Jacques Vermeulen on song as Sale batter Harlequins in second half
Of all the indignities heaped on Harlequins this season, and goodness knows there have been a few, this Christmas stuffing was perhaps the most humiliating,Leading 17-12 at the interval against a Sale side who had lost their last four in the Prem, they succumbed so meekly that Jason Gilmore, their senior coach, was forced to question their collective desire,This abject surrender came just six days after Quins were thumped 40-14 by Bristol at Twickenham,“The boys care for the club – but there’s a difference between caring for the club and doing something about it,” the Queenslander said pointedly after his players conceded 31 second-half points without reply,“We will be looking hard at the squad in terms of what next year looks like.
”After a sixth defeat from eight in the league, Quins can almost certainly forget about the playoffs,But things are finally looking up again for Sale, who reduced their visitors to so much rubble with five second-half tries,Sale’s recent dismal league run, culminating in a 47-21 defeat at Northampton last weekend, prompted the club’s wealthy owners to meet Alex Sanderson and his players,The basic message from Simon and Michelle Orange was “raise your game” and it was heeded,At half-time, though, surely not even Sanderson, a positive person by nature, could have foreseen his side winning so convincingly.
“I’m quite emotional now actually but the owners have been really supportive,” said Sale’s director of rugby.“I just thought we were physically brilliant all game.We were down on the scoreboard at half-time, but that didn’t represent the physical dominance we had in that first half.“It was a case of ‘more of the same, please’ and sometimes the plan just comes together, so I couldn’t be prouder of the lads.We desperately needed the win but could I have seen that second half coming? Not the scoreline.
“It blew out but I thought we were good value for the win.Even though we were 17-12 down at half-time, the lads stuck at it and they got their reward.”If they could not beat another side struggling so badly in Quins, could Sale really consider themselves ready to start climbing the table?It was a nightmarish start, though, for Sanderson and his players as Quins led early on when Marcus Smith dived over from close range.Smith converted but Sale steadied themselves and hit back in the eighth minute with a slick try from Alex Wills from Rob du Preez’s exquisite long pass.George Ford missed the conversion but his intricate probing came increasingly to the fore for Sale, who had their second try when their England and Lions hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie went over from close range.
Jack Walker’s close-range effort – and Smith’s conversion – put the visitors 17-12 up at the break but there was an impressive physicality about Sale and they were rewarded in spades during a ludicrously one-sided second half.The flanker Jacques Vermeulen produced two smart tries to secure the bonus point and Sale, self-belief coursing through their veins, began to move through the gears in devastating fashion.Centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White finished off some delightful handling for their fifth before scrum-half Raffi Quirke pounced on an awful error from Smith to score Sale’s sixth.Quirke chased his own kick and Smith, inside his own in-goal area, dithered and allowed the ball to bounce beyond him, inviting Sale’s scrum-half to pounce and score.It was a sweet moment for Quirke, who was switched to the wing at the end of the first half after Tom O’Flaherty moved to full-back to replace Joe Carpenter.
Smith was taunted by the home stands and, when they chanted “Marcus, Marcus, give us a wave” he responded, much to the delight of the Sale fans.There was still time for the replacement hooker Nathan Jibulu to crash over from close range amid scenes of mounting euphoria.But for Quins the problems continue to mount.
AI boom adds more than half a trillion dollars to wealth of US tech barons in 2025
A stock market boom in artificial intelligence companies has added more than half a trillion dollars to the wealth of America’s tech barons in the past year, data shows.The top 10 US founders and bosses of some of the world’s largest technology companies saw their finances swell to nearly $2.5tn, up from $1.9tn, in the year to Christmas Eve, according to figures from Bloomberg.Elon Musk, already the world’s richest man, has again proved to be one of biggest winners as the AI gold-rush has pushed US stock markets to record highs
VIP viewing: cinemas bet on luxury bars and beds to usher in a new film era
From champagne coolers to front row VIP beds, cinema owners are investing heavily in premium experiences as the industry gets its box office mojo back.As the third instalment in James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar series pulls in the Christmas holiday crowds, the UK box office is expected to surpass £1bn in 2025 for the first time since before the global Covid pandemic.Amid financially testing times – with the pace of a hoped-for box office recovery derailed by the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes – cinema owners have focused on reinventing the movie-going experience to win back film fans.“We are rolling out 200 of our Ultra Lux seats, which have a built-in champagne or wine cooler, each day across Europe,” says Tim Richards, chief executive and founder of the Vue cinema chain. “Our ‘worst’ seat in the house is a leather recliner, and it is amazingly comfortable
Visa ban for European critics of online harm is first shot in US free speech war
For Maga politicians, European tech regulation hits hard in two areas: at the economic interests of Silicon Valley and at their view of free speech.The action against five Europeans who are taking on harmful content and the platforms that host it has had an inevitable feel to it, given the increasingly vociferous reactions to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA). Both pieces of legislation require social media firms to protect users or face the threat of sizeable fines. Indeed, Elon Musk’s X has been fined €120m (£105m) this month for breaching the DSA.These acts are prime examples of what US Republicans see as an anti-free speech culture on the other side of the Atlantic
European leaders condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ escalates
European leaders including Emmanuel Macron have accused Washington of “coercion and intimidation”, after the US imposed a visa ban on five prominent European figures who have been at heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating American tech companies.The visa bans were imposed on Tuesday on Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner and one of the architects of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and four anti-disinformation campaigners, including two in Germany and two in the UK.The other individuals targeted were Imran Ahmed, the British chief executive of the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German non-profit HateAid; and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index.Justifying the visa bans, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, wrote on X: “For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organised efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship
Scandal-rocked Michigan to hire Kyle Whittingham as next football coach
Michigan have reached an agreement with Kyle Whittingham to become the school’s next head football coach, according to a report by ESPN, turning to one of the most experienced figures in the sport to steady a program throttled by scandal.Whittingham, 66, has agreed to a five-year deal that is expected to be formally announced later on Friday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel reported. The move comes weeks after Whittingham stepped down from his long-held position at Utah, where he spent 21 seasons as head coach and became the most successful figure in the program’s history.At Utah, Whittingham compiled a 177-88 record and led the Utes to consistent relevance at the national level, including an unbeaten 13-0 campaign in 2008. His overall winning percentage of 66
New York Jets reverse decision and reinstate fan in $100k field-goal contest after uproar
The New York Jets have reversed a decision that had barred a longtime fan from participating in a $100,000 halftime field-goal contest, announcing Friday that she will be allowed to take part in Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.The New York Post first reported that Ashley Castanio-Gervasi, a Long Island high-school soccer coach and lifelong Jets supporter, had been informed earlier this week that she was no longer eligible for the team’s “Kick for Cash” promotion because of her coaching status.The decision prompted widespread criticism from public figures including former Jets star Damien Woody and California congressman Eric Swalwell as it became a trending topic on social media, leading the Jets to reconsider.“We realized there was an unfortunate misunderstanding regarding Ashley’s eligibility for the contest,” the team said in a statement. “In an effort to remedy the situation, we are allowing her to kick this Sunday for an opportunity to win the prize
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