truly historic occasion to be able to announce the incorporation of the First Nations design on the team’s primary jersey,” Marinos said.
“I’d also like to thank Mark Brunton and his team at ASICS for their support this year; from the new-look jersey to the inclusion of the First Nations design, we couldn’t ask for a more supportive partner.
“As a team and rugby family, we pride ourselves on our values of inclusivity and teamwork, and now both of our jerseys will do this, in being inclusive of all Australians.”
“To wear the First Nations jersey in Townsville is also a momentous occasion. It will be our first match there, and with such a passionate First Nations community, we hope to make a real connection and forge strong bonds with that community.”
George Springer had a career-high seven RBIs, including his ninth grand slam, and the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated Canada Day by beating the Yankees 12-5 on Tuesday and closing within one game of American League East-leading New York.
The seven RBIs are tied for the second most by any Blue Jays player in a home game, behind Edwin Encarnación (nine RBIs in 2015), according to ESPN Research.
Andrés Giménez had a go-ahead, three-run homer for the Blue Jays, who overcame a 2-0 deficit against Max Fried. After the Yankees tied the score 4-4 in the seventh, Toronto broke open the game in the bottom half against a reeling Yankees bullpen.
Springer went 3-for-4, starting the comeback with a solo homer in the fourth against Fried and boosting the lead to 9-5 with the slam off Luke Weaver after Ernie Clement‘s go-ahead single off shortstop Anthony Volpe‘s glove. Springer has 13 homers this season.
Toronto won the first two games of the four-game series and closed within one game of the Yankees for the first time since before play on April 20.
New York went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position, dropping to 3-for-24 in the series, while the Blue Jays were 5-for-7. After going 13-14 in June, the Yankees fell to 10-14 against AL East rivals.
DENVER — Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team’s spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.
He will be shut down until he’s evaluated by the specialist.
“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night’s series opener at Colorado, which the Astros won 6-5. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We’re just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”
Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.
The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it’s uncertain when he’ll play.
“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn’t want.”
Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Shohei Ohtani reached 30 homers for the fifth straight season, hitting a fourth-inning drive after fouling a pitch off the plate umpire, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night.
Ohtani fouled the ball off Alan Porter’s right knee in the fourth. Ohtani checked on the umpire and stood by watching until Parker got up under his own power. The three-time MVP then hit a 408-foot shot to center, snapping an 0-for-6 skid and extending the lead to 6-1. He tied Cody Bellinger in 2019 for most home runs before the All-Star break in Dodgers history; Bellinger won National League MVP that year.
Ohtani joined Seattle‘s Cal Raleigh (33) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (30) as players with at least 30 homers by the All-Star break; it marks the fifth season that three players have reached the 30-homer threshold before the break (2019, 1998, 1994, 1969).
As for Ohtani, this is his third season hitting at least 30 home runs before the break, tying Ken Griffey Jr. for third most in MLB history (Judge and Mark McGwire each did so for four seasons).
During the seventh-inning stretch, Ohtani walked over and checked on Porter again before leading off.
Los Angeles scored its most runs this season in support of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-6), staking the Japanese right-hander to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
The Dodgers won for the 13th time in 16 games and opened a season-high, eight-game NL West lead. They are 16-5 (.762 win percentage) since June 8, the best record in MLB during that span.
Every run Tuesday night was scored with two outs.
Yamamoto allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked one.