Ollie Phillips: Ireland will find their form and help England to Six Nations victory this weekend March 14, 2019 The Six Nations builds up to its crescendo this weekend and all the indications are that it will be an intriguing one. With three sides still able to win the tournament there’s no problem with dead rubbers, although Wales against Ireland is the match which will shape the outcome. England’s hopes of winning the trophy [...]
Under the Silver Lake film review: It Follows director David Robert Mitchell’s follow-up is bonkers but brilliant March 14, 2019 David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 teen horror It Follows is up there with Jordan Peele’s Get Out as one of the best scary movies of the last decade. It was a lean, stripped back study of teenage anxiety and the perils of sexual awakening. For his new movie he takes a different tack, turning out a [...]
Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre review: Tom Hiddleston is brilliant in this gut-wrenching play about infidelity March 14, 2019 It’s been a hell of a year for Harold Pinter fans. Over seven productions, director Jamie Lloyd resurrected dozens of the playwright’s one-act works, many of which hadn’t been performed in decades. That series ended last month, but Lloyd, now surely the world’s go-to Pinter guy, has lost none of his enthusiasm, following it up [...]
Alys, Always review: Bridge Theatre presents a crowd-pleasing, pulpy thriller March 14, 2019 Alys, Always is an unabashed crowd-pleaser, a gripping, pulpy thriller in the mould of Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train. I imagine the novel, written by Harriet Lane, was advertised on the Underground. It follows Frances, a sub-editor on the arts desk of a magazine called The Questioner. Her job is fixing the [...]
FA Cup quarter-finals: Competition presents a rare opportunity for non-Premier League Big Six sides to make their mark March 14, 2019 The best advertising strikes a chord with consumers and BT Sport’s publicity for its FA Cup coverage has neatly captured the mood around this season’s competition. In the advert, common grievances about football's oldest competition – not enough giant-killings, an unwanted break from fantasy football, a halting of league momentum – are aired. An oversized [...]
England ready to rectify last year’s defeat to Scotland in Six Nations finale March 13, 2019 It was just 13 months ago that Scotland brought England’s winning run to a shuddering halt in a Six Nations match at Murrayfield that saw Eddie Jones and his players harassed on and off the pitch. England lost 25-13 that day, but more significant was the manner in which they were beaten. Out-muscled, out-fought and [...]
Formula One at a crossroads: Successful 2019 is key to keeping motor sport series on track March 13, 2019 In cars. It’s the only way to live, according to Gary Numan, post-punk’s foremost petrolhead. For decades, this attitude has ensured that motorsport, and Formula One in particular, has become a way of life for millions. But as the new season approaches, the sport faces a new wave of challenges and, to paraphrase the Tubeway [...]
Back on track: McLaren CEO Zak Brown ready to return the Formula One team to their glory days March 12, 2019 There was never going to be a quick fix to McLaren's problems but, with the start of the new Formula One season upon us, the team find themselves ably prepared to return their prestigious name to the front of the grid in the coming years. They are some way off ousting Mercedes and Ferrari in [...]
Trevor Steven: It’s time for Mohamed Salah and Liverpool to show they are winners March 12, 2019 For a few minutes of Liverpool’s Premier League win over Burnley on Sunday I kept my eyes trained solely on Mohamed Salah. In that brief spell he must have lost the ball four or five times. In the previous game at Everton, Salah wasted a couple of one-one-one chances against Jordan Pickford in which he [...]
How Raheem Sterling became Pep Guardiola’s go-to guy and Manchester City’s most prolific attacker March 11, 2019 Raheem Sterling is still just 24 years old, but the fact that he made his debut seven years ago and has won 47 caps for England means his relative youth is obscured. The Manchester City forward has been performing at the top level and with such consistency for so long that his influence has been [...]