Heineken laced with Guinness

Three Guinness Premiership teams will host home quarter-finals in this years Heineken Cup following strong performances in the pool stages.

London Irish, Gloucester and Saracens will all have home advantage come April when the knockout stage of the tournament kicks off.

Gloucester, who beat Ulster to top group two, will be glad to be at Kingsholm when they face Munster who continued their imperious home form by dumping reigning champions Wasps out of the tournament.

Rematch

Irish will host Perpignan who came through the same group as the Exiles as top runners up. They both recorded home wins in the pool, so a tight game at the Madejski is expected.

The final team representing the Premiership will be Saracens who finished as top seeds in group one. It will be their first appearance in the quarter-finals and they will need to beat the Ospreys if they are to progress any further.

The remaining fixture will see Cardiff travel to perennial challengers, Toulouse, who have won the competition three times.
All three Guinness teams have a strong chance of making it to the semi-finals and the prospect of another all English final is looking a firm possibility.

Burmese Chinlone, Capello's Answer?

Chinlone is an ancient form of football originating from Burma that makes Ronaldo look like a Sunday league footballer.
Traditionally the Premiership is a fast paced, in your face league which doesn't take any prisoners.

Recently however, with the introduction of more foreign players and managers, the league has combined a skillful dimension to it which has added to its appeal.

Skillful that is, until you see someone play futsal or chinlone.

Futsal is basically five-a-side, but the emphasis is on improvisation, creativity and technique.

Most European and South American countries have professional futsal leagues and many believe this country should start promoting it in order to start producing more skillful and talented footballers.

Childs Play

Chinlone is slightly different, and more of an artform than a competitive sport.

A team of six players use their feet and knees in order to keep a mini 'football' in the air while walking in a tight circle.

It is a combination of sport and dance, and although it is a team sport there is never any opposition. The focus is not on winning or losing, but how beautifully one plays the game.

The sport is a Burmese legacy enjoyed by all ages of both sexes, and although Capello is unlikely to get Wayne Rooney and his chums wandering round in circles, the idea of introducing variations on the 11 man game should be welcomed.

This video shows how amazingly talented some of the players are.



This video shows how amazingly untalented some footballers are.

Volcano Ready to Erupt

Brian Ashton announced his 32 man squad for the Six Nations today and it included a number of surprise decisions.

The biggest shock was the inclusion of Tongan rugby league convert Lesley Vainikolo at the expense of World Cup winner Josh Lewsey.

Other notable omissions included Dan Hipkiss, Olly Barkley, Magnus Lund and the Gloucester pair of Anthony Allen and Ryan Lamb.

Although to be fair England are besieged by talented 10s and 12s at the moment so it must have been a tricky decision for Ashton to pick two from at least three in both those positions.

Tricky Conversion

Vainikolo's inclusion comes as two of his former rugby league counterparts leave the international scene, Jason Robinson by choice, Farrell by force.

This week Farrell's son Owen joined him at Saracens although it will be a while until they could line up alongside each other (Owen is only 16). Farrell senior's International career however, appears to have limped to its conclusion.

Lesley 'The Volcano' Vainikolo should have more than enough talent to fill both their boots however.

With the power and strength of Farrell and the pace and finishing instinct of Robinson he is likely to prove a massive hit with the fans.

Just ask those up in Bradford about his try scoring ability. While playing for the Bulls he scored 149 tries in 152 games, and having already scored 9 in 9 for Gloucester he could be England's answer to the Cheetah.

Notice how all the best players get cool nicknames... Billy Whizz, The Volcano, Caveman, The Cheetah, Schalk "Would you like a penalty with that" Burger...

Murray's Mint Perfection

Andy Murray reached the final of the first tournament of the season today at the Qatar Open.

He defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 6-3 in the semis having already beaten Rochus, Schuettler and Johansson in Doha and he now faces Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Last year Murray fell to Ivan Ljubicic in the final, but this year the Croatian was eliminated by the Swiss ranked 35 in the world.

If Murray can maintain his strong form then he will stand a good chance of breaking into the top five, which is his aim for the season. He will also have a realistic chance of winning a Grand Slam, for the first time.

Team Murray without a spearhead coach will have to ensure they contain the little dynamo and hopefully his girlfriend Kim Sears will also keep the boy from Dunblane on the path to glory.