South Africa wins Rugby World Cup

South Africa won its second Rugby World Cup by beating defending champion England, 15-6, Saturday at Saint Denis, France, in a final where all the points came on penalty kicks.

Percy Montgomery was four for four on kicks for South Africa, Francois Steyn added another, and Jonny Wilkinson had two for England.

“I’m sitting here and trying not to cry,” Springboks captain John Smit said. “It’s a feeling you can’t put into words. It’s a reward for four years of dedication and hard work. England gave us a good run. But we responded well to their technical kicking.”

South Africa, which went unbeaten and averaged almost 44 points in six wins to reach the final, had routed England, 36-0, in pool play last month. England was trying to become the first champion to retain the William Webb Ellis Cup.

TENNIS

Federer reaches final of Madrid Masters

Defending champion Roger Federer will play David Nalbandian in the final of the Madrid Masters. The top-ranked Federer defeated Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4, 6-4, and Nalbandian beat third-seeded Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Federer will play for his seventh title of the season against the 25th-ranked Nalbandian, who reached his first final of the year.

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Top-ranked Justine Henin rallied to defeat Nicole Vaidisova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, and advance to the final of the Zurich Open in Switzerland. She will play Tatiana Golovin, who defeated Francesca Schiavone, 6-0, 6-4.

GOLF

Pettersson leads by one in Scottsdale

Carl Pettersson shot a six-under-par 64 and has a one-shot lead through three rounds of the Fry’s Electronics Open at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mark Hensby shot a 68 and is tied for second with Mark Weir, who shot a 65.

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Suzann Pettersen shot an even-par 72 in cold and windy conditions at Gyeongju, South Korea, to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Hana Bank KOLON Championship.

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Tom Kite moved into position for his first tour victory in his native Texas, shooting a six-under 65 for a share of the second-round lead with Mark O’Meara in the AT&T; Championship at San Antonio.

Kite is 0 for 119 in Texas on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. O’Meara, the first-round leader after a 63, shot a 68 to match Kite at 11-under 131 on the Oak Hills Country Club course.

BOXING

Sturm keeps WBA title after draw with Griffin

Germany’s Felix Sturm retained his World Boxing Assn. middleweight title, fighting to a draw with Randy Griffin of Louisville, Ky., at Halle, Germany. Both fighters traded shots nonstop for 12 rounds, standing toe-to-toe for many of them. One judge ruled the fight 114-114, while the other two had it 117-11 for Griffin and 115-114 for Sturm.

Griffin, ranked No. 1 by the WBA, never stopped moving forward and throwing punches at the favored German.

SOCCER

U.S., Mexico women play to exhibition tie

Heather O’Reilly saved the U.S. women’s soccer team from a loss to Mexico, scoring the tying goal in the second half of a 1-1 draw at Albuquerque.

O’Reilly ran down the middle of the field and slipped the ball past Sophia Perez in the 62nd minute.

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After consecutive blowout losses to the Americans in the first two games of a three-game exhibition series, Mexico came out energized this time and dominated the first half.

Mexico opened the scoring in the 56th minute on a touch-and-go play from Evelyn Lopez to Monica Ocampo.

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Dirk Kuyt scored his second penalty kick in injury time to give Liverpool a 2-1 victory over nine-man Everton, and Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea also won in the English Premier League.

Arsenal remained in first place with a 2-0 win over Bolton -- its 11th consecutive victory.

BASEBALL

Jauss denies report about Pirates job

Dodgers bench coach Dave Jauss refuted a published report that he is close to accepting a front-office position with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I have not spoken to the Pittsburgh Pirates about any position,” Jauss said. “I am the bench coach for Grady Little.”

The report, citing anonymous industry sources, said Jauss was believed to be in line to be minor league field coordinator or a special assistant to Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington.

But Jauss isn’t certain about where he’ll be next season, as he and the other members of Little’s coaching staff haven’t been told whether they’ll be offered contracts for 2008. Bill Mueller, who became the hitting coach in mid-June on an interim basis, could return to the front office.

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Site preparation for the Dodgers’ new spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz., will start Monday. Ground will be broken Oct. 29.

-- Dylan Hernandez

HORSE RACING

Golden Doc A wins at Santa Anita

Golden Doc A, a 7-1 shot, rallied from off the pace to win the $98,220 Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita. Victor Espinoza rode the 2-year-old Unusual Heat filly to the neck victory. for part owner and trainer Barry Abrams. Foxy Danseur finished second and favored Spring Awakening was third.

-- Bob Mieszerski

MISCELLANY

Dolphins put Green on injured reserve

The Miami Dolphins put quarterback Trent Green on injured reserve, shelving him for the rest of the season after his second severe concussion in 13 months.

Green, 37, said he has made no decision about playing next year. Doctors are concerned about possible long-term effects.

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Anderson Silva retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight championship, stopping Rich Franklin in the second round in Cincinnati.

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Jack Nicklaus will be presented with the 12th Roy Firestone Award at a dinner presented by the West Coast Sports Associates on Oct. 28 at the Omni hotel in Los Angeles. West Coast Sports is a nonprofit organization that provides funding for inner-city sports. For details and tickets, go to www.westcoastsports.org or call (310) 294-7179.