England win in Paris

England produced 80 minutes of quality rugby in Paris yesterday to see off a youthful French team by 11 points.

And today's comments by Marc Lievremont, that Mark Regan is a 'grotesque clown', simply highlighted the English success in getting under the skin of the home side.

As well as watching England beat France I also saw Wasps scrape past Bristol at Adams Park thanks to a late late try from replacement scrum-half Mark McMillan.

It was a thrilling game and one of the best live matches I have ever seen. A superb advert for the Premiership, especially during an international period when quality and consistency sometimes drop.

Carrying Passengers

The one thing that was apparent from the day's rugby was how on earth has Ian Balshaw made it into the England team?

His comical effort at catching a high ball followed by a ridiculous decision to let another high ball bounce before gathering could have easily handed the French easy points and a sniff of victory.

Quite what Brian Ashton thinks Balshaw brings to the team is unclear, and it is easy to name probably half a dozen players who could do better than the Gloucester man.

Lewsey, Tait, Morgan and Abendanon could all do a job.

Even Cipriani would offer more in the 15 shirt, while gaining valuable experience on the international scene for what is expected to be a long and illustrious career.

I just hope Ashton is not too belligerent and complacent to recognise that Balshaw does not deserve his place in the squad.

England look to wiggle past France

Richard Wigglesworth has been named in England's starting XV to face France on Saturday night. Andy Gomarsall has dropped out of the squad altogether and as a result Paul Hodgson takes his place on the bench as replacement scrum-half.

The game against Les Bleus is a re-match of the World Cup Semi-Final which was also an 8pm kick off at the Stade de France.

Brian Ashton will be hoping his team can come up with the same result, but to do this they will have to produce a more consistent 80 minutes of rugby than they have done recently.

England's front row has been strengthened by the return of Phil Vickery and more notably Andrew Sheridan, who has been the powerhouse of the front five for the past 18 months.

Ian Balshaw has remarkably kept his place in the side with Matthew Tait still on the sideline. The only other change to the squad that edged past Italy two weeks ago sees Tom Croft replace Luke Narraway as back row cover on the bench.

Gallic Guile

The French team has once again been given a shake up by new coach Marc Lievremont, although his hand has also been forced by a number of injuries.Vainikolo for Gloucester

The success of the new half back pairing of Morgan Parra, who makes his first Test start, and Francois Trinh-Duc, could prove pivotal to the outcome of the game.

If the English pack can provide a suitable platform then Wilkinson should be able to control the game.

Hopefully this will allow Paul Sackey and Lesley Vainikolo to be brought into the game more often and their explosive attacking potency can be fully exploited.
Welsh Wizardry

In the weekend's other games, Wales should have no problems seeing off Italy at the Millennium Stadium, while the Ireland v Scotland encounter is intriguingly balanced.

Warren Gatland has made an impressive start to his tenure of the Welsh team and his side should easily see of the challenge of the Italians.

Although England managed to make them look like world beaters a couple of weeks ago, the reality is Italy are still looking like wooden spoon favourites.

Problems At Number 10

Mike Blair will captain the Scots from behind the scrum as Jason White has failed to recover from concussion.

Chris Paterson has been brought into play alongside Blair at 10 while Dan Parks drops to the bench.In the back row Gloucester player, Alasdair Strokosch, comes in at six. Other changes include the return of Rory Lamont and Simon Webster from injury.

Irish Woe

The Irish have made two changes to their team, Tommy Bowe replaces Geordan Murphy and Ireland's most-capped player Malcolm O'Kelly is dropped for Mick O'Driscoll.

Ireland nearly made a remarkable comeback against France in the last round but a poor performance against Italy and a woeful World Cup campaign will still be fresh in the mind.

Home advantage might see the Irish through but Scotland desperately need to solve their issues in the number 10 spot if they are to make an impact on the International scene.

Predictions:

England to beat France by 8
Wales to beat Italy by 20
Scotland and Ireland to draw

Fresh Betting Scandal Hits Tennis

Three spectators were thrown out of the WTA Diamond Games in Antwerp this week for illegally betting on tennis matches.
They were caught using wireless laptops to bet on points which had not yet been registered online.

Faced with the option of handing over their computers or leaving, the trio decided to cut their loses and leave.

The two Germans and a Russian also had their photographs taken to stop them re-entering.

Advantage Scandal

This is the first case of such an offence taking place in tennis although the sport has been riddled with controversy involving gambling over the past 18 months.

Nikolay Davydenko, the world number four, is still under investigation by the ATP over match irregularities.

And three Italian players, Potito Starace, Alsip Di Mauro and Daniele Bracciali, have all been given bans for illegal betting.

Although this new story has a comedy tinge to it, it will still undoubtedly have a negative impact upon the already fragile sport.

Premier League Going Global

The Premier League have announced the possibility of adding an extra game to the already brimming fixture list.

This 39th match of the season would take place overseas in one of five locations around the world.

Cities from Asia, the Middle East and North America are expected to fight it out to host the matches.

A final decision will not be made until January 2009 and the games wouldn't slip into the campaign until January 2011, but the ball has definetly been set in motion.

Benefits

The obvious benefits are that it will globalise the league and undoubtedly bring huge revenue to the clubs and the League.

Many Premier League clubs already have affiliations with clubs overseas, especially in the US where academies and scouting missions have been set up.

The move shows clear echoes of the NFL's decision to host a game at Wembley, where the recently crowned Super Bowl winners The New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins.

NHL and NBA games were also hosted in London last year.

The success of these games is hard to measure, especially in the long term. It is also hard to decide how to gauge this success.

Is success simply more money in the pockets of the owners of the clubs? If so then you have to question the integrity and value of such decisions.

Doubts

This new proposal is unlikely to bring anything extra to the Premier League, except money. Surely there is enough of that flying around already.

One fear that must be lurking in the back of some of the relegation perennials' minds is that they will draw Manchester United in China while one of their rivals will draw Fulham (or another crap team, sorry) and sneak three crucial points.

When the American-sports-wagon came to London last year I found it intriguing but not captivating.

American sport and culture is totally different to our own, and I like that uniqueness.

I guess that is what it comes down to, do you want to see a world where everything and everyone shares everything, and looks the same.

Personally I don't, but I can see the attraction, especially for those with dollars flashing in their eyes.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LET ME KNOW.

Rose Wilts under Dragon's Fire

Wales ecstatic with their first win at Twickenham for 20 years but England's abhorent second half performance steals the headlines.
England fielded a XV which promised to combine the dogedness of experience and the enterprise and vigour of youth, and for the first 50 minutes this promise shone through.

However as chance after chance slipped by for the home team one was compelled to begin fearing for the cost of those missed opportunities either side of the interval.

Control of the collision area, set pieces and a huge number of successful turnovers provided England with the sort of platform suited to gaining a 30 point lead, but this never materialised.

And then it went from bad to absolutely awful.

Schoolboy

A host of England's senior players including Gomersall, Wilkinson and Balshaw all conspired to produce rugby not worthy of a school boys fixture to hand the Welsh the game.
Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards are clearly two of the best coaches in the world but their expressions at the end of the game summed up the whole day. Amusement, they couldn't quite believe what England had just done.

Balshaw is one player who you feel has already used up his nine international lives and could be heading for the Saxons squad who performed remarkably better by finishing off the Irish on Friday.

Hopefully the rest of the team will be given a chance to redeem themselves, however a host of injuries could force Ashton's hand.