McCall: Tomkins can inspire Sarries to Premiership crown February 23, 2014 SARACENS director of rugby Mark McCall believes fit again Joel Tomkins will be crucial to his side’s Aviva Premiership run-in, after his starring role in yesterday’s 23-10 win over Exeter Chiefs. Centre Tomkins made his first start since picking up a knee injury on England duty in the autumn as Sarries celebrated Allianz Park’s one-year [...]
Sprinter Sacre’s season is over February 23, 2014 REIGNING Champion Chase holder Sprinter Sacre will not race at next month’s Cheltenham Festival, his trainer revealed last night. The eight-year-old was the hot favourite to win the race again this year, but has been withdrawn due to fears over an irregular heartbeat. “It’s terribly disappointing but it’s the right thing to do,” said trainer [...]
Thieves hit Sky yet Froome wins February 23, 2014 CYCLING: British rider Chris Froome retained his Tour of Oman title yesterday, with a winning margin of 26 seconds. The reigning Tour de France champion won Saturday’s penultimate stage, despite Team Sky having 16 of their 18 bikes stolen hours beforehand.
Nadal claims 43rd clay title in Rio February 23, 2014 TENNIS: World No1 Rafael Nadal beat Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov in two sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), to win the Rio Open last night, just four weeks after the Spaniard lost the Australian Open final to Stanislas Wawrinka.
Curlers make it Britain’s best winter for 90 years February 20, 2014 BRITISH skip Eve Muirhead hailed the character of her curling rink to win the bronze medal yesterday that makes Sochi 2014 Team GB’s best Winter Olympics for 90 years. After “tough words” were exchanged following Wednesday’s semi-final defeat to Canada, Britain bounced back to beat Switzerland 6-5, Muirhead gaining the decisive point with the final [...]
Spurs stumble in Ukraine February 20, 2014 TOTTENHAM’S 100 per cent record in this season’s Europa League campaign came to an abrupt halt with a 1-0 defeat to FC Dnipro in last night’s last-32 first leg. Liverpool transfer target Yevhen Konoplyanka scored an 81st-minute penalty and Spurs had 42-year-old goalkeeper Brad Friedel to thank for restricting the score with a string of [...]
Rugby Comment: How I prepare for a Six Nations clash February 20, 2014 SINCE narrowly losing our Six Nations opener in France, our focus has been on emulating Wales, who recovered last year to win the title. We were clinical against Scotland in our next match and the whole England squad is excited to play our first game at Twickenham this year, against Ireland tomorrow. I’m not surprised [...]
Lancaster allays fitness fears over prop Wilson February 20, 2014 ENGLAND coach Stuart Lancaster has played down concerns about prop David Wilson’s lack of match practice for tomorrow’s pivotal Six Nations fixture against unbeaten Ireland at Twickenham. Wilson, who replaces the injured Dan Cole in the only change to the team that beat Scotland a fortnight ago, has played just 47 minutes of rugby in [...]
Magath: We’ll beat the drop February 20, 2014 NEW Fulham manager Felix Magath is “sure” his team will avoid Premier League relegation this term and has targeted six wins from their final 12 games to achieve that goal. The Cottagers are bottom of the table and four points adrift of safety ahead of tomorrow’s trip to 17th-placed West Brom. A run of five [...]
Uefa to begin Pellegrini probe February 20, 2014 FOOTBALL: European governing body Uefa have begun an investigation into Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini’s comments questioning the referee’s impartiality in Tuesday’s Champions League loss to Barcelona.