Sports World NOVEMBER
You would never have given the England rugby team a hope of reaching the World Cup final after being beaten by South Africa 36-0 in their second pool game of the tournament. But sport is the master of the wildly unpredictable
Rugby, Rugby Rugby!
Liverpool beating AC Milan in Istanbul, Botham’s Ashes, Eddie “the Eagle” failing to win a medal at the Winter Olympics….So somehow the England Rugby Team was rejuvenated, beating Australia and France on their way to the final in Paris for a rematch with those big burly bruisers, the Springbocks. Such was the extent of this improvement, our Scottish Prime Minister ended up having to go to Paris to cheer the English team on (although he drew the line at wearing an England top). Most supporters were simply hoping that England would not get thrashed again, yet the game was never one-sided and only went South Africa’s way after the English try was disallowed for being too good (an Irish referee!).
So what was England’s secret? How did they manage to turn their game around so much that they came within a hair’s breadth of being the only side in the history of the World Cup to retain its title? Most of the time it is the coach who takes the plaudits. But one of the staggering post tournament revelations is that Brian Ashton, the head coach, was not in control. In fact it was only after senior players started to coach themselves that Brian realised that he could coach like that too, and had a go. Harlequins boss Dean Richards has said that any English player criticising Brian Ashton should never play for England again. But if they’d kept silent after the 36-0 thrashing their careers would have come to a far swifter end without the glory of a finalist’s medal. That’s as poor a call by Mr Richards as the Irish ref who disallowed the English try. More power to the players if they coached themselves to the final!
Game, Set and Match!
Andy Murray is ending the tennis season strongly with a win at the St Petersburg Open. He won the final in straight sets against Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and is now only three qualifying points away from reaching the prestigious Masters Cup in Shanghai. Earlier this month Murray courted controversy by claiming that most of his fellow pros knew that match fixing was going on before retracting his comments. Guess he decided he’d better try to get on with the other players on the ATP circuit rather than completely annoy them. But he’d do far better at that if he’d just go and get his hair cut. His curly locks are far more controversial than his comments.
The Chequered Flag
The climax to this year’s Formula One Grand Prix tour was brilliant. Three drivers still had a chance of winning the Championship title with one race remaining, including Britain’s very own Lewis Hamilton. Alright, Stevenage’s very own, where a road has now been named after him due to his heroics behind the wheel. Unfortunately for Lewis he got in a muddle with his pit stops, chose the wrong tyres for the conditions and ended up coming second to Kimi Raikonnen. As this was only his first season on the Formula One circuit the future looks bright for Lewis but not so for Stevenage. Lewis has decided to move to Switzerland to get away from all of the media attention he now attracts, snubbing the honours he receives from his home town.
Winners On Home Turf
Finally after England lost to Russia last month in their Euro 2008 qualifying match it looks increasingly likely that England will not be present at Europe’s biggest footballing event next year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also likely to share the same shameful fate, but to salvage the financial disaster looming, the respective Football Associations have got together to plan a special home nations’ football tournament. At last a tournament we can win!