England should keep faith with Lancaster February 26, 2012 ENGLAND UNITED UNDER LANCASTER After defeat against Wales, England coach Stuart Lancaster may need to claim the scalp of either Ireland or France to advance his chances of keeping his job beyond the Six Nations, but I hope the powers that be take note of the rapid improvement in this team since the World Cup. [...]
Vintage Giggs marks 900th appearance with late winner February 26, 2012 NORWICH (1) vs MANCHESTER UNITED (2) MANCHESTER UNITED legend Ryan Giggs marked his 900th appearance for the club with a last minute winner that could prove pivotal in his club’s pursuit of the Premier League title, according to his manager Sir Alex Ferguson. When Grant Holt cancelled out Paul Scholes’s opener with seven minutes remaining, [...]
World class Warburton is Lions material February 26, 2012 THE INSPIRATIONAL performance of Wales captain Sam Warburton in his side’s victory over England on Saturday was reminiscent of New Zealand great Richie McCaw in his prime, according to British and Irish Lions manager Andy Irvine. Warburton (right), the favourite to lead the Lions on next year’s tour of Australia, capped a sensational performance with [...]
Robinson not ready to abandon Scotland job February 26, 2012 SCOTLAND (17) vs FRANCE (23) SCOTLAND boss Andy Robinson insists he remains the right man for the job despite yesterday’s narrow Six Nations defeat leaving him with just two wins from 13 Tests. Tries from Stuart Hogg and Lee Jones gave the home side hope of an upset, but France hit back through Wesley Fofana [...]
Mahan ensures McIlroy misses out on world No1 February 26, 2012 NORTHERN IRELAND’S Rory McIlroy squandered the opportunity to head golf’s world rankings for the first time after he was beaten 2&1 by America’s Hunter Mahan in the final off the Accenture Match Play Championship Arizona. Earlier in the day the US Open champion had battled back from three down against England’s Lee Westwood to book [...]
England learn spin lessons February 26, 2012 Coach Andy Flower believes England have wised up to Pakistan’s spin threat as they prepare for today’s decisive and tour-closing final Twenty20 match. He said: “We learned some lessons from the Test series, specifically on how to play the spin.”
Saints dent Irish play-off hopes February 26, 2012 London Irish hopes of a play-off spot suffered a hammer blow yesterday when they were beaten 30-23 by four-try Northampton. Ben Nutley touched down late on to earn victory for the Saints, who climbed to third in the Premiership, and leave the Exiles eighth, 10 points adrift of the top four.
Stoke end home league win wait February 26, 2012 Headers from Matthew Upson and Peter Crouch earned Stoke a 2-0 win over Swansea – their first home Premier League victory for two and a half months. The result lifted the Potters to 12th, three points ahead of 14th-placed Swansea.
Italy bond yields fall February 24, 2012 Vulnerable debtor Italy sold the top planned amount of bonds at a 4.5bn euro (£3.8bn) auction on Friday and the yield on a two-year zero coupon bond fell to its lowest since May, boosting market sentiment ahead of a more demanding debt sale next week. Analysts said the prospect of the European Central Bank offering [...]
FTSE buoyed by energy stocks February 24, 2012 Upbeat economic data across the Atlantic and strong energy stocks helped to keep the FTSE 100 on track today despite relative weakness in Europe. US blue chips added 0.4 per cent overnight after weekly jobless data showed the US labour market remained on the mend, with the Dow approaching levels not seen since before the [...]
