VideoVitae

David Cameron is DCI Gene Hunt

2010-04-05T10:31:00.000Z

Evonne Goolagong

2010-03-21T19:40:00.001Z

Jeremy Bates

2009-08-25T09:58:00.002Z

Partnering his fellow British player Jo Durie, he won two major mixed-doubles titles: at Wimbledon (1987) and the Australian Open (1991).

Yannick Noah

2009-08-19T10:57:00.004Z

Yannick Noah, dreads flowing in mid-shot. Later went on to become something of a French pop star, although considering the state of French pop that's not really a plus on the CV. Far better that he be remembered by his sole Grand Slam victory in 1983 on the terre battue of Roland Garros.

Arthur Ashe at the WCT Dallas Tournament - 1970s

2009-08-14T10:55:00.002Z

Groovy shades brother.

Gabriela Sabatini

2009-08-04T19:43:00.002Z

The Argentinian won one Grand Slam - the US Open in 1990, beating Steffi Graf 6-2, 7-6. These days she sells her own range of perfume.

Stan Smith at the Paris Tennis Grand Prix 1972

2009-07-31T18:00:00.002Z

Stan Smith playing at the Tennis Grand Prix of Paris in1972.

Bjorn Borg at Roland Garros - 1974

2009-07-30T15:06:00.002Z

Borg in a very fetching all yellow outfit (!) during the final at Roland Garros in 1974. He came back from two sets down to win against Manuel Orantes.

Rod Laver at WCT Dallas 1972

2009-07-27T12:59:00.002Z

The master at work in 1972 - Rod Laver left hand volley.

The World Championship Tennis tour was founded in 1967 and the tour held its season ending championships in May at Dallas.

Bill Tilden and Rene Lacoste in 1927

2009-07-20T10:50:00.003Z

Big Bill Tilden of the USA and Rene Lacoste shaking hands at the French Tennis Championships in 1927.

Roscoe Tanner's Big Serve

2009-07-12T10:30:00.003Z

Another big serve from Roscoe Tanner - the man who held the record for fastest serve (153 mph) until fellow-American Andy Roddick topped 155mph almost 20 years later.

This photo sees a 23 year-old Roscoe at the pre-Wimbledon, John Player tournament in 1974, held at Nottingham.

Michael Chang

2009-07-11T13:48:00.004Z

Michael Chang playing in the 1990s

Chang's greatest win had come in 1989 when he gained the singles title at Roland Garros, defeating Stefan Edberg in the final, at only 17 years 3 months old - which remains the record as youngest male singles champion to win this tournament.

Chang's career high world ranking was No. 2 (behind Sampras) and he was also a finalist at the 1996 Australian Open.

Rod Laver at Wimbledon in 1961

2009-07-10T17:33:00.005Z

Rod Laver jumping the net after winning the 1961 Wimbledon Final - on his way to completing the calendar year Grand Slam of tennis. He remains the only player to do this twice. Known as the 'Rockhampton Rocket' he was a lefty, or we should say, still is a lefty - he's still with us and was present at Wimbledon 2009 to see Roger Federer win his 15th Slam.

Olga Morozova

2009-07-07T17:30:00.003Z

The Russian Olga Morozova volleying in the 1974 Wimbledon final.

Billie Jean King Levitating a Tennis Racket

2009-07-06T20:35:00.003Z

Billie Jean King, AKA Velma from Scooby Doo, shows off her intense powers of concentration to the crowds at Wimbledon in 1974 by levitating a tennis racket.

Ken Rosewall

2009-06-02T16:32:00.001Z

Stretching for a return.

Lewis Hoad in 1972

2009-05-04T10:02:00.003Z

Playing in the Royal Albert Hall during the Rothman's tournament. Lew won the cup but was overshadowed by the infamous incident of Ilie Nastase's walk-out in his match against Clark Graebner after Clark climbed over the net, grabbed the Romanian by the lapels of his shirt and threatened to lamp him. Clark later commented that 'he deserved it'.

John Newcombe in Action

2009-04-04T20:29:00.001Z

Sometime in the mid-70s.

Chrissie Evert in 1974

2009-04-03T17:35:00.002Z

During the Wimbledon Championships

Jimmy Connors vs Paul Haarhuis 1991 US Open

2009-03-09T20:06:00.001Z

A 39 year old Jimmy Connors fights from the baseline.

Wales Scrape Home With Referee's Help

2009-02-14T21:12:00.005Z

'The best rugby team in the Nothern Hemisphere', according to all the pundits, were today shown a lesson by England on how to play professional rugby. Unfortunately for both Martin Johnson, the England coach, and all neutral viewers, the referee was far from professional and his amateur decisions effectively stole the game from the men in white.

Some 18 points were conceded by England when they were down to only 14 men, most importantly when Andy Goode was sin binned for doing nothing more than competing for the ball on his feet, as well as three points gifted to Wales when referee Kaplan temporarily lost his mind and penalised Phil Vickery of all people for 'collapsing the scrum'. You have to laugh, or else you cry.

It is well understood in International Rugby Union that England start every game 10 points down - because all refs hate perfidious Albion. But when the man with the whistle can't even be bothered to at least pretend to be fair, it does get a little annoying. This is the third time that Kaplan has stolen a game from England and it's getting a tad boring now. Dude, let it go. OK, you hate England. We understand. But it's time to start being fair. You owe it to yourself and for when you meet your maker.

England now travel to Croke Park to attempt to tame the Irish in the home of paddy nationalism. A week ago you would have had to give it to the Irish before the whistle, but on this performance you have to fancy England's chances - even with the points disadvantage that will be heaped on them. England dominated Wales in all areas of the pitch and effectively won todays game. With just one iota of fairness from the ref this would have been reflected in the result. If they keep on improving at the same rate, England have a real chance to win. Let's cross our fingers the ref is as good as the players.

Arthur Ashe in 1974

2008-10-12T15:35:00.003Z

A youthful Arthur Ashe playing in the WCT championships in Dallas, 1974, where he was knocked out in the quarter finals by the revelation of that year in men's tennis - Bjorn Borg.

Ilie Nastase

2008-10-08T20:58:00.002Z

A youthful Ilie Nastase on his way to winning the UK Hard Court Championships tournament in Bournemouth, 1974.

YouTube - Favourite Music Videos Statistics

2008-07-26T22:05:00.002Z

Below, some comparison statistics on the popularity of various music videos - as measured by number of views and times favourited.

A small sample but I had fun putting the list together.

4hero - Les Fleur
Views: 145,333
Favorited: 1,304 times

SEBASTIEN TELLIER - DIVINE - OFFICIAL VIDEO
Views: 863,627
Favorited: 3,613 times

Sebastien Tellier, l'amour et la violence
Views: 84,172
Favorited: 179 times

jon spencer blues explosion live at the french tv
Views: 109,398
Favorited: 816 times

THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION - Bellbottoms
Views: 74,655

LCD "losing My Edge"
Views: 40,899
Favorited: 290 times

DR FEELGOOD - ROXETTE
Views: 323,504
Favorited: 1,259 times

Radiohead - No Surprises
Views: 3,954,485
Favorited: 23,463 times

Positive K - I Got A Man (1993)
Views: 216,548
Favorited: 1,714 times

Isley Brothers - Live It Up (1974)
Views: 23,080
Favorited: 155 times

Tom Waits - In The Neighborhood - 1983
Views: 69,514
Favorited: 729 times

Tom Waits - I Don't Want To Grow Up
Views: 857,929
Favorited: 6,919 times

Ramones - I don´t want to grow up
Views: 489,283
Favorited: 2,781 times

Ramones - Spider-Man
Views: 378,512
Favorited: 2,329 times

Blancmange - Living on the Ceiling
Views: 165,413
Favorited: 2,269 times

Manuel Orantes

2008-04-07T19:45:00.003Z

Manuel Orantes playing at the 1974 Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Tennis in the Street

2008-02-26T17:55:00.001Z

Central Johannesburg, 1977.

Referees Hate England

2008-02-10T18:23:00.000Z

A scrappy win for England Rugby away at Stadio Flaminio in Rome, and one that was in the balance right up to final whistle as Italy bowed out all guns blazing.

Fair play to the Italians, they fronted up and played some great rugby. They never dropped their heads even as England were stretching away by the end of the first half. In the second half they gave it a lash.

But only because they were allowed to.

Here are some stats for the second period:
possession - Italy 68:Eng 32
territory - Italy 62:Eng 38
penalties against - Italy 3: Eng 15

Eh?

The referee is, in essence, saying that Italy were so good that England were reduced to cheating to keep them from scoring. Yet the match was not like that. Furthermore, these are Premiership players with bags of experience. They don't do it in the league so why would do they do it in the test arena?

The answer is they don't. The answer is a lot of international referees secretly hate us.

Today it was Irishman Alain Rolland's turn. A twerp with a chip on his shoulder he's got form too. For it was he that almost lost us the World Cup 2007 quarter-final against Australia when England's forwards were shitting all over the Australian pack yet we got given nothing.

This is happening too many times for it to be a coincidence. The most notable occasion of course being André Watson's almost surreal non-performance that almost cost us the World Cup in 2003. Our scrum in that match was clearly, obviously, 110% the dominant force yet he kept on not only nullifying it but actually penalising us for, in effect, bullying the poor Australian front row.

It's time someone spoke out about the celtic and antipodean bias against England. We're getting royally screwed almost every game we play. We have to play twice as well as the opposition just in order to win by a couple of points. What's the matter with these people? Did they get bullied when they were young? Do they have mental issues with the success of our fair isle? So what if they think we're arrogant? They're still supposed to play by the rules. Our arrogance or otherwise is irrelevant. I note that the refs who give England the fairest shout are the Frogs - whose own sense of arrogance is such that they're above having a chip on their shoulder.

Enough! Grow up and get over it colonials. You owe it to the game.

Pancho Gonzalez and Lew Hoad

2008-01-11T16:53:00.002Z

Two classic tennis players from 1970s, Pancho from North America and Lew from Australia, team up for a photo before their match at the 'Clows Classic' in Johannesburg, South Africa (1971).

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling

2008-01-09T22:19:00.000Z

On this blog we like to cover all the classic sports - tennis, football, golf, cricket. And cheese rolling. The old west-country sport of chasing a cheese down a hill. Celebrate the skill and athleticism of the competitors in the following video.

Gloucestershire Cheese rolling 2007
Uploaded by Gloucestershire

Frankly, it's a wonder that our New Labour uberlords have not yet banned this annual test of bravery.

Vijay Amritraj

2007-11-28T18:19:00.000Z

Picture of a very young Vijay playing in the USA in 1974. A claasic player and strong in doubles with his brother where they used lots of cunning angles and creative wristy shots.

Chrissie Evert

2007-11-27T19:42:00.000Z

A picture of a young Chris Evert in action at the 1974 Forest Hills tournament.

Jimmy Connors - A Trip Back In Time

2007-11-19T00:00:00.000Z

Hello sports fans. Here's a great pic of Jimmy Connors in full flight in his prime during the US Open at Forest Hills in 1974, a tournament he went on to win.

Football Coach Stands Up To The Press

2007-10-28T20:02:00.000Z

glumbert - Football coach has beef with newspapers

Hamilton Blows It

2007-10-21T17:33:00.000Z

Brazil Grand Prix 2007 - Pressured right from the off as both Kimi Raikkonen and then Fernando Alonso pushed their way past into the first corner, Lewis Hamilton showed off his rookie status and completely lost the plot. Trying unnecessarily to get back past Alonso at turn four, Hamilton ran off the track and found himself down in eighth place when he rejoined.

He spent the next few laps slewing around trying to improve his position. Then, on lap eight, his car slowed down. Something was wrong. He was trying hard to find his gears but no response and in the blink of an eye (OK, a few blinks) he was at the back of the field some 40 seconds behind the leaders.

It was panic, it was palpitations, it was pressure. It was pathetic. Mr Arrogant, who thought he was the new Senna, was suddenly beat.

Hamilton eventually got things going again but he was now way behind. He needed a miracle.

Alonso could have won if he had made second place his own, but at no point in the race did he seem to have more pace than the Ferraris. He was to finish third.

All that remained was for the Ferrari team to finesse Kimi into first place and x-fingers nothing mad happened behind them. Some spectacular crashes and slides did occur but not enough to let Hamilton move up the field to more than 7th place, which left him one point behind in the championship.

Raikkonen was Formula 1 champion by one point - one point from both Alonso AND Hamilton. The Fin of course went totally crazy and was seen to smile and crack at least two jokes in the post-race press conference. That's what passes for unrestrained joy up his way and you could almost taste the chilled vodka being prepared in his motor home for the celebrations.

Alonso was asked about the 'difficult year' at McLaren and played the perfect flat response, droning on in a measured pace about 'working together' and 'finishing the job' etc. blah blah blah. Despite losing the championship you sensed that he felt just a touch justified. Alonso was brought to the team as the No.1 driver and saw his position undermined the minute team boss Ron Dennis thought his protege could win it. It's the 'my car is so good the driver is unimportant' syndrome and it bit him in the bum.

This championship was lost by McLaren not won by Ferrari.

New Zealand Papers have Their Say

2007-10-06T23:26:00.000Z

France Beat New Zealand - World Still Spinning On Axis

2007-10-06T21:14:00.000Z

Half an hour ago the French rugby team pulled of the third genuine 'shock' of the current Rugby World Cup. Having been on the receiving end of the first shock, when the Pumas whipped them on the opening day, it was some turnaround to beat New Zealand.

A thrilling, heart-pounding match, I was intrigued to see how it passed on a live forum and had a look at the BBC's 606 live chat. Reading the comments all the way through, starting from the pre-match mud-slinging all the way through to the end gloating was fascinating.

I liked especially the way the All Black supporters, or those who were confidently predicting an easy win, started to fall back on criticising the ref.

Below is a copy of these comments: If you can bear it, work your way through from beginning to end. It's a great psychological study of the passion of supporting.

comment by joekiwiposted 12 Hours Ago
Why would you love to be wrong?, surely the best team should win, or do you just love the underdog?Its going to be a tough Test, we have beaten the French by big margins for the last 6 years or so, but if any team are capable of playing unbeatable sublime rugby they are.I just think that mentally we are too well prepared and have too much talent, but I wont be betting the house on it........Cant wait.

comment by alangrahamposted 12 Hours Ago
c'mon the blacks..they have been the best team in world rugby for the last twenty years and this current crop of players is even better than the 95 side which is the best
side never to have won the world cup, Also, don't fool yourselves if they hadn't capitulated 4 years ago then there is no chance our chums south of the border would have
won..
No offence to england, just the all blacks were better..

comment by throatwobblerposted 12 Hours Ago
But the point is that the all blacks always do capitulate at the world cups. What is the point being the best team between the world cups if you can't win the one tornament
that every team in the world is trying to win.As for the 95 team, they may have been the best team in the world never to win the world cup but heres the point. THEY DIDN'T WIN IT.I for one I'm hoping for a french victory tonight.

comment by Cowshotposted 11 Hours Ago
Yep, I'll be shouting for Les Bleus. Nothing against the Kiwi's, but France are the NH representatives and the souschiens.

comment by fats_aposted 11 Hours Ago
i don't think it's that clear cut. france may have this, it wont be the AB's playing badly, the french could shine.....
this will be a close game, the last french team the AB's played was a C grade french team, this'll be quite different.
i don't really understand all this 'come on the NH' rubbish seems so silly, and childish, surely as a neural you'd want the a great game with best winning, making it a good
day for rugby regardless of what hemisphere they are from.
I, however am not neutral and will be screaming for the AB's who may take this, but it's not the sure ting that some are saying.
the ENG v AUS game is a sure thing though, sorry brits.....you do other things much better than the ozzies though - and for what it's worth, i'll be supporting you in that
game...(none of this SH v NH rubbish)

comment by wombat2posted 11 Hours Ago
ABs 43 : les bleus avec score.

comment by joekiwiposted 11 Hours Ago
Throatwobbler and cowshot, desperately hoping for any geographical success now that your teams have been consigned to their rightful place in the also rans then.......?Sad.... Clinging on to the hope that NH rugby is anything other than woeful.

comment by oldfashionedrespectposted 11 Hours Ago
Being English living in France, I support England first and France second (I live in the heart of French rugby-land so I'd get lynched if I didn't......!). I don't think the
AB's will choke this time so whoever wins will do it simply by playing better. The French are smarting from having to play their QF in Cardiff. Their own fault on two levels
- first, using the promise of games in Cardiff & Edinburgh to bribe votes away from England to stage the RWC, second, losing to the Pumas. This only adds to their motivation.
Losing their 'choker' label will do the same to the AB's. I can't wait for this evening but I have to agree, my head says the AB's, but not by much.
alangraham: "No offence to England"? The other one's got bells on.
fats_a: Thanks for your support! Nothing is ever a "sure thing". France/AB's 1999 at Twickenham.

comment by aklatsposted 10 Hours Ago
I can hardly wait for this game, I hate the fact I have to play rugby myself today, a horrible distraction from my build up for the AB's game...and I have to miss seeing
England strike it lucky!
Why NZ will win: too much quality, Graham Henry is steering the ship, we've never entered a world-cup ranked so far ahead of the opposition before (IRB rankings) and because
we've learned from '99...
Why we might stumble: We have the highest error rate of the world cup apparently and France love teams making errors, PRESSURE, and because again we have to wear those cack
jerseys! Oh and because we know better than anyone the French don't always surrender!
Glad Michalak (sp?) is on the bench though, he's dangerous, and I hope French try to play the All Blacks at their own game, rather than exhibiting their dangerous flair...

comment by Cowshotposted 10 Hours Ago
joekiwi: Another 4 hours 'til we are consigned to also-rans! And there's just a chance (remote as it is) that we won't be.
Exciting, isn't it?

comment by cantabnzposted 10 Hours Ago
I am not one for superstition but the last time NZ won the world cup - er,...was when they played in christchurch against scotland who were in there home shirt (blue) and NZ
played in the old white strip. Deja vue anyone? The ABs to win quite easily. The french have played seven tests since august this will be their eighth. The french might be in
their new strip, but I think the alternative team will show, or rather won't. Comment.

comment by TrippyHippy2posted 9 Hours Ago
Based upon the average score of the last 5 NZ-France matches from the last four years - NZ should win by about 30 points or so. Something like 42-13, I'd guess.

comment by joecloudsposted 9 Hours Ago
France are kidding themselves on, why are people saying france might win if they do this, or do that. New zealand will destroy them, how big the score is depends on how much
the all blacks ease up in the last 20 when the game is wrapped up.

comment by Berba_Is_Kingposted 9 Hours Ago
Come on New Zealand! How any Englishman could want anything other then the French to suffer a crushing defeat is beyond me!
Seriously though; the Eng-Aus game is a big one of course but the NZ-Fra match it going to be one for the purists and should be a very good spectacle.

comment by etienne-frenchieposted 8 Hours Ago
Its BIG. This is the biggest game of the tournament so far. I am French and despite my head saying the All Blacks can't lose, my heart is telling me other wise. I was a child
watchng TV when i saw France beat New Zealand in 1999. My dad was at twickenham that day and it was the day that I started to love rugby. The power of the All Blacks with
Umaga and of course Lomu on the wings vs the French Flair with Dominici and Lamaison... it was brilliant. One of rugby's greatest games.
And now 8 years later I believe that france can do it again. We are playing Beauxis rather than Michalak and Traille is going to play full-back. Will it work? I hope
so.Laporte has gone for strong kickers capable of clearing territory. No French flair then? There will be. I know it. I hope France can win....
I shall be watching the game with my best mate who is a Kiwi. This fixture is the big, it always has been... Allez les bleus.
"IMPOSSIBLE N'EST PAS FRANCAIS"

comment by wrexhamjack123posted 5 Hours Ago
Comment by JoeKiwi....Sad.... Clinging on to the hope that NH rugby is anything other than woeful
What was the score with England V Australia today?

comment by oligold11posted 5 Hours Ago
Beauxis is a genius, and if he can pull the strings then France stand a much stronger chance than anyone gives them credit for. In Bonnaire, they have a very strong 8 who has really picked up his form, and elissalde's form has been exceptional. Jauzion may not have done too much so far, but he is one of the finest players in the world, and might just prove the difference-maker.New Zealand to lead at half-time, France to turn it around and win!

comment by fastasfk2posted 5 Hours Ago
NZ then they get beat by England and if they are lucky they can share the flight home with Australia....or head off for a bit of backpacking around Europe. Eurorail ticket
anyone?

comment by Pieman79posted 4 Hours Ago
cantabnz
NZ played in thier away kit against Scotland in 1995 as well. That time they won ans played and beat England in the semis. We won't talk about the final though.

comment by walgertposted 4 Hours Ago
you made me giggle wrexhamjack and fastasfk...of course anything is possible, as seen between Aus vs Eng, what made me giggle is the the english supporter mentality, first
you knock your team around, call the players all sorts of names and now, you are going overboard..again, you won the Cup already! maybe England will meet France in the
semies, maybe not..,maybe Fiji throws a spanner into the South Africans dreams as well, wouln't that be a feast. oh and yes the Pumas. what are they going to do, lifting the
WC? anything is possible. but I ..will settle for the AB's......period!!
by the way, well done England, you bored ..as one english supporter said..the Aussies to death
comment by wrexhamjack123posted 4 Hours Ago
I am Welsh

comment by Cowshotposted 4 Hours Ago
Yaheeeeeeey!!!!
Whooopeeee!!!!!
YES!

comment by walgertposted 4 Hours Ago
I thought so

comment by wrexhamjack123posted 4 Hours Ago
so why did you say that i was using the typical english supporter mentality then?

comment by walgertposted 3 Hours Ago
sorry..then I didn't know you where Welsh!

comment by LHBatsmanRHBowler,Sobers-What a playerposted 4 Hours Ago
Allez les bleus! Having just watched England am feeling particularly europhile, Rather play France than ABs any day, but if France can just do a bit of damage....

comment by walgertposted 3 Hours Ago
if France can do a bit damage..just to themselfs

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 2 Hours Ago
Doesn't anyone realise that Wrexham is in Wales (the Welsh football team have played internationals there!)?
All things are possible. I'd love to see France win because an England v France semi would be a real classic. However, I just can't see it. France need to play out of their
skins and New Zealand to have an off day.

comment by Wackster219posted 2 Hours Ago
So England are gonna play the winners out of New Zealand + France
And the other semi is gonna be, Argentina/Scotland Vs Fiji/Scotland
Is that right?

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 2 Hours Ago
That's right Wackster.
You can't help thinking that the two halves of the draw are of slightly different strength. The side that gets through the half with Australia, New Zealand, France and
England really is doing it the hard way.

comment by truewitposted 2 Hours Ago
For some reason Casablanca is running in the back of my mind: 'I remember everything about that day: you wore blue, the Germans wore grey'.

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 2 Hours Ago
Mr. Harlow, you may be right. It could well have been the undoing of Australia in the first Quarter Final. But New Zealand's average score in the first round was a little
matter of 78-9. Weak sides were dispatched with brutality. It doesn't make you think that New Zealand are taking things easy.

comment by truewitposted 2 Hours Ago
That is right Wackster: you can get 25-1 on Fiji.

comment by adamjenkins9posted 3 Hours Ago
wrexhamjack123, I'm amazed your proud to be welsh after this world cup, I'd keep my head down if I was you.France are formidable, All Blacks equally tough on the day but the true decider will be the ENGLISH ref, lets see how many tries he disallows.

comment by MaverickWonderposted 2 Hours Ago
Wackster219, no you mean Fiji/South Africa not Scotland. It's weak because the French screwed up against Argentina.
Can't see France having a chance against the All Blacks. Of course, I thought the same about England against Australia.

comment by truewitposted 2 Hours Ago
I just hope Henry imposed a news blackout on the Australia-England result: the ABs don't need to be thinking about the next game when they are on the pitch.

comment by roddersrugbyrefposted 2 Hours Ago
Allez Les Bleus!
Then Scotland tomorrow...
Sorry this England win has sent me delirious

comment by Caymanianblueposted 2 Hours Ago
It is true that South Africa has got the easier run, but as the last big games showed that it is actually better for a team to go through the hard knocks to improve their
game. It worked for England and it may prove NZ's downfall.Go France!

comment by fleprechaunposted 2 Hours Ago
Traille and Beauxis to kick and kick and kick again, pinning the All Greys in their own 22 and winning 16-15.

comment by allblackpatposted 2 Hours Ago
France must keep the ball in hand to beat the All Blacks, picking a kicking fly-half in Beauxis and inexperienced fullback in Traille isn't the way to go.

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 2 Hours Ago
Mr Harlow, that was 78-9 as in "78 to 9" not 78.9...
Not a bad points difference!

comment by Brooksonlyposted 2 Hours Ago
missed it - got the England Oz game- wow - lucky - but so what- a win is a win and Oz looked like they were beat anyway.

comment by Phil Harlow - BBC Sportposted 2 Hours Ago
My mistake! Maths never was my strong point!

comment by Barnseyposted 2 Hours Ago
sorry to ask, because I'm sure someone has asked before but why is this being played in Cardiff?

comment by slogger_6posted 2 Hours Ago
Come on France.This game revolves around the first 20 minutes and which France comes out. Hopefully one full of grit and determination.

comment by gburg_chrisposted 2 Hours Ago
New Zealand has always been unfortunate with their world cup endeavors, but there is always a chance that they could turn their bad luck around....Honsetly as a Englishman i
find it hard to support France but to see the All blacks go down would be sweet!!!!
May the Best Team (OF THE DAY) Win

comment by fleprechaunposted 1 Hour Ago
Wayne Barnes is the ref. He's soft and won't penalise the Greys. Pity.

comment by abc_timposted 1 Hour Ago
ALLEZ FRANCE! ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!!!!

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
there we go, I just hope, your prediction of the english Ref will not come to the fore!GO BLACKS!!

comment by EnglishmaninFranceposted 1 Hour Ago
If you think France haven't got a chance tonight you should come down here to the Cote d'Azur. There isn't a Frenchman here who doesn't remember 1999! P.S. They gave us great
support at Marseilles this afternoon

comment by neoharry16posted 1 Hour Ago
The All blacks look more like the London sky in those shirts

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
The radio is describing the injury. Sounds really bad. The Spanish sports magazine has broken off from the football to talk about it and are sounding really worried.

comment by Caymanianblueposted 1 Hour Ago
Both teams are serious about keeping the game fast with hardly any time between set pieces. France are looking even with NZ at the moment.

comment by fleprechaunposted 1 Hour Ago
Glad I'm not Betsen...

comment by bladeswingerposted 1 Hour Ago
Would it not be a thing of unspeakable beauty if the final was between two NH teams?
Come on France...!
To go off at a slight tangent, this Haka nonsense has got to stop. In a rugby international it has ceased to mean what it was supposed to mean, and has now become a form of
abuse. Full stop. And with every passing year, the sides who perform it look more and more absurd.
Haka, my bum. In NZ's case it should be called The Hokey-Chokey.......Hahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
bladeswinger, swing away with your nonsense...makes no sense to me! GO BLACKS!

comment by Caymanianblueposted 1 Hour Ago
NZ on the attack but the French defence is superb. No score as of yet making a lot of bookies very nervous.

comment by HG_orwhateverposted 1 Hour Ago
I'm all for a new reality vote, adjudicated by Phil 'The Harlot' Harlow.
Readers of the BBC website should be able to award points to the best pre-kick off display, whether its the Haka, the French lining up against that, or simply Phil Vickery
mooning to the world........points mean prizes.

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 1 Hour Ago
i think this game really has the potntial to be the game of the world cup, both sides are capable of playing really superb rugby. But have to say The All Blacks are probably
going to win.
......but then again the French on their day.... ), well here's to an entertaining match.

comment by hooptasticposted 1 Hour Ago
Stuck in Brussels, can't find a screen to see the game, "watching" on text on the BBC website!!! Sounds good...Allez Les Bleus!!!

comment by BulletInTheFaceOfposted 1 Hour Ago
Forgive my ignorance here, by why exactly are World Cup matches being played away from France WHICH IS HOSTING THE TOURNAMENT?!? It doesn't make any sense to me. If FIFA try
having a World Cup match in Brazil when South Africa are hosting, and the teams playing are Japan and Portugal, they'll be lynched!

comment by roomurrhamilposted 1 Hour Ago
impressive all blacks

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
10 silch AB's superb try..fast and furios, the French need to lift their game, GO BLACKS!!!!!!!

comment by hawickposted 1 Hour Ago
Merde if the French, Haymans Beauxais Traille even Josien and co are just going to hoof the ball back to them all night, (which is what Laporte wants, more fool him) I think
the All Blacks might work it out............
The Blacks just so confident, that chip ahead in their own 22, so much trust in each other. This could get very one sided.

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
10-0 already. France are just about holding their own though. However, one more New Zealand score and you'd have to think that it will be just about all over as a contest.
This was the start that Australia failed to get against England.

comment by preciousMerryboyposted 1 Hour Ago
Scores NZ 10 France 0 Come on the All Blacks

comment by Caymanianblueposted 1 Hour Ago
NZ just threw the nitrous switch and are running amok between the backs. France is desperate with kicks into the NZ half. France will have to change tactics to disrupt the NZ
unslaught.

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 1 Hour Ago
Penalty AB done, but France defenceis holding well so far

comment by danielgpposted 1 Hour Ago
Anyone else see the punch on Betsen - Kiwi knocked him out cold with a fist, was NOT a knee.
Hope they show this at half time, and we get the French now.
If NZ win whoever did it should be banned rest of the World Cup - digusting...

comment by bobstyles007posted 1 Hour Ago
Vive le France

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
no I didn't...if so, you might get your wish! GO BLACKS!!

comment by Shootsposted 1 Hour Ago
I'm not claiming to be a tactical genius, but surely giving the Kiwi's more possession by continually kicking the ball down their throats is not the best course of
action...as is proved by a 13 point lead.
Very strange indeed

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
13-0 and NZ just stretching away.
That heavens they are underdone! What would the score be if they were playing at 100%?

comment by Caymanianblueposted 1 Hour Ago
France is slipping away into a typical defensive style with no ambition to turn the ball over quickly to the outside backs. NZ is doing the opposite and it is killing France.
Great rugby from NZ letting France play the kicking game into their very capable running rugby hands.

comment by EnglishmaninFranceposted 1 Hour Ago
Les Blues have done it before. Don't forget 1999!

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
I mean "Thank heavens..."
At this rate New Zealand will be just running into form by the end of the final. Pity their poor opponents!

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
stargazer, they just do the basics, holding a bit back I feel...on the other hand, one can just adept to what the opposition does and the french just try to disrupt the AB's
flow...bad tactic, they just should start to play rugby!

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
Remarkable Walgert, that such a brilliant side has won just one World Cup.
It seems that Mr. Harlow and the text commentary have died. The radio is admiring the French for sticking in there and not let NZ get away, but 13-0 is a clear enough lead,
especially if France are not looking like running in tries.

comment by bladeswingerposted 1 Hour Ago
Absolutely appalling live text coverage - currently 20 mins behind.
And thank you, BBC for making live broadcasts unavailable to overseas listeners.
Contemptuous nonsense.

comment by hawickposted 1 Hour Ago
The All Black kicking is almost as inept. Can't see Laporte changing the gameplan so the players need to do a 1999 second half and rip up their coach's plan on the field,
play from memory, with flair and imagination.
Can't see it though.
I take it our Mr Harlow has given up and gone down the pub. Can't blame him.
comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
mindgames Englishmanin France..the French kicking game is disastrous, what are they doing? 1999 is the past, RIP!

comment by IRISHFOOTBALLGUYposted 1 Hour Ago
Any time today Phil..

comment by Caymanianblueposted 1 Hour Ago
NZ looking not that great in their own 22. A few bad decisions from Carter and the French are all over them. The score is a little timid in portraying this game.

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 1 Hour Ago
France had let All Blacks to settle very early in the game and will be just near impossible to cause another sensational upset. The score is building already (13-0) and
doesnt look like Les Bleu have anything left in the tank.Or maybe another drama...

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
Bladeswinger, it's a rights issue. The BBC has to pay for the right to broadcast. World broadcasting rights have to be negotiated separately and are far more expensive. In
some countries they would need to pay country by country.
13-3 says the radio. Can France hang in there and close the gap a bit more?

comment by Shootsposted 1 Hour Ago
Les Bleus are paying the All Blacks too much respect. It's as if they came into the game expecting to lose.
They need to keep the ball in their hands - NZ had 12 phases at one stage. I don't recall the French having more than 3.

comment by Phil Harlow - BBC Sportposted 1 Hour Ago
Apologies everyone - our system has gone down here at the BBC. Believe me, it's as frustrating for me as it is for you.
Here is the last few minutes' commentary:
22 mins: France win another contested penalty decision after a New Zealand player gets on the wrong side of the ruck. The All Blacks are falling foul of the referee’s
interpretation at the moment.
But the kick at goal, from a fairly tight angle, by Lionel Beauxis fades right of the post.
26 mins: A lovely box-kick from Byron Kelleher gives Sitiveni Sivivatu the chance to absolutely cut Vincent Clerc in half, but France do recycle the ball.
As they have done on every occasion so far, they ignore the possibility of an attack from deep and instead decide to kick long for territory.
30 mins: PEN New Zealand 13-0 France Dan Carter kicks a long-range penalty after France are pinged for an offence at the breakdown. This is not going to plan for Les Bleus so
far. Surely they will have to start trusting their instincts and keep the ball in hand?
32 mins: Damien Traille persists with the policy of kicking long and pays the price as the ball rolls over the deadball line, giving New Zealand a scrum 5m inside the French
half.
35 mins: France win a penalty as New Zealand creep offside in midfield, and the kicking duties are handed over to scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
But Elissalde, under the watchful gaze of French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the crowd, has no more luck and pushes a fairly straightforward kick wide of the posts.
38 mins: All Blacks prop Tony Woodcock muscles his way straight through to turn the ball over as France try to attack in the 22.

comment by weonlysingwhenwefishposted 1 Hour Ago
I thought Rugby was a Running with the ball game with the odd kick now and again. Its like a game of tennis.Hope it gets better second half along with the text coverage.
Strange isnt it they can follow the game from France but not Wales.

comment by Philsterboy61posted 1 Hour Ago
All Blacks need to stop giving away penalties.They will penalise themselves out of the cup if they keep on the way their going

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 1 Hour Ago
13-0 is could be a whitewash from the All Blacks

comment by bobstyles007posted 1 Hour Ago
all blacks good but other teams can beat them. SA and France. wait for 2nd half

comment by Phil Harlow - BBC Sportposted 1 Hour Ago
We have a computer support guy in the office as we speak trying to get to the bottom of it.
40 mins: PEN New Zealand 13-3 France Lionel Beauxis lands a penalty with the final kick of the match to give France some hope going into the half-time break.

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 1 Hour Ago
Laporte, A la Porte (sack him..). Im not a trainer but i know that if a tactic doesnt work , you change it.. He looks he wants to loose with a small margin instead of winning
the game...

comment by Phil Harlow - BBC Sportposted 1 Hour Ago
Of course that should read:
40 mins: PEN New Zealand 13-3 France Lionel Beauxis lands a penalty with the final kick of the HALF to give France some hope going into the break.

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
lol, looks like Wales hasn't paid its broadcasting fee's or they still miffed they're not in the tournament anymore

comment by weonlysingwhenwefishposted 1 Hour Ago
Phil can i just comment about the coverage its all very well putting it on here but not everyone reads these articles. The commentary on ITV is no better. At least its not
Barnes,

comment by Caymanianblueposted 1 Hour Ago
Tactical kicking works great against teams that does not have a great counter attack and poor forward support. NZ is not that team and, I dare say, it would be better not to
give away possession that easily to NZ.

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 1 Hour Ago
comment by Philsterboy61posted Just Now
All Blacks need to stop giving away penalties.They will penalise themselves out of the cup if they keep on the way their going....................................
Agree with and All Blacks paid for it Make that score line 13-3

comment by hawickposted 1 Hour Ago
So far the tv feed I am watching the first half highlights have been the Haka and a kick ahead by Traille that went over the dead ball line. About right.

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
You can't help thinking that New Zealand are thinking that it's Christmas. No need to overstretch themselves, just enjoy a gentle game and at some point they plan to turn it
on for 10 minutes and score a couple of tries.
I hope, for the sake of my French friends, that I'm wrong.
comment by pauldb79posted 1 Hour Ago
danielgp,
yes I thought it was a punch on Betsen, as he started to rise. only obvious from the angle they showed live. NZ's no 4 - hope he gets cited.

comment by walgertposted 1 Hour Ago
anybody can be beaten..ask the Aussies!well done England, loos we meet in the Semies!! GO BLACKS!!

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 1 Hour Ago

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 1 Hour Ago
13-3 HT, could be worst for France, after paying wrong tactics

comment by roomeatthetopposted 1 Hour Ago
A few sides have suffered kicking the ball away for territory, SA vs Tonga comes to mind, SA let Tonga play the open running rugby they like and almost paid the price. Then
again it worked well for SA vs England, sorry to rain on the English parade after the win today but its true

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 1 Hour Ago
If it was a punch, given the seriousness of the injury and the precedents in this tournament, you can imagine the culprit getting a very long ban.
No comments though elsewhere. What I've been hearing was that it appeared to be a chance collision with a knee.

comment by rsuppardsposted 1 Hour Ago
What are the odds on Robinson getting cited for what looked like a very cynical take out on Betsen? Betsen was getting to his feet after the first tackle.
And can Smith tackle anyone without trying to rip their face off?
Otherwise a nice competitive game.

comment by Caymanianblueposted 58 Minutes Ago
There is that French flare!

comment by walgertposted 56 Minutes Ago
and the English Ref gets into the game...well, well, predictions come through. what a Mister Barnes

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 55 Minutes Ago
Caymanian, what flair???
The radio has given up on the rugby and the text commentary is still struggling to catch up. What has happened????

comment by Welshdragon164posted 1 Hour Ago
Only 10 points in it. Still anybody's game!

comment by drdisskposted 1 Hour Ago
Did anyone not spot the punch on Betsen? He didn't go down from the collision with Rokocoko it was a punch that knocked him out

comment by weonlysingwhenwefishposted 54 Minutes Ago
Is it me or is this Murray Mexted watching a different game. Arent Commentators meant to be not bias. But hey it is ITV

comment by walgertposted 53 Minutes Ago
that was nothing, McCallister turned and the Ref interpreted as taking a player out, the sideline Ref had no quarrel with it, what a call Mister Barnes, what a call!!

comment by Philsterboy61posted 53 Minutes Ago
ABs lineout is still dismal

comment by terrypaineposted 52 Minutes Ago
Caymanianbleu: "There is that French flare" Going up in smoke?

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 52 Minutes Ago
If France can use this moment to score a try or at least two penalties we might just in for another drama and before i finish the sentence make the score line 13-6

comment by hawickposted 52 Minutes Ago
Now we might have a game. Maybe the French onfield can rip up Laporte's plan.
On tonight's showing from both teams England will not be worried.
But so professional from the Blacks, 19 phases just burning up so much of the ten minutes from the sin bin.
Expect NZ to step up a gear now.......

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 51 Minutes Ago
The radio now says 13-6, but with time running out.
This is frustrating. Perhaps Mr. Harlow has had to run to yet another office...
Hmmmm. The text suggests that the English referee is not necessarily injust in penalising even New Zealand.

comment by itsmaselposted 1 Hour Ago
At this rate, France are going to shut the world cup down and leave the home nations to get on with it.
comment by Philsterboy61posted 50 Minutes Ago
Ref shouldnt be there.Too inexperienced

comment by Caymanianblueposted 48 Minutes Ago
I am saying that they are giving up on purely kicking for territory and starting to run the ball more, however NZ is better at that game hence the battle running all the time
between the two 22 lines. Exiting stuff. You can watch the game live on Setanta broadband live which is what I am doing.

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 46 Minutes Ago
13-13 says the radio.
Another stunning French comeback???

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 57 Minutes Ago
Dirty play by the AB , now they are 14for 10 min and score 13-6

comment by hawickposted 45 Minutes Ago
Stargazer updates more or less ok now 13-13; 56 mins gone as I type

comment by Caymanianblueposted 45 Minutes Ago
My words are hardly cold and France scores a great try.

comment by moggydave1posted 45 Minutes Ago
Yellow card was tough but you sometimes see them given and sometimes not. Could be crucial though.
This is exciting. Chabal should have started as France need a bit more physicallity.

comment by KINGSEVILposted 44 Minutes Ago
Is it my imagination, or do New Zealand look very ordinary?

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 44 Minutes Ago
I cant seem to forget that night eight years ago at Twickeham when All Blacks seemed cruising and what happened.......13-13

comment by Wot Kuyt 'e didposted 42 Minutes Ago
What's happened to the text commentary, stalling 6 minutes behind..?
Are they just checking it's true? France are back to 13-13! Upset on the cards?

comment by DrBulletposted 53 Minutes Ago
Come On France!!!!Following online in Canada. Using three sites to get the most complete coverage

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 40 Minutes Ago
The text seems to run hot and cold: sometimes it is very slow, as much as 10 minutes behind, this time I heard the score called on the radio and the text has updated very
quickly.
BBC gremlins, unfortunately. I wonder where the text commentary is coming from.

comment by KINGSEVILposted 39 Minutes Ago
Chabal...what a player. A creative wrecking-ball! Starting to resemble Jesus more and more as the tournament progresses. Hmm...

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 38 Minutes Ago
At 13-13 its game on and Les Bleu seem to have their tails up and the noise in the stadium is electrifying coz expecting have reached maxima....potential semi final of
England vs France looming

comment by Wot Kuyt 'e didposted 38 Minutes Ago
France doing a lot of defending... just a matter of.. seconds...
Try for the ABs

comment by hawickposted 38 Minutes Ago
This is not the All Black team of 6-9 months ago. Warning signs were there in the Tri-Nations. Perhaps as usual they peaked too soon. Still expect them to win this game, but South Africa (who were a shambles 6-9 months ago) emerging as tournament favourites for me.
All Black try!

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 37 Minutes Ago
And Dan Carter goes off injured. New Zealand must be wishing that they had put some more points on the board earlier when the French were playing like headless chickens and
New Zealand were just cruising.
Can France bring off a second massive shock of the day?

comment by roomurrhamilposted 37 Minutes Ago
tough game !!!

comment by Caymanianblueposted 36 Minutes Ago
NZ is not looking anywhere near the impervious team they were made out to be. Bad criticism maybe, scoreline speaks the truth!

comment by KINGSEVILposted 36 Minutes Ago
Ah, it was my imagination. But New Zealand look very beatable.
comment by andy_clogsposted 31 Minutes Ago
who else thinks murray Mexted is the most biased commentator on tv?? he is constantly going on about how NZ are getting hard done by by the ref... no NZ are just not the
"awsome" team everyone thinks they are..

comment by roomeatthetopposted 30 Minutes Ago
hawick from your lips to gods ears!!

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 30 Minutes Ago
What is the score someone????
The radio is talking about the football and the European Women's Basketball Championship. Now that the football has started they have forgotten the rugby.

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 30 Minutes Ago
Finally the French resistance is broken, let see how they respond to that..

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 48 Minutes Ago
Vaillant French defence, its Verdun again!

comment by warriorwillposted 46 Minutes Ago
Horrible ref....horrible....

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 46 Minutes Ago
Chabal Caveman. Could France win with him? in

comment by walgertposted 27 Minutes Ago
I think the AB's are a bit underdone, not from the French though, but the AB's haven't got their rythm ..yet!but there is no doubt in my mind, the go and win this one! French look very tired, the tackles they made, incredible. Michalak comes on, see what he has to offer!

comment by Wot Kuyt 'e didposted 26 Minutes Ago
Could be down to who's going to tire most in the last 10 mins... & who's going to have clear head & be able to create an initiative.
ABs in front on balance of play for me, so the score looks fair at 18-13. England earlier were a nose in front v. Oz from the beginning, so...
... then it takes a French breakaway!
18-18 conversion to come!

comment by andy_clogsposted 26 Minutes Ago
awsome!! try time france!! get in u blues!

comment by roomurrhamilposted 25 Minutes Ago
great game !!!

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 25 Minutes Ago
18-18 says the radio. Is that true?
I take back what I said about this not looking like being a close game!!
Now the radio says that France are leading, but won't give the ruddy score!!!

comment by duckmachineposted 25 Minutes Ago
France are using up there luck .. clear forward pass for me ... but still, 'Allez les bleus!'

comment by hawickposted 25 Minutes Ago
LOL Room. -
What a finish French try 20-18 Bleux; 9 mins left.

comment by Caymanianblueposted 24 Minutes Ago
Oh God, I am in tears. How will I ever get back to normal working life after this tournament. Too much excitement for this ticker.

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 24 Minutes Ago
Another drama on the card France goes into the lead 20-18

comment by chrisoxposted 24 Minutes Ago
Come on Frogs!!

comment by bobstyles007posted 44 Minutes Ago
Blacks are beginning to crack

comment by danielgpposted 43 Minutes Ago
Glad it wasn't just me that saw the punch on Betsen...amazed the pundits didn't show it at half time, if he doesn't get cited I'll be furious...esp wioth Betsen being a
pretty key player, disgracefully cynical.
Brilliant try they just scored tho' - Vive Le France!

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 43 Minutes Ago
TRY FRAAAAAAAANCEEE Excellent play!!! :o)
comment by Wot Kuyt 'e didposted 23 Minutes Ago
20-18 to les Bleus
These guys are roasting! They can smell 1999 all over again!
8 mins to go...

comment by neoharry16posted 42 Minutes Ago
Alle la francais, 18-16 to France in the end

comment by nuttywrayposted 41 Minutes Ago
Send the all blacks back with the Aussies! Im sure they can share the same flight back.

comment by muthabalooposted 41 Minutes Ago
Shocking commentary by Murray Mexted. He needs shooting for making such biased statements on international TV. How could he possibly say that nobody was impeeded after the
chip for the possible French try? Moron. I hope the French wipe the floor with the Semi Greys now.

comment by ArgieGastonposted 39 Minutes Ago
I can't believe that I can't see this online!!!allez les bleus, I want to play them again in the final!!!!:o)

comment by Lorcan's Manchester Reds (Champions of England 06/07)posted 22 Minutes Ago
If France win then England are going to get Killed in front of the French

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 21 Minutes Ago
Under 10 minutes and we will have France -England semis how about that...

comment by Johnposted 21 Minutes Ago
I can`t see it ,I can`t hear it,I`m living off these updates,sounds like a cracking game,COME ON FRANCE.

comment by hawickposted 21 Minutes Ago
5 mins left. What price NZ like Oz get one kick to win the game.

comment by chrisoxposted 20 Minutes Ago
5 mins to go and NZ driving fwd 14th phase

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 20 Minutes Ago
Now might be the moment to put some money on Fiji and Scotland!
Australia and New Zealand both losing in the Quarter Finals? You'd have got very VERY long odds on that happening.

comment by duckmachineposted 19 Minutes Ago
surely it has to b a drop goal

comment by Wot Kuyt 'e didposted 19 Minutes Ago
4 mins left... French on their line...
Time to screw it all up

comment by Zasar_Manposted 18 Minutes Ago
Allez Les Bleus! Lets send all these Southern hemisphere big mouths back home!

comment by EnglishmaninFranceposted 37 Minutes Ago
I don't like to say I told you so....but I told you, don't forget 1999!

comment by norfstandladposted 35 Minutes Ago
This is turning out to be a very ineresting game...except that I've got to follow it on BBC text. No radio feed....
Why is there no BBC radio feed if you're outside of the UK?
Bloody frustrating....

comment by Johnposted 18 Minutes Ago
I`d swear Wales were playing ,my heart is beating like a drum,COME ON FRANCE you can do it.

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 18 Minutes Ago
I wouldnt bet against Fiji and Scotland also...the clock is ticking for All Blacks or 1999 de javu

comment by chrisoxposted 16 Minutes Ago
26 phases from NZ to within 5 yards and they lost possession it is back on the French 22 with NZ looking menacing....... Frenach win the ball again and 2 mins remaining.....
into touch on half way and it is looking desperate now for NZ.

comment by hawickposted 16 Minutes Ago
Ref saved France there hands in ruck. Comments about Englishman wanting Francce in semi final to Phil harlow
comment by Wot Kuyt 'e didposted 17 Minutes Ago
One foolish pen...?
1 min...

comment by shop assistantposted 16 Minutes Ago
come on france.

comment by Exhookerposted 16 Minutes Ago
OMG neither of these sides are mine and this is incredible none the less!

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 16 Minutes Ago
The big screen is saying we have 2 minutes...its now or never for All Blacks or are they choking again

comment by roomeatthetopposted 15 Minutes Ago
chrisox I think someone at the beeb needs to give you a job

comment by KINGSEVILposted 15 Minutes Ago
Ha! Ha! Ha! Invincible All Blacks! Don't make me laugh. King of the chokers!!!

comment by Johnposted 14 Minutes Ago
I can`t bear it ,someone tell me France have won Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

comment by Shootsposted 14 Minutes Ago
Les Bleus - I applaud you!!!
Fantastic turnaround

comment by roomurrhamilposted 14 Minutes Ago
woowwww the abs didnt want to win this definitely

comment by ste1000posted 13 Minutes Ago
vive la france

comment by Cold War Kidposted 13 Minutes Ago
It a Southern Hemisphere massacre.Can't wait for the England France game.

comment by shop assistantposted 13 Minutes Ago
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
get in!

comment by Lawro_Slayerposted 13 Minutes Ago
Fiji tomorrow anyone?
The way it's going it's a possibility.

comment by duckmachineposted 13 Minutes Ago
I'm staggered - I never would have believed that the Kiwis could choke yet again ...

comment by Zasar_Manposted 13 Minutes Ago
Bye bye New Zealand. New Zealand in Rugby and South Africa in Cricket the biggest chokers ever.
So much for the Southern Hemisphere shut out!

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 13 Minutes Ago
I don't believe it!! I don't believe it!!!
A stunned and emotional Spanish commentator announces a French victory.

comment by walgertposted 13 Minutes Ago
yes excellent play France congrats!!

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 13 Minutes Ago
Done its official France vs England

comment by jim040zposted 12 Minutes Ago
i always said an england scotland final .

comment by bobstyles007posted 36 Minutes Ago
vive la france
comment by Exhookerposted 16 Minutes Ago
Sacred Feces!!! What a day for Rugby. England v France. Oh baby!!!!

comment by bobstyles007posted 36 Minutes Ago
vive la france

comment by moggydave1posted 16 Minutes Ago
So many oppurtunities for the drop goal when they were at the 22 and they only had a go when at the halfway line. They cracked.
Well done Les Bleus. Vive La France

comment by arightleftwingerposted 15 Minutes Ago
The two most arrogant teams in world rugby have now been beaten - Australia and New Zealand. So much for the vaunted Southern Hemisphere dominance. Allez Les Bleus

comment by graeme82posted 15 Minutes Ago
Unbelievable! What a day for NH rugby! Well done England and France, great results! Now I hope Scotland can copy and get past Argentina...

comment by hackerjackposted 15 Minutes Ago
FFFF this, thats the last match i'm watching in the RWC. We have been denied the best team in the tournament by yet more stupid and incompetent refereeing. Every single
person in the stadium sa a pass go 45 degree forward to Michilak for the French try but the officials CHOSE not to see it, yes CHOSE, there is no way that three of them could
have missed it, not 3 people in the stadium or watching on TV missed it live.
FFFF the RWC, FFFF Rugby.
(BTW, I'm not a New Zealander, I'm Welsh, i'd have loved to see France beat the All Blacks fairly.)

comment by Johnposted 15 Minutes Ago
Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,chockers again,4 more years ,4 more years ,4 more years,

comment by MightySpurs07-08posted 14 Minutes Ago
bahahahahaha!

comment by IRISHFOOTBALLGUYposted 14 Minutes Ago
Black Monday (1999) Black Sunday (2007)

comment by Zasar_Manposted 14 Minutes Ago
Although, France will now crush England next week though.
If the All Blacks are struggling to get through that defence what hope for England?

comment by LatvianAllBlacksFanposted 14 Minutes Ago
Hats off to French - about 170 tackles to about 40. Congratulations! Now I'm wholeheartedly will support France (and Argentina) in this cup.
Oh, geez... all forums definitely will be full of "choking" thing. Seems, I will have to ignore forums for another 4 years.

comment by Englandlad23posted 13 Minutes Ago
Four More Years Boys!!!! Four More Years Boys!!!! Four More Years Boys!!!! Let the moaning beging, let it begin. Like i said there was always a chance with NZ having breezed
through the semis ... looks like the Northern Hemisphere sides have turned up to the tournament.

comment by Exhookerposted 13 Minutes Ago
Hacker jack...seriously? all I have is the text feed, no visual.

comment by Lorcan's Manchester Reds (Champions of England 06/07)posted 13 Minutes Ago
MARK MY WORDS:
ARGENTINA WILL WIN THE WORLD CUP

comment by Austin_SJposted 13 Minutes Ago
Northen hemisphere teams ftw, that foward pass it was not the most obvious bit of bad refereeing i have seen, the all blacks have got away with some appalling stuff in the
past, as have other teams, and what goes around comes around. allez les blues for tonight then it's england all the way.

comment by Shrews07-08posted 12 Minutes Ago
Haha stupid kiwis

comment by shop assistantposted 12 Minutes Ago
hackerjack don't turn rugby into the whining mess that is football support.
or every match will just become an excuse for every amateur lawyer to whinge on about various incidents in the game.
welsh eh? look forward to meeting you in the final then. what's that? you're out already?
shame.

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 32 Minutes Ago
TRYYYYY FRANCE!!!!!!! 18 all!!!

comment by DaiRbuposted 32 Minutes Ago
The Kiwis are just Lambs!

comment by AClarkinposted 32 Minutes Ago
This ref is a joke obviously wants an easier semi final for England!

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 35 Minutes Ago
Wow, what a game, 2 tries.WOW. And France leading now

comment by Johnposted 15 Minutes Ago
if I had one wish now ,I would wish I was in a Walkabout pub in Earls Court full of Aussie and Kiwi fans,ARRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA.

comment by Cricketing_stargazerposted 15 Minutes Ago
Talk about "The Great Escape". New Zealand were cruising and felt that they could score enough points at will. Instead of killing France dead in the first half they let them
back in.
Amazing. One of my French colleagues has already emailed me. Methinks that we will all watch the game at his house next week.
Who would have bet on England and France knocking out Australia and New Zealand given the way that both teams started the tournament?

comment by roomeatthetopposted 14 Minutes Ago
As a bok fan heres hoping thats enough upsets for this world cup thanks

comment by Justice_wa_Barutiposted 14 Minutes Ago
Good nite everyone and please enjoy the celebration and also enjoy the Chinese grand prix tomorrow...hope we will be celebrating another victory of perhaps major proportion.

comment by norfstandladposted 28 Minutes Ago
This is shaping up to be a classic !
And NO RADIO FEED OUTSIDE UK
Aaaargh

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 27 Minutes Ago
5 mins to go, AB on the attack,i wonder how it will end?
Any bets yet guys?

comment by RebelArmyRedDevil(Official Matchday Thread Man!)posted 13 Minutes Ago
One of the great sporting events of the decade.Cracking atmosphere and what a game!
Ellisalde running towards the touchline at the end was one of those things you won't forget for a long time.

comment by kinsangposted 12 Minutes Ago
Well done to the French - they played their hearts out. No doubt a bad missed call with regards to the forward pass, but NZ still had good chances to put the game away, also
had so many chances for a drop goal attempt when close to the game-line.

comment by Johnposted 11 Minutes Ago
altogeather now,4 more years,4 more years ,4 more years,4 more years ,4 more years ,4 more yeeeeeaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssssssss. goodbye mr henry ,hello new coaching team.

comment by Hendraluxposted 11 Minutes Ago
All the hot air from the Antipodeans has gone blowing in the wind. The arrogance and over-confidence ended in gutless performances from Aus and NZ when it really mattered.
Their dismissal of NH rugby now looks foolish. I think the word 'chokers' was created just for the All Blacks.

comment by RobVillaposted 11 Minutes Ago
Aussies thought they just had to turn up to win and lost big style up front to seriously the most mediocre England team in 20 years.So did New Zealand who seemed oblivious to today's previous result and played into France's hands. When NZ lost in previous tournaments the opposition has been inspired not
so today.

comment by LatvianAllBlacksFanposted 10 Minutes Ago
Now I can see a possibility of England retaining the world cup. Which - for the game itself and for Englands development - will be a utter disaster.
What a black day.

comment by richie4eva1posted 10 Minutes Ago
Who would have thought it? South Africa last of the Tri Nations standing and an England v France semi final

comment by rsuppardsposted 10 Minutes Ago
So what about that then?Good pulsating stuff - and to think only a week ago I was wondering if the AB's had peaked too soon.
On this form anyone left in as of tonight must seriously fancy their chances.Neither side tonight looked too convincing up front Now let's see if England can produce a repeat performance of the 6 nations.

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 26 Minutes Ago
and everyone predicted it would be SH teams in the semi's.
Wondr if France will mkae it like England did?

comment by ronhutchposted 26 Minutes Ago
come on the all blacks another southern hemisphere scalp always welcome

comment by joshyg1306posted 25 Minutes Ago
C'mon france, i dont want england playin NZ!!!

comment by bobstyles007posted 25 Minutes Ago
WOW Vive la france

comment by moggydave1posted 11 Minutes Ago
It was a forward pass I think....
That being said NZ (and most good modern teams) win by getting away with what they can.
NZ should have won not because of this but simply because they had so many easy drop goal oppurtunities in the last 5 mins and didn't have ago untill it was too difficult.

comment by Zasar_Manposted 10 Minutes Ago
Yes the Walkabouts will a great place to be tonight.
It would be great if Scotland take out Argentina tomorrow now. It was also great to see the look of disbelief on Graham Henry's face. I can't stand that man!

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 25 Minutes Ago

comment by EnglishmaninFranceposted 25 Minutes Ago
I said I told you so twice now. Does nobody believe me about the spirit of 1999?

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 25 Minutes Ago
a minute to go, how will it end? Are the Boks rubbing their hands cos France win?

comment by Kalahari_Surferposted 23 Minutes Ago
omg, the French did it AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

comment by saracen5dposted 22 Minutes Ago
Allez Le Bleu ....... well done France
From an ecstatic English Fan

comment by bobstyles007posted 21 Minutes Ago
Vive le france HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAAy

comment by Spiro1959posted 21 Minutes Ago
New Zealand -Chokers once again !!!!!!

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 21 Minutes Ago
OOUIII YEEESSSS BRAAVEEE SUPERB FRAAANCCEEEEEEEEEEEEE

comment by leveseposted 20 Minutes Ago
Amazing. NH going to have their cup of tea in the most classic match. But just until the final match...

comment by nuttywrayposted 20 Minutes Ago
2 upsets! this is a legendary tournament!HAHA!! Australia and NZ have a lloonnggg flight back home!

comment by Austin_SJposted 9 Minutes Ago
hang on, brian ashton is trying new development tactics, and who cares about playing good rugby, surely winning is good? NZ and Australia are out, no one can say that they
have the right tactics now can they?If england are dominant through the fowards and kicking then it is a good tactic, and well done to Brian ashton for his choice of development.

comment by moggydave1posted 8 Minutes Ago
Also, G Henry and S Hansen may be out of a job now, which would be good for us Welsh....

comment by lostinflyzposted 20 Minutes Ago
that was the worst ref. i have ever seen. ever. ever. if he ever goes to new zealand he will be lucky to leave alive

comment by jmdonoghueposted 20 Minutes Ago
Good for England's chances,France still rubbish

comment by Greekmacedoniaposted 19 Minutes Ago
Love you les anglais, what a great semi final in my birth town

comment by donkeyadamsposted 19 Minutes Ago
By binning McAlister that ref robbed New Zealand, they levelled the game then. I think his meteoric rise to reffing this game at 28 was a bit too fast, it was never a binning
offence.

comment by Scubar2k8posted 19 Minutes Ago
Im shocked that New Zealand lost to a team like france. This world cup keeps getting stranger and stranger.
Whats next Fiji beating South Africa and Argentina beating Scotland ?

comment by Camel Hair Coatposted 19 Minutes Ago
I'd buy the kiwis a beer but I'm worried they might get knocked out when they choke on it

comment by abc_timposted 14 Minutes Ago
J'ADORE!!!!!! ALLEZ
Now bring the Roses

comment by KennyBarnesTorresposted 14 Minutes Ago
I am one happy man!!!! i bet on France vs South Africa Final...NOW I HAVE WON...only 2 Rugby teams left in the tournament
SOUTH AFRICA WILL WALK THIS NOW

comment by DrBulletposted 14 Minutes Ago
FANTASTIC!!!Just goes to show, you can spend 4 years doing all the flashy stuff but, at the end of the day, rugby is a man's game! Only ONE tri-nations team in the semis.Another 4 years for New Zealand...most of their team won't even have been born when they won it!Joy.

comment by bobstyles007posted 13 Minutes Ago
YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

comment by Zasar_Manposted 2 Minutes Ago
I was under the impression that Carter was supposed to show that he was the greatest 10 ever, in this game!

comment by Spiro1959posted 13 Minutes Ago
Enjoy it now France-Jonny will destroy you next week !!!

comment by bubwalposted 13 Minutes Ago
Having seen my side knocked out in a blaze of embarrassment - (Wales) it is our national sport after all - and we are as critical of the Welsh rugby side as the English are
of their fottball team, I am please to have seen the Wallabies and now the Kiwi's knocked out at the quarter finals. It is great for Northern hemisphere sides - who said the
southern sides played better rugby!! Graham Henry said he was happy where he was when questioned by the Welsh media about becoming head coach of Wales again - not so sure
now, he may be sacked and submitting his CV to the WRU.

comment by edwardo63posted 12 Minutes Ago
Four more years boys....four more years....oh dear.

comment by TeniPuristposted 12 Minutes Ago
hahahahahahahaahahahah what a great day! the arrogance of the aussies and the kiwis comes back to haunt them!!! to tink of all those ars**oles before licking their lips at
the prospect of playing england in the semis....I DONT THINK SO!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GO BACK TO THE 3rd WORLD !!

comment by subedeithemomgolposted 12 Minutes Ago
Always thought forward passing was illegal in rugby - obviously not. So, was this disgraceful display of refereeing just incompetence, or something more sinister?

comment by lostinflyzposted 12 Minutes Ago
looking at the teams you would have to say they have a really good shot

comment by barker657posted 12 Minutes Ago
What a fantastic second half. The French substitutions ultimately won it for them, as well as the All Blacks injuries to key players but not to take anything away from the
final try from the French. Exciting stuff!
No-one at the start of the day would have believed a French - English Semi...
Looking forward to it.

comment by tafer2ukposted 11 Minutes Ago
Agreed, two of the best three teams in the world are out of the 2007 RWC. It just goes to show spirit and heart can beat arrogance and complacency any time. NZ you choked
(again), Australia thought the game was already won before a ball had been kicked. These two results don't mean England or France are better than Aus and NZ, just that on the
day they were! Well done to both of you!

comment by TheSavageGunnerposted 11 Minutes Ago
Refereeing failures ruined the game, seemed like he wanted to give every decision to France. Not good enough in a World Cup QF. Did anyone honestly think that an English
referee wouldn't be biased? Pathetic.

END ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Men In Black

2007-09-10T15:36:00.000Z

Clad all in black with only the white Nike stripes showing on headband and left shoulder breaking the shadowy effect, Roger Federer moved into equal second spot on the Tennis Grand Slam list this Sunday with a regulation win at the US Open.

He now has 12 slams and sits only 2 behind the Sampras record.

On the same weekend, only one team really showed form capable of winning the Rugby World Cup - and they too, were clad all in black. Whilst hosts France incredibly lost to an inspired and obdurate Argentina, the New Zealand All Blacks put 70 points on Six-Nations Italy and barely broke into a sweat whilst doing so. Frightening.

Meanwhile England scraped through against the US, Ireland were pushed close by Namibia, as were Wales by Canada, and Scotland had a lot of luck in their game against Portugal.

Clearly Nike are looking for a black period in sporting dominance. And it looks like they're going to get it.

Carlos Moya versus Djokovic and Time

2007-09-08T12:02:00.000Z

At 32 years Carlos Moya is getting towards grandaddy age in professional tennis terms. However, the former world number 1 and ex-Roland garros champion had made solid progress through to the quarter-finals of the US Open Tennis using his experience to wins over some pretty good young guns.

Still in tip-top physical shape, Moya was moving well and you could see he felt confident. In one of his matches your correspondent caught a couple of middle-aged women spectators almost fainting with desire in the first rows everytime the rugged Spaniard served in front of them. At that point in his 3rd-round tie, two sets in and the humidity of the New York nights making him glow with perspiration, if you had captured a thimble-full of that sweat I reckon you could have sold it to the ladies for a couple of hundred bucks.

Unfortunately for Carlos his quarter final set him up against the new kid on the block Djokovic, a Serb who looks like he could give King Roger a run for his money in the very near future. Although this match looked like a last crack at a big title for Moya and you knew he would try to pull out all the stops, youth was definitely in the ascendant here. The unforgiving clock had run on a bit too far for the old-timer.

And so it proved. Djokovic dispatched Moya in 3 straight sets to set up a semi against another Spaniard, Ferrer. This will be a good match up because Ferrer is fast and persistent - something the young Serb has yet to face, but on present form, and providing his dodgy back holds up, we are looking at a new champion - at least sometime soon.

Women's Marathon Athletics World Championships

2007-09-02T01:04:00.000Z

Osaka, Japan: Catherine Ndereba of Kenya wins the female marathon title, breaking her three main opponents at 2 hrs 25 minutes into the race when she stole a 30 metre lead and never looked like letting it go - finishing nine minutes later in a time of 2 hours 30 minutes 37 seconds.

Top Ten Finishing Positions - Women's Marathon - World Athletics Championships.

At 2hrs 17 mins: 2 Kenyans hit the front - one of them is Ndereba. Pack of eight gets split leaving five - 2 Chinese and Tosa from Japan.
2.19: Leading pack now down to four - 2 Kenyans and 2 Chinese.
2.21: Ndereba pushes and takes the two Chinese with her - It's Zhou and Zhu.
2.22: Your reporter checks he read that correctly.
2.23: He did, amazingly, and Tosa appears to be bridging the gap to the front three.
2.25: Ndereba now pushes again and steals a 30 metre gap on Zhou who also puts 30 metres on Zhu.
2.26: Tosa is catching Zhu in third.
2.28: Ndereba is grimacing but is holding the gap steady on her pursuer as she enters the stadium.
2.30: She's the champion, Catherine Ndereba wins and she's on her knees and now hunched over. Incantations and she's up again to collect obligatory national flag for waving. Zhu comes in second 8 seconds behind and Tora grabs a medal for her adoring home crowd a further ten seconds behind.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance 20km Walker

2007-08-28T22:40:00.000Z

Osaka, Japan for the World Athletics Championships and it's all action all of the time. Even the 20km pretend-to-walk-while-really-jogging event. No, really.

20km Walk-Racing, as I believe it is correctly designated, is one of those sports on the very edge of being acceptable as a 'true' sport. It's in there with rhythmic gymnastics and synchronised swimming as something that clearly requires sporting endeavour but lacks an obvious point. Why not just do gymnastics - what's with all the balls and ribbons? Why walk if you can run?

In fact, to get around this existential dilemma, many of our walking heros do seem to decide to run anyway and hope they won't get caught. The secret appears to jog along but try and waddle enough to fool the on-course judges that you are indeed walking. Just very, very seriously.

Unfortunately for some in Sunday's race their waddling was not enough to avoid receiving the dreaded second warning and then expulsion. The judges seem to spring from the side of the course and suddenly point a red card at the ambling offender, who waddles on for a few more yards as momentum and realisation come to a collision, and then drops away and off. It must be hard to walk back to the changing rooms at this point one would have thought. Maybe they prepare wheelchairs for the stricken.

Beyond these poignant and personal dramas lay the medal chase. An Ecuadorian was pumping away clear in first place. If he had been wearing a tuxedo he would have appeared to be doing the cha cha cha, without a partner, in running shoes. He sachayed over the line and promptly collapsed in a fit, his legs shaking uncontrollably, which was more of a jitterbug really but the judges had already got their men and were back in the saloon playing cards and drinking Sapporo whiskey.

Meanwhile, with medics attending to our the gold medal winner, second place hove into view. Down the final stretch he came but as he approached the finish the metres seemed to get harder and harder. A Spaniard in third position was motoring away some twenty metres behind. Smoothly slipping the gears he honed in on the stuttering man in second place. He was in full jogging-but-really-really-trying-hard-to-appear-walking mode. Some of the sparse, drowsy crowd, most still sipping their first coffees of the day and leafing through their programmes, saw what was happening and started to scream. With five metres left stutterer realised something was happening, turned to gauge the threat and was left in a puff of wind, well a light zephyr of a breeze at least, as Diego zipped past and fair dipped for the line.

What drama, what courage, what suspense. If that's international race-walking then I'm a convert. The 20km Walk - it's the new curling.

When Tennis Was Cool - Back to 1970s Part II

2007-08-23T19:06:00.000Z

More classic tennis pictures from 1974. I give you John Newcombe (in very cool Adidas trainers), a 17 year old Bjorn Borg, Yvonne Goolagong and Stan Smith, + a quite awful ad for Kawasaki tennis racquets - now what ever happened to them eh?

Waiting For Alonso

2007-08-04T13:19:00.000Z

Qualifying Day - Hungaroring - 4th August. World champion Fernando Alonso claimed pole position for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix after a controversial qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton was seemingly delayed by his team-mate in the pit lane meaning he was too late for his final lap.

Alonso had come in to change tyres in time for one last flying lap, and proceeded to sit in the pit-box eating sandwiches and discussing the weather with the pit crew, while Hamilton sat revving his engine behind him. Eventually Alonso engaged gear and took off, but when Hamilton emerged from the pit-lane it was too late and the session was closed

Then, in the final seconds, the Spaniard pipped the 22yr old British rookie by 0.107 seconds, dropping him to second - and on a track notorious for lack of overtaking opportunities.

As the drivers came in after qualifying for weight-checking and interviews the TV cameras caught a steaming Ron Dennis throwing a mini-tantrum at the McLaren control point and then having whispered words with Alonso, who pointedly ignored him. This made Dennis even more livid and you could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

Oh to be a fly on the wall in the team meeting this evening.

Its clearly been a trying week and this was the ultimate way to make the McLaren chief lose even more hair. Ferrari-gate had seen him in Paris to defend the team, increasingly strident press-conferences had seen him make some odd accusations, and now his teammates playing silly buggers in his cars.

However, his cars are 1 and 2 on the grid for the race, 1 and 2 in the world championship standings and he is leading the constructors championship. Blimey. I'd hate to see Ron Dennis when things weren't going well.

No Need For Drugs For Disco

2007-07-29T22:36:00.000Z

PARIS: The goal was to have a scandal free tour. It ended up a scandal-ridden one. At one stage the 'King of the Mountains' jersey was seemingly going to the rider who scored the most drugs, rather than the one who won the most points. And you wondered how much of the 180 strong peloton would make it into Paree.

For the Discovery Channel however, it was a clear result - nothing on the breathometer, Contador the winner and Leipheimer making the podium.

"We came here with certain ambitions and we have exceeded all our ambitions," Discovery Channel sporting director Johan Bruyneel said. "Last year nothing worked, and this year our goal was to get on the podium ... Levi for third place and Contador for the white jersey."

Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine finished eighth overall, giving the American team three riders in the top eight, exceeding all expectations.

"Last year we had a different year, but this time we're back and I'm very proud." Bruyneel said. George Hincapie proved to be a key support rider, particularly in the Pyrenees, where he rode high tempo after the climbs so that Cadel Evans and his exhausted team would have no chance to rest.

Discovery's performance banked nearly three times more money than any other team, receiving 723,240 euroeweenies (US$987,295), compared to €235,060 (US$320,880) for Evans' Predictor-Lotto team.

Bruyneel expressed awe at Contador's surprising performance. "Alberto was on an amazing level," he said. "I thought he would be with the best for two weeks, for 10 days let's say. But I expected he would be a bit weaker in the Pyrenees. The last Pyrenees stage he was a lot worse than his results show. He tried to attack but he didn't have the legs to attack."

Lance Armstrong summed things up - "I think we've seen the future of Spanish cycling and perhaps international cycling."

And Now Rasmussen Goes

2007-07-27T19:27:00.001Z

Tour de France update: Rasmussen, the tour leader, is sacked by his team for not telling them where he was prior to the tour (and, indeed, not telling anybody, thus missing 4 out-of-competition drug tests). What a naughty boy.

It seems to me the Tour would be better if everyone was on trendy scooters. No need for all the effort and you would instead win points for style, presentation and number of fights with Rockers at the beach.

No More Vino in France

2007-07-24T19:52:00.000Z

Oooops! Tour de France favourite and time-trial specialist Alexandre Vinokourov (known as 'Vino' by his friends) has tested positive for a banned blood transfusion and his team, Astana's La Palmeraie, has pulled out of the race. Police later raided the team hotel, although what they expected to find is unclear. Count Dracula counting out plastic bags in the lobby? Doctor House scribbling prescriptions on his white-board?

Despite this latest doping scandal, Tour de France organisers have said the race shall go on. But considering that current tour leader, Michael Rasmussen, has himself been under-suspicion, and indeed has been suspended by his own Danish Cyling Union for failing to tell of his whereabouts when they wanted to test him, surely the whole competition is now heading for the status of farce.

The scoop came from L'Equipe, the French daily sports newspaper that specialises in hounding cyclists, doped up or not. It reported that the analysis was conducted by the Chatenay-Malabry lab on the outskirts of Paris, which sounds more like a fine wine Chateau than a laboratory. It said that two distinctive types of red blood cells were found in the A sample and that that shows that Vinokourov received a blood transfusion shortly before the time trial, from a compatible donor.

The first thought that comes to mind is 'what was Wino, sorry Vino, thinking?' He won that time trial by some distance (out pacing our own rather special Bradley Wiggins) and if he is guilty, did he honestly think he wouldn't be tested? Surely, the best way to get away with not being discovered would be to come in a subtle 5th place or something, somewhere down the list of leaders but a bit ahead of Rasmussen so as to gain some time on the leader. Blasting the opposition away in a scarcely believable time, a la Floyd Landis in last years' race, is just asking for trouble.

Once again our sports heroes are revealed to be bloated with performance enhancing blood cells but a bit short on the old thinking cells.

------------ ------------ ------ -------------- -----------

On a totally gratuitous side-note I wish to publicly humiliate my colleague Michael Sulkin who, despite his own transfusion of a single malt whisky and a couple of shandys, came last in the Norwood Backgammon Tournament, showing that his negotiating skills as a property developer and in real estate development were totally non-transferable to the backgammon board. Hehe. At least Michael can try again next year, something that Nino, sorry, Wino, sorry, errrr Vino, won't be able to.

Anti-Chavez Protests at the Copa America

2007-07-17T01:30:00.000Z

"Y Va A Caer" - "Libertad!" - and "RCTV!" were the chants being used during group matches in the Copa America football tournament that's just finished being held in Venezuela.

Despite the best efforts of Hugo Chavez's thuggish military police to crack down on dissent, spontaneous anti-government protests erupted during several group stage matches. Local spectators took the chance to exploit international television coverage of the tournament by singing anti-Chavez songs during the games and making sure that foreign TV crews were fully aware of their feelings towards the hated proto-dictator.

A hint of what was to come took place at the opening ceremony, when Chavez appeared to officially open the tournament and was loudly heckled by one part of the stadium.

But the first big protest took place during the second half of Thursday's match between the U.S. and Argentina in the western city of Maracaibo, a stronghold of opposition to Chavez. Rising to their feet with chants of "Freedom!" and "This government is going to fall!" some 40,000 people got a clear message out to their latin American neighbours. The protests then spread to other matches in Merida and Caracas.

Chavez had gone to great lengths to keep Venezuela's bitter political divide from spilling into the tournament. At each of the nine stadiums, pictures of Chavez were displayed prominently under giant banners like the one in Maracaibo reading "We're building the motherland." He banned protests in and near stadiums and ordered state security forces to crack down on any that did arise. He even made sure that his supporters could be present at games by bulk buying tickets for whole sections of stadiums. But all this was to no avail as live television coverage across the whole continent clearly captured the protests and videos were posted on youtube and other popular south american video sharing sites.

Moto GP Hits The Spot

2007-06-15T11:29:00.000Z

The world Moto GP championship is shaping up to be another closely fought contest. This year's main protagonists are Casey Stoner (Australia), Valentino Rossi (Italia) and Dani Pedrosa (Spain) - pictured below in order.

Sunday's round at the GP de Catalunya was yet another example of the most exciting racing in world motor sport, with Stoner and Rossi trading places in the lead six times and Pedrosa shadowing them menacingly for 24 laps. Championship leader Casey Stoner edged out Valentino to win in thrilling style. Rossi started from pole but Stoner led from the end of the first lap, ahead of Rossi and Dani Pedrosa, until lap 17. Rossi did everything he could on the final lap but the Australian held on to secure a memorable victory. It was a battling performance by Stoner, who held his nerve and refused to be out-muscled by the former MotoGP world champion, despite the bikes going so close together they nearly touched.

"You just give it right back to Valentino the way he gives it to you," said Stoner afterwards.

Stoner's fourth victory in seven races this season has stretched his world championship lead over Rossi to 14 points.

Rossi: "The race was fantastic from the bike, at the end I had some chances but I was too much at the limit to try and overtake," he said.

This is genius racing that is being played out every fortnight on the GP tour. The live crowds are passionate about their sport and this is transmitted through to the riders who push to the limit every lap.

After this round the Riders' Standings in GP World Championship 2007 are:

1 Casey Stoner - Ducati - Australia - 140
2 Valentino Rossi - Yamaha - Italy - 126
3 Dani Pedrosa - Honda - Spain - 98
4 Marco Melandri - Honda - Italy - 75

Extraordinary Night in Spain's La Liga

2007-06-10T14:22:00.000Z

22:55 hrs, central Madrid. In what might still prove to be premature celebrations, Real Madrid supporters are out in Plaza Cibeles, the traditional home of the club's championship celebrations after an extraordinary night of changing fortunes.

In the ultimate minutes of Saturday night's penultimate round of La Liga, Real Madrid came back from 2-1 down away to Real Zaragoza, to secure a draw and then seconds later Barcelona blew their lead against home-town rivals Espanyol to draw 2-2.

This leaves Real still on top going into the final round. Sevilla, who could only manage a 0-0 at Mallorca, remain in title contention but trail the two leaders, who have the same points tally but Real are ahead because of their superior head-to-head record.

David Beckham's hopes of finishing his career with a Spanish league title remained alive after an extraordinary night of the Spanish top division. With just two minutes left a topsy-turvy Saturday night saw Barcelona leading Espanyol 2-1 at Camp Nou and Real trailing 2-1 at Zaragoza. But Ruud van Nistelrooy's second equaliser of the night, his 33rd goal of the season, secured Real a 2-2 draw.

Beckham was still visibly shaking off the ankle injury he suffered on England duty mid-week, but played the whole game. He hobbled off at the end clutching a supporters scarf. Real went behind after half an hour when defender Ivan Helguera impeded Pablo Aimar to concede a penalty which Diego Milito tucked away. Real trailed 1-0 at half-time, but then van Nistelrooy equalized after 56 minutes. It was the former Manchester United striker's 14th goal in his last 14 games, equalling Real legend Hugo Sanchez's record of scoring in seven consecutive matches in the process. However, Madrid faltered again when Milito, set up by Aimar, cooly slotted home his second after 63 minutes. The game swung back and forth as Real pressed and Zaragoza counter-attacked. With less than two minutes on the clock, Van the Man from Amsterdam forced home the ball home after swift build-up play. It was his 10th goal in his last seven games, secured Real a point. Moments later news filtered through that Raul Tamudo had scored a last-minute equaliser for Espanyol. Barcelona had surrendered the title advantage in the final moment of the their game.

The champions had earlier been indebted to a controversial 'handball' goal by Lionel Messi. With his side trailing 1-0 to their city rivals, the Argentine wing took to the Argentinian speciality play-book and conjured a 'hand of God' moment from a Gianluca Zambrotta cross and punched the ball with his hand past Espanyol keeper Carlos Kameni. The protests to the referee by the Espanyol players were fervent but inneffective. A superb strike from Messi early in the second half put Barcelona in seeming total control before the late, super late, super duper late drama in both matches.

Roger Gets His Man

2007-05-28T21:23:00.000Z

With top-notch timing Roger Federer FINALLY got to grips with Rafa Nadal on a clay court. "I have cracked the code," said a delighted Roger after beating 'the Beast' in 3 sets in Hamburg. And with Roland Garros the next tourny up, he couldn't have found the key at a better time.

Our favourite Swiss won 2-6 6-2 6-0 to take his fourth Hamburg title and end Nadal's record run of 81 straight wins on clay. "To come through is excellent, I played fantastic, and I really got the feeling in the end I had figured out how to play him," said the Fed Express.

Rog is known for being a gentleman and is well respected amongst his peers but you can sense that he really doesn't like Nadal. Of course, the losing often will be part of it, but I think it's something deeper. I think Rog just doesn't like the whole Nadal style and gets frustrated that he loses to such a blatant hacker. Most especially, the whole quarter of an hour thing between points, really winds him up and one does wish that the refs (or umpires) would hurry the Spaniard up. He takes an age to adjust all his bits and is constantly picking his shorts out of his arse. A match with Nadal takes 4 hours even if he wins love and love.

Anyway, Roland Garros is the focus now and this result has cast an element of doubt over the second Grand Slam of the year, as Federer has proved Nadal is not invincible on clay. With the forecast set for clouds and rain this should also help Federer since the arenas will play less like Mallorcan sun-baked courts and we should see more skiddy balls negating the brutal top spin Mr Muscles likes to put on his balls - or should I say shots.

Fingers X-ed then. Allons-Y Les Gars!

Spain vs England UEFA U17 Final

2007-05-13T17:57:00.000Z

Just finished watching the final of the UEFA U17 Cup Final. Spain won 1-0. Probably deserved but there wasn't much in it. If anything, Spain deserved it most for being the most positive. Not in the sense of positive play - both teams tried to attack and play good football. No, positive in the sense of general attitude.

Now, I know we are dealing with 15/16 year olds here, and that with all those hormones raging it's a period in a young mans' life where sulking and depression is the norm, but come on chaps. You've made it to the final of the UEFA Cup. You're considered one of the best players in your country, with luck you have a pro football career ahead of you and, most importantly of all, you get to wear the glorious white shirt with lion rampant. You could smile a bit. Look a bit excited. The Spanish chaps were (and I mean before they lifted the cup). But, with the exception of our excellent left-back (sorry dude, didn't catch your name), our players were all surly, aggressive, frowning and with heads constantly bowed. They had the whingeing to the ref bit perfected. They spat a lot. They sauntered around casually for throw-ins and free-kicks. They were, in short, 'always cool man', 'looking for respek', 'not wanting to be dissed innit'.

What a bunch of tossers.

Lads, lads, lads, you need to cheer up a bit. The psychology is all wrong and needs to be fixed. Remind yourselves that you made the finals of the UEFA Cup, which is a great achievement. You have great futures ahead of you with Ferraris and groupies and international travel and 'loads of respek innit. Liberate yourselves and your football will be even better. Uncle Soren can show you the way - and my fee is most reasonable. Drop me a line and I'll give you the existential psycho-cure.

Club Vs. Country

2007-03-12T16:16:00.000Z

This week I got into a debate in the comments section of the Daily Telegraph rugby blog (hosted by Mick Cleary, that paper's rugby correspondent).

The subject was club vs. country in the wake of yet another injury to Super Jonny Wilkinson. Below I reproduce my original comment:

"I was born in East Anglia and was brought up in Cambridge. We have no Premier League rugby. There's North Walsham in Norfolk, who are quite strong, and Bedford is just down the road - but I've never bothered to watch them. Indeed, the only team I watch regularly is Delia's NCFC in the round ball game. But my one true love in the sporting arena is England Rugby. I go mad for England playing rugby. It sets my heart racing like no other game. I was brought up by my father as a rugby player and the annual 5 nations tourny was the focus of the year - now the 6 nations. I've watched England play in Australia, Italy, France, Cardiff and at HQ. I never miss a match and have gone to enormous lengths to watch them play in remote places on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Several wedding receptions have been disrupted by my zeal to be in front of a box for a game. The days when England are playing rugby are the most important days in my calendar. Oh, and I'm a big fan of the Lions too. I couldn't give a monkeys about the Premier League. I may tune in to a Heineken cup semi or final but ultimately I have no connection to these regional teams. I find their bleating about damaged goods shortsighted since without a successful England rugby team their clubs are worth less - much less. Notwithstanding my own feelings about Premier League rugby, it is surely true that the national team's success directly reflects on the popularity of the game as a whole. And I sometimes feel as if they don't recognise this. The only point I feel in favour of the Premier League teams is that possibly England play too many games. Combined with the 4 yearly Lions matches we spread the players too thin. It's a brutal game rugby and we're burning the players out. The number of England matches needs to be properly limited and planned out well in advance."

Woof! And what a response I engendered. However, none of the freaks who said club was more important than country had any new arguments and most simply whined about how their clubs had to pay the hospital bills for players injured playing for their country. Pah! It should be the other way round. When Jonny W got injured YET AGAIN playing for Newcastle in the week before the England vs France match it struck me that Newcastle should be paying us - England Rugby supporters - for stealing our Jonny away from HQ.

Consider this as well: The best supported rugby teams in Europe have smaller crowds than 3rd Division football teams. My own club, Norwich City FC, averages over 26,000 spectators for league matches - that's more than any other rugby club in Europe. However, when England play a Six Nations match the domestic audience averages between 5-6 million. And you can add another 4-6 million when incuding live worldwide viewers.

The RFU needs to stamp down on the clubs now and show them who is boss. All clubs should be 100% subservient to the national team. If the clubs choose to employ players who are in contention for a place in the national side they need to account for that in their planning and alter their wage structure accordingly. There are 6 million supporters out there who want a winning national team. Why should the 1 man and his dog who support club rugby therefore dictate to us?

When Tennis Was Cool - Back to the 1970s

2007-02-18T19:51:00.000Z

Awww man. Came across some old magazines someone had thrown out into the street during a house clear-out. From 1974 I give you Guillermo Vilas, a young Bjorn Borg, bonus cheesy 1970s ad for Fred Perry + super double cheesy bonus tennis lifestyle ad.

It's Always Handy To Have A Jonny

2007-02-06T23:38:00.000Z

As my dad used to remind me when I hit late teenage years and started going out with girls - always keep a jonny in your back pocket, just in case. Brian Ashton, newly installed England Rugby coach, must have given the same advice to his own sons and taken heed himself of this excellent advice. Re-introducing Jonny Wilkinson to the England fold for this season's match vs the Scotch was in many ways a risky choice. With only 42 minutes of rugby under his belt this season, and precious little time on any rugby field since his last-minute drop goal to win the world cup back in'03, many were the critics of this bold decision. The fall-out if Jonny had got injured would have been horrendous. Or even if he had performed badly and let the Scotch gain momentum in the early stages of the game you knew the press, the slavering wolves of hackdom, would have slaughtered Ashton.

But the England supporters were all for it. Jonny W was their talisman. The key to the lock. The little engine who could. The atmosphere at HQ was totally changed from that last, horrible outing vs the Boks. Tension was absent, pre-match beers were sunk in hope rather than dread, the chat was upbeat. They agreed with Ashton.

And then... Oh boy and then. 70 minutes later, with 27 individual points in a total over 40, blinding breaks, creation of tries, a full-house of scores (try, conversion, penalty and drop goal) the hero was substituted to a standing ovation. Jonny was back. England were back. All was well with the world.

A quick mention must also be made of Jonny's teammates who also came good that day. Jason Robinson returned to the national team after previously retiring - and scored a try. Andy Farrell (or 'Faz' as the League boys insist we should call him) played solidly and was a great foil for Jonny. The forwards finally looked like English forwards should -frightening. Harry Ellis at scrum-half was magnificent (my personal MOTM) and the new chap at full-back, Olly Morgan (who attended my alma mater - Millfield School), acquitted himself well too.

God how I love international rugby union. No other game makes me so revved up. It takes true courage to front up in this game. It makes me laugh when football commentators talk about courage before a match. Don't get me wrong, I love footy, it's a brilliant game requiring many athletic skills - but it doesn't require courage. Vinny Jones wouldn't have lasted 2 minutes on a rugby field. He'd have been found out for the bully he is before he could grab anybody's nuts. No, international rugby union is the toughest team sport on the planet and all the men who play it - yes, even the Welsh - should be lauded as present day gods.

Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo

2007-01-28T21:37:00.000Z

This morning, GMT time about 12.00 hrs, Roger Federer won his 10th tennis Grand Slam. Neatly wrapping up the last game to love, King Rog had just swatted away his challenger in 3 sets and become the first person since Borg in 1980 to go through a slam tourny without dropping a set. And that challenger was no mean player, being Chilenean Fernando Gonzalez (or 'Super Gonzo' as the Aussies had labelled him) who had himself been playing the best tennis of his life - previously dismantling Nadal (the No.2 seed here), Blake (5th seed) and storming into the final after blitzing Tommy Haas (12th seed) in straight sets in under 1 and half hours when hitting 42 winners and making only three unforced errors. Yet Roger simply took him apart.

Ladies and gentleman, all I wish to point out in this post is that we are witnessing the greatest player to ever hold a tennis racquet. The man is sublime. He is dominating a sport that has literally millions of players and he's doing so with grace and beauty. Not even Schumacher or Tiger or Valentino Rossi, all kings of their chosen sport, come close to what this man is achieving. And many many people agree with me. Here are a few quotes from blogs and websites culled from this afternoon's reactions to Roger's latest triumph:

"Congratulations to the most wonderful athlete I have ever had the privilege of seeing." - Emmy Hughes

"He is the best tennis player on the planet and nobody has the ability to out class him..." - Chelseakyle

"Could never tire of watching this man. Has every shot in the book." - 1FDERER

"...simply the greatest tennis player the game has ever seen." - wastastic

"Roger Federer...best in history no questions asked." - mattgor123

"The guy is pure class. The 'Best Ever'." - marisask69

"I could watch slo-mo of federer for hours... and hours." - makahuhu

"He is like one of the characters in 'Heroes'. His genes have mutated to where he has special powers and he is just keeping it a secret. He can probably fly too but doesn't want anyone to know. " - golddigger90210

"Federer. melhor tenista de todos os tempos, backhand monstro!" - pajeuhp

"Tennis genius of a kind that we're lucky it's in our lifetime." - NewMinkey

"... perhaps there should be a new ranking for him - No.1 Plus." - Bud Collins

As it stands now, the Fed Express is now equal fifth in the all time slam list, which goes: Pete Sampras (14) Roy Emerson (12) Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg (11) Bill Tilden and Federer (10). He is the first man to win three of the Grand Slam events on at least three occasions each and surely the only target left for him now to cement his place in the sporting pantheon is the Grand Slam which means he has to win Roland Garros. This makes Paris spring 2007 surely the hottest sporting ticket on the planet. So I urge all of you to urge Roger on in an urgent manner and cross your fingers that he remains injury free for this tourny.

Review of a Year in Sport 2006

2006-12-31T21:42:00.000Z

What sporting moment do you remember most about the year past? Was it Zidanegate – the headbutt that shook the world? Shane Warne’s 700th wicket in Test cricket in front of his home crowd at the MCG? Maybe Monty Panesar’s defining exuberance frolicking about the pitch having just taken a wicket sticks most in the mind. Or how about the image of an imperious Roger Federer winning any one of his 12 major titles and three grand-slams in 2006? Another great year in sport was perhaps tinged with disappointment for English fans who had little to shout about or celebrate but here I run over some of the key events in the last 12 months and award a few gongs along the way.

Football

Man Utd’s Alan Smith’s shocker of an injury during a 1-0 loss to Liverpool was a rude introduction to the soccer year and many Irish fans were also rather stunned to get Steve Staunton as their new manager. Cheeky chappy Jose Mourinho’s blue machine secured back-to-back Premiership titles whilst England prepared for the World Cup tourney without Wayne Rooney who had broken a metatarsal. Liverpool lifted the FA Cup and Barcelona triumphed in the UEFA Champions League. Steve McClaren was named as the next England manager and would remain Eriksson's right-hand man in Germany where Italy claimed their fourth title, and in doing so inadvertently destroyed the image and reputation of ‘le racaille de moment’ Zinadine ‘I’m a thug’ Zidane. Juventus were relegated to Serie B for the Moggi led match-fixing scandal in Italy whilst in England the footballing community grappled with bung allegations and the results of Lord Stevens report into football's finances. November saw Fabio Cannavaro crowned European Footballer of the Year, but football lost one of its greats as Ferenc Puskas passed away.

Football Person Of The Year: Marco Materazzi (for ‘psyche’ of the year)
Runner up: Jose Mourinho (for endless entertainment)

Cricket

Australia, Australia, Australia we love you, Amen. Well, no, this blog tends more towards the hatred and envy feelings rather than love, actually, but on any fair reckoning they’re clearly the best team in the world with the best individual players. While the rest of the world scraps around for cricketing heroes (Ashley Giles, King of Spain?) the Australians can pick any from 10, which was also the number of test wins they racked up this year – out of ten matches –and they also triumphed in the ICC Champions Trophy in India. A mixed year for England as drawn series against India and Sri Lanka and a victory over Pakistan were then followed by a total mauling Down-Under.

Cricket Person Of The Year: Shane Warne (for 700 wickets and all-round cricketing ability)
Runner up: Monty Panesar (for endless entertainment)

Rugby

Oh dear, everything is going dark. All I see is blackness enveloping me. It’s a strange nightmare. Yes, folks, team of the year are the very scary All Blacks who are looking ominously powerful as the Rugby World Cup approaches in 2007. Only the Springboks bested them this year (and gave them a good kicking in the process too) and only Ireland managed to run them close. Everyone else just got blown away. It has been an unending source of mirth and glee being able to remind NZ rugby people that they haven’t been World Champions for 20 years but it looks like that run is soon to be finally over. Certainly England will not stop them. A dismal year for the reigning World Champs was finally put to sleep following Andy Robinsons resignation following defeats to…, well, just about everybody really. I think we might have beaten Italy at some point but I’m not sure. Everything is a daze. Oh, here we go again, it’s getting dark, so dark. Help me mummy, big brutes in black shirts are coming for me. Mummy, heeeeeelp.

Rugby Person Of The Year: Ronan O'Gara (for telling the truth about English rugby)
Villain of the Year: Andy Robinson (for getting it oh so wrong)

Tennis

Roger Federer was the dominant force in men's tennis once again in 2006, winning three of the four Grand Slams, while Amelie Mauresmo captured two of the four major titles in the women's game. 2006 also saw the return to action of former women's world number one Martina Hingis after a three-year retirement. The year began with Federer's third successive Grand Slam success (following victories at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2005) while in the women's event, champion lezzer Mauresmo beat Henin-Hardenne to win her first major. Nadal beat Federer in Paris making it back-to-back French Open titles for the muscles from Majorca and destroying the Grand Slam dream of holding all 4 titles at once for Federer - shame. Henin-Hardenne beat Svetlana Kuznetsova for the women’s Roland Garros title. Federer exacted revenge for his Paris defeat by beating Nadal in the final at Wimbledon to become only the third man ever to win four consecutive titles at the All England Club, while Mauresmo beat Henin-Hardenne in the ladies final. Roddick found some mid-season form and went all the way to the US Open final before losing to Federer, who made it a hat-trick of titles at Flushing Meadows and Sharapova grunted her way to a second Grand Slam title in New York, where Henin-Hardenne completed the set of major finals for the year, but suffered her third defeat. In September, Italy won the Fed Cup final for the first time with a surprise win over Belgium. Federer wrapped up his magnificent year with a 12th title, thrashing James Blake in Shanghai to win the Tennis Masters Cup for the third time and Marat Safin led Russia to Davis Cup success clinching the deciding rubber by beating Jose Acasuco of Argentina in four sets to spark wild celebrations in Moscow.

Tennis Person Of The Year: Roger Federer (for 3 Grand Slam titles)
Runner up: Roger Federer (because he is so dominant he even wins second place)

Other Sports

In Rugby League it was business as usual - St Helens winning the engage Super League and the Powergen Challenge Cup in the UK while Australia regained the Tri-Nations Series as it was staged in the southern hemisphere for the first time. Boxers Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe both enjoyed great years, with the Welshman providing several ‘boxing lessons’ to several would be contenders. Michael Schumacher bowed out of F1 (hooray!), Jenson Button scored his first GP win (hooray!) and Benetton / Renault and Alonso won the titles (hoo.. well, er, polite applause). On two wheels beautiful pixie Valentino Rossi had to cede the Moto GP title to Nicky Hayden, but only by 2 points and in the very last race of the season. Troy Bayliss won the Superbikes whilst Jason Crump was speedway's dominant figure. In golf, Tiger Woods came back from missing his first cut in over ten years by winning two majors but could not prevent Europe's glorious and boozy weekend at the K Club in the Ryder Cup. Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy won the other two majors. Although Jamaica's Asafa Powell equalled his own world 100m record of 9.77 seconds at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead, highlights in the athletic world mainly revolved around drug testing and cheating, the curse of which also touched cycling as exemplified by Floyd Landis who got caught after ‘winning’ the Tour de France.

And finally, to the internecine world of darts where the passions ride high and the bellies even higher. BDO world champion Jelle Klaasen will not have to face his fellow countryman and biggest threat when defending his title – as Barney has moved over to the Dark Side and joined the rival PDC organisation. Their final, to be played on New Year’s day, will feature Van Barneveld versus 13-time world champion Phil Taylor. Barney’s been giving it the old Rocky treatment: "I wanted this man. I gave up everything to get to this final. It was my biggest dream. A lot of people in Holland were telling me I had won Lakeside four times and that I was the best player in the world. But there was a voice in my head saying 'no, you're not, there's one better than you'. That was in my head in January and February and so I decided I had to give up everything to come here. Now I hope I can beat him in front of everyone. The final was my biggest target - beating Phil is something else. You have to play world-class darts to beat this man. I hope we have a great final." That’s right, world class darts requires dedication, stamina and mental toughness – and the only drugs these boys consume is triple vodkas and pints of ale. What a wonderful way to start 2007. Best of order now ladies and gents. Let’s Play Darts!

Sports Quote of the Year
"All their players have tested positive for being assholes." - Lance Armstrong on the French football team after their World Cup final defeat to Italy.

They Think It's All Over - It Is Now

2006-12-20T00:21:00.000Z

Bloody hell! That was quick. Only fifteen months after possibly the geatest Ashes series of them all (or maybe second greatest if, like me, you think 1981 was fun as well) the Australians reclaimed the little urn. And they did it with complete dominance winning 3 out of 3 matches by massive margins.

There can be no complaints about the results. No bad umpiring or dodgy tactics took place. We have been simply thrashed off the park.

What this series has done, however, is throw into relief the reasons for England's success back in 2005. Firstly, the captain and engine is Vaughan and without him we're underpowered. No Vaughan and no Tresco at the top of the innings leaves us very brittle. Secondly, Jones the Quick is vital. He gets just enough movement off the pitch to make his undoubted speed seriously dangerous - and he's so boneheaded he's not the sort to get troubled by Ozzie sledging. He probably doesn't even understand what they're saying. And thirdly, even when firing on all cylinders, we still needed a slice of luck. Because, let's face it, to beat this frankly awesome Australian team requires everything to go your way.

Still, it's not all doom and gloom (no, actually it is all doom and gloom, I'm just plucking at straws here) and there is hope for the future. Cook is good, and may become great, but he's still finding his way. Monty is a genuine international spin bowler. Vaughan has some good years left in him. Simon Jones may yet get fixed-up (we can rebuild him). And apparently there are some dynamite young 'uns coming through the junior ranks. So, chin up chaps. The Ozzie Bosch haven't done for us yet. In the meantime just grit your teeth, strap that smile to your face and congratulate those whiney, chippy, semi-educated, half-baked abo convicts for playing so well. There, that wasn't so hard was it?

Well Goodbye Mr Robinson

2006-12-02T12:42:00.000Z

You know, life used to be so much simpler and days more carefree. Once upon a time, the England rugby team would turn up at Twickenham in nice clean white shirts, run out on the pitch, catch the ball, stick it up their jumpers and roll remorselessly towards the opposition try line. We in the crowd would shout 'Heave!', Brian Moore would punch a Frenchman when the line-judge was unsighted, and two hours later we'd be in the car-park quaffing champers and munching on mum's mini-sausage rolls discussing yet another victory.

This tactic was so successful that with a few modifications (adding kicking machine Jonny Wilkinson and getting someone else to do the punching of the Frenchman bit) it eventually led to a World Cup.

However, this wasn't good enough for new broom Andy Robinson, a man who I'd amired on the pitch but could never get my head round accepting as England manager. Apparently, winning games of rugby was no longer the point. No, what we had to do was play the super expansive southern hemisphere type game, with lots of running about, girlie backs crashing into each other somewhere in midlfield, rugby league type scrums and cricket results for final scores. It seems that this is what 'new' rugby union was all about. Each game should feature at least twelve tries, each one accompanied with a burst of 'rock' music from the tannoy, fifty substitutions, cheerleaders with pom poms and 'zonal' defensive systems. Now this is fine for NZ or Ozzie types I'm sure, but this is not the English way. For generations we have played rugby a certain way - fat boys hog the ball and bully their way forward, very occasionally allowing the fly-half to kick for position and maybe three times a match spreading the ball wide to a suitably lank winger who would make a spirited dash for the corner. It was simple, it was effective, and above all, it was fun. We, the English crowd, enjoyed it. Even when England lost at least we knew that the opposition had had to pay some blood for their triumph. And make no mistake, triumph it was because England used to be the one match they all wanted to win the most.

There can be as much, if not more, enjoyment taken from an 8-4 scoreline as a 43-24 try-fest. A more 'rugby-sophisticate' eye can see the battle of players as the core of the watching experience rather than just watching the tally. Indeed, at 8-4 a match can still go either way with just a few minutes left on the clock, whereas the high-scoring games are usually all but over by half-time. There is as much art and invention in a good rolling-maul that takes two minutes to move ten yards as there is in a bunch of crash-ball touchdowns. It's bitter vs lager, John Rutter vs Backstreet Boys, Jordan vs Britney Spears, err no, scrap that last one. Anyway, you get the drift.

But Andy didn't get the drift and got re-drafted. England have now lost something like 8 out of 9 games but it could be more - I lost tally. Several of these were at HQ. One of them was to Argentina. It's been a long and desolate road to this expansive rugby heaven and frankly I want to go back to mortal earth where England is the one match they all want to win again. Because right now, I don't think that's the case.

Mourinho's Mind Games

2006-11-06T02:46:00.000Z

Failing to find a Sunday Telegraph at the newsstands I had to settle for The Sunday Times today. In it, some prat called Hugh McIllvanney wrote a 'Mouronhic' article headlined "Folly of Poison Arrows" in which he had a good go at Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

He summed up by writing "... Chelsea looked thoroughly capable of travelling all the way to a coronation as champions of Europe. But how truly glorious can the journey be if they and their manager behave as they did in Catalonia?" The journey, Mr McImatwat, is irrelevant. When Italy won the world cup, while the rest of the world was whining about that 'racaille' Zidane, they were having the mother of all parties. They didn't give a rat's arse about 'the journey' - they were world champions. And Jose understands that. Moreover, for those of us who read the Spanish press (or the Catalunyan press in this case) and are fully aware of the base insults thrown at Jose, then his comments seem more than fair in retaliation. British commentators often seem to exist in a vacuum, a kind of reverse racist stance where they bend over backwards to laud the furrigners who are portrayed as 'simple and pure' and ignore their cheating and twisted machinations. Jose worked at Barca for a couple of years and knows exactly what they're about. Yet when he stands up for himself he gets slated.

When 'the special one' shoots his poisoned arrows he's taking specific aim. This seems to be overlooked by many commentators. Jose wants Chelsea to be the number one club in the world. When he looks at who is standing in the way of this ambition who does he see that looms largest? Why, Barca of course. And who is the manager of Barca? Why, it's Mr Phlegm himself Rijkaard, a man who Jose knows to be, shall we say, a bit of a sensitive petal. So let's wind him and the Barca players up, knock 'em off their perch, shake 'em up, get 'em annoyed.

All the feedback we get from players and acquaintances of Jose is that he's a good bloke - a good man manager. Intelligent, funny and articulate. If he's playing ugly with Barca it's because he knows it works. Yet idiots like Hugh McTwaddle seem to believe this somehow negates the result. Where, pray, is 'the folly'? Who came out ahead in the two matches? Who is the better manager?

The Sunday Times bills Hugh Mcmoron as 'The voice of sport'. Let's hope that voice is extinguished soon.

On a final note, whilst I'm still angry with the pap written in the MSM a word about Barcelona CF. These 'cabrones' are the sort of club who are so cynical they wear UNICEF as their sole sponsor on their shirts. Do you honestly think the club and players give a monkeys about the starving children in the world? If they truly cared they'd give up at least a half of their swollen salaries to maybe actually save a few kids. It's not as if it's difficult to get by on only a million euros a year is it? But no. Instead, it's just a cheap gesture designed primarily to make them look caring and lovely and sweet and get FIFA / UEFA on their side and make other teams look bad. Barca are a cycnical club with a sick credo and a sick victimhood complex. Screw 'em.

This Is Not A Tennis Crowd

2006-10-23T22:27:00.000Z

The Madrid Masters, Spain's biggest tennis tournament, was on this week: the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid 2006, featuring 64 of the best male players in the world in singles plus a mens doubles tourny. It's hosted indoors at the Madrid Arena de la Casa de Campo with a lightning fast surface (Green Set), and this year's favourites were Federer and last year's winner and local hero Rafael Nadal (who hails from Majorca - where the worter darn't taste like wot it oughta). It proved to be a fractious 9 days in the ATP Masters Series with lots of thrown rackets and temper tantrums.

Tiger Tim (lol) upset the partisan home crowd by knocking out two Spanish players in the first two rounds and then lost his gentleman image by getting into a fight with ginger whinger Nalbandian in the 4th round over a disputed line call. Murray also made it through to the fourth round, beating world No.3 Ljubicic on the way before losing out to Djokovic. El Rey Federer cruised through the early rounds as did Rafa until the Friday quarter-final when he got downed by Czech player Tomas Berdych, who sent the crowd apopletic when he put his fingers to his lips in a shushing gesture at the end. Come Saturday and the semi-final against Chilenean Fernando Gonzalez the spectators gave the Czech a torrid time: "I've never seen anything like it, it's like a (bad) dream," said Berdych. "It's not a tennis crowd."

An amusing sideshow in the tourny was the use of models as ball-girls. As a red blooded male I whole-heartedly approve of this measure (lol). Being models they're not quite as keen as, for example, the ball boys and girls at Wimbledon who will rush to give a player his towel or new balls when serving. Instead, the girls sort of sauntered around and scowled a lot (as models will) but hell, they were cute and the TV directors filled in empty time with close-ups as they adjusted their pig-tails or fiddled with their knickers. Grrrrr.

In a best of five-set final, attended by stars such as Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid and Spain striker), film director Pedro Almodovar and other Spanish worthies who I didn't recognise, Federer crushed Gonzalez 7-5, 6-1, 6-0. "Super Numero Uno" the TV commentator called him. Exactly.

No Width, No Invention, No Goals, No Beckham

2006-10-15T02:14:00.000Z

The signs were already there - I was just too much of an optimist to read them properly. The nil-nil against Macedonia (at home, if Old Trafford can be called 'home') was pretty poor, but the 0-2 capitulation to Croatia was worse. No width (3-5-2 formation eh? great call Mac), no invention and no goals, unless you count the comedy own-goal by Muppet brother number one.

And why drop Beckham? The guy is world class, plays for the second best team in the world (after NCFC, of course) offers width on the right, always works hard, takes wicked free-kicks, and, most importantly of all, top class crossing. Consider, you have Peter Crouch in the team, standing some ten feet tall with clouds hanging around his head, and you drop the best crosser of a football the world has ever seen. And this is great management is it?

I give Maclaren ten more matches and then he'll start getting the root vegetable photo-shop treatment from the currant bun.

Go On, You'll Be Havin' Another Wee One Surely

2006-09-26T16:33:00.000Z

Onwards to the K club in sunny (cough cough) Straffan, Co. Kildare, for the world drinking championships - sorry Ryder Cup championships, hic, where Woozies’ Warriors thrashed the Yanks and then trashed the bar in a powerful display of imbibing prowess.

Over the first two days the European team were led by the dominant Spanish pair Garcia and Olazabal (fine Manzanilla sherrys and impertinent, yet amusingly provocative reds from the Duero valley) with solid back-up from Montgomerie (single malt scotch whisky) and Harrington (Guiness). Good performances also came from Lee Westwood (Stella and Carling), Howell (Theakston Old Peculier) and the rookie Stenson (vodka jellys), leaving the European team with a 4 point lead to defend after the doubles and swift halves and going in to the last day singles and shots.

Could the USA squad come back? It seemed unlikely on Saturday night when all they could manage was Rolling Rock and a few Sam Adams Summer Ales, although Tiger was seen to surreptitously sip on an Anheuser-Busch Bare Knuckle Stout in a corner surrounded by his extensive support team from the AA.

But there was no champagne golf from the US on the final day as the Europeans dominated from opening hours to chucking out time. A double vodka with tequila chaser at the tricky par3 seventeenth followed by a solid pint for par on 18 from Clarke was the tippling point for victory. Cheered on by the supportive Irish crowd our gallant, if tipsy, heroes sealed another stunning European hangover with a massive victory. errr. So, a third win in a row for Europe showing how 45 per cent proof team spirits will always triumph over individual sippers. Sam Torrance is 92.

A Por Ellos

2006-09-09T12:59:00.000Z

For my holidays I've been travelling through Spain and Portugal. Fortunately, I have friends in both countries so, as well as free accommodation (hehe), I also get to see something of the real everyday lives of the Spanish and Portuguese. This last week, for example, both countries failed to win European Championship football qualification group matches and both to nations generally considered much inferior to themselves. As an observer, the contrasting reactions to each result was interesting to note.

For the Portuguese it was a minor 'cumulo nimbus' moment, but one that was taken with resignation - indeed, with aplomb. This is the Portuguese way. I remember calling my good Algarvian friend Miguel, just before the European Championship final aganst Greece, 2 years ago. With an hour to go before the match I was excited sitting in my living room in London so I called to see what was happening in Portugal. In the weeks leading up to the final the country had started going slightly potty as their 'selection' (the 'People's Selecao' as it was branded) tasted success. By now, I was sure they had already gone into meltdown. The response on the telephone that I received however was a fatalistic: "Yes, everyone is around the television and we're all dressed up, but, you know, I think we will have to be lucky and we are not lucky." Blimey! So much for positive thinking. But, Miguel was right, and the Bubbles squeaked them out of glory 1- nil. A 1-1 draw away to minnows Finland then was simply part of the rich tapestry of life, albeit a humble tapestry with no tassles and an understated motif.

The Spanish on the other hand take fatalism to new dimensions. They too, in the days before important matches, will despair and moan about the fates of the gods, but come match day, especially in the period about an hour before kick-off, they are infused with a sensibility of invincibility. "Ja! We shall crush them! We will destroy them! We play football like matadors and must surely triumph with our flair." Then they lose 3-2 to Northern Ireland ('our wee country').

The morning papers had headlines like "Perdition!" and "Dishonour!" and carried pictures of Luis Aragones, the coach, isolated on a football pitch, alone with his thoughts, head bowed. La Sexta, Madrid's TV channel, carried a report set to portentous, doom-laden classical music, showing the 3rd goal of David Healy's hat-trick, in slow-mo' and repeated over and over again to intercuts of Spanish players and fans blubbing as the Spanish flag burns. Woah! Easy there you tigers. You lost a footie match. The sun WILL come up tomorrow!

And now, they can console themselves with the knowledge that the national basketball team are the World Champions, having absolutely stuffed Greece in the final the same week as the footie. It may be a game for giraffes in silk pyjamas but it's a genuine world championship. Felicidades Amigos!

Hair Play

2006-08-21T23:16:00.000Z

"There is no doubt of the racism and hatred that the British have towards the Muslims and especially Pakistan." - email to http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/engvpak/content/current/story/257299.html following the bizarre ending of the 4th England vs Pakistan Test at the Oval on August 21st.

Woah! Hold on there Mohammed. The English didn't precipitate this farce. The umpire who made the decision, Mr Darrell Hair, is Australian (backed up by his co-umpire from Dominica) and the team that refused to play on were the Pakistanis. Leave us out of it matey.

Yes, one can understand the emailer's frustration. A cracking test match was heading towards an exciting conclusion. A dominant Pakistan were six wickets away from winding up the English second innings and were still 30 runs ahead with 20 overs and a day to play. Collingwood and Bell, the last recognised batsmen in the England line-up, were plugging away trying to set up a defendable total whilst Kaneria was finally getting some serious spin from the pitch and Asif and Gul were hitting line and length. It was fascinating stuff. And then we had the 'protest' with Pakistan refusing to come out and play because their 'honour' had been impugned by the accusation that they had tampered with the ball. What a let down. But how do you get from this to accusation of 'British hatred and racism' is beyond my ken.

If the angry emailer had bothered to read any comments from the English press, fans and cricket authorities he would have seen that the vast majority were pro-Pakistan and very critical of the ball tampering decision. The (English) TV commentators Nasser Hussain, Gower and Botham were as one in their support of Inzie and their critique of Darrell Hair. The ECB officials made strenous efforts to get the match resumed. If this is 'racism and hatred' then I'm a Dutchman. So try this Mr Angry. You, Mr anonymous Pakistani muslim, have a sensitivity issue which you need to address. You need to grow up and learn to count to ten before you shout your mouth off with unsupported wild allegations. The only racist hatred being espoused is yours and you do your country a grave disservice by espousing it.

Mentalists

2006-08-15T14:31:00.000Z

Two nil down - three two up. On the ball City, never mind the danger.

Norwich City FC made it six points out of nine this weekend with a stirring fightback against The Hatters and post-match the manager Nigel Worthington was quick to highlight NCFC's 'new' mental toughness: "I want my players to show self-belief, resilience and determination in every game they play. They showed those qualities in abundance. Last season we would have lost a game like that."

Indeed, last year we did lose this corresponding fixture which was doubly embarrassing for your editor because he was working in Dunstable at the time, a mere empty crisp bag waft-in-the-wind from the shit hole that is Luton, recently voted England's worst town. I also played in a local 6-a-side competition in Luton during my Dunstable years and have witnessed Lutonions in full foul-mouthed chavtastic action. Was it Betjeman who wrote: "Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough, To get it ready for the plough."? He meant Luton, it just didn't rhyme.

So, not only was the result sweet revenge for last years' loss, but I also greatly enjoyed the manner of our victory, first fooling those hideous chav monsters into a false sense of security (by going two goals down) and then snatching it away from them. Muhahahahaha. To rub it in further, the Chavatters left Carrow Road with three injuries to their squad, including their T&T world cup hero Carlos Edwards. He had been easily their best player but was unlucky to receive a full-on boot in the face and was almost knocked-out completely. The plainly hurt and confused Trinidad player was escorted around the outside of the pitch and some wags in the Barclay began a chorus of "Who are ya?" - a question he didn't look remotely capable of answering.

Elsewhere, LFloyd Fllandis, or whatever his name was, the Tour de France 'winner' had his positive drug test confirmed. His defense seems to be 'but I make more testosterone than normal people'. Uhuh. Could work I suppose. Justin Gatlin also got tagged for doping and a doctors bag of various potions, pills and plastic syringes was found outside a hotel used by some competitors at the European Athletics Championshps in Gothenburg. Now, I'm as fond as the next man, woman, beefed-up female chinese shot-putter to a bit of drugs now and then, most especially Thai weed spliffs to be specific, but I don't take-em at work and I would never use 'em to cheat against my fellow human beings. Did Flondis really think he was going to get away with it? Is this what the desire to be number one does to people? Ego ego ego - without any cogit ergo sum - equals foolishness. Worthington asked his Norwich players to show more mental toughness and it looks like they responded. Now we, the public, need to ask our other sport stars for some mental toughness to JUST SAY NO! If they don't, then they're clearly Mentalists - innit - know what i mean bro'?

Go On My Jenson

2006-08-08T16:57:00.000Z

Last week we had 'almost the perfect match' according to Andrew Strauss, England's Cricket captain. This week it was 'almost the perfect race' according to Jenson Button's dad, speaking in between blubbing with happiness in the Honda garage and getting soaked in champagne spewed from the podium at the Hungaroring. Button senior also described the moment of Jenson's inaugural Formula 1 victory as 'better than sex', although he later modified that to 'as good as when my two children were born'.

It was indeed a near perfect race from England's only representative in the Formula 1 drivers paddock. In wet conditions he never put a wheel wrong coming from 14th on the grid to 1st past the flag some 40 seconds ahead of an also clearly delighted Pedro de la Rosa in second position. Admittedly he was helped by the retirements of Raikonnen (crashed) and Alonso (suspension failure) but you can only drive your best and see what happens and that's exactly what the man from Summerzet did. His control also showed in the post-race interviews when he dutifully praised his back-up teams and got in a mention for Honda's CEO-san despite the undoubted turmoil of ecstasy going off in his head. The only downside for Jenson Button is he now has to shave off his beard (he had promised to do so if he won) but this is surely a small price to pay for getting the monkey of 113 F1 races with no win off his back. the Hungaroring has been a good hunting ground for Brit drivers - Damon Hill won his first GP and Mansell and Coulthard have both been winners here as well - can we host more GPs here please?

It was also a sweet race from the viewpoint of us Schumacher detestors. Slipping and sliding on worn-out intermediates, Mr Arrogant decided to fight the inevitable as competitors were catching him up by 3-5 seconds a lap. First, he delayed de la Rosa and blocked him after slipping through the exit lane on the chicane. Then he tried to push-off Heidfeld in the same spot, but got his front wing mangled in the process and had to retire. Ha bloody ha. Heidfeld was a good 4 seconds faster a lap than he was and there were still 4 laps to go at this point. Did Schumacher honestly think he would hold out that long? Only an ego the size of a planet could possibly think so. Hoist by his own petard the only disappointment was not being able to see his face when he got out of the car. I'd have loved to see his rage. (NB - I've just looked up the word 'petard' on the net, being intrigued by what is being hoisted in this expression. Apparently, a petard was an explosive device used in medieval warfare. To be hoisted, or lifted, by a petard literally meant to be blown up).

Finally, in what has been a good week for us English sports nuts, the cricket team also pulled off a last-day victory against Pakistan, going 2-0 up and thus sealing the series (with just the Oval test left.) It was also good to see Mahmood get involved with 4 wickets on the last day, as he had not made much of an impression in any of his matches up to this point and you could almost see the frustration on his face. Much like Jenson, this success after such a barren period should really lift him up for the future and we need another good hostile quickie to back-up Harmison.

In Harmi's Way

2006-07-30T22:04:00.000Z

Three days of fast balls, high bounces, blows to the head, arms, legs and loins and England had wrapped up a superb Test victory versus Pakistan. Andrew Strauss, our fill-in captain for the fill-in captain Flintoff who was filling-in for Michael Vaughan, called it 'almost the perfect match' and he wasn't far wrong. To knock over a batting side like Pakistan in under three days, even on a hard, pacy track like Old Trafford, is going some and we should salute Harmison and Panesar for their 18 wicket haul. While the Durham paceman was notching up a ten wicket haul through speed and intimidation, Monty was pinning down the other end with some first-class spin bowling of variety and confidence. If the Pakistani's weren't getting bruised at one end they were getting bamboozled at the other. An absolute delight to watch. Can England keep it up?

Opposed to this joyful stuff we had news of Floyd Landis' positive urine test - positive for the male sex hormone testosterone that is. I'm not a cycling man so I don't know how 'unusual' his stunning come-back ride was during the winning of the 17th, Morzine-Avoriaz, stage of the Tour de France on July 20th, but it would be a real shame if it's going to be cancelled out. As he pulled away from the peloton and the clock started to show his time advantage increment it was quite a heart-pounding period. Maybe it's all the lycra, or else the podium babes at the days-end prize presentations, but it was so exciting for me that I'm not sure my own epitestosterone levels were not a little crazy that evening. The wife certainly thinks so and if it results in a boy I may have to consider Floyd as a middle name. Anyway, we await the result of his 'B' sample, and if it confirms the first test that would make three busts of three winners of the three main cycle-races this year. This is a sport with a severe problem and the authorities need to act quickly.

The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strain'd

2006-07-26T07:14:00.000Z

So, now it's official. Violence, in the form of a butt to the chest, is only marginally worse than insulting someone's sister. The self-serving football gods who sit in Zurich have pronounced on Zidanegate and the result is that the violent thug Zidane gets a three-match ban (he's retired anyway so I presume that means he'll have to rule himself out of the family kick-about at the beach this summer) and a Euro7,000 fine, while Materazzi, nipple-tweaker and sister-sledger, gets a two-match ban and a Euro3,000 fine. A ridiculous judgement in light of what it signals to the footballing world. Mind you, what should we have expected, coming from an organisation who's chief thinks that women should be made to play the game in skimpier shorts?

It also begs the question about what is the sliding scale for similar but different offences. If an amateur footballer cuffs someone about the head in response to an insult about his auntie, what does he get? If multi-millionaire ZZ is worth Euro7,000 for a head-butt then I'm estimating it's a £5 fine and being made to stand by the corner flag with a dunces hat on for the Sunday parks player.

In a more civilised part of the sporting world, England put up a good show vs. Pakistan in the cricket. Notching up a creditable 500+ runs and a first innings lead of 90, ultimately a draw was always on the cards when they couldn't raise the run-rate in the second. Only the diamond-stud earring'd one Pietersen had a strike-rate suitable for creating enough time to bowl out a very long batting Pakistani line-up. When they put their minds to it they can bat for months these Pakistanis and I expect this to be the dominant theme for the next two tests.

Finally, great amusement was had in our house last weekend watching TV coverage of the NZ vs. South Africa Tri-Nations rugby. After the Boks humiliation in Sydney the week previous everyone was expecting a Pakistani batting-score in New Zealand but instead it was reasonably close and the South Africans put two tries on the All-Blacks when going down 35-17. The NZ commentators could barely believe it and spent the whole game belittling the ref, since clearly he could only be the reason "The World's Greatest Team" couldn't put the Boks away. If you thought US Olympics coverage provided the most biased TV coverage in the world, listening to NZ rugby commentators would soon put you straight. Nothing the opposition do right is ever credited whilst every decent move from a man in a black shirt is greeted with an orgasm. As far as New Zealnd rugby commentators are concerned only one team in the world actually play rugby while all the rest of us simply cheat or don't know the rules. (Rule number 1. You never beat NZ, you can only score more points than them). Someone needs to remind them that New Zealand have only won the World Cup once - and that was on home soil nearly twenty years ago.

Skill, Class and Thuggery

2006-07-10T00:55:00.000Z

Woah! What an end to the 2006 World Cup. In years to come everyone will remember where they were the night Zidane headbutted his way into world infamy.

Perusing the blogosphere immediately after the Italians had won on penalties it was interesting to see how fast images of the incident were posted on the net. There were at least three videos on youtube (one neatly overdubbing a Black Sabbath metal-rage soundtrack to repeated replays of the butt interspersed with a pictures of a bull) and several photo-montages on a number of myspace sites and other well-known blog feeds.

There were also, as may be expected, thousands and thousands of words of speculation over what caused this obvious breakdown in Zidane's mental processes. We had the usual guff about his tough upbringing on the back-streets of Marseilles, that Materazzi must have insulted his race / religion / family, that having his nipple tweaked by a pretty-boy Italian had compromised his masculinity in some undefined way etc. etc. But all these excuses missed the crucial point, which was that ZZ had behaved like a thug. And why had he behaved like a thug? Because he is one. Because, just like our own super-chav Rooney who also got sent off for thuggery, the guy has no class.

That's not to say Zidane doesn't have skill, or indeed grace. No-one denies that he is one of the best players of 'the beautiful game' ever to set foot on a pitch. But ultimately, it doesn't matter what your background is or how tough your upbringing was - you either have class or you don't. And tonight Zidane proved to the world that he doesn't.

It also proved, if further proof were needed, that the majority of pro-footballers are stupid. Whatever the provocation may be, you're a pro-sportsman trying to win a game. And getting sent-off doesn't help you win games. Certainly, France missed his skills in the penalty shoot-out (as did England miss Rooney in their quarter-final penalties) so it was a delicious irony when the Italians eventually lifted the Jules Rimet trophy having converted all 5 of their spot-kicks while The No.1 penalty-taker for 'Les Bleus' was left crying in his dressing room. Forza Italia. Bravo.

Now, compare and contrast this disgraceful behaviour with what had passed on the manicured lawns of The All England Club earlier in the day. Here, we witnessed true class as Federer notched up a 4th Wimbledon Championship and an 8th Grand Slam by the age of 24. As graceful in victory as he had been in defeat 3 weeks earlier at Roland Garros, the Swiss megastar rounded off his successful fortnight with fluent interviews in 4 languages and not so much as a scowl or even a grumble from his defeated opponent Mr Muscles Nadal who simply vowed to come back stronger next-time. Until our footballers learn to behave like the tennis masters England will not win another football trophy for another generation. Someone should show Rooney videos of Bobby Moore when he was captain of England and teach him the importance of class - 'cos if the ignorant chav doesn't learn soon he's gonna cost us another tourny.

Next up it's Pakistan in the cricket. I look forward to some classy play...

T&T Had The Nicest Shirts

2006-06-22T19:52:00.000Z

One week in to the World Cup and incredibly England have already qualified for the second round. We normally leave it to the third match creating angst and headaches all-round but we decided to break with tradition. In another change to the normal schedule, England actually managed to score in the second half of a football match, something that hasn't happened for a loooooong time. In this case it was in the 80th minute versus Trinidad and Tobago (or T&T as the locals say it) as Peter Crouch finally got the better of his marker and headed in from 8 yards. Phew. What a relief. Until that point it was a 0-0 bore-draw and it was looking like a classic case of an ex-colony getting one over on their ex-masters. How the colonies like to beat us. It spurs them on like nothing else, except possibly essence of monkey glands in the tea. As the goal went in you could almost hear a collective sigh from the chippy colony north of the border and I'm not sure what made me happier - the qualification that Crouch's goal confirmed or the knowledge that the Scotch wouldn't be able to wind us up for the next month.

In truth it was a boring match, as had been the previous one-nil over the Paraguayans, and the English team do not look like world beaters. The second best moment in the T&T match was not Stevie G's follow-up goal in the 90th minute, but instead Dwight Yorke's painful 'groin injury' as the TV commentators delicately described it. "The islands’ hardest-working body part received urgent physiotherapy" as Ben Hoyle in The Times put it, when Stevie G smashed a shot right in his knackers. He was down for a good three minutes after that and you couldn't blame him. It took two bottles of water down his shorts and a consoling head massage from the team-physio before he could resume, but like the good soldier he is he did resume and played on 'til the end. Before the match Yorke had said that "It will be a special moment for me," and I'm sure it was - and his own soldier will remember that special moment for a while as well.

The Pain Of Spain

2006-06-12T22:35:00.000Z

Alas and alack, Nadal swooped on the Rolland Garros prize, the Coupe des Mousquetiers, and he didn't even have to ask his uncle to coach him from the sidelines to help him swoop. And yet, it had all started out so well...

Our hero, Roger the Knight de Vaillant, in his shining blue Nike tennis shirt, has swept all before him with barely a flutter up to the quarters. Nalbandian then succumbs in the semi-final, despite winning the first set comfortably, when he retires hurt in the third set - feelings or stomach muscles, it doesn't matter what is hurting so much as it gives our prince an extra couple of hours rest and no five set gruel-a-thon to tire him out before he plays the tiresome one. Nalbandian's cunning decision to wear a deep orange shirt that actually blends with the clay on the court, no doubt to try and appear invisible and confuse his way to victory, works for the first ten games or so, but once Federer finds his range it's clear what the result will be and Invisible Dave steps, gingerly, clutching his stomach muscles, aside.

Come final day, it's a blistering 31 degrees and the clay is truly baking. The court is packed, the crowd expectant - even the box seats for all the vips is full, which makes a change. Rog steams into a 6-1 first set lead and it's on - the mythical Grand Slam is on. And then. And then. And then... he seems to lose touch. Backhands start skewing high into the air, he's sort of standing around, stops arrowing it on to Nadal's backhand relentlessly. Blah, blah, blah - I can't even bring myself to write it...the bad guy one - total frustration.

Elsewhere, a callow England rugby union team lost tamely to the Ozzies, at a scorchio and baking Silverstone another Spaniard took the number one prize (these paella eaters really like the sun) and Alonso was pure class all the way, leading from start to finish. The World Cup kicked off with our hosts claiming a 4-2 win vs Costa Ricacacacacaaaa and England beat Paraguay 1-0 courtesy of an excellent glancing header - by a Paraguayan. It's gonna be mostly chavball for the next 3 weeks, with 3 games a day for the first 16 days, with a little bit of Queen's Club thrown in for variety. And thence to Wimberleydun SW19 where, hopefully, Roger will have stopped crying by then and be up to re-assert his dominance on the court. I herewith predict Nadal will pull out citing an injury before the third round so he doesn't have to face Federer and be humiliated. A+ mes amis.

Murulalalathitaradadooronron Destroys England

2006-06-05T22:47:00.000Z

After just three and a half days of test cricket, two of them during the balmiest days of the summer so far, Muttiah Muralitharan took 8-70 as Sri Lanka thrashed England at Trent Bridge to draw the three-Test series 1-1.

At one stage it looked as if the evil-eyed genius was going to get all ten English wickets when he was seven-fer and just the tail to come, but Matty Hoggard decided to rain on his party by running himself out - a cunning strategy to forestall the long-named one joining Jim Laker (in 1959 vs the Half-baked Abbos) and Anil Kumble (in 1999 vs Pakistan) as the only test cricketers to make a clean sweep. In a way it was a shame because Murali (as the TMS commentators eventually settled on calling him) would certainly be deserving of joining a holy trinity such as this. At least we (the English) took it on the chin, with the Nottingham crowd correctly hailing him as he left the pitch. When he was destroying the Australians with his box of tricks some years ago the only answer they had was to call him for chucking. So 1-1 was the eventual score and England will be sorely disappointed they didn't make the 1st test count when they had the Sri Lankans on the ropes and couldn't finish them off.

Elsewhere, an England team were showing better form, with our chavballers pitching in with a six-nil thrashing of Jamaica in their last World Cup warm up match before jetting off to their schloss in Baden-Baden. Apparently the team hotel has only one road leading to it and there will be "a full security blanket around it while the team are there". Phew! At least those foreign spies won't be able to monitor our secret tactics (lob it up to Peter Crouch and hope he gets a head on it) or nobble the players by swapping their tubs of hair gel around and creating internal strife. The castle retreat is a good idea I think. Not so much for the isolation, but for the creation of team-spirit as the lads try to escape by digging tunnels with their platinum hair grips or hiding themselves in a wooden-pommel horse during fitness sessions, in order to get down the pub for a swift-half out of view from Kommandant Herr Gripp. The tourny starts Friday with hosts Germany hoping to avoid humiliation against Costa Ricacacacacacaaaaaa. England's first match is vs Paraguay, a country that was home to a few Nazis and dictators in the past but is now a beacon of democratic government and open society - perhaps. Anyway, we play on Saturday in Frankfurt at 1400 hrs, so note to all non-football interested ladies and homosexuals, if you want some hassle-free shopping now's your chance - all the roads will be empty and no-one will complain about your parking manouvres.

At Roland Garros the hoped for clash of the titans draws ever nearer. Federer has so far waltzed through his side of the draw while Mr Muscles has been power-blasting his way through his opponents on the other side. On the red clay the Day-Glo Dagoe has got to be favourite, but for all those who appreciate skill and grace, the Swiss ace must be our hope. Interminable baseline pounding with graphite sledge-hammers may be effective but it's a crashing bore for those of us brought up on Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Nastase et al. Allez Roger! vas-y!

What is it about Schumachers?

2006-05-29T15:47:00.000Z

As the nation gears up for the emotional rollercoaster of the World Cup (which in England's case is usually a creaky ascent followed by one huge corkscrew spiral plunge into the 'pit of despair') the evening schedules start to fill up with football nostalgia progs. Amongst the best of the offerings this week was a (French produced) documentary shown on Channel 5 covering the infamous France vs Germany 1982 World Cup semi-final in Seville. We had interviews with some of the French players, including a still plainly hurting Alain Giresse, original pictures from the match, replays of all the goals and, as we led up to the end-of-time heroes vs villains penalty shoot-out, a thorough analysis of the official 'worst tackle in World Cup history' moment. They showed it in slow-motion and in real-time. They showed it from above, from behind the goal and from the stands. They showed the build-up in play and they showed the post-tackle reactions. And the more they showed it the worse it got.

Platini lofts the ball with an exquisite touch and substitute Patrick Battiston breaks the offside trap. Battiston's perfectly timed run is destined to meet the ball right on the edge of the box. Two German defenders are desperately converging on the same point but remain 5 yards adrift. Battiston jumps to connect with the bounce... and then, intersecting in this beautifully designed parabola of moving objects, Harald 'Toni' Schumacher, the German 'keeper, rushes straight into the middle of this wondrous tableau - and flattens the frog.

I was 14 years old at the time and was entranced by the romance and beauty of the French team: Giresse, Platini, Tresor, Rocheteau, Tigana, Lopez, Amoros - artists and musketeers against the stormtrooper automatons. I was incensed then and the replaying of it, some 24 years later, just re-ignited the deep, burning hatred I felt at that time.

But it did, as I said, get even worse.

As the French medical staff attend to a by now unconscious and clearly bleeding player, Schumacher saunters back to his goalmouth. He is totally unconcerned. He begins a series of stretching exercises which seem superfluous as he is clearly going to be sent-off. His ugly be-permed and moustachioed face betrays not a hint of sympathy. And nothing happens. No card is produced - not even a free-kick is awarded. WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED HERE? THE KROUT MUST BE PUNISHED! WHY IS THE REF SIGNALLING ONLY FOR A GOAL-KICK?

The documentary actually managed to increase my ire. At the time, the intensity of the match and that amazing period of extra-time and penalty shoot-out that followed, combined with the usual teenager's ADD, served to erase or obscure susequent events. But now we are given more analysis. We are told that Battiston had his front teeth knocked out. We now know that several of his vertebrae were smashed and that at one point the medical staff are not sure that he will survive. We are shown Schumacher proceeding to line up the subsequent goal-kick and complaining to the ref about how long the medical team are taking to stretcher Battiston off. Later in the game he is shown taunting the French fans.

It was beyond injustice then and it is even further beyond now. It was my first, real introduction to the concept that life is unfair (a lesson since re-enforced over and over and over again) and that sport is especially so. "If only we had realised how good we were," Platini is quoted as saying, "we would never have lost that game".

This prog was shown mid-week. By Saturday, it was qualifying for the Monaco Grand-Prix, and lo and behold, who pops up but German panto villain number two - Michael Shumacher. At 37 years old, with a hatful of world championships in his locker and an existing reputation for cheating, one would have thought that the teutonic superman would have been seeking a less controversial existence. But no. A less than artful attempt to deny Alonso a stab at pole-position, by parking his Ferrari at Rascasse and pretending it was an accident, was seen through and this time a Schumacher got what was deserved. In this case, demotion to the back of the grid.

"It was a misfortune at the end — I went wide, I locked the wheels. I wasn't sure what was going on," Schumacher said. ”You push and go for it and that was a bit too much.” It sure was Mikey.

Looking at photos of the two Schumachers, if you were to plant a big porno tache on Michael and gave him a perm, then you have a kind of mini-Harald. So it's not hard to believe that there's something going on in the Schumacher gene pool concerning the cheating thing. What with Diego Maradona turning out for a rest-of-the-world team against England, it's been a quite a week of cheats.

Next week we have the end of the first week of Roland Garros, with Federer attempting to be the first man since Laver to hold all four Slams at the same time. Standing in his way is the Day-Glo dagoe Nadal, yet another clay-court power monkey that Spain seems to have a production line for, and England's cricketers will be attempting to wrap up the series against a confused Sri-Lankan side, who play like beginners in the first innings and like Australians in the second. See you then!

Video Vitae 1

2006-05-29T13:24:00.000Z

Parva leves capiunt animas

and this is a very small thing.