"well, i can, so i'm going to." and if there were no rules in place, it would be anarchy. this just seems like another massive super spreader event that's been endorsed by the government. they don't want to be the people who cancel christmas. i think it's a big mistake. part of me‘s really looking forward to christmas, because i'm a big kid and i love christmas. i'm buzzing for it. honestly, the one thing that has been getting me through this entire year is, christmas is coming. well, thank you to all of you for your time and your opinions. however you celebrate, i wish you a peaceful, a merry, and of course, a safe christmas. mark easton there. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. thank you very much, sophie. a mild and windy day today. some parts of the country, very wet as well. we have seen river levels rising, there has been some flooding, and we still

have an amber rain warning from the met office today across south wales in south—west england, with further disruption. it is wet this evening, the wet weather not far away from northern ireland, heading into northern england and scotland. the rain pushes eastwards overnight, allowing clearer skies and showers, not just for northern allowing clearer skies and showers, notjust for northern ireland, but eventually into scotland, wales and parts of northern england later. still windy overnight, but mild, temperatures 8—10. the weekend will probably look a bit different. the mild but wet weather is pushed away, and around that area of low pressure, sunshine and showers feeding. the air getting cooler as the weekend goes on. we start with rain left over from overnight. we get bands of showers rattling in quite quickly. these are more frequent and heavy out towards the west, but we will see those out on the brisk south to south—westerly winds. sunshine in between the showers. a mild day again tomorrow,

not quite as mild as today, but a healthy 9—12 in the afternoon. cooler as we had to sunday. more sunshine and showers. the wet and windy weather probably in the north—west. elsewhere, showers become fewer. more sunshine, and the winds gradually ease, but temperatures will be a little lower on sunday. rain arriving in the south—west by the end of the day. the first few days of next week look wet and windy at times, bringing the risk of further flooding, butjust in time for christmas, it turns briefly colder and drier. thank goodness for that! thank goodness for that! thank you. that's all from the bbc news at six, so goodbye from me. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'mjohn watson. i'm john watson. our headlines out

about the world's best — lucy bronze voted women's player of the year, the first english footballer to win fifa's top award. just sat in this chair this night —— last night. got up at seven o'clock this morning, just another normal day. we hearfrom england's world cup winning captain katy daly—mclean on why she's retiring from international rugby. and also coming up... we hearfrom dame katherine grainger who warns medals could be affected as uk sport announces its next round of olympic funding. and trying to stop the unstoppable — callum smith on facing canelo alvarez this weekend. good evening. lucy bronze is no stranger to silverware — winner of a champions league, league and cup treble

with lyon earlier this year before returning to manchester city, where she won the fa cup in november — voted the best player in women's football at last night's prestigious fifa awards. she's been speaking to sarah mulkerinns about her return to the women's super league this season, her hopes for england and global recognition. backin back in 2017, lucy bronze left at manchester city to play with the best in france. she was already a brilliant player but wanted to win a champions league title. she also to learn to grow to push herself as a player. while that decision has paid off, and the years since, the awards just keep rolling and. off, and the years since, the awards just keep rolling andlj off, and the years since, the awards just keep rolling and. i think once i get the award and have hands on it, then that'll probably sink in a little bit more. literally sat in the shared just last night, got

home, went to bed, got up at seven o'clock this morning and went to training. just another normal day. i don't look gets really sinking in, but maybe over christmas when i have time to sit down and relax and really think about the whole year and what happened and finishing off with this trophy. i'm going to be quite content, i think. we spoke about you going to leon to push yourself. now you're back here, how do you reflect on that time? initially, when i was going, i wa nted initially, when i was going, i wanted to be successful, be on the winning team. i got that but i think i've gotten so much more than i really expected i would. i think i've always been quite headstrong to know this is mean, just being totally confident —— this is me.

feeling like myself and i think lyon really brought that out. and thanks to the girls that were around me, some of the best players in the world. so humble, and i really took more from that three years experience than i ever expected. now i'm so excited that i get to bring all that back to the player i am now and try and help city improve and be successful and get better and better. i want to push more than everfor england. better. i want to push more than ever for england. where do you feel, having had that experience in france, where do you feel manchester city is and also the wsl? the wsl right now i think it's probably the best league in the world. because of the talent that's come in this year more so the talent that's come in this year more so than any other year, specifically the american talent.

notjust at specifically the american talent. not just at city, specifically the american talent. notjust at city, but specifically the american talent. not just at city, but across the teams. i think those teams could compete. we could be a team like lyon. they could win as well. we are at that level, but i don't think any tea m at that level, but i don't think any team in the world right now can really sta nd team in the world right now can really stand there and say we're at the same level. what drives you ain? the same level. what drives you again? for me, it's constantly wanting to win these trophies as a team. got my eyes on so many champions league ‘s again, we'd love to do that with city. when i first started out playing, that was my goal. it still is my goal now because i still haven't completed it. i've done all these other things along the way. winning the league, winning cups, but yeah, getting a hands—on trophy for england ——

getting my hands on a trophy for england would be the best in the world. ball 2020 hasn't been the best year for most, you can't say the same for lucy. she is back from france here at manchester city. she's a different player, ready to lead. she's also ready to win. she has won the fa cup already, but there is no doubt there is a lot more to come for lucy bronze. her award last night demonstrates that. and the netherlands coach sarina wiegman, who replaces phil neville as england boss next year, was named women's coach of the year. and no surprise, jurgen klopp won the men's award for a second successive season, following liverpool's premier league success. lam happy i am happy about it. it's a special thing from my coaches and me. they are buzzing. actually, if you would have asked me, are you the world's best coast? i would have said nope. if you would have asked me, do you have the world best coaches around,

i would have said yes. it's all good to have more important things in the world, but it's a nice one. yes indeed. no stranger to silverware herself, a world cup winner with england, eight six nations grand slam titles, fly half katy daley—mclean's announced her retirement from international rugby. having played in four world cups and with another on the horizon next year, sara 0rchard caught up her to find out why she's not planning on making that five. when you see black—and—white, just the amount of time away really can... alsojust the amount of time away really can... also just thought about what a world cup beer looks like and what it requires. —— world cup year. i've done four cycles so i know you have to be in it. i don't want to be away from her this long. 13 years as a senior england rugby player, and the

thought of not having to do one on the 4th of january thought of not having to do one on the 4th ofjanuary next yearjust literally feels... i'm going to be sending the girls pictures of me on that day. my story doesn't get any better than this. i've had some amazing opportunities that i'm so grateful for and, and the fact that i get to say i'm done is probably pretty rare. i also do feel very grateful that i'm in a place where i can do that. this is 100% my decision, there's nothing behind it. it's literallyjust me saying if i can't guarantee my team—mates i'm 100% in, then i shouldn't be in. i'm interesting in that coaching role. i never thought i would be. actually now, i've started to do small group stuff and i really enjoy it. i've been very grateful for what rugby has given me, and if that's my way

of being able to give something back, that's pretty cool. it comes ata time back, that's pretty cool. it comes at a time when fears of a concussion are growing. that comes as calls grow for a ban on tackling in school rugby. a group of academics from oxford brookes, newcastle and winchester universities have written to the uk's chief medical officer to express their concerns about repeated collisions on young, developing brains. they've asked for a review of the risks and suggested tackling at school level be stopped. a number of children are suffering serious risks of concussion each and every year within the school game. but the real problem is the fact that it's a compulsory activity delivered 76% of boys of england. they are forced by their school inevitably to participate in contact by, inevitably to participate in contact rugby, and outcomes of that are significant. and we know it's the

exposure to these repetitive head impacts that is the real problem, so ourideaisif impacts that is the real problem, so our idea is if you remove it from the school game and allow people to have the choice, we're preventing some of those risks. doctor adam white. a quick look now at some of today's other stories. scarlets' champions cup clash with toulon‘s been postponed with two hours' notice after the french club decided not to play because of coronavirus—related concerns. the scarlets players were already going through a pre—match workout on the pitch ahead of kickoff. it comes as exeter, bath and glasgow have all been handed 28—0 "defeats" after they were unable to fulfil their european fixtures because of the virus. the pfa say their members are "overwhelmingly in support" of continuing to take a knee. it follows recent protests by fans at some stadiums. players said they wanted to continue with "the act of solidarity". the first test between australia and india in adelaide is finely poised after 15 wickets fell on day two. steve smith went forjust1 as australia were dismissed for 191.

india were back in the middle before close but lost prithwi shah for 4. they'll resume day three with a lead of 62. sergio perez will replace alex albon at red bull for next season. the mexican driver finished fourth in this year's championship for the racing point team, winning his maiden grand prix earlier this month. next up tonight, uk sport, the body that finances elite sport, has warned british medal hopes at paris 2024 could be affected as it announced its latest round of 0lypmpic funding. a total of 352 million will be split across 43 olympic and paralympic sports. athletics, gymnastics, rowing and swimming have all been cut along with canoeing and modern pentathlon. kathryn grainger, chair of uk sport, has been speaking to our sports editor dan roan. what you seen today is the ability we have to broaden that purportedly though. we feel we have —— deliver

incredible a result all the time. we for the first time ever gone wider so that new sports are climbing, basketball or surfing, those sports are going to be part of the funded family. what about in terms of the manner of winning? do you want to see a change there as well? yeah, andi see a change there as well? yeah, and i think there are two key things to note from those decisions. border diversity and border engagement. the second one is how important, how we win is equally crucial to every one in the system, everyone from top to bottom. everyone agrees that the love people have for sport is deepened and strengthened when it is done fairly and equally and with the right integrity. actually, you can trust this is come from the right place. do you anticipate that

initially, we have to accept fewer metals? there's a chance that some of the metals will be effective, —— affected, but they will still deliver great results. this is about great success, but how about success is delivered is important. the belief is longer—term. we're not talking massively long—term, reasonably short to long term, then i think will have more sports doing it better. the commitment from all of us behind these decisions is actually increased success across the board but also increase positive environment for every athlete and every member of staff. it will be a positive experience for them. modern pentathlon‘s facing a cut of almost 20%, and jo choong, who competed at the rio games, told me that will lead to a cut