MacDonald set for Scotland bow November 24, 2009 RUGBY UNION: Scotland have handed flanker Alan MacDonald a debut in Saturday’s final autumn Test against Argentina. Edinburgh team-mate and centre Ben Cairns and Glasgow wing Thom Evans are the other two changes from the team that beat Australia.
Davies staves off Shanklin return November 24, 2009 RUGBY UNION: Wales head coach Warren Gatland has kept faith with rookie centre Jonathan Davies for Saturday’s clash with Australia. The Scarlets youngster retains his place despite the return to fitness of Tom Shanklin, while Dwayne Peel comes in for Gareth Cooper.
Liverpool suffer Euro heartbreak November 24, 2009 • Reds’ victory rendered worthless by Fiorentina win• But under-fire boss Rafael Benitez assured his job is safe LIVERPOOL (1) Vs DEBRECEN (0) UNDER-FIRE Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez received the dreaded vote of confidence last night after the Reds lost out on a potential £30m fortune by crashing out of the Champions League group stages. [...]
Federer too strong for Murray in O2 thriller November 24, 2009 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray was reminded what world No1s are made of last night when Roger Federer came from a set down to beat him at the ATP World Tour Finals. Murray, the world No4, took the first set but saw his serve desert him as 15-time Grand Slam winner Federer powered back to take the [...]
Portsmouth lose patience with Hart failure as Grant prepares to take reins November 24, 2009 PORTSMOUTH director of football Avram Grant is expected to take over as manager after the club sacked Paul Hart yesterday. Hart paid the price for a disastrous start to the season that has left them anchored to the bottom of the Premier League after 10 defeats from 13 games. His departure clears the way for [...]
World Cup bid in disarray as Richards quits board November 24, 2009 ENGLAND’S hopes of staging the 2018 World Cup have been dealt another blow after Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards resigned from the bid’s board. The departure of Richards, who joined the bid as vice-chairman for international relations just seven months ago, comes after a restructuring of the board earlier this month. It is the [...]
Strauss reins in Trott hype November 23, 2009 ENGLAND skipper Andrew Strauss has attempted to ease the pressure on batsman Jonathan Trott to replicate his eye-catching performances each time he steps up to the crease. Trott’s latest impressive display came in Sunday’s seven-wicket victory over South Africa, when the Warwickshire man bludgeoned 87 in only his second one-day international. That followed an equally [...]
IRB to ponder rule changes November 23, 2009 ENGLAND chiefs insist they would support changes in the rules to make the game safer, following a litany of injuries to Test stars. National team boss Martin Johnson was deprived of a host of regulars ahead of the autumn internationals, while at any one time around a quarter of Premiership players are in the treatment [...]
Nadal rocked by early loss November 23, 2009 WORLD No2 Rafael Nadal’s ATP World Tour Finals in London got off to the worst possible start with a straight-sets loss to Sweden’s Robin Soderling. The Spaniard, who has not won a tournament since May following a series of injuries, went down 6-4, 6-4 in the Group B match at the O2 Arena. Defeat was [...]