Benjamin Kayser: ‘It’s coming together – but don’t call France favourites’ February 3, 2022 The planets have begun to align for French rugby. From the player pool to the coaches, the government to the league structure – everything is in place to achieve the goal of a victorious home World Cup in 2023. There’s clearly a common goal for the sport in France at the moment and that is [...]
Zinzan Brooke: ‘Why I’m backing Les Bleus for the Six Nations’ February 3, 2022 The Six Nations is fantastic. It’s great for rugby and a thoroughly enjoyable set-up every year but I have a funny feeling that the 2022 tournament in particular will be one to watch because of how strong some of these teams were in the autumn. The November internationals saw European sides perform especially well, resulting [...]
Marco Bortolami: ‘Italy and Six Nations need each other but we must win more’ February 3, 2022 It’s been said before but I really think Italy are building for the future. New head coach Kieran Crowley has picked a squad with some exciting young players – my Benetton side are providing 23 members of Crowley’s party for this Six Nations. The main goal for Italy is to stay competitive in each match [...]
Gavin Hastings: ‘Improving Scotland ready for next step’ February 3, 2022 There’s no doubt that in the last three or four years Scotland have been much more competitive and that’s what fans north of the border want to see. Whoever identifies the players potentially available for Scotland should be paid a healthy sum because they’ve unearthed some great characters, including prop Pierre Schoeman and wing Duhan [...]
Rob Henderson: ‘Strong spine and squad depth make Ireland team to beat’ February 3, 2022 Ireland are my pick for this year’s Six Nations, naturally. There’s a resurgent French side, a rebuilding Welsh team and strong representation elsewhere but I think the Irish have the depth to win the tournament. I am not at all worried about the absence of players like Chris Farrell and James Lowe, for example, when [...]
Dame Katherine Grainger: Team GB can unite and inspire at Winter Olympics and Paralympics February 2, 2022 It is less than six months since our British Olympic and Paralympic stars returned from a triumphant performance at the summer games in Tokyo, yet the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games is almost upon us. The proximity of these Games to last summer’s events in Tokyo is a great opportunity for our athletes [...]
A culinary pilgrimage through Austria’s spectacular Tyrol February 2, 2022 I was on a pilgrimage to Tyrol in the Austrian Alps, albeit one to satisfy the stomach more than the soul. A culinary journey of rediscovery, if you will. But the first meal I had was far from heavenly – a dry Schnitzelsemmel. Worse still, it was at a motorway service station. Retrospectively, the breaded [...]
Raducanu among six Brits nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards February 2, 2022 Six Britons including Emma Raducanu, Tom Daley and Dame Sarah Storey have been shortlisted for the Laureus World Sports Awards. Cyclist Mark Cavendish, Olympic champion BMXer Bethany Shriever and teenage skateboarder Sky Brown have also been nominated. The winners of the prestigious awards, which are decided by a committee of 71 sports legends, will be [...]
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics: 11 Team GB athletes to watch February 2, 2022 It’s that time again when Britons don their goggles and become experts on snow and ice for two weeks. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics officially begin on Friday and we have picked out 10 British athletes worth keeping an eye on. Dave Ryding Skier Dave “The Rocket” Ryding, well, rocketed to fame last month as [...]
Five trends that defined the January transfer window February 1, 2022 Blockbusting deals did not materialise and most of the big clubs kept their hands in their pockets but the Premier League still managed to register a record-breaking January transfer window. While last year’s winter transfer window was one of austerity as teams absorbed the financial impact of Covid-19, this time enough of them threw caution [...]