Campbell: You can’t change the rules just to suit Bolt October 4, 2011 FORMER Olympic sprint champion Darren Campbell believes it would be dangerous for athletics chiefs to start tinkering with the false-start rule in order to prevent a repeat of Usain Bolt’s World Championship disqualification at next year’s London Olympics. Bolt fell victim of the rule – which he supported when a change was originally proposed in [...]
Hape let down by conduct of his England team-mates October 4, 2011 ENGLAND centre Shontayne Hape admits he feels let down by the off-field conduct of those team-mates who were reprimanded by manager Martin Johnson, but denied the suggestion his side are spiralling out of control. The trio of James Haskell, Chris Ashton and Dylan Hartley were recently read the riot act by Johnson over inappropriate comments [...]
Wilkinson fitness boost but Tindall looks doubtful October 4, 2011 FLY-HALF Jonny Wilkinson provided England manager Martin Johnson with a timely fitness boost ahead of Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against France by taking part in light training yesterday. But vice-captain Mike Tindall, who suffered a dead leg in last weekend’s narrow victory over Scotland, sat out the session and remains a major doubt. After another [...]
Rio still has a part to play for England, says Welbeck October 4, 2011 ENGLAND striker Danny Welbeck believes his Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand still has a valuable contribution to make at international level, despite being left out of Fabio Capello’s squad to face Montenegro on Friday. The 32-year-old, a veteran of 81 caps, was surprisingly not part of the Italian’s plans for the clash in Podgorica, from [...]
THE BREAKDOWN | WORLD CUP BRIEFS October 4, 2011 TUILAGI mouthguard fine ENGLAND centre Manu Tuilagi has been fined £4,800 by Rugby World Cup officials for wearing a sponsored mouthguard during the win over Georgia. Tuilagi, whose brother Alesana was fined last week for the same offence, also wore the gumshield in the victory against Argentina. The Rugby Football Union said Tuilagi’s breach was [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF October 4, 2011 Bender injury sees abandonment FOOTBALL: Accrington’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie against Tranmere was abandoned last night after 39 minutes due to a serious injury to Tom Bender. The 18-year-old was treated for a suspected broken neck for 30 minutes on the field at the Crown Ground before being taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious. [...]
London 2012 cleaners told to help shop drug cheats October 3, 2011 Games support staff to be mined for intelligence in unprecedented Olympics anti-doping crackdown CLEANERS and security staff will be asked to keep tabs on athletes at London 2012 in what organisers are confident will be the biggest crackdown on drug cheats in Olympic history. Games chiefs plan to carry out a record 5,000 tests at [...]
Chelsea would struggle to fill a bigger stadium October 3, 2011 CHELSEA’S decision to buy out the fans’ co-operative that owns the freehold to its Stamford Bridge stadium, the turnstiles and the pitch, must mean only one thing: the club is serious about moving from the home it has occupied for more than 100 years. The club has toyed with the idea of moving for years. [...]
Olympic spotlight won’t daunt me, insists sprint hope Williams October 3, 2011 TEENAGE sprint sensation Jodie Williams insists she’s not in the least bit daunted at being billed as the next golden girl of British track and field. The 17-year-old, privately funded by millionaire Barrie Wells and his Sports Foundation which has also aided the career of former world champion Jessica Ennis, already has a clutch of [...]
Vaughan: Three-Test series for South Africa just isn’t enough October 3, 2011 FORMER England captain Michael Vaughan fears the future of Test cricket has been jeopardised by limiting South Africa to just three five-day matches against Andrew Strauss’s all conquering side next summer. Under the astute leadership of Strauss and head coach Andy Flower, England have risen to No1 in the Test rankings following a prolonged period [...]