England prop Joe Marler is no racist, insists Rugby Football Union chief Ian Ritchie March 22, 2016 England rugby boss Ian Ritchie insists the team’s ethical standards are just as robust under new head coach Eddie Jones as they were under his predecessor Stuart Lancaster. Rugby Football Union chief executive Ritchie has defended Jones’s regime as World Rugby continues to probe Red Rose star Joe Marler calling Wales prop Samson Lee “gypsy [...]
Forget World Cup in 2022, England can win the European Championships in four years, insists Trevor Brooking March 22, 2016 Scepticism abounded when Greg Dyke began his chairmanship of the Football Association by claiming England could win the 2022 World Cup, but Sir Trevor Brooking insists the Three Lions are on course to lift silverware two years earlier. England have only fleetingly threatened to end a seemingly interminable wait for success, last tasted at the 1966 World [...]
Grand Slam or not, no England players are safe from the chop, insists head coach Eddie Jones March 22, 2016 Head coach Eddie Jones insists no member of his Grand Slam-winning side is guaranteed a seat on the plane when England travel Down Under for a three-Test tour against Australia in June. England’s 31-21 victory over France in Paris on Saturday handed the Red Rose their first Six Nations clean sweep since 2003 although Jones’s [...]
Rasmus Ankersen interview: Brentford co-director of football denies it’s all data and robots as club continues to utilise mathematical modelling March 21, 2016 When the debate surrounding analytics in football rages, the glare from the number-crunching spotlight inevitably comes to rest on Brentford, the club viewed as the English game’s principal pioneers of mathematical modelling. Much head-scratching ensued when the club announced in February 2015 that then-manager Mark Warburton would leave Griffin Park at the end of the campaign. [...]
Tottenham Hotspur 1, Borussia Dortmund 2 (Agg: 1-5): Pochettino urges Spurs to achieve “big things” in Premier League after European exit March 17, 2016 Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino brushed off a predictable European exit and urged his side to achieve “big things” in the Premier League after being outclassed by Borussia Dortmund. Trailing 3-0 from the first leg, Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang chalked up his 35th goal of the season with a clinical double before a well-beaten Spurs replied [...]
Use new boy Drinkwater as inspiraton, England boss Hodgson advises Euro 2016 hopefuls March 17, 2016 England boss Roy Hodgson insists the door remains open on Euro 2016 selection and has urged tournament hopefuls to use Danny Drinkwater as their inspiration after yesterday handing the Leicester midfielder his maiden senior international call-up. Manchester United academy product Drinkwater was named in a 24-man squad for England’s friendlies against world champions Germany in [...]
England vice-captain Buttler desperate to avoid another white-ball tournament damp squib March 17, 2016 England vice-captain Jos Buttler insists he is desperate to avoid another ignominious tournament exit as his side bid to ignite their World Twenty20 campaign against South Africa in Mumbai tomorrow. Buttler was a member of the England team which failed to reach the knockout stages of the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, while he remains [...]
Jones denies dropping Marler for England’s Grand Slam bid as punishment for “Gypsy boy” comments March 17, 2016 England head coach Eddie Jones has denied that prop Joe Marler has been dropped to the bench for tomorrow’s Grand Slam decider against France as punishment for verbally abusing Wales forward Samson Lee. Marler was cleared to play against Les Bleus after escaping sanction from the tournament’s disciplinary committee for branding Lee “gypsy boy” as [...]
Barcelona 3, Arsenal 1 (Agg: 5-1): Spanish giants’ lethal trio condemn Gunners to sixth successive Champions League exit at last-16 stage March 16, 2016 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger rued a missed opportunity to cause a “sensation” as his side hinted at the impossible before ultimately succumbing to Barcelona’s much-heralded strikeforce. Midfielder Mohamed Elneny scored to cancel out Neymar’s first-half opener and briefly hint at an unlikely Arsenal revival only for one-time transfer target Luis Suarez to extinguish any realistic [...]
Cheltenham Festival 2016 Betting: You’ll be leaving at dawn if this one wins the Pertemps March 16, 2016 The Pertemps Final (2.10pm) used to be the type of race where trainers could hide their light under a bushel. That is now more difficult as horses have to finish in the first six in a qualifier to get into the big one. Charles Byrnes is a massive target trainer and his LEAVE AT DAWN looks [...]
