Gunners face Reading after Bradford felled March 16, 2015 HOLDERS Arsenal face a semi-final showdown with Reading after the Royals last night ended 10-man Bradford City’s FA Cup fairytale with a 3-0 victory at the Madejski Stadium. Strikes from Hal Robson-Kanu, Garath McCleary and Jamie Mackie burst the Bradford bubble as former Chelsea midfielder Filipe Morais was shown a second-half red card for a [...]
Lancaster: England can not take France lightly March 16, 2015 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster has vowed not to underestimate rivals France ahead of their crunch Six Nations title decider at Twickenham on Saturday. The championship could well be determined on points difference for the second successive year, with England currently holding a slender advantage over reigning champions Ireland, who conclude their programme against Scotland. [...]
Salary cap rise on agenda after £280m TV deal March 16, 2015 ENGLISH rugby’s bumper new television deal with BT Sport could trigger further relaxation of the salary cap as Premiership chiefs ponder radical changes to the top flight. The amount teams may spend on player wages is already set to increase next season from the current limit of £4.8m plus one marquee player exempt from calculations [...]
London Welsh turn to Phillips as Burnell departs Exiles’ hotseat March 16, 2015 BELEAGUERED Premiership side London Welsh have appointed former player Rowland Phillips as their new head coach after previous incumbent Justin Burnell left the club yesterday. The Exiles were promoted to rugby’s top flight last season but have endured a disastrous campaign which is almost certain to end in relegation, losing all 27 competitive matches including [...]
Saker set for return home to coach Melbourne Renegades March 16, 2015 ENGLAND bowling coach David Saker is set to return to his native Australia and take charge of Melbourne Renegades during next season’s Big Bash League. The 48-year-old Tasmanian succeeded Ottis Gibson as England’s bowling coach in early 2010, helping England to victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies during his first assignment. [...]
Golf Comment: Spieth overtakes Fowler as America’s bright hope March 16, 2015 THE LAST few tournaments leading up the first Major of the year, next month’s Masters, are a bit like heats at the Olympics, and few currently look in better shape than youngster Jordan Spieth. The American, 21, became the third youngest man to win multiple PGA Tour titles when he won a three-man play-off to [...]
Decisive final set catapults Murray into quarter final March 16, 2015 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray defeated Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets to reach the last 16 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells last night. Fourth seed Murray crushed Kohlschreiber in the deciding set to post a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 success and set up a quarter-final withFrance’s world No38 Adrian Mannarino. Victory saw Murray reach [...]
Is Ellis Short the problem? Sunderland’s massive transfer spend since takeover suggests Paulo Di Canio may be right March 16, 2015 Gus Poyet has been sacked as manager of Sunderland, a development that will surprise no one who has paid the slightest attention to the team’s fortunes this season. The club sit just one place above the Premier League relegation zone, have won just once in their last 12 league games, and have been [...]
Hull City name change back on following arbitration case March 16, 2015 Hull City could still become known as "Hull Tigers" after an independent panel cleared the way for the football club to reapply for a name change. Chairman Assem Allam's plans to change the suffix to Hull's name appeared to be thwarted when the Football Association (FA) Council blocked the move last April. However, an independent [...]
Premier League: Chelsea’s joy of six curbed by ref gripes March 15, 2015 CHELSEA 1 SOUTHAMPTON 1 CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho celebrated his team stretching their Premier League lead to six points yesterday but insisted it was an injustice that the gap was not even greater. Mourinho took issue with the award of a penalty against midfielder Nemanja Matic, from which Southampton’s Dusan Tadic equalised to cancel out [...]