ARGENTINA September 7, 2011 Lowdown The surprise package in France four years ago, Argentina are unlikely to be underestimated this time around. Santiago Phelan has crafted a side that is more than just a powerful scrummaging unit, with full-back Martin Rodriguez one of several talented youngsters. Phelan believes he will have his strongest possible team available for Saturday’s crunch [...]
GEORGIA September 7, 2011 Lowdown Scotland might not have a Scottish coach these days but Georgia do in Richie Dixon, who coached his homeland in the 1990s before being sacked by Murrayfield chiefs – making for a clash between the two teams laced with subplots. Dixon leads the former Soviet state into their third successive World Cup, although they [...]
ROMANIA September 7, 2011 Lowdown The rank outsiders in this pool, Romania look set to vie with Georgia for the wooden spoon. Former centre Romeo Gontineac coaches a team that includes one of Europe’s leading hookers, Perpignan’s Marius Tincu. Key matches v Scotland, 10 September, 2:00am v Georgia, 28 September, 7:30am
IRELAND September 7, 2011 DESPITE their far from encouraging pre-tournament preparations only a series of freak results would see Ireland fail to reach the quarter-finals for the second successive World Cup. Declan Kidney’s side are rooted in a transitional phase with the stars of the 2009 Grand Slam-winning side on the wane, and the young upstarts vying to replace [...]
WALES September 7, 2011 THE TEAMS from the Pacific Islands, chiefly Fiji and Samoa, often provide the World Cup with plenty of footage for the highlights reels with their determination to bring a Sevens-style approach to the 15-a-side game. Often, however, their greatest moments have come at the expense of a Wales team who were no doubt less than [...]
German court sets limits on Euro bailouts September 7, 2011 THE GERMAN constitutional court delivered a welcome decision for chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, ruling that Berlin’s decision to fund a rescue of Greece is legal. But the news was double-edged: the court also decided that the government will have to consult the budget committee of Germany’s lower house in order to spend any more on [...]
China set to allow UK renminbi trades September 7, 2011 CHINESE authorities are set to approve the trading of the renminbi by British banks in London, it emerged last night. China has been gradually relaxing its control of the yuan over the last 12 months. The news came after a think tank under China’s cabinet endorsed internationalising the yuan, particularly to neighbouring markets. The stride [...]
Greek 1yr yields approach 100pc September 7, 2011 YIELDS on Greece’s one-year debt climbed to 96 per cent yesterday, meaning that investors are demanding almost double their money back to pay for the risk of lending to the sovereign for just 12 months. The increase in yields came after the chairman of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, warned that Athens might not receive its next [...]
IMF cuts Irish GDP forecasts September 7, 2011 FALLING exports mean Irish economic growth will be lower than expected. Forecasts for 2011 were cut from 0.6 per cent to 0.4 per cent by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday. Lower demand from key trading partners was blamed. Ireland’s fiscal reforms were praised by the body, however, which says the country had strong prospects [...]
Guy Hands starts a fresh court salvo to regain EMI September 7, 2011 TERRA Firma chief Guy Hands has launched a second legal attempt to claw music group EMI back from the hands of its lender Citigroup, it emerged yesterday. Hands is understood to have filed a High Court suit against EMI’s adviser PwC to make it produce the evidence it used to propose the pre-pack administration that [...]
