France seeks payback against Springboks and All Blacks face Lions-packed Scotland

Two years has not been long enough for France's scars to heal from losing in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.

A titanic tussle with South Africa became an instant classic in a heaving Stade de France. The Springboks edged it 29-28 and went on to win the trophy that the French thought was finally going to be theirs. They'd cherished home advantage, won their previous 18 home games, and talismanic captain Antoine Dupont was cleared to play with a broken cheekbone.

“It was our World Cup and they came and stole it off us. It was such a great game,” scrumhalf Maxime Lucu told European Professional Club Rugby this week. “We can't wait to take them on. They're back-to-back world champions. Everything's set up perfectly for a great game.”

France owns the Six Nations title and the party-pooping Springboks are the back-to-back Rugby Championship winners, and back in Paris on Saturday for the first time since 2023. The Boks have 11 survivors and France seven.

Springboks scrumhalf Cobus Reinach started in the quarterfinal and starts again on Saturday, just months after finishing five years in France playing for Montpellier. He understands the French.

“Their culture is very emotional,” Reinach said. “With 2023 and all of the history behind us now the emotion is going to be there, and the French with emotion are dangerous. It is something we have to stop, and stop early.”

The Boks do it more often than not. France has beaten South Africa only once in 16 years and not in Paris in 20 years. To Fabien Galthié, coaching France since 2019, these Springboks are the biggest test on his watch: “We've never played a team this strong.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand's 120-year unbeaten record against Scotland is on the line at Murrayfield. New Zealand is on a Grand Slam tour and Scotland has been the scene of eight attempts at a clean sweep dating to 1906, including Wilson Whineray's 1964 All Blacks.

England hosts Fiji, Ireland welcomes Japan, and Italy tackles Australia in Udine for the first time since the historic first win over the Wallabies in 2022 that cost Dave Rennie his job.

On Sunday, Wales face Argentina unburdened by an 18-match losing streak that ended in July in Japan.

After thrashing Japan 61-7, South Africa brought in props Boan Venter and Thomas du Toit, forwards Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit and fullback Damian Willemse. Captain Siya Kolisi plays his 100th test.

France has dropped No. 8 Gregory Alldritt for the 12-cap Mickaël Guillard. Props Baptiste Erdocio and Régis Montagne win only their third caps with backup from World Cup players Jean-Baptiste Gros and Dorian Aldegheri. Dupont, recovering from a torn ACL, has been in camp and giving advice.

New Zealand has promoted Leicester Fainga'anuku, Wallace Sititi and Josh Lord off the bench and picked Billy Proctor in the reserves ahead of Rieko Ioane and Anton Lienert-Brown.

With the international window reopened, Scotland has made 11 changes to the side which drop-kicked the United States 85-0 and picked 11 Lions but dumped record try-scoring winger Duhan van der Merwe for Kyle Steyn.

England has given the steering wheel to Fin Smith and slotted Marcus Smith at fullback after Freddie Steward injured a hand in the 25-7 win over Australia. Center Ollie Lawrence plays his first test since a ruptured Achilles tendon in March. Ellis Genge captains while regular skipper Maro Itoje is on the bench for the first time since 2017.

Coach Mick Byrne gauges Fiji's energy by how much noise the players make after a really hard training. On Thursday, “It was really loud.” Caleb Muntz directed Fiji's upset win at Twickenham in 2023 and was back at flyhalf.

Munster center Tom Farrell will become the oldest back to debut for Ireland in the professional era. “He's at the ripe old age of 32 but playing his best rugby and 100% deserves a shot,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell said. Tadhg Beirne is starting after his red card against the All Blacks was overturned because a judiciary decided his shoulder-to-head contact "did not meet the red card threshold."

Japan has rested No. 8 Michael Leitch, lock Jack Cornelsen and scrumhalf Shinobu Fujiwara after the heavy loss to South Africa and picked Faulua Makisi, Epineri Uluiviti and Naoto Saito.

Australia has recalled flyhalf Carter Gordon and flanker Pete Samu for their first tests since 2023, hooker Matt Faessler, and starting flanker Tom Hooper ahead of Rob Valetini. Len Ikitau was available but being rested.

Italy is without injured back-rowers Sebastian Negri and captain Michele Lamaro and will be led by center Juan Ignacio Brex.

Louis Rees-Zammit is being eased back into test rugby off the bench by Wales on Sunday. Rees-Zammit returned from an 18-month tryout in the NFL but the winger hasn't played for a month because of an ankle injury. Leicester flanker Olly Cracknell is set to make a test debut at 31 as Steve Tandy becomes the first permanent coach of Wales from Wales in 18 years.

Another injury to Tomas Albornoz has gifted Geronimo Prisciantelli a second start at flyhalf for Argentina after an impressive debut against South Africa in the Rugby Championship finale. Regular back-rower Marcos Kremer is at lock.

France's back three of Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey under the barrage of high kicks expected from South Africa.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Heralded as the next big thing, the flyhalf has been riding a dominant pack in South Africa's last four tests to show off his bag of tricks.

Fainga'anuku and Sititi. Both made a difference off the bench in the All Blacks' 26-13 win over Ireland in Chicago. Fainga'anuku has returned from France's Toulon wiser and more physical. Sititi, last year's world breakthrough player, has overcome a year disrupted by right knee surgery and a high ankle injury.

South Africa loosehead prop Ox Nche and New Zealand midfielder Jordie Barrett have returned home after both damaged their ankle and knee last weekend.

Italy captain Michele Lamaro suffered a right thigh injury in training and has returned to his Treviso club to rehab.

All Blacks captain Scott Barrett is taking a non-playing sabbatical after this month. His Crusaders club confirmed the news in announcing their 2026 Super Rugby squad.

Sabbaticals are granted to veteran All Blacks, and Barrett's brother Jordie used his to play at Leinster last season. Rieko Ioane is joining Leinster after the current tour.

But 31-year-old Scott will have a break from playing and confirm later when he intends to return. The All Blacks tour South Africa in August. Scott isn't facing Scotland on Saturday; he was ruled out by a gashed leg that needed 12 stitches, suffered in the win against Ireland in Chicago.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

New Zealand's Wallace Satiti waves following the rugby international between the All Blacks and Ireland in Chicago, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

South Africa's Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scores a try during the Quilter Nations Series match against Japan at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.

Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.

He said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the vital waterway that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the strait open will rest with countries that rely on it. Gulf states rely on the waterway for both exports and imports, including food, and 20 percent of the world's oil supply flows through it.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. He insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran and America has having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkey during the conflict.

“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.

He added: “We do not have any faith that negotiations with the U.S. will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”

Asked about a possible ground offensive by the U.S., Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”

“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi reportedly told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a preliminary count early Wednesday 21 people were also wounded in the strike in Jnah.

The strike came without warning, and Israel did not declare the target. When it does, it often says it is targeting operatives from the Hezbollah militant group.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene to search for victims.

Israel’s military warned the public Wednesday a missile was incoming from Yemen, yet another attack from the country’s Houthi rebels who have just entered the war on Iran’s side.

Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast.

The warning, just around dawn, broke a long lull, more than 19 hours since the last time Israel’s military warned of an incoming missile launch from Iran, and more than six hours from the last alarms in the northern part of Israel, which in past days received near-constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A drone attack by Iran and its allies hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, authorities said.

The state-run KUNA news agency said the attack early Wednesday sparked a “large fire” at the airport.

It said there were no immediate injuries from the attack and firefighters were working to control the blaze.

Kuwait International Airport has been attacked before by Iran during the war. The KUNA report suggested the attack may have been launched by Iranian-supported militias in Iraq with Tehran’s support.

In another strike, Bahrain said early on Wednesday morning that it was working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.

Israel said early Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.

The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a picture of the factory in Tehran, writing on X: “The war criminals in Israel are now openly and unashamedly bombing pharmaceutical companies.”

Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.

Both Israel and the United States have warned in recent years Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions. The U.S. previously pointed to Iranian academic research studying how Russia likely used a fentanyl derivative during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage seizure by Chechen militants.

Israel alleged Tofigh Daru supplied fentanyl to an advanced research institute in Tehran, known by its acronym SPND. The U.S alleges SPND has conducted research and testing that could be applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices and other weapons.

The United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said Wednesday.

Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on their websites.

Entry rules can sometimes be opaque in the autocratic United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, the three airlines agreed on the order. It said holders of 10-year Golden Visa residency permits could still enter the country.

Authorities have offered no official comment. But Dubai has already shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.

Residents and Israeli security forces inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A man inspect the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed near the West Bank village of Marda, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hits a building near the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)