Im katherine downes. Humbled down under. Englands Rugby League Campaign starts with a defeat to defending champions australia. On the brink of glory a top five finish for Lewis Hamilton in mexico this weekend and a fourth world title will be his. England on their best behaviour promises from captainjoe root as the ashes squad prepare to fly to australia without ben stokes. We know that what has happened hasnt been good enough. We are determined to get that right. Also coming up on the programme. Will they cope without kane . Spurs will be missing their star striker when they take on Manchester United at old trafford tomorrow. Im in cardiff ahead of Anthony Joshuas latest world title fight. Its a big weekend of sport with that anthonyjoshua fight, Lewis Hamiltons fourth world title almost in the bag, and some big clashes in the premier league but it all kicked off with the start of the Rugby League World cup this afternoon where england lost their first match of the tournament to the odds on favourites and hosts australia in melbourne, as Katie Gornall reports. For england, this is about as tough as it gets. Australia, like the all blacks, have an air of the unbreakable about them. Ten times at a world cup theyd been the last one standing. We rise as one. England are here trying to deliver a new script, with a revamped squad they had reason to be optimistic and Jermaine Mcgilvray seized his moment. The hosts were stirred into action, england tried to plug the gaps but the pressure was building. Matt gillette was a powerful problem for england and eventually he punched through. Australia now had the lead and momentum. England will know all about how dangerous billy slater can be. Stopping him is another matter. Perhaps a bigger blow was landed just before half time. Sam burgess is englands talisman and unlikely to return before the quarterfinals. Without him, england were chasing the game and late on they were chasing josh to. His interception five minutes from time that the match beyond reach. England inspect to improve expected to improve but the hope is their world cup does not start and end with the same result. Katie cornel, bbc news. So disappointment for england. Lets hear now from the two coaches australias mal meninga, but first englands Wayne Bennett who isnt too worried about the injury to sam burgess. Sam will always be a loss in any team. But we managed for 60 minutes without him tonight. We didnt seem to lose a lot of momentum. Tonight wasnt a destination but part of a journey. So, weve got to remind ourselves of that. In the next four oi ourselves of that. In the next four or five weeks we need to get these Little Things right. It was an important victory for us tonight, it sets up our campaign and puts england under pressure. I thought it was a great way to kick off the rugby world cup. The two oldest foes going head to head and its a great challenge for us. I thought we handled it really well. We can play better but i was really pleased with their attitude and effort. And our defence as well. England will face france and the lebanon in their other Group Matches so they should progress to the knockout stage but it looks likely that theyll have to overcome the might of the autsralians again at some stage. The aussies are 5 1 on favourites with some bookmakers. Lets get the thoughts now of our rugby league correspondent dave woods, the former Great Britain coach brian noble and the Australian Rugby League coach ian millward. Disappointment for england with the results on Opening Night of the world cup but a good performance and also the disappointment of sam burgess going off injured and potentially out now through to the semifinals. Brian noble, from a great button coach andy and millwall with us. How much of a blow is that . With sam burgess out in the semifinals . Its a blow, his impact has an edge run at night was impressive and i think they will miss that. But the opportunity to be around the team and get himself right for the quarterfinals semifinal gives them hope. Its a two thought process. You have two we re two thought process. You have two were cardiff the injury is what we think it is, a medium knee injury, and it is disappointing because he looked to be one of the best players of the tournament. But you cant have a new canon is and have a new canon of sam burgess is. Gray i thought the england performance was really good. Under pressure defensively, they had pressure on the goal line, not a lot of possession. It was lopsided in the first half. The coach Wayne Bennett will be really impressed with their attitude defensively and from an attacking point of view they were rusty and i thought their forwards we re really rusty and i thought their forwards were really good. When ruby came on, he changed the dynamics. They were more square he changed the dynamics. They were more square and direct. They were clunky. The beauty of the game today was that they came out with confidence and in future weeks. Thats what we expected before the game, for australia to be much better in performing and regarding that they have played with each other so much. I think they are the ones who are also clunky. There is so ones who are also clunky. There is so much upside for both teams and, in my eyes, they are the two teams who will play in the final. The same confidence . Hull they need to keep up confidence . Hull they need to keep up that momentum. Australia will get better. I think the lesson for england is you cannot throw away that much ball and spent the rest of it in your part of the field. Lewis Hamiltons Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas topped the time sheets in first practise for the mexican grand prix. Hamilton was almost half a second adrift in second place. But he doesnt have to win this weekend to become World Champion for the fourth time. A fifth place finish would see him end the season on top no matter what his closest rival Sebastian Vettal does. The german has struggled so far in mexico city, managing only fifth. Now lets turn aour attention to formula one and Lewis Hamilton needs only to finish in the top five places on sunday to clinch his fourth World Championship, and third in four years. First practice finished about an hour ago with hamilton second fastest, behind his Mercedes Team mate valterri bottas. Nick parrott reports. Before practice, the briton said that he wants to clinches fourth world title the right way, by winning sundays mexican grand prix. His Mercedes Team mate, Valtteri Bottas, has other ideas. The finn hasnt tasted victory since the austrian grand prix injuly and seems determined not to be forgotten this season. He topped the time sheets in first practice by almost half a second. The man that Lewis Hamilton has to watch is sebastian vettel. His only rival for the title has had a torrid day so far. Of pace and off track, he was fifth in the first session and if he finishes that lowdown on sunday the title will be hamiltons, no matter what. Nick parrott, bbc news. The big match in the premier league this weekend takes place at old trafford tomorrow lunchtime. Second place Manchester United take on tottenham who are behind them only on goal difference. United suffered a surprise defeat at huddersfield last weekend, while spurs have won their last four League Matches but theyll be without harry kane for tomorrows game. Kane has scored 13 goals for spurs in all competitions this season but suffered a hamstring injury during last weekends win against liverpool. Its a huge blow for spurs. Lets hear the thoughts of both managers starting with tottenhams mauricio pochettino. Im not happy, im disappointed. Harry is our main striker. Hes one of best players. If not at totte n ha m , of best players. If not at tottenham, in europe. All the world, the best striker. Always, you are going to miss your best striker. No, im not silly, orstupid. I dont speak about teams or players. So, dont ask me about harry kane. To speak about him, i had to speak about fellaini, pogba. Sol had to speak about fellaini, pogba. So i do not speak. I dont think anyone is afraid to come and play against us. Ijust think that normally, we have good performances at home and we trust our game. We can stay positive at home with the results. Lets check on the rest of saturdays fixtures. Leaders Manchester City are at west brom. Fourth place chelsea are away to bournemouth in the late kick off. Their manager Antonio Conte was decidely fiery in todays press conference. He strongly denied there was any truth in stories in todays papers suggesting former manager Carlo Ancelotti could be poised to make a return to the club. There is a lot of bleep , it is true. Ive said it the same with the other managers. A lot of bleep . It isa other managers. A lot of bleep . It is a lack of respect. I can accept that the club is ready to sack me and the stories with the players. I can accept this but to put other people, other persons, another person, in this way . Its incorrect. A lot of beeping from Antonio Conte elsewhere tomorrow arsenal host swansea and liverpool will be hoping to bounce back from that 4 1 defeat to spurs last weekend. We made mistakes in that game and if people say, yes, you made a mistake, its about reaction. If you dont feel well, you have to change the situation and thats what we had to happen. And you can see more of that interview with jurgen klopp on football focus at midday on bbc one tomorrow. Here are the rest of the fixtures. Burnley host newcastle on monday. There are two more games on sunday. A south coast derby between brighton and southampton. Then two clubs whove recently dismissed their managers meet at the king power stadium. David unsworth continues to take temporary charge at third from bottom everton while claude puel is now in the hot seat leicester city. And in scotland. There are six matches in the scottish premiership tomorrow with fourth place rangers playing thir first match since the sacking of manager pedro caixinha. Interim manager graham murty takes the side to hearts. Aberdeens manager Derek Mcinnes has played down speculation linking him with the rangers job. His side are at home to ross county. Aberdeen are just three points behind leaders celtic. Celtic host kilmarnock. If they avoid defeat theyll equal their own 100 year british record of 62 domestic games unbeaten. Also coming up in the programme. They fly out for the ashes tomorrow captainjoe root denies theres a drinking culture in the england cricket team. And well be live in cardiff ahead of anthonyjoshuas big fight with carlos takam tomorrow night. Englands cricket captainjoe root insists there isnt a drinking culture within the squad. The players fly out to australia tomorrow without their talismanic all rounder ben stokes. All rounder ben stokes. He was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm after an incident outside a bristol nightclub in last month. His absence has made an already difficult tour seem unwinnable to many pundits. Heres our Sports Editor dan roan. England hold the ashes but the last time they went away to australia they suffered a 5 0 thrashing. Many fear that the same fate could befall them this time around because they have been forced to name a relatively inexperienced and weak looking batting line up. More importantly, when they leave london tomorrow they will do so without arguably their most important player, all rounder ben stokes, yet to find out whether or not, as you say, he will be charged by Police Following the altercation last month. Captain joe root following the altercation last month. Captainjoe root has spoken about the interview for the first time. To be honest, im in the same position as you are. Its an ongoing investigation. I dont know how long things will take. We had to sit tight and wait. Its disappointing that ben will not be with us but we are a strong squad. It gives the guy is an opportunity to stand up and put a stamp on test cricket and a chance to come into the team and do Something Special, strengthening the depth of our squad when he is ready to come back and play. And the market is suggested that there is a drinking culture problem with this side, and england need to think about how they act, does there need to be a change . I dont think there is that culture in out dont think there is that culture in our side. Dont think there is that culture in ourside. I dont think there is that culture in our side. I think we can address the issue as a side and ensure that situations like this do not happen again. Of course, nobody wants that. But we are grown men and we know how to behave and we will make sure that we conduct ourselves well on the tour. Is there anything you will do different in captaining the side, given recent events . Notjust bens situation but drinking late at night in manchester, there is the sense that there needs to be more rigour and disciplined about this site, will you do anything differently . We will you do anything differently . We will make sure that Something Like this never happens again. We will sit down as a side. We know that what has happened hasnt been good enough and we are determined to get it right. You broke back players who we re it right. You broke back players who were previously discarded. Its an inexperienced batting line up compared to sides of the past, that was noted and youve lost an important player in unfortunate circumstances. Its been billed as an unfortunate or even shambolic build up into an ashes series. If you pull it off, wont it be a miracle . I dont think so, as you say it is unfortunate but its the chance for someone to come in and do something. A lot of the time you see a difficult situation or a strange event, the tickets birth to an extremely good test career. Thats how guys are looking at it. Someone coming back into the squad who may not be having a good time, they can really stand up now and do Something Special for their team mates and the re st of special for their team mates and the rest of the country. We can be a really successful side. Its a tough build up to the 2017 18 ashes series for england but it needs to be put aside when they travel to australia. First, there will be three warm up matches and then it all builds up to the opening test in brisbane on november the 23rd. Plenty more to come but first lets round up some of the rest of todays news. Starting with tennis and world number one simona halep is out of the wta finals in singapore after losing to Elina Svitolina in the last round robin match. Frances Caroline Garcia produced a stunning fightback against denmarks Caroline Wozniacki to reach the last four. Both players are through to the semi finals. Garcia will play Venus Williams while wozniacki will take on Karolina Pliskova british number two kyle edmund is through to the erste bank 0pen semi finals in vienna. He tookjust 75 minutes to seal a straight sets win over germanys jan lenna rd struff. Its edmunds third atp semifinal of the year. Arsenal and former england defender alex scott will retire from playing at the end of this season to concentrate on her broadcasting career. She retired from International Football last month with 140 england caps. Justin rose is the best placed british player at the world golf championships in shanghai. Hes four shots behind leader dustinjohnson. Roses round included this birdie on the 16th but a bogey on the final hole pegged him back by a shot. Wba and ibf world heavyweight champion anthonyjoshua is getting ready to take on carlos takam in cardiff tomorrow night. The principality stadium will host the biggest ever crowd for an indoor boxing event, with over 70,000 fans expected to turn out. 0ur reporter alex gulrajani is there for us now alex huge anticipation ahead of the fight. Its currently dark in cardiff but when the lights go down, that fight will have quite the atmosphere . Yes, good evening. Its very cold here in cardiff. 70,000 people are expected tomorrow night, hopefully that can warm us up a tomorrow night, hopefully that can warm us up a bit the roof will be closed. For anthonyjoshuas warm us up a bit the roof will be closed. For Anthony Joshuas return to the ring, six months after he beat Wladimir Klitschko at wembley in front of 90,000 people, our boxing correspondentjoins us live now. Thank you forjoining us, how important is this fight for Anthony Joshuas career . He spoke this week about moving on to a new phase in his career, leaving behind the drama and wonderful memories of april and the wind against brian may klitschko in front of 90,000 at wembley. Its important he builds his personality and brand as a boxer. Theres been a lot about the media saying he only has to turn up and when. Ive spoken tojo has to turn up and when. Ive spoken to jo rowsell cat has to turn up and when. Ive spoken tojo rowsell cat i have spoken tojo rowsell cat i have spoken tojoe calzaghe, tojo rowsell cat i have spoken to joe calzaghe, and tojo rowsell cat i have spoken tojoe calzaghe, and he said one of the biggest obstacles to joshua this week is complacency. He only had two weeks notice, carlos takam, not unheard of but for anthonyjoshua it is another experience . He has to deal with the situation and the opponent, we saw at the weigh in that carlos ta kam opponent, we saw at the weigh in that carlos takam is in fantastic shape, cubas in training for another fight he was in fantastic shape and training for another fight. He is stepping up a class, doing that again this weekend. The bookmakers here have anthonyjoshua add 501, bookmakers here have anthonyjoshua add 50 1, but i would say as a word of caution some of the biggest shocks in the history of boxing has happened in heavyweight divisions, because the men hit so hard. Happened in heavyweight divisions, because the men hit so hardm anthonyjoshua wins this one, whats next . He has two recognised heavyweight title belts but the other two are surely on his radar . He is acutely aware of his boxing history. There have been four recognised world titles on offer, in the near 30 year period, no heavyweight has ever held all four of the at the same time. Thats the target for anthonyjoshua. 0ne is held byjoshua, the other is held by american Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker from new zealand who defended his title in manchester against tyson furys cousin. Those are the immediate targets in 2018 for Anthony Joshua are the immediate targets in 2018 for anthonyjoshua and are the immediate targets in 2018 for Anthony Joshua and potentially history in the making. A difficult fight to get through first. He is expected in the ring at 10pm on saturday night. We will be watching. Thank you. Its domestic action for british clu bs its domestic action for british clubs this weekend, sale sharks are at home to the exeter chiefs, both sides making changes. Conduct at home to munster. Glasgow want to make it seven wins out of seven against the southern kings of south africa. The ospreys take on the dragons at the liberty stadium. Then. Its third against tenth as northampton take on the wasps. Northamptons form in the english premiership has had something of a family feel. Harry mallinder, the son of the head coach, jim, is becoming a key player and James Berridge has been to meet them. Meet the people who matter in the mall and a household. Roger and scooby, they know the drill, they have been here often enough mallinder. They moved here ten years ago. Its harrys turn today to walk the camera friendly canines. Remarkably well behaved. Camera friendly canines. Remarkably wellbehaved. Sort of. The town has adopted me. Its ten or 11 years since i have been here. Roger sorry. Come here i thought you told me he was obedient sorry, james. Sorry roger, how could you do that it was the first question. At 21, mallinderjunior is living, breathing, and embracing the club and county. It was a big change for me, going from the big city of manchester to rural northampton. The first memories were initially hearing about the club and the passion for it. Everybody knows the names of the players. Everyone is a huge fan of the saints. It was a big change. Ive got used to some overtime. How hard is it with your dad as your boss . It is unfortunate thatjim is his dad, i think he will be hard on him in terms of the academy. Jim has never pushed forward but left it to him to stake his place. Thats the same now, in terms of working hard to get into the team. Is his dad a bit hard on him . I think most dads are. Harry has grown up fast, two thrashings by saracens, a tough European Campaign that he and his team mates have shown resilience. They are third in the league, something the fans have grown to respect. He will be massive for the club and england. I love harry, i think hes a brilliant player. It cannot be easy, theres a lot of it in rugby at the moment. Dai young, at the wasps. Roger and scooby have heard it all. The delight and the despair. At least they dont answer back. Welshman elfyn evans leads the wales rally gb at the end of the first full days action. More than 100,000 people are expected to watch the rally, which was once britains best attended sporting event and as Stuart Pollitt reports, the sport has gone back to the future to rekindle the excitement. In the 19805 and 905 heyday, rallying wa5 in the 19805 and 905 heyday, rallying was about crazy cars and colo55al crowds. An estimated 1 Million People would come to watch what was then known as the rac rally. Two things attracted them. Back then, powerful spectacular cars and successful british driver5, two ingredients back once again in 2017. That you can drive in front of your home people is special. Northern irelands sneak won the last championship round in spain. He took me around to show why these new cars are so me around to show why these new cars are so different. Is a big step up in horsepower and more aerodynamics. We are not far off 400 horsepower at time5 we are not far off 400 horsepower at times and certainly, when you drive on the slippery track5 times and certainly, when you drive on the slippery tracks in the forest, it makes for an exciting ride. Its like someone allowing you to drive on a road without rules. You define the rules as to how fast you want to go. He needs to go quickly if he is to beat his british rivals. We have a few drivers at the top level. From this area we have welsh elfyn evans, and there are if you fans out there willing us on. Its great to see that they are well supported. With two british drivers at the top of the championship is really exciting. Its definitely coming back and gathering peoples interests and imagination. That can only be good news. The 3way title battle is helping that. One of the contenders knows how special this event still is. It was a historical event in monte carlo, you want it on your list but in the end, for me, all i wa nt list but in the end, for me, all i want is to win. At the end of day one, kris meeke is in eighth place with welshman evans leading the way. They could be a british winner for the First Time Since 2000 which could pique interest in this sport once again. I dont know how they keep those ca is i dont know how they keep those cars on the road. And ourfinal story begs the question how did a cat find its way into an american football stadium . We have no answers but it did. And took to the field to interrupt the nfl game between the Baltimore Ravens and the miami dolphins. Play does stop when they realise that the cat is on the pitch but he makes a quick excerpt. And he heads off down the tunnel. A raven, a dolphin and a cat walk into an nfl stadium, theres the making of a good joke in there. I will be back with more throughout the evening but for now, good night. Hello, lovely sunshine around today that it gets chilly overnight, especially in southern areas of the uk. A westerly wind will be strengthening, blowing in more cloud in northern and western parts, and further south and east we have light winds and clear skies. These are the numbers in towns and cities. It could be down to three or 4 degrees, colder in the south than last night. Further north, strong winds, rain and drizzle in some of the hills. More sunshine towards the south east, the east of the high ground, east wales, and in eastern scotland, temperatures as high as 16. Bumper winds in scotland, typical temperatures elsewhere 13 or 14 degrees. The colder air comes rushing down tomorrow night and into sunday. Especially chilly where we have stronger winds, northern and eastern scotland, some showers near the coast. A lot of sunshine, higher temperatures of 14 or 15 degrees. This is bbc news. Im chris rogers. The headlines at 7pm the parliament of catalonia declares independence from spain, with people taking to the streets to celebrate. But spains Central Government in madrid approves direct rule over the region and says catalonias leader could face charges of rebellion. Im tim willcox and ill have the latest, live from barcelona. People are ignoring those threats for the moment and celebrating here on the streets. In other news this hour the cyber attack which crippled much of the nhs in may could have been prevented with basic security measures, according to a government investigation. Files about the assassination ofjfk are released but some are held back, at the request of the cia and fbi. The uks competition watchdog will investigate Hotel Booking sites