Sport: The Week in Review

A CONTROVERSIAL refereeing decision brought the British Isles rugby union Test campaign off to an inauspicious start in Christchurch when a Grant Fox penalty gave the All Blacks a 20-18 lead in the penultimate minute of the game. Controversy off the field surfaced when the England lock, Wade Dooley, who had returned home for his father's funeral was told by the home unions committee that he could not return and compete, even though the New Zealand union had offered to fly him back.

With the fall-out from their historic defeat by the United States still descending on them, a rejigged England football team recovered some self-confidence in their second United States Cup match. Taking the lead against Brazil through a David Platt header, England defended tenaciously although Marcio Santos's 76th-minute equaliser denied the debutant goalkeeper, Tim Flowers, a clean sheet.

Terry Venables lost his fight to remain chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur when the High Court ruled that the Spurs board had the right to fire and hire whoever they wished.

Warming up for Wimbledon, Michael Stich, the 1991 men's singles champion and sixth seed this year, had a far from testing time in the Stella Artois Championships at Queen's Club when he beat his doubles partner, Wayne Ferreira, 6-3, 6-4 in 57 minutes - the shortest final in the tournament's 16-year history.

Alain Prost reclaimed the lead in the world drivers' championship after winning the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal when Ayrton Senna was forced to retire. James Hunt, the last British driver to win the Formula One title before Nigel Mansell, died aged 45 after a heart attack.

On the first day of the second Test at Lord's the England cricket team were put under pressure as Michael Slater and Mark Taylor recorded a stand of 260, Australia's third-highest opening partnership. Slater's career-best 152 in his second Test was his maiden Test century.