Six Nations: Jones and rest of old guard need to go for Wales to progress March 3, 2023 Having watched Wales’ third consecutive loss in this year’s Six Nations, I am now more convinced than ever that Warren Gatland needs to drop Alun Wyn Jones. He has been an incredible servant to Welsh and international rugby and fully deserved each one of his record breaking 168 caps, but the 37-year-old isn’t what he [...]
‘Most expensive lottery ticket on the planet’: Premier League told why it must give more money to rest of English football March 2, 2023 English football’s financial structure needs a “proper reset” to make clubs outside the Premier League sustainable, says EFL chairman Rick Parry. The riches on offer in the top tier incentivise teams lower down the pyramid to overspend to dangerous degrees, says Parry, who wants the Premier League to reduce the inequality between divisions with more [...]
Formula 1: Hamilton hits back at Button and Hill over retirement talk March 2, 2023 Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has rejected talk from former drivers Jenson Button and Damon Hill about the seven-time world champion retiring. The season begins this weekend and it will be Hamilton’s 17th year on the grid, but Hill and Button have called into question the future of the driver. Hamilton on a mission When [...]
Premier League reveals stance on scrapping Saturday 3pm blackout March 2, 2023 The Premier League has ruled out supporting the abolition of the Saturday 3pm blackout which restricts when live football can be televised in the UK. The English Football League (EFL) has floated scrapping the ban and broadcasters have said they would consider it but Premier League chief executive Richard Masters insisted they had no intention [...]
FA Cup: Fifth round recap and quarter-final draw March 2, 2023 This week has seen a number of upsets in the world of football as the fifth round of the FA Cup took place across Tuesday and Wednesday. There were epic scenes last night as League Two Grimsby knocked Premier League Southampton out of the famous knockout competition while Sheffield United beat Tottenham on Wednesday, too. [...]
Women Beware the Devil at the Almeida is a bafflingly bad production March 2, 2023 A bad production at the Almeida is a rarity, all the more so when it’s directed by Rupert Goold. But modern morality tale Women Beware the Devil is bafflingly ill-pitched and dangerously undercooked. It opens with satan introducing himself to the audience, lamenting that people don’t believe in evil like they used to – so [...]
Formula 1 to target China expansion? McLaren commercial chiefs hope so March 2, 2023 Formula 1 team McLaren would back the sport venturing further into China and the surrounding Asian continent amid a growing feeling that the series is yet to cash in on the opportunities the Far East market provides. Nick Martin, the director of new business at the Woking-based F1 outfit, told City A.M. that McLaren acknowledges [...]
Why Michael B Jordan’s Creed is the coolest franchise in Hollywood March 2, 2023 The Creed movies are an outlier in modern Hollywood. Their modest success at the box office might undersell the fact that they’ve done what few franchises have achieved convincingly: passed the torch. Yes, they aren’t the cultural landmarks that the Rocky films were, but the character has established himself enough to make this third chapter [...]
Politicians must step in to protect sport in legal minefield of trans policy – Ed Warner March 2, 2023 The ruck over transgender women participating in female sport is fiercely contested. Opinions are polarised, each side shouting in its own echo chamber. Into my inbox and into the debate drops an email from a PR agent containing a legal opinion that is a reminder that this issue is nuanced. It reinforces my own view [...]
How a Fifa climbdown has paved the way for expanded Club World Cup to start in 2025 March 1, 2023 Europe’s top football teams are closing in on a deal with Fifa that would give the green light to an expanded Club World Cup in 2025 but rule out a switch to biennial international World Cups. After months of tense exchanges, talks between umbrella organisation the European Club Association and world governing body Fifa are [...]