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A Champions Cup final place is the prize on offer when Saracens face Wasps in Saturdays all-English semi-final, live on Sky Sports 1 HD. Pelicans Jerseys 2021 . So far this season its honours even between the two Premiership sides. Saracens beat Wasps 26-16 at the Ricoh Arena in December thanks to a 21-point haul from fly-half Owen Farrell, but Wasps claimed revenge when they went to Allianz Park and smashed their hosts 64-23 in an eight-try mauling that saw Jimmy Gopperth contribute 23 points.Gopperth is in superb form after converting Charles Piutaus 80th-minute try for a thrilling 25-24 win over Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup quarter-final earlier in the month, while Farrell slotted five penalties and two conversions to guide Saracens to a 29-20 win over Saints in their quarter-final. The two fly-halves face off for the third time this season and their battle will be key in deciding the outcome, but it wont be the only one. We take a look at five head-to-heads as the two Premiership giants clash live on Sky Sports...Owen Farrell v Jimmy Gopperth Owen Farrell has been in fine form for club and country High-level performances are now the expected watermark for Farrell. The Saracens fly-half has been string-puller and goal-kicker supreme for the Premiership leaders this season - and from the tee for England - playing with the kind of confidence that has made him a consistent match-winner.But Gopperth has reasons to be confident too, after hitting that late winning touchline conversion to defeat Exeter in the quarter-finals. He described that kick as one of the highlights of his career but if hes to add to that story then its vital the New Zealander comes out the right side of this battle with the sure-footed Farrell. Watch highlights of Wasps thrilling Champions Cup quarter-final win over Exeter Gopperth wont be fazed by the challenge; hell be focused only on how to release Wasps dangerous outside backs. But Farrells polished style could prove the difference.Maro Itoje v Joe Launchbury Maro Itoje beats England team-mate Joe Launchbury in the lineout Its only a few weeks ago that Itoje was being tipped as an emerging international star. Now, after less than a handful of performances for England he already feels firmly established.Its an intriguing duel that pits his athleticism, growing form and enthusiasm against the experienced Launchbury.Saracens look to have the edge come lineout time, especially with their set piece anchored against another England lock, George Kruis. But its the damage Itoje is capable of doing on the opposition throw that will be of most concern to Wasps. Maro Itoje v Joe Launchbury 21 Age 25 48 Tackles 60 2 Missed tackles 11 51 Carries 51 25 Lineouts won 18 Alex Goode v Charles Piutau Charles Piutau has had a debut season to remember with Wasps Goode has been sensational this season and for many hes the form full-back in England. But if thats the case then Piutau is only a whisker behind.As Wasps showed against Exeter, they will attack from everywhere and Piutau has the strength and fleet-of-foot to beat the last defender, and the first defender too, for that matter.Goodes attacking style has been slightly more graceful but its been no less devastating. Alex Goode v Charles Piutau 59 Carries 77 484 Metres gained 714 7 Clean breaks 15 12 Defenders beaten 31 3 Tries 4 Billy Vunipola v Nathan Hughes Billy Vunipola will get Saracens over the gainline The two wrecking-ball No 8s will be in direct competition for a starting spot with England come the autumn internationals, with Fiji-born Hughes qualifying on residency grounds in June.George Smith insists the pair could forge a devastating combination at international level despite their similar strengths. Sky Live: Saracens v Wasps Mark McCall vows his players will attack the game Both players have been key performers in their respective clubs quests for a domestic and European double. They have scored two tries apiece in the Champions Cup and are the primary gain-line carriers for their sides, Hughes making 303 metres from 83 carries and Vunipola gaining 207m from 73 carriers. Nathan Hughes has beaten 20 defenders in this seasons Champions Cup Hughes has beaten 20 defenders in his six European appearances, two more than Vunipola, and the 24-year-olds offload ability will keep opposition defences on their toes.The battle of the breakdown could well decide which of these players have the greater influence. Deliver quick ruck ball in the right areas of the pitch, and this duo will thrive. Billy Vunipola v Nathan Hughes 23 Age 24 73 Carries 83 207 Metres gained 303 18 Defenders beaten 20 2 Tries 2 Chris Ashton v Christian Wade Chris Ashton has scored four tries in six European appearances this season One has registered six tries in a single outing. The other, five tries since returning from suspension.This is a fascintaing battle pitting two in-form finishers against each other, and theres an added dimension too with both keen to catch the interest of Eddie Jones ahead of Englands summer internationals. Ahead of Wasps European semi-final we found out the secret to the clubs return to the European top table Ashton relishes the big occasion and has become accustomed to delivering on those occasions too. Wade has his eye in after that six-try performance however, and both look certain to be involved heavily.In a straight head-to-head, Ashtons experience could well prove a determining factor.Watch Saracens v Wasps live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday from 2.55pm. Catch the match for £6.99 with a NOW TV day pass Also See: Sky Live: Saracens v Wasps Will Greenwoods verdict Wasps return to European elite McCall: Saracens in confident mood New Orleans Pelicans Pro Shop .com) - Joe Pavelski scored twice to lead the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers to split a home-and-home set. P. J. Brown Jersey . -- Albert Pujols is thrilled to have a reason to forget about his first two disappointing seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Serbian tennis player Victor Troicki says he will appear at sports highest court next week to challenge his 18-month ban for skipping a doping test. Troicki says in a statement he is "confident" ahead of his Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing on Oct. 9. The 2010 Davis Cup winner says "I will attend in person for sure. I am fighting for the truth and I will do it as hard as I can. Zylan Cheatham Jersey . " The International Tennis Federation banned Troicki until January, 2015 because he refused to provide a blood sample, after also giving a urine sample, at the Monte Carlo Masters in April. A tribunal dismissed Troickis claim that an anti-doping officer at the tournament advised him to write to the ITF citing illness for not giving the sample. ' ' '

MINNEAPOLIS -- Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 over seven-plus scoreless innings for his first win with Baltimore, and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run to pad his lead for the Orioles in a 3-0 victory on Friday over the Minnesota Twins. Vapormax Plus Grise Pas Cher . Jimenez (1-4) allowed only three hits while taking a significant step forward from five rough starts to begin his $50 million, four-year contract with the Orioles. Jimenez dropped his ERA from 6.59 to 5.19, after leaving with one out in the eighth following Eduardo Escobars double. Zach Britton stranded the runner with a groundout and a called third strike on Joe Mauer, and Tommy Hunter picked up his eighth save in nine tries by pitching the ninth. Trevor Plouffe led off with a double, but Hunter struck out the next two and ended the game on a groundout. Ricky Nolasco (2-3) gave the Twins a complete game, giving up nine hits and one walk while striking out six for his eighth career nine-inning appearance. Cruz doubled in the fourth, scoring on a double by Matt Wieters, before his soaring drive into the third deck above left field followed a leadoff single by Manny Machado in the sixth inning. Cruz, who entered the night tied for fourth in the league in homers, has gone deep eight times already with his new team. The sign that this would be Jimenezs night came in the third inning, when the first two Twins he faced reached base. The 30-year-old right-hander with the herky-jerky delivery dug in and struck out the side after that: Brian Dozier, Mauer and Plouffe. From the third into the eighth, Jimenez retired 16 of 17 batters, with the only outlier a fielding error by second baseman Jonathan Schoop that put Escobar on with two outs in the fifth. Jimenez, who threw a season-high 118 pitches, had issued 17 walks in 27 1-3 innings over those prior five starts. Three runs allowed was his lowest total. Nolasco, who received the richest deal the Twins have ever given a free agent from another team, likewise has had a rocky start to the $49 million, four-year contract he signed with the club. But only on the road, where the right-hander has taken the mound four times. In two turns at Target Field, Nolasco has allowed just four runs on 14 hits and two walks in 17 innings. These were two tired teams taking the field, each forced into a doubleheader the day before by wet weather prior to that. The Orioles swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in Baltimore on Thursday and arrived in Minneapolis around 5:30 a.m. The Twins had the benefit of being at home, but after a Wednesday night game that lasted 3:38 they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in games that took 3:01 and 5:11. The last one, the longest game in five seasons at Target Field, took 12 innings. NOTES: The Orioles will send LH Wei-Yin Chen (3-1, 4.34 ERA) to the mound on Saturday afternoon, and RH Kevin Correia (0-3, 7.33 ERA) will pitch for the Twins. Chen has won both of his road starts this year. Correia gave up eight runs in only 2 1-3 innings in his last turn. ... Correia went down to the bullpen as the emergency pitcher in case the game kept going the night before. Was he warming up, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was asked? "No, he was freezing," Gardenhire quipped. ... Prized Orioles prospect Kevin Gausman, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft, was diagnosed with a form of pneumonia, Showalter said, but the RHP should be able to resume pitching for Triple-A Norfolk as soon as hes feeling well again. ... The Twins announced their rained-out game against Detroit last Sunday will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 23 when the Tigers make their next weekend trip to Target Field. Vapormax Plus Homme Pas Cher . Pierre last November, only to watch St. Pierre leave the UFC octagon with his welterweight title belt and a split-decision victory. Vapormax Pas Cher Destockage . PAUL, Minn. ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- St. Johns IceCaps defenceman Ben Chiarots night went from despair to elation on Saturday, as his team beat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 3-2 in overtime in American Hockey League action. Chiarot found himself on the end of a wide open puck just outside the slot with the third period winding down, but when he went to connect with the shot his stick exploded. Chiarot got a chance to redeem himself when he set up the game winner with 24.9 seconds left in overtime. "To keep this streak going, it feels great," he said, referring to the last nine games in which St. Johns has walked away with at least a point. "The boys are really excited." Adam Lowry scored the overtime winner, on a partial breakaway with a forehand-to-backhand move before hitting the backhand shot high, with 24.9 seconds left in the extra frame. Eric ODell and Andrew Gordon also scored for St. Johns (36-19-4). Scooter Vaughan and Aaron Ness scored the Sound Tigers (26-27-6). The teams combined for 48 penalty minutes, which shaped the way the game played out. "Not everyone gets out (to play)," Chiarot said. "Penalty killers dont usually play on the power play (and vice-versa). Depending on whiich way the calls are going, guys can get a little stuff on the bench. Vapormax Plus Blanche Pas Cher . It seemed to even itself out in the end and the guys stayed in it." Bridgeport opened the scoring 7:00 into the game through Vaughan, who smashed a one-time slapshot in from the point on the power play. ODell tied the game for the IceCaps at the 12:48 mark of the first, finding a loose puck in front after Jason Jaffray had wrapped around the net. Ness added a short-handed goal for the Sound Tigers at the 13:36 mark of the first, gaining the zone and sniping high blocker with a wrist shot from the slot. The IceCaps tied the game on a power-play goal from Gordon, who wired a slapshot from the point high blocker at the 5:36 mark of the second period. Gordons goal was the turning point of the game, according to IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge. "Our guys did a good job realizing it when we were down one goal," McCambridge said. "Andrew Gordons goal was a real big one for us to build some momentum. You have to give their goaltender credit, he was excellent at fighting through traffic." IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson made 14 saves. Kevin Poulin stopped 33 shots for the Sound Tigers. ' ' '

MIAMI -- A jury has convicted a man of second-degree murder in the in the killing of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor, who was shot outside his bedroom after witnesses said he confronted a group of young men who broke into his home. Air Max 97 Mens Sale . The jury deliberated about 16 hours over four days before returning the verdict Monday in the trial of 23-year-old Eric Rivera Jr., who admitted in a videotaped confession to police days after Taylors death that he fired the fatal shot after kicking in the bedroom door. But at the trial, he said on the witness stand that his confession was given only under police pressure and amid purported threats to his family. Rivera sat quietly at the defence table with his lawyers after the verdict was announced, showing no reaction or emotion. The courtroom was packed with Taylor and Rivera family members -- and about two dozen security personnel -- but there were no outbursts. Rivera was also convicted of armed burglary. Although Rivera did not get the maximum first-degree murder conviction, he still faces a potential life prison sentence. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy did not immediately set a sentencing date but will hold a related hearing Dec. 10. Neither prosecutors, Taylors family nor the family of the football players girlfriend would comment afterward. Riveras parents, sisters, lawyers and friends also left without comment, as did the 12 jurors. In the confession, Rivera said the group of five young men, all from the Fort Myers area, drove to Taylors house planning to steal large amounts of cash he kept inside. They thought Taylor, 24, would be out of town at a game against Tampa Bay, but didnt realize until it was too late that he was home with a knee injury. Taylors then-girlfriend, Jackie Garcia Haley, and their 18-month-old daughter, were also home at the time but were not hurt. Four other men were also charged in the case and three will be tried later. Venjah Hunte, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and burglary charges in a deal that calls for a 29-year prison sentence. Testifying in his own defence, Rivera claimed it was Hunte who brought the 9mm handgun and who shot Taylor. Rivera insisted he was not told about the burglary plot until the group was driving toward Miami, and that he stayed in the car outside Taylors house the whole time. The gun was never found. Police say it was stuffed in a sock and thrown into the Everglades. Legal experts said Mondays verdict appeared to be a compromise, with at least some jurors doubting the confession and questioning whether Rivera, who was 17 at the time, truly pulled the trigger -- but not that he played a role in the burglary plot. "They believed that he was part of the burglary and was present when it occurred," said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice. "There was no eyewitness to put the gun in Riveras hand and that is what at least one juror needed to convict him of first-degree murder." Taylor, a Pro Bowl safety who had starred at the University of Miami, was shot in the upper thigh, damaging his femoral artery and causing massive blood loss. Witnesses say Taylor was shot when he confronted the group with a machete outside his bedroom. A medical examiner said he was essentially dead on arrival at a hospital on Nov. 26, 2007, although doctors did manage to restart his heart for a while. Aside from Riveras confession, police found shoe prints outside Taylors home that matched sneakers some in the group were wearing that night. Witnesses testified Rivera was seen driving a rented black Toyota Highlander believed used in the crime, and another witness said the group of five had burglary tools when they came to her house after Taylor was shot. Taylor, a first-round Redskins draft pick in 2004, signed an $18 million contract with the team and was becoming one of the NFLs top defensive players when he was slain. Several witnesses, including Garcia Haley, testified that he liked to keep large amounts of cash around his Miami house. One of the men charged in the slaying, 25-year-old Jason Mitchell, attended a birthday party a few weeks earlier at the house for Taylors half-sister, Sasha Johnson -- who lived in Fort Myers and knew Rivera. She testified that Taylor gave her a purse containing $10,000 in cash at the party, which was witnessed by all the guests. That event put the wheels in motion for the burglary plot, witnesses said. Rivera himself testified that some in the group thought they would get between $100,000 and $200,000 to split up. Also charged and awaiting trial are Mitchell, Charles Wardlow, 24, and 22-year-old Timothy Brown. Nike Cortez Womens Sale .J. -- Having Ondrej Pavelec earn his 100th NHL win and seeing Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane break goal droughts were nice highlights for the Winnipeg Jets. Air Force 1 Low Wholesale . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here.The Calgary Flames have traded forward Tim Jackman to the Anaheim Ducks. The Minot, North Dakota native has appeared in 10 games for the Flames this season, tallying one assist. The Flames will receive a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft from the Ducks. This was Jackmans fourth season with Calgary. The 32-year-old has also spent time with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kinggs, Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets over the course of his 13-year pro career. Vapormax Flyknit Cheap . In 400 career NHL games, Jackman 24 goals, 40 assists and 654 minutes in penalties. To fill Jackmans roster spot, Calgary called up centre Blair Jones from the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL. The 27-year-old is Abbotsfords leading scorer. The Flames are 1-5-2 in their past eight games. ' ' '