Ruck and Maul: Gomarsall says RFU want Woodward back to oversee head coach …
The former England scrum-half Andy Gomarsall has mixed singing with soothsaying on this Sport Relief weekend, predicting the return of Sir Clive Woodward to the Rugby Football Union after this summers Olympic Games.
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish blames tiredness for loss to Wigan
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish blamed tiredness, injuries and refereeing decisions for the 2-1 defeat by Wigan, their fifth loss in six league games.
Every single one of them is capable of passing to someone in the same colour shirt, Dalglish told BBC Sport.
But I think the toll of three games in six days took the edge off them a little bit.
It doesnt matter how good you are, you still need to have a bit of bounce of the ball with some decisions.
Live Sport Reports Quins back on top
Harlequins regained the top spot in the Aviva Premiership less than 24 hours after being deposed by reigning champions Saracens thanks to a 14-6 win over Bath.
Their six-month tenure at the head of the table was briefly interrupted when Sarries won 45-9 at Sale on Friday night.
But, in front of a 13,882 sell-out crowd at the Stoop, three penalties from former New Zealand fly-half Nick Evans and a late try by replacement flanker Maurie Faasavalu secured a hard-fought victory.
Fly-half Tom Heathcote replied with two penalties for Bath.
How Kohli turned it around in Australia
Dont go by his lsquo;fair and lovely looks. They could be deceptive! At 23, Virat Kohli is not just a role model for budding cricketers, hes Indias game-changer with an ability to give back as good as he gets.
Touted as MS Dhonis successor, he is forthright about his on-field aggression. The way he flared up first against Australia in Adelaide after getting his maiden Test hundred and more recently against Pakistan has been making headlines.
In Australia, people didnt realise what we were going through as a team, he told DNA. The locals were saying all kinds of things wherever we went. It was really humiliating for all of us. I was determined to contribute, so the pent-up frustration came out in the form of an outburst after I completed my hundred in Adelaide.
Kohli, however, clarified that his reaction against Pakistan stemmed from the fact that hed not done well against them in three previous innings. When he finally reached the three-figure mark against Pakistan in Mirpur, he was pumped up and expressed his emotions in his signature style.
Confidence, aggression and an in-your-face attitude are hallmark of todays on-the-move generation. Kohli seems to have these qualities in abundance, something that could make him a trailblazer in the years ahead.
I can take suggestions from experts whove played the game and analyse it myself, but as an individual I dont like to take things from anyone or everyone, said Kohli.
Pressure is a natural corollary to the sport; Kohli has his own way of dealing with it.
I get calls from home. My mom or brother sometimes do try and talk about the game but I always tell them not to discuss cricket. But now theyve realised it and talk about other things, said Kohli, whos now the global ambassador of International Cricket Councils partnership with Room to Read a non-profit organisation that aims to promote literacy and gender equality in education.
Kohli agrees that things have changed in the last one year. Though his career graph has been on the upswing, theres nothing like doing well against Australia.
I knew it was a make or break tour for me. When I failed to do well in the first two Tests, I spoke to our fielding coach Trevor Penny, who helps us with throwdowns at nets. We discussed what line and length they were bowling to us. I decided I would not play any cover drives at all. Australian bowlers were trying to play with our egos and provoking us into playing more cover drives. I even decided that even if they bowl a full toss on the off side, I would not get tempted. That really helped me and I managed to score runs from there on, Kohli revealed.
A book lover, he hardly finds time for his favourite activity. He enjoys autobiographies of famous sportspersons.
He has read Andre Agassis autobiography lsquo;Open and is now keen to know more about Formula One racing legend Ayrton Senna who died in car crash during a race.
Premio Loco steams in to avenge his Derby defeat
For Flat racing fans, that business at Aintree that has to be consigned to the formbook before full attention focuses on the purest form of the sport is frustratingly delayed this year; because of the religious calendar, no Grand National will ever have been run on a later date than this years, on 14 April.
The Queen gives royal start to Sport Relief Mile
The Queen gives royal start to Sport Relief Mile
The Queen starts the Sport Relief Mile charity race during a visit to the
BBCs Media City in Salford as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour of the
United Kingdom.
Force India may force FIA to crack down harder on theft of ideas
The FIA, the ruling body of Formula One, may once again be challenged over how the sport conducts itself following a recent UK court decision. It has a whiff of Spygate about it – the story that rocked Formula One in 2007, involving McLaren and Ferrari, and which everyone said would never happen again.
This version is a little lower down in the paddock. But the sense of injustice burns just as fiercely. And it centres around the recent court judgment made in the intellectual property theft case involving Force India and Caterham, after which both teams claimed a victory.
Caterhams technical director, Mike Gascoyne, was found not liable. But Force India, who were awarded a measly £25,000 in compensation, are not alone in the paddock in thinking that they have not received justice.
Force India issued a statement pointing out the judge found Team Lotus [now known as Caterham] and Aerolab [a wind tunnel company] liable for copyright infringement and using confidential information respectively. Some parts created using Force India confidential information were used on the Team Lotus race cars in the early part of the 2010 season.
What Force India (and others) are now saying is that without direction from the FIA the paddock could descend into a free-for-all.
Bob Fernley, the deputy team principal at Force India, told me on Saturday: Weve been wronged and we have a grievance. Our complaints in terms of copying were upheld as far as Aerolab and Caterham were concerned, and we were given compensation of £25,000. We were deeply disappointed with the damages award.
There is a general feeling that the court may not have understood the nuances of Formula One technology. Who does?
Fernley added: The judge clearly felt that Force India fell short of proving systematic copying. But in the judgment it is made clear that Caterham and Aerolab copied elements of sub systems related to the front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser. So what bit of the systematic copying is missing?
The judge might say its not systematic but in my view its pretty extensive. We were annoyed because first of all the copying was blatant, then it was denied and it was as if people could run roughshod over us and take whatever they wished to take, because we were of no consequence. And thats exactly what they did.
Force India will request the judge to grant an appeal which cannot be made until 4 May, but direction from the FIA will be keenly awaited by the paddock.
If the FIA avoids the issue, which it would desperately like to do, it is giving other teams encouragement to copy each other, thereby saving millions of pounds in development costs.
But if it agrees with the judge, that there was intellectual property theft in breach of the Concorde Agreement, it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years. And that is before any fine.
Ireland eye top table after reaching T20 World Cup
DUBAI (Reuters) Ireland captain William Porterfield said his sides qualification for Septembers ICC World Twenty20 tournament proved they merited a place at crickets top table.
Ireland romped to a nine-wicket victory over Namibia on Saturday to join Afghanistan as one of two teams from crickets second and third tiers to reach the Sri Lanka event.
It is the third successive time Ireland has qualified for the World Twenty20 and the team has also played in the past two 50-over World Cups, securing wins over full member teams Pakistan, England and Bangladesh.
If you look at where we have come from in 2005 and 2006 then in terms of ticking the ICC (International Cricket Council) boxes we have been doing that and, especially with the last two World Cups, everyone has taken notice of the steps Irish cricket has been taking, Porterfield told reporters.
We are not saying it is going to be easy to make that step up but we feel we are ready to do that and hopefully the ICC can give us that opportunity sooner rather than later.
Porterfields request for the chance for his side to play against crickets more established nations echoed those of his fellow captain Nawroz Mangal of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and Ireland will each receive a preparation grant of US$250,000 from the ICC ahead of Septembers event.
The Ireland captain said the need for his team to keep reinforcing their cricketing credentials had created a degree of pressure on the players.
Its not something we spoke about but coming into this tournament we had this expectation from back home and we put it on ourselves as well, he said.
We have had a taste of playing at World Cups and we want to keep going to them. A lot of players in the dressing room had the disappointment of missing out in 2007 when we failed to qualify (for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20) so this is obviously massive.
We came into this tournament with the goal of qualifying, we have managed to do that and it is great for Irish sport.
Irelands win set up a repeat of the final of the 2010 qualifying tournament against Afghanistan, a match Afghanistan won by eight wickets.
Namibia could muster only 94-6 after opting to bat first with man of the match seam bowler Max Sorensen conceding just eight runs from his four overs and taking two wickets.
There were also two wickets for former captain Trent Johnston and only a late flourish from Ian Opperman, who made an unbeaten 26 from 15 balls, disrupted Irelands complete control.
The target proved inadequate as Paul Stirling reached 50 from only 26 balls, going on to score 59 not out with nine fours and a six.
(Reporting by Brian Murgatroyd; Editing by Alastair Himmer)
Carnival time / Olympics newest sport set to hit Tokyo
Carnival time / Olympics newest sport set to hit Tokyo
Rich Freeman / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter
The HSBC Sevens World Series returns to Japan next week with 16 of the best teams in the world converging on Tokyos Chichibunomiya Stadium.
Billed as the Dynamic Sevens, the HSBC Tokyo Sevens is the seventh leg of this years series, which concludes with tournaments in Scotland and England.
We are very much looking forward to delivering this world-class event of a dynamic and exciting sport, Japan Rugby Football Union Chairman Tatsuzo Yabe said in a press release.
We expect the tournament will attract more young people to the sport of rugby.
Tokyo was a stopover for the then-fledgling series in both 2000 and 2001 before it was dropped from the global competition.
It was a good tournament and I was surprised when it left the circuit, New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens told The Daily Yomiuri in a recent phone interview.
The competition wasnt as strong as it is now but it used to be a good crowd in Tokyo.
And with Japan just seven years away from hosting the Rugby World Cup, the JRFU will be using the Tokyo Sevens as a stepping stone to even bigger things.
The World Cup in 2019 may seem like a long way away but this is an important test for some of the logistical challenges, said former Australia captain George Gregan, who spent the last three years of his career in Japan with Suntory Sungoliath.
Things such as accommodating teams and fans and making sure the transportation is right. The more you do it the better you will get. So by 2019 after many dry runs they will feel comfortable hosting the World Cup.
Gregan is currently in Hong Kong as an HSBC Rugby Ambassador and, along with former England wing Jason Robinson, is running rugby clinics for grassroots players in the buildup to this weekends Hong Kong Sevens.
The 1999 Rugby World Cup winner admitted Hong Kong was a difficult tournament to follow.
Hong Kong has always set the standard. It holds a special place in players hearts.
It will be hard to live up to. Its like following in the footsteps of a great player. You are never going to be the same but you can learn a lot.
And he is convinced Tokyo will be able to add its own unique flavor to the global series.
Japan is different culturally but that is something that needs to be embraced, he told The Daily Yomiuri.
It might be a slow process but I think the public will get behind the tournament. The Japanese love action and theres plenty of it in sevens. One of the beauties of the game is that the lesser nations can create an upset.
As Tietjens is only too aware.
I remember four or five years ago Japan were one score away from beating us in Hong Kong, he said. Sevens is a real leveler. It allows every team an opportunity to compete.
Tietjens, who will be visiting Japan for the 19th time, is known throughout the world as a guru when it comes to the abbreviated form of the game. And he believes Japan has the potential to do really well if it takes the sport seriously.
Sevens suits the Japanese. They have a lot of very dangerous, athletic players who are good on their feet, said Tietjens.
Japan is not currently one of the 12 core teams that take part in every leg of the series. But by the time the series hits Tokyo, it could well be.
The Hong Kong Sevens this year is a two-tier event with the top 12 vying for the cup, and a further 12 nations battling it out for three additional core spots on offer as the series expands ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The JRFU hopes the next two weekends mark the start of Japans emergence as a sevens power on the field.
Next year, the IRB World Sevens Series will expand from 12 to 15 core teams and were aiming at getting one of those spots. Its important to be a core team so we can step up to the next level ahead of the 2016 Olympics,said team director Osamu Ota.
Head coach Wataru Murata, who steps down after the Tokyo tournament, will finalize his squad after the completion of the action in Hong Kong.
But barring injury it should include a couple of youngsters in Tsukuba Universitys Masakatsu Hikosaka and Higashi Fukuoka High Schools Yoshikazu Fujita, as Japan looks toward 2016 and beyond.
Off the field, the JRFU is hoping to show the world–and particularly those still opposed to the RWC 2019 coming to Asia–that Japan is capable of holding a major international rugby tournament.
But as Gregan said, patience is needed as it will take time for Tokyo to rival the atmosphere of Dubai, Wellington and Hong Kong.
Tietjens, however, has the perfect advertising spiel to attract new fans.
Fifteen-a-side rugby is driven by defense. In a game of sevens there is no where to hide.
In sevens youll see real athletes who are explosive, fast and powerful. Sevens allows them the chance to express themselves. Its an exciting sport that creates a carnival-like atmosphere.
McCoist refuses to buckle under the weight of Rangers’ burden
But Bobby, said Dick Advocaat, turning to his counterpart on the touchline, this is his field.
In many ways, it belongs more to McCoist now than it did when he was retiring as Rangers all-time and League top scorer, the clubs most capped player, the winner of nine League titles,and a player of such widespread popularity that he was known to the fans simply as Super Ally. In the financial crisis that has overcome Rangers, when so many of the old certainties of a club that became accustomed to triumph, affluence and esteem were abruptly dismantled, McCoist has become a symbolic figure.
In talks with the players, adminis-trators, potential buyers and the media, he has been the voice of the clubs interests. His first managerial job has left him coping with a calamity, and the burden weighs more heavily on McCoist because of his emotional attachment to Rangers, which began in childhood.
He is synonymous with one of the great Ibrox eras, but it may be that his work in the midst of this turmoil, in which he has taken such a prominent leadership role, will come to be even more valued.
Theres not been an alternative route or something else I could have done, McCoist says with a shrug. We dont have a chairman, a board of directors, a chief executive, so Ive had to do a lot more than any normal manager would do in these circumstances.
Thats not a complaint, just a statement of fact. In about five or 10 years, when were in better shape, I hope people look back and say, Well, he did the club some good.
This is typical McCoist: hopeful, modest but pointed and assured. He is sitting in a small office inside the clubs Murray Park training ground, two days before an Old Firm match that carries the potential to be volatile and antagonistic, but also to emphasise the sudden demise of Rangers.
It is the future of the club that is foremost in McCoists mind, though. He is broader than in his prime, his face more rounded and ruddy, his hair greyer and thinner, but there is still an irrepressibility to McCoist, something essentially optimistic.
He has taken so much of this turmoil personally that his free time has been curtailed. He still watches his sons when they play football on a Saturday or Sunday morning, joining other fathers on the touchline, but mostly he is consumed by the task of trying to hold parts of the club together: the players, the teams competitive values, the sense of history and tradition that were once considered untouchable but have been threatened by the financial predicament that leaves the clubs future still uncertain.
You know, I had meetings early on in the week and Im of the opinion that the welfare of the club is more important than anything, McCoist says. That is no way undermining the importance of any game, even an Old Firm game, because I would never do that. But meeting potential purchasers is something I have to do and I am thankful to the administrators for allowing me the opportunity to do that.
McCoist was involved in negotiations between the administrators and the players that dragged long into the night. He has spent more time sitting in meetings at Ibrox than he has on the training ground, and photographs of him walking to his car wearing a grim, pensive look, or with a familiar easy smile, have become gauges of the clubs status. There is an affability to him on this Friday afternoon, as he pushes a key-ring on and off his fingers and leans forward in his seat, engaged with everything that is said.
The caricature of McCoist portrays him as something of a jester, the team captain on A Question of Sport with the ready wit and the handsome charm. But a select group of individuals have seen his more vulnerable side. Among them are his former manager at Rangers, Walter Smith, who took a call from him at 4am while on holiday in the United States to talk about Rangers falling into administration and the problems McCoist was suddenly facing.
These have included on-pitch matters, because for all his impressive stewardship, doubts have been raised about his record this season: Rangers were knocked out of the Champions League, the Europa League qualifiers, the League Cup and the Scottish Cup before administration was confirmed on 14 February. In the SPL, a 15-point lead over Celtic was also eroded before Rangers were pushed into insolvency, and Celtic will be crowned champions if they win today.
McCoist is only too aware of the problems. It hasnt been ideal, but theres no way I would use that as an excuse, he says. In terms of the learning curve Ive maybe had six months that no manager in the country has had. Thats putting a positive spin on it, but I do appreciate that not winning anything is not ideal for a club like ours.
We should be winning trophies, and certainly challenging at the top of the League. I will not shy away from that and it is a big disappointment. Even with the circumstances.
His connection with Rangers began early, he attended his first Old Firm game aged 10, travelling by bus with two classmates to Hampden to watch the 1973 Scottish Cup final and ending up in trouble with his parents when they found out. He still socialises with his pals from that day, and when McCoist talks about facing Celtic, or the pressures of the job, it is always with these people in mind: his friends, the Rangers support, and his place among them.
Ive been delighted and proud to be put in this position, he says, looking suddenly earnest, to have the opportunity to help in that way that Ive been trying to do. McCoist admitsthat the first act of a new owner might be to install his own manager, but even that is something to be pushed aside for now. I know my responsibilities, he says firmly.
Rangers v Celtic is on Sky Sports 1 today, kick-off 1pm
What happens next?
Rangers emerge intact
The best-case scenario for the club is that a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is agreed with the creditors, who must accept a dividend on their debt. Rangers would then move out of administration conventionally, remaining as a member of the Scottish Premier League.
Tax man strikes back
Rangers owe Her Majestys Revenue and Customs (HMRC) £15 million, and could face an additional bill of up to £50m, making the revenue the dominant creditors. HMRC could vote against the CVA as a matter of principle if Rangers are found guilty of tax evasion. The club would then be liquidated and the assets sold to a new company, say Rangers 2012, which would have to reapply for Scottish Football Association and SPL membership. A majority of SPL clubs would need to vote in favour for Rangers to be re-admitted. This would make financial sense, since the broadcast and commercial deals are based on the presence of the Old Firm, but the other 10 SPL clubs want a more equal distribution of TV revenue and a change to the voting structure that essentially allows Celtic and Rangers to veto all decisions. They will seek these amendments in return for allowing Rangers back into the top division, making the SPL more competitive.
Sent to the Third Division
If the SPL vote against Rangers return, an additional Scottish Football League club would be invited into the top flight, leaving the second tier one club short. Rangers would apply to fill that vacancy, and start out in the bottom professional division.
Escape to England
The extreme, and most unlikely, consequence is either or both of the Old Firm clubs trying to leave Scottish football. Uefa rarely allow teams to play in domestic leagues outside their own country, but what if one of the Old Firm major shareholders say Dermot Desmond – the Irish billionaire and majority shareholder of Celtic – bought Carlisle United, geographically the closest English club to Glasgow? He could rename them Carlisle Celtic, change the strip to green-and-white hoops and invest so that the club climb up the Leagues. It would take almost a decade, but as that team rose, Carlisle could be dropped from the name and the Celtic north of the border would become a Scottish feeder club.
Richard Wilson
