Even by sport's standards, this weekend was a strange one. Expect the unexpected they always say, but expect it all to happen at once?? They may have to incorporate that into it from now.

A weekend of unexpected results started in the heart of Manchester, as Liverpool recorded the most remarkable of victories in the face of a Manchester United side effectively unbeaten since November 8th. Men (Vidic) normally calm in the heat of battle floundered, and the class of Messrs Gerrard and Torres shone through the dire grey kit and saw them record a stunning 4-1 victory. Alex Ferguson's deluded claim that his was the better side showed all the traits of a man with wounded pride, but rest assured he'll be asking his side to respond like a wounded animal. 

The smart money says his side will at the very least claim the Premiership once more, (remember the defeat at Stamford Bridge last year), but Saturday's result sure as hell makes it a more interesting run-in.

Manchester was also the venue for Amir Khan's decision victory over Marco Antonio Barrera. While not Khan's biggest fan, it still irks me to see his victory greeted with boos. Yes it was a little on the calculated side, taking on a legend well past his best, and yes, the fight should have been stopped to leave a 'no decision'. But is any of that Khan's fault? And should he be derided for it? The simple answer is no. Something tells me nothing would have curtailed the boos in any case. But, he beat what was before him, and that is simply all he can do.

The same can technically be said of the Welsh rugby team and Italy as they stumbled past rather than beat what was before them. There was little satisfaction in the stumble though. 1/25 favourites before the game, the Welsh went as far as they could to prove that they are much better when the underdogs, which bodes well for next weekends decider in Cardiff.

England were a side transformed however. The statistics point to an even game, but statistics are just a guideline, and the truth of the matter was that England could have scored more. The French looked dazed. So often they turn it on when you least expect it, but not once did they really threaten England, who made it to the gain-line and beyond on more occasions than I care to remember. Keeping all 15 men on the field was the talk pre-match, but it nearly got to the stage where you were talking about all 15 min scoring come the post-match talk. Second place could yet be theirs.

In other sport, (McLaren the F1 team, not Steve) declared themselves 'lacking competitivity', which will be a blow to Hamilton's great hopes. It should make for an interesting Championship. Brawn GP, Ferrari and Renault all look quick and slick in testing, but nothing is going to deter me from my January prediction that Fernando Alonso will reign again in 2009. 

All in all, it was an excellent weekend (what weekend isn't?) in sport, and for those of you who missed it, merely confirmed my suspicions that British teams need to be the underdog to perform. Why? We'll probably never know, but it makes for great, unpredictable drama.

 
 

Wales has rarely had it so good with regarding sports, certainly not in the past 10 to 15 years in any case. While England took home Grand Slams and World Cups in rugby, Wales wallowed in wodden spoons. While England suffered the failure of quarter-final defeats in 3 major tournaments, the Welsh team watched from the comfort of it's own living room.

But recent years have seen the dragon roar back. After years of flirting with the lower leagues, Cardiff, followed by Swansea have shot through the divisions, and now lie in sight of the promised land, the Premiership. World Cup flops the Welsh rugby team may have been in 2007, but just a short few months later, they were the 2008 Grand Slam Champions.

The Welsh football team has had it's fair share of downs too. But solid home wins and narrow defeats away to giants Russia and Germany have fed the footballing nation with hope that qualification may be just around the corner. With John Toshack at the head of a new-look team which has both youth and quality on it's side, it's hard to argue that the future isn't bright.

But what of this past weekend? The doom and gloom merchants certainly had their pens out, that's for sure, but the majority of Wales must be proud, for it is a mark of how far they've come that expectation be so high now.

Two years ago, Wales lost by 11 points to a French side on their way to the championship, and it was considered by most to be an acceptable performance, and a gallant loss. This weekend, a narrow 5 point defeat saw the Welsh team trudge off, disconsolate, and the French side take in a lap of honour. Wales by all accounts were poor. The difference is however, that whilst a poor showing just 2 years ago resulted in a 62-5 defeat away to England, a bad day at the office sees a loss which could easily have been a victory in spite of the bad showing.

What of Cardiff and Swansea? Well Swansea drew 0-0 at home to Leyton Orient, two years ago this weekend past. It was a result which was met with boos and frustration. Similar frustration (but no boos) were felt at the weekend, with Swansea once more are in the hunt for the play-offs. Their 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic leaving them 2 points off the pace, whereas a win would have taken them up to 5th. The difference is however, that Swansea are a league higher than they were 2 years ago, and facing a side who at the time of the Leyton Orient game, were holding their own in the Premiership.

Cardiff City too, have come a long way. Years in the doldrums and a run to the FA Cup final has done nothing to subside the demands of the supporters, however. A drab 0-0 draw against QPR was met with derision from supporters who don't want to see their side fall away as they did so spectacularly 2 years ago. But it is clear that Cardiff are a quality side well capable off qualifying and winning the play-offs. No occasion will overawe them, especially given their cup run last year, and supporters will do well to remember that not so long ago, the club was on it's knees financially. Now, a new stadium is months away, as is potential promotion.

It's true, despite it being a weekend to celebrate St. David, Wales and it's teams didn't cover themselves in glory. It's important to remember how far these sides have come however. Success is all relative.



 
 

If there's ever been a weekend more suited to an FA Cup round, then please, write in and let me know.

With today being Friday the 13th, any superstitious managers with wafer-thin squads will be cancelling training and praying for no freak injuries.

And tomorrow of course is St Valentine's Day, which can mean just one thing. Come Sunday, the tabloids will all be full of Valentine's Day puns, all referring to the romance of the FA Cup.

Aside from that, with romance in the air and luck as big a part in sport as anything at times, I thought I'd adopt a new approach to predicting sports results this weekend. You'll probably remember it from when you were a kid:-

EG - JOE WOOD LOVES CHARLOTTE SALOMON = 64%

This is worked our using a fool-proof formula - Using this formula, you count how many 'L', 'O', 'V', 'E' and 'S'' there are between the two names and, having written each number down, then add each neighbouring number together until the number decreases to two figures. This then leaves you with a % liklihood that the couple will marry, meaning you can stop wasting your time if there's no chance you'll make it. 

So, applying the same formula to this weekends sport. Here are tomorrow's results, today:-

ENGLAND BEATS WALES = 42% - gives Wales a narrow victory in a thriller in Cardiff.

SCOTLAND BEATS FRANCE = 23% - means that France will romp to a comfortable victory in the Stade de France

SWANSEA BEATS FULHAM = 86% - Swansea beat Premiership opposition for the third time this season. The victory comes with such ease that Alan Tate gives Dorus de Vries a run outfield and takes his assumed position between the sticks. 

DERBY BEATS MANCHESTER UNITED = 17% - A clear indication that this formula is fool-proof as Manchester United continue their hunt for all four trophies.

MIDDLESBROUGH BEATS WEST HAM = 31% - Middlesbrough will struggle, but West Ham's excellent recent form will mean they emerge victorious with something to spare!

There you have it then, we'll wait and see what happens in the games before I patent the formula, sell it, and make millions!

Happy Valentine's Day to all you Sport lovers!



 
 

To look at Martin Johnson's face on Saturday, was to look at a man being worn down. The expression suggested a heavy defeat not a 25-point victory, but it was of course the manner of the victory that will have disturbed him. 

In the same way Heath Ledger's Joker haunted Summer '08 with the immortal words 'Why so serious?', Gatland fired an immediate warning following Wales' victory: 'It is a good position to be in' he said, 'There are a lot of things we can improve and work on.' Johnson will of course hope Gatland's words were also for the cameras, but the way Wales swatted Scotland aside will mean England go to Cardiff in hope, not expectation.

Had Italy not decided to ludicrously experiment with Bergamasco at scrum-half, they might have been celebrating a famous result - England were bad, Bergamasco was worse.

Rafa Benitez wore the very same look until Fernando Torres came to his rescue a minute from time. Rafa probably wouldn't look so worried if he didn't a) Buy a £20million striker and then sell him for £8million less 6 months later, b) leave his best players on the bench in big games and c) have that goatee.

Sir Alex never messes with hairstyles or facial hair and he couldn't look less serious right now, even though you know he is on a mission. He even managed a laugh and a joke about Giggs' winning goal, suggesting it 12 years since the last goal with his right foot, when he knows full well it's longer than that.

The managerial merry-go-round stopped twice yesterday, first on the South Coast and then in the capital. Big Phil and Tony Adams were the unlucky men, and their respective clubs now begin the search for saviours.

Adams claimed to be 'surprised' more than anything, but given his managerial record during his tenure and prior to it, it really wasn'tt hat surprising. And whilst Big Phil's Chelsea were world-beaters in late summer, hapless displays against big contenders and the small fish sealed his fate.

Linked to the Chelsea job are the usual suspects (Hiddink, Mancini, Riijkard), plus an old friend, Avram Grant. Seriously. In all fairness, he never deserved the sack in the first place, but only in the crazy world of football could such a turnaround be possible. Not good enough in June, Abramovich wants him to complete a similar damage-limitation job to the one he did following Messiah Mourinho. If Avram grants him his wish (sorry), be sure to watch out for an interesting end to the season.

Portsmouth of course are not quite on the same playing field, and Alan Curbishley and the like are the names trotted out for this one. Anyone linked would do well to stay clear. No-one can do the job Harry Redknapp did except Harry himself and Portsmouth are plummeting.

In other sport, the England cricket team did it's very best to defy belief and scale new lows, barely making a 50 total in their second innings. Alastair Cook claims that no major changes are necessary, but anyone who takes that seriously needs to re-watch that second innings again, and again in case they blink and miss it.

Super-Middle and light-heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe retired undefeated, although he did say "never say never" to the prospect of a comeback. Having defeated everyone put before him in the last 20 years, he joins legends Floyd Mayweather and Rocky Marciano as undefeated fighters at the very top of the game. He is rightly the Pride of Wales.

Bonne semaine!


 
 

In a match which pitted two of the great fly-halfs in the world against eachother, Stade Francais will wonder how they let victory slip through their fingers. Whilst Dan Carter may have had the upper-hand over his Argentinian rival with regards points and panache, the game was Stade Francais's to lose for the majority, and lose it they nearly did.

Having lead for virtually the entire match, the Parisian side went down to fourteen men in the final stages, allowing the New Zealand number 10 Dan Carter to slot over two penalties and level the scores.

Had Stade Francais added to their opening score as they threatened to, then Carter's final stand would have been rendered of little importance. As it was however, the 10 point gap the Paris team opened up never looked like being more in what was a tight match of few chances.

The home side opened the scoring after 28 minutes, Beauxis going over after a quick penalty from Albouy, and having spent much of the match in Perpignan territory, it was no more than they deserved. This was the turning point of the game however. As the near-capacity crowd demanded they go for the jugular, Stade Francais took their foot off the gas. Kicking the ball and posession away when they needed it the most, they gave Perpignan the opportunity to counter. Carter duly obliged.

The one outstanding move of the match was a result of the New Zealander's brilliance. Shaping one way before going the other in close quarters, he left a defender grasping thin air before making an outstanding offload and grubber kick to set up Maxime Mermoz's 73rd minute try. 

Hernandez on the other hand, suffered despite his side leading for 50 minutes of the clash, and never being behind. He kicked 24 out of the 33 times he recieved the ball, was wasteful with his drop goal attempts, and planted one kick so wayward and short of the posts it was nearer the 22.

Carter's performance was in stark contrast. Hernandez, enduring one of his worst displays in recent memory, kicked the ball out on the full, which lead to a line-out in the home teams 22. A penalty ensued and The IRB Player of the Year 2006 slotted over to level in the 78th minute.. Carter did have one chance to even win the game. But 59 metres out and way out to the right, he struck the ball well, only to see the penalty attempt fell just under, rather than over the posts.

Whilst the match was finished in terms of scoring at this point, the drama was not. A tackle in the 80th minute left Carter clutching his left ankle, and was later revealed to be a tear of the achilles which rules him out for the rest of the season. On a 6 month sabbatical from rugby in New Zealand, the Perpginan supporters in particular will be dismayed to learn he will play no further part following his lucrative move. Having made just 5 appearances, and finding real form the first time on Saturday, the team in 3rd place in the league will have wanted more for their money.

Stade Francias and Hernandez will just hope their lack of conviction does not come back to haunt them come the final table in May.

 
 

As a proud Welshman, the 6 nations always holds great excitement and potential for me. Now I have never played rugby, and I could count the number of live matches I've seen on one hand. So how do you explain my desire for Wales to defeat all before them, be it in the Autumn Internationals, World Cup or 6 Nations?

Simply put, Wales lives and breathes rugby. Whereas football is more widely-spread, and has more players, rugby runs through the blood of most Welshmen. It is our national sport. Since the 1970's especially, when Wales produced one of the greatest teams and players of all-time, Wales' relationship with rugby has been special. A sport with which the country has had both great affinity and success.

Now a national sport is defined as 'a sport or game that is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation', and that is certainly true of Wales and rugby.

A national sport is often thought of as the most popular sport, or most widely played, but neither is true. In Pakistan cricket is by far the most popular sport nowadays, but cannot replace hockey as the national sport. Baseball is the 'national past-time' of America, despite American Football's ever increasing popularity putting it in the shadow.

So why does a nation hang onto either past glories or a sport whose popularity has since dwindled? The answer lies in each individual nation.

To begin with, some countries' national sport is defined by law, where others are assumed 'de facto'. In Canada, Ice Hockey and Lacrosse are the national winter and summer sports and that is defined by law. Similarly in Chile, rodeo is legally the nations sport, and Sri Lanka's is volleyball.

Some of the countries with 'De Facto' national sports are China with tables tennis, Scotland's is football, and Norway's is cross country skiing.

It maybe a little obvious, but much of the decision lies on sports which are able to be played by the climate - ie Norway's love of skiing and Canada's of ice hockey.

Going back decades, the sports which are often now considered to be national sports in spite of over-riding popularity elsewhere, are games which were easily accessible years ago. Baseball is a simple game which was huge in the early 20th Century. As technology and safety levels improved, however, American football has been able to popularise the sport. Ice hockey and skiing in Canada and Norway similarly are easily-played sports, which do not require a lot of money to play.

Whereas with the above countries and others in the list, it is easy to set a 'national sport' it is not so easy for others. England's for example is widely considered to be football, but this is greatly debated. Cricket is considered by others to be England's national sport, with rugby and football merely being 'English sports'.

A diplomatic answer given by WikiAnswer is that cricket is the national 'summer sport' of England, presumably meaning that one of rugby and football is the 'winter' or 'autumn' sport. In truth there is no official answer that is reachable. Debates rage throughout the internet, from Facebook groups to arguments on messageboards. Some of these go back to hunting, which was England's national past-time until banned in 1654 by Olver Cromwell.

Wales' though cannot be disputed. No matter the state of the national team or the popularity in playing terms of football, rugby is what gets the nation going. Every Welshman and woman is desperate to be celebrating another Grand Slam come March, be they footballers, tennis players, boxers or cricketers. That is what makes a national sport.


 
 

I've noticed relatively recently that football fans pay more attention to their teams statistical history than rugby fans do. Question a football fan and they'd surely know of Liverpool's record of 18 titles. Ask the same to a rugby fan regarding the Six Nations, and I doubt they'd know the record stands at 25, with England, with Wales just one behind. In light of this, I thought I'd have a little look at the history of the tournament, as well as the forthcoming tournament. 

The first tournament of it's like was held in 1883, and was comprised of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The tournament stayed this way until 1910, when France were officially invited, having contested the previous four tournaments anyway. The tournament was not without it's controversy, with each of Wales, England and France being expelled at some point, for different reasons. The tournament was also put hold during both world wars, and resumed in 1947. From then on it remained as the 'Five Nations' until 2000, when Italy joined.

As aforementioned, England hold the record for number of wins (25), although it is worth mentioning that France have won 16 despite having contested 30 less tournaments. England also have the Grand Slam record (12), once more followed by Wales (10) and France (8). One of the most surprising statistics, is that Ireland are still awaiting a tournament victory since 1985 despite being second in the overall Six Nations table. The table actually makes very interesting reading:-

What we can deduct from it, is that incredibly, despite winning 69% of their games, Ireland have somehow managed to not win one of the 9 Six Nations tournaments. Wales on the otherhand, have won 2 Grand Slams, despite winning just 20 games to Ireland's 31. This means that equally as amazingly, outside Wales' 2 Six Nations victories (which account for 10 of their victoires), they have won just 10 matches in the 7 other tournaments. With that in mind, it seems appropriate to either completely back or entirely write-off the fickle Welsh chances.

So, on to this year's tournament, and starting with Italy who prop up the table, it must be said that it took France 44 years and and 23 tournaments to win their first title after they joined the championship. I fear Italy may have an equally long wait. Just 6 victories in 45 matches enhances that belief, and despite increasing competitivity in recent years, they lack a really competitive league that can produce a team which can compete on a european stage.

Saying that, it's a while since a Scottish league team did similarly, but the national team pushed World Champions South Africa really hard in the Autumn, and may fancy their chances to pick up 3 wins, or even 4, with 3 of their games at home.

Wales of course are the reigning champions and picked up the northern hemisphere's sole victory against it's southern rivals. With this in mind I think they'll be raring to repeat their Grand Slam triumphs of 2005 and 2008. This year, with just 2 games at home, they'll have to do it the hard way as they did in 2005, and whilst I fancy them for the championship, I think the Grand Slam might elude them. In all honesty, in light of the fact they only seem capable of victories whilst on the crest of a Grand Slam wave, that might be even more impresive. With Warren Gatland at the helm, they might just do it.

England are a team in transition as are Ireland. Both seem able to put in good performances here or there, but I think both Martin Johnson and Declan Kidney would take 3 wins to keep the wolves from the door. For England, I think their talented youngsters must be given a chance to shine. Wales' were, and now they seem to be reaping the rewards after years in the doldrums. It seems there was always going to be a fallout from the World Cup win, and here it is. What must not happen for them, is to destroy young players' confidence as Matthew Tait's was (see below). Getting the best out of players like Cipriani should be the priority, not looking to Wilkinson's ever-injured body to recapture former glories.

The French on the other hand are, as always an enigma. I don't think they'll sustain a serious challenge this year, and may fall short to even Italy because Marc Livremont seems hellbent on becoming the Rafa Benitez of rugby. In last year's tournament, he changed the team a ridiculous amount, and so suffered at home to England and greatly away to Wales, when going for the title. They'll have to start well if they don't want the fickle French crowd on their backs in any case.

Whatever happens, it should make for interesting viewing, but my heart goes for Wales to equal England's number of tournament wins on points difference from France, England or Scotland amidst some suprise results.