Rugby World Cup: Australia are underdogs for England clash, insists Michael Cheika September 29, 2015 Australia coach Michael Cheika insists his side are the underdogs for Saturday’s pivotal Pool A clash at Twickenham despite England staring down the barrel of World Cup elimination following their calamitous defeat to Wales. Cheika’s preparations were dealt a blow yesterday after experienced No8 Wycliff Palu and giant second row Will Skelton were ruled out [...]
Wales stoked by sight and scale of celebrations September 29, 2015 WALES coach Warren Gatland insists the scale of the celebrations in the principality following their victory against England have spurred his squad on to all but secure qualification to the quarter-final with victory against Fiji tomorrow. Gatland has made three enforced changes for the clash against the Pacific Islanders at the Millennium Stadium amid a [...]
Boris Johnson: £35m cost to host 2017 Tour de France in London better spent elsewhere September 29, 2015 Mayor of London Boris Johnson has taken responsibility for the capital's decision not to host the start of the 2017 Tour de France, arguing that it would be too expensive. Read more: London pulls out of hosting Tour de France Grand Départ in 2017 London had trumped competition from Manchester and cities in Germany to win [...]
Rugby World Cup 2015: England v Australia tickets fetching £4,000 September 29, 2015 Tickets for England's pivotal Rugby World Cup match against Australia on Saturday are fetching a record £4,000 apiece on the re-sale market. The price is a record for seats at any match other than a final, not just in rugby union but across all sports, says re-sale platform Viagogo, where the tickets were sold. England [...]
Jordan Spieth’s extraordinary season is as good as Tiger Wood’s landmark 2000 – Sam Torrance’s Golf Comment September 29, 2015 Just last week I pondered whether Jason Day, with a sequence of four wins from six tournaments that propelled him to world No1, had done enough to eclipse Jordan Spieth as golf’s star of 2015. I sided with Masters and US Open winner Spieth, and if there was any lingering doubt the young Texan [...]
Premier League: Lukaku inspires Everton fightback September 29, 2015 WEST BROM 2 EVERTON 3 EVERTON boss Roberto Martinez refused to be drawn on his side’s credentials to qualify for the Champions League despite £30m striker Romelu Lukaku sending the Toffees fifth after inspiring a stunning fightback at West Brom last night. Lukaku returned to haunt former club West Brom with a second-half double, either side [...]
England call on Easter for a World Cup resurrection September 29, 2015 COACH Andy Farrell has backed veteran No8 Nick Easter to make his mark on England’s bid to resurrect their World Cup hopes after being called into the squad to replace the injured Billy Vunipola. Saracens wrecking ball Vunipola was ruled out of the tournament yesterday after a scan revealed he had strained a knee ligament [...]
Farrell hits back at Carling over classroom swipe September 29, 2015 FORMER captain Will Carling aimed a swipe at the England camp and accused the current squad of lacking leadership quality yesterday, accusations which were subsequently rebuffed by coach Andy Farrell. Carling criticised the decision to opt for an attacking line-out as opposed to a kick at goal in the dying embers of England’s 28-25 defeat [...]
Wales add duo after further injury gloom September 28, 2015 WALES were dealt a double World Cup injury blow yesterday after centre Scott Williams and wing Hallam Amos were both ruled out of the rest of the tournament. Williams and Amos failed to recover from the knee and shoulder injuries respectively which they suffered during the second half of their side’s pivotal 28-25 victory over [...]
Wenger: Don’t blame league for Euro slump September 28, 2015 ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger insists it is too early to discern whether a highly competitive Premier League is damaging the results of English clubs in Europe. The Gunners and both Manchester clubs all lost their opening Champions League group stage contests, adding to fears that England could have its allocation cut from four places to [...]