Lessons from rugby to the boardroom September 16, 2019 Having been part of several world-class rugby teams, I reached a stage post-retirement when it was impossible to imagine ever being part of a team that was so trusting and technically brilliant again. Whether playing for Bath, England, or the British and Irish Lions, I had to adapt to my teammates very quickly. But now, [...]
England 2-2 Australia: Joe Root leads hosts to victory at The Oval to draw the Ashes September 15, 2019 England have produced two draws this summer, and while the first might ultimately be looked back on more fondly as it brought a trophy, the second carries plenty of meaning too. In July England won the World Cup without winning the final in normal time. Today they lost the Ashes despite not losing the series. [...]
Watford 2-2 Arsenal: Five things we learned as Sanchez Flores enjoys bounce September 15, 2019 New manager bounce is not reserved for brand new managers, as Quique Sanchez Flores proved on Sunday when his second spell at Watford began with a rousing come-from-behind draw with Arsenal. Trailing 2-0 against the run of play after two Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goals in the first 32 minutes, it looked like being a bittersweet return [...]
Norwich win over Man City highlighted all that’s exciting about new season September 15, 2019 There is an invigorating unfamiliarity to the new Premier League season, with some eye-catching displays from the promoted teams introducing a new cast of exciting players and, most surprisingly of all, a feeble start to their title defence from Manchester City. Norwich City’s improbable 3-2 victory over City on Saturday evening wrapped all of those [...]
Downton Abbey film review: If you’re a fan of period dramas, this may be your Avengers September 13, 2019 Four years on from the final episode, Downton Abbey returns for more nostalgia and vicarious luxury. It’s 1927, and the reason for our return is the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary to the big house. This impending brush with royalty causes no end of chaos among the Downton residents, with the upstairs [...]
A Very Expensive Poison at the Old Vic review: A rare breed of play from the creator of Enron September 13, 2019 Part love story, part police procedural, part political satire, A Very Expensive Poison gleefully defies categorisation. Recounting the final days of Russian dissident Alexander Litvenenko, it takes a dark and complex subject and turns it into an utterly engrossing, formally experimental romp that wears its close to three hour run-time with surprising alacrity. Loosely based [...]
William Blake at Tate Britain review: A trip into the mind of a true revolutionary artist September 13, 2019 William Blake isn’t just an artist, he’s a figure almost as mythical as those he committed to paper, a part of the pop culture lexicon whose influence extends far beyond the works he left behind. He was famously plagued by phantasms: strange, demonic creatures that inspired his most iconic works. They appeared to him throughout [...]
England’s horror film batting makes a mockery of The Oval’s pleasant conditions to spurn fifth Test opportunity September 12, 2019 Many horror films begin with an opening period of calm serenity. A group of fresh-faced innocence teenagers go to a cabin by a lake. A family check into a remote, eerie, cobweb-filled mansion. A group of friends head off on a road trip across the barren countryside. Initially the characters go about their lives with [...]
Rugby World Cup to give Georgia the chance to earn their seat at rugby’s top table September 12, 2019 Georgia have spent the better part of a decade stuck in European Rugby’s no man’s land, wedged under the glass ceiling that separates them from the continent’s elite. Currently, their primary competition is the Rugby Europe Championship, the second tier beneath the far more prestigious Six Nations. Georgia have won nine of the last 11 [...]
Quique Sanchez Flores’ Watford return is fraught with complications after frosty exit in 2016 September 12, 2019 When Watford wrote in their parting statement with manager Quique Sanchez Flores in May 2016 that he “leaves with all our best wishes for the future and the knowledge he is always welcome at Vicarage Road” it appeared a generic gesture of good will. But three years and three months – and three managers – [...]