Despite never fighting in the UFC, Adriano Moraes is by far the most recognizable name on these prelims. He was a legend of the ONE Championship flyweight division throughout the 2010s and then famously knocked out Demetrious Johnson, arguably the divison’s GOAT, in 2021. Moraes lost to Johnson two subsequent times, and then was knocked out by Yuya Wakamatsu for the vacant ONE flyweight title last March.

He was initially slated to battle the undefeated Muhammad Mokaev, who many consider the best fighter outside of the UFC. However, Mokaev had to be scrapped from the event due to issues obtaining a visa.

Despite the timely return of Maddie Feaunati, Sadia Kabeya and Lilli Ives Campion, England are still a patched-up work in progress.

Delaney Burns was several leagues deep in the second-row depth charts before the pregnancies of Zoe Stratford, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan and injury to Morwenna Talling brought her back to the surface to win her first caps since 2023.

Helena Rowland’s play-making skills at inside centre give England plenty, but not the direct route to the line that the injured Tatyana Heard offered.

Prop Liz Crake – who was on a central contract, but well off the selection radar in 2025 – is making a cameo on the bench, filling in for Kelsey Clifford, who has a leg complaint.

Demelza Short is alongside her, with the Bristol Bears teenager having impressed in her maiden Test campaign, but having played at the under-18s Six Nations last year and watched the autumn’s World Cup as a fan, her elevation is ahead of schedule

Natasha Hunt, Emily Scarratt, Alex Matthews, Abby Dow, Hannah Botterman, Lark Atkin-Davies, and May Campbell were all part of that title-lifting Red Rose squad, and all are elsewhere.

The constantly changing cast has undermined the defence.

England have seeped points, looking vulnerable to sniping runs around the edge of the breakdown and to driven mauls. Having managed just five and 12 points respectively against England in last year’s tournament, both Italy and Wales have picked up try-scoring bonuses in defeat this time around.

Coach John Mitchell has sold the scorelines as evidence of a new, swashbuckling style and a willingness to slug it out toe to toe with the world.

“We’ll just keep scoring more,” he said on Thursday.

“It’s our new identity, it’s the way that we’re evolving our game.”

Defence, he promised, was “one of the easiest things to fix”.

France have a crew of wreckers itching to bash holes before the rebuild however.

The third rounds of golf tournaments are commonly known as ‘moving day’, and Saturday at the US PGA Championship lived up to the billing as stars and lesser lights jostled for position on a crowded and fast-moving leaderboard.

Remarkably, 14 players held at least a share of the lead at some point and 30 will go into Sunday’s final round within five shots of surprise leader Alex Smalley who is at six under after a two-under 68.

Over the first two days at Aronimink, with the more severe aspects of the course set-up generating much discussion, it felt more like the brutal examination usually reserved for the US Open.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy – the world’s top two players – were among those to weigh in with less than complimentary observations, with the former going as far as describing some of Friday’s pin positions as “absurd”.

The PGA of America listened. The governing body moved some tees up and made several pins more accessible which, coupled with more benign conditions, has produced a classic major leaderboard that houses a mix of heavy hitters and less illustrious names.

Several big-time players capitalised on more favourable scoring conditions in the early stages.

McIlroy, who was outside the top 100 after a four-over opening 74 on Thursday, bettered Friday’s 67 by one to improve to three under and boost his hopes of following last month’s successful Masters defence with his third US PGA title.

Other major winners to vault up the leaderboard included Justin Rose, whose superb 65 left him at two under and revived his hopes of landing an elusive second major, and Jon Rahm, who is two off the lead after carding a 67 to maintain his push for the third leg of a career Grand Slam.

Rose isn’t the only man trying to end a 107-year wait for an English winner of this championship, with Aaron Rai alongside Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid on four under.

Not everyone prospered. Scheffler, who shot a Saturday 65 on his way to winning last year’s US PGA, surprisingly stuttered to a 71 and is five adrift.

More to follow.