England and Scotland into quarters November 10, 2013 RUGBY LEAGUE: England were joined by Scotland in the quarter-finals of the World Cup yesterday, as Tonga’s 16-0 win over Italy saw Scotland top Group C. They will play New Zealand on Friday, while England, who beat Fiji 34-12 on Saturday, face either France or Samoa this weekend.
Clooney and Bullock excel in Gravity November 7, 2013 FILM GRAVITY Cert 12A | Five stars Just when you think you’ve got Gravity pegged – is it a disaster movie? A psycho-drama? – it floats off in an altogether different direction. In some ways, it’s a 90-minute action sequence – and a brilliant one at that – but calling it an action movie would [...]
A short, sharp Pinterian shock at The Print Room November 7, 2013 THEATRE THE DUMB WAITER The Print Room Theatre | Five stars THIS faultless adaptation of one of Harold Pinter’s shortest plays begins with Ben (Clive Wood) and Gus (Joe Armstrong) sitting in an airless paint-stripped basement. Both are nervous but each manages his anxiety differently. Ben tries to lose himself in the tawdry stories of [...]
Bits and bobs and not much else November 7, 2013 ART BILL WOODROW The Royal Academy | Two stars BILL Woodrow was part of the group of British sculptors that dominated the art scene before the YBAs ran riot in the nineties, but he never reached the stratospheric heights of some of his contemporaries. Three decades after their heyday, Tony Cragg, Anish Kapoor, Richard Deacon [...]
England call for Saints trio well-earned, says Hodgson November 7, 2013 ENGLAND manager Roy Hodgson feels the inclusion of three Southampton players in his squad for forthcoming friendlies with Chile and Germany dispels the myth only those at “top” clubs earn international call-ups. Striker Rickie Lambert has retained his place in the 28-man squad, while the recent form of uncapped Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana has [...]
McCoy: I’ve ridden 4,000 winners, I’ll try a few more November 7, 2013 TRAINER Jonjo O’Neill led the tributes yesterday after AP McCoy became the first jump jockey to rack up 4,000 wins. Champion Jockey for a record 18 years in a row, McCoy achieved another horse racing first with victory on Mountain Tunes, his second ride of the day at Towcester. Fittingly the landmark triumph came on [...]
Lancaster challenges Ashton to prove international class November 7, 2013 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster has thrown down the gauntlet to Chris Ashton after revealing he was on the brink of dropping the Saracens wing for tomorrow’s Test against Argentina. In-form Wasps wing Christian Wade, who has five tries in the Premiership this season, had been inked in to make his Twickenham bow until he [...]
Ecclestone: Veto shows bribe to retain control not needed November 7, 2013 FORMULA One chief Bernie Ecclestone has revealed a key argument in his defence to charges that he paid a $44m bribe to stay in charge of the sport: his position was virtually ringfenced anyway. Ecclestone says he would not have needed to bribe anyone to hold onto his job because governing body the FIA was [...]
Europa League: Spurs march on as Defoe breaks Euro goal record November 7, 2013 AT WHITE HART LANE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 vs FC SHERIFF TIRASPOL 1 TOTTENHAM boss Andre Villas-Boas hailed record-breaker Jermain Defoe and the blossoming Erik Lamela after the pair sank Sheriff and sent Spurs into the Europa League last 32. Record buy Lamela scored one and helped lay on the second for Defoe, as the England [...]
Defending champion Djokovic stays patient to reach last four November 7, 2013 WORLD No2 Novak Djokovic booked his place in the ATP World Tour semi-finals with a three-set win over Juan Martin Del Potro at the O2 Arena last night. Following former world No1 Roger Federer’s 6-4, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet earlier in the day, which eliminated the Frenchman, Djokovic triumphed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. And the [...]