Sport

Selling Rugby

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

Dieux Du Stade Calendar, 2008 Almost Six Nations time again, and we can look forward to a couple of titanic cross-channel bouts. Italy visit Wales, and England travel to France.

One thing you can say about our continental cousins, they never let a little thing like a game of rugby get in the way of the serious business of sex. Consequently, if you want to be one of the glamor boys who plays for Stade Français in Paris, not only do you have to wear pink, you also get asked to pose for their annual nude calendar. Wow, do these guys have muscle.

And if that stuff is to your liking you might want to check out this blog. The English and French versions appear to have different content.

India ♥ Twenty20

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Still on the “cricket is boring” theme, I’m starting to get quite excited by the up-coming Indian Premier League. For those of you not familiar with it, Twenty20 is a new form of cricket that takes about the same time to play as a baseball game, but has an average of around 350 runs scored (compared to an average of 9 in baseball). It is an all-action game, and it has been drawing in crowds all around the world.
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Americans Hate Soccer

~ Cheryl

Except in Philadelphia, apparently.

Philadelphia doesn’t have an MLS team, and this rankles so badly with them that they have started a fan club for the team that they one day hope to have. Not only that, but they go along to MLS games to boo the sides that they expect their team to be playing against one day. Now that’s dedication for you.

Alex Massie has more on the story.

Girls Can Bat

~ Cheryl

As most of you know, the Australian cricket team has achieved a level of dominance on the world stage that few can challenge, let alone hope to overcome. England briefly gave the Aussies cause for concern by wresting The Ashes from them in 2005. That, of course, was in England. When the English side visited Australia for the next series they were soundly beaten. So much for the men.

2005 also saw England’s women cricketers with their battle against Australia. They have only just completed their return visit. A series of one-day internationals was tied, 2-2. Only one test match was played, but England won it comfortably.

Just sayin’, Justine…

English Survive Rome – Just

~ Cheryl

I missed the first 15 minutes of the game because Liz and I were shopping in Covent Garden. This meant that I missed all of the good English play. From the half time replays they seem to have scored two good tries. There was no sign of them being able to score any more in the rest of the game. The second quarter was about 50:50, and Italy bossed the second half. Fortunately for England, the Italians had no penetration either. The one try that they scored came from a horrible Cipriani mistake (Will Greenwood will make Stuart Barnes life insufferable on Rugby Club next week, I suspect). Still, with the score at 19-23 with 5 minutes to play we were set up for another frantic finish. Credit to England for not going to pieces they way they did against Wales.

Having seen Italy play twice, I’m reasonably confident that Wales can beat then. They showed very little penetration in both games. They continue to give away silly penalties. Their lineout is vulnerable. And I got the impression that their back line is sometimes reluctant to go into contact. Time and again I saw them pass too early and allow the incoming England tackler to follow the ball and close down the move.

England, I think, are just about good enough to beat the hapless Scots, but will get cut to pieces by Ireland and France unless they improve their game a lot.

A Good Day at the Office

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

Wales Well, a win is a win, and 30-15 is a pretty comfortable win. However, Wales still need to improve. They did score some good tries (even if one of them was slightly dubious) and they defended well. Scotland never looked like scoring other than through Patterson’s boot, but Wales should never have given him five opportunities to kick goals. Their discipline needs working on. And they should have scored several more tries. Execution needs working on as well. Still, it was good to see Peel and Jones come on and take control when it was needed. It is always good to know that we can tighten things up if the need arises.
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Wales Team News

~ Cheryl

Is pretty much as I expected. Alix Popham will doubtless be a bit upset, but he does need to work on his discipline at rucks. I’m not sure what it is that Mark Jones did wrong, but I’m trusting to Gatland and Edwards on this one. Gareth Delve is a very promising player, and I’m pleased to see him getting a chance. I’m also delighted to see Dwayne Peel on his way back from injury.

Further Punditry

~ Cheryl

When the BBC asked their pundits to predict the outcome of the tournament Keith Wood made a comment along the lines of it being hard to make predictions until you have have seen the first round of matches. He’s right. It is a short tournament, and you never quite know how the teams will shape up coming into it. Now, however, with the first round of games behind us, things are much clearer.
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Escape to Victory

~ Cheryl ~ 7 Comments

Wales England 19-26 Wales. How ever did we manage that?

Wales were utterly woeful in the first half. The lineout wasn’t functioning. They were getting driven off the ball at every ruck. And their management of the restarts appeared to be completely without thought or commitment. The only reason that England were not 3 or 4 tries to the good is that, like all four teams we have seen on show today, they were rusty. The moves were not working as they should. There was no lack of opportunities. And just like Jake White, I was expecting the floodgates to open in the second half.

When a team is getting as beaten as badly as that, all they can hope to do in the second half is not lose heart. They still have to compete. If they do, a miracle may happen. And so it did. I have seen England teams play poorly before now, but I have never seem one give away a game from such a position of dominance in such an abject manner. All Wales had to do was keep playing, get the basics right (if I may be permitted a cliché), and the points would come.

For the Welsh, I thought that Lee Byrne had a particularly good game. Phillips, Hook, Henson and the two wings showed flashes of what they are capable of. The pack did OK, but has to work hard on the lineouts and rucks. I’d still start Shanklin ahead of Sony Parker. The entire England team should be made to sit in the corner with dunce caps on their heads.

After all the nonsense about not winning at Twickenham for 20 years (which is true, but the English conveniently forget the game at Wembley in 1999) this was a particularly satisfying win. Now here’s hoping that Gatland and Edwards can turn this piece of good fortune into some solid good play for the rest of the tournament.

There was, of course, a game in Ireland too. Italy were not good, but as usual they relied on a lot of strength and passion to carry them through. Ireland were not good either, and can count themselves lucky to get away with a 16-11 win. Eoin Reddan was impressive, as was Rob Kearney when he came on. But Ireland have a long way to go to confirm their ranking as one of the favorites for the title.

Gillie Calls it a Day

~ Cheryl ~ 7 Comments

Sometimes you see something on a sports field that you just can’t believe. Adam Gilchrist dropping a simple catch off VVX Laxman during the recent test match at Adelaide was one such moment. It isn’t that Gillie doesn’t drop catches – everyone does. But he never drops easy ones. That drop illustrated just why the Australian team are so good, in two very different ways.

Firstly there were no recriminations. Brett Lee didn’t throw a strop and not getting the wicket his bowling deserved (as Andre Nell might have done). Ricky Ponting didn’t put his head in his hands as if to say, “why am I in charge of these incompetents?” (as England captains do much of the time). There was a brief exchange of nods between players to acknowledge what had happened, and then they got on with the game. They are a team, and they support each other, even when they get things wrong.

As for Gillie, he went back and looked at the film. He saw what he had done, realized that his own very high standards were slipping, and announced his retirement. There was no question of hanging on to set records, or because he was too proud to give up the gloves. In his own view, he was no longer good enough to wear that famous baggy green cap, so he made the selectors’ decision for them. That’s class.

The Aussie team has come in for a fair amount of criticism recently, and rightly so. But they are not the best in the world for nothing. It helps to remember that. Other teams please take note.

Congratulations India

~ Cheryl

Well, the Australian winning streak has come to an end at last. I’ve not been able to see much of the match because it is timed for when I’m asleep, but I gather that the heat played a major role. Whether this was the 40 C heat of the Perth summer, or the heat of the public opprobrium that descending on Ricky Ponting and his team after their antics in Sydney is not clear. Regardless, it is great to see the Australians being stretched again. India are a great side, and we need great sides to challenge the Aussies. Here’s hoping for another great match in Adelaide next week.

On Car Design

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Well, Scott Speed might not have made it in Formula 1, but his namesake is about to hit the big screen. Yes, Speed Racer: The Movie is almost upon us, and therefore a whole bunch of people who are not motor racing fans are getting to pontificate on what makes a sexy car.

Speed’s car, the Mach 5, disappointed the folks at the Detroit Motor Show. Quite right too. It looks like something Jack Brabham might have driven at Le Mans.

Speed’s rival’s car, which is apparently Japanese, has caught the eye of the folks at io9. But Charlie dear, that’s not a racing car, that’s a heap of ironmongery on wheels.

The trouble is that these Hollywood guys are a bunch of pikers when it comes to car design. If you want a sexy-looking race car, you go to the guys who design such things for a living. The new cars from McLaren and Ferrari are way cooler than anything the movie has produced.

Oh, and as for the rival car being driven by the lads from Super Best Friends Aguri…

Sanity Prevails

~ Cheryl

According to the BBC, the Indian Cricket Board has dropped its threat to abandon the test series unless Harbhajan Singh is cleared of the charge or racial abuse. Now at least we can get on with some cricket again. Hopefully this time it will be played in a somewhat better spirit. And if it isn’t, Mr. Pointing please note, let’s try not to make a media circus of it, because in those circumstances no one wins except the tabloids.

Playing Close to Home

~ Cheryl ~ 4 Comments

It is getting close to Six Nations time here in the UK, and one of the more interesting stories that has surfaced is this one about the Welsh RFU telling players that they are unlikely to get selected for the national team unless they play their club rugby in Wales. Setting aside, for the moment, any legal issues that may arise from this, one is tempted to ask “why?” It has been a policy for some years in Australia and New Zealand (and possibly South Africa too) that players are supposed to play their club rugby in the Super 14. Given the expense of maintaining scouting teams on the other side of the planet, I can see why this might be so. But I don’t think that to play for the All Blacks you had to play your club rugby for a New Zealand side, which would be the equivalent rule. Also, having players spread around has advantages. It helps them play in the best quality rugby possible. Forcing players to play for Welsh clubs may mean forcing some of them to miss out on Heineken Cup rugby. And if your players are active in all of the best clubs around Europe you get good intelligence about the potential strengths and weaknesses of the your likely opponents. It all seems a little odd.

Then I started thinking about the excuses that were being trotted out about training and team cohesion and suddenly it all clicked. What the Welsh selectors are mainly worried about is getting access to their players. In Wales the club sides are effectively owned by the WRFU (in much the same way as MLS owns all the major US soccer teams). This is not the case in England (or France, I think). What the WRFU is afraid of is that if their players are contracted to English or French clubs then they may not be able to get access to them when they need them. Heck, even the English national side can’t always get players away from English club sides when it wants them. Suddenly the new policy makes a whole lot of sense.

More on the Cricket

~ Cheryl

I gather that the Indian Cricket Board now says that they will continue with the tour provided that Harbhajan Singh is found not guilty of racist abuse. That, I think, would drive a coach and horses through the entire disciplinary process. We might as well abandon having such hearings if they are going to be subject to this sort of interference.

Also in the “not helpful” category is this post from someone who ought to know better. Aggers is living in fantasy land if he thinks that players can be expected to be honest at all time, especially with so much at stake. Indeed, I found Symonds’ honesty in saying that he would not walk, even if he knew he was out, very refreshing. Relying on the players to say whether they are out or not only succeeds in creating an impression of dishonesty when calls are tight. It also opens the door to game playing. Players are not stupid. If umpires take the players’ word on decisions then the right tactic is to establish a general reputation for honesty when calls are obvious and to lie when they are close.

Finally, for those of you in the Americas who don’t know anything about the game, you might find my article, Cricket for Baseball Fans, helpful.