That was 2011...in sport

THE world of sport has had to deal with a lot of aspects in 2011.  We said goodbye to some stars at their prime and other legends who had made their mark.  There were shocks, sensational returns to form and superstars who had years to remember.  Sport has seen some vintage moments in 2011, though for some – they would rather forget it ever existed.

BACKSEAT: Nadal has had to watch Djokovic take over in tennis

     The tennis year has been dominated by Serbian, Novak Djokovic.  Djokovic had an incredible season, which saw him rise to the top of the ATP rankings and win three of the four Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open).  He became only the sixth individual in history to win three Grand Slams in a single year, only losing six matches in his season.  He also took control of the ATP tour, winning six events.  Rafael Nadal had to play second fiddle this year, but he was beaten in two finals by Djokovic at the Grand Slams and took his traditional title at Roland Garros.  This meant that for the first time since 2002, Roger Federer went through a season without a Grand Slam title.  Despite this, the Swiss Master still showed flashes of his best with an epic semi-final success over Djokovic at the French Open and winning the season finale ATP finals in London.  Andy Murray’s ATP season was inconsistent, littered with several early exits.  However, he did win the Aegon Championships at Queen’s and strung together his best ever Grand Slam season.  Murray reached three semi-finals and was a gallant runner-up to Djokovic in Australia.  However, he needs to raise his game otherwise he will be left behind by the three masters of the men’s game.  In the ladies singles, there were four different Grand Slam winners.  Kim Clistjers took the honours in Australia, before injury wrecked her season.  China made its breakthrough in the major honours, when Na Li overcame Francesca Schiavone to win the French Open.  At Wimbledon, the relatively unknown Petra Kvitova got the better of a rejuvenated Maria Sharapova to become the first Czech since Jana Novotna in 1998 to win the main prize.  Sam Stosur continued the run of maiden winners, when she was too powerful for Serena Williams at the US Open in Flushing Meadows.  However, this year belonged to Novak Djokovic.  

     Rugby union’s greatest showpiece took place in New Zealand during the autumn and produced a fairytale story.  New Zealand had suffered a devastating year, with the earthquake in Christchurch and the River Pike mining tragedy.  However, despite not being the greatest All Blacks side to ever take part in a World Cup, they were able to produce what many haven’t; win the Webb Ellis Trophy.  They beat France in a close final 8-7, allowing inspirational captain Richie McCaw to lift the coveted prize, their first success since the inaugural tournament in 1987.  Defending champions South Africa disappointed, but were unlucky to bow out to Australia 11-9 in the quarter-finals.  The 2011 tournament was a mixed bag for the Home Nations.  Scotland bowed out at the group stages after failing to score tries in three of their four pool matches.  Ireland shook the tournament up with a shock and deserved win over Australia in the pool stages, but came up short in the quarter-finals against Wales, who were the story of the tournament.  Warren Gatland’s young side came so close to defeating South Africa on the opening weekend and played some fantastic rugby en route to a heartbreaking semi-final defeat at the hands of the improving French.  Wales cause was not helped by the controversial red card of Captain Sam Warburton.  England’s 2011 year was a disaster.  It started well with success in the RBS Six Nations.  Even that was tempered by losing a chance at the Grand Slam in Dublin on the final weekend.  At the world cup, off-field antics got in the way of their playing performances.  They laboured to wins over Argentina, Georgia and Scotland and eventually, it was old enemy France who got the better of England in convincing fashion in the last eight.  The fallout has continued since returning from Down Under, with The Times publishing media leaks of confidential reports, Martin Johnson quitting as team manager and Johnny Wilkinson announcing his retirement from international rugby.  So, it was a year to forget for English rugby, but one that New Zealand will hail a new golden generation.

CHANGE: Long Run won both the King George VI and Cheltenham Gold Cup

     There has been a changing of the guard in horse racing, as Long Run has taken jump racing to another level.  He won the delayed King George VI at Kempton in January and then held off Denman to succeed in a thrilling Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.  Sam Wahey-Cohen nearly completed a unique double in the John Smith’s Grand National.  The amateur jockey was pipped into second place by Jason Maguire’s ride, Ballabriggs.  It was another triumph for the McCain dynasty, with Donald McCain training the winning horse in humid conditions at Aintree.  His father Ginger was there to witness it, but it would turn out to be his last attendance at the National.  He sadly passed away from cancer in September, two days before his 81^st birthday.  On the flat, the 4-1 second favourite Pour Moi won the Epsom Derby in June whilst Frankel was named Horse of the Year after stretching an unbeaten run to nine, which included success in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Royal Ascot.  The main storm in horse racing has come through an amended ruling on the whip system.  Leading jockeys included AP McCoy threatened to go on strike which brought the sport on a potential collision course with the authorities.  After some tough negotiating, the rules have been changed so jockeys can use the whip seven times in flat races and eight times over jumps.  Although the jockeys still weren’t delighted with the tweaks, they decided to agree reluctantly and carry on competing.  The year ended with Paul Nicholls announcement that Denman was to be retired after injury.  Despite a recent brilliant win at Newbury, his stablemate Kauto Star might also be bowing out soon after a year of fluctuating form.

SHOCK: Usain Bolt false starts in Daegu and is disqualified in 100m

     Daegu in South Korea was the setting for the IAAF World Athletics Championships during August and September.  With it came the biggest shock of the sporting year.  World record holder and defending champion Usain Bolt unbelievably false started in the final of the men’s 100m.  As he tore his vest off his torso, Bolt could only watch his training partner Yohan Blake collecting the gold medal.  In true Bolt fashion, he bounced back to win the 200m, and be part of the Jamaican team that broke a world record in the 4x100m relay.  It was a mixed championship for Great Britain, with the biggest success coming from Dai Greene, who won the men’s 400m hurdles and from Mo Farah.  Farah was pipped into second place by Ibrahim Jeilan in the 10,000m, but went one better in the 5,000m.  Pre-event favourites in the men’s triple jump and women’s heptathlon, Phillips Idowu and Jessica Ennis had to settle for silver, despite season bests and points records.  There was also a bronze for Andy Turner in the men’s 110m hurdles after Cuba’s Dayron Robles was disqualified for an infringement and Hannah England took a surprising and sensational silver medal in the women’s 1500m.  In all, the championships were a major success with London just a year away.  Next year’s Olympic host had more reason to celebrate when it was awarded the 2017 World Championships in November.

     By its high standards, football has had a quiet year, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened.  Manchester United made history by finally breaking Liverpool’s record of 18 league titles.  A 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers in May secured another Premiership title for Sir Alex Ferguson.  Their noisy neighbours, Manchester City currently lead the new title battle by two points and stunned United in October, with an amazing 6-1 derby victory at Old Trafford.  City also ended their long drought for silverware by beating Stoke City 1-0 at Wembley to win the FA Cup.  Birmingham City ended up as the surprising winners of the Carling Cup, with Obafemi Martins last minute winner meaning Arsenal went through another year without silverware.  Sadly, this wouldn’t have a happy ending, as Birmingham got relegated from the Premiership, along with Blackpool and West Ham United.  QPR and Norwich City returned to the top flight and a 4-2 success over Reading in the Championship play-off final meant Swansea City became the first Welsh club to reach the Premiership promise land.  Like Arsenal, Chelsea went trophy less, wasted £50million on Liverpool’s wantaway striker Fernando Torres and then sacked Carlo Ancelotti.  He has been replaced by Andre Vilas-Boas, who led FC Porto to Europa League glory in Dublin in May.  Arsenal sold Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona in the summer and it was the Catalan side who stole the football limelight.  They cantered to La Liga success again, won the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan recently and produced an exhibition masterclass at Wembley to beat Manchester United 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final.  On the international scene, England qualified for Euro 2012 and went through the calendar year unbeaten.  The Republic of Ireland will also be at the major European party next summer.

TRAGIC: Simoncelli and Wheldon's deaths rocked motorsport

     MotoGP was meant to be saluting Casey Stoner for an incredible season, in which the Australian and his Repsol Honda team blitzed the opposition.  Stoner won 11 races and clinched the title in his homeland of Australia.  A week later, the sport was rocked by the tragic accident in Malaysia that robbed motorcycling of one of its brightest stars.  Marco Simoncelli crashed on the second lap and was struck by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.  He died an hour afterwards from his injuries and his death sent shockwaves through motorsport.  Simoncelli’s flair will be missed in the paddock in 2012 and it came just a week after a dreadful pile-up at the IndyCar season finale in Las Vegas.  The 15-car crash claimed the life of British driver Dan Wheldon, who was only competing in his third event of the season.  Wheldon had won the Indianapolis 500 in sensational fashion earlier in the year.  Las Vegas may have lost its race next season, but it won’t bring Dan back.  Dario Franchitti’s third successive championship was made academic.  In Formula One, Sebastian Vettel was in a class of his own, winning 11 races, taking a record breaking 15 pole positions in a season and winning a second world championship.  In a year full of vintage races and countless overtaking, Sebastian stormed to success with a third place finish in Suzuka, Japan in October meaning he became the youngest back-to-back champion.  Britain’s Jenson Button won three events, including a sensational last lap triumph from the back In Canada and he was the runner-up in the final positions.  Fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton had a troubled year, which included a high-profile split from his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and many on-track altercations with Felipe Massa.  However, he won in China, Germany and Abu Dhabi to remind everyone of his capabilities.  Sadly though, 2011 will be remembered for tragedy rather than records in motorsport.

     In other sport, British golfers came of age in 2011.  Luke Donald became the world and European no.1, whilst there was an emotional and popular success for Darren Clarke at The Open Championship.  Having thrown away the US Masters at Augusta in April, Rory McIlroy produced a breathtaking display to win the US Open in June.  It was his first major and certainly won’t be his last.  Following their winter success in the Ashes, England’s cricketers had a summer to remember, recording a whitewash summer over Sri Lanka and India and establishing themselves as the no.1 ranked test team.  However, their performance at the Cricket World Cup was less impressive, which included shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh in the pool stages.  India won the trophy, beating Sri Lanka in a one-sided final.  For once, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor was usurped in the PDC World Darts Championships, being knocked out in the quarter-finals.  Adrian Lewis won the tournament, beating Gary Anderson 7-5 in the final.  Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in February to take the honours in Superbowl XLV.  Australian Cadel Evans became the first Wallaby to win the Tour de France since the war, but the headlines were made by Mark Cavendish.  The Brit won the most overall stages and ended up winning the prestigious green jersey at the end.  Boxing has had better years, which saw David Haye lose his World Heavyweight title to Vladimir Klitcshko, then retire from the sport and Amir Khan recently lose his titles in controversial circumstances to Lamont Peterson.  Lastly, John Higgins bounced back from a match-fixing scandal to win his fourth World Snooker championship, defeating Judd Trump 18-15 in a thrilling final.

     Sport has had its moments of controversy and surprise, its moments of triumph and tragedy and its moments where you will remember where you were.  2012 includes the Olympics in London and the European Football Championships in Poland/Ukraine, so it promises just as much as 2011 ended up delivering.                 

Football mourns the tragic death of Gary Speed

TRIBUTES have been pouring in from across the sporting world for the Welsh team manager Gary Speed, who has died aged 42.  The ex-Leeds United and Newcastle United player was found dead at his home in Cheshire.  He is believed to have taken his own life.  The news was confirmed in a statement by the Welsh Football Association on Sunday morning; “We extend our sympathies and condolences to the family.  We ask that everyone respects the family’s privacy at this very sad time.”

       Born on September 8, 1969, Gary Speed became one of the most honest professionals in the game and the tributes over the past 24 hours since the news broke indicate that no bad word could be said about his personality.  At club level, he came through the ranks at Leeds United, under the stewardship of Howard Wilkinson.  The former FA technical director told Sky Sports; “He had so much to offer as a person and as a sportsman.  I just find it unbelievable.  I cannot start to try to understand what his family are going through.  Gary had a lot of talent and that talent became his job.  Footballers are subject to all the stress and strains of things that happen in life.”

BREAKTHROUGH: Gary Speed's best club success came at Leeds

       Making his first team debut at just 19 years of age, Speed was part of the squad alongside the likes of Gary McAllister and Eric Cantona to win the final football league title in 1992 before the inception of the FA Premier League.  Another member of the squad and a managerial counterpart when Speed was at Sheffield United, Gordon Strachan shared his memories on BBC Radio 5 Live.  “I was proud of Gary Speed, like a kind of father figure would be because he wasn’t the most talented of kids when I first met him but he wanted to make himself better.  I am going to miss his laugh, he had a childlike laugh.  I was speaking to Gary McAllister and I said I would forget the games and the goals but I would never forget his laugh and I am never going to hear that again.”

LEADER: Speed celebrates scoring for Everton against Chelsea in January 1998

         An occasional goalscorer, Gary spearheaded Leeds to two top five finishes in the Premiership between 1992 and 1995, but after 312 appearances for the Yorkshire side, felt he needed a new challenge and made a £3.5million move to Everton in the summer of 1996.  An Everton fan, Speed became Toffees captain and made his mark in a mediocre period for the Goodison Park side.  He scored his only Premiership hat-trick in a 7-1 battering of Southampton in November 1996 and it was Joe Royle who was Toffees manager when Speed spent 18 months on Merseyside; “He always had a smile on his face, he played with a smile on his face and he was one of the best players I was fortunate enough to manage and handle and I still can’t believe it.  He was part of the North Wales Everton supporter’s band and from the minute he came, he was perfect for the club.”

          Gary’s next destination was Newcastle United, where he spent the bulk of his career and probably, his best period playing football.  He spent six years on Tyneside, experienced UEFA Champions League football and was on the losing side in two successive FA Cup finals.  It was Kenny Dalglish who signed him in February 1998 for £5.5million.  He paid tribute on the eve of Liverpool’s 1-1 Premiership draw with Manchester City yesterday.  “I knew Gary Speed as a fantastic footballer, but more important than that, he was a decent man and there will be a lot of people very saddened by what has happened.  The most important people at the moment are his wife and two boys and your heart goes out to them.”  Dalglish also confirmed that he withdrew Craig Bellamy from the playing squad yesterday, as he was very close to Speed as a friend and a mentor.  At the Liberty Stadium, news broke of the tragic circumstances only an hour before Swansea City’s sombre 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.  A minute’s silence turned into a minute’s applause from both sets of supporters.  Villa goalkeeper Shay Given was bravely seen to be wiping tears away moments before kick-off.  The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper had played together with Speed throughout his time at Newcastle United.  Another former Newcastle player paid tribute on Match of the Day 2 last night, Michael Owen.  “He was a gentleman and his footballing ability is without question but I would focus on him as a person.  Gary probably lived ten miles away from me and the other day I saw him on the way to school on the kids run and we shared a wave as we drove past each other.  It’s a terrible loss and the mood of Cheshire was just utter shock and disbelief.”    

         In 2004, Speed was deemed surplus to requirements by Sir Bobby Robson and he moved onto Bolton Wanderers.  During his four years at the Reebok Stadium, Gary became the first player to make 500 Premier League appearances, which is an incredible feat as only David James and Ryan Giggs have played more games in the 20 season history.  In January 2008, Speed moved down from the Premiership in a bid to improve the fortunes of Sheffield United.  They narrowly missed out on promotion the following season and it was injury that forced Gary to retire from football, aged 40 in 2009.  He wasn’t finished at Bramwall Lane though, as he worked on his coaching badges and became Kevin Blackwell’s assistant.  In the summer of 2010, the Blades refused him permission to speak to Swansea City about the vacancy at the Liberty Stadium, when Paulo Sousa took the Leicester City job.  The current Swans manager is Brendan Rodgers; “We’re all shell-shocked.  It was a real bombshell.  Gary was a great Welshman and it’s hard to take in.  My players loved working with him with Wales and really enjoyed it.  It’s difficult to comprehend.”   

       When Blackwell was sacked at the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign, Gary took over the managerial reigns at Bramwall Lane, but he only won six of his 18 matches in charge as Sheffield United slipped towards eventual relegation from the Championship.  Another young manager finding his feet in the Championship is Speed’s former team-mate, Dean Saunders at Doncaster Rovers.  He told BBC Sport; “I just can’t believe it.  I spoke to him last week.  We roomed together all of our careers with Wales, I just can’t get my head around it.  He’s so level-headed and was just a really nice fella.”

SMILE: Gary was turning around the fortunes of the Wales team

         At international level, his association with Wales began in an international friendly against Costa Rica in May 1990.  Aged just 20 when he won his first cap, Speed was made captain of the national team by Bobby Gould and only narrowly missed out on qualifying for both the 1994 World Cup in the USA and the 2004 European Championships in Portugal.  He retired from playing international duty in October 2004, having captained his country 44 times and recording 85 caps, which is still the most ever for a Welsh outfield player.  Despite his limited experience in management, Gary signed a three year contract to replace John Toshack as coach of Wales in December 2010.  Under his stewardship, Wales became a revitalised side.  Youngsters such as Gareth Bale, Norwich’s Steve Morison and captain Aaron Ramsay became senior figures in the national team as the Welsh made a 50 place gain in the FIFA world rankings.  Although Wales didn’t qualify for Euro 2012, he led the side to impressive victories over Bulgaria, Montenegro and Switzerland to finish third in England’s qualifying group.  His last game in charge was a fine 4-1 win over Norway in an international friendly last month, which meant he had recorded five wins in his ten games as manager.  There were high hopes for a successful World Cup qualifying campaign which was due to begin next September for Brazil 2014.  

        Gary’s last public appearance was only on Saturday, when he appeared alongside McAllister on the BBC magazine show, Football Focus.  Presenter Dan Walker has been left lost for words, as he posted on Twitter yesterday; “Gary was full of life yesterday talking about his kids, the bright future with Wales, twitter and golf.  I can’t get my head around it.”  Twitter was full of tributes from many personalities yesterday.  Cricketer Dominic Cork met him on A Question of Sport.  He tweeted; “Met him on Q.O.S and what a gentleman.  Kept in touch and devastated about the news.  Just doesn’t seem real.”  BBC Five Live Formula One pitlane reporter Natalie Pinkham shared the general feeling on Twitter; “Very sad news about Gary Speed.  Thinking of his family at what must be an incredibly tough time.”  Real Madrid footballer Xabi Alonso remembered his Premiership debut for Liverpool against Speed’s Bolton in August 2004; “RIP Gary Speed.  My first PL game was against him, he showed me in that game what is British football about.”

Gary Speed - 8 September 1969 - 27 November 2011

       Gary Speed made a positive impact on so many lives, both personally and impersonally.  He was a great sporting man, with a respectful personality and will go down as a Premier League icon.  Potentially, he had a great career as a manager on the way.  For me, words can’t describe how I feel about his sudden loss and it is a huge and horrible shock for football to deal with.  Gary leaves behind a beautiful wife and two boys who he devoted and spent so much time with.  They have revealed how overwhelmed they have been by the support they have received and whilst football mourns a great character, his family are the people we should be feeling for the most.

RIP Gary Speed – The game of football will never forget you!      

Rugby World Cup 2011 review

THE seventh IRB Rugby World Cup concluded with the right result at the weekend; a victory for the tournament hosts.  New Zealand ended 24 years of hurt, misery and underachievement at rugby’s top level with an 8-7 triumph in the final against France on Sunday at Eden Park.  It was a successful campaign for the All Blacks, but just how good was the 2011 showpiece. . .

Good, but not great

ALTHOUGH there were some shock results and the second-rate teams did better in restricting the heavy landslide scores that are normally associated in the pool stages, the quality of rugby in 2011 had decreased on 2007.  The 07 tournament saw plenty of memorable matches, terrific tries and some sensational scalps.  It didn’t happen this time around, for a variety of reasons.  Teams seemed to focus more on defensive, rather than attacking rugby.  This meant a lack of try-scoring activity, especially in the knockout stages and aside from Tonga’s pool win over France and Ireland humbling Australia, the expected results took their course without too much distress.  There were close scrapes along the way; as Wales pushed the world champions South Africa all the way, Canada beat Tonga and gave France a match and both Romania and Georgia came within an inch of upsetting Scotland, but the 2011 edition will not be remembered for the underdog’s success.

A nation reborn

EXAMPLE: Captain McCaw led New Zealand's road to glory

NEW Zealand’s success in the final completes a proper story, at a time where depression is in the news a lot.  The country has had to deal with a horrible year, which has including a mining disaster and the devastating earthquake in Christchurch back in February.  Finally, the rugby team have managed to put smiles on the Kiwi public, which has had a lot of trauma to put up with this year.  By far, this isn’t the greatest All Blacks side ever put together, but what it does have is not just the abundance to turn on the style, but hold on when it needed to.  Consistently, they played the best rugby over the six weeks, delivered when it counted and got the ultimate prize at the end, a deserved reward for a nation that can feel reborn on its success.

What went wrong for England?

EVERYTHING pretty much went wrong for England; their time in New Zealand was a disaster.  The players have to take the blame for some average performances.  The first half nightmare in the quarter-final against France finally sealed their fate.  Martin Johnson will probably pay for the lack of performance, with his job.  The media didn’t help the team either, with some unsavoury headlines about late night antics involving Mike Tindall.  The team were allowed to enjoy themselves, but maybe they did it too much.  Words fail me with what Manu Tuliagi was thinking when he decided to jump off a ferry even after elimination.  Johnny Wilkinson looked well past his best, Matt Stevens is a liability and indiscipline cost the team on the pitch too, with both Courtney Laws and Dylan Armitage serving suspensions after being reported.  The RFU has to produce an urgent review into the failings of the side and on the evidence of this tournament; England will do well to retain the Six Nations title next spring.

Other disappointments

SCOTLAND had a challenging pool and didn’t get any luck against England and Argentina when they needed it the most.  However, they only scored four tries in four matches and didn’t make the quarter-finals for the first time in RWC history.  Another disappointment was Fiji, who laboured past Namibia, then were simply dreadful against Wales, South Africa and Samoa.  They were expected to challenge seriously for a quarter-final berth, but it never materialised.  Defending champions South Africa looked like a side that was past its best and Peter de Villers has quit off the back of failing to retain the trophy.  Finally, despite reaching the last four, Australia never looked convincing either.  The Aussies have a promising crop of young players and were also desperately unlucky with injuries throughout, but they didn’t hit the heights they looked capable of from the Tri Nations series.  Perhaps this tournament was a bit too soon for the current young generation.  However, the Aussies must continue to invest in this development, as it might make them favourites to regain the trophy in four years time.

Redemption for France

FRENCH rugby looked to be in yet another crisis, especially after that shocking defeat to Tonga in the pool stages.  They scraped into the quarter-finals, but while the rugby experts continue to write them off, I never did that.  They saved their best performance for the final and came within an inch of causing their own upset and clinching the golden prize for the first time.  Three weeks ago, the French deserved to fly home in standard class to a chorus of boos at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.  Now, they return to their homeland as heroes.  Rugby can be a fickle game at times!

Argentina perform at the highest level

AT LAST, Argentina has got into the Four Nations, formerly known as the Tri Nations next year.  I’m sure South Africa, Australia and New Zealand will appreciate the extra competition, if not the daunting trip to Buenos Aires.  Unfortunately, I do feel this decision has come four years too late.  The Pumas may have not looked at their best, as they did in 2007, but a run to the quarter-finals, giving the All Blacks their most challenging encounter until the final showed that progress has been sustained at least.  The story of the South Americans is once again, among the success stories of a Rugby World Cup.

Improvements from the ‘B’ teams

DELIRUM: Canada surprised Tonga in the pool stages

NAMIBIA aside, there was some great performances from the lower-ranked sides.  Canada beat Tonga and pushed France all the way, Samoa came within an inch of shocking South Africa and even though they didn’t win any matches, the flamboyant Japanese side won many fans in New Zealand.  So did debutants Russia, whose defending was pretty abysmal, but didn’t mind giving it a go and scored tries in all of their four pool matches, including 22 points against Australia.  There was the occasional thrashing, but the days of regular landslide scores in the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup is a thing of the past.

The Welsh journey

TURNED: The Welsh dream ended with this cruel red card for Warburton

NEW Zealand might be world champions, but the story of the Rugby World Cup is the rebirth of Welsh rugby.  Warren Gatland’s side returned with a fourth placed finish and had it not been for a diabolical decision to send off Captain Sam Warburton in the semi-final against France, it could have been even better.  The youngsters in the Welsh pack are incredibly talented and they showed that in abundance.  The likes of Faletau, Halfpenny and Warburton also brought the best out of the experienced players such as Shane Williams.  Wales have now given themselves a massive platform to build on and start February’s Six Nations as overwhelming favourites.  Previously the laughing stock of Northern Hemisphere rugby, they have to be taken seriously now as leading lights in world rugby.

So there you have it, six weeks of cracking rugby is over.  The atmosphere was electric and New Zealand lived up to the billing, being absolutely sensational hosts of the premier competition in world rugby.  The action might not have lived upto the standard of 2007, but there are still many fond memories for fans to take away, especially for the hosts, who can once again claim to be, world champions.

Rugby World Cup 2011 - Sorry England go home

QUARTER-FINAL weekend at the 2011 Rugby World Cup provided some great stories, some emotional heartbreak and some graceful and emotional goodbyes.  For England, they don’t fit into any of these categories.

     The death knell in their torrid time in New Zealand came to a painful conclusion at Eden Park on Saturday.  Their worst performance in the competition since the inaugural 1987 tournament was sealed by a 19-12 defeat at the hands of France.  Actually, the scoreline reflects quite positively on England, but if anyone had watched the game, they would have seen that the French were completely on top for 90 per cent of the encounter.  After a flying opening, the English failed to score a point and paid for a number of issues with their basic game.  Some woeful tackling, poor discipline and iffy handling came together to give the French a 16-0 half-time lead.  

DECISIVE: Maxime Medard's try ended England's sorry adventure

     The dangerous Vincent Clerc and Maxime Medard both crossed the try line as for the first time in this tournament; France looked like a decent side, which I had sadly predicted previously.  Matt Dawson; scrum-half in the 2003 winning England team summed it up on BBC Radio 5 Live; “England were blown away in the first half and probably got a proper telling off.  They came out with a little more pace and precision, but they made too many mistakes with knock-ons, penalties and turnovers.”  Ben Foden and Mark Cueto highlighted a slight improvement from England in the second half with tries, but the damage had already been done.  Martin Johnson has refused to answer questions about his future as head coach, but this tournament has been a flopping disaster.  The RFU has insisted it will hold a review into the shambles of this Rugby World Cup.  I hope Johnson keeps his job, but unfortunately, coaches are judged on World Cup success, not autumn internationals and Six Nations championships.  His future is looking very bleak.  To finish matters off, Manu Tuliagi, who had been one of the bright sparks in this dreary campaign, was arrested by police after deciding on Sunday night to jump off a ferry!  It cost him £3,000 for a stupid, daft and foolish piece of behaviour and sadly, if players do this, the media has every right to crucify them.  England have arrived home, a far sorrier and unruly bunch than it was when they left these shores at the end of August.

     Whilst England headed for the airport, Welsh fans were beginning to move from Wellington to Auckland for a World Cup semi-final.  Since that agonising opening weekend defeat to South Africa, the Welsh have been getting better and better.  They are a team that is gelling together at just the right, decisive moment.  Their first semi-final since 1987 was sealed by a very impressive 22-10 triumph against Ireland in what was the best quarter-final of the weekend.  Shane Williams put Wales infront after just two minutes and the Irish resistance got blown away by second half tries from Mike Phillips and Jonathan Davies.  At the start of the second half, Keith Earls had pushed Ireland onto level terms with his sixth try of the competition.  However, as the game wore on, the Irish began to run out of legs and the young, fresher Welsh squad prevailed.  It marks the end for a golden Irish generation, with the likes of Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell and Brian O’Driscoll surely set for retirement now.  Ireland gave it their all, but it wasn’t enough on the day.  Although the final result was devastating for them, they made their mark in this competition by shocking Australia in the pool stages, so they shouldn’t be too disheartened.  Wales go from strength to strength and will fancy their chances against the unpredictable French on Saturday of making a Rugby World Cup final for the first time.

PACKING: JP Pietersen reflects on South Africa's painful defeat

     Sunday’s second semi-final will be between old rivals, Australia and New Zealand.  The Wallabies somehow managed to send the defending champions South Africa packing on Sunday morning.  They won 11-9 in a game full of bruising tackles and competitive build-up play, but lacked clinical scoring opportunities.  The only try of the match came early on, courtesy of Australia skipper James Horwill.  Afterwards, a heroic rearguard action by the Australians was enough to restrict the Springboks to kicking attempts.  Fly-half Morne Steyn sent over two penalties and a drop goal, which did have his side 9-8 in the lead with eight minutes remaining.  However, winger James O’Connor responded for Australia, with a brilliant penalty kick from near his own half to seal the victory for the Wallabies.  The Springboks will be wondering how they managed to have so much possession, yet lose the match, equalling their worst performance in RWC history, which was back in 2003.  It means that still no-one has ever managed to retain the Webb Ellis Trophy.  Coach Peter de Villers hailed an ‘incredible journey,’ but made an emotional goodbye to the job he loved in the post-match press conference.  Like Johnson, his failure to bring the big trophy home will be sadly what he will be remembered for in South Africa.

     As expected, New Zealand saw off a brave Argentina outfit, although the final 33-10 scoreline did flatter them.  Nerves looked to have got the better of the All Blacks, infront of an expected crowd and they trailed early on through Julio Farias Cabello’s try.  Gradually though, the Pumas resistance was worn away by the cup favourites.  Seven penalties from Piri Weepu showed that there is life after the much missed Dan Carter before tries in the last quarter from Kieran Read and Brad Thorn made the game safe.  Felipe Contepomi bids farewell to the rugby stage, after three World Cups where he showed that he was one of the best players to have graced the game in modern times.  Argentina were rightly praised by Graeme Henry, the New Zealand coach for the tough encounter he got and the South Americans can look forward to joining the former Tri-Nations series alongside South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the newly named Four Nations next summer.

     So, four sides now remain after an intense quarter-final weekend.  All English fans will be gutted by this shameful early exit, but I urge them now to back Wales all the way!  Let’s see what France, Australia and New Zealand have to say about it in what is bound to be an even tenser semi-final weekend coming up.

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS: Ireland 10-22 Wales, England 12-19 France, South Africa 9-11 Australia, New Zealand 33-10 Argentina

SEMI FINALS

Wales v France, Auckland – Saturday 15 October (9am) live on ITV1 and ITV1 HD

Australia v New Zealand, Auckland – Sunday 16 October (9am) live on ITV1 and ITV1 HD

The Welsh mining tragedy

AN INQUIRY has begun into the tragic death of four miners in Wales last week.  The tragedy has not only left a community in shock, but a nation reeling.  Pictures were released this week of the four miners who perished after an alarm was raised last Thursday of trouble at the Gleision Colliery mine in the Swansea Valley.  The shaft flooded in the mine, which trapped the four victims.  Three of the seven miners working at the time managed to escape, with two of them even managing to help with the ultimately fruitless rescue mission. 

     Unfortunately, it was too late for Garry Jenkins, 39 and the youngest of the miners.  David Powell, 50, Charles Breslin, 62 and Philip Hill, 45 also died.  Throughout the week, floral tributes have been left at the site and the stunned Swansea community has pitched in to help the families of the victims.  By Monday afternoon, a fund that was set-up to help the miner’s families had already raised £50,000.  Swansea City paid respect to the miners by holding an impeccably observed one-minute silence before last weekend’s 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion, the club’s first in the Premiership.  The Welsh rugby union team also dedicated their hard-fought 17-10 victory over Samoa at the Rugby World Cup to the miners.

      Investigations are continuing a week on into what caused the deaths.  The mine, which was privately-owned, is understood to have had problems before with flooding since it reopened in 2009.  However, Swansea’s local MP Peter Hain has admitted that he received no reports of any safety fears for the mine.  The tired, but brave workers may not be reacting with the adrenaline used in the efforts to help the trapped miners, but they continue to work hard in an effort for the investigation to give the answers into why such a tragedy could hit this community.  Specialist equipment has been brought in to help out with the investigation.

TRIBUTES: Have been left near the site of the tragic deaths

     The South of Wales is popular for its mines and the Swansea area has been steeped in tradition for generations.  For such a tragedy to occur has rocked Wales and has seen many open their hearts to the brave miners, who sadly couldn’t be rescued in time.  Peter Hain, the chief constable for South Wales summed it up when he confirmed the deaths to media outlets last weekend;

“We’ve been humbled by the community spirit that’s been shown during this most tragic of incidents.”

     My thoughts also go out to the families of the mining victims.  You did Wales proud and the community is doing you proud for the immense support that is being shown in the light of such heartbreaking tragedy.

Rugby World Cup 2011 - The opening weekend

COLOURFUL: New Zealand welcomed the rugby world spectacularly

THE seventh IRB Rugby World Cup began in New Zealand last Friday with a colourful and electric opening ceremony.  After the opening ten matches of the tournament, no clear-cut favourite has been established, with many of the elite rugby teams really struggling to perform and win matches against the rugby union minnows of the world.  Despite this, there has been no massive upset so far and the rugby is only bound to get better as the tournament progresses.

     As hosts, New Zealand are under great pressure to deliver for a nation, that has suffered this year from the tragic mining disaster and the earthquake that battered Christchurch back in February.  They made a professional start, in defeating Tonga 41-10 in Auckland, but it was far from glorified rugby we’d expect to see from the All-Blacks.  Tonga matched them in the opening ‘Haka’ arrangements, but that was as good as it got for the Pacific Islanders.  They seemed to be overwhelmed by the experience of playing in the opening match and it showed in the first half.  Richard Kahui and Ishrael Dagg both scored two tries as the hosts raced into a 29-0 lead.  After the break, Tonga improved and scored a deserved try from Alisona Taumalolo.  The All-Blacks only managed one further score in the second half and despite the lack of competition from the opposition; there is plenty of room for improvement.  Coach Graeme Henry, who regained his job in 2008, after no-one else wanted it following the quarter-final elimination at the hands of France in October 2007 must be concerned about the amount of handling errors made by the hosts.

BRAVE: Faletau's try wasn't quite enough for Wales on Sunday

     The home nations all made their tournament bow at the weekend, but only Wales put in any kind of performance that they can be proud of.  Typically then, they lost!  The brave Welsh were beaten by world champions South Africa in their Pool D opener on Sunday.  However, the 17-16 scoreline in Wellington reflected how close they came to a mighty upset.  Once the Springboks took an early lead in the third minute, courtesy of a Frans Steyn try, the writing looked on the wall for Warren Gatland’s side.  However, they showed a lot of class and determination in rattling the champions, who looked distinctively average.  Brian Habana, the fastest man in world rugby, was a pale shadow of his domination in 2007 and went off with a knee injury.  It wasn’t long after his departure when Wales crossed the try line to lead the contest, through energetic no.8 Toby Faletau.  Critically, when they needed a score, South Africa managed to turnaround the deficit as Francois Hougaard scored with 15 minutes to go.  A late penalty miss from James Hook cost the Welsh, who must see this as a missed opportunity.  As for the Springboks, they must play better if they want to stand any hope of retaining the Webb Ellis Trophy.

     However, don’t expect Ireland to make a formidable challenge either.  They laboured to a 22-10 success over the USA in New Plymouth on Sunday morning.  Declan Kidney; the Irish coach will be disappointed that his team didn’t get a bonus point for scoring four or more tries.  Ireland winger Tommy Byrne went over for a try on the stroke of half-time in a game littered with handling errors from the favourites.  A ten-minute spell which saw Byrne again and hooker Rory Best go over the line was enough after the interval.  Like Habana, Brian O’Driscoll is struggling for form and his terrible pass in injury time, allowed American centre Paul Emerick to score a poignant try for the US, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

      As for Scotland, it is two wins from two, but nowhere near in convincing fashion as Andy Robinson would have been hoping.  On Saturday, only two late tries from Simon Danielli got them out of jail against Romania, one of the weaker teams in the competition.  Despite a bonus point, the 34-24 final score was a real close shave for the Scots.  This morning, they stayed in Invercargill to see off Georgia 15-6.  Terrible weather conditions meant this match was not one that will be fondly remembered.  The boot of Dan Parks got Scotland over the line and they head for harder challenges, at least with points on the board, even though they looked well short of quality. 

      Which bring us onto England?  Although they got the valuable win on Saturday against Argentina by 13-9 in Dunedin, it was a shambolic performance, which had echoes of the Grand Slam collapse in Dublin earlier this year.  Johnny Wilkinson had a day to forget; missing five kicks and hopefully, Saturday’s performance was just a blip from our reliable fly-half.  For long periods, Martin Johnson must have been staring at the barrel of defeat against a team that has plenty of experience, but is beginning to age from the third place finish the Pumas achieved four years ago.  Fortunately, there was light at the end of the tunnel for England, courtesy of a try from replacement scrum-half, Ben Youngs.  Even watching the highlights, it was awful to watch, so imagine what it felt like watching the game live.  A win is a win, but it lacked style, class and panache and will give worried looks to many English followers.

      Final word in this first round-up goes to Canada, who caused a minor upset this morning.  The Maple Leaf that has appeared at every RWC tournament beat Tonga 25-20, despite being ranked lower in the IRB rankings.  Two late tries in the final 12 minutes were enough for the North Americans, who can now look forward to an exciting duel with the unpredictable French on Sunday.

THIS WEEKEND’S RESULTS: New Zealand 41-10 Tonga, Scotland 34-24 Romania, Fiji 49-25 Namibia, France 47-21 Japan, England 13-9 Argentina, Australia 32-6 Italy, Ireland 22-10 USA, South Africa 17-16 Wales, Samoa 49-12 Namibia, Tonga 20-25 Canada, Scotland 15-6 Georgia

AV vote is rejected by UK

CRUSHING: A resounding victory for the 'No' campaign

ALTHOUGH counting has not concluded yet, the Liberal Democrats miserable 24 hours at the polls has just been finished off resoundingly.  Britain has decided to reject the ‘Yes to AV’ voting policy, which would have seen the Alternative Vote scheme, where voters would rank their politicians to vote for in order of preference.  Instead, we have decided to stick to the tried and tested formula of ‘First Past the Post.’  By just putting a simple x on the ballot papers, the country has decided to keep the simple policy at this referendum, and it is a crushing victory too.

LOOKING OVER: Clegg will be under pressure after this battering

    With 386 results declared in the 440 councils across England and Wales already, the ‘No’ campaign has already taken over 360 regions, with the ‘Yes’ campaign still staggeringly in single figures.  This is going to be a hammer blow to the Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg, who is already under pressure and will surely feel the full force at the next annual party conference in Liverpool in September.  This adds to total rejection in the council elections across the country, which saw a number of Lib Dems MP’s lose council seats, in which the party has had strangleholds on for the last decade, particularly in the North of the country such as Liverpool, Manchester and Clegg’s own constituency of Sheffield.

    Around 18.6million people voted in this referendum, but the percentage turnout of 41% (excluding Northern Ireland) is disappointing.  This hints that either people couldn’t care less about the referendum, or the feelings towards the coalition government in general are really starting to hit home, just under a year after its formation in Downing Street. 

    The crushing rejection by the British voters is a blow to the Lib Dems, who although feared a backlash, surely can’t have predicted such a grim response to one of their key pledges in their manifesto.  Danny Alexander, a Cabinet minister for the Liberal Democrats told Sky News of his thoughts;

“It is disappointing that people have chosen to vote the way they have.  I think there is a whole number of reasons for that, but I think the most important thing is to accept with good grace the verdict of the people and say 'That's that'."

This follows a harrowing night for the party, following their worst council elections results since the 1980s.  This morning, Clegg spoke to reporters outside his home and remained defiant, although he admitted it is ‘a kicking’ in which his party took.  It seems like the brunt of the blame has gone with Clegg and the Liberal Democrats within the coalition, especially with the controversial spending cuts, and the change in heart over a rise in tuition fees.  The battering of the Liberal Democrats means that Conservative support stuck relatively at the same.  The results will be of some relief to David Cameron, which suggests that the public don’t seem to mind his side of the coalition.  There were some encouraging results for Labour too, although they missed out narrowly on forming a majority government in the Welsh Assembly by a single vote.  Ed Miliband will be modestly satisfied with the results last night, especially as it was a test for him, considering the unpopularity he seems to hold from several political experts.

    Both Cameron and Clegg have insisted that the coalition will survive the referendum results, although things did turn very bitter in the ‘AV’ campaign, and definitely showed some cracks that simply weren’t there before.  What is clear is that the British public have spoken and made their decisions.  It is crystal clear that the Liberal Democrats are not the flavour of the month with anyone in Britain at the moment.

Snow returns . . . and it's set to stay

WINTER has definitely arrived and so too has the snow.  Worse still, the Met Office has predicted that this cold snap will last for another ten days at the minimum. 

Police have urged drivers to only drive in these tricky conditions if it is absolutely necessary.  Those living in the North East of England have currently experienced the worst of the wintery conditions.  In some areas, upto five inches of snow have fallen in less than two hours.  Temperatures across the UK have struggle to rise about freezing, dropping to as low as -17 degrees in Wales overnight, the coldest ever temperature in November on record.

FOUL: Cars have fallen to the conditions in Scotland

Luckily, there hasn’t been any reports of major incidents this weekend, largely as the gritting services seem to have been well prepared in advance, and the lack of rush to get to places from commuters.  That could very well change at the start of this week, with heavy snow forecast for Monday evening in many regions.  Winds from the North East are keeping the temperature down and the snow to fall on a constant basis.  Currently, the Met Office has severe weather warnings in place throughout East Anglia, Scotland, Northern Ireland, London, Yorkshire and the South East.  The AA has reported an 80% surge in calls of breakdowns over the course of the weekend, a staggering statistic.

SPIRIT: Communities are pulling together to help out

Health workers are urging people to check on vulnerable neighbours, to make sure that they have all the possible services available to them, such as proper heating and plenty of hot drinks.  Flights are likely to be affected at many of the largest airports in the coming days, especially Stanstead, Newcastle and Manchester.  Trains are likely to be badly hit too, with the 24-hour tube strike being held right now, just adding to the misery for many commuters.  The sporting programme has been hit, although all key rugby union autumn internationals and Premiership football matches went ahead.  Two FA Cup ties (at Hartlepool and Notts County) fell foul to the weather, as did some of the programme in Scotland and several horse racing meetings.

 

Residents in the UK will be used to the white stuff, last winter was the coldest for a long time and snow also caused chaos at the start of 2009.  However, the timing of this snow has caught many by surprise.  This is the earliest time that snow has fallen on a constant basis since 1993.  The big chill is here and it will please some, particularly schoolchildren, who could be set for a number of days off.  However, this cold snap will bite and bite hard.  The UK is bracing itself for more sub-zero temperatures and I’d say, get prepared for it, because it will hang around for a good while. . . 

Pontins on the verge of going bust

PONTIN'S, one of the most established holiday companies across the UK, faces a bleak outlook after the administrators were appointed last Friday.

TROUBLE: Tough times for Pontin's

The news will come as a shock to many, especially as only two years ago, 2,000 new jobs were announced by the holiday firm across its five holiday-owned parks.  Around 850 staff members are currently employed by the company and it is believed that none of these staff have been made redundant as yet.  Pontin's owns five holiday parks in the UK, varying from Prestayn Sands in Wales to Brean Sands in Somerset.

KPMG have been the administrator that has appointed for the company, which has been a seaside tradition with many holidaymakers since World War II.  Three joint administrators have been appointed and they admit that all guest reservations that have already made shouldn’t been affected by this move.

An administrator partner for KPMG told Sky of the move into administration and is still confident of positive future; "Pontin's is an iconic British brand which forms the backdrop to thousands of treasured family holiday memories," "It has unfortunately struggled in the current economic environment but, with some support from new management, we are optimistic that it will be part of thousands of family memories in the years to come."

The administrators may be positive of a recovery, but I fear for Pontin's, it certainly faces a very difficult short-term lookout. 

Six Nations Review - A Championship That Failed To Live Up To Potential

The conclusion last week of the 2010 RBS Six Nations was nothing short of a damp squib.  A championship that had been billed by many to be among the best for the generation, turned into six weeks of scrappy, and disappointing rugby action and badly highlighted the Northern Hemisphere’s weaknesses.  With a 2011 Rugby World Cup a mere eighteen months away in New Zealand, it looks very unrealistic on any of our sides challenging the world superpowers from the All Blacks, South Africa, the out-of-form Australians and even Argentina.

Top of the class were undoubtedly the French.  For once, Les Bleus played as a team unit throughout, got the results they needed and as a result, another Six Nations Grand Slam, their first since 2006.  However, it was more professional and cagey, than the flamboyant, bullish style that we all know that France can play.  In Paris last Saturday, the nerves got the better of them and had England shown more discipline, they may well have lost their chance of the Grand Slam.  However, I don’t see this French side having the capability to challenge for the top honours in the world game.  There is definitely a puzzle missing in this jigsaw.

Defending champions Ireland struggled to live up to their potential and it showed.  Apart from an excellent win against Wales, the Irish laboured to wins at Twickenham and against Italy, but they were outfought and outplayed against France in Paris, and Scotland ended their Croke Park fairytale on a very sour note.  For the Irish, their big-game players did not turn up and perform, similar to their shocking 2007 Rugby World Cup performance.  It was a tournament to forget for them, despite finishing as distant runners-up.

Once again, England underachieved and failed when it came to the crunch.  Finishing third in this championship is now a norm and if we start celebrating it, something is wrong.  Turgid against Ireland at home, followed by a shocker at Murrayfield, Martin Johnson is still relying too heavily on the players that bought back the Webb Ellis Trophy seven years ago.  True, young talent is coming through to replace the old guard, but they need more experience and time to shine and that is running out.  Johnson’s naivety with some of his tactical decisions highlighted that he still has a way to go to become a top international coach.  We need to stick by him and not make any rash decisions, but England is running out of excuses for failing to deliver.  Winning something big in 2011 is imperative for this side.

Wales look a pale shadow from the side that stormed to Grand Slam victory two years ago.  Gifting England victory in the Twickenham opener summed up their campaign from start to finish.  It lacked quality and very error-prone.  However, they did produce one of the greatest fightbacks in the code’s history to record a famous win over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on matchday two.  Also, their spirit to not accept defeat against France should be highlighted as a success.  The never-give-up attitude and determination means Wales are still a force to be reckoned with.  Costly errors are denying this side from getting anywhere successful.

Scotland was the surprise of the championship and deserved more than they got.  They lost control of a winnable match in Cardiff and really should have taken advantage to beat a limp England at Murrayfield.  However, Andy Robinson is injecting belief and pride into the players that hasn’t been there for a long time.  For them to win last week at Croke Park was well-deserved, because not only did it lift them off the bottom of the table, but it would have been unjustified as well.  Despite a 5^th placed finish, the Scots can hold their heads up high on a decent, solid campaign.

Lastly, the Italians propped up the table again, but they are steady improvers.  They pushed England all the way in Rome, beat Scotland fair and square and outscored France in the second half in Paris.  If there was a prize for belief and competitive instinct, Italy would win the Grand Slam.  Their passion and commitment makes up fully for the distinct lack of quality.

Most games turned into tedious, tense affairs, rather than the free-flowing, attacking rugby we’ve seen in recent championships.  Let’s hope 2011 is slightly better.  Congratulations to France on achieving the Grand Slam, but for all six teams competing, there is significant room for improvement and with the World Cup approaching fast, the clock is ticking away….