Scotland showcase potential to chase Six Nations title and end pain against Ireland
The feeling that Scotland might just have the hang of this winning thing continues to build.Playing dazzling rugby every now and then has never been a problem.Meaningful wins? Harder to come by.Perhaps the most entertaining part of the extraordinary win against France – and there were, how to put this, quite a few of those – was watching the resolutely unmoved disposition of Gregor Townsend.As if it was no big deal.
Seven tries and 50 points against the red‑hot favourites for the title.All in a day’s work.Townsend knows better than anyone how quickly the latest hope can turn to despair.He also knows that Scotland’s next assignment is the one in the Six Nations that has caused Scotland more grief than any.Ireland in Dublin.
Scotland have not won there since 2010, and that was at Croke Park.They have not won on the Lansdowne Road site since 1998, in the distant days of the Five Nations.All too often Ireland in Dublin has followed hot on the heels of Scotland’s latest cause for optimism, some brilliant win against exalted opponents.And then they collide with reality in green.“We have been maybe guilty in the past of looking in too much depth into Ireland,” Townsend said.
“They’re a team that plays a lot of shapes and a lot of starter plays.Maybe we focused a little bit on them.So now we’ll be building on what we did well.Success leaves clues.The reasons we won today, the reasons we won against England and against Wales, that’s what we want to build on.
”Scotland and France go into the final round level on 16 points, with the latter boasting a healthy enough points difference to require Scotland, realistically, to win in Dublin on Saturday and hope England do them a favour in the finale in Paris.If they win with a bonus point, France will need maximum points against England as well to prevail.Which makes those four tries (for 26 points) France scored in the last 15 minutes all the more painful.At 47-14 up with 15 to play, Scotland probably felt their job was done.But by then we were into seven‑a‑side mode, which France are very good at.
Their bonus-point fourth, scored by Thomas Ramos with five minutes to play, regained them the initiative in the title race.The two they scored in the dying minutes, after Finn Russell’s penalty in 77th brought up the 50 for Scotland, swung the points differential another 28 points in France’s favour.Thus the destiny of the title remains in French hands.But let’s not quibble.What we witnessed on Saturday in the Edinburgh sunshine was rugby of the highest order.
Nor did it feel unfamiliar,We have seen this generation of Scotland play like this time and again, just not for any significant number of matches in a row,A high-speed, all-court game is harder to make work consistently, but when it clicks Scotland are unplayable,Townsend is well used to the perennial questions about his tenure,Why the accusations of underachievement linger is anyone’s guess, given Scotland have by some distance the fewest registered players of any major nation, but this third win in a row is vindication for him and his patient stewardship of Scotland’s talents.
It also guarantees Scotland only their sixth top-three finish in the Six Nations.They have never finished in the top two.Ireland are also still in the hunt, even without that history of dominance against Scotland in the 21st century.They need to win and hope France do not.Scotland go into the match with a potential crisis in the second row, Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings both injured against France, both in doubt.
That would not normally bode well against a set-piece team such as Ireland, but these are not normal times.If Scotland really are able to treat round four as no more than a stepping stone to round five, they have the potential to prevail in Dublin.And if they do that we really, really will be looking at a new Scotland.
India retain T20 World Cup with 96-run final win over New Zealand – as it happened
It might not have been the thriller neutrals wanted, but it was everything India desired. They became the first men’s team to defend the T20 World Cup and the first to win it at home after drowning New Zealand in a deluge of runs in Ahmedabad in front of 100,000 giddy and almost universally blue-clad supporters.New Zealand looked forlorn while conceding 255 and wretched when attempting to chase it, and after meandering through much of their innings with defeat already a certainty they were still 96 behind when it ended. They have now reached four World Cup finals of various hues since 2015 and lost them all, plus the Champions Trophy last year to boot.The player of the tournament is Sanju Samsondouble quotation markIt feels like a dream! I’m out of words, out of emotions
India retain T20 World Cup as Samson and Bumrah inspire rout of New Zealand
It might not have been the thriller neutrals wanted, but it was everything India desired. They became the first men’s team to defend the T20 World Cup and the first side to win it at home, after drowning New Zealand in a deluge of runs in front of 100,000 giddy and almost universally blue‑clad supporters.New Zealand looked forlorn while conceding 255 and wretched when attempting to chase it, and after meandering through much of their innings with defeat already a certainty they were still 96 behind when it ended. They have now reached four World Cup finals of various hues since 2015 and lost them all, plus the Champions Trophy last year to boot.You know it is absolutely, definitely going to be your day when a fielder drops a catch while blinded and still the ball refuses to come to earth
Tears and drama amid snowboard cross chaos at Winter Paralympics
From their vantage point to the south of the San Zan course, the first sight spectators see of the snowboard cross are figures punching through the horizon. Coming off the back of a left‑hand turn, racers come into view as they make the first of a series of jumps in what is also, perversely, a part of the course where you can pick up speed. The moment is over in a split second, as athletes disappear once again behind safety fences. The impact on the gathered crowds is undeniable though: they can’t help but let out a roar.Snowboard cross is a sport with high technical demands, as athletes negotiate a series of challenges from – to adopt the lexicon – jumps and berms to rollers and drops, all along a winding course
Team GB mixed doubles curlers must beat Italy after ‘psychology’ of China defeat
Great Britain must defeat the host nation, Italy, in their final round‑robin match of the mixed doubles curling to secure a place in the semi-finals, after being roundly beaten by China.Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean started well against the unbeaten pair of Wang Meng and Yang Jun and led at the halfway stage. Missed opportunities and a sharp improvement from their opponents, however, meant a 5-3 lead became a 10-5 defeat, with the eighth end left unplayed.Butterfield said the shift in the match was explained by China getting a better measure of the force needed to “draw”, or land a stone in or in front of the scoring house. “Unfortunately, in the second half they really dialled into what draw weight was
Scotland showcase potential to chase Six Nations title and end pain against Ireland
The feeling that Scotland might just have the hang of this winning thing continues to build. Playing dazzling rugby every now and then has never been a problem. Meaningful wins? Harder to come by.Perhaps the most entertaining part of the extraordinary win against France – and there were, how to put this, quite a few of those – was watching the resolutely unmoved disposition of Gregor Townsend. As if it was no big deal
RFU backs Steve Borthwick despite England’s historic Six Nations loss in Italy
The Rugby Football Union has backed Steve Borthwick to continue as England head coach into the summer and arrest their drastic decline but the chief executive, Bill Sweeney, stopped short of pledging his support through to the World Cup next year.Borthwick is under intense scrutiny after England’s first defeat by Italy on Saturday extended their losing run to three matches following miserable losses against Scotland and Ireland. Austin Healey is among the former players calling for Borthwick to be sacked with England on course for their worst Six Nations campaign, and Ben Youngs, the most-capped men’s player, believes that the side is “set up to just not lose”.England finish their Six Nations campaign against France in Paris on Saturday before they begin their Nations Championship fixtures in July with a daunting trip to South Africa.After the 23-18 defeat in Rome, Borthwick said he was still the man to lead England and expressed belief he had the RFU’s support
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