Last orders for Guinness

This season's Guinness Premiership has been by far the most closely contested since the inception of the play-off debacle in 2003.

Sale are the only team to have topped the league at the end of the regular season and gone on to win the play-offs, that was in 2006.

Before that Wasps won three back-to-back titles having failed to prove themselves as the best side after 22 league games.

However, after a troubled and controversial childhood the true virtues of the play-offs are now beginning to show.

Cream of the crop

The fight for the top four has provided numerous clashes of epic proportions, and has seen the cream of English rugby slowly rise to the top.

In a season which has not only included the annual Six Nations but also a World Cup, many teams have had to draw upon the full quota of their squads to maintain momentum and now fatigue is beginning to show through, most notably at Leicester.

Wasps have done a better man-management job and once again look like they may have timed their run to perfection.

Bath and Gloucester have been consistent throughout the 22 games, and their clash at Kingsholm on Saturday should decide who finishes top.
Sale and Harlequins will probably fight out for the last spot, presuming Wasps dispatch bottom team Leeds and lowly Newcastle tomorrow night.

What ever happens, the semis are sure to be electric and the final on May 31 nothing short of a test fixture.

Sarries squeeze through

Saracens held off an inform Ospreys at Vicarage Road today to secure a spot in the Heineken Cup semi-finals.

The Heineken Cup is indubitably one the world's greatest rugby competitions and the nearest thing to test rugby outside of the international scene.

Saracens progress in the competition is all new ground for the north London club, yet they tackled the Welsh challenge surprisingly calmly and efficiently.

It is less than a month since the Ospreys decimated Saracens at the Millennium Stadium in the EDF semis, recording a 30-3 win. A result that made today's reversal even sweeter.

Even though the Ospreys, full of Welsh grand-slam winners, have been in scintillating form they could only convert their possession into one try late on.

Glen Jackson contributed 14 points towards the 19-10 win, but it has been a huge team effort for the club to reach this stage.

They will now have to face Munster at the Ricoh Arena after the Irish side used all their experience to see off Gloucester 16-3 at Kingsholm.

Old Heads

In the other two quarter finals London Irish produced a magnificent display to hold of Perpignan while perennial challengers Toulouse ended any Welsh representation by emphatically dispatching Cardiff Blues.

Toulouse are now firm favourites to lift the cup although Munster also now how to win the big games in Europe.

Having got this far though neither of the English teams can be written off.

Chambers circus continues

Dwain Chambers looks set to try his hand at yet another sport as basement Super League team, Castleford Tigers, show an interest in his abilities.

Following a drugs ban from athletics, Chambers looked to American Football as an alternative sport he could excel in.

In 2007 he signed for German NFL Europa side Hamburg Sea Devils, and although his pace was a clear asset his handling skills were not enough for him to crack into the NFL and when the the European league disbanded in June 2007, he was left in limbo.

His recent turbulent return to athletics proved successful as he won a silver medal at the World Indoors, but he never seemed convinced it was a long term move.

Eye of the Tiger

Why he should even get the chance of a trial at the club is beyond me.

Fair enough Castleford are struggling and the idea of having a world class sprinter in the team may seem like a good idea in the clubhouse after yet another thumping, but really?

There are so many young aspiring players in the country who would give anything for a trial at a Super League club.

This move by Chambers makes a total mockery of both the league and all the hard work put in by the players trying to make it in the sport.

I just hope the team don't go easy on him during his trial, I doubt they will.

Football crazy, Football mad

A bidder for Mansfield Town football club wants to rename the club Harchester United, in a tribute to the TV show The Dream Team.

John Batchelor is the man behind the scheme and he already has a history of controversy in the game.

When at York City, he changed their name to York City Soccer Club in an attempt to attract more interest and investment from overseas, especially the US.

Insulting

His new great idea seems fairly ridiculous and also fairly insulting to both the club and town.

Mr Batchelor said:"Harchester is more promotable than Mansfield. That's not any form of insult to Mansfield at all because it's a club with a long tradition but it's just a fact of life.

"Football supporters in general have to understand that if they want professional football in their town, they have to accept it has to be done on a commercial basis.

Although the team has always been a low-league team this should not limit their ambition to be a strong club in these leagues.

What cost?

If this bid is successful then they risk being the laughing stock of the whole football league. If you thought MK Dons was bad enough (looking for glory in Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Wembley this weekend), then this is just farcical.

A divide must be drawn between reality and fiction and the commercialisation of the country's main sport must not infiltrate and disrupt the integrity of the lower leagues.

Academy given European feel

West Ham have always had a successful academy and now with the appointment of Gianluca Nani as technical director they hope to tap the international transfer market as well.

Lampard, Cole, Carrick and Ferdinand (x2) all came through the ranks at Upton Park and even John Terry and Sol Campbell spent some of their youth there.

In earlier years, Hurst, Moore and Brooking all wore the 'claret & blue' in their embryonic stage as footballers.

Scouting Chief

Now with the appointment of the Nani, 45, the club have made their intentions of success clear.

The Italian comes from Brescia, where he has been the club's sporting director since 1999.

His career at West Ham will start in earnest in June, but he has already met up with the manager to discuss possible summer transfers.

Multi-lingual

Capable of speaking English, Spanish and French he is bound to be a real asset to the club as they look to put the horrors of last season and this season's injury blighted campaign behind them.

As well as provided scouting assistance Nani will also help develop "The Academy" and youth players at the club.

Hopefully he will be able to uncover such gems as Andrea Pirlo and Luca Toni as he has in the past, and The Hammers brush with glory in the FA Cup and ensuing UEFA cup of two years ago won't be a one off.