• Czech Masters: Edoardo Molinari two ahead of Thomas Pieters;
• Sunday's Super League previews;
• Jonny Bairstow happy with England wicketkeeper-batsman role but is he wasted batting at seven?;
• Tough Six Nations will help Scotland now, says Stuart McInally;

Welcome to the Daily Sports News

Czech Masters: Edoardo Molinari two ahead of Thomas Pieters

Edoardo Molinari continued his bogey-free start to the week to open a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the D+D Real Czech Masters.

The former Ryder Cup player posted a second successive 66 at Albatross Golf Resort to get to 12 under and two ahead of nearest challenger Thomas Pieters, who finished his second-round 67 with three consecutive birdies.

"I'm definitely playing differently on the course and giving myself lots of chances," Molinari said. "Even today, I could have made a few putts more. I'm playing very consistently."

---

Starting the day a shot off the pace, Molinari followed on from his bogey-free opening round by picking up a shot at the par-five first and birdieing the fourth on his way to reaching the turn in 34.

Molinari rolled in a six-foot birdie at the 10th and fired his approach at the par-four 14th to tap-in range, with the Italian then converting from eight feet at 15th and added another from close range at the last to set the clubhouse target.

---

Playing in the group ahead of Molinari, Pieters birdied the first and 11th before making a charge up the leaderboard over the closing stretch, making a six-footer at the 16th and holing from long range at the next and finishing with a third straight birdie at the last.

Robert Karlsson shares third spot alongside Matthias Schwab, Sam Horsfield and Hugo Leon, with Scotland's Liam Johnston and England's Lee Slattery in the group on eight under.

Sunday's Super League previews

Team news for Sunday’s Super League games as Hull Kingston Rovers take on relegation rivals Wakefield Trinity and Huddersfield Giants host Castleford Tigers.

Hull KR vs Wakefield Trinity (3pm)

Chris Chester has called on his Wakefield Trinity players to concentrate solely on themselves ahead of Sunday's showdown with relegation rivals Hull Kingston Rovers at KCOM Craven Park.
Both teams are hovering just above the Super League relegation place and come into this match on the back of defeats, with Wakefield going down 26-16 at home to Rovers' cross-city rivals Hull FC last Sunday.

This week's hosts were beaten 36-18 on the road at play-off contenders Wigan Warriors last week as well, but Trinity head coach Chester is only interested in making sure his side are focused on what they need to do.

"We've banned any talk about what other teams are doing," Chester said.

"We're probably guilty of trying to play too much and we're let down by a couple of individuals not playing their best rugby at the moment."
The visitors were dealt a blow in the build-up to this match with the news talismanic prop David Fifita is out for the rest of the season due to injury, but welcome loan signing Chris Green into the 19-man squad for his debut in Fifita's place.

Jordy Crowther returns after a short lay-off in place of Pauli Pauli as well, while Adam Tangata and Morgan Escare are included again after pleasing Chester with their displays on their respective bows last week.

Rovers head coach Tony Smith has Craig Hall, Mitch Garbutt and Kane Linnett available again after missing the defeat to Wigan. Veteran half-back Danny McGuire could feature against Wakefield as well.

Smith was pleased with the effort his side put in against the Warriors, but knows they must cut out costly mistakes if they are to ease their relegation fears.

"Our effort was good, I can't fault it but there were far too many errors that cost us," Smith said. "Those gave Wigan the impetus to score tries at the end.

"We have to learn lessons and we usually do. We were very competitive - but a couple of less errors at crucial times and we may have come away with something else."

Hull KR 19-man squad:

Adam Quinlan, Craig Hall, Ben Crooks, Jimmy Keinhorst, Ryan Shaw, Danny McGuire, Robbie Mulhern, Mose Masoe, Joel Tomkins, Weller Hauraki, Mitch Garbutt, Chris Atkin, Danny Addy, Kane Linnett, Josh Drinkwater, Daniel Murray, Dean Hadley, Jez Litten, Kyle Trout

Wakefield Trinity 19-man squad:

Chris Annakin, Joe Arundel, James Batchelor, Danny Brough, Jordy Crowther, Anthony England, Morgan Escare, Chris Green, Ryan Hampshire, Ben Jones-Bishop, Danny Kirmond, Craig Kopczak, Reece Lyne, Jacob Miller, Tyler Randell, Adam Tangata, Kelepi Tanginoa, Bill Tupou, Kyle Wood

Huddersfield Giants vs Castleford Tigers (3pm)

Chester Butler will have to wait for his Huddersfield Giants debut after not being named in the 19-man squad for the visit of Castleford Tigers on Sunday.

The 23-year-old, who joined the Giants on loan from Championship side Halifax ahead of making the permanent move to John Smith's Stadium for next season, was in line for a possible appearance this week.

However, head coach Simon Woolford has included Sam Hewitt and Adam Walne in the squad for the Castleford match. They replace Joe Wardle and Matty English, who is left out due to concussion protocol.
The Giants are seeking two points to help them move away from the Super League relegation place, with last week's 32-12 defeat away to Salford Red Devils having left them hovering just above the danger zone.

"The effort from the guys was tremendous, but we didn't make it easy on ourselves," Woolford said.

"It's tough for everyone involved at the club - each week we are playing for our lives. Obviously, it's not ideal [where we are in the league], but we competed and were in it until the 70th minute.
"We knew we had to be somewhere near our best, but with the ball we didn't help ourselves with too many errors."

In contrast, Castleford have their sights set on a place in the play-offs and kept those top-five hopes alive after battling to a 20-6 win at home to relegation-threatened London Broncos last Saturday.

Head coach Daryl Powell has made just one change to his 19-man squad from that match, with Greg Minikin returning in place of Chris Clarkson.

It took a golden-point drop-goal from Peter Mata'utia to separate the sides at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle in June when Castleford won 27-26, but the Giants were 20-18 victors when the Tigers last visited Huddersfield in April.

Tough Six Nations will help Scotland now, says Stuart McInally

"I actually think the Six Nations was really good for us in terms of allowing us to blood players and get some of the younger guys some more experience. Those guys will be better off for that now"

Stuart McInally believes Scotland's Six Nations growing pains will help ensure that they stand tall at next month's Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Head coach Gregor Townsend was forced to turn to a crop of young and inexperienced players earlier this year as a spate of injuries wrecked his championship plans.
There were some painful lessons along the way as they lost consecutive Tests to Ireland, France and Wales before their dramatic final-day draw with England at Twickenham.
McInally, who will skipper the side as they kick-off their build-up to Japan 2019 against France in Nice on Saturday (kick-off 8pm BST), believes that the emergence of a new generation will make the frustrations worthwhile.

"I actually think the Six Nations was really good for us in terms of allowing us to blood players and get some of the younger guys some more experience," said McInally.

"Those guys will be better off for that now. They've come through some tough games in the Six Nations.

"They have been blooded in now and guys who maybe only had a handful of caps are now into double figures. That is only a good thing for them and a good thing for the team.

"The great thing about our squad right now is that everybody is fit so hopefully over the next four games we'll get a real true reflection of where we're at."

This weekend's clash with Les Bleus on the Riviera is the first of four Tests lined up by Townsend as he looks to get his men in shape for the gruelling conditions they are set to face in the Far East.

The quartet of Tests will also provide a crucial gauge of how certain individuals are shaping up.

Nick Grigg, Kyle Steyn, Henry Pyrgos and Gary Graham have already been told they will not be on the plane to Japan as things stand as Townsend looks to streamline down to a final 31-man squad.

The tension will only be ramped up ahead of announcement of the final cut on September 3 but McInally believes most of the squad are doing their best not to dwell on whether they will be in or out.

"I think everyone is just focusing on the game," said the Edinburgh forward. "If you look too far ahead and think about selection that can sometimes impair you.

"We're looking to try out some different combinations this weekend and see what works and what doesn't.

"But it's still a Test match and we're representing the whole of Scotland so we'll be treating it like any other international and looking to win it.
"It's been intense over the last few weeks in camp, especially the closer that we've got to playing games.

"Some players have obviously been cut from the squad so there is a very real scenario now that we'll be reduced again to a squad of 31. However, we've got four Test matches and that will be the time to impress."

Scotland:

1. Stuart Hogg,
2. Darcy Graham,
3. Huw Jones,
4. Duncan Taylor,
5. Byron McGuigan,
6. Adam Hastings,
7. Ali Price,
8. Jamie Bhatti,
9. Stuart McInally (C),
10. Simon Berghan,
11. Ben Toolis,
12. Grant Gilchrist,
13. John Barclay (VC),
14. Jamie Ritchie,
15. Josh Strauss.

Replacements:

1. George Turner,
2. Gordon Reid,
3. Zander Fagerson,
4. Scott Cummings,
5. Matt Fagerson,
6. George Horne,
7. Rory Hutchinson,
8. Blair Kinghorn.

Jonny Bairstow happy with England wicketkeeper-batsman role but is he wasted batting at seven?

'He's too good a batsman to be hiding down at seven'

Are Jonny Bairstow's batting talents wasted at seven in the order?

The Yorkshireman's position and role in England's line-up fell back under scrutiny after the home side were bundled out for 258 in the first innings of the second Test at Lord's.
Bairstow has six Test hundreds to his name - the most recent of which came batting at three against Sri Lanka last November when Ben Foakes had the gloves - and his Test and first-class averages are the second-best in the side behind skipper Joe Root.
The 29-year-old refused to be drawn on whether he should bat higher up the order and relinquish the gloves to avoid an overbearing workload when the question was put to him by Nasser Hussain.

"Rooty has said he wants me to keep and bat at seven now and I'm really happy with the way that my keeping has been going - I've been working really, really hard on that over a long period of time," said Bairstow. "That's the end of it, really. I'm happy to be doing that role in the side.

"There aren't many people who have kept wicket and batted in the top five. Obviously we are fortunate that we've got some all-rounders who can bat at five, six and seven and beyond."

Asked what is the highest position that he could bat and keep, Bairstow replied laughing: "I've got no idea! I'll leave that to the pundits to discuss. I'm not getting involved in those discussions."

Former England captain ANDREW STRAUSS told Sky Sports: "He's very defensive about the idea of losing the gloves. The work he's put into his wicketkeeping is something that he's very proud of.

"When he first came into the side there was a lot of criticism about his wicketkeeping. Now you don't hear much of that - he's really improved.
"I happen to agree with a lot of other people, given the current state of our batting line-up, that he's too good a batsman to be hiding down at seven. He could bat as high as four but I think five is a great position for him.

"Whether he keeps the gloves or not, it's got to be what's in the best interests of the team - that has got to be put ahead of anything that he'd like to do. Jonny Bairstow is one of the best batsmen in England. He's very hard to bowl at and is always a very positive type of player."

SIR IAN BOTHAM said it could be a 'win-win' situation for England if Bairstow did hand over the gloves.

"I'm absolutely certain that Jos Buttler would have a totally different approach to batting if he was batting at seven rather than five.

"He'd look at what's coming in behind him and he'd actually take the game to the bowlers, which I think is when he plays his best cricket.

"So it could be a win-win situation. I sort of understand why Jonny doesn't want to do it. He's worked extremely hard on his keeping but in the interests of the team in this moment, I think he needs to go and bat five."