captain

Erin King will make her first international appearance in a year as she captains Ireland in Saturday’s Six Nations opener in England.

King missed the World Cup last year after she sustained a knee injury in the defeat by the Red Roses in the 2025 Six Nations.

The 22-year-old has been named Ireland’s captain for the 2026 edition and will start at flanker against an England side who are looking to win an eighth Six Nations in a row.

She is joined in the back row by Brittany Hogan and Aoife Wafer, who was the Six Nations player of the championship in 2025 but had an injury-hit year.

Former England prop Ellena Perry will make her Irish Six Nations debut after switching allegiances ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

More to follow.

Ireland: Stacey Flood; Beibhinn Parsons; Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins; Vicky Elmes Kinlan; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-Macdonald, Linda Djougang; Dorothy Wall, Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan, Erin King (capt), Aoife Wafer.

Replacements: Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Eilis Cahill, Ruth Campbell, Grace Moore, Katie Whelan, Nancy McGillivray, Anna McGann.

Former England captain Courtney Lawes says he is “officially unretiring from international duty” after signing for Sale Sharks for the 2026-27 season.

The 37-year-old second row won three Six Nations championships and played in the 2019 World Cup final during a glittering 14-year England career before retiring from internationals after the 2023 tournament.

Lawes spent his club career with Northampton Saints, winning two Prem titles, before joining French side Brive in 2024.

“I’m officially un-retiring from international duty and I’d love to play for England again but first and foremost I want to play well for Sale and we’ll see what happens after that,” he told Sale’s website, external.

Silva will leave Manchester City after winning the Champions League and six Premier League titles during his nine-year spell.

Manchester City ‌‌captain Bernardo Silva will leave the club ⁠⁠at the ⁠⁠end of the season, assistant manager Pep Lijnders has confirmed.

“Every good story comes to an end,” Lijnders told reporters after City’s 4-0 FA ‌‌Cup quarterfinal victory over Liverpool on Sunday.

“I hope he enjoys the last months – there are only six weeks left – and has a good farewell. He deserves all that attention.”

The 31-year-old Portugal international, who has ⁠⁠won six Premier League titles and the Champions League during nine years at the Etihad ⁠⁠Stadium, will depart as a free agent when his contract expires after the campaign concludes.

Pep Guardiola, who was serving a touchline suspension during the match, has previously described Silva ⁠⁠as “irreplaceable”.

Silva joined City from AS Monaco ⁠⁠in 2017 for a reported fee of about $57.35m and has since made 450 appearances for the club.

Known ⁠⁠for his tactical versatility, superb technique and tireless work rate, the midfielder has ⁠⁠been a cornerstone of City’s ⁠⁠side under Guardiola.

After winning the League Cup last month, City remain in contention for a domestic treble as the 2025-26 campaign enters ‌‌its final weeks, despite trailing Premier League leaders Arsenal by nine points.

The Manchester club have a game ‌‌in ‌‌hand and eight matches remaining to bridge the deficit.

Silva will become the second major player to leave the top four Premier League clubs this season, joining Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah, who confirmed he will exit the defending champions in May.

The 33-year-old Egypt international confirmed the news via a video message on his social media accounts last month.

“Unfortunately, the day has come. This is ‌‌the first part of my farewell,” Salah said. “I will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.”

Signed from AS Roma in 2017, Salah established himself as one ⁠⁠of the best players in the club’s ⁠⁠history, helping Liverpool to two Premier League titles, the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup and two League Cups, as ‌‌well as an FA Community Shield.

He has scored 255 goals in 435 appearances, making him the club’s all-time third ‌‌highest ‌‌goal scorer, during which he won the Premier League Golden Boot on four occasions.

Just like last year and the year before, Wales’ Six Nations opener is against Scotland.

Wales had the upper hand in the Celtic clash up until 2023, but have failed to win in their past few encounters, including a sobering defeat at the World Cup.

The two sides will meet again at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 11 April (16:40 BST).

“They’ve got to be one of our biggest rivalries,” admitted Williams.

“A few years ago it was us on top and they’ve really turned it around. They’re one of our biggest challenges and one of the games that we’re going to go after.

“We do want to write some wrongs [from the World Cup].

And Williams insists they have the calibre of players to be able to beat the Scots.

“It is a big match, but these are the big moments that we’re excited to play. This is what we want to do as rugby players,” she added.

“I wouldn’t call it a grudge match or anything, but we’re looking to beat as many teams as possible, Scotland being one of them.”

After Scotland, Wales host France at Cardiff Arms Park on 18 April before travelling to face reigning champions England at Ashton Gate a week later.

A trip to Belfast follows to take on Ireland after the fallow week before Wales finish their campaign back at the Arms Park against Italy on 17 May.

Morgan missed the first four rounds of the URC after suffering a calf problem on his return from the Lions’ tour to Australia.

The flanker came off the bench in the draw against Dragons at Rodney Parade in October and then went off to Wales duty.

“The guys that have been playing while Jac has been injured have done a terrific job, but it’s always brilliant when you bring a Lion back into your environment and selection,” said Jones.

“It’s good for the competition for places and competitiveness around training. He has added a great energy to the environment, on and off the field.”

This weekend’s fixture against Benetton would be Morgan’s first game since it was confirmed that he will leave Ospreys for Gloucester along with Dewi Lake in the summer.

Jones believes the forward from Brynaman will be determined to finish with a flourish.

“He has put a lot into the Ospreys over the time he has been here, physically and emotionally,” said the head coach.

“We want the whole thing to end on a really positive note. I can’t see anything other than a fully-focused, excited Jac Morgan wanting to go out on a high, and as a team we definitely want to do that.”

Chelsea defender Reece James could be out for weeks with a hamstring injury, says head coach Liam Rosenior.

The Chelsea captain will miss his side’s Champions League home match against Paris St‑Germain, following their 5-2 first‑leg defeat in France.

An exact time frame was not given, but when asked whether it could be that James misses a number weeks, Rosenior replied “it could be”.

The 26‑year‑old may miss the upcoming England internationals later this month, with Thomas Tuchel’s squad to be announced on Friday.

He sustained the injury in Saturday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Newcastle.

“With a hamstring injury, it is never great and for Reece we can hopefully get him scanned, find out the full extent and then we will know more because we know how important he is and what a leader he is in the group,” added Rosenior.

“He felt something in his hamstring at the end of the game against Newcastle. It’s really frustrating and a disappointing one for us. We don’t know the full extent for us but it rules him out for tomorrow.”

James has largely enjoyed an injury‑free season until now after being carefully managed by Chelsea following several disrupted campaigns in recent years. On Friday, he signed a new six‑year contract to keep him at the club until 2032.

Chelsea are also without winger Jamie Gittens, goakeeper Filip Jorgensen and defender Levi Colwill but Brazil forward Estevao Willian returned to training and is in contention having not featured since early February.

Right-back Malo Gusto missed training through illness but could still be available on Tuesday, while winger Pedro Neto is eligible to play after receiving just a warning from Uefa for pushing a ball boy in the closing moments of last week’s defeat at the Parc des Princes.

Rosenior added: “There was no real bad intention, it was just a will to get on with the game so I think Uefa made the right decision.”

The captain of the Iranian women’s football team has withdrawn her bid for asylum in Australia, Iran’s state media says, making her the fifth member of the delegation to change her mind after her team’s participation in the Asian Cup.

Zahra Ghanbari will fly from Malaysia and travel to Iran within the next few hours, the IRNA news agency said on Sunday.

Three players and one backroom staff member had already withdrawn their bids for asylum and travelled to Malaysia from Australia, where the team participated in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his country had offered asylum to all players and support staff members prior to their departure over fears they might be punished upon their return home after the team refused to sing Iran’s national anthem at the tournament.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that the three had “given up on their asylum application in Australia and are currently heading to Malaysia”, posting a picture of the women allegedly boarding a plane.

The news was confirmed by Burke a few hours later.

“Overnight, three members of the Iranian women’s football team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran,” Burke said.

“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options.”

Five players took up the offer and signed immigration papers last week, with one more player and a member of staff joining them a day later. It leaves two Iranian players in Australia, where they have been promised asylum and an opportunity to settle.

Iran played their three group games of the Asian Cup at the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland on March 2, 5 and 8, after the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.

The initial attacks killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders.

Overall, an estimated 1,444 Iranians have been killed since the war began, including more than 170 people, mostly schoolgirls, who were inside a primary school in the city of Minab.

After refusing to sing the Iranian national anthem at their first match, players on the Iranian women’s football team were branded “traitors” by an IRIB presenter.

When Iran played their second game of the tournament against Australia three days later, not only did the players sing the national anthem, but they also saluted it, prompting fears that they may have been forced to change their stance after receiving backlash in Iranian media.

While neither the players nor the team management explained why they refrained from singing before the first match, fans and rights activists speculated that it may have been an act of defiance against the Iranian government.

On the day of the team’s departure from Australia, Burke announced his government had offered all players and staff members the chance to stay back in the country.

On Tuesday, Burke told reporters that five Iranian players had decided to seek asylum in Australia and would be assisted by the government.

“They are welcome to stay in Australia, they are safe here, and they should feel at home here,” he said.

A day later, Burke confirmed that an additional player and a member of the team’s support staff had received humanitarian visas in the hours before their departure.

However, one player, who previously chose to stay behind, changed her mind and decided to return to Iran.

The player, who was later identified as Mohadese Zolfigol, changed her decision on the advice of her teammates, Burke told the Parliament of Australia.

“She had been advised by her teammates and encouraged to contact the Iranian embassy,” he said.

The players who managed to escape with the help of Iranian rights activists were taken away by Australian police officials to a safe house, where they met immigration officials and signed the paperwork.

“Our understanding is that every single member of the squad was interviewed independently by the Australian Federal Police,” Beau Busch, the Asia/Oceania president of players’ welfare body FIFPRO told Al Jazeera last week.

“[The players] were made aware of their rights and the support available to them. They certainly weren’t rushed through that process.”

Kelly: Let’s try and get to know you a little bit more away from the pitch. Firstly, I always like asking: what were you like as a youngster?

Nathan: If you asked my mam or dad, they’d say I was a headcase! I was just a bit itchy, I always had to move. I could never sit still and relax. I always had to do something. So they had to burn me out. I always wanted to be in the grass or playing football, just running around to drain my energy. I think I was hard work for my parents, I’d say it like that!

Kelly: It sounds like maybe it was quite a chaotic household. How many siblings have you got?

Nathan: I’ve got an older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother. I think it was just a constant battle of me trying to beat my older brother. It was just so hard because the age difference. We all had training at different times and they’d be running out of the house and you’d forget your boots or they’d be taking two cars in different directions. It was a bit of a carnage, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kelly: Are you still close now?

Nathan: Ah yeah, of course. I talk to them more or less every day on the phone. Every chance I get to go home I will. My mam goes to every game – home and away. She watches them all.

Kelly: So she flies over? Are they still in Ireland?

Nathan: Yeah, they live in Ireland, so she flies over and she goes everywhere to be fair.

Kelly: Home and away?

Nathan: Yeah.

Kelly: That is some commitment!

Nathan: I know, I tell her, ‘listen, you don’t have to’ and she’s like, ‘no, I want to’.

Kelly: Not everyone’s got a son that’s a Premier League footballer though… I kind of get the appeal!

Nathan: Yeah, I don’t think that she watches the matches. I think that she just looks at me the whole game and sees what I’m doing. She’ll come after, ‘Why were you scratching your leg so much in the match?’ … ‘I don’t know. How do you know that?’

Kelly: Aw, bless her, that’s really sweet. How would your best friend describe you?

Nathan: I’d like to think that they’d describe me as the same lad I was growing up. The first thing that would pop in their head… they wouldn’t say I’m a footballer. I think they’d just say, ‘ah Nathan, he’s just a good lad like… he’s a bit of craic and he comes out when he can’ … but I don’t think that they’d look at me as a footballer, which I really enjoy. And it just means when I’m with them, I can just be myself and just enjoy being one of the lads.

Kelly: So if the manager gives you a day off, what would you do?

Nathan: It depends. If it’s a weekday and it’s good weather, I’ll play golf with a few of the lads here and we’ll get out in the sun.

Kelly: Are you any good?

Nathan: I’m all right. Listen, I can play. I’m not the greatest, but I’m not the worst.

Kelly: Who do you play with here?

Nathan: The group right now is me, Keane Lewis-Potter, Kris Ajer, Hakon Valdimarsson. It’s a good crew because we have a lot of players and we do a little Ryder Cup-style.

Kelly: Oh nice!

Nathan: So it’s staff v players.

Kelly: Wow!

Nathan: Yeah, because there’s a lot of players. We did that last year. We did 18 holes in the morning, we went for some lunch, and then we did 18 holes in the afternoon and it was really good fun. Players won, so thank God!

Kelly: Oh, that was my next question. Have you got any secret hobbies?

Nathan: I like cooking, so that’s something. When I cook, I think I just forget about everything. I’m just in my own little zone and my head kind of goes quiet, which is nice.

Kelly: Are you a good cook?

Nathan: It depends who you ask…

Kelly: If I was asking your girlfriend…

Nathan: Yeah, she’s actually saying: ‘Ah, you’re getting better at cooking!’

Kelly: That’s a bit patronising!

Nathan: Yeah, and I was like… ‘Does that mean I was bad?’

Kelly: Fair enough. What do people get wrong about you the most?

Nathan: Maybe I get a bit of stereotypical: ‘Ah, he’s just a footballer.’ Maybe they get that and then think, ‘oh, he’s actually pretty nice to talk to… he’s all right… he’s kind of relaxed… he’s chill’.

I always want to be just a good person as well. That’s important for me, just to be a nice person, a good person, a caring person. As much as I want to be the best footballer I can ever be, I also want to be the best person I can be and I think that’s something that I always strive towards as well.

Kelly: What’s the toughest moment of your career been? Has there been a tough moment?

Nathan: I had one game for Brentford against Wolves and I had two mistakes in the game. I gave away two goals, we lost 3-1 or something like that and I got battered off the Wolves fans because I’d just left Wolves and the fans had so much to go against me, so much stick. I was like, ‘oh my God, this couldn’t have got any worse’.

To be fair, that night Thomas Frank rang me and he was like, ‘listen Nathan, that’s probably the worst game you’ll ever have in your career’, and he’s like, ‘so it’s only up from here’.

Jacob Ulibarri spent about six hours on New Year’s Day last year squashing hot spots where the Lachman fire had burned.

The rookie Los Angeles firefighter arrived sometime after 7 a.m., when the smoky areas were all over and easy to see. By the time the next crew swapped with his that afternoon, they were scarcer: “One every 30 minutes, roughly,” Ulibarri recalled.

At that point, Battalion Chief Martin Mullen, who was running the mop-up operation, had walked three laps around the perimeter of the fire. He recalled one hot spot he saw at about 10 a.m., which crews hit with water. Later in the afternoon, Mullen did his fourth and last loop and left the area for good.

He decided to leave the hoses out overnight, just in case.

Over the next two days, a series of communication failures and questionable decisions led crews to leave the area prematurely, with embers from the small Jan. 1 fire later reigniting into the devastating Palisades fire. A firefighter picking up hoses on Jan. 2 found crackling, red-hot coals in the dirt and warned colleagues that a more thorough mop-up was needed. Also that morning, a captain cautioned his chief that it was too soon to pick up the hoses. In yet another missed opportunity, crews apparently did not walk the entire perimeter of the burn scar after a caller reported smoke in the area on Jan. 3.

Because of the holiday, some were filling in for others outside of their normal assignments. Firefighters said they adhered to the LAFD’s strict chain of command and did not question higher-ups, while those in charge had fuzzy memories or shifted responsibility to others.

The revelations, contained in the sworn testimony of a dozen firefighters earlier this year as part of a lawsuit filed by Palisades fire victims, corroborate previous reporting by The Times and call into question the LAFD’s repeated claims that commanders left the fire “dead out.” More than a year later, with much of the Palisades still in ruins, LAFD leaders have refused to explain how or why the breakdowns occurred.

The LAFD employees mentioned in this story either could not be reached or declined to comment.

In a statement Monday, LAFD spokesperson Stephanie Bishop pointed to the alleged arsonist charged by federal prosecutors with deliberately setting the earlier fire. “The Lachman and Palisades Fire incidents would not be matters of discussion had this individual not allegedly initiated the original fire,” she said.

“It is important to allow the legal process to proceed without external influence or speculation. Offering running commentary on depositions outside of the courtroom risks compromising witness testimony, affecting the integrity of evidence review, and impacting ongoing judicial proceedings. We stand by the investigation conducted by the ATF,” Bishop added, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Around 6 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2025

At the end of his 24-hour overtime shift, Mullen handed the reins to Battalion Chief Mario Garcia, recommending that the incoming chief scope out the fire perimeter.

“I told him I left him hose lines in place overnight. You need to walk that and make sure there’s nothing going up on there,” said Mullen, whose regular job is managing the LAFD’s 106 fire stations and 30 or so other buildings.

Before Garcia set foot on the burn scar, he put word out to station captains about the plan for the morning: Pick up hoses.

At Fire Station 19 in Brentwood, Capt. Alexander Gonzalez got a text from the chief’s aide, directing him to bring a “plug buggy” — a pickup truck used to carry equipment — “to help pick up hose.”

The plan reached Capt. David Sander at Fire Station 23 in the Palisades and Capt. Michael McIndoe at Fire Station 69.

McIndoe had reservations.

He told the chief’s aide that he thought the hoses should stay out longer. He had seen the forecast that day — a National Weather Service alert had warned of weather conducive to wildfires — and handling any lingering hot spots would be easier with hoses in place. The aide told him to take it up with the chief.

So McIndoe shared his concerns with Garcia over the phone.

Garcia “said something along the lines of, ‘OK. Let me go check it out, and then I’ll get back to you,’” McIndoe testified.

But the orders for the morning never changed.

8:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2025

After a briefing at Fire Station 23, Scott Pike and his partner took their ambulance to a cul-de-sac near the burn area. They spotted some hose dangling over a retaining wall covered in ivy.

An engine crew threw a 20-foot ladder to get over the wall. Soon, Pike said, they got another call and left.

“We were kind of making jokes, like, ‘It’s on us,’’’ recalled Pike, a firefighter normally assigned to a station in Sunland.

He grabbed his brush jacket, helmet and gloves and climbed over. He decided to hike to the end of the hose line — he was feeling good and thought he’d get a workout in.

Pike followed the main line — called the trunk line — which had hoses branching off in other directions. About 100 feet in, he saw where grass had burned. He navigated through culverts and climbed a steep hill of about 300 feet before hitting a hiking trail.

When he got to the end of the line, at about 8:45 a.m., he noticed a handful of smoky areas in heavier brush, and a hand line that wasn’t cut properly.

One ash pit was so hot he didn’t want to touch it, even with gloves. So he kicked it with his boot, exposing red-hot coals. He heard crackling and smelled smoke. He looked around, and there were no other firefighters.

We shouldn’t be picking up hoses, he thought to himself. Instead, we should be filling the hoses with water to do a more thorough mop-up.

He pinched the hose, directing any residual water to the ash pit. It steamed and crackled. He felt defeated when he only got a couple of gallons out, which wasn’t enough.

He slowed down, in case the pickup plan were to change because of his observations, and was relieved when more crews began hiking over.

“Hey, guys, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Pike told a couple of firefighters. He was working an overtime shift away from his usual fire station, so he didn’t know them. “Like, maybe we should be charging these lines instead of picking them up.”

Since they were already there, he figured, some extra mop-up could save them work down the line if the fire were to reignite.

The firefighters shrugged him off and seemed eager to finish the assignment.

“They were like, ‘Yeah, I see what you’re saying,’ And then it was like, ‘We’ll tell one of the skippers. We’ll tell one of the captains.’ But, like, in the meantime, people were just very much like, just get the hose picked up,” Pike testified.

Shortly after, he saw a captain and raised the same concerns.

“That’s how I approached him, is like, ‘Hey, Cap … We have hot spots in general. We have some ash pits,’” Pike said. “That’s an alert to double-check the whole area and maybe we need to switch our tactics.”

Pike testified that it was not his job “to overstep and tell him what to do. He earned that rank.”

The captain suggested possibly bringing hand tools or a backpack filled with water up the hill to extinguish any hot spots.

Pike went back to picking up the hose while awaiting new orders, which never came.

The LAFD has declined to say whether the captain has been identified. Pike believed the captain was from Engine 69, which would have been McIndoe. But McIndoe told The Times he did not speak with Pike that day.

McIndoe said he also came across a smoldering ash pit during the couple of hours he was on the hill.

He retrieved a backpack with water from his engine, sprayed into the ground with a couple of gallons of water and dug up the dirt with his hand tool until he was satisfied it was cool.

At one point, he saw Garcia, the battalion chief, and brought up their earlier conversation.

“I just went up to him, and I said, ‘Hey, I hope you don’t think I’m just trying to get out of work,’” McIndoe said. “And he said, ‘No, that’s — that’s fine.’ Something along those lines, and that that’s all I can really recall.”

He said he was trying to tell Garcia that he believed “that the hose should stay up a little bit longer.”

By the time Gonzalez, who was backfilling that day at the Brentwood station, got to the scene, the operation was well underway, with half the hose already down the hillside.

“When I got there, it was just, it’s like a big daisy chain of hands pulling hose off and getting it down to the street. And rolling it, hosing it off and loading it into the plug buggy,” he testified.

He did not see smoldering that day. He testified that he went about 200 to 300 feet up, to where piles of hose were being dropped. “The next person brings it back down and that was it,” he said.

Some firefighters on hose pickup duty that day have not been deposed in the lawsuit. Aside from McIndoe and Pike, the four other firefighters who testified that they were at the burn scar on Jan. 2 said they did not see smoldering.

Garcia testified that at the burn scar, no one raised any concerns with him about the hose pickup. Nor did he see any need to leave the hoses at the site.

At 1:35 p.m. on Jan. 2, Garcia texted two higher-ups: “All hose and equipment has been picked up.”

Around 4:30 p.m., Garcia walked the area again with his aide to see if they had left any equipment behind. He saw no issues.

“We both walked the whole area,” Garcia said. “We went separate directions, but covered the whole area, and there was nothing that would bring any concern.”

11:51 a.m. on Jan. 3, 2025

Shortly before noon, someone called the LAFD about a grass fire in the burn area.

Engineer Edward Rincon, who had been on Engine 23 retrieving hoses the day before, pulled up to the same cul-de-sac. Once again, his crew threw the 20-foot ladder over the retaining wall. As on the previous day, he never entered the burn scar. He stayed with the engine while the captain and two firefighters went to scope out the area. He set the volume high on his radio to hear if they needed anything.

On the other side of the wall, Capt. Cesar Garcia walked for what he said was more than a couple of football fields, while the two firefighters went to different peaks to look around for smoke or fire.

“Everything is completely burned. I don’t smell anything. I don’t see any smoke. I don’t see any fire,” he testified.

He canceled another engine that was assigned to the call.

Firefighter Michael Contreras said he also didn’t see smoke. He said he could not see the entirety of the burn scar from his vantage point. He also said he did not suggest to his captain, Cesar Garcia, that they walk the whole perimeter.

“Is there a reason you did not?” a plaintiffs’ attorney asked.

“Again, would not be my lane to tell him that, you know,” he said.

Battalion Chief Mario Garcia was on duty again that day. Like Rincon, he stayed with his vehicle. Cesar Garcia said the chief pulled up a live feed on an iPad from two cameras on the mountain, which showed no smoke or fire.

An incident report shows they spent about 34 minutes on the call.

On the morning of Jan. 7, LAFD records show, a captain on duty in the Palisades called Fire Station 23 and told colleagues: The Lachman fire had started up again.