Johnson eyes England stay March 22, 2011 RUGBY UNION: England manager Martin Johnson has for the first time intimated he would like to stay on in the job beyond September’s World Cup. His employers, the RFU, are determined to delay any contract negotiations until after the World Cup campaign has run its course, but asked if he wanted to stay on afterwards, Johnson said: “Yeah. [...]
Don’t Push It tops declarations March 22, 2011 HORSE RACING: Grand National winner Don’t Push It heads 74 entries for this years race at Aintree on 9 April. Jonjo O’Neill’s 11-year-old gave multiple champion jockey Tony McCoy an emotional first success in the world’s most famous steeplechase last year, but will be forced to concede weight all round to his rivals this time. The early [...]
Australian GP future looks safe March 22, 2011 FORMULA ONE: Grand Prix promoter Ron Walker says the future of the Australian GP is safe despite a recent verbal spat between Bernie Ecclestone and Melbourne’s Lord Mayor. With the contract for the Melbourne race, which kicks-off this year’s F1 season on Sunday, is up in 2015, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle voiced his opposition to [...]
FOUR-FOUR-CLUELESS March 21, 2011 FORMER England manager Glenn Hoddle believes Fabio must ditch his favoured 4-4-2 formation or risk missing out on qualifying for next summer’s European Championship. England currently trail leaders Montenegro by three points in qualifying Group G, albeit having played a game less, following their goalless draw at Wembley last October which again showcased Capello’s tactical [...]
Woods eyes Masters March 21, 2011 FORMER World No1 Tiger Woods believes his game is coming together in time for The Masters next month. The 14-time major winner has not won a major tournament since 2008, but having been out of the game for long periods due to injury and the breakdown of his marriage, he says he is now rediscovering [...]
Gooch insists England can go one better than class of ‘92 March 21, 2011 FORMER England captain Graham Gooch believes Andrew Strauss’ side have the fighting spirit to go on and lift the World Cup. England have reached the final three times in 1979, 1987 and in 1992 when Gooch was skipper – but lost every time. And Gooch, who is part of the management team as a batting [...]
McLaren hope car changes will boost performance by one second March 21, 2011 MCLAREN team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes this season’s car will be one second faster on Sunday in Australia than in the final pre-season test in Barcelona. Whitmarsh says dramatic alterations have been made to the car after it had been struggling behind both Red Bull and Ferrari in practice. Speaking ahead of the season’s first [...]
Grant pleads not guilty to FA charge March 21, 2011 WEST HAM manager Avram Grant has denied a charge of improper conduct relating to comments made about referee Mike Jones following the FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Stoke on 13 March. A personal hearing will be scheduled at a date no later than 7 April. Following the 2-1 defeat, Grant was unhappy with Jones’ handling [...]
Henson hopes for Toulon debut March 21, 2011 RUGBY UNION: Wales star Gavin Henson is hoping to make his long-awaited Toulon debut at the weekend after recovering from a calf injury. Henson has not played for his new club since joining from Saracens in February He said: “I feel really good. I hope over the next few days I can build up my training and [...]
Tough draw for O’Sullivan March 21, 2011 SNOOKER: Ronnie O’ Sullivan and John Higgins were handed tough first-round draws for this year’s World Snooker Championship. O’Sullivan will face Dominic Dale, while Higgins will be tested by Stephen Lee.