Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest News - The Wellington Phoenix have replaced the A-League's most prolific player with one of the unluckiest after signing Brisbane Roar defender Luke DeVere.

Central defender DeVere will effectively cover the departure of Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante, after he agreed to a one-season deal with the Kiwi club.

The 29-year-old DeVere will hope the move results in a change of fortune after he was dogged by knee problems, having made 45 appearances across the past five seasons in Brisbane.

He managed only five games last season.

It ends a second stint at the Roar, having begun his A-League career there from 2008-11 before four seasons with Korean club Gyeongnam FC.

DeVere's lone appearance for the Socceroos came in a 2-2 friendly draw with Germany in 2015.

Durante, who has made an A-League-record 313 appearances, announced his Phoenix exit earlier this month and is believed to have signed with expansion club Western United FC.

New South Wales drop seven for State of Origin II

Latrell Mitchell has been stunningly dropped on his 22nd birthday as part of a whopping seven changes to the NSW rugby league team for State of Origin II.

Blake Ferguson, Tom Trbojevic, James Maloney, Daniel Saifiti, Dale Finucane, Wade Graham and Tariq Sims have all been called in for the game in Perth.

Trbojevic and Jack Wighton are in the centres despite neither playing there for their club teams, while Saifiti makes his debut in the run-on side.

David Klemmer (wrist), Payne Haas (hamstring) and Nick Cotric (ankle) are three forced changes after copping injuries over the past fortnight.

First-gamer Cody Walker, Angus Crichton, Josh Morris and Mitchell have been overlooked in what is a vastly-different looking team.

Tim Glasby and Jarrod Wallace have been recalled by Queensland coach Kevin Walters.

The pair are the only changes from the team that defeated NSW 18-14 in Brisbane earlier this month, replacing injured duo Joe Ofahengaue (knee) and Jai Arrow (ankle).

-AAP

Win for Black Sticks women

The Black Sticks women's side have scored their first win in Europe in the FIH Pro League as they beat Belgium 3-0 in Antwerp.

The two sides entered the second half tied at nil-all, however an Olivia Merry second half hat-trick ensured that the Black Sticks Women would take the three competition points.

New Zealand are now sixth in the standings.

Their next game is against Great Britain in London next week.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand men were beaten 4-0 by Belgium in the men's Pro League.

Belgium dominated the match from the start to finish and had the majority of the attacking play with 15 shots on goal compared to the Black Sticks' six.

Belgium are second in the standings behind Australia, while the Black Sticks men are bottom of the standings with no wins and four draws.

New Zealand's next game is against Great Britain next week in London.

Marquez wins at home

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez won his home Grand Prix of Catalunya after Honda team mate Jorge Lorenzo took out the Spaniard's main rivals in a mass crash on the second lap.

French rider Fabio Quartararo finished second and 2.660 seconds behind, after starting on pole and dropping to eighth, for the Petronas Yamaha team with Italian Danilo Petrucci third for Ducati.

Marquez's closest rival Andrea Dovizioso and the Yamaha factory pairing of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales went down like skittles after Lorenzo lost control of his Honda at turn 10.

Marquez's fourth win of the season means he now has a 37-point lead over Dovizioso after seven of 19 races.

-Reuters

Black Sox beaten

The New Zealand men's softball team has suffered its first loss at the World Championships in Prague, going down 5-4 to Mexico.

The defending champion Black Sox went into the seventh inning with a 4-1 lead, before giving up three runs to force the game into extra innings.

Mexico continued the momentum with another run to take the score to 5-4 in the bottom of the 8th to seize the win.

The Black Sox were out hit by Mexico 8-7 - the second time in two games after being out hit by Cuba yesterday 7-4.

The Sox beat the Czech Republic and Cuba in their first two games.

New Zealand play Botswana tonight.

Win for the Roosters

The Sydney Roosters have snapped a three-game losing streak to power into equal-second spot on the NRL table with a 38-12 dispatch of cellar dwellers Canterbury.

Answering coach Trent Robinson's challenge to return to the standards expected of the reigning premiers and competition's benchmark team, the Roosters ran in seven tries to two to leave the Bulldogs rooted to the bottom of the ladder.

Not even an eye-catching debut from New Zealand captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak - who provided a new dimension attacking from fullback following his mid-season defection from Penrith - or a lively display from hooker Jeremy Marshall-King - could save Canterbury from an 11th defeat of the season.

-AAP

Alonso wins Le Mans again

Double Formula One champion Fernando Alonso struck lucky and won the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race for the second year in a row with Toyota team mates Kazuki Nakajima and Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi.

The number eight hybrid car crew, who had been running second until last-hour drama, were also crowned world endurance champions with Nakajima driving the final stint and becoming the first Japanese to win a global FIA-sanctioned series.

Toyota's number seven TS050 hybrid, driven by Britain's Mike Conway, Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Argentina's Jose Maria Lopez, led most of the way before a late puncture dropped them to second in a one-two finish for the Japanese manufacturer.

New Zealander Earl Bamber finished third in the GTE Pro section, while Scott Dixon was sixth.

-Reuters

Pogba looking for another club?

The French footballer Paul Pogba has cast doubt over his future at Manchester United after revealing he is considering "a new challenge".

Speculation on a possible move to Real Madrid or a return to former club Juventus has been mounting since a season in which Pogba faced criticism at times for his performances with United.

The 26-year-old told reporters in Tokyo while attending an event held by sponsors Adidas that it could be time to leave Old Trafford.

Pogba was re-signed by United in the summer of 2016 from Juventus for a then world record transfer fee of $172 million.

-AAP

Sarri leaves Stamford Bridge

Chelsea have announced manager Maurizio Sarri has left the club to take charge of Italian champions Juventus.

The English Premier League club and Juventus have agreed a compensation package understood to be close to $10 million for Sarri, who signed a three-year deal with Chelsea when appointed last year.

Sarri joined Chelsea last July as a replacement for fellow Italian Antonio Conte after spending three years at Napoli.

He guided the Blues to third in the Premier League and won the Europa League, but still endured a tough campaign at Stamford Bridge with fans not convinced by his style of play.

-AAP

Sordo wins in Sardinia

Spaniard Dani Sordo won the Rally of Italy in Sardinia for Hyundai after Toyota's overnight leader Ott Tanak suffered a steering problem on the final stage and slumped to fifth.

Tanak, who still took over the championship lead from Citroen's Sebastien Ogier, had been 26.7 seconds clear and heading for his third win in a row going into the final power stage.

The Estonian, who won all six stages on yesterday's second leg, then spun and lost two minutes in the late drama.

Finland's Teemu Suninen finished second for M-Sport Ford, 13.7 seconds behind, with Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen third for Hyundai and claiming five bonus points from the power stage.

The win was Sordo's first since 2013 and second of his career.

Six-times world champion Ogier hit a rock and retired on the first day but returned to limit the damage by taking four bonus points in the power stage.

Tanak is now four points clear of Ogier in the championship.

-Reuters