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‘I struggled without realising’: Tommy Freeman reveals mental toll of workload

16 février 2026 à 21:55
  • Northampton coaches eased post-Lions burden

  • England back played 34 games last season

England’s Tommy Freeman has revealed the extent of his mental struggles after the victorious British & Irish Lions tour of Australia at the end of a season when he exceeded the player welfare limits for the number of appearances.

Freeman played in 34 games last season – 19 for Northampton, nine for England and six for the Lions – and has spoken of a “built-up ­anxiety” as a result of the workload. The mandated limit is 30, but players were given dispensation for the Lions tour on the proviso they were allowed five weeks off on returning from ­Australia and missed the first two rounds of the 2025-26 season.

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© Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters

© Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters

© Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters

Rayo Vallecano stun Atlético with their fans in revolt and stadium unusable | Sid Lowe

Par : Sid Lowe
16 février 2026 à 21:51

Rayo had to prepare at Getafe’s place and play at Leganés’s stadium. But they still managed to upset Atlético Madrid

One day in November, the coach of Rayo Vallecano decided that was it: he was out. The captain in whom he finds strength had reached a similar conclusion long ago, handing in his armband as an act of protest and dignity. Two Fridays ago, the squad signed a statement saying they couldn’t carry on like this. And last Friday, the fans who’ve been through it all before decided they too would walk away. Yet 48 hours later, after another week that proved them right, resisting everything, there they were still, celebrating another implausible success, another day when they had stuck it to The Man. If not, admittedly, the man they’d like to stick it to.

Actually, ‘there’? Not all of them were in the same place, even if that was a way of showing they were in this together. Because Rayo fans were out on the streets of the self-styled independent republic of Vallecas with their banners and scarves and songs on Sunday, while their team and coach were 10km south, playing in a different city. With their training ground unusable and their home home ground declared to be so too, they had to prepare at Getafe’s place and play at Leganés’s stadium. Where, in front of 9,000 empty seats, and kicking off in the relegation zone, they only went and beat Atlético Madrid 3-0, three days after Diego’s Simeone’s side had battered Barcelona 4-0.

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© Photograph: Ana Beltran/Reuters

© Photograph: Ana Beltran/Reuters

© Photograph: Ana Beltran/Reuters

The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia

16 février 2026 à 21:45

Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role

From the dark heart of central Europe comes a midnight-movie romp through the moonlit urban glades of Euro-goth and camp from German director Ulrike Ottinger. As for the star … well, it’s the part she was born to play. Isabelle Huppert is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, legendary for having the blood of hundreds of young girls on her hands and indeed her body, in an attempt to attain eternal youth. The “blood countess” has been variously played in the past by Ingrid Pitt, Delphine Seyrig, Paloma Picasso, Julie Delpy and many more, but surely none were as qualified as Huppert who importantly does not modify her habitual hauteur one iota for the role.

Her natural aristocratic mien and cool hint of elegant contempt were never so well matched with a part. She gives us the classic Huppert opaque gaze – part dreamy, part coldly assessing – and the politely bemused half-smile of concealed distaste, merging into a pout, at the absurdity or ill manners of someone to whom she cannot avoid being introduced. Unlike the other mere mortals in this film, Huppert’s face is lit like that of a Golden Age Hollywood star, giving her impeccable maquillage a ghostly sheen of profane sainthood.

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© Photograph: © Amour Fou Vienna, Amour Fou Luxembourg, Heimatfilm / P. Domenigg

© Photograph: © Amour Fou Vienna, Amour Fou Luxembourg, Heimatfilm / P. Domenigg

© Photograph: © Amour Fou Vienna, Amour Fou Luxembourg, Heimatfilm / P. Domenigg

Shooting at Rhode Island ice rink leaves at least two people dead

16 février 2026 à 21:45

Police confirm suspect is one of dead in incident at boys’ hockey game that injured four in Pawtucket

At least two people are dead in an apparent mass shooting at an indoor ice rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday afternoon, officials told the WPRI local news outlet.

Police confirmed to the outlet that the suspect is dead. A local sports reporter, Branden Mello, said that one of the shooting victims also died.

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© Photograph: ABC affiliate WCVB/Reuters

© Photograph: ABC affiliate WCVB/Reuters

© Photograph: ABC affiliate WCVB/Reuters

Long Island town blocks rich locals from building pickleball courts over noise nuisance

16 février 2026 à 21:36
A ritzy Long Island town has temporarily banned well-heeled residents from building pickleball courts on their properties over concerns of annoyingly loud popping sounds from the sport. Glen Glove officials placed a three-month moratorium on any new pickleball courts as officials plan to create new laws regulating the noisy facilities while wealthy residents flood the...

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