England 45-7 United States: George Ford stars as Red Rose click into gear in Kobe heat September 26, 2019 After their meek opener against Tonga, today’s World Cup game with the USA was an opportunity for all of England’s players, but none more so than George Ford. Named captain by Eddie Jones, the Leicester Tigers fly-half was handed responsibility for leading the side, directing traffic and implementing tactics. He grabbed the chance with both [...]
United West Ham are showing the consistency to gatecrash the top six places September 24, 2019 When you get stuffed 5-0 on the opening day of the season with a load of new recruits in the team, people tend to react by heading straight to the bookies to back you to get relegated. Since their humbling by Manchester City, though, West Ham are unbeaten in five Premier League games, have conceded [...]
Faultless and in total control, Danny Willett was back to his best in Wentworth duel with Jon Rahm September 23, 2019 It went right down to the wire, but Danny Willett got his reward for a week of near-faultless golf when he won a fantastic duel with Jon Rahm for the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday at Wentworth. I was very impressed by both men but especially Willett, who holed a 40ft putt to make a [...]
A Doll’s House at Lyric Hammersmith review: Ibsen classic rejuvenated by relocation to India September 23, 2019 There has been a fashion in recent years to take 19th century European dramas and relocate them to modern-day India, where it is imagined that their overt classism, sexism, paternalism, and obsession with family and honour, will seem less anachronistic. The results have been varied – from the fun and frivolity of the Jane Austin-masala [...]
The King of Hell’s Palace at Hampstead Theatre review: a blistering political thriller September 23, 2019 The King of Hell’s Palace is a gripping political thriller, rooted in family drama; an exposé of the corrupt business practices that emerged in China following Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms. In the early ‘90s, the Chinese economy was liberalising, consumerism was on the rise, and the clamour for export-led growth encouraged some budding entrepreneurs to [...]
Antony Gormley at the Royal Academy: An existential crisis has never felt so invigorating September 23, 2019 This giant Antony Gormley retrospective feels like the artist’s unified theory of everything. The works are drawn from four decades of output, but feel so indelibly fused with the famous halls of the Royal Academy you can barely imagine them elsewhere. Gormley bends and shapes the gallery to his will like a potter at a [...]
Premier League round-up: Heady Hammers; United striker light; Aubameyang saves Emery’s skin – again; and Howe’s Fab Four September 22, 2019 After an inauspicious start to the season, these are heady times at West Ham. Unbeaten in six games, no goals conceded in their last four and yesterday a win over Manchester United, thanks to goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aaron Cresswell. The fixture list has not been the most daunting – United were the first [...]
BT lines up Champions League bid as it looks to retain lucrative rights September 22, 2019 BT is gearing up to defend its control of Champions League TV rights as the telecoms giant cashes in on price rises in its broadcast division. BT Sport paid £1.2bn in 2017 to secure exclusive rights to Champions League and Europa League matches for three seasons, cementing its control of European football coverage. Read more: [...]
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Arsenal: Young guns paper over the cracks September 19, 2019 Crisis averted – for now, at least. Following the damaging collapse at Watford on Sunday, Arsenal and Unai Emery could hardly have asked for a better start to their Europa League campaign than a three-goal win at last year’s semi-finalists. Throw in exciting displays from youngsters Bukayo Saka and Joe Willock, who both scored, Pierre-Emerick [...]
Carlton Cole interview: Former West Ham striker on his career, new life as a coach and strawberry Haribos September 19, 2019 Carlton Cole can recall the moment he knew his race had been run. After his football career had taken him to three different countries in three years, through brief stints with Celtic in Scotland, Sacramento Republic in the United States and Persib Bandung in Indonesia, he was back in London on trial with AFC Wimbledon [...]