There was no sign of weakness from Colin Montgomerie over the front nine at Gleneagles yesterday as he stretched his lead in the Johnnie Walker Championship to three shots . . . improving from 10 under par to 14 under.

He birdied the long second and then had three more in a row from sixth. There was the chance of another at the par "ve ninth, but bunkered in two he failed to get up and down and so turned in 32.

Damien McGrane followed his second round 71 with a one over par round of 74 and lies well down the "eld at one over par.

David Higgins followed his fantastic round of 69 on Friday with a disappointing three-over-par 76 and goes into the "nal day's play at level par.

Sam Torrance, now 52 and playing his 699th tour event, came home in a superb "ve-under 32 for a 69 and seven-under aggregate.

Not going so well was Paul McGinley, the match-winning hero under Torrance's captaincy at the 2002 Ryder Cup. The Dubliner's bid to make this year's side suffered a setback with a triple-bogey seven on the 15th. He "nished with a 72 for four under. Peter Lawrie is one shot ahead of Harrington after a twounder par round of 71.

FRANCE END SOUTH AFRICA'S UNBEATEN RUN

France brought South Africa's 13-game unbeaten run at home to a grinding halt with a richlydeserved 26-36 win in front of a stunned Newlands crowd.

France opened the scoring with a try from winger Cedric Heymans. Florian Fritz added a drop-goal and Dimitri Yachvili a penalty for the visitors, but South Africa went in at half-time 12-11 thanks to four well-struck penalties from Percy Montgomery.

Montgomery opened the second half with two more penalties and then Brent Russell crossed for a try, but France responded immediately with a sublime try from Vincent Clerc who gathered a beautifullyweighted Traille grubber kick to outstrip the Springbok defence.

Then Traille sliced open the Springbok defence to slide in under the posts after 60 minutes and Yachvili's conversion took them into a deserved two-point lead.

Traille added a drop-goal and although Montgomery kicked his seventh penalty of the afternoon to set up a nailbiting finish, the French were not finished.

Clerc added his second try of the game in the 73rd minute and Yachvili's last-minute penalty put the icing on the cake for the tourists.

BELL SCORES HALF CENTURY FOR ENGLAND

Ian Bell scored his first major oneday international half-century to help England set a competitive target in the third match of the NatWest Series at the Riverside.

The batsman recorded the fourth half-century of his one-day international career, but the first against serious opposition, to help save England's stuttering innings against Sri Lanka.

Bell hit 77 off 114 balls as England reached 261 for seven in their 50 overs after stand-in captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided to bat "rst.

AGASSI AT WIMBLEDON FOR FINAL TIME

Andre Agassi has announced he will be competing at Wimbledon for the final time over the next fortnight.

The 36-year-old American is one of only five men to have won all four grand slam events, and has won eight slam titles overall, including the Australian Open four times and the US Open twice.

"It's been a lot of sacrifice trying to get myself right to come back here and enjoy this tournament for the last time, " he said. "I have given my body a good talking to and hopefully it will see me through the summer and I look forward to it ending on my home turf."

Elsewhere, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne enjoyed a winning end to her preparations for Wimbledon by beating Russia's Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 in three sets in the final at Eastbourne yesterday.

HAYDEN SNATCHES THE WIN OVER EDWARDS

American Nicky Hayden won a thrilling battle with fellow countryman Colin Edwards to snatch victory in the Dutch TT at Assen.

Edwards had led for 24 of the 26 laps on the Camel Yamaha when Hayden took the lead on the Repsol Honda. But Edwards forced his way back into the lead on the "nal lap and held the advantage going into the last chicane.

Hayden was forced wide into the gravel trap but Edwards saw his dreams of a "rst MotoGP win dashed when his bike hit the grass and he was thrown off within sight of the finish line.

Hayden managed to keep going to take only his second MotoGP win, with Japan's Shinya Nakano in second for Kawasaki and Hayden's Spanish team-mate Dani Pedrosa in third.

Reigning champion Valentino Rossi is fourth on 98 points, 46 off the lead after riding through the pain barrier in Holland.

Rossi was riding with fractured bones in his hand and ankle after crashing during practice on Thursday.

But Rossi fought bravely to finish in eighth despite starting 18th on the grid.

POMPEY MAKE AN APPROACH FOR PETROV

Portsmouth could pave the way for Stilian Petrov's exit from Celtic after opening talks with the Scottish champions over the 26-year-old midfielder who submitted a transfer request towards the end of last season, which was rejected by Parkhead bosses.

"We're having dialogue with Celtic to get him to Portsmouth, " Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric said.

NIELSEN TAKES SPOILS IN LIMERICK

Denmark's Frederik Nielsen won the International Tennis Federation Futures at Limerick Lawn yesterday. Nielsen beat Latvian Andis Juska 6-2, 6-2 to win the $US15,000 prize.

Yvonne Doyle, the Irish Federation Cup player, won the women's Premier when beating Sinead McGann, 6-0, 6-1.

KEANE ON SONG WITH KRAFTY JACK

A delighted Tholm Keane could hardly contain his excitement when he not only won his "rst Boswell Equestrian Grand Prix at West Clare today, but had owner Ronan Tynan on hand to see him do it.

Riding the tenor's Krafty Jack, the Waterford-born Keane said afterwards: "I've been knocking at the door for quite a bit, and you have no idea how delighted I am that Ronan was here to see his horse give me my first win."