World Sport Briefs

Collins back in All Blacks line-up MELBOURNE – New Zealand flanker Jerry Collins has recovered from a heel injury and will take his place in the pack for the second test against France in Wellington on Saturday.

All Blacks coach Graham Henry made six changes to the side that routed the inexperienced French party 42-11 at Auckland’s Eden Park last weekend. “We are looking for more improvement this week,” Henry said in a statement yesterday.”Our execution can be better and we can handle stoppages better as well.Gerrard and Carragher sign new deals LONDON – Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have given manager Rafael Benitez a post-Champions League boost by signing new four-year contracts with the club.Club captain Gerrard and vice-skipper Carragher have signed deals which extend their stay at Anfield until at least 2011.Carragher told the club’s official website, www.liverpoolfc.tv: “I am very pleased.Obviously we are both local lads and I’ve always said I wanted to stay here for the rest of my career.Gerrard added: “I’m really pleased too.The negotiations have gone really smoothly.’French Spiderman’ expelled from China SHANGHAI – An intrepid climber dubbed the “French Spiderman” was expelled from China yesterday after five days in prison for illegally climbing the country’s tallest building, a French official said.Alain Robert was arrested Thursday after having scaled and descended the 430-metre Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, dressed in his trademark Spiderman costume and without any ropes or safety equipment.Robert was put on an Air France plane which left Shanghai airport yesterday, an official from the French consulate here said.The climb, which had not been approved by Chinese authorities, brought traffic to a standstill and attracted a large crowd of onlookers near the 88-storey tower, many snapping pictures with their mobile phones.France name newcomers for All Blacks WELLINGTON – France have made four changes to their team for the second Test against New Zealand here on Saturday.Narbonne inside centre Lionel Mazars and Bourgoin prop Olivier Sourgens will make their Test debuts.Montpellier reserve loose forward Fulgence Ouedraogo is also uncapped.Mazars replaces the injured Jean-Phillipe Grandclaude and Sourgens takes over from Nicolas Mas in the team named yesterday.Winger Julien Laharrague dropped for the opening 42-11 defeat after being late for training comes in for Benjamin Thiery, and Damien Chouly starts at blindside flanker ahead of Gregory Le Corvec.Bramble and Sibierski join Wigan LONDON – Wigan have made a double raid on Newcastle United to snap up centre-back Titus Bramble and French forward Antoine Sibierski on free transfers, the club said Monday.The 25-year-old Bramble was manager Chris Hutchings’ first signing since he took over from Paul Jewell as Wigan coach last month.And he wasted little time in adding to it with the capture of Sibierski.Bramble, who was released by new Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce last month, signed for three years while Sibierski penned a two-year deal.Ranieri appointed new Juventus coach ROME – Claudio Ranieri was appointed as the new coach of newly promoted Juventus on Monday.The 55-year-old, who helped Parma retain their Serie A status this season and previously spent four years in England with Chelsea, replaces Didier Deschamps.Former Juve star Deschamps quit on May 26 with one year on his contract left having guided the Turin club back into Serie A after one season in Italy’s second division.Nampa-AFP and Reuters”We are looking for more improvement this week,” Henry said in a statement yesterday.”Our execution can be better and we can handle stoppages better as well.Gerrard and Carragher sign new deals LONDON – Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have given manager Rafael Benitez a post-Champions League boost by signing new four-year contracts with the club.Club captain Gerrard and vice-skipper Carragher have signed deals which extend their stay at Anfield until at least 2011.Carragher told the club’s official website, www.liverpoolfc.tv: “I am very pleased.Obviously we are both local lads and I’ve always said I wanted to stay here for the rest of my career.Gerrard added: “I’m really pleased too.The negotiations have gone really smoothly.’French Spiderman’ expelled from China SHANGHAI – An intrepid climber dubbed the “French Spiderman” was expelled from China yesterday after five days in prison for illegally climbing the country’s tallest building, a French official said.Alain Robert was arrested Thursday after having scaled and descended the 430-metre Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, dressed in his trademark Spiderman costume and without any ropes or safety equipment.Robert was put on an Air France plane which left Shanghai airport yesterday, an official from the French consulate here said.The climb, which had not been approved by Chinese authorities, brought traffic to a standstill and attracted a large crowd of onlookers near the 88-storey tower, many snapping pictures with their mobile phones.France name newcomers for All Blacks WELLINGTON – France have made four changes to their team for the second Test against New Zealand here on Saturday.Narbonne inside centre Lionel Mazars and Bourgoin prop Olivier Sourgens will make their Test debuts.Montpellier reserve loose forward Fulgence Ouedraogo is also uncapped.Mazars replaces the injured Jean-Phillipe Grandclaude and Sourgens takes over from Nicolas Mas in the team named yesterday.Winger Julien Laharrague dropped for the opening 42-11 defeat after being late for training comes in for Benjamin Thiery, and Damien Chouly starts at blindside flanker ahead of Gregory Le Corvec.Bramble and Sibierski join Wigan LONDON – Wigan have made a double raid on Newcastle United to snap up centre-back Titus Bramble and French forward Antoine Sibierski on free transfers, the club said Monday.The 25-year-old Bramble was manager Chris Hutchings’ first signing since he took over from Paul Jewell as Wigan coach last month.And he wasted little time in adding to it with the capture of Sibierski.Bramble, who was released by new Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce last month, signed for three years while Sibierski penned a two-year deal.Ranieri appointed new Juventus coach ROME – Claudio Ranieri was appointed as the new coach of newly promoted Juventus on Monday.The 55-year-old, who helped Parma retain their Serie A status this season and previously spent four years in England with Chelsea, replaces Didier Deschamps.Former Juve star Deschamps quit on May 26 with one year on his contract left having guided the Turin club back into Serie A after one season in Italy’s second division.Nampa-AFP and Reuters