Irish still in line for final eight spot January 10, 2013 RUGBY UNION: London Irish kept alive hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup as two tries from scrum-half Jack Moates beat Mont de Marsan 20-14, moving Irish three points off the top of Pool A.
Defender Shaw to stay with Saints January 10, 2013 FOOTBALL: Arsenal target Luke Shaw has committed his future to current club Southampton. The highly-rated 17-year-old defender is set to sign a five-year deal with the south coast club when he turns 18 on 12 July.
Ivanovic horror show leaves Blues facing shock cup exit January 9, 2013 CHELSEA 0 vs SWANSEA CITY 2 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez last night refused to blame defender Branislav Ivanovic after two catastrophic errors left the European champions on the brink of a shock Capital One Cup semi-final exit. Ivanovic’s dawdling in possession allowed Michu to put Swansea in front with his sixteenth goal of the season [...]
Lancaster: Clark is changed man January 9, 2013 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster insists Calum Clark has learned from his 32-week ban for breaking an opponent’s elbow, after handing the Northampton forward a Six Nations call-up. Uncapped Clark, who can play in the second row and back row, scuppered his hopes of a Test debut at last year’s championship when he hyper-extended Leicester [...]
Dope confession could help Armstrong avoid lawsuits January 9, 2013 FORMER cyclist Lance Armstrong could head off the threat of million-dollar lawsuits if he confesses to doping when he appears on American chat show Oprah next week, according to a leading sports public relations expert. Armstrong has always maintained his innocence but stopped contesting allegations from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in August and has [...]
£18.4m share deal key to Chelsea profit January 9, 2013 CHELSEA’S eyebrow-raising first profit since their 2003 takeover by big-spending Roman Abramovich was achieved in part due to the proceeds of an £18.4m share deal, it emerged yesterday. The cancellation of non-equity preference shares that broadcaster BSkyB held in a digital media joint venture resulted in paper profits of £15m, plus £3.4m of dividends from [...]
Brits sail through in qualifying January 9, 2013 TENNIS: Britain’s Jamie Baker and James Ward yesterday reached round two of qualifying for next week’s Australian Open in straight sets. Baker defeated Ecuador’s Julio Cesar Campozano 6-3, 7-5. British No3 Ward beat Serb Boris Pashanski 6-4, 6-3.
Fourie handed visa reprieve January 9, 2013 RUGBY UNION: Former England flanker Hendre Fourie has been told he can stay in the country. It was thought that Fourie was facing possible deportation after injury forced him to retire this week. But the UK Border Agency said: “We have not curtailed Mr Fourie’s visa at this time.”
Rafa delights in selection headache for semi-final tie January 8, 2013 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez insists he is happy to finally have a dilemma over who to play at centre-forward as he contemplates taking a major step towards his first silverware at the club. Benitez must decide whether to recall £50m record signing Fernando Torres for tonight’s Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at home to [...]
Pride wounded as England eye series response January 8, 2013 ENGLAND must drastically improve to emulate their triumphant Test colleagues in the first one-day international against India on Friday, says bowler James Tredwell. The tourists completed a first Test series victory in India for 27 years last month but England head into the five-match ODI series after back-to-back defeats, including the six-wicket loss to Delhi [...]