Maligned Australia coach Eddie Jones has defended his shock decision to axe Michael Hooper from the Wallabies disastrous World Cup campaign, saying the veteran flanker...

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery feels there is a special atmosphere brewing at Villa Park after his side romped to a remarkable 6-1 win against Brighton. A hat-trick from Ollie Watkins and further strikes from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz, as well as Pervis Estupinan’s own goal, helped Emery’s side secure a 10th successive league win at home. Despite Brighton’s Ansu Fati briefly reducing the deficit to 3-1 at the start of the second half, Villa were at their clinical best to leapfrog the Seagulls in the table and extend their winning streak at home. Emery said: “We have to feel something special at Villa Park and try to create a positive energy between us and the supporters and try to work on the pitch to connect with them. “We want to compete the same at home and away, we will need time to build the team to be consistent but at home we feel strong with our supporters and the energy the supporters are transmitting to us, we need to keep being consistent at home. “Ollie Watkins is committed to the club, he is very happy here and we are very happy with him, he works hard every day and tries to learn every day. He did very good work scoring goals and working defensively to help the team. “We have to be very demanding and try to improve every day, each match is going to demand different things, we have to be ready and be strong in our work to be successful.” Villa blew Brighton away with three quickfire goals in the first half as Watkins scored the opener on 14 minutes with a close-range finish before netting again on 21 minutes with a low effort past Jason Steele at his near post. Estupinan’s own goal on 26 minutes put Villa in command before Albion responded when half-time substitute Fati scored his first goal for the club five minutes into the second half. However, Watkins completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes with a deflected effort before Ramsey curled home on 85 minutes and Luiz rounded off the scoring seven minutes into injury time to inflict a heavy defeat on the Seagulls. Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “Everything [went wrong], we played very bad. “It’s not a problem of our physical condition, first and foremost when we lose this type of game it’s my responsibility. If you lose 6-1, the biggest responsibility is of the coach. “We are not ready to compete and to play every three days, I’m trying to manage in different ways to keep the physical energy [up]. “The physical energy is not enough, in football you have to be ready to give your all and your best in the head in the mentality. We can’t lose every tackle, every duel and every second ball otherwise you lose the game in this way. “But I believe in my players because I have big confidence in the people inside of my dressing room, we are suffering a lot for this defeat but this can happen sometimes if you are not ready and you have to adapt quickly. “We have to learn. We are suffering, it’s a very bad day but maybe one of the most important days – we want to reach this level.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ollie Watkins scores hat-trick as rampant Aston Villa hit Brighton for six United States bid to stem tide of European domination at Ryder Cup Paul Wellens praises James Roby and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook as Saints progress

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Harry Kane will fly to Germany on Friday to complete his proposed move to Bayern Munich after a fee that could rise to £120million was agreed with Tottenham. Bayern have tracked the England captain all summer and a number of bids were turned down, but a breakthrough was reached on Wednesday night. It left the ball in Kane’s court and he decided on Thursday to leave his boyhood club and join the Bundesliga champions, who will pay an initial £100m for the forward with add-ons able to potentially take the transfer up to an overall fee of £120m, the PA news agency understands. Reports on Friday morning initially suggested Spurs had refused to give Kane permission to fly, but they were squashed by Tottenham and he is set to complete a medical on Friday once he lands in Munich. Kane is unlikely to be signed in time to feature in Bayern’s DFL-Super Cup match with RB Leipzig on Saturday night. However, with the clash taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena home, England captain Kane could well be unveiled to supporters before kick-off. This is not the first summer where Kane’s future has dominated headlines after Manchester City had a failed pursuit in 2021. Kane sat out the first match of that season – coincidentally against Man City – but Pep Guardiola’s side never got close to agreeing a fee with Tottenham for the forward. With Kane into the last 12 months of his contract at Spurs this summer, speculation over his future this time always felt more significant. Bayern saw bids reportedly turned down in June and July but made their intentions clear, with club officials in honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer speaking openly in the media about Kane’s desire to join the Bundesliga champions. A third bid was submitted last Friday and a new twist occurred when Spurs spent all weekend deliberating before chairman Daniel Levy rejected the offer on Monday. With noises coming out that Kane, who scored four goals in a friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday, had enjoyed working with new Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, confidence started to grow that he could spend the season with his boyhood team. Bayern’s latest bid proved enough for an agreement to be reached and after Kane took his time to weigh up the decision, he decided it was right to end his 19-year stay at Spurs. It means Kane’s pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record will go on pause, with the Tottenham forward still 47 goals off equalling Shearer’s 260-goal tally. He will leave N17 as the club’s leading marksman after he beat Jimmy Greaves’ 266-goal record in February with the winner against Man City. Kane will also get the chance to fulfil his career-long ambition of winning trophies at Bayern, while remaining in the Champions League after spending only one of the last three campaigns in Europe’s elite competition. Back at Spurs, Postecoglou, who only took over in June, will be tasked with filling an unimaginable void. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live ECB to launch review after former coach admits to sexual assault of 14-year-old Jamie Ritchie ready to lead Scotland in Saint-Etienne showdown with France Can Arsenal better Man City? Talking points as the Premier League kicks off