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.

Definitely didn't need those dark sunnies in Wales last year.. 

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?