Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - South Africa's involvement in next month's Rugby Championship should be known by the end of the week.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has said he expects a decision by October 10th.

The Springboks must get government clearance to compete internationally.

Erasmus said he feared the players would be underprepared for the four-nation tournament in Australia, while this week Springboks captain Siya Kolisi also had doubts.

"We are a long way off in terms of fitness and match readiness from where we were at the World Cup," Springboks captain Siya Kolisi said following a trial game.

SA Rugby is struggling financially and it is believed they could earn as much as 25 million dollars for their participation in the Rugby Championship.

A seven team domestic competition starts in South Africa this weekend.

It will involve the four Super Rugby sides, the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, along with Pro14 side the Cheetahs and Curry Cup provincial sides the Pumas and Griquas.

Investigation into match-fixing at Roland Garros

French prosecutors say they've opened an investigation into alleged match-fixing in a women's doubles match at the French Open.

The prosecutors' office said the investigation into "fraud in an organised group" and "active and passive corruption", was related to a doubles match between Romanian pair Andreea Mitu and Patricia Mari and Russian Yana Sizikova and American Madison Brengle.

The Romanians won the match before being knocked out in the third round.

When asked about the case, the French Open organisers referred reporters to the Tennis Integrity Unit, which said it was aware of the investigation but declined to comment.

The long shutdown in global sport due to the novel coronavirus meant players were unable to earn money, potentially heightening the risk of corruption.

- Reuters

Pay concerns for cyclists

The salaries of two New Zealand cyclists in Europe are in doubt with their team in danger of folding.

Cyclingnews is reporting the Swiss team of Mikayla Harvey and Niamh Fisher-Black are still waiting on payments from title sponsor Equipe Paule Ka.

The team plans to open their bank guarantee for the second time this season to make sure their riders are paid.

The French clothing brand, Paule Ka, stepped up as sponsor after the teams previous sponsors withdrew funding amid the coronavirus.

The bank guarantee is a fund all teams pay into to make sure riders have a financial backup.

Harvey finished fifth in this year's Giro Rosa Tour of Italy, while Fisher-Black is in her first year as a professional.

- Cyclingnews

Second boat arrives for Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa's second America's Cup boat has arrived at its base in Auckland.

The Italian syndicate has immediately started assembling the foling monohull and tests are expected to start this week.

Luna Rossa plans to launch the boat by the end of the month.

Like the first boat - launched a year ago - the second hull was built at the Persico Marine shipyard in Bergamo.

The boat was transported to Auckland on a Soviet Antonov 124 plane, the biggest cargo plane in the world.

The America's Cup challenger series starts in January.

Anscombe out for another year

A major setback for the New Zealand rugby player Gareth Anscombe who is set to be out of action for a year.

The Wales and Ospreys first-five continues to have problems in his recovery from a knee injury.

The 29-year-old has not played since limping off against England at Twickenham in August 2019.

Ospreys had said he was unlikely to play in 2020 and Wales coach Wayne Pivac says he will miss the rest of the 2020-21 season.

"Gareth will miss the majority if not all of this season," said Pivac.

"To have him out for so long is not great, but he is working very hard and I have been talking to him today and he has been in the building here.

- BBC

Frenchman wins latest stage on Giro

Frenchman Arnaud Demare edged out Peter Sagan in a bunch sprint to claim victory in the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia, the final stage in Sicily.

The last 30km of the 140km stage were flat, offering opportunities for the top sprinters and it was Demare who powered across the line fractionally ahead of Sagan.

Slovakia's Sagan had to settle for second place again as he did on stage two. Italian Davide Ballerini was third.

Portugal's Joao Almeida retained the pink jersey and opened a two-second lead over Ecuadorean Jonathan Caicedo courtesy of picking up a couple of bonus points in an intermediate sprint 25km from the finish line.

Earlier in the day, pre-race favourite Geraint Thomas abandoned the event after his crash in the neutral zone on Monday left him with a fractured pelvis.

Sagan now has an incredible 30 second-place stage finishes in Grand Tours, along with 16 stage victories.

- Reuters

Changes to Warriors team

The Warriors have made a couple of changes to their side for this weekend's WNRL game against the Roosters in Parramatta.

Centre Shontelle Stowers is back from injury, hooker Michaela Peck comes onto the bench and there's also a positional switch.

Stowers was originally selected for the first-round clash against the Brisbane Broncos but was a late defection with injury.

She is named again to start in a combination which will feature a new pairing on the right edge with Stowers lining up inside Kiwi winger Madison Bartlett.

After being used in the second row in the loss to the Broncos, Bartlett has been moved to her more familiar position on the flank while veteran Hilda Peters, who was on the wing last week, has been switched to the second row.

The other change sees Peck brought onto the interchange with Teaghan Hartigan, a late replacement for Stowers last week, moving to the extended bench. Stowers and Peck are set to become the 13th and 14th players to make their debuts for the club after 12 newcomers were used last week.

Ozil to the rescue for Gunnersaurus

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has offered to pay the salary of the club's mascot Gunnersaurus.

Jerry Quy, who had a role as an away supporters liason as well as entertaining home fans at the Emirates Stadium as the green dinosaur, was recently let go by the club due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Arsenal said that the mascot was not extinct and would return once supporters were allowed back at English soccer games after coronavirus safety measures were eased, although they did not clarify whether Quy would continue in the role.

Ozil, one of the club's highest paid players but who has fallen out of favour with coach Mikel Arteta, has offered to help Quy financially to allow him to stay on.

Ozil, 31, who is under contract with Arsenal until 2021 and earns a reported $683,000 per week, has not made any appearances for the team this season and made 18 Premier League starts in the last campaign.

- Reuters