St Helens forward Kyle Amor says the Super League play-off semi-final against Catalans will be the biggest match he has played in rugby league.

Amor joined Saints this year from Wakefield and it will be the first time he has featured in the latter stages of the play-offs. "It's something I've not done before, so personally it's probably the biggest 80 minutes of my career," he told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"I was at Wakefield and we got one taste of the play-offs but we were only in for one week, so in terms of experience in the play-offs I'm still only a pup. To get to a Grand Final would be something tremendous."

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Widnes prop forward Phil Joseph is swapping his rugby boots for boxing gloves in the off-season as he takes the first step towards becoming a professional fighter.

Joseph, 29, who has nicknamed himself the 'Widnes Wrecking Ball', will work under world champion trainer Oliver Harrison, who looks after WBC silver middleweight title-holder Martin Murray and WBA intercontinental super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding.

"Boxing is how I lost a lot of weight and it's helped me be in the position I'm in as it got me in shape to have another go at Super League with Widnes," he said.

"I must stress to the fans that my rugby league is the priority and I'll be doing everything in the pre-season as I normally would. I'll be working with Oliver on the boxing technique on top of the Vikings training so by the time Super League comes round I'll be in the shape of my life."

Former International Cricket Council president and England & Wales Cricket Board chairman David Morgan has begun his role as president of the MCC,, external succeeding former England captain Mike Gatting.

New Zealand off-spinner Jeetan Patel has agreed a new contract with Warwickshire for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

The 34-year-old took 107 wickets in all competitions this summer and was named the county game's most valuable player by the Professional Cricketers' Association.

"His experience and cool head has helped the team triumph in many pressure situations and everyone at Warwickshire is thrilled to secure his return," Warwickshire director of cricket Dougie Brown told the club website., external

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Sir Trevor Brooking has backed Football Association chairman Greg Dyke's plan to reduce the number of non-EU players within English football by up to 50% - but does not expect to see B teams brought in anytime soon.

Brooking, who recently retired from his role as director of football development at the FA, told BBC Sport: "There's been a lot of talk about B teams and that wasn't well received and I think that's difficult to put into practice.

"But the reduction of non-EU players is something that definitely would be welcome. There have been a lot of [overseas] players who aren't good enough and then go down to a lower Premier League club or even into the Championship. That really gets everyone frustrated when you know that a young English player could do a better job.

"Our biggest challenge is the small percentage of English players playing regularly in the Premier League. It's around 30% but we'd like it to be around 55-60% like it is in Germany. We need them to be playing regular Premier League football."

P S Parameswaran:, external Ryan Giggs of course. He scored goals, created many, won everything he can & was also a manager for few games.All at #mufc.

Dale Blagden:, external Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs! Who else could thee be that is that great and also loyal

Simon Law:, external Easily the greatest #oneclubwonder is @mattletiss7 #LeGod

Continue to send us your suggestions via #oneclubwonders or #oneclubheroes

Top seed Novak Djokovic has eased into the quarter-finals of the China Open after a 6-3 7-5 win over Canada's Vasek Pospisil.

Djokovic will face fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov or Spain's Pablo Andujar in the next round.

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US Open finalist Kei Nishikori thrilled his home fans by beating Ivan Dodig in his opening match at the Japan Open.

The fourth seed, who won last week in Kuala Lumpur, triumphed 6-3 6-4 at the Ariake Colosseum and will next face American Donald Young.

"Winning Kuala Lumpur gave me more confidence," Nishikori said. "I try not to pay attention to the crowd or what the opponent is doing, but it's always good to play at home. I can feel the support here."

No, not Stuart. This time it is teenage winger Callum Lancaster, who has signed a new long-term contract with Super League club Hull FC.

The 17-year-old, who made his first-team debut in May, scored eight tries in five Super League appearances for Hull and will remain with them until 2017.

Former captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe will miss Argentina's Rugby Championship game against Australia following the birth of his son.

Fernandez Lobbe, who plays his club rugby with Toulon, has left the squad to be with his family in France with Rodrigo Baez taking his place for the match in Mendoza.

Lil Yomexy:, external It has to be Steven Gerrard any day! Inspired a comeback of a lifetime! Istanbul.

Chris Davey:, external Mark Salmon Harlow Town.

Remy Hillary Hope:, external Xavi is the greatest ball passer I have ever known and Totti is just indescribable, he's awesome.

BBC Radio 5 live

Tonight's programme with Mark Pougatch from 19:00 BST comes live from Emirates Stadium where there is live commentary of Arsenal's Champions League game with Galatasaray, plus news of Liverpool's trip to Basel. John Murray is your commentator with summaries from former Arsenal defender Martin Keown. There is also a chance for you to air your thoughts in a post-match phone-in.

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US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki is out of the China Open in Beijing after losing to former Grand Slam winner Samantha Stosur of Australia.

Stosur came through 6-4 7-6 (11-9) and next will face either Alize Cornet or Lauren Davis.

Third seed Petra Kvitova was a 6-4 6-2 winner over the new Chinese number one Peng Shuai and will meet Venus Williams in the last 16.

Austrian club Rapid Vienna have invited fans to help demolish their Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, offering the chance to unscrew seats, chisel walls and cut out bits of the goal nets to take home.

Prices at Saturday's "Demolition Party" include 19.77 euros (£15.40) - the year the stadium was built - per seat, 18.99 euros (£14.80) for some net and five euros (£3.90) for a slice of turf.

Rapid Vienna are currently constructing a new, 22,000-seater stadium which is due to be completed in 2016. In the meantime they will play in the Ernst Happel Stadium.

Image source, PA

Lancaster was appointed permanent England head coach in March 2012 and his new deal is set to include the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

"It's great that the RFU have got faith in us as a coaching group and its support has been critical to what we have achieved to date," he said.

"We want to build a team to Japan 2019 and beyond. We believe that England Rugby is moving in the right direction, we have the right coaching and management team to do take us forward and are excited about the challenge ahead."

The Rugby Football Union has extended England head coach Stuart Lancaster's contract until 2020.

Lancaster's coaching team - forwards coach Graham Rowntree, backs coach Andy Farrell and attacking skills coach Mike Catt - have also been contracted to the end of the 2019-20 season.

BBC Radio 5 live

More from the former Liverpool striker, who says of the mercurial Mario Balotelli: "The funny thing is that a lot of people are comparing him with [Luis] Suarez. I think it's wrong to compare them.

"You're comparing Mario Balotelli with someone who is probably among the top three or four players in the world. You've got to take Mario for what he is. You've seen what [Daniel] Sturridge has brought since coming to Liverpool and working under Brendan [Rodgers].

"He was at Manchester City and Chelsea, and not really thriving under their management. Now with Brendan, he's an outstanding player on the world stage as well."

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Perhaps the game of Tuesday night came at the Parc des Princes as Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the season, beaten 3-2 by Paris St-Germain, who moved to the top of Group F. The attractive fixture had some suitably A-list celebrities in the crowd, David Beckham, Beyonce and Jay-Z.