Saturdays Test with Australia at Dublins Aviva Stadium.Best wi

Evergreen Ireland captain Rory Best has been hailed for producing the best rugby of his career ahead of his 100th cap.The 34-year-old hooker might be Irelands elder statesman but continues to scale new heights, according to flanker Josh van der Flier. Ulster stalwart Best should become just Irelands fifth player to win 100 caps in Saturdays Test with Australia at Dublins Aviva Stadium.Best will join Brian ODriscoll, Ronan OGara, Paul OConnell and John Hayes in the century club, amid a ringing endorsement of his enduring qualities.Van der Flier said: Rorys brilliant. He just seems to be getting better and better with age, it doesnt seem to bother him at all. It looks like hes playing the best rugby of his career. Hes a brilliant leader, a great captain; I love playing under him.You can see in the way we play how much he inspires us. Hes an excellent speaker, hes very good at motivating us as players, and the most important thing is that he delivers on the pitch. Thats what counts most, and hes a great leader.Fast-improving Leinster flanker van der Flier demonstrated his Test suitability with another potent display despite Irelands 21-9 defeat to New Zealand on Saturday. The 23-year-old back-rower slotted in after CJ Stander suffered a head injury, and stood out for his aggressive line-breaking abilities.The four-cap loose forward will be in the frame to start against Australia on Saturday, and expects another canny build-up from captain Best. Best has at times been seen to step back and allow fellow senior stars to produce telling team-talks, to mix up his captaincy approach around his own tub-thumping rhetoric.Van der Flier admitted that flexibility is greatly appreciated among Joe Schmidts Test squad.Sometimes as a captain other senior players will do all the talking and all Rory needs to say is thats it lads, lets go, said Van der Flier. Sometimes its that but also at other times well need a good talking-to. Hes very good at reading the situation, hes a good leader in that way. Taylor Rapp Jersey Large . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Custom Rams T-shirts . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. http://www.customramsjersey.com/ . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Authentic Custom Rams Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. Wholesale Custom Rams Shirts . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. The Western Bulldogs have shown their fighting spirit to return to the AFL winners list, defeating North Melbourne by 14 points at Etihad Stadium.In an ill-tempered contest between two finals-bound teams, the Kangaroos targeted Marcus Bontempelli but the Dogs and their young star prevailed, winning 9.7 (61) to 7.5 (47).The 20-year-old might have expected some attention from North after calling out Lindsay Thomas for a crude tackle on Lachie Hunter in their earlier meeting this year.He was roughed up before the first bounce and found himself in the middle of melees at quarter-time and halftime.Bontempelli wore the jumper punches and the bumps well, responding with a best-afield performance (15 kicks, nine tackles and a goal) in a strong team performance to snap a two-game losing streak.The win both keeps alive the Bulldogs top-four ambitions and delivers a hammer blow to North Melbournes own hopes.The Kangaroos are likely to be two wins outside the top four by rounds end and must play the top three clubs - Hawthorn, Sydney and GWS Giants - in their final three fixtures.Much could depend on an injury to key tall Ben Brown, who left the match early in the second quarter after hurting his already-strapped left knee.North went almost an hour without a goal after Brown departed.Already missing forward Jarrad Waite, the Kangaroos looked toothless when the mop-haired Tasmanian went down.In contrast, the slow-starting Bulldogs warrmed into the contest and had plenty of routes to goal, with nine different goalkickers on a low-scoring night.ddddddddddddEaston Wood was super in defence for the Bulldogs, with Jason Johannisen full of run.North mounted a challenge in the third term only for Jed Anderson - who was earlier reported for a hit on Lin Jong - to miss a simple set shot that would have brought them within two points.Less than a minute later, Lachie Hunter (21 possessions) kicked a fine running goal to keep the Dogs on top.In his 100th AFL match, Jamie Macmillan was North Melbournes best.The sour note for Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was yet another injury, a concussion to Clay Smith that ended his night after 10 minutes.Beveridge said it went without saying he was proud of his team.They were enormous tonight, our boys, he said.Showed a lot of heart. It was a great defensive effort to keep North Melbourne to that score.Twenty-two really solid contributors.North Melbourne lost Scott Thompson in the final term to a groin injury.Roos coach Brad Scott said they had their chances but made too many errors.When you dominate parts of the game - disposals - but dont score and get scored against, youre doing something wrong, he said.We over-possessed the ball under pressure ... on balance they deserved their victory tonight. ' ' '