After coming home from university in early December I sat down and simply watched the most entertaining rugby union match I'd ever seen, it was the Barbarians v New Zealand at Cardiff in 1973. I'd sampled the delights of ESPN Classic before, enjoying the likes of Bob Willis bowling at the Australians and Muhammad Ali fighting Joe Frazier but I had never seen anything like this before. If anyone has seen this match you'd know what I'm talking about.
Swashbuckling, daring, fearless; those are the words I'd use to describe both sides as these amateur players scythed through defenses. Forget Quade Cooper, if you really want to know how to sidestep watch this. Did I mention the first Barbarians try is widely regarded as the best try ever?
I don't want to go on about it but basically if you're a fan of rugby this game is a must-see!
I've attached the link just to be nice, enjoy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwCbG4I0QyA&feature=player_embedded
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Great end to a great year
Great final performances from Woods and Quiros but an Englishman dominates going into 2012.
Firstly, a win for Tiger Woods. His first win in over two years, his 83rd worldwide, a win that could turn out to be the most important of his career. At his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, he finally performed to his ability and pulled it out bag. It was a long, long dry spell for one of the best players of all time but I think he's back and professional golf is about to get a whole lot more exciting.
The European Tour ends with the Dubai World Championship at the moment and will host the last event another 3 years. With a purse of no less than $7.5 million, the championship is a massive game changer in terms of the European money list/Race to Dubai. This year's championship was won by the effervescent Alvaro Quiros, the fiery Spaniard is nicely racking up his number of European tour wins. Quiros led going into the final day by 2 shots and during the final round Paul Lawrie put immense pressure on him but his attack dwindled towards the end. Quiros reached the 18th a shot clear of Lawrie and on the par 5 18th played an outrageous 3-wood approach to the green whilst everyone else was laying up; apparently there's no word for lay-up in Spanish. He eventually sunk his birdie putt and came away as champion, and $1.2 million richer.
Through all the extravagance of Dubai and middle-eastern hype, one man shone among others, and that was Luke Donald. The pressure was on 4 days ago when he was on the cusp of becoming the first man to come top of both money lists either side of the Atlantic. Rory McIlroy stood in his way but unfortunately for McIlroy a unknown virus had taken hold and he just didn't have the energy to compete.
It was absolutely typical of Donald to perform like he did in Dubai; staying in the hunt in the first 2 rounds then moving into the weekend with 2 awesome rounds of 66 to push him into contention, or at least into the top 10. He finished in 3rd in the championship and clearly number 1 everywhere else.
His consistency has been the key and even though he hasn't bagged his first major yet he is at last showing signs of the mentality of champions, the mentality so pivotal to great golfers. No one else has come close during 2011 and its incredible that he is the first man ever to come top on both tours. Now all that's left this year is the Sports Personality of the Year award, if Luke doesn't win i'll eat my Titleist beanie!
Firstly, a win for Tiger Woods. His first win in over two years, his 83rd worldwide, a win that could turn out to be the most important of his career. At his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, he finally performed to his ability and pulled it out bag. It was a long, long dry spell for one of the best players of all time but I think he's back and professional golf is about to get a whole lot more exciting.
The European Tour ends with the Dubai World Championship at the moment and will host the last event another 3 years. With a purse of no less than $7.5 million, the championship is a massive game changer in terms of the European money list/Race to Dubai. This year's championship was won by the effervescent Alvaro Quiros, the fiery Spaniard is nicely racking up his number of European tour wins. Quiros led going into the final day by 2 shots and during the final round Paul Lawrie put immense pressure on him but his attack dwindled towards the end. Quiros reached the 18th a shot clear of Lawrie and on the par 5 18th played an outrageous 3-wood approach to the green whilst everyone else was laying up; apparently there's no word for lay-up in Spanish. He eventually sunk his birdie putt and came away as champion, and $1.2 million richer.
Through all the extravagance of Dubai and middle-eastern hype, one man shone among others, and that was Luke Donald. The pressure was on 4 days ago when he was on the cusp of becoming the first man to come top of both money lists either side of the Atlantic. Rory McIlroy stood in his way but unfortunately for McIlroy a unknown virus had taken hold and he just didn't have the energy to compete.
It was absolutely typical of Donald to perform like he did in Dubai; staying in the hunt in the first 2 rounds then moving into the weekend with 2 awesome rounds of 66 to push him into contention, or at least into the top 10. He finished in 3rd in the championship and clearly number 1 everywhere else.
His consistency has been the key and even though he hasn't bagged his first major yet he is at last showing signs of the mentality of champions, the mentality so pivotal to great golfers. No one else has come close during 2011 and its incredible that he is the first man ever to come top on both tours. Now all that's left this year is the Sports Personality of the Year award, if Luke doesn't win i'll eat my Titleist beanie!
Monday, 21 November 2011
President's Cup stays in the USA's hands
The President's Cup added a bit of spice to this year's golf calendar especially in the wake of more headlines regarding Tiger Woods and his former caddie Steve Williams. Speaking of that, what were the chances of Tiger going up against Adam Scott and Williams in the first pairings? Not sure whether the captains had any idea about that but it made for an intriguing first round which Woods and Stricker consequently lost 7 and 6, Woods' biggest matchplay defeat of his career.
This year's competition was anticipated as being the best contested in years due to the strength of the International team especially since it was another exposure to big team golf events for youngsters Jason Day and Ryo Ishikawa, Day especially looking experienced beyond his years. Stalwarts in Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are continually playing high quality golf to qualify for the team.
The contest lit up as the International team managed to come within 4 points of the USA on the final day of singles. Of which in the end both sides recorded 6 victories a piece but not enough for the Internationals to win. Someone that did have a great tournament was Jim Furyk who finished off with 5 victories out of 5 matches, the fourth player in history finish up with those scores. Good news for Woods fans though; he won his singles match on the final day, playing a solid round to beat Aaron Baddeley 4 and 3. Tiger looks to be playing more consistently at the moment, especially after a good result at the Australian Open a few weeks ago. But overall a good performance from a dominating, yet understated American team.
This year's competition was anticipated as being the best contested in years due to the strength of the International team especially since it was another exposure to big team golf events for youngsters Jason Day and Ryo Ishikawa, Day especially looking experienced beyond his years. Stalwarts in Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are continually playing high quality golf to qualify for the team.
The contest lit up as the International team managed to come within 4 points of the USA on the final day of singles. Of which in the end both sides recorded 6 victories a piece but not enough for the Internationals to win. Someone that did have a great tournament was Jim Furyk who finished off with 5 victories out of 5 matches, the fourth player in history finish up with those scores. Good news for Woods fans though; he won his singles match on the final day, playing a solid round to beat Aaron Baddeley 4 and 3. Tiger looks to be playing more consistently at the moment, especially after a good result at the Australian Open a few weeks ago. But overall a good performance from a dominating, yet understated American team.
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| Definitely didn't need those dark sunnies in Wales last year.. |
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Martin Johnson keeps his reputation unlike the RFU
Martin Johnson's resignation came as no surprise to those of us that follow rugby. He left the press conference last week a forlorn figure, but a dignified one. I don't think anyone could criticise him for his decision after a tumultuous world cup where the players continually let him down.
Johnson can't be blamed for his performance as England manager, mainly because he was not given the right structure. Yes, he was chosen to manage the team with no previous coaching experience at all, but surely Rob Andrew or whoever takes control of that area (because I don't know anymore) should have given him the coaching support he needed? Instead Johnson was pretty much left out in the cold, struggling to juggle coaching duties with the management of players and the senior team.
Rob Andrew, the RFU's Director of Operations, gave a confusing performance at the press conference, one which gave us more questions than answers overall, like what is his actual role and whether he we should trust him to find a replacement for Johnson. The RFU has been going through a tough time in the last 6 months, its reputation arguably in tatters, but it must regroup and someone must take charge of the situation. The last few months sound like there have been too many cooks in the RFU kitchen and no one has taking responsibility for their actions, least of all Rob Andrew apparently.
His appointment was a political gamble that didn't pay off for the RFU. Rugby teams needs guys in tracksuits and whistles demanding discipline and trust, England got none of that and it showed on the biggest stage of them all. It all sounded rather exciting when Johnson was named as manager but realistically what were we expecting?
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