SPORTS DIGEST:RUGBY: Connacht have signed Leinster tighthead prop Nathan White for next season. The 6ft 2ins (188cm), 18.5 stone (118kg) prop will join Connacht from Leinster at the end of this season on a three-year contract.
The former Waikato captain played 77 times for the 2011 ITM Cup finalists before moving to Leinster on a one-year deal last season. White has 14 caps for Leinster including five in the Heineken Cup.
Women boxers can choose shorts or skirts at Games
BOXING: Women will be able to choose between wearing shorts or skirts at the London Olympics this year after the world governing body – the AIBA – agreed to a compromise in what had become a controversial issue, writes Ian O'Riordan.
It was suggested they would make the wearing of skirts compulsory, rather than the apparently preferred choice of shorts, but speaking at a conference on women and sport in Los Angeles over the weekend, organised by the IOC, AIBA president Ching-Kuo Wu indicated the change of heart.
“Some women want to wear shorts and some want to wear skirts,” he said. “So the decision we have made is that we shall make it optional because many boxers are undecided.”
Women’s boxing is making its Olympic debut in London, with three gold medals on offer, and Ireland’s three-time world champion Katie Taylor is the clear favourite for gold in the lightweight division.
Taylor must first come through the Olympic qualifiers in China in May, although there is no doubting her choice of garments should she make it to London.
“I won’t be wearing a mini-skirt,” she said last year, when the controversy first surfaced. “I don’t even wear mini-skirts on a night out, so I definitely won’t be wearing one in the ring.”
Ponting expected to call it a day
CRICKET:Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting could be set to call time on his international career after his axing from the one-day side.
Ponting, 37, was yesterday omitted from the squad for the Commonwealth Bank Series matches against India and Sri Lanka after a poor run of form – he made just 18 runs from five innings – and immediately called a press conference in Sydney this morning at which was expected to outline his future plans.
In announcing the news Ponting had been left out, national selector John Inverarity hinted he would struggle to reclaim a place in the side in any format given the calendar.
He said: “He made a double-century in his last Test match and we are hoping he remains available for Test cricket, but there can be no guarantees. Ricky is going to consider his future over the next couple of days.”
Froch prolonged fight due to bets
BOXING:The former WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch has admitted prolonging a title fight to enable members of his family to benefit financially.
Speaking on BBC Radio Nottingham, he expanded on comments made in his autobiography, published last year.
He said he could have finished his 2005 Commonwealth title defence against Ruben Groenewald earlier than he did.
The British Boxing Board of Control said it would now speak to Froch. The Nottingham boxer said he could have finished the fight in the fourth round but deliberately avoided doing so because of bets made on it finishing in the fifth. Froch said what he did was not illegal.
