Motor Sports

Reddick claims Xfinity Series title with victory — Tyler Reddick opened Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first season in retirement with a victory and closed it with a championship. Reddick won the Xfinity Series finale Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim the title in NASCAR’s development series. Reddick was perhaps a long shot behind Christopher Bell and Cole Custer, but with team owner Earnhardt watching from his pit box, he drove away from the contenders and bookended his rookie season with two massive trips to victory lane. “We did everything we had to do in the playoffs and we wound up with the championship,” said Reddick. Custer won the pole and the first two stages of the race, but his title hopes were dashed by questionable pit strategy that cost him the lead, the victory and the title. He finished second behind Reddick.

Rugby

Ireland tops New Zealand 16-9 in Dublin — The New Zealand All Blacks, the undisputed No. 1 for nine years, lost to Ireland 16-9 on Saturday for the first time in Dublin. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen immediately dubbed Ireland the favorite for the Rugby World Cup next year, but the All Blacks will not be officially losing their No. 1 ranking yet. “We were at home, and they were coming off a long series of games where they have traveled around the world a number of times. I thought the crowd were phenomenal. And that’s a lot of things stacked in our favor,” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said. The blockbuster matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 lived up to the hype. Ireland edged a heavy-duty first half, and in a more open second half produced a classic try and kept New Zealand tryless for the first time since last year’s Lions tour. At a highly charged Lansdowne Road, Ireland became the only team to beat New Zealand twice since the All Blacks won a second straight Rugby World Cup in 2015. The first time was in 2016 in Chicago, Ireland’s first win over New Zealand in 111 years.

— From wire reports