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torentialtribute · 5 years

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CLIVE WOODWARD: England can take positives from crazy Scotland draw

I have never seen a game that looks something like this! But England does not have to worry too much, Eddie Jones can achieve some positive results with Scotland

Sir Clive Woodward for the Mail on Sunday

Published: 22:02 GMT, March 16, 2019 | Updated: 22:05 GMT, March 16, 2019

On Saturday, I wrote that I really wanted Scotland to turn up at Twickenham and that they came in front in the second half when they were completely confused in England.

But now is not the time to react too much

Thanks to Scotland for coming back down from 31-7 at rest and scoring for Eddie Jones . six unanswered attempts before George Ford saved a draw for England.

George Ford saved England from defeat with a late attempt in Saturday's 38-38 draw with Scotland

First of all, it was a great game of rugby for the crowd. I have been coming to Twickenham for years as a fan, player, coach and expert and I have never seen anything like this – so well done for both teams.

Finn Russell was fantastic for half of the visitors in the second half. Nobody came closer and he ran brilliantly in the second half, but England's defense system was torn apart.

I believe at rest you mentally imagine that you are back at 0-0, but that England did not look that way, despite the fact that Owen clearly stated

The way on which the game has slipped from England is a concern in the World Cup, but we cannot throw it overboard

Scottish players looked printed after the game, but they were super in the second half

But I wonder if there is too much pressure on Farrell as captain, flying half and kick goals.

One aspect that disappointed me was the

One aspect that disappointed me was the way the bank was used in England. XV, minus Ben Moon who was injured early, the full 80 remained on the field

England has a very strong starting team, but when it gets disrupted and the

When you look at the team that Nathan Hughes played in the second row, Scotland were already making their replacements but that doesn't mean we have the same thing.

There is a lot of pressure on Owen Farrell as captain, flying and kicking aiming

] One thing to come out of these Six Nations for England is that Eddie has nailed his starting line-up. If you look at the team that beats Ireland 32-20 in Dublin, that's about it.

But I would make a few changes with Joe Cokanasiga and Sam Underhill, who have been injured, coming in and keeping everything under control that the most important men stay fit.

When I was picking a team to play the All Blacks in a one-time knockout game, Cokanasiga starts at the wing and Underhill starts at No. 6.

That seems maybe hard on Mark Wilson Billy Vunipola

You have to play fast in those games and that would be comparable to the combination of Richard Hill, Neil Back, and Lawrence Dallaglio we had in my English team 16 years ago

It was a stressful game for Eddie Jones, but there were positives for the coach of England to take

The Wallabies did it successfully by playing two natural sevens in Michael Hooper and David Pocock

The rest of the side picks itself up and the good thing for Eddie is that he has some depth to play with. There are others who are good enough to get started – Ellis Genge, Wilson, Brad Shields, Jack Nowell for example – and Dylan Hartley would sit on my couch, but only the injury coverage, not an impact player.

Anthony Watson still

So Eddie has some reserves but there are a few players you just can't lose such as Farrell, Maro Itoje, Mako Vunipola, Manu Tuilagi at his best and Curry who almost irreplaceable.

Curry at openside is the big man we need to talk about. He is the only player who has absolutely cemented that position and we have been waiting for this for a long time, probably since Neil Back.

He was brilliant in this tournament and his progress is a huge bonus for Eddie. And Curry and Underhill are one step higher than what England has had in the recent past.

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ultrasfcb-blog · 6 years

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Glasgow 13-28 Scarlets:

Finn Russell will be part of French facet Racing 92 this summer season on a reported £700,000-a-year contract

Finn Russell says it was an enormous disappointment to carry the curtain down on his Glasgow Warriors profession with a Professional14 semi-final defeat by Scarlets.

Warriors have been totally outplayed because the Welsh facet prevailed 28-13 to guide their place within the Professional14 closing.

It was Russell’s final match for Glasgow earlier than departing to affix French facet Racing 92.

“It is not the way in which I wished to exit, however that is sport,” Russell mentioned.

“The highs and the lows, however for me the final six years has been a excessive. I am wanting ahead to persevering with that over in France. Not the way in which I need to exit nevertheless it’s been a tremendous six years for me and I will take so many wonderful recollections from the membership.”

Warriors produced one of many poorest shows of their season for the largest match of the marketing campaign, and Russell, whereas eager to stress the standard of Scarlets’ show, believes a lot of the injury was self-inflicted.

“It was a disappointing outcome for us tonight,” the Scotland fly-half advised BBC Scotland. “That is knockout footy I suppose.

“We had a number of possibilities, a number of strain however simply by no means turned it into factors first-half. They made three breaks from easy missed tackles they usually completed them off.

Professional14 semi-final highlights: Glasgow 13-28 Scarlets

“It was a easy 21 factors they bought compared to the three factors we needed to work actually arduous to get. Irritating.

“We simply weren’t medical sufficient tonight. The previous couple of weeks we have been like that. We have missed alternatives and never completed groups off, apply strain and get the factors from it. That is not simply on this recreation, it has been the previous couple of weeks.

“We completed 15 factors behind. A few issues might need gone our means with the referee, a couple of calls there that did not go our option to say the least.”

‘A bitter tablet to swallow’

Three first-half tries from Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies and Rob Evans gave Scarlets a commanding 21-Three half-time lead, and when Ken Owens crossed for the fourth after the break, the sport was achieved.

Warriors rallied late on with tries from Jonny Grey and Nick Grigg, however these efforts have been little greater than comfort.

Captain Ryan Wilson was pissed off he and his team-mates have been unable to ship Russell and different gamers leaving the membership off on a happier notice.

Captain Ryan Wilson says Glasgow underperformed in opposition to Scarlets

“It is a bitter tablet to swallow,” Wilson mentioned. “We wished to ship loads of the boys off on a greater night time.

“There’s some sensible membership males which can be ending careers. We additionally had 10,000 followers out right here cheering us on. We have to take an excellent lengthy have a look at ourselves.

“All these losses – I bear in mind Leinster a few years in the past – these losses are what bought us to that closing and we gained it [in 2015], so be sure that we be taught from it.

“The one disappointment is it is 12 months till we rectify it.”

‘We made foolish errors’

Centre Grigg admitted he was a type of responsible of expensive errors after his weak sort out allowed Patchell in for the opening attempt. He was additionally despatched to the sin-bin after the break earlier than coming again on to register a late rating.

“From the get-go we made foolish errors,” Grigg defined. “That was the theme of the sport; self-discipline allow us to down.

Professional14: Scarlets in closing, however Wayne Pivac ‘dissatisfied’ with features of play

“I made a few errors myself. The second half was a bit higher, we got here again into it and I felt like we had the momentum, however we simply could not pull it again. You’ll be able to’t give away a primary half like that and count on to magically pull it out of the bag.

“That was the primary time I’ve ever been yellow card, and it was by chance. He was harsh on the penalties and it value us.

“I’ve loved each second till this second. The season itself was wonderful. Dave [Rennie] has actually introduced a ardour into taking part in even sooner rugby to the membership. I’ve actually loved the season and I can not wait to have a pair extra.”

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flauntpage · 7 years

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Farewell to the Super Computer of Muay Thai

Yodsanklai Fairtex has hung up his gloves and that's official.

One of the greatest nak muay (Thai kickboxers) of the modern era, "the Yod" announced his retirement from competition last week via social media.

The reasons are perennial: creeping age and nagging injury.

"I am getting older," he said on a Facebook and Instagram post, "and my body is not well." This isn't a fighter's sabbatical. After a trio of nasty knee and hamstring injuries, this time it's goodnight sweetheart and no big super fight with the man they call Buakaw.

Yodsanklai last took a fight breather in October 2015 and returned to the front in February 2017 defeating Sayfullah Hambakhadov at Kunlun Fight 57 in China with wrecking ball round kicks and surface-to-air upper cuts. The comeback was so far, so good. Yodsanklai went on to fight on three more occasions this year, making an April fool out of Masoud Minaei, and mugging Cedric Manhoef and Soichiro Miyakoshi in the merry month of May.

Alas, time off from high-level competition was not rehab enough for the 31-year-old southpaw king.

"I made a break for over a year after an operation on my knee," he said in his statement last week. "After I came back to training and fighting, I feel my body isn't the same. I am constantly in pain even at training. I can't stand it anymore."

And with that, the hero boxer with the koi fish and dragon tattoos threw in the towel on a glittering and accomplished career. He wasn't bitter or thankless. But he did stress the point about his departure.

"So I'm here to tell you, I am retiring from Muay Thai today."

It's not just a sad day for Yodsanklai and Fairtex Gym; it's a sad day for the sport of Muay Thai boxing. A pro-league pug since 1993, Yodsanklai was a multi-weight Lumpinee champion as well as a former WMC and WBC title-holder at middleweight and welterweight. He was also the winner of the 2008 edition of The Contender, which boosted his profile in the West as "the Mike Tyson of Muay Thai".

But the Far East is where the Yod made his rep. Fighting under the flag and monikers of Petchyindee Gym, and later the Fairtex camp in the seedy resort town of Pattaya, the boy from northeast Thailand beat up all movers and shakers.

The collection of Thai heads mounted in the trophy room is note worthy. He ring robbed Nopparat Keakhamtorn with a fusillade of upper cuts at Lumpinee Stadium in 2003; exchanged chain-shot knees, and whiplash head kicks, with the aging-yet-dangerous Samkor Kiatmontep in a 2005 ring war; KO'd the knee flying Malaipeht Sasiprapa and Lamsongkram Chuwattana in 2008 respectively, and beach mugged Kem Sitsongpeenong, his old mate from Fairtex, with an upper cut elbow at Pattaya in 2012.

When there were no Thais around to bash up and/or make bleed, "the Boxing Computer" dispatched various big name nak muay farang (foreign kickboxers) to lick their wounds in half-lit dressing rooms. The hero from Fairtex Gym emerged victorious against the gun-slinging likes of John Wayne Parr with the 154llb WBC belt in 2005 and defended it the following year with a Round 1 KO of Mark Vogel in Germany.

Beating on pumped up farangs for King and Country, Yod outpointed the dangerous Frenchman Yohan Lidon, bested Cosmo Alexandre, number crunched Marco Tentori, cruised to victory on the cards against the quick-draw American fighter Chike Lindsay, and outpointed my old mucker from Rompo Gym in Bangkok, the Dagestan pit bull himself, Dzhabar Askerov.

There were notable losses, too. One jinx early in Yod's career was the superlative Orono Wor Petchpoon who defeated him on two occasions in 2004 (elbows) and 2005 (knees). And there were many bouts lost by decision. Yod lost on the cards against the venerable Singdam Kiatmoo9 in 2004, to Andy Souwer in 2008 and John Wayne Parr down under in 2010.

No roaring crowd. No surge of adrenalin. No lucrative payday bout with a past-his-sell-by Buakaw. The glory fades. Retirement sucks. What next? Rest and a reboot for the YodBook in the first instance, that knee injury sounds awful. What about schooling up his own posse of pugs with the killer bytes that made him the boxing Super Computer? There's always that gig. But what big time genius of a champ wants to evolve into a broke-ass pad holder with an ever-bulging pompooey (pot belly) on the sly? No fear of that. He's already on the PT at home and probably all booked up on the international seminar circuit for the foreseeable.

Does the Super Computer have the bullshit personality to become a know-it all boxing commentator on the TV like old Jim Watt back home in the UK? After all those punches, elbows, knees and kicks, does he have enough brain cells left to perhaps write a memoir or a weekly boxing column for the sporting press in Bangkok? Norman Mailer, the late American author, and part-time pugilist, once remarked that a boxer writing is "equal to an intellectual throwing a good punch." Then again, it's not a tall order. Brian Moore, the former England rugby player with the skinhead and cauliflower ears, is doing one on his ball game for the Daily Telegraph in London.

They're also making a lot of silly and violent action films these days in Thailand. In between beating on farangs on the seminar circuit, Yod could always do some R&R at the Lee Strasberg Academy in New York and return to Thailand as a method actor (with optional perfect English) and corner the market in monosyllabic bad guy roles (because bad guys always have the best lines).

And there's the theme restaurant business. However, old glove fighters, who go into that lark, usually with their friends and family, invariably end up broke and drunk on the karaoke machine. Realistic and silly fantasies aside, maybe this retirement thing is just a marketing ruse to generate buzz, and the Yod will come back for one last outing against Buakaw in China or the USA. Maybe.

The glory might be gone. The crowd may be absent. But Yod's record and achievements are carved in stone. He retires from the fighting sport of Muay Thai boxing with an astounding record of 272 fights, 197 wins, 77 knockouts, 71 losses and 4 draws. A master boxer, his ring pyrotechnics will be studied and dissected by practitioners and keyboard warriors for decades to come. After all those years of eight-limbed carnage, early retirement was probably the best option for the dynamo lefty.

The Super Computer has logged off. And that's official.

Farewell to the Super Computer of Muay Thai published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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ultrasfcb-blog · 6 years

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Leigh Halfpenny: Scarlets full-back dominated out of Professional14 semi-final at Glasgow

Leigh Halfpenny has scored 290 factors, together with eight tries, in his 17 appearances for Scarlets since he joined for 2017-18

Professional14 semi-final: Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Date: Friday, 18 Might Kick-off: 19:45 BST Protection: Stay on BBC Two Wales & BBC Alba, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio Scotland & BBC Sport web site and BBC Sport app

Scarlets full-back Leigh Halfpenny has been dominated out of their Professional14 play-off semi-final in opposition to Glasgow on Friday with a torn hamstring.

Nonetheless, New Zealander Johnny McNicholl is over a shoulder damage and will play for the primary time since February.

“Leigh has a small tear so with a bit of luck, ought to we get by means of the semi-final then he could also be obtainable for the ultimate,” mentioned head coach Wayne Pivac.

“Johnny been’s coaching actually, very well for the final couple of weeks.”

Pivac added: “The final impediment for him was full contact and he is carried out that.”

Pivac expects a ‘nice recreation’ in opposition to Glasgow

Scarlets were comfortable winners when the 2 sides met within the competitors on 7 April, however Glasgow have been capable of end prime of Convention A which secured them a house semi-final.

Scarlets needed to overcome Cheetahs in the quarter-final play-off to succeed in Friday’s conflict on the Scotstoun Stadium.

It was their third recreation of knockout rugby since 30 March, after dealing with La Rochelle and Leinster within the European Champions Cup quarter-final and semi-final respectively.

Glasgow didn’t get previous the pool levels of the Champions Cup, and their final recreation was their loss to rivals Edinburgh on 28 April.

Pivac mentioned he was anticipating a unique Glasgow facet to the one which misplaced at Parc y Scarlets.

“We might wish to suppose the depth will go up from that recreation,” he mentioned.

“Definitely we all know that Glasgow shall be so much higher. I do not suppose they performed their greatest rugby.

“The intent from either side shall be there when it is on to maneuver the ball, however we’re anticipating a really huge bodily conflict as effectively.”

Pivac mentioned Glasgow having much less recreation time in current weeks was not an obstacle as Scarlets have been in that state of affairs final yr and went on to win the league.

“It [the break] offers you quite a lot of time behind the scenes to organize and work on issues.

“Simply since you’re not taking part in video games, it does not imply that you just’re not doing the bodily work. All of us have massive squads so we are able to run two groups in opposition to one another.”

He added “the psychological facet” comes into play now, and “it is who offers with the stress” the very best.

“We’re definitely not over-confident, however we have been in just a few of those conditions now within the final 12 months and the boys get pleasure from it.”

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