Japan's gymnasts retain gold as the Bledisloe Cup goes to the All Blacks

Top line: The All Blacks completed a 2-0 Bledisloe Cup sweep, beating Australia 43-21 in Sydney on Saturday, October 17. The Bledisloe Cup was a two-Test rugby union series held between Australia and New Zealand in October 2026.¹

What happened

The big ones

All Blacks 43-21 Australia (Bledisloe Cup, second Test, Stadium Australia, Saturday, October 17). New Zealand had already won the first Test 50-19 at Eden Park² on October 10. The second win made it a clean sweep.

Tonga 30-12 England (Rugby League World Cup, Saturday, October 17, Perth). England opened their campaign with a tough opening 30-12 loss against Tonga³. The tournament is a month-long international event, running from 15 October - 15 November⁴, and Australia opened it with a thrilling 24-22 win over New Zealand³.

Japan win men's team gold at the World Gymnastics Championships (Rotterdam, Tuesday, October 20). Japan scored 251.928 to hold off a strong challenge from Russia, which claimed silver with 250.329.⁵ China secured bronze with 249.193, while Great Britain finished fourth⁵. The top three teams secured the first qualification places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.⁶

Ethiopia's Buze Diriba breaks Amsterdam course record (Sunday, October 18). Diriba clocked 2:16:12 to break the women's course record⁷. Her compatriot Lemi Berhanu won in 2:03:33, just three seconds outside the course record⁷.

Beyond the majors

• Tamirat Tola sets Beijing Marathon record (Sunday, October 18). The Olympic champion won the 2026 Bank of China Beijing Marathon in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 10 seconds, breaking the course record by nearly four minutes.⁸
• Track cycling worlds close in Shanghai (Sunday, October 18). The championships concluded at the Shanghai Velodrome after five days of competition and 22 world titles.⁹ Results also count towards the UCI Track Olympic Qualification Ranking⁹ for LA28.
• Fundora keeps undisputed hopes alive (Saturday, October 17, Carson, California). WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian Fundora closed the show with a final second 12th-round knockout of Ermal Hadribeaj.¹⁰
• Dubois beats Wardley again (Saturday, October 17, London). The heavyweight rematch ended Daniel Dubois defeats Fabio Wardley by TKO in Round 2.¹¹
• Pakistan beat England in the ODI tri-series (Tuesday, October 20, Rawalpindi). Pakistan won by 87 runs¹² after Pakistan posted 302/9. Arafat Minhas took six wickets as England were bowled out for 215.
• Ranji Trophy round in India (October 18-21). Among the results, Hyderabad won by 267 runs¹³ against Andhra, and Baroda won by 10 wickets¹³ against Bihar.

Majors in a line

Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday, October 20. Luis Enrique's side remains top of the table with nine points from three games, while Barcelona dropped to fifth after dropping points for the first time.¹⁴ The NBA's 2026-27 season tipped off today, October 21 (October 20 in the US)¹⁵.

What's next

• Women's gymnastics team final, Wednesday, October 21, 17:30 UTC, Rotterdam Ahoy. Eurovision lists the session as 19:30 local time, and the Netherlands is in the field. The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2026 take place at Rotterdam Ahoy from 17-25 October 2026.¹⁶ The top three teams earn LA28 qualification places.
• Men's all-around final, Thursday, October 22, 17:30 UTC, Rotterdam. Japan's Daiki Hashimoto and teammate Shinnosuke Oka are expected to face off in a much-anticipated duel⁶.
• Women's all-around final, Friday, October 23, 17:30 UTC, Rotterdam. The final concludes the team and individual all-around titles for the women.
• Tonga v Lebanon, Rugby League World Cup, Friday, October 23, 10:05 Sydney time (23:05 UTC on Thursday, October 22), CommBank Stadium. Tonga will look to build on their win over England.
• League of Legends World Championship, Friday, October 23, 17:00 UTC. The Round 1 match between GEN and IG opens the 2026 event, which takes place from Oct 15 to Nov 14 2026 featuring 19 teams competing over a total prize pool of $5,000,000 USD.¹⁷
• Gymnastics apparatus finals, Saturday, October 24, 12:00 UTC, Rotterdam. Individual finals begin with vault, uneven bars, floor, pommel horse and rings across two days.
• World Wrestling Championships, Saturday, October 24 to Sunday, November 1, Astana, Kazakhstan. The event was moved from Manama, Bahrain¹⁸. Qualification rounds start on Saturday, October 24, at 07:30 UTC.

Sources

1. 2026 Bledisloe Cup
2. 2026 men's rugby union internationals
3. Rugby League World Cup 2026: Schedule, dates, format, results from men's, women's, and wheelchair tournaments
4. Sporting Calendar 2026: Your guide to the biggest events
5. Japan claims men’s team gold in dramatic World Championships final in Rotterdam
6. Japan wins men’s team gold at world gymnastics championships - The Japan Times
7. Amsterdam Marathon 2026: Buze Diriba breaks course record as Lemi Berhanu wins men’s race - full results
8. Tola wins 2026 Beijing Marathon in record 2:03:10: Top results, winners
9. UCI Track World Championships 2026: Harrie Lavreysen and Emma Finucane lead stars in action
10. Premier Boxing Champions - Watch Live PBC Boxing Fights
11. Boxing Results - Latest Fight Outcomes & Official Scorecards
12. Pakistan ODI Tri-Series 2026 Fixtures, Live Score, Schedule, Points Table & News
13. Live Cricket Scores
14. PSG 4-2 Barcelona: Final score, goals, highlights, reaction from Champions League - NBC Sports
15. Latest Sports News, Scores And Highlights
16. 2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships
17. 2026 World Championship - Liquipedia League of Legends Wiki
18. 2026 World Wrestling Championships