The News Review:
- Barclay desperate to shake off ‘patronising’ unlucky losers tag
- Who needs skill when there’s the ‘Heineken moment’?
- Quinlan hit with three-week suspension
- From N35bn to N9bn: Algebra of hosting FIFA Under-17 World Cup
- The pride of Munster
Barclay desperate to shake off ‘patronising’ unlucky losers tag
Scotsman, United Kingdom
The back row has changed for every autumn Test and 22-year-old John Barclay is the only ever-present. He is not a particularly voluble character, but he does tend to make a lot of sense when he speaks, and he is certainly not happy with narrow defeatADVERTISEMENTs to the world’s leading nations. The openside flanker said after his club Glasgow lost to Toulouse narrowly in this season’s Heineken Cup that talk of plucky losers was “patronising”. Did he feel the same after the 14-10 defeat to South Africa, we wondered. “Yeah,” he said, sternly. “After losing sometimes as a nation or as pro teams we sell ourselves short, especially in the pro era. People will forget we ran these teams close and look back and maybe think South Africa played poorly.
Who needs skill when there’s the ‘Heineken moment’?
Independent, UK
Moments of great skill, such as a well-placed volley or a delicately controlled drop shot, go almost unnoticed. However, scoreboard messages giving the speed of particularly big serves are greeted by gasps, routine smashes by loud applause and long baseline rallies by amused surprise. Some of the biggest cheers of the day come during the "Heineken Moment" at the conclusion of matches, when television cameras scour the arena before settling on a member of the crowd who is holding one of the sponsor’s products. As for the players, the Shanghai experience has clearly been a pleasurable one. "The atmosphere in all the matches has been great," Andy Murray said. "They get very excited during all the matches. I haven’t met too many people, but I really enjoy myself here.
Quinlan hit with three-week suspension
Irish Independent, Ireland
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Thursday November 20 2008
RUGBY: ALAN QUINLAN looks set to be ruled out of Ireland’s crucial clash against Argentina after a disciplinary panel found him guilty of stamping late last night. The flanker was cited after an incident with Rodney So’oialo in the 22-3 defeat last Saturday and was suspended for three weeks ending at midnight on December 6 to give Declan Kidney another selection headache ahead of the most crucial match of his early tenure so far. Quinlan has the right to appeal the suspension, however, the one silver lining is that the ban will be lifted just in time for the resumption of Munster’s Heineken Cup campaign. Tony McGahan’s men resume the defence of their title with a tough tussle in France against Clermont Auvergne on December 7, the day after Quinlan’s ban expires. Also last night, New Zealand prop Tony Woodcock has been cleared to play in Saturday’s match against Wales after being cited for striking Rory Best on Saturday — which earned him a yellow card.
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From N35bn to N9bn: Algebra of hosting FIFA Under-17 World Cup
The Punch, Nigeria
This position was substantiated by the pronouncement of senators who hold the membership of the sports committee when they asserted that even N35bn was too small to host the tournament. On the spurious ground that Nigeria is the ?Giant of Africa,? the senators wondered why the President and indeed Nigerians would be crying wolf over the budget. Chairman of the committee, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri said, ?It is very unfortunate that just like what my colleague, Senator Mujitaba Mohammed said that the paltry N35bn or N37bn Nigerians were crying wolf. When South Africa is spending over $70bn, which means we are not even spending one per cent of what South Africa is spending. ?We should not call our selves the giant of Africa. We should not even compete with Egypt and South Africa at all. If a budget that is far less than one percent of the budget of South Africa to host 2009 World Cup was proposed.
The pride of Munster
Limerick Leader, Ireland
Tony McGahan’s Heineken Cup champions came within four minutes of sending shockwaves through the rugby world for the second time in 30 years, but a dramatic late try from Joe Rokocoko saved the New Zealand blushes. Despite Munster’s stunning effort, the record books will show that New Zealand emerged victorious on an 18-16 scoreline. Afterwards, Munster’s try-scoring hero Barry Murphy described facing up to the haka as his ‘best experience in rugby by far. ‘And Murphy, who is fast closing in on his 50th appearance for the province, believed Munster’s gritty display would provide a lift to the squad ahead of the resumption of the Magners League next week. “We believed beforehand we could beat them and we were up with less than five minutes to go,” Barry Murphy said.