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| Eagles clear Brian Westbrook to return after concussions Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook has been cleared to play after two concussions and is expected to return against the Denver ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Vikings WR/KR Harvin is AP top offensive rookie NEW YORK (AP) -- The Little Phenom is the NFL's top offensive rookie.... hosted.ap.org |
Paul Rees: Johnson must allow creativity to flow England's Six Nations squad must include fresh faces if the team are to stand any chance of winning the World CupTo see or not to see, that is the question ahead of Wednesday's announcement of England's revised elite-player squad for the Six Nations championship. Martin Johnson and his selectors went for experience when the original 32 was announced last July, but the sterility of England's autumn international campaign, allowing for a plague of injuries, amounted to an indictment of short-termism.When Johnson took over as team manager in the summer of 2008 he invested in youth, only to think again after Australia, New Zealand and South Africa stormed Twickenham. The majority of the forwards named in last July's elite squad are in their 30s, some veterans of campaigns fought with Johnson the player. How many, though, will be fit for battle in next year's World Cup?Johnson started with the best of intentions but soon fell victim to the pressure that constricted his two immediate predecessors. Even though he was armed with a contract that ran until the end of the World Cup, he reacted after coming under fire in November 2008 by abandoning long-term planning and concentrating simply on the next match.It worked to an extent. Doughty displays in Cardiff and Dublin were followed by a resounding victory over France, but England fell in the fall, regressing as an attacking force if, defensively, they were hard to break down. Johnson, and even more so his coaches, came under renewed attack in the media and the resulting bunker mentality saw flair players such as Ben Foden and Shane Geraghty discarded.The management exerted a rigid control. The word gameplan was uttered in virtually every sentence by players, not that it was ever fully explained. "One of the things I am constantly battling against is the dreaded word gameplan," said Johnson's predecessor, Brian Ashton, last week. "That is where everything is prescribed from phase one to six or seven. By doing that, no one ever learns to understand the way the game is played, the way one aspect impacts on another."Do England have coaches or trainers? "I have long held the view that the method of coaching used throughout the country, indeed across the world, has been inappropriate for players and their understanding of the game," said Ashton. "Running drills isn't coaching. It isn't even teaching. It's organising. Some coaches just do that for a whole season and don't change from one week to the next. I wouldn't say it's depressing but ..."England, like the Premiership clubs, are well drilled, but where is the evidence of coaching? Johnson has had problems with Foden and Danny Cipriani, two young players who do not take a loss of freedom quietly. Foden was in the squad last November but never chosen in a match-day squad, while Cipriani was named in the Saxons squad last July.If England are to make an impact in next year's World Cup they will need to harness creative talent far more ably than they have done so far under Johnson. Mathew Tait has been treated like a rag doll, Anthony Allen has been dumped in international isolation and Cipriani looks as far away from a recall as Henry Paul.England made the 2007 World Cup final by being bloody-minded, but in Johnson's era they had backs such as Matt Dawson, Will Greenwood and Mike Catt who had a keen instinct for the game and for whom the word gameplan was a mere framework. They could react to changing circumstances and were able to think on their feet.The southern hemisphere may have choked with indignation in the manner England won the 2003 World Cup and started the experimental law variations' programme, but in Melbourne earlier in the year Johnson's men had shown another side to their game and forgotten was the brio they played with in 2001. England were not then one-dimensional.Johnson's conservatism is not difficult to understand. His media conference after the defeat in Dublin last season saw questions dipped in vitriol. It became an inquisition, as if England should have had no problem in beating what turned out to be the best side in the tournament. The hostility has continued, making results essential for Johnson, and more especially his coaches.Never mind the committed but limited rugby served up in the Premiership this season, there is no media goodwill towards the England management. Yet the future should be far from cloudy with the likes of Dan Cole, Courtney Lawes, Matt Mullan, Foden, Geraghty, Cipriani, Allen, Dominic Waldouck, Ben Youngs, James Gaskell, Chris Ashton, Jon Golding, Tom Homer and Joe Simpson all players who can push for places in the World Cup squad.There is an old saying: notice what you see. Johnson never bothered about opinion as a player and he should not start now, but there needs to be a relaxing of tension otherwise the cold war will claim another victim.Martin JohnsonEngland rugby union teamSix Nations rugbyRugby unionPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Venter given four-match suspended ban • Saracens director of rugby gets four-match suspended ban• South African also ordered to apologise and pay costsSaracens' director of rugby, Brendan Venter, has been found guilty of "conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Union" for comments he made about the Premiership referee David Rose.Venter went before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel last night and was handed a suspended four-match ban from match day coaching which runs until 31 December 2010.He was alleged to have questioned the integrity of Rose following Saracens' 22-15 Premiership defeat to Leicester at Vicarage Road on 2 January. The former South Africa centre will also have to make a public apology to Rose and pay costs of ÂŁ250.The RFU decision read: "Brendan Venter was found guilty of an amended charge in relation to his post-match comments on January 2, 2010 after Saracens had lost against Leicester Tigers. He was guilty of conduct which was prejudicial to the interests of the Union in that he, whilst taking part in a BBC interview, implied criticism of the match referee by stating that he believed the referee had been influenced at half-time without any further explanation so that a listener might conclude the influence had been improper."SaracensGuinness PremiershipLeicester TigersRugby unionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
England’s extra cover Andrew Strauss’s absence from next month’s tour of Bangladesh gives Michael Carberry the chance to complete a remarkable, and welcome, rise to the top of English cricket. At 29, the Hampshire player would be the oldest specialist batsmen to make his debut for England this century and the country’s first new cap of West Indian heritage since 1998 when Alex Tudor, whom Carberry describes as a “big brother”, played against Australia at Perth. Carberry’s emergence could play a vital part in arresting a decline in Afro-Caribbean cricket in England that reflects the sport’s fragile footing in inner-city areas. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |