Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Erin Routliffe's impressive run at Wimbledon has continued with the New Zealand doubles player and her Polish partner Alicja Rosolska advancing to the quarterfinals.

They've beaten fifth seeds Asia Muhammad from USA and Japan's Ena Shibahara 6-4 7-6(3) in one hour, 39 minutes.

It was the best match played so far at this Wimbledon by Routliffe and Rosolska, with the Kiwi again dominating from the back of the court and Rosolska reacting quickly at the net.

"It was really tough," Routliffe said of the win.

"We'd only played them once before as a team and Asia is a really good friend. I've known Ena for a while now, have played her in college then in pros.

In the quarterfinals, Routliffe and Rosolska take on the American duo Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk.

All Blacks lose locks

All Blacks locks Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaa'i have been ruled out of New Zealand's second test against Ireland in Dunedin on Saturday.

Whitelock, who became the All Blacks' second-most capped player at the weekend, could also miss the third test in Wellington on 16 July after reporting a delayed onset concussion following the 42-19 win over the Irish at Eden Park.

World Rugby's new head injury protocols preclude players from being selected 12 days following a concussion.

Coach Ian Foster will also be without Vaa'i after he tested positive for Covid-19.

Patrick Tuipulotu has been called up as a replacement following his recent return from a six-month stint in Japan.

- Reuters

NZ to host preliminary FIFA tournament

Hamilton and North Harbour will host the 10-team play-off tournament to find the last three finalists for next year's FIFA World Cup tournament in New Zealand and Australia.

It is the first time FIFA has used a play-off tournament to decide World Cup teams.

The tournament, which will be hosted at Waikato Stadium and North Harbour Stadium, will be held between February 17 and 23.

Speaking of the announcement, FIFA Chief Women's Football Officer Sarai Bareman says the new competition will provide an opportunity for more teams to play at the top level.

"The decision in 2019 to expand the FIFA Women's World Cup from 24 to 32 teams, has already had a significant impact on the wider growth and development of the women's game. More nations now have the chance to play on the world's biggest stage and this all starts with the Play-Off Tournament.

The Football Ferns will play three friendly matches around the event against the top-seeded team in the tournament and another high-profile guest team which is still to be confirmed.

The 10 participating teams in the Play-Off Tournament will come from Asia (two), Africa (two), North and Central America and the Caribbean (two), South America (two), Europe (one) and Oceania (one).

China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, Philippines and Vietnam from Asia and France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark from Europe have already secured their place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 and will join the two host nations - Australia and New Zealand.

All Blacks need to improve

The All Blacks are preparing for another brutal contest in the second test against Ireland and are looking for an improvement on their performance in the 42-19 victory in the series opener, first five Beauden Barrett said.

The breakdown and the defence have been identified as areas where the team can take a step up, Barrett said, after the Irish won the early collisions and scored three tries at Eden Park.

"We want to take our game to another level and we have already identified many areas to get better," Barrett said in Dunedin.

"Obviously, there were some missed opportunities out there on the weekend. And although it was our first go at it, we would like to improve a lot."

Backs David Havili, Jack Goodhue and Will Jordan have returned to the camp with coach Ian Foster and two of his assistants after they were all forced to isolate last week following positive COVID tests.

"It's great to see them back it was a tough week for those individuals but we're almost back to full strength," Barrett said.

"It just means we can have a good training week. Last week we were a little bit down on numbers and had to bring people in." Ireland have never beaten the All Blacks on New Zealand soil but Barrett said he expected the tourists to raise their game for the second of three matches in the series.

-Reuters

England start well in run chase

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow smashed unbeaten fifties to boost England's hopes of pulling off a record chase in the rearranged fifth cricket test against India at Edgbaston.

Chasing 378 for victory, England got off to a flying start before the loss of three quick wickets forced them on to the back foot.

Root, batting on 76, combined with Bairstow in a 150-run stand for the unbroken fourth wicket to put England's chase back on track.

England were 259-3 at stumps needing 119 for a series-levelling victory.

England's highest successful run chase came in 2019 when they reached a 359-run target in an Ashes test against Australia on the back of Stokes's brilliant unbeaten century.

Earlier, Ben Stokes (4-33) ran through India's lower order and bowled out the tourists for 245.

Rishabh Pant followed his first-innings 146 with 57, and opener Cheteshwar Pujara contributed 66 for India.

The tourists are 2-1 up in the series which could not be completed last year following COVID-19 cases in the India camp ahead of the final match at Old Trafford.

-Reuters

Fox continues to rise

Auckland golfer Ryan Fox has hit a career high number 46 in the latest world rankings.

Following his second place finish at the Irish Open yesterday, Fox has jumped up ten spots.

At the end of 2021 he was ranked 213 in the world, but this year he has won a tournament and had four top three finishes.

He is also up three spots to number four in the World Tour order of merit.

Fox will play the Scottish Open this week and the Open Championship at St Andrews next week.

The next highest ranked New Zealand men are Daniel Hillier at 241 and Danny Lee at 259.

Lydia Ko is number four in the women's rankings.

Eriksen heading to Old Trafford

Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen has agreed in principle to sign for Manchester United on a free transfer.

The 30-year-old's short-term contract at Brentford ended last month.

It is believed Eriksen could also have returned to Thomas Frank's side, but the lure of playing for United proved too much.

A three-year contract is being prepared for Eriksen, who is still to have his medical at Old Trafford.

Eriksen could be United and new manager Erik ten Hag's second signing of the summer transfer window, with Feyenoord defender Tyrell Malacia undergoing a medical at Carrington ahead of his move.

The Dane returned to the English top flight when he joined Brentford in January after being released by Serie A club Inter Milan.

He had to leave the Italian side after he had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted following his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. Players who have ICD's are not allowed to play in the Serie A.

-BBC

Black Ferns trialists named

46 players have been selected to take part in the Black Ferns World Cup trial in Pukekohe on Friday.

The teams feature 26 players that were part of the Pacific Four-winning Black Ferns squad last month and a further 13 who have previously worn the black jersey.

Black Ferns legend Anna Richards coaches the Ngalingali team and is joined by Otago Spirit coach Scott Manson. Crystal Kaua heads up Rawata and is joined by last year's FPC winning Waikato coach James Semple.

The trial teams are:

Rawata: Eloise Blackwell, Chelsea Bremner, Ruahei Demant, Amy du Plessis, Victoria Edmonds, Maia Joseph, Tanya Kalounivale, Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, Liana Mikaele-Tu'u, Krystal Murray, Joanah Ngan-Woo, Georgia Ponsonby, Kendra Reynolds, Chelsea Semple, Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali, Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, Pia Tapsell, Steph Te O-Haere-Fox, Kelsey Teneti, Hazel Tubic, Ruby Tui, Chryss Viliko, Renee Wickliffe.

Ngalingali: Lucy Anderson, Alana Bremner, Kendra Cocksedge, Luka Connor, Carys Dallinger, Natalie Delamere, Les Elder, Di Hiini, Carla Hohepa, Renee Holmes, Tysha Ikenasio, Tafito Lafaele, Patricia Maliepo, Charmaine McMenamin, Angel Mulu, Jackie Patea-Fereti, Leilani Perese, Cheyelle Robins-Reti, Amy Rule, Charmaine Smith, Grace Steinmetz, Monica Tagoai, Janna Vaughan, Kelsie Wills

Players unavailable for selection include Pip Love, Grace Brooker, Ariana Bayler, Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Ayesha Leti-I'iga and Iritana Hohaia.

More standing areas in Engligh football

More British football clubs are to adopt "safe standing" areas within their stadiums from next season.

Brentford, Queens Park Rangers and Wolverhampton Wanderers will be the first clubs to join early triallers of the initiative -- Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur -- in offering licensed standing in designated seated areas for home and away fans.

Grounds in England's top divisions were converted to all-seater stadiums nearly 30 years ago after Liverpool supporters were crushed in over-crowded and fenced-in areas at the Hillsborough Stadium in 1989, which led to 97 deaths.

Other clubs are expected to adopt licensed standing areas during the course of the season, while Wembley, England's national stadium and venue for club cup semi-finals and finals, will also offer a small licensed standing area for fans at domestic matches later in the campaign.

Strict conditions have been met, including enhanced use of CCTV, improved steward training and fans being strictly limited to "one person, one space". Clubs have also engaged with fans as part of their application process.

-Reuters