Australia 25-29 Wales: Gatland’s side dig deep to hold onto “massive” win and determine their own World Cup pathway September 29, 2019 As a head coach in a long tournament it is down to you to keep your players focused on what’s in front. Wins are enjoyed, of course, but they should always be followed by assertions that more tests await. After Wales’s hard-fought Rugby World Cup win over Australia, Warren Gatland followed the ascribed path of [...]
Did Manchester United and Arsenal break each other last season? September 29, 2019 It was Arsenal who broke Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United towards the end of last season, or so the theory goes. United arrived at Emirates Stadium on 10 March at the height of Solskjaer’s reign, just days after their improbable Champions League comeback at Paris Saint-Germain – their 14th win from 17 games under the [...]
What is frankincense? And where does it come from? September 27, 2019 The sun is blazing and the air is hot, dry and dusty. Gazing out over the horizon, there’s nothing but parched, rocky land as far as the eye can see in any direction, except for the strange-looking trees that shoot up from the ground like gnarly, overgrown bushes. You wouldn’t think much could thrive here, [...]
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 [...]