Today's sports news: What you need to know

The Wellington Phoenix have lost head coach Ufuk Talay for at least their next two matches in football's A-League.

The club has confirmed Talay had tested positive for Covid-19 and had to isolate for seven days.

He would definitely miss Saturday night's match against Perth in Sydney and Wednesday's match against Brisbane in Redcliffe.

Assistant coach Giancarlo Italiano would take charge of the team, who were again based in Australia this season, in Talay's absence.

If Talay was symptom free after seven days, he would be able to return to the touchline for next Saturday's match against Melbourne City.

Italiano had been Talay's assistant coach for the past two seasons after initially joining the Phoenix in 2019 as the team's video analyst and second assistant.

Black Caps booked to play Scots

Two T20s and an ODI against Scotland have been added to the Black Caps upcoming tour to the UK and Ireland.

Cricket Scotland confirmed the matches, to be played in Edinburgh, had been locked in on Saturday.

The games were scheduled for July 27, 29 and 31 and would follow three tests in England and six white ball matches in Ireeland.

New Zealand had a strong record against Scotland, winning 15 and drawing two of the 17 games played since they first met in 1927.

The most recent meeting was at last year's T20 World Cup, where the Scots pushed the Black Caps before eventually falling to a 16-run defeat.

Warriors on the board in NRL

Warriors coach Nathan Brown says they still have a lot to work on, despite claiming their first win of the NRL season.

After starting with two losses, the Warriors won the battle of the bottom of the table with an error-ridden 16-12 victory over the Wests Tigers in Sydney on Friday night.

The Tigers opened the scoring but only minutes later the Warriors hit back with a try of their own for Euan Aitken, who has just announced he is leaving the club at end of the season.

Adam Pompey scored the Warriors second before Zane Musgrove crossed on the stroke of halftime to leave the warriors with a slim 14-12 lead at halftime.

A Reece Walsh penalty goal was the only addition to the score in the second half.

"Last week we played far better and didn't get anything and this week we played a lot worse but we got something," Brown said post match.

"We can't fault the boy's defence, in the second half especially when we were down to 12 men and had a few troops with injuries.

"But we certainly came up with some disappointing plays in the game."

The Warriors' next game is against the Brisbane Broncos in Redcliffe next Saturday.

Lyon spins Australia to victory

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon took five wickets to help Australia beat Pakistan by 115 runs in the final session of the deciding third test in Lahore and clinch the three-match series 1-0.

The 34-year-old took the prized wickets of Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam to end Pakistan's resistance and finished with figures of 5-83 in Pakistan's second innings.

Fast bowler Pat Cummins provided ample support by picking up three wickets as Pakistan folded for 235 on the final day of the test match at the Gaddafi Stadium, chasing a target of 351.

Pakistan captain Babar, who saved the hosts from the jaws of defeat in the second test in Karachi with a 196 in the second innings, made 55.

Cummins dismissed Fawad Alam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who also struck an unbeaten 104 in the second innings of the drawn Karachi test, in successive overs with both batters falling leg before wicket.

Television replays, however, showed Rizwan would have survived if he had asked for a review of the umpire's decision.

The first two tests in the series - the first between the sides in Pakistan since 1998 - were drawn.

- Reuters

Usyk preparing for Joshua rematch

World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has begun preparations for his rematch with Briton Anthony Joshua, the Ukrainian boxer said on Friday.

Joshua, 32, lost his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts to Usyk on a unanimous points decision in front of a sell-out crowd at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2021.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said the rematch would take place in May but following Russia's invasion of Ukraine Usyk returned to Kyiv to join a territorial defence battalion.

"I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua," Usyk, 35, wrote on Instagram.

"A large number of my friends support me ... Thank God for everything."

ESPN reported earlier this week that a fight between the two boxers would take place this summer after the Ukrainian sports minister gave Usyk permission to leave the country.

Ukrainian rules bar men aged 18-60, who could be conscripted, from leaving the country.

- Reuters

Dupont wins Six Nations award

France scrumhalf Antoine Dupont has been named 2022 Six Nations player of the championship after guiding his team to their first Grand Slam and Six Nations title since 2010.

The 25-year-old was instrumental in the final as France held off England to clinch a 25-13 victory at the Stade de France and achieve a clean sweep in the competition.

Dupont, who led the side in the absence of the injured Charles Ollivon, beat compatriot Gregory Alldritt and Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier to the crown.

"Antoine is an incredibly worthy winner of this year's Six Nations Player of the Championship title," said Six Nations Rugby CEO Ben Morel.

"He is a truly special player, and central to a France team that goes from strength to strength. He also has a gift to put fans on the edge of their seats whenever he has his hands on the rugby ball."

The scrumhalf, who also got the award in 2020, joins Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll and Scot Stuart Hogg as the only players to have won it on more than one occasion.

- Reuters

Doping ban for Proteas player

South African test cricketer Zubayr Hamza has been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) under its anti-doping code after testing positive for a prohibited substance.

Cricket South Africa said earlier this week that Hamza, who was left out of the squad for the series against Bangladesh, did not dispute the positive test and agreed to a voluntary suspension.

"Hamza has been charged with the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance following the detection of Furosemide in a sample collected out-of-competition on 17 January 2022," the ICC said.

Furosemide, a medicine used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and a build up of fluid in the body, is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List as a diuretic or masking agent.

Cricket South Africa said Furosemide is not a performance enhancing substance.

The 26-year-old batter, who has played six tests for South Africa, is suspended pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.

- Reuters

Cycling adds Gravel World Champs

A new Gravel World Series spanning 12 events will begin next month in the Philippines and lead up to the inaugural Gravel World Championships at the end of the season.

The top 25 per cent of men and women from each age group at each of the 12 events will qualify for the world championships, with details of the date and venue yet to be confirmed.

"I am thrilled that we now have an exciting and rich calendar of gravel events for riders with an adventurous spirit who enjoy cycling on unsealed roads and paths," UCI president David Lappartient said.

"The UCI Gran Fondo World Series is incredibly popular, and I am convinced that this concept will be equally successful for the gravel format."

Organisers said regulations for the series would be relaxed for the first two years to allow participants to compete on any type of bike without electrical assistance but added that they would reassess the rules "in upcoming years".

UCI Gravel Philippines in Bongabon will host the opening event on April 3. Events in France, Italy, Netherlands, Australia and the United States are also on the calendar, with the series concluding on September 18 in Spain.

- Reuters