Our rugby correspondant Anthony Pearce casts his verdict over the weekend’s Six Nations clash

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Ireland remains the only side that can win the Grand Slam in this year’s Six Nations Championship, following their narrow 14-13 win over England and the Welsh defeat in Paris.

In truth the score line wasn’t a fair reflection on a match which the Irish never really looked like liked loosing once Brian O’Driscoll had hit a superb drop goal shortly after half time.

The first half wasn’t much to write home about. One penalty a piece meant the sides were level going into the break. The Irish must have felt slightly aggrieved at not being ahead however, with O’Gara flashing two penalty goal attempts wide before converting third time around.

Ireland raised their game in the second half, and O’Gara hit the post with another penalty attempt before Brian O’Driscoll stepped up to earn his Man of the Match award. First he hit a delightful drop goal, then he powered over from close range for the first try of the match to make it 11-3.

English discipline, or lack of, again came into question with former captain Phil Vickery and scrum half Danny Care both spending time in the sin bin during the second half.

England did manage to reduce the deficit to 11-6 with a penalty from Armitage, only to see O’Gara respond with a penalty of his own shortly afterwards, maintaining the eight point advantage.

This proved vital as England gave their travelling support something to cheer about when Mike Tindall made a great break and eventually set up Andy Goode who delicately chipped the ball over the Irish defence for Armitage to touch down. Armitage then dusted himself down to convert his own try and make it 14-13.

However, with only 60 seconds left the Irish held out for a well deserved victory which keeps them on course for the Grand Slam. England Coach Martin Johnson, however, must be wondering what his team could achieve if all 15 players remained on the pitch for the full 80 minutes.

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Image credit: Woesinger

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Sport by Anthony Pearce
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We all know who they are. United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. They’re the four princes of English football: they’re the teams that share the spoils; they’re the fats cats with the big players and money spilling out of their pockets. But could this football season be different?

Many rivals have tried to supplant them. Tottenham and Newcastle are two notable examples, who between them have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on new players, fresh management teams and global scouting networks. But it hasn’t worked. The last team to break the monopoly of the ‘big four’ in the Premier League is Everton, and that was way back in 2005.

This year things look a little different. Here’s a snapshot of the Premier League table as we approach the end of February:

The obvious question is can Aston Villa maintain their position amongst the top four for another twelve games? Currently they are sat six points clear of Arsenal, and with thirty six points left there is a very good chance that things could change.

But the Aston Villa manager, Martin O’Neill, has slowly built a strong, committed team at Villa Park. The acquisition of Ashley Young may be his biggest success, but of equal note is the resurgence of players such as Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry and the emergence of others like Gabriel Agbonglahor and Curtis Davies.

But Arsenal are no dropouts. With Emmanuel Adebayor, Eduardo, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott on the verge of a return to the first team, and with the purchase of Andrei Arshavin – their fans can rightly expect an upturn in fortunes. The race for the Champions League could just be about to heat up.

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Who do you think is going to make it? Keep abreast of all the latest developments online and on digital television with Sky Sports and Sky Sports News.
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Lead image credit: Gordon Flood

Tags: Sky, Sport by Peter Moore
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10 Reasons Why February could be the perfect time to switch to Sky HD:

• Sky are now offering the cheapest ever price for their Sky+ service. A Sky+ Box is available for Free

• There are more channels than ever: Sky Movies HD, Sky Box Office HD, BBC HD and Channel 4 HD are some of the best.

• Sky offers the best coverage of The Ashes cricket tussle between England and Australia.

• Sky are currently offering a FREE £30 M&S voucher for new customers.

• Get a Sky Bundle and receive FREE weekend and evening calls.

• Get Free Sky+ with Free installation .

• Enjoy up to four times better picture quality, with superb Dolby sound.

• Set up your own home cinema with Sky Movies’ 12 film channels.

• Be the first to see the fourth season of Prison Break on Sky One

• Get closer to the action than ever before with Sky Sports HD as the Premier League comes to the crunch.

Learn more about Sky HD !

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* Lead image credit: Coda

Tags: BBC, Sky, Sport by Mr Remote
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Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

This weekend sees the giants of Manchester United take on Championship minnows Spurs in the League Cup Final.

Harry Redknapp insists that they are not interested in this match as they are concentrating on the league. This is surely mind games as a bit of gleaming silverwear would provide a fantastic silver lining and possibly motivation, for what has been a very grey season so far.

Tottenham and Redknapp are definitely capable. With Pompey last season, Redknapp enjoyed FA cup glory and beat the Champions in the Semis.

United also will be dying to win the match, as they chase a historic 5 trophies. They must also be favourites being a massive 34 points beyond Spurs in the Premiership.

Some other interesting facts:

• Manchester United have only won the League Cup twice. Liverpool are the most successful club having lifted the trophy 7 times
• The cup has had many names: Milk Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Rubelows Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Worthington Cup and finally Carling Cup
• Geoff Hurst scored 49 League Cup goals – 43 for West Ham and 6 for Stoke City

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Sky will be broadcasting the Carling Cup final live on Sky Sports this weekend.

Lead image credit: Image Shack

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Sky, Sport by Daf Dent
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The next weeks see the remergence of Europe’s premier football competition after it’s cutomary winter absence. Here are the week’s forthcoming games:

Tags: Digital TV, Sport by Peter Moore
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This weekend sees the giants of Wales take on the minnows of England. Not knowing the result I wouldn’t like to make any predictions about this one. However Wales go into the match as tournament favourites having won the Grand Slam in 2008.

The battle will take place at Wales’ Millennium Stadium which will be filled to the rafters with daffodil wearing, dragon holding, angelic singing Welsh people.

Wales Coach Warren Gatling has been a huge success since joining the side.

Previous Six Nation winners are:
2000 England
2001 England
2002 France (Grand Slam)
2003 England (Grand Slam)
2004 France (Grand Slam)
2005 Wales (Grand Slam)
2006 France
2007 France
2008 Wales (Grand Slam)

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Image Credit: infomatique on Flickr

Tags: BBC, Sport by Daf Dent
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Chelsea have sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari

• Guus Hiddink and Avram Grant are immediately linked to the Stamford Bridge post
• ‘Results and performances appeared to be deteriorating’
• Club act to ‘maintain a challenge for trophies’
• Ray Wilkins takes charge of team on temporary basis

Tags: Sport by Peter Moore
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Peter Moore remembers the sudden disappearance of Mourinho, the darling of the tabloids

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It was an aberration when Jose Mourinho left Chelsea two and a half years ago, almost unnoticed in the dark of a September night. He was Chelsea’s most successful manager; a darling of the press and a public pantomime villain in equal measure.

Any logic would have had him trumpeted out of the London by the Lord Mayor’s brass band aboard the Queen’s own carriage. Either that or being chased down the Mall with pointed sticks flying past his ears. As it was, ‘The Special One’ disappeared into the night. Before the press knew it, he was gone.

Journalists had cause to be aggrieved. Rarely had a figure appeared with a greater talent for controversy than Mourinho. Amongst his most famous incendiary quotes were claims that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was a ‘voyeur’, that Alex Ferguson unfairly used his prestige to influence referees and that Tottenham’s defending reminded him of a bus parked in front of the goal.’ With Mourinho around, the sports paper of any national newspaper wrote themselves.

It’s apt to remember Mourinho a couple of years on. Managerial spats remain about as common as squabbles in a nursery school, but with Mourinho around they always had an extra glimmer of comedy and eloquence. In comparison with a snippet of one of Mourinho broadsides, Benitez’ attack last week upon Ferguson looked quite tame. A little like a donkey off Scarborough beach stood next to Gandalf’s Shadowfax.

So, for a touch of Monday morning amusement, and with Mourinho’s Inter Milan proudly stood at the top of Serie A, let’s bask in a bit of retro-Mourinho. Here are a few quotes from our dearly missed Portuguese friend:

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‘I’m not a defender of old or new football managers. I believe in good ones and bad ones, those that achieve success and those that don’t. Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.’ (June 2004)

‘As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend. There was only one team looking to win, they only came not to concede - it’s not fair for the football we played.’ (September 2004)

‘This is nothing against Sir Alex whatsoever. After the game on Wednesday we were together in my office and we spoke and drank wine. Unfortunately it was a very bad bottle of wine and he was complaining, so when we go to Old Trafford for the second leg, on my birthday, I will take a beautiful bottle of Portuguese wine.’ (On Alex Ferguson, January 2005)

‘During the afternoon it rained only in this stadium - our kitman saw it. There must be a micro-climate here. The pitch was like a swimming pool.’

‘The moral of the story is not to listen to those who tell you not to play the violin but stick to the tambourine.’

‘If he helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!’ (On Roman Abramovich)

‘I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.’ ( On Arsene Wenger, October 2005)

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Image Credit: dphuonq

• These quotes are taken from a BBC electronic article, entitled, The World According to Mourinho

Tags: Digital TV, Sport by Peter Moore
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