Issue 245 | February 24 2012

A very Welsh Weekend

AWAits tWickenhAm

And Wembley

Year of the

Dragon?

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Sunday Mirror

issue 245, february 24 2012

radar

05 Our new bike We wish... the powered bike that also exercises our tired, flabby legs. A result

06 Living in America To mark Luol Deng’s latest NBA honour, the other Brits who are a sporting hit in the US of A

08 Eyes on the pies Don’t leave the sofa while watching the Six Nations – have pies delivered courtesy of O2 to do this coming weekfeatures

16 Leigh Halfpenny The Welshman who has England in his sights at Twickenham this weekend... 20 Owen Farrell ... and the Englishman with the golden boot trying to stop him

31 Carling Cup Final The reasons that Cardiff might – just might – beat Liverpool

35 Shay Given The keeper looks ahead to Euro 2012 with Ireland – and avoiding relegation with Aston Villa

extra Time

52 Kit Women’s trainers – and yes, sir, there is a difference

54 Selina Lo Does all her own stunts. Rather her than us, we say

56 Gadgets A quadricopter and a ‘gaming environment’. Welcome to 2012

58 Grooming A week of returns for a number of top-rate products

60 Entertainment Including the darkly comic Black Mirror (pictured)

16

20

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| February 24 2012 | 0 3

n electric bike that claims to improve

your physical fitness makes about as

much sense as the solar-powered

torch, inflatable dartboard or the sober

airline pilot. However, when the bike in

question looks as majestic as the M55

Terminus below, we’re willing to buy into it.

The idea is that the Terminus is a luxury

hybrid bike with a motor assist that doesn’t

eliminate the need for human power. Thus

you have the beefy back-up to cycle for

longer, less restricted by the limitations of

your puny, tar-filled lungs.

There are five varieties of Terminus:

Classic, Royal (pictured), Airbrush, Prime

and the muscle-packing Biceps. Each has a

limited-edition run of 55, is fully customisable

and features mostly handmade components.

Such craftsmanship isn’t cheap, but just

imagine the look on Sir Chris Hoy’s face as

you leisurely pedal/glide past him on one.

From €25,555 via m55-bike.com

Radarp08 – Pies: England deliver

p06 – Britain’s Stateside stars

A Electrifying riding

p09 – Well nice, well pricey Nike gear

his simple yet fiendishly addictive

new iOS game Retro Racing arrives

from the makers of Amiga top-down

driving classics Nitro and ATR. It’s as easy to

start playing as it seems, as you skid around

the track, snaffling power-ups and leaving

burnt rubber tire marks in your wake. The

first challenge is to unlock tracks by finishing

in the top three, but we can’t help but enjoy

ploughing into the little cones and obstacles.

No wonder Lewis Hamilton always does it.

In App Store now or via mrqwak.com/games

he greatest book about ‘The

Greatest’ arrives on eBook

fashionably late after Muhammad

Ali’s 70th birthday last month. Thomas

Hauser’s Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

was written in 1991 with the co-operation

of Ali, but also interviews his family, friends,

critics and opponents to present an

exhaustive, enlightening portrait. Updated for

eBook, it includes video footage, audio clips

and photos of the man who was so pretty he

wanted to be on a stamp (“because that’s the

only way Joe Frazier is gonna lick me”).

See the Sport magazine iPad app for a video with

George Foreman, Hana Ali and Hauser talking

about Ali’s legacy. Enhanced eBook out now

Radar

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06 | February 24 2012 |

Brits in USA

T

T

Pixel perfect

Ali inside and out

With Luol Deng set to be the first Brit to play in an NBA All-Star game on Sunday, we highlight five athletes doing Blighty proud by excelling in Uncle Sam’s sports

Luol Deng NBAThe Chicago Bulls ‘small forward’

(he’s 6ft 9ins!) has risen from

being a squad player to the glue

that holds the Bulls together to

an All-Star in the NBA’s annual

game this weekend*. Set to be

the focus of GB’s basketball

team at the Olympics, Deng was

born in the Sudan, but his family

were granted asylum in the UK

and Deng honed his skills at

Brixton Basketball Club. Those

asylum seekers, eh? Always,

erm, reflecting glory on their

adopted countries.

*See page 44 for the All-Stars

Deng will line up with on Sunday

Lawrence Tynes NFLScotland-born Tynes has

been in the news of late,

winning his second Super

Bowl Championship with the

New York Giants earlier this

February. The ‘placekicker’

(it’s pretty much exactly what

it sounds like) made a crucial

overtime kick to put the Giants

in the 2012 final. The 33-year-

old may have left Scotland

age 10 and sounds about

as Scottish as John Wayne

ordering a Big Mac, but he was

born on these isles and has a

Scottish ma – so we’re claiming

this laddie as one of our own.

Dario Franchitti IndyCar An Italian name, but this driver

is as Scottish as his manly

West Lothian brogue suggests.

Franchitti was brought up in

Scotland and competed in the

British F3 series before finding

success in CART and IndyCar in

the US. The 38-year-old has

won four IndyCar titles, the

prestigious Indianapolis 500

twice and was named BBC

Scotland Sports Personality of

the Year in 2007, becoming the

first ever non-snooker winner

(probably). He’s also married

to Hollywood actress Ashley

Judd. Super Dario indeed.

Wade Barrett WWE SuperstarOne of the top ‘heels’

(translation: he’s a bad guy) on

the WWE’s SmackDown brand,

the beefy, 6ft 5ins Barrett

comes complete with tattoos, a

cocky sneer, power moves and a

love of, er, Preston North End.

That’s right – the 31-year-old

wrestler is a Lancashire lad

with a rich accent that elicits

the required boos from packed,

Limey-hatin’ US crowds. And

for those who say the WWE

isn’t a real sport due to the fact

that it’s fixed... well, cricket and

Serie A haven’t exactly been

spotless of late, have they?

Tom Wort College FootballCompeting in US college

football really isn’t the same

as having a kickabout for your

school footy team: they take

this stuff seriously over there.

So when we say that Tom Wort

– a Crawley lad who used to

stay up late watching gridiron

on TV – is the most fearsome

college linebacker out there,

you better believe it’s big news.

Already playing to crowds of

85,0000 with the Oklahoma

Sooners, the burly 20-year-old

with the Union Jack tattoo will

likely be terrorising NFL stars

in the very near future.

s the famous saying goes, ‘an apple

a day keeps the doctor away, but

pie and some beer brings with it

good cheer’. Okay, that might not be the exact

wording, but thanks to these little packs

from O2, our saying definitely rings true.

And the good news is that the packs – which

contain two Pieminister pies (one meat, one

veggie), two cans of Greene King IPA and an

England flag – can be delivered to your house

(if you’re an O2 customer) on the morning of

an England rugby game. Brekkie’s never been

so easy – not to mention so unhealthily tasty!

See o2forengland.co.uk for more

details on the ‘free pie and pint’ offer

Radar

08 | February 24 2012 |

Radar

A

British beef

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roof that you can wear a top

sportswear brand and not be

emblazoned with an oversized

logo like some kind of walking billboard

comes in this new addition to Nike’s

ultra-premium Made in Italy line. Launched

with a tennis range last summer, this

follow-up collection is rugby-inspired to

coincide with the Six Nations, which our

spies tell us is currently ongoing.

As you can tell from the prices slapped

on the below (from left to right) Snares

Jacket, Ruck Tee and Destroyer Trench,

the range isn’t cheap – but that’s what you

get when Nike go to the home of fine attire

and use the best in fabrics and design.

Definitely one Italian line-up that won’t

finish with the wooden spoon in 2012.

Available from Selfridges, Hanon, End,

Oki-Ni and Nike 1948

PReassuringly expensive

£490 £65 £590

10 | February 24 2012 |

Radar Editor’s letter

Editor-in-chief

Simon Caney

@simoncaney

Sport magazinePart of UTV Media plc

18 Hatfields, London SE1 8DJ

Telephone: 020 7959 7800

Fax: 020 7959 7942

Email: firstname.lastname@

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EDITORIALEditor-in-chief: Simon Caney (7951)

Deputy editor: Tony Hodson (7954)

Associate editor: Nick Harper (7897)

Art editor: John Mahood (7860)

Deputy art editor: William Jack (7861)

Subeditor: Graham Willgoss (7431)

Senior writers: Sarah Shephard (7958),

Alex Reid (7915)

Staff writers: Mark Coughlan (7901),

Amit Katwala (7914)

Picture editor: Julian Wait (7961)

Production manager: Tara Dixon (7963)

Contributors: Simon Kelly

COMMERCIALAgency Sales Director: Iain Duffy (7991)

Advertising Managers:

Paul Brett (7918), Kevin O’Byrne (7832)

Head of Brand Solutions:

Adam Harris (7426)

Distribution Manager: Sian George (7852)

Distribution Assistant: Makrum Dudgeon

Head of Online: Matt Davis (7825)

Head of Communications:

Laura Wootton (7913)

Managing Director: Adam Bullock

PA to Managing Director:

Sophia Koulle (7826)

Colour reproduction: Rival Colour Ltd

Printed by:

Wyndeham (Peterborough) Ltd

© UTV Media plc 2011

UTV Media plc takes no responsibility

for the content of advertisements

placed in Sport magazine

£1 where sold

Hearty thanks this week to:Michelle Blair, Susie Richardson, Becky

Simms and Karen Halley for the pool cue

Don’t forget: Help keep public transport clean and tidy for everyone by taking your copy of Sport away with you when you leave the bus or train.

LAUNCH OFTHE YEAR

2008

Total Average Net Distribution: 304,700 Jul-Dec 2011

www.sport-magazine.co.uk

@sportmaguk

facebook.com/sportmaguk

Among the more surreal things I read this week was ‘David Haye’s whereabouts are unknown’. That’s right –

our former world heavyweight

champion had gone on the run.

While German police certainly wanted

a word with him over his involvement in

the unseemly fracas with Dereck Chisora,

it’s more likely Haye wanted to keep a low

profile out of sheer embarrassment.

As the world looked on (and crucially,

as the bemused Klitschko brothers looked

on), Haye and Chisora brought shame

on British boxing, and on British sport in

general. We still don’t have the greatest

reputation on a world stage, and here

were two big oafs proving why. I need to

be careful, lest I get shot or burned, but

the scenes were disgraceful. It’s clear

that the Klitschkos will now never fight

another British boxer again.

But there’s another side to this story.

Boxing as a sport may have been quick to

condemn, but it encourages its fighters

to trash-talk before fights in order to sell

tickets and drum up TV interest. It takes

only one fighter to fail to see that it’s a

charade, and that all that counts is what

happens inside the ring, and you end

up with what we had last week. When a

boxer such as Chisora is encouraged to

get involved in pre-fight nonsense, it’s

hard to think he’ll leave it at a bit of

well-timed verbal sparring.

And then some boxers are violent men.

Yes, it is an honourable sport, and there

are wonderful stories of how it has

turned people’s lives around, but

ultimately it’s a sport in which two people

hit each other hard. Occasionally they will

want to hit each other hard outside the

ring too; with that in mind, it shouldn’t be

such a massive surprise when they do.

There was once a Canadian golfer

called Moe Norman. He played in two

majors, the 1956 and 1957 Masters,

and missed the cut both times – yet is

regarded as being one of the most

gifted players of all time. Tiger Woods

once insisted that only two players had

ever truly ‘owned their swings’ – Moe

and Ben Hogan. I thought about Moe

Norman this week when considering

(again) Lionel Messi’s place among

the all-time greats. Sometimes the

trophy cabinet doesn’t matter.

A debate sprang up in the Sport office this week about race walking, and whether or not it really counts as a sport – because, well, if you wanted to get somewhere fast under your own steam, you’d run, right? Maybe so, but learning (see page 42) the world record is effectively 30-plus miles walked at seven minutes each, I’m in awe.

Is it really so shocking?Chisora and Haye made us a laughing stock, but they’re fighters – fight is what they do

Agree or disagree? Tweet us @sportmaguk

Ac

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Bottle, but no brains: Haye swings for

Chisora in Germany

Reader comments of the week

Couldn’t agree more with

@simoncaney statement

– if you shake someone’s

hand because you are

forced to,it doesn’t mean u

like or respect them!

@OllyWooding

Twitter

@simoncaney

@sportmaguk plenty

of other sports have

handshakes without

incident. Doing away does

not tackle the root cause

@GoodersJR

Twitter

The pre-match handshake

is one of the few credible

traditions in football

@simoncaney. Pointless

gesture? Pointless article

@KimLusher

Twitter

At last some common

sense in the Evra/Suarez

pantomime, well done

@simoncaney with

editor’s letter.

@stephenpenson

Twitter

@simoncaney. Great pix

of the zambian team in

2days issue. If only the

three lions could show

such dedication,

commitment & team spirit

@landlord44

Twitter

12 | February 24 2012 |

Radar Frozen in time

| 13

It’s all too easy to look at this shot of the 2012

Australian Surfing Open and bemoan our lot

in life. While we get to shiver through month

after month of miserable winter until Mr

Sunshine finally shows his face for an hour in

late August, our Antipodean cousins enjoy a

year-long diet of sun, sea and Sex Wax. But hey,

let’s look on the bright side. When was the last

time anyone was ever eaten alive by a shark

on the London Underground? Exactly. (A giant

rabid rat, on the Victoria Line in 2007, it’s true –

but never a shark.) Which is at least something. Ca

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Orange crush

Year of the

dragon?

In one of those lovely twists of sporting fate, this weekend sees a Welsh invasion of London in not one but two sports. Tomorrow, the Wales rugby union team descends on Twickenham as favourites to continue their quest for a Six Nations Grand Slam; and on Sunday, Cardiff City visit Wembley Stadium in a bid to upset the mighty Liverpool and win the Carling Cup.

On page 31, we assess the reasons why Cardiff fans can be hopeful of achieving the improbable; but it's Six Nations first, and that means an interview with one of the stars of the championship so far – Wales full back Leigh Halfpenny. All you lot need to do is turn the page >

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© 2012 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry,® RIM,® Research In Motion® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Devices shown above: BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790 smartphones.

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KicKing Wales full back Leigh Halfpenny has bounced back from World Cup disappointment to become one of the outstanding early performers of the 2012 Six Nations. Ahead of his side’s visit to Twickenham this weekend, he spoke exclusively to Sport

Back in October, 23-year-old Leigh Halfpenny stood just beyond the halfway line of Auckland’s Eden Park. Almost 60,000 fans sat silent,

waiting to see if the full back could

kick the penalty that would secure

an improbable but heroic win for 14-man

Wales over France, thus carrying his team

into a first ever World Cup final.

Halfpenny took a deep breath, then a short

but determined look at the posts between

which he was aiming, and struck for glory.

His kick had the direction, but fell agonisingly

short, bringing to an end the dreams of a

proud and rugby-mad nation.

“Since then, every single time I’ve

prepared a kick in training, it’s been done to

make sure that, if I had another opportunity

like the one I had against France, I’d be able

to nail it,” admits Halfpenny ahead of his

team’s visit to Twickenham on Saturday.

“I didn’t really expect that chance to come

around so soon, as it did in Ireland, but I

knew that was my time. I was obviously very

nervous and my heart started thumping

through my chest; but I took a couple of deep

breaths to compose myself, and treated the

kick like I would any other.”

The kick of which Halfpenny talks gave

Wales a dramatic 23-21 victory in Dublin

three weeks ago, a last-minute effort that

saw Warren Gatland’s men start their Six

Nations campaign with a(nother) vital win

over Ireland. The full back stops short of

calling it personally cathartic, but it’s

perhaps no coincidence that he followed it up

with a 22-point masterclass in the victory

over Scotland back at the Millennium

Stadium a week later. As a result, Wales

head to Twickenham on top of a nascent

Six Nations table, with Halfpenny the

tournament’s top scorer.

“Going into the Six Nations on the back of

two good Heineken Cup wins with the Cardiff

Blues, which qualified us for the quarter

finals, was great for building my confidence,”

he says. “But as a team I think we learned a

lot about ourselves at the World Cup.

“We were quite a young side in New

Zealand, but the experience has brought us

on leaps and bounds in terms of belief. This

is pretty much the same squad as at the

World Cup, so we’re all very close and know

each other very well, both on and off the

pitch – and I think that’s something we’re

seeing in this tournament. We’ve bonded well

and feel like a real unit, which is something

that has come from both the ups and the

downs at the World Cup. Losing to France

was extremely disappointing, but I think it’s

brought the best out of us.”

camp fire

Where once the disappointment of missing

out on a World Cup final might have led to

much soul-searching and infighting, the

Saturday

England v Wales |

Twickenham |

BBC One 4pm

16 | February 24 2012 |

Leigh Halfpenny

© 2012 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry,® RIM,® Research In Motion® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Devices shown above: BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790 smartphones.

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King

current Welsh crop seems to boast an

inner steel and, finally, a winning mentality

– characteristics Halfpenny suggests have

been forged in the squad’s now notorious

pre-tournament Poland training camps.

Come on though, Leigh, seriously – how

tough can it really be?

“Oh, it’s extremely tough,” he insists.

“It’s not easy at all, a very, very basic

environment. The rooms you stay in are

completely basic, the beds are hard, and

the food is not very nice. At the most

recent camp it was absolutely freezing

too, snowing every day, and very harsh

conditions. It’s mentally draining as much

as it is physically; it can really get to you,

but you have to try and overcome it.

“You’re really tested, both as individuals

and as a team. At times during the camp you

have to rely on other guys to bring you

through and take you to the finish line,

because you’re just so mentally and

physically drained. But I think those are the

moments that come through in situations

like we had in that last play against Ireland.

We’re a close group, and in those high-

pressure moments we had the confidence

in each other that we could still go and get

the win.”

London caLLing

And so to Twickenham tomorrow, where

Wales have beaten England only once in

Halfpenny’s lifetime. Despite this, and

despite the Stuart Lancaster era beginning

with two away wins, the bookies have the

visitors as strong favourites.

“I think we have to relish that, you know?”

says Halfpenny. “They’re a very young side

with a lot of new players coming in; they’re

obviously ambitious and very proud to be

pulling on the shirt, and as a team they’ll be

looking forward to coming home after having

won away twice already. They’ve done well to

get the results they have in tough conditions,

especially in Italy, and we know it’s going to

be a huge challenge. Twickenham’s a tough

place to get a result; we’re going to have to

play better there than we have done so far.”

Wales would welcome a repeat of

Halfpenny’s first visit to HQ, when in his

debut season with the Blues he scored two

tries in a 50-12 hammering of Gloucester in

the EDF Energy Cup final. Less so his second,

when he came off the bench in a 30-17 Six

Nations defeat for Wales back in 2010.

“Mixed memories, I guess,” he recalls.

“It was a nice sunny day for the Blues, for

a start, and pretty cold when I went there

with Wales. That was one thing, but the

crowd was basically even for the cup final

as well. It certainly isn’t when you go there

as an international, and that obviously

creates a very different atmosphere...

we’ve played in Ireland and had a result,

though, so we have to believe we can do

the same at Twickenham.”

oLd hand

Saturday’s game represents cap number 30

for Halfpenny, who in the absence of the now

retired Shane Williams has become the old

boy of a Wales back three now featuring the

giant potential of George North (19, 6ft 4ins)

and Alex Cuthbert (21, 6ft 6ins).

“They are both extremely fast and very

strong, so playing with them gives me

massive confidence,” says Halfpenny, who

admits to relishing the greater involvement

and extra space that has come with his

recent move to full back. He smiles at the

thought of himself as one of the senior

members of the side, however.

“I remember in Poland we had a day off,

so a few of us went for a walk round the

town and stopped off in a restaurant,” he

says. “I looked around at the group, six or

seven of us, and realised that I was the

oldest there. It hit me then that, bloody hell,

I am one of the older guys in the squad. It

shows how young some of this lot are, but

the potential is huge – and hopefully we’ll

be together for many years to come.”

And that is a thought to strike fear into

the rest of world rugby, whether Wales win

at Twickenham tomorrow or not.

Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

Still only 23, Leigh Halfpenny is already one of

only nine players in Welsh rugby history to have

scored 10 or more tries and 100 or more points

in Tests. Hats off to you if you know the other

eight (answers are located bottom right)

Answers: Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas, Ieuan

Evans, Colin Charvis, Tom Shanklin, James Hook,

Neil Jenkins, Arwel Thomas

‘we’ve pLayed in ireLand and had a resuLt, so we have to beLieve we can do the same at twicKenham’

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© 2012 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry,® RIM,® Research In Motion® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Devices shown above: BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790 smartphones.

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and organise events quicker than ever before. Time to say goodbye to your old phone?

After all the problems of the last six

months, how’s the mood in the England

camp after winning your first two Six

Nations games?

“It’s great. To go to the places we have

done and come away with wins has been

brilliant. There have been some really tough

conditions along the way and we’ve shown

a lot of character in the games – as well

as showing a few glimpses of what we

can do at times – and that’s been really

important. We’ve fought hard for each

other and I think we’re going to get better

and better.”

Of course, negative headlines have been

written about this side’s lack of creativity.

Do you put that down to bad weather?

“Conditions play a part, definitely, but we’re

happy with the two wins and now we’re just

looking to keep improving. I thought we made

some brilliant chances and played some

brilliant rugby in the second half against Italy,

so we’re looking forward to taking that into

the Wales game.”

Have you talked about trying to be

more creative?

“It’s been mentioned, yeah. But it will take

time for us as a squad to learn how we all

play. We’re improving every time we take

to the training pitch, let alone in a game

– and it’s not like we haven’t done anything.

The way that we showed we can attack in

that second half in Rome shows that we

can do it.” > Da

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In an England side filled with unfamiliar faces, Owen Farrell has made an instant impact after kicking the side to victory in their opening two Six Nations games. With a buoyant Wales in town for tomorrow’s encounter, he spoke exclusively to Sport

Tee Boy

20 | February 24 2012 |

Owen Farrell

© 2012 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry,® RIM,® Research In Motion® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Devices shown above: BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790 smartphones.

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a powerful processor that delivers a truly outstanding experience.

Da

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Wales are next up for you. Have you seen

their first two games?

“Yeah, they’re on great form and it’s going

to be a massive challenge. We know that. The

important thing for us, though – especially

as such a new group of players – is to

concentrate on ensuring we keep improving

week on week. This weekend is no different.”

That Wales game will be just your third

international. How was your debut?

“It was brilliant. Walking out at Murrayfield

was great, and the atmosphere was

amazing. I’d love to talk about it and how

much I took in during the day and so on, but

the truth is I was too focused. You don’t want

to play the occasion down too much, but once

that whistle goes it’s another game, at the

end of the day. After winning the game,

I looked back on the day and enjoyed the

experience more, but it flew by on the pitch.”

Did your second match feel any different?

“No, it was still the same pride beforehand.

I think every international game you play in

has a cup final mentality. They’re all different

challenges, but they’re all still big ones –

and I think it’ll stay like that for a long time.”

And it was the perfect start for you in terms

of the boot, having kicked the side to victory

in both games...

“Yeah, it’s been brilliant. I missed a few kicks

at Murrayfield, but I’m happy with the Italy

game. The team worked hard for both those

victories, so I just do my job and if it helps us

win, that’s great. In terms of kicking, I got

those points, yeah, but without all the other

players there to win the penalties and play

the game, we obviously wouldn’t have won.”

Jonny Wilkinson used to kick every day,

even on Christmas Day. Are you the same?

“Not at all. Sometimes, at the end of training,

I’ll only do a few because it feels right and

I don’t want to push it. How often I kick

depends on how I’m feeling and how well I’ve

been kicking in games. At the minute, for

example, I’m just keeping on top of what I’ve

been doing. I’ve been striking the ball pretty

well, so I’m just trying to keep my rhythm and

feel good about stepping over the ball.”

Your dad’s a rugby icon. Was there ever any

chance of you not playing rugby?

“Not really. I grew up around the sport and

I’ve never known any different. It was always

the norm for me to go to training with my

dad and then just mess around with a ball

on the side. Seeing him play for such great

teams and being around them so much just

helped my interest in the sport grow.”

And he’s your coach with England now as

well as Saracens. How easy is it to separate

home and professional life?

“It’s quite simple. I’ve never known it any

different since I started playing, so it’s just

what I’m used to. I came out of school and

went straight to Saracens, where my dad

has been a coach since I joined. We talk about

rugby at home, but still have a family life and

a rugby life, so it works well.”

Do you call him ‘Andy’ on the pitch?

[Laughs] “No way, I still call him dad!”

You’ve played centre in both your Test caps

so far. Do you prefer centre or fly half?

“I genuinely haven’t got a preference

between the two – I enjoy both. I step in a bit

at 10, but I train mostly at 12 at the moment,

and that’s fine with me. I’m happy to slot in

wherever. Players are back from injury this

weekend, obviously, so things might be

different. But I just need to keep working on

what I need to work on and keep trying to

improve. It’s up to the coaches to decide the

combinations, but it’s a great situation for

England and for the coaches to have so many

options – and I’m happy to offer them more.”

What’s Chris Robshaw like as captain?

“Absolutely brilliant. He speaks really well

when he has to speak, and everyone listens

to him – but at the same time he’s one of the

hardest-working rugby players I’ve ever

seen. That combination of a good speaker

and a hard worker is great, and everyone

just genuinely wants to follow his example.”

He’s captain, but how much responsibility

falls on other players in the squad?

“Yeah, there is a leadership group in the

squad – but at the same time, there are a lot

of leaders. If something needs to be said, no

one’s afraid to speak up and everyone’s happy

to listen, which makes for a really happy

environment. Everyone’s speaking up when

they want to and that’s what you need – we

need as many leaders as possible on the pitch.”

And most importantly, he’s just 25, so he

should be around – like a lot the squad – for

a long time. Do you get a feeling among the

squad that this group of players could be

part of something special in the future?

“Definitely. We don’t want to get too carried

away, obviously, but if we keep doing what

we’re doing and keep this squad together,

everything is in place for us. We just have to

go out and do our talking on the pitch.”

Mark Coughlan @coffers83

Owen Farrell was talking at an O2 For England

event. O2 customers can apply for a free pie

and pint delivered to their door in this year’s

RBS 6 Nations. See O2forengland.co.uk for more

Farrell became the

youngest player to

appear in the English

professional game

when he made his

debut, in October

2008, just 11 days

after his 17th

birthday. His record

has since been

broken by Leicester

fly half George Ford

“EACH INTERNATIONAL YOU PLAY IN HAS A CUP FINAL MENTALITY”

22 | February 24 2012 |

Owen Farrell

scotland v france

© 2012 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry,® RIM,® Research In Motion® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Devices shown above: BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9790 smartphones.

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ireland v italyireland

It’s hard to judge Ireland’s Six Nations

this year, after narrow defeat to Wales

was followed by a late postponement

in Paris. Declan Kidney’s men now have

four games in four weeks to contend

with, and they will look to put points

on the Italians to kickstart their

tournament. The Irish provinces put in

solid performances last week, with

Leinster’s Fergus McFadden pushing

for a place yet again, but Kidney

has decided to stick with the same

team that were set to take the field

in the French capital. Irish eyes will

only be smiling with a good – and big

– win here.

one to watch

Keith Earls, who scored five of

Ireland’s 16 tries at the World Cup in

New Zealand. Given a bit of space, he

can be deadly. If the Italians tire,

Earls could thrive.

italy

The Italians will still be hurting from

that narrow defeat to the English, but

the same old problems reared their

ugly heads. A failure to stay composed

and win those narrow games has cost

the Italians many times, and Jacques

Brunel will have to solve the issues at

half back if his side are to improve.

The loss of Martin Castrogiovanni is

huge for the Azzurri and, despite

offering strength elsewhere, they

rarely travel well. Italy were pumped

up for the England game – we can’t

see the same happening tomorrow.

one to watch

Alessandro Zanni. Sergio Parisse is

the headline maker, but Zanni does a

lot of the ball-stealing and hard graft.

A good performance from him is

needed to silence the Irish back row.

Sport’s prediction 31-12

Da

vid

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saturday Ireland v Italy | Aviva Stadium | BBC One 1.30pm

Sunday Scotland v France | Murrayfield | BBC One 3pm

24 | February 24 2012 |

Six Nations 2012 The Other Games

scotland

The Scots need to bounce back from

two consecutive defeats – especially

with this being their final home game

of the tournament. Andy Robinson’s

men were very unlucky against

England, but they then pressed the

self-destruct button against the

Welsh. They will know that the key to

victory on Sunday is to remain

composed for the entire 80 minutes,

and never let up on the intensity front.

To that end, the return of Ruaridh

Jackson comes at the perfect time; his

experienced head will be essential in

getting Scotland over the line – and in

more ways than one.

one to watch

Stuart Hogg. Max Evans’ fitness

worries mean Hogg is going to get the

chance to light up the game at some

point. With a big pack creating gaps,

Hogg could cause real problems in

open spaces.

france

After the debacle in Paris two weeks

ago, the French will just be looking

forward to getting another game

under their belts. Phillipe Saint-Andre

has brought form players back into

the squad, and the likes of Julien

Malzieu and Louis Picamoles

impressed when given their

opportunity against the Italians.

Francois Trinh-Duc remains at 10,

with an absolutely lethal backline

outside him. The big question remains

over how the French will travel. Can

Saint-Andre get this team playing

consistently? Sunday will provide

some strong indications.

one to watch

Wesley Fofana. The Welsh showed how

to expose Scotland in the backs, and

Fofana could be the beneficiary of

lacklustre defence late on.

Sport’s prediction 21-19

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Leon Haslam

| February 24 2012 | 27

Back on track

Ahead of Sunday’s World Superbikes season opener, Sport

talks to British rider Leon Haslam,

who finished fifth last year but hopes to challenge current champ Carlos Checa this tim

e round

The Superbike World Championship bursts back into action in Australia this Sunday, with the first round

of a new season that will run until

October. Last year’s championship was

won by veteran Spanish rider Carlos Checa,

who dominated throughout, winning 15 of

the 26 races across the 13 rounds.

The Spaniard wrapped up the title with

a round to spare, finishing a staggering

110 points ahead of closest challenger

Marco Melandri. The chasing pack will

be eager to make more of a contest of it

this year, and have spent the winter break

training and testing their bikes, which must

be derived from standard production models.

Ahead of this year’s opening race on Phillip

Island, Victoria, we caught up with 28-year-

old Leon Haslam. The British rider finished

the series an impressive second in 2010, but

a disappointing fifth last year after moving

to a new team in BMW.

Are you looking forward to the new season?

“Very much. I’m excited to try the new things

we have developed with the bike. I feel we

have made good progress with the new bits

and fitting it all together. I’m looking forward

to the championship as a whole, trying to

develop the BMW and fighting for wins.”

You came fifth in the championship last

season, in your first year at BMW. Were

you happy with your performances?

“It was frustrating because we couldn’t

challenge for wins, but also a necessary

season to develop the bike. My best race

was the Magny-Cours podium [in France,

where Haslam finished third] because I

had to battle and pass people for it. The

worst was Miller Motorsports Park in the

US [where he finished eighth and 13th].

We had so many problems with the bike

that we just couldn’t overcome. I think

the potential at BMW is bigger, but we

have some way to go to fulfil it.” > Gly

n K

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/AF

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ph

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28 | February 24 2012 |

Leon HaslamQ

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LIGHTSTREAM PICTURES PRESENT A WAYPOINT ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE THIRD MIND PICTURES “RAMPART” WOODY HARRELSON NED BEATTY BEN FOSTER ANNE HECHE ICE CUBE CYNTHIA NIXON SIGOURNEY WEAVER ROBERT WISDOM ROBIN WRIGHT AND STEVE BUSCEMI CASTING

BY LAURA ROSENTHAL AND RACHEL TENNER MUSIC

SUPERVISOR JIM BLACK MUSIC

BY DICKON HINCHLIFFE COSTUME

DESIGNER CATHERINE GEORGE EDITED

BY JAY RABINOWITZ, A.C.E. PRODUCTION

DESIGNER DAVID WASCO DIRECTOR OF

PHOTOGRAPHY BOBBY BUKOWSKI CO-

PRODUCER LUCA BORGHESE EXECUTIVE

PRODUCERS MICHAEL DEFRANCO LILA YACOUB MARK GORDON PAUL CURRIE GARRETT KELLEHER PRODUCED

BY LAWRENCE INGLEE CLARK PETERSON BEN FOSTER KEN KAO WRITTEN

BY JAMES ELLROY AND OREN MOVERMAN DIRECTED

BY OREN MOVERMAN

WOODY

HARRELSON

NED

BEATTY

BEN

FOSTER

ANNE

HECHE

ICE

CUBE

CYNTHIA

NIXON

SIGOURNEY

WEAVER

FROM DIRECTOR OREN MOVERMAN AND JAMES ELLROY THE WRITER OF

FOR ONE COP CORRUPTION KNOWS NO LIMIT

I

T

HHHHHLITTLE WHITE LIES

HHHHHHEYUGUYS!

HHHHHBIG CHEESE

“STUNNING” TIME OUT

“ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT” HEYUGUYS!

“WOODY HARRELSON SHINES AS L.A.’S DIRTIEST COP” TIME MAGAZINE

Race schedule

February 26 Phillip Island, Australia

April 1 Imola, Italy

April 22 Assen, Netherlands

May 6 Monza, Italy

May 13 Donington Park, UK (Europe)

May 28 Miller Motorsport Park, Utah, USA

June 10 Misano Adriatico, San Marino

July 1 Motorland Aragon, Spain

July 22 Brno, Czech Republic

August 5 Silverstone, Great Britain

August 26 Moscow, Russia

September 9 Nurburgring, Germany

September 23 Portimao, Portugal

October 7 Magny-Cours, France

What are your goals and predictions for

this year? Do you think anyone can catch

Carlos Checa?

“The same as always: to maximise the

potential of the bike, get as many wins as

possible and become world champion. Max

[Biaggi], Eugene [Laverty] and [Carlos]

Checa will all be very strong. Also, Honda

and Kawasaki will be improving all the time.

Carlos is riding awesome at the moment

and his whole package is good, but it’s a long

championship and not all the circuits suit him.”

Marco Melandri is joining you at BMW,

having been at Yamaha last year. Do you

work closely with your teammates, or is

there a bit of a rivalry there?

“He’s the first person I want to beat come

the Sunday race, but we do work together

to make the bike better.”

You recently became a father. Has that

made you more aware of safety measures,

and less likely to take risks while racing?

“Not at all. It’s made me more driven – she is

one more person I want to win for. The sport

is always coming up with new safety measures,

like more run-off areas and Airfence barriers.”

What are your favourite and least favourite

tracks on the World Superbikes calendar?

“My favourite is Phillip Island for its fast and

flowing nature, and also because of the time

we get to spend here. I would have to say

my least favourite is Brno because I can

never get a good result there – although

I do like the layout of the track.”

Finally, give us your best reason why our

readers should watch World Superbikes

this season?

“It’s really close racing with bikes you buy on

the road, and you could never put your

money on any one person to win.”

Amit Katwala @amitkatwala

Leon Haslam is sponsored by Dainese, market

leaders in protective kit for motorcycling and

other dynamic sports. Go to dainese.com

| 29

STEVE

BUSCEMI

SIGOURNEYVER

ROBINWRIGHT

THE WRITER OF L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

IN CINEMAS

TODAYWWW.RAMPARTMOVIE.CO.UK ©2011 END OF WATCH, LLC

HHHHH

HHHHHTIME OUT

“EXCELLENT” VARIETY

TIEST COP”

The World Superbikes season starts up down under with a visit to Phillip Island, 87 miles south east of Melbourne. Defending champion Carlos Checa won both races here last season, setting the tone for a season of dominance.

The circuit will be familiar to the riders as it was used for three days of testing a fortnight ago. Checa, not surprisingly, picked up where he left off in the testing sessions, setting the fastest times. A lone rider on Althea Racing’s Ducati last season, the 39-year-old has been joined by 22-year old Davide Giugliano, last year’s Superstock 1000 champion.

The Yamaha World Superbike team that finished second in the manufacturers’ standings last year is no more, following the Japanese company’s decision to withdraw from the sport, so riders Marco Melandri (BMW) and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) have had to find new employers.

There are a few other changes in personnel – British rider and grade six pianist James Toseland has been forced to retire because of a wrist injury, and American John Hopkins is stepping up to the World Superbikes for his first full season after spending last year in British Superbikes. He will look to put a painful 2011 behind him – not only did he miss out on the British Superbikes title by just 0.06 seconds, but he also had to have a finger amputated in January because of injuries sustained in a crash at Brno last August. That’s not all – he now looks certain to miss the first race of the World Superbikes season after he fractured a wrist in testing.

superbike world championship |

PhilliP island, australia |

live on British eurosPort at 12.45aM

and 2aM, saturday night.

highlights sunday, 9PM

Carling Cup Final

| February 24 2012 | 31

Despite being sizeable outsiders when they face

Liverpool this weekend, Cardiff City’s name is on

the Carling Cup. Now, we don’t genuinely believe that either – but in the

interests of keeping this preview on edge, we now

present five fairly solid reasons why Cardiff City will prevail this Sunday...

Blue is the

colour

Pe

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32 | February 24 2012 |

Carling Cup Final

It's MIller (And WhIttInghAM) tIMeSuccessful sides need great players, and

Cardiff have two of the Championship’s best

in Kenny Miller (right) and Peter Whittingham.

With 10 goals already this season, Miller is

Cardiff’s main goal threat in the box, while

midfield star Whittingham has provided

11 assists to date in this campaign as

well as contributing 10 goals of his own.

On top of that, Pepe Reina will be hoping the

goalpost is on his side, because Miller and

Whittingham have this season struck the

woodwork 11 times between them. If all

else fails for Malky Mackay’s side, they can

always hope for a Robert Earnshaw hat-trick

– the Welsh striker is the only player to bag

trebles in all four divisions, as well as both

cups and on the international stage. You didn't

know that you didn't know that, did you?

hoMe FroM hoMeOkay, so calling Wembley Cardiff’s second

home might be stretching it a bit, but Sunday

will be their fourth visit to the new-look

‘Home of Football’ since it was opened in

2007. Liverpool, by comparison, last played

at Wembley back in 1996, when they turned

out in those obnoxious cream whistles.

Since then, their cup final appearances

have all come – ironically – in Cardiff. The

underdogs do at least have some idea of the

layout of the changing room, the sound of

the fans and the approach up Wembley Way.

On such minor details are cup finals so often

won (we’ve glossed over the fact that Cardiff

lost two of their previous three visits,

because that undermines our argument).

they don’t dreAd the redsWhen Malky Mackay’s men look to their

left in the Wembley tunnel (we’ve decided

they’re going to stand on the right, we’re

not sure why), the red shirts that confront

them will hold very little fear. In one of those

remarkable quirks of sporting seasons,

Cardiff have played against 11 teams with

red on their shirts and have only lost

twice – and one of those was to Crystal

Palace in the Carling Cup semis, who

they then defeated in the second leg.

Call it a coincidence if you like, but the

men from the Welsh capital simply don’t

fear sides in red. As if that wasn’t

enough (and you’d be perfectly

within your rights to say so), how

about the fact that, of the past

seven League Cup finals to

feature reds against blues,

the blues have come out

on top five times? Blue

really could be the colour

this weekend.

the CeltIC ConneCtIonThe Scottish Premier

League might be

a funny place to

look for a bit of

inspiration ahead

The 2011-12 Carling Cup (so far) in numbers 93games 306 25 252 27goals penalties

times a side have

beaten a team from

a higher league

cards: 246 yellow, of which

three were second yellows,

and six straight red

Mic

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| 33

of an English League Cup final, but

Mackay’s influence on the side

since taking over last summer

comes mainly from his time

north of the border. A former

Celtic man himself, Mackay

has brought in star striker

Kenny Miller and first team

coach Joe McBride – both

former Bhoys – to join

former Celtic keeper

David Marshall and

full back Lee Naylor

in Cardiff’s ranks.

Between the manager

and the three former

Celtic players, they boast

eight league titles and five cup

successes. When things get tight

during the latter stages at Wembley,

it’s men like these who know how to

keep cool – and that could make all the

difference for Cardiff come Sunday.

success on a sunday

God might have rested on the seventh day,

but the Bluebirds save their best games for

Sunday afternoons. Swansea’s 1-0 defeat of

their Welsh rivals back in November 2010

was the last time Cardiff have lost on a

Sunday, with five victories and three draws

coming in their subsequent eight ties. Not

only that, but those eight games have also

accounted for five clean sheets and have

seen the men from across the Severn fire

in 11 goals, while conceding only four. And

Malky Mackay? Well, the last time he was

in charge of a losing side on a Sunday

afternoon was back in March 2010, when his

Watford side lost to... that’s right, Cardiff.

Liverpool, by contrast, might be unbeaten in

their past four Sunday games, but they lost

their three previous to that and were taken

apart in a 4-0 loss to Spurs as recently as a

September Sunday afternoon. If all of that’s

not enough for you to back the Welshmen,

we truly don’t know what is.

and one solid Reason Why They Won'T:

luis suaRez

He might not be the most popular man in

English football right now, and he really

doesn’t help himself, but the Uruguayan

striker (left) was brought in to help Liverpool

return to the top table. And it’s games like

this when King Kenny expects him to shine.

Despite an eight-game ban, Suarez has still

contributed six goals and three assists in

Liverpool’s league campaign. More ominously

for Cardiff, however, is his form in what has

become Liverpool’s forte – cup competitions.

In just three Carling Cup appearances this

season, Suarez scored three and set up

three of his side’s seven goals. His form

against Brighton last weekend, scoring one,

having one cleared off the line and playing

a major role in forcing two of the Seagull’s

three own goals, bodes well for the Reds

(even if he did miss a penalty). If Cardiff are

to taste glory at Wembley at last, they have

to find a way to stop Suarez.

1,194 88 1,110,318 12,337total attendance average attendance

number of English

players who have

started a game

number of different

nationalities represented

in the competition

All stats from statbunker.com

Sunday Carling Cup Final:

CardiFF City v liverpool | Wembley

Stadium | Sky SportS 1 4pm

Ju

lian

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| February 24 2012 | 35

Shay Given

Ahead of next week’s international fixtures, Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given looks ahead to Euro 2012, reveals what it’s like working with Giovanni Trapattoni and tells us he has no intention of retiring just yet...

“I know a lot of players who do a lot of good

work for charity, but people don’t always

want to read too much about it,” says Shay

Given in an exclusive chat with Sport. “They

often prefer to read about the bad stuff,

but then I’m not doing this to get noticed

– I’m doing it for a good cause.”

Given is talking to us not to flog a new pair

of boots, nor to hawk the latest computer

game, but because of his close relationship

with Macmillan Cancer Support. The Aston

Villa and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, set

to win cap number 121 against the Czech

Republic in Dublin next Wednesday, has been

organising his Fashion Kicks event in aid of

the charity since 2004. “I think we’ve raised

more than £1m in the past eight years, and

it seems to be getting bigger and better

every year,” he says of an event that

combines fashion, football, food and music.

“Hopefully, this year will be the biggest yet.”

Quite so. But before Fashion Kicks,

Given has the rest of the domestic football

season to navigate – with the small matter

of a major international championship to

follow it...

Ireland adventureHow did you react when the draw was made

for Euro 2012? Spain, Italy and Croatia is

a pretty tough group.

[Laughs] “Yeah, it’s not easy is it? We were

kind of hoping for England. It would have been

nice, because most of our players play in

England and there’s been a huge rivalry over

the years. But we got Italy instead, and it’s

now a very tough-looking group. Spain seem

streets ahead of everyone else at the minute,

and Italy won the World Cup not so long ago.

It’s a tough draw, but I think Irish teams play

better against the bigger nations – and we’ll

be underdogs, too, which is a tag that suits us.”

You’re facing the Czech Republic next week.

They will also be at Euro 2012, but this is

a game you want to be winning, right?

“Yeah, of course. When you win games it

builds confidence, and heading to a major

tournament you want your confidence as

high as possible. It’s not the be all and end

all to beat the Czech Republic next week,

but it’s good to build a winning habit.”

James McClean has had a massive impact for

Sunderland recently, and Giovanni Trapattoni

has just included him in the squad for that

match. Would you expect him to make the

plane for Euro 2012?

“I don’t know, to be honest. I mean, he’s just

burst on to the scene in the last few weeks,

and he’s obviously big news at the minute.

I don’t think the manager will be ruling anyone

out or in yet, though, because this is football

and you’re only ever one challenge away from

an injury. Trapattoni is an extremely clever >

How excited are you about having qualified

for Euro 2012 with Ireland?

“Well, of course we’re all buzzing for the

summer. I think it’s been 10 years since we

last qualified for a major tournament, and

almost 25 since we’ve been to the Euros. So

there’s a huge buzz among the players, and

I’m sure in the country as well. It was exciting

to go and watch the team when they qualified

for major tournaments in the past, but to be

involved as a player is very special.”

Did qualification feel like a kind of justice

after what happened against France in the

World Cup 2010 playoffs?

“I don’t know if it’s justice, but we definitely

felt a bit unlucky – and that we should have

been at that World Cup. It’s well documented

what happened and why we weren’t there,

but the most important thing is that we didn’t

feel sorry for ourselves. We went into the next

campaign wanting to prove we were good

enough to be at a championship. It’s a great

credit to the players, who got their heads

down and put the hard work in to get us

over the line.”

36 | February 24 2012 |

Shay Given

man and he’ll have his scouts out watching all

sorts of different players. He’ll have most of

his preferred squad nailed down – but, as

you say, if a lad like James McClean is bang in

form, then he must have an outside chance

of going.”

What is Trapattoni like to work with?

“He’s great, really. People who have never

dealt with him just don’t realise how

passionate he is about the job. He really drills

into the players how he wants us to play, but

also how the opposition want to play. When

we get on the pitch we know exactly what to

expect and what he expects from us. His

passion reminds me of Bobby Robson, you

know? He could easily be putting his feet up

somewhere in Italy right now... but, just like

Bobby, football’s been in his blood all his life.

He just loves being involved in big games.”

There’s an obvious compare and contrast

with England: an Italian coach with an

impeccable pedigree coming in to manage

an international side. So how has it gone so

right for Ireland, and why did it go so wrong

for Fabio Capello and England?

“We’re a small country, you know? People

sometimes forget just how small Ireland is,

so to have someone of Trap’s experience at

the helm of our national team is fantastic.

The FA is a huge organisation, as we all know,

and the media pressure on every England

manager is phenomenal. It’s obviously been

well documented why Capello left, but I just

feel that England should concentrate on

getting behind their team. Sometimes I think

they can be too negative towards the

manager, and there always seems to be

some sort of distraction going into a major

tournament. I think the more a nation is

behind a team, including the media, then

the better that team’s going to perform.”

Your manager at Aston Villa, Alex McLeish,

has been under pressure himself recently.

How distracting is it for players when

there’s discontent in the stands?

“It’s not ideal, of course. This season we’ve

struggled at home, and maybe that is partly

down to the pressure within the stadium. To

be fair to the Villa fans, I was injured when

we lost at home to Arsenal [in the Premier

League in December] – but the lads were

clapped off the pitch at the end because they

had put on a really good performance. I think

that’s all the fans want – to see the team

working their socks off and putting in the

performances. If they do that, then the fans

will support them.”

What can Villa realistically get out of the

rest of this season?

“As I say, we need to improve on our home

form. I think if we can do that, then we can

get ourselves up the league, but the most

important thing is that we don’t let the

season fizzle out and get sucked into a

relegation fight. We have four games

coming up [starting with Wigan away on

Saturday] from which we can get some

positive results and move away from the

danger zone. Then we need to kick on in the

last couple of months, and not limp but sprint

across the line – that will give our fans

optimism for next season.”

Finally, you’re 36 in April, but your form is good

and Brad Friedel’s still going strong at about

150. How long do you see yourself playing?

“Yeah, keep that to yourself. It gives us all

hope every week, seeing Brad throw himself

around. I’d like to think I could go on a few

years yet, because it’s really all I’ve done

all my life. When I was a kid of 10 or 11, all I

wanted to do was play football, and nothing’s

changed. I’m very privileged to be playing in

the Premier League and for my country,

but I still just enjoy the game – whether

that’s for Aston Villa, Ireland or just on

a Sunday morning with my mates. It’s in

my blood, and I want to play for as long

as I can.”

Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

Shay Given’s Fashion Kicks event for Macmillan

Cancer Support takes place at The Point, Manchester,

on May 1 2012. For tickets and sponsorship

opportunities, see fashionkicks.org.uk

‘Football’s in his blood – just like

bobby Robson, tRapattoni loves being involved in

big games’

International caps won

by Shay Given, making

him the Republic of

Ireland’s most capped

player. Only three

others have reached

the century: Robbie

Keane (114), Kevin

Kilbane (110) and

Steve Staunton (102)

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OUT TODAYPlayStationNetwork

®

®

© 2012 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, the EA logo and Syndicate are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. The Starbreeze logo is the

trademark of Starbreeze AB. “2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3”, “Ã’’ and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. KINECT, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

BUSINESS IS WAR

SOME TAKEOVERS ARE MORE HOSTILE THAN OTHERS.

WWW.EA.COM/SYNDICATE

38 | February 24 2012 |

Three Lions, the Dutch and the Euros

| 39

YEAR ZERO For once, England no longer expects. Following the highly principled

harrumph and walkout of Fabio

Capello earlier this month, the

national team find themselves with

nobody to steer the ship. Until the FA appoint

the new man, whose name we all know,

England no longer knows what to expect.

What we do know is that today is 105 days

out from the start of Euro 2012 and 108

days before England face France in their

opening group game – and England approach

next Wednesday’s friendly with Holland with

a strange, conflicting state of mind. They

may have no coach and so no real sense of

direction, yet morale and optimism are

higher than at any point under the despotic

Italian. Confused? The game against Holland

should go part of the way to answering some

key questions...

Who will lead New England?

Long-term, or possibly just for the European

Championships, Harry Redknapp is the only

real choice. But until that press conference

is called we can only speculate. For this

friendly, and we pray this game only, Stuart

Pearce is in charge – that ever-dependable

but ill-equipped man-motivator. His job on

Wednesday will be to continue dabbling with

the youth + experience formula Capello

half-heartedly toyed with before jumping

ship. This will mean another England team

without Wayne Rooney, and should see

Pearce again starting with the 4-3-3

formation Capello stumbled upon against

Sweden in their previous outing. Don’t expect

any significant changes, though – for, despite

the lack of manager, England had been

heading in the right direction.

Will this managerial vacuum undermine

England’s hopes this summer?

Assuming he takes over today, which is

unlikely, the new manager will have just those

aforementioned 108 days to fashion a team

together – Capello had the best part of three

years to prepare for his only World Cup. Is

this a problem? Well not for the manager,

who has a ready-made excuse should

England fail dismally. Nor for the players,

who are no doubt relieved to be free of the

Italian dictator and can recommence texting

snaps of their genitals to each other at the

breakfast table. Also, given that England

went unbeaten in 2011, which included

qualifying for these finals and the defeat,

albeit fortuitously, of world and European

champions Spain, it’s not like they’re a team

searching for form.

On top of all that, you only have to trawl

back to Euro 92 for an example of a team

cobbled together late on that won the

European Championships: Denmark had been

on holiday (not all together, we assume)

when Yugoslavia were ejected for political

reasons from that tournament, but the

Danes took their place, turned out in their

trunks and somehow won the thing. So 108

days or less is far from ideal, but it is not an

insurmountable problem. >

England welcome the World Cup finalists to Wembley this Wednesday, with low expectations and a lengthy list of questions to answer...

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40 | February 24 2012 |

Three Lions, the Dutch and the Euros

Will the new England manager know his team for Euro 2012?

That depends on who he is, of course, which is an obvious statement

to make but an important one nonetheless. Something approaching

the nucleus of the squad is in place and has been throughout Euro

qualifying: Joe Hart, Ashley Cole, Scott Parker and Wayne Rooney all

look certain starters, form, fitness and two-match bans permitting,

and you can include John Terry in there as well, providing his race

case doesn’t pollute the dressing room.

The other places are far from decided, and Capello’s belated

interest in youth has opened the door to a number of hungry young

lions – particularly Jack Rodwell (above) and Kyle Walker. With so many

places still to play for, this friendly – and the two others in May – has

taken on far greater significance. The problem is that, if Redknapp

does take charge, the team may change radically, with David

Beckham, Paul Scholes, the Gerrard/Lampard problem and Peter

Crouch all restored at a stroke. And we all know how that would end.

Where’s the captain’s armband going?

With Pearce in charge, the logical choice would be to give it straight

back to Terry, the man who most closely mirrors Psycho’s blind

patriotism. Assuming he won’t, then the FA should steer him towards

making a safer choice and look for some kind of continuity in the next

three games and going into the tournament.

Logic suggests that, long-term, and for the Euros, the manager

will go for a player guaranteed to start every game, which narrows it

down to those mentioned in the previous answer. Of those, Cole is not

captain material, while Rooney is too hot-headed and potty-mouthed

to set an example. That leaves just two: Joe Hart or Scott Parker.

We’d opt for the latter, but Hart literally represents the safer pair

of hands.

What will we learn from facing Holland?

Most pressingly, what we still need to learn is who will fill the Rooney

void for the first two games of Euro 2012. Ninety minutes against the

World Cup finalists should go a long way to telling us if Darren Bent

really is preferable to Daniel Sturridge, Bobby Zamora and Andy

Carroll – because we learned little about Bent’s credentials against

Spain in Capello’s 8-1-1 formation. The other thing we expect to learn

is that Pearce should be relieved of his duties at the earliest

opportunity. Like we didn’t know that already.

Opting for a solid 4-4-2, here’s how Sport would suggest a youthful

England line up for the Euros this summer – form and fitness

permitting. For the opening two games, Young or Sturridge could

replace Rooney as a second striker, or England could go 4-5-1, with Bent

ploughing a lone furrow. The Ox brings verve and creativity to the party. A

gamble, yes, but so was Gazza when he stepped on the plane for Italia 90...

Joe Hart(Rob Green, Scott Carson)

Micah

Richards(Kyle Walker)

Gary

Cahill(Chris Smalling)

Phil

Jagielka(Joleon Lescott)

Ashley

Cole(Leighton Baines)

ALeX OXLADE-

CHAMBERLAIN

Steven

Gerrard

Scott

Parker

James

Milner

(Adam Johnson, Jack Wilshere, phil jones, ashley young)

Wayne

Rooney

Darren

Bent

(daniel sturridge, Danny wellbeck)

23 LIONS

Six months of preparation and a trio of England Find out if Sunday league team Ivory FC really could turn over a team of

In Rod we trust? Capello opened the Euros door to some hungry young lions

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| 41

What shape is this Holland team/

squad in? And are expectations

high ahead of Euro 2012?

“They were high until a recent

crushing 3-0 defeat in Germany, in

which the Dutch team was thoroughly

outplayed. Many big names were

missing that night, but still the mood

switched in the nation and the team is

now seen as outsiders. The trouble is,

only three or four of the team that

reached the World Cup final are

starters for their clubs. Many of them

are injured, were injured and coming

back, or probably will soon be injured.

“However, some new names have

come through, like midfielders Kevin

Strootman [PSV, above] and Adam

Maher [AZ], and forward Ola John [FC

Twente], so there is optimism. As for

the coach, Bert van Marwijk is the best

available at the moment.”

Did the Fabio Capello situation

register in Holland?

“Well you’d think that there is more

to Capello’s resignation than only the

treatment of the captain, but in Holland

the England situation was completely

overlooked because everyone was

completely enthralled by the

‘Elfstedentocht’ (the Eleven Cities

Tour, a speed-skating tournament)

in Friesland. Personally, I believe that

Capello was looking for a way out, but

who knows?”

Is that Dutch sarcasm?

“No, for real. The Elfstedentocht was

the first news item for a week here.”

What do the Dutch make of Harry

Redknapp? If anything?

“Most national teams have a native as

coach, so it makes sense. Redknapp

is popular with the press, but so was

Van Basten when he started.”

Do you consider England to be serious

contenders for Euro 2012? And if not,

who will be?

“England hardly seems a contender as

they have to start the tournament

without their main threat, Wayne

Rooney. I don’t know of any other

decent strikers in the squad good

enough to challenge the continental

defenders. Their best chance might be

to build a team of workers around

Grant Holt. I’d like to see all those

sophisticated European coaches deal

with that – it should be more fun to

watch than all those bland England

games in the recent past. If not

England? Germany have come forward

as favorites. Should Madrid and Barca

go to the wire for the title and

Champions League, then Mourinho

might be just the man to drive a stake

into the Spanish team spirit. I don’t think

any other team will be in the mix.”

Follow Ernst Bouwes (in English) on @totalfootballnl

The OppOsiTiOn ViewWhat do the Dutch make of England’s recent ‘issues’ with Capello,

‘JT’ and ‘Arry? We asked Dutch football journalist Ernst Bouwes,

who offered a rather unexpected solution...

heroes. Would it be enough?England legends at NIVEAFORMEN.co.uk/football

www.niVeAFORMen.co.uk/football

NIVEA FOR MEN: Proud to keep England looking good.

Oh, the curse of being born an Englishman. Yes, we get to enjoy growing up in this green and

pleasant land; and yes, American girls love our accent – but can such advantages make up for the fact that we must also endure the trials and tribulations, the endless ups and downs, of our national football team?

Maybe, maybe not – but one thing is for certain, and that is that every end leads to a new beginning. The FA’s huge wooden door may have closed on one era a fortnight ago, but Euro 2012 remains firmly on the horizon – and next week’s friendly against World Cup runners-up Holland gives the players who remain an immediate chance to usher in a hopefully bright new era with a bang. Beat the Dutch, and whoever is chosen to lead the squad into battle this summer can do so with renewed confidence in England’s ability to actually, maybe, possibly, ruddy well win something.

Renewed cOnFidence

Whatever happens, watching England is likely to remain a stressful business. Throw in a busy day at work, the game and an early start the morning after, and your skin is likely to suffer as much as your heart. But help is at hand from NIVEA FOR MEN®, whose new Skin Energy range features a host of products with improved formulas for all your skincare needs.

Alongside the skin’s own Coenzyme Q10, the Skin Energy range now includes guarana plant extract and taurine – known for revitalising the skin. The full range of six products includes the Moisturiser, Face Wash and Shaving Gel you can see below. So, no matter how England do, or how late you stay out celebrating/mourning the result, using any of these products will help you attack the new day with renewed confidence in your skin, and indeed in yourself.

A fresh start

Products may differ from images shown

Stroots ahead: Strootman’s form for

PSV has made him a contender for the Euros

Focus 2012 154 Days to go

42 | February 24 2012 |

THE VENUE

Just as with the marathon, The Mall takes

centre stage once again for the race walking

events at London 2012. Races will start and

finish there, with athletes embarking on laps

up to Constitution Hill and back, ensuring the

crowds get to see plenty of action. Though we

all get to see plenty of rapid walking action

across the concourse of Waterloo Station on

a daily basis, this is a chance to see how the

pros do it.

THE EVENT

Running is simple – one foot in front of the

other as fast as possible, right? The same

goes for race walking, but with a couple

of very important differences (which

masquerade as rules). Firstly, an athlete’s

back toe can’t leave the ground until the heel

of the front foot has touched – doing so is

called ‘loss of contact’, and can result in a

red card from course judges.

The second difference/rule is that the

athlete’s supporting leg must straighten

from the point of contact with the ground

and remain straight until their body passes

directly over it. Spotting a break of either

rule is not easy, considering the speed at

which these athletes move their feet, but

athletes do at least get more than one ‘strike’.

On their third violation, they receive a ‘red

paddle’ signifying disqualification – something

which is fairly routine, even at elite level.

At London 2012, there will be three race

walking events – men’s and women’s 20km

walk and men’s 50km walk. The latter equates

to 31.06 miles, which is around five miles

longer than a standard marathon. The

current men’s world record stands at

3:34.13 (set by Russia’s Denis Nizhegorodov

on home soil in 2008, when he smashed the

previous mark of 3:35:47, set by Australia’s

Nathan Deakes). Running, walking, whatever:

that is pretty bloody fast.

TEAM GB’S PROGRESS

“In 2004, our event reached rock bottom

with no GB competitor in Athens for the

first time in Olympic history,” says Dr Andrew

Drake, head coach at the National Centre

for Race Walking. “We had one in 2008 –

Johanna Jackson – who set a UK record in

Beijing and has gone on to establish herself

as world class. In 2012, we are looking to

have athletes in each event, so we’ve turned

a corner. I need the junior athletes that

we work with to move up to challenge

and join the seniors and strengthen the

event further.”

RACE WALKING AT LONDON 2012

DATES August 4 (men’s 20km), August 11

(men’s 50km, women’s 20km)

SEATING Limited, temporary seating

on The Mall

HOW TO GET THERE National Rail, Tube

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Race walk

Johanna Jackson

KEY EVENTS BEFORE

LONDON 2012

IAAF World Race

Walking Cup

May 12-13,

Saransk, Russia

GB hopeful

Age In 2012 27

MedAl ReCoRd Commonwealth Games gold 2010

She’s been carrying British hopes in race walking

on her own since breaking into the GB team, but

expectation has not got in Jo Jackson’s way –

she is already assured of a place in the women’s

20km race walk at London 2012...

Having won a bronze medal at the English

Schools Championships in 2002 after just six

weeks’ training, Middlesbrough-born Jackson

fulfilled her promise and became the first

British woman to win a major race walk title

when she picked up Commonwealth Games

gold in Delhi in 2010. The fact that the victory

came the year after she was disqualified

from the World Championships in Berlin for

‘lifting’ made it all the sweeter.

At last year’s World Championships in

Daegu, however, Jackson could manage only

23rd – some way short of the top-10 placing

she’d set out to achieve and a lower finish

than her position of 22nd in Beijing. After the

race, she admitted to going into it with “a bit

of a knee niggle” – which turned out to be a

torn meniscus, requiring her to have surgery

last October.

Jackson faces a difficult task to reach the

podium this summer, with the Russians and

Chinese dominating race walking. But, if fully

fit, she can certainly be in the mix.

Walk, don’t run is the school motto that will win one model-pupil-come-athlete an Olympic gold medal...

7 DaysFEB 24–MAR 1

HIGHLIGHTS

» Football: Arsenal v Tottenham » p46

» Tennis: Dubai Championships » p48

» Snooker: World Open » p48

» Football: International Friendlies » p50

» Best of the Rest » p50OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

44 | February 24 2012 |

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Meet the All-Stars

In his first regular season as

a Clipper, Paul is emerging as

leader of a team finally looking

capable of making a name

for itself – apart from being

known as ‘the team in LA that’s

not the Lakers’. The five-time

All-Star prefers 10-pin

bowling to b’ball, though.

Better known as D-Wade and

one of the NBA’s most popular

players since playing a key

role in Miami’s first ever NBA

Championship win in 2006.

The 30-year-old followed that

by top-scoring for the USA

at the 2008 Olympics, and

remains one of the NBA’s most

difficult players to guard.

The baby-faced brute had a

breakthrough 2011, becoming

the first rookie All-Star since

2003. Renowned for making

monstrous slam dunks, the

22-year-old began this season

surrounded by huge hype, with

several pundits already calling

him one of the NBA’s best.

The youngest player ever to

win the NBA’s MVP award,

23-year-old Rose signed a

five-year contract extension

worth $94.8m last December.

He’s been suffering from what

the Yanks call ‘turf toe’ (a joint

sprain), so the Bulls coach will

hope his MVP doesn’t get too

many minutes on Sunday.

The 33-year-old is in his 16th

season as a pro and, despite

starting it with an injured

wrist, still racked up the

points, scoring 40 or more

in four straight games in

January. Many have tried to

write him off as one of the old

guard, but he’s not there yet.

‘King James’ has been one of

the NBA’s most divisive figures

since moving from his

hometown team Cleveland

Cavaliers to Miami in 2010 –

a move announced live on TV.

The fallout affected his game

last season, but James has this

term led Miami to the best

season start in their history.

Before even making his

NBA debut in 2007, Durant

signed a seven-year $60m

endorsement deal with Nike.

He’s topped the NBA scoring

charts for the past two

seasons and helped Thunder

reach last season’s Western

Conference finals.

A prolific points scorer who

tied the NBA record for most

points scored in a single

quarter with 33 in 2008. But

he’s in a Knicks side that was

in big trouble until the arrival

of a Hollywood fairytale by the

name of Jeremy Lin in NYC

earlier this month. Look him

up – he’s quite a story.

The 24-year-old is a two-time

NBA champion but never an

All-Star – until now. Injury

troubles have held him back

and are partly to blame for the

fact Bynum isn’t on the 20-man

shortlist for the USA’s Olympic

basketball team. A man with a

point to prove on Sunday, then.

Wants to use his NBA career

to “raise the name of God in

the league”. We’re not sure

if he’s achieved that, but he’s

achieved almost everything

else. Against him for the West

is Bynum – the player linked

with Howard’s position since

the Magic man handed in a

trade demand last December.

The best players from the NBA’s Eastern Conference take on the best from the West in the 61st annual All-Star game. Britain’s Luol Deng will play a part alongside the 10 players lining up to start Sunday’s slam dunk feast. They are...

SUNDAY BASKETBALL | NBA ALL-STAR GAME | AMWAY CENTER, ORLANDO | ESPN 12.30AM

CHRIS PAUL

TEAM: LA CLIPPERS

DWYANE WADE

TEAM: MIAMI HEAT

BLAKE GRIFFIN

TEAM: LA CLIPPERS

DERRICK ROSE

TEAM: CHICAGO BULLS

KOBE BRYANT

TEAM: LA LAKERS

LEBRON JAMES

TEAM: MIAMI HEAT

KEVIN DURANT

TEAM: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

CARMELO ANTHONY

TEAM: NEW YORK KNICKS

ANDREW BYNUM

TEAM: LA LAKERS

DWIGHT HOWARD

TEAM: ORLANDO MAGIC

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Andy Murray returns to the court for the first time since losing his Australian Open semi final at the Dubai Tennis Championships, which

begin this weekend. His heroic five-set defeat

to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne suggested a

decent year lies ahead for the Scot under the

guidance of new coach Ivan Lendl, but first he

must avoid the post-Oz slump into which he

has fallen in previous seasons.

This tournament always attracts the top

talent, although there is one notable absentee

from this year’s event. Rafael Nadal announced

last December that he would take a break

from tennis after the first Grand Slam of the

year to fully recover from a nagging shoulder

injury, meaning the Spaniard is unlikely to be

seen on court until Indian Wells in early March.

His nemesis Djokovic,

meanwhile, is set to play in the

UAE, along with four-time Dubai

champion Roger Federer, who

ended the 2011 season on a

real high. But it’s the world

number one who’s won this

tournament for the past three

years, getting the better of the Swiss in

straight sets in last year’s final.

Murray has yet to make it past the quarter

finals in Dubai, and last year pulled out before

the tournament even started with a wrist

injury. Since leaving Melbourne with his head

held high, he’s been sweating it out on the

practice courts in Miami and probably thinking

over the longest match of his life, which so

nearly gave him his finest ever victory. It took

Djokovic almost five hours to squeak past

Murray – a significant step forward from the

swift straight-sets defeat that sent the Scot

into meltdown 12 months earlier.

Murray should arrive in Dubai strong of

mind and body this year, then. All he has to do

is keep that up for the next 10 months. Easy.

48 | February 24 2012 |

7 Days

Murray back in swing

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SATURDAY > TENNIS | DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS | DUBAI | SKY SPORTS 2 10AM

(FROM MONDAY)

MonDAY > SNOOKER | HAIKOU WORlD OPEN | CHINA |

BRITISH EUROSPORT 7.30AM

The tournament formally known as snooker’s Grand Prix travels to its

new home on China’s Hainan Island and the city

of Haikou on Monday, where the world’s top 16

are joined by 16 seeded wildcards in the battle

for a trophy Neil Robertson has made his own.

Last season the newly crowned Masters

champion demolished Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1

in Glasgow, where the tournament was

previously held, to retain the title he had

won against Ding Junhui the previous year.

Recent Welsh Open winner Ding, whose

success on the baize is directly responsible

for the game’s booming popularity in China,

faces the prospect of meeting four-time

champion John Higgins in the quarter finals.

Robertson, meanwhile, opens his title defence

against four-time champion Stephen Hendry.

Among the wildcard entries are Nigel Bond

‘00-147’ and Mark ‘The Royal’ King. Mark

Williams awaits the winner of King’s qualifier

against 17-year-old Iranian Hossein Vafaei.

Elsewhere, China’s Lu Haotian makes his

ranking tournament debut against Tom Ford

for the right to play O’Sullivan in the first round.

O’Sullivan will almost certainly meet

Williams in round two, beyond which lies the

tantalising prospect of another quarter final

against Judd Trump. Mr Haircut 100 edged

O’Sullivan 6-5 in the last eight en route to

winning the UK Championship in December and

6-2 at the Masters in January, but momentum

is with the Rocket after he triumphed 5-3 at the

Welsh Open – a victory that included a quite

stunning 139 break.

With a £75,000 prize on offer and the

World Championship on the horizon, this is

a World Open full of eastern promise.

Asian baize

50 | February 24 2012 |

7 Days

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FRIDAY

RUGBY UNION

Aviva Premiership: Worcester

Warriors v Saracens,

Sixways, ESPN 7.45pm

RUGBY LEAGUE Super League:

St Helens v Catalan Dragons,

Langtree Park, Sky Sports 1 8pm

SATURDAY

FOOTBALL Championship: West Ham v Crystal

Palace, Upton Park, Sky Sports 2 12.45pm

TENNIS WTA Dubai Final,

Dubai, British Eurosport 2 3pm

HORSE RACING Racing Plus Chase,

Kempton, Channel 4 3.05pm

CRICKET Pakistan v England: 2nd T20,

Dubai, Sky Sports 1 3.30pm

RUGBY UNION Aviva Premiership: Gloucester v

Harlequins, Kingsholm Stadium, ESPN 6pm

RUGBY LEAGUE Super League: Wakefield v

Bradford, Belle Vue, Sky Sports 1 7.45pm

SUNDAY

GOLF HSBC Women’s Championship Day 4,

Singapore, Sky Sports 3 5am

FOOTBALL SPL: Inverness CT v Rangers,

Caledonian Stadium, Sky Sports 4 12.45pm

GOLF WGC Accenture Match Play

Championship Day 5,

Arizona, Sky Sports 2 3pm

BEST OF THE REST

WEDNESDAY FOOTBALL

England aside, the other home nations and Ireland are all in action this week. Enjoy it

while you can, before Scotland gains its

independence and the spectacle of them

labouring to a 0-0 draw against inferior

opposition is gone from our screens forever...

REpUblIc oF IRElAND v czEch REpUblIc (Sky SportS 1, 7.45pm)

Childless puppeteer Giovanni Trapattoni

starts his preparation for Ireland’s first

major tournament for 10 years with this

fixture against fellow playoff qualifiers the

Czech Republic, who surprised many by

beating Montenegro – particularly now their

Golden Generation have largely retired.

Ireland’s squad is a mix of experienced old

heads like Robbie Keane and Shay Given,

and younger Premier League players who

Trapattoni has integrated into the squad in

the past year or so. Expect to see the likes

of Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and

Jonathan Walters given starting places.

WAlES v coSTA RIcA (Sky SportS 2, 7.45pm)

Chris Coleman will take charge of his first

game as Wales manager, and their first since

the tragic death of Gary Speed. He inherits

young talent in every position, with Wayne

Hennessey in goal, Gareth Bale and Aaron

Ramsey in midfield, and Sam Vokes and Hal

Robson-Kanu up front. Costa Rica’s squad is

full of relative unknowns, but they did draw 2-2

with Spain at the end of last year (although

this was shortly after the world champions

lost to England, so perhaps they were a bit

out of sorts). The Dragons’ next competitive

fixture isn’t until September, so for Coleman

this is a chance to get to know his squad.

NoRThERN IRElAND v NoRWAY (Sky SportS 3, 7.45pm)

Norn Iron disappointed in Euro 2012 qualifying

– undoing the good work of beating Slovenia

and drawing with Italy by failing to beat the

Faroe Islands away. Wednesday’s game

home comforts

FOOTBALL La Liga: Atletico Madrid v

Barcelona, Vicente Calderon,

Sky Sports 1 8.30pm

MoNDAY

CRICKET Pakistan v England: 3rd T20,

Abu Dhabi, Sky Sports 1 3.30pm

TUESDAY BASKETBALL

NBA: Detroit Pistons v Philadelphia Suns,

Wells Fargo Center, ESPN 12.30am

WEDNESDAY

FOOTBALL UEFA U21 Championship

Qualifier: England v Belgium,

Riverside Stadium, ESPN 5.30pm

against Norway will be the first for new

manager Michael O’Neill, who took Shamrock

Rovers into the Europa League group stages

before easing himself into the national hot seat.

He starts his preparation for the World Cup

2014 qualifiers against a Norway side that has

also been absent from major tournaments for

some time, but were unlucky to miss out on

a playoff place for the Euros.

SlovENIA v ScoTlAND (7.30pm)

The despair surrounding the SPL is echoed

at national level – the Scots took just four

points from their first four Euro 2012 qualifiers

and needed a 97th-minute winner to deny

Liechtenstein a point. Craig Levein remains in

charge, and will take his side to Slovenia to

prepare for a tough World Cup qualifying group.

Slovenia were unlucky not to get through to

the last 16 in the 2010 World Cup – despite

being dreadful – but they are the type of team

Scotland need to be beating if they’re to have

any hope of reaching a major tournament.

Home and away: O’Neill, Bale and MacKail-Smith can look to 2014, while Keane will be focused on the summer

| 51

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Extra time Kit

52 | February 24 2012 |

Making the most of your time and money

1 Adidas Supernova Glide 4These beauties are miCoach compatible, which

means that you can record your speed, acceleration,

distance and pace data. Sadly, we haven’t found a way

to fudge results yet, so you’re not allowed to see ours.

£90 | adidas.com

2 K-Swiss Blade Light JetsterSpringy foam shafts in the outsole collapse and

compress while you run, making these shocking pink

trainers perfect for low-mileage runners – or those

taking their first steps back into the gym .

£50 | jjbsports.com

3 Mizuno Wave Inspire 8 The original Mizuno Wave range comes from the

knowledge that waveforms dissipate impact energy

extremely quickly. We don’t know what any of that

means, but these look pretty nifty.

£100 | mizuno.co.uk

4 New Balance Women’s Minimus 00NB’s initial entry into the ‘barefoot’ market has

a thin sole that allows you to feel the ground and work

your legs instead of relying on cushioning to soften the

ground’s impact. Your legs will hurt the first few times

you wear them, but it’s worth it in the long haul.

£75 | newbalance.co.uk

5 Nike Zoom Elite+5Does anyone else remember those cool Nike

basketball trainers that let you pump up your own sole?

Nobody? Maybe we’re getting old. Anyway, these don’t

have a pump, but they do look nice.

£90 | store.nike.com

6 Vibram Fivefingers BikilaFivefingers footwear have embraced and

developed the notion that trainers should feel more like

gloves. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you’ve got to wear

shoes on your hands. Because that would just be stupid.

£115 | primallifestyle.com

A treat for the lady’s feetIs your woman planning a marathon this

year? Or a 10k? Or a walk to a local wine

bar? In any case, these will come in handy

1 2

3 4

5 6

P56

It’s a quadricopter –

not a bear trap,

we’re happy to say

54 | February 24 2012 |

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Extra time Selina Lo

| 55

Parrot AR Drone 2.0We’re not going to pretend that this ‘quadricopter’

is a must-have gadget that will transform the

way you live your life or save you masses of time.

In fact, it’s probably the kind of toy you’ll play

with once and then never use again, like a child

would at Christmas. Despite that, we still want

one for two very good reasons: it flies, and you

control it with your phone.

£TBC | parrot.com

G155 Mobile Gaming EnvironmentOne of the many things we hate about our

commute is the dirty stares we get every

morning when we set up our console and TV

so we can play a bit of FIFA on the way to work.

This solves that problem, thanks to the in-built

screen and foam padding. There’s no surround

sound, so we’ll still have to drag our subwoofer

on to the 08.44 to Waterloo. But it’s a start.

£300 | firebox.com

GameGadgetThey may be dubbing this the ‘iPod for handheld

games’, but we’re going to stick our neck out a

bit and say that this won’t be quite as popular as

Steve Jobs’ music player. But when the device

comes out in March, you’ll be able to download

thousands of classic games through an App

Store-style interface. Which is pretty good.

£100 | gamegadget.net

All work and no play makes Jack a

dull boy. All work and no play makes

Jack a dull boy. All work and no play

makes Jack a dull boy. All work an...

Extra time Gadgets

56 | February 24 2012 |

Shining toys

Speck CandyShell Grip iPod Touch/iPhone caseSweaty thumbs are the scourge of many, from

hitchhikers and hand models to mobile gaming

enthusiasts. This case won’t help with the first two,

sadly, but it is optimised for gaming, with a soft-

grip back and thumb-securing bumps on the front.

£30 | store.apple.com

PlayStation Vita*It’s finally here – the long awaited PlayStation Vita, Sony’s

new handheld console, has arrived. And it’s packed full

of goodies aimed at nipping the burgeoning tablet and

smartphone gaming market in the bud. The Vita has dual

analog sticks, a five-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and

3G connectivity. There’s also a rear touchpad for we’re-not-

quite-sure-what, front and rear cameras, and the Sixaxis

motion system used in the PS3. All in all, packed with enough

graphical power to make Angry Birds look an unsightly mess.

*Hand not included.

£210-260 | uk.playstation.com/psvita

Terre d’HermesLimited Edition H Bottle

Shockwaves Natural Definition Range

One of the most subtly masculine

scents on the market is back in a

range of limited-edition bottles

(or flacons, if you will) for 2012.

The familiar Terre d’Hermes notes

of grapefruit, orange, flint and Atlas

cedar are all still there, combining to

produce a fragrance that has been

adorning men’s faces and attracting

women’s noses for a number of years.

Its return has been marked with a

series of three limited-edition bottles,

featuring an evolving combination

of canework motifs that have been

innovatively named H1, H2 and H3.

This one to the right is H2, signifying

our commitment to an absolutely

middle-of-the-road approach to life.

Terre d’Hermes remains one of

our favourite whiffs, and is available

in its latest guise at House of Fraser

from February 27.

0844 800 3752

Poor old gels have had a tough time of it

recently. What with the rise of putties,

clays and waxes, they’ve just become,

well, a bit unfashionable.

Maybe it’s time for a renaissance,

however, in the form of this newly released

pair from Shockwaves. Now available from

Boots and Superdrug nationwide, the

Natural Definition Texture Gel (left) and

Styling Gel both offer a strong hold while

being gentle on the hair and scalp.

“The new gels are easy to use and give

your hair the right

amount of hold

without having to

compromise that

natural look,” says

Shockwaves style

director Michael

Douglas. But then

he would say that,

wouldn’t he?

facebook.com/

shockwavesuk

Electro Shock from Nickel

Nickel’s award-winning Morning After

Rescue range has been helping men look

better than they probably deserve to

since 1996, but this latest incarnation

is very possibly the best yet.

Designed to act like an energy drink for

the skin, the admittedly ominous-sounding

Electro Shock has been directly inspired

by a mojito’s key ingredients of mint and

sugar, with extracts of lime and guarana

included to energise and stimulate your

inevitably tired-looking visage.

Any product inspired by the only cocktail

lads feel truly comfortable ordering gets

our vote, and the fast-absorbing lotion

does give off the kind of medicinal aroma

that suggests only good things will happen

upon application. We’re not entirely sure

where they got the name from, but it

matters little; Electro Shock is definitely

worth a go, and is available nationwide

from March – although if you can’t wait

a few days, you can order it online now.

nickelspalondon.co.uk

VitaMan Massage Pack

Things we like about this compact massage pack from Aussie grooming

brand VitaMan: the inclusion of a relaxing massage oil, for one; the black

ceramic pot from which you can pour warm candle oil on to your ‘friend’,

for two; and the fact you can use the case for DVDs, for three. Versatile.

vitamangrooming.co.uk

58 | February 24 2012 |

the kit

Welcome

returnsFor a classic fragrance, some

good old-fashioned hair gels and

an award-winning skincare range

the fragrance

the rescue

the gels

Extra time Grooming

£70, 100ml

£2.49

£2.49

£51

£23

MANY ROADS LEADTO THE MEDAL,BUT ALL BEGIN WITHA GREAT START.

SIR CHRIS HOY, 4X OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST

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NOTHING BEATS

A GREAT START.

Rampart

Woody Harrelson is billed as ‘the most corrupt

cop you’ve ever seen’ in this meaty drama written

by James ‘LA Confidential’ Ellroy. A bold claim, but

if anyone can pull off making an

abusive, misogynistic, pill-popping

liar watchable, it’s the charismatic

Harrelson, who shed weight to

create his character’s gaunt look.

If only he’d added a Kingpin-style

combover and rubber hand, too.

Syndicate (PC/PS3/Xbox 360)Imagine living in a world controlled not by governments, but by

companies that battle for market dominance with no regulation or

government oversight. Sound familiar? Surprisingly, this reboot of

a popular 1993 Amiga and Sega Mega Drive title isn’t set after a

few years of coalition government reforms, but in 2069, where

three mega-corporations are engaged in a brutal war. You play as

Miles Kilo, an agent of one these firms, where you file paperwork in

the accounting department and dream of the life you could have led.

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you can slow down time, see through walls and perform all sorts of

Matrix-style tricks as you take down enemies in this brutal sci-fi

shooter. Think of it as the future of the NHS – in a video game.

Black Mirror

With Charlie Brooker behind this trio

of blackly comic dramas, it’s no

surprise that it begins with a posh

Prime Minister coerced into, well,

porking a pig. Far from being a thinly

veiled attack on Brooker’s favourite

Tory, however, the PM here was the

most sympathetic character on

show, with the general public coming off far less well.

The episode – and series as a whole – was a fairly

damning examination of the way we use advancing

technology and social media. None too subtle, but

smart, funny, involving – and out on DVD from today.

Raylan Elmore Leonard

American crime fiction

maestro returns with a

novel about US Marshal

Raylan Givens on the

trail of a drug dealer

who turns up dead – but

that’s just the start of

our hero’s problems.

Expect a tight plot and

Leonard’s trademark

crackling dialogue.

Do Ya Thing Gorillaz

The Gorillaz always have

a way with high-quality

collaborations and have

teamed with Outkast’s

Andre 3000 for this new

song, which features

Damon Albarn rapping

but sounds pretty damn

good all the same. No,

really. See for yourself

by downloading it for

free at converse.co.uk.

Ghostory School of Seven Bells

The idea of a concept album by a hipster, retro 1980s

dream-pop band might set your teeth on edge, but

it’s actually extremely pleasant on the ears. Some

fantastic pop hooks pulsate here behind Alejandra

Deheza’s lighter-than-air vocals, making School of

Seven Bells much more fun and a

lot less pretentious than they may

appear. Out on Monday, it won’t

knock seven bells out of you, but

may well get your toes tapping.

60 | February 24 2012 |

MUSIC

Darkness rising

Syndicates running the world, Woody

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BRILLIANTLY INTUITIVE

TOUCH-SENSITIVE MOTION CONTROL

DDDDDDDDii ss cc oo vv ee rr aa ww hh oo ll ee nn ee ww dd ii mm ee nn ss ii oo nn ii nn

WHOLE NEW DIMENSION IN

SOCIAL GAMING

TTTTTTTThhhheeee ““““ bbbb eeee ssss tttt ---- iiii nnnn ---- cccc llll aaaa ssss ssss ”””” dddd iiii ssss ppppllllaaaa yyyy

5 inch OLED SCREEN

GPS* - for maps and location-based social gaming *3G Mobile Broadband only. Location based services supported on Wi-Fi sku through Wi-Fi triangulation.

ADDITIONAL INPUT DEVICES

“THIS IS REALLY THE HANDHELD THAT JUST DOES EVERYTHING”Gamesmaster

3G

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“I MAY NEVER TOUCH A GAME ON

MY iPHONE AGAIN”