Rugby

My sporting weekend

The best sport I watched this weekend was by chance the Tri Nation’s rugby international in which Australia beat New Zealand 24-22. I was surprised to see a crowd of over 30,000 in the Brisbane stadium which made me think how much they add to the spectacle. Brisbane has a significant nunber of [...]

November 9, 2020 // 0 Comments

Pause for reflection

Yesterday for my sins I spent time at my computer with Good Morning Britain – ITV’s early morning magazine show – on this occasion featuring its supposed ‘box-office couple’ presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, providing ‘moving wallpaper’ accompaniment in the background. By [...]

November 3, 2020 // 0 Comments

English rugby: waving … drowning … or what?

And so the 2019/2020 English professional rugby union season came to its protracted end last night in the virtually-empty vastness of a cold, windswept, monsoon-lashed Twickenham Stadium with Exeter Chiefs completing an epic Double of winning the top European club cup competition and overcoming [...]

October 25, 2020 // 0 Comments

Where we are now (again)

For those of us who love it, the world of sport as an industry and pastime that has been affected at least as badly as any other during the coronavirus pandemic crisis. In an universe of infinite amounts of unknows and uncertainty – like all species – the human race craves fixed points, [...]

October 3, 2020 // 0 Comments

My not-so sporting weekend (so far)

Come the weekend and no doubt like many sport (but not betting) obsessed Brits yesterday I set my cable television controls for the Sky and BT channels – and, to be fair, also for the BBC1’s Football Focus with Dan Walker – in search of something entertaining and/or diverting to watch. [...]

September 27, 2020 // 0 Comments

The future of sport – discuss

As yesterday at 11.00am we watched Sir Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty do their Two Ronnies act scaring the heebie-jeebies out of the UK general public with their presentation on the gathering storm of a second “Covid-19” wave of infections and deaths from 10 [...]

September 22, 2020 // 0 Comments

England white ball – top of the world

In the 50-odd years I have been following and covering sport the England international side has let itself and supporters down competitively. In international football tournaments we fail to beat the big boys, often as not losing in the quarter finals on penalties. In Rugby World Cups we produce [...]

September 14, 2020 // 0 Comments

Ah well, there’s always next season …

Saturday 5th September 2020: English Premiership – Round 18 – Harlequins v Bath Rugby at The Stoop, kick-off 2.00pm. Result: Harlequins 27 Bath Rugby 41. Harlequins 0 league points: Bath Rugby 5 league points (1 bonus). New league positions: Bath Rugby 5th, on 50 points; Harlequins 8th, on 37 [...]

September 6, 2020 // 0 Comments

Once more unto the breach … (again)

For obvious (coronavirus) reason Rugby’s 2019-2020 Premiership season made a welcome but weird and tentative return last night at the Stoop some three months after it had scheduled to finish in May, with the 7th in the table Harlequins hosting 2nd-placed Sale Sharks. Despite its inherent sexism, [...]

August 15, 2020 // 0 Comments

Back in the fold again …

No longer able to claim my former status as a correspondent – I unofficially retired from my post as a contributor on matters relating to English rugby Premiership team Harlequins three or four years ago (depending upon which season/year one is talking about) having become disillusioned with both [...]

August 10, 2020 // 0 Comments

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Leopard Creek

November 30, 2020 // 0 Comments

If you asked me to name my favourite golf course it would not be the great American ones like Augusta, Pebble Beach nor Sawgrass, nor the Scottish links St Andrews, [...]
Brighton 1 Liverpool 1

November 29, 2020 // 0 Comments

The furore over VAR has reached such a fever pitch that it is now the main discussion point of a match. That Brighton deserved a draw and held arguably the best team in the [...]
Newlands nostalgia

November 28, 2020 // 0 Comments

Watching England’s victory in the T20 yesterday brought back memories of my five trips to the Cape. I first went in 1995, the tour Mike Atherton captained. It’s [...]
Annie Hall 1977

November 27, 2020 // 0 Comments

The Diane Keaton/Woody Allen season continues at the Rosen Multiplex with Annie Hall. I was particularly interested to see if it was now dated. It had not due to the humour [...]
Keeping a perspective

November 27, 2020 // 0 Comments

As most Rusters will be only too well aware, we oldies often have to make difficult decisions in order to negotiate a careful balancing act between – on the one hand – [...]