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| Chargers 42-17 Titans NFL: San Diego wrapped up a first-round playoff bye with a 42-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans guardian.co.uk |
The Breakdown: Coaches cluster round to ease away from crisis point | Eddie Butler The law-makers can stand down, sensible coaching has addressed the aerial onslaught that was killing the gameWorcester-Northampton may not go down as one of the matches of the decade but perhaps, in its own way, it was quite a landmark game. For months, ever since the glow of the Lions tour chilled in the northern autumn, we had been moaning that something horrible was happening to the game. The contest on the ground, with a distinct bias in favour of the tackler, meant that the ball was going up into the heavens. The floor was the minefield that had to be overflown, and it was not pretty.Well, there is evidence to suggest that the problem is safely being addressed by the coaches, rather than being abandoned to the law-makers. The legislators of the International Rugby Board would no doubt think long and hard about the matter, and end up inserting a clause that would merely create a jam somewhere else. The last round of Experimental Law Variations was born of good intentions but simply proved that this is a complex sport of loopholes and knock-on effects.The new taboo of rugby, as shown at Sixways, is the isolated ball-carrier. Drop your head and charge with no support and it leads either to a penalty for not releasing, or a turnover. Worcester had the upper hand at the scrum but were stripped at the breakdown.Once upon a time, the scrum was king. Then, with boosting permitted, the line-out became king of the set-piece. Now, to win the breakdown is to control the match, and that offers far more possibilities than it creates problems.To avoid individuals being collared and mugged, coaches now have to construct clusters around the ball-carrier. Units are being formed to protect possession.The all-important element to a game of adventure is space, and if players are having to stick close together in one area of the field it means that there will be room elsewhere. No, Worcester-Northampton will not go down as a classic, but the amount of time spent on the ball by Rico Gear and Miles Benjamin on the Worcester wings and by Ben Foden in particular at full-back for the Saints was as encouraging at the turn of the year as the autumn was dispiriting.The game is coaching itself out of its crisis. The law-makers can stand down. This is not just the turn of the year, but also the end of a decade. In general it has been an excellent time for professional rugby, and here are my 10 favourite bits from it.1 The Marseille weekend at the 2007 World Cup, with England-Australia, South Africa-Fiji and France-New Zealand, all based around the non-stop party in the old port.2 The scrummaging during the 2003 World Cup final, when the referee, Andre Watson, managed to make a cliffhanger out of a routine England victory.3 The Leinster-Munster semi final in the Heineken Cup 2009, when Croke Park thundered to an all-Ireland epic.4 The second half of France-Wales in the 2005 Welsh grand slam, when Wales, hammered for 40 minutes, put fear aside and played ... and played.5 The second half of England-Wales in the 2008 Welsh grand slam, ditto the rest.6 Fiji-Wales 2007 World Cup, for a glimpse of beautiful folly on both sides.7 Munster turning the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff into a slab of south-west Ireland on the day they finally won the Heineken Cup. Just beats the Leicester-Stade Français final at the Parc des Princes.8 Rome on a Six Nations weekend.9 Loftus Versfeld for the second South Africa-Lions Test in 2009. Will burn brightly for all time as a truly great international.10 The snake of camper vans going round New Zealand on the Lions tour of 2005. A truly weird rugby tour, but a marvellous band of supporters.Heroes of the decadeMartin Johnson, for being the player and captain of the age.Gareth "Alfie" Thomas for being the bravest bloke to have in a changing room when things were going wrong.Richie McCaw, for being the best player we'll have seen, with the possible exception of Michael Jones.Villains of the decadeMartin Johnson, for being so, so cautious as manager of England.Gareth "Alfie" Thomas, for meddling in so many affairs beyond the changing room. He threatened more strikes than Arthur Scargill.Richie McCaw, for being so good at the breakdown that he caused the ball to be booted into outer space.Here are the weekend Guinness Premiership fixtures. Will the signs of recovery continue?Friday, 01 January 2010Sale v Harlequins, 5.30pmSaturday, 02 January 2010Gloucester v Worcester, 3pmLeeds Carnegie v Bath, 3pmNorthampton v London Irish, 3pmSaracens v Leicester, 3pmSunday, 03 January 2010Wasps v Newcastle, 4.30pmWhy not? I'm going for away wins everywhere, in the spirit of new-found folly, bar Leeds and Wasps. With tries galore to sound in the new decade.Happy New Year to you all.Rugby unionEddie Butlerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sea The Stars fourth-best in last 25 years • Handicappers regret being unable to rate colt higher• John Oxx blames slow pace for failure to break Arc recordThe mood was almost apologetic in ÂLondon as Europe's senior handicappers revealed their assessment of the 2009 Flat season, which showed that on official figures at least, Sea The Stars was only the third-best Flat horse since Dancing Brave, and the fourth-best of the last 25 years.Sea The Stars received an official Ârating of 136, which is 1lb behind both ÂPeintre Celebre, the 1997 Arc winner, and ÂGenerous, a wide-margin winner of the Derby and King George in 1991, and 5lb behind Dancing Brave's final mark of 141.Many thousands of racing fans who felt that Sea The Stars was the equal, at least, of the 1986 Arc winner will be baffled by the verdict. What the handicappers were keen to stress, though, is that changes in handicapping practice, as well as the brilliant three-year-old's habit of doing only enough to win, account for much, if not all, of the difference."In 1986 there was a higher Â[general] level than there is at present," Garry O'Gorman, Ireland's senior Flat Âhandicapper, said, "so in real terms I don't think that rating would be as high now. And we will never know what Sea The Stars could have achieved."There was potential to find out this year, if Zarkava [the 2008 Arc winner] had stayed in training, or if he had gone to the Breeders' Cup to race against Zenyatta [the Breeders' Cup Classic winner], that could have been illuminating. The implication for his rating there is obvious, because it could have been taking him out of his shell. In poker terms, he never showed his full hand."If Zenyatta and Sea The Stars had met, we might know more, but they didn't, and now we'll never know. In a way we were relieved to get him as high as 136. If some of these other horses [like Rip Van Winkle, rated 129] hadn't been around, he could have been on 130."If people are saying that Sea The Stars is the best they have seen, we are not Âsaying that they are wrong. Wide-margin winners will always get a higher rating as it is easier to give them a mark [but] it is important not to concentrate on the rating alone but to look at a horse's overall CV."John Oxx, Sea The Stars' trainer, was philosophical about the colt's rating. "I never get too worked up about these things, but it's a great rating and there will be very few horses that beat it," he said."When Mick Kinane tells you that the horse never exerted himself beyond 75% of his capacity, you know he's not going to be rated as highly by the handicappers as his record might have justified. They used to rate them more highly, but they seem to have become more conservative in recent years."It was a brilliant season and you can't really have any regrets, but the only one I might have is that they did not go more of a pace in the Arc. I think that if they had run at the sort of pace they did in the [Irish] Champion Stakes or the ÂInternational [Stakes at York], he would have probably broken the track record and put more Âdistance between himself and the rest."It will be interesting to see what ÂTimeform give him. The [official] Âhandicappers can only rate them Âmathematically, but Timeform probably feel that they can use their imagination a bit more."Another significant feature of the ratings was the number of fillies and mares at the top of the list. Goldikova, on 130, is rated the best filly miler since Miesque after emulating her feat of back-to-back wins in the Breeders' Cup Mile, while America's biggest stars, Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, are rated 1lb apart, on 128 and 127 respectively."Zenyatta's performance in winning the Breeders' Cup Classic was rated Âbetter than the best that Rachel ÂAlexandra achieved," O'Gorman said. "Some of Rachel's Âperformances where she won by wide margins were very hard to Âquantify, but in terms of running against the colts, her Âperformance in the Haskell was her best, and we were Âconfident that you could make her 127 there. ÂAmerican Âhandicappers were present at our Âmeetings, and they were happy with the ratings they were given."Sea The StarsHorse racingGreg Woodguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cards’ viewing party set for Cadillac Ranch Cadillac Ranch in Tempe Marketplace will hold the official viewing party Saturday for the Arizona Cardinals playoff matchup against the New Orleans Saints. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Milan Jovanovic ponders offer to make Anfield switch Liverpool have offered Milan Jovanovic a deal to join them in the summer, but the Standard Liège forward wants assurances that Rafael BenÃtez will be the manager next season before committing to the proposed Bosman free transfer. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |