The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Veteran France centre Rougerie hopes to earn place in World Cup squad
- Australia captain looks for better show
- Six international sides give basketball venue a run out
| Veteran France centre Rougerie hopes to earn place in World Cup squad Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:34 PM PDT DUBLIN: Veteran France centre Aurelien Rougerie makes his return to competitive action after a long injury lay-off here on Saturday in the World Cup warm-up match with Ireland. The 30-year-old, who has been capped 63 times and will be competing in his third World Cup, says his recovery process was made easier by previous long absences through injury. He will undergo a stringent test against the Irish which will give the Clermont captain a good idea of how well he has recovered after breaking an ankle in the final match of the Top 14 regular season in May. France coach Marc Lievremont handed the winger-turned-centre a vote of confidence by including him in the World Cup squad, although his knowledge of how to cope with the ennui of long-term injury has also helped. "I have had the luck, if you can call it that, of already suffering serious long-term injuries," said Rougerie, whose career nearly came to a premature end in 2002 when he suffered a serious larynx injury after being deliberately struck by English hooker Phil Greening in a club match with Wasps. "Therefore I knew what it took to come back." Rougerie, whose dentist father Jacques won one cap for France at prop, is not exaggerating as his Six Nations campaign last year came to an early end after just five minutes of their opening match against Scotland with a shoulder injury, 12 months after he suffered a similar injury. "Those are experiences which have served me well with this latest injury," said the floppy-haired blond pin-up. "There are the highs and the lows, moments where you have to be patient, others where one is bursting with impatience and those where you need to know how to reason with yourself. "Experience has played an important role." Nevertheless Rougerie, who was an integral part of the France team that won the 2002 Six Nations Grand Slam and reached the 2003 World Cup semi-finals, accepts his level of match fitness will not be the same as his team-mates on Saturday in the second of their matches with the Irish, who they beat 19-12 in Bordeaux last Saturday. "I do risk being a little bit below the level of my team-mates in terms of both physical fitness and stamina," said Rougerie. "We will see at the end of the match how I feel," added the man who entered Clermont folklore last year when he captained them to their first ever national title. Lievremont couldn't refrain from having a dig at the media and former players who had questioned why he had taken a risk on Rougerie and not included cover for him in the squad - though it could prove to be a pyrrhic victory if Rougerie suffers a reaction against the Irish. "If we are to address the issue of our injured players, then we (the French coaching staff) have for the most part won our bet. "I feel for those people who called us crazy." Rougerie, though, takes no pleasure in proving anyone wrong. He is only thinking about preparing for a tough clash with the combative Irish, who are desperate to gain their first win in their warm-up matches following the defeat to France and an earlier 10-6 loss to Scotland. "We know their qualities well, they have very good players in the centre especially Brian O'Driscoll, who will come out raring to go on Saturday. "We also know their 'fighting spirit'." — AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Australia captain looks for better show Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:33 PM PDT HAMBANTOTA (Sri Lanka): Australia captain Michael Clarke has urged his team to raise their game in the remaining two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka to clinch the five-match series. Australia were let down by the batsmen during the third one-dayer on Tuesday as they suffered a 78-run defeat, their first in six matches under Clarke who replaced Ricky Ponting as captain after the World Cup. Sri Lanka rode on opener Upul Tharanga's 111 to post a challenging 286-9 in the must-win match before dismissing Australia for 208, with paceman Lasith Malinga (5-28) doing the most damage. "We have some work to do over the next few days because playing against Sri Lanka, especially in their home conditions, you have to be at your best to beat them," Clarke said after the day-night match. Australia, currently ahead 2-1 in the five-match series, will play the last two games in Colombo on Saturday and Monday. Clarke (46) and Michael Hussey (63) alone defied Sri Lanka's attack on Tuesday as they added 71 for the fourth wicket, but the remaining batsmen faltered against pace. Malinga was superbly backed by debutant seamer Shaminda Eranga, who removed opener Brad Haddin (five) and former skipper Ponting (22) to jolt Australia's top order. "We didn't perform as well as we would like at the start of the innings with the ball. We then came back really well with the ball but our batting let us down," said Clarke. "We have no excuses, we didn't perform as well as we'd like and we know that." Sri Lanka looked set to cross the 300-mark when they reached 220-1 after 38 overs but fast bowler Doug Bollinger led Australia's late fightback to eventually finish with 4-42. Clarke said he was confident Australia can win the series if they repeat their earlier performances when the tourists won the opening game by seven wickets and the second by eight wickets. "I'm very confident that if we play like we did in the first two games, we'll win the next two games," said the Australian captain. Australia will also play three Test matches against the hosts after the one-day series. — AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Six international sides give basketball venue a run out Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:32 PM PDT LONDON: London's Olympic Park is undergoing its first real sporting test, hosting its debut tournament as six international sides give the new Basketball Arena a run out ahead of the 2012 Games. London is staging a series of test events this summer to give their venues a practice go and allow organisers to iron out any problems before the Games begin next July. The Basketball Arena is the fourth-largest venue on the park in Stratford, east London, measuring 35m high and 115m long. With 12,000 seats, the white-clad structure is one of the largest ever temporary venues built for any Games. Even the doors are extra-high to accommodate the players. However, only 3,000 seats are available per session for the warm-up basketball tournament, which runs until Sunday. Organisers are testing out not only the arena, including the experience for players, spectators and media, but also transport to the site, ticketing, first aid facilities, the staffing – and the toilets. Australia won the first round robin match, beating China 71-43 on Tuesday. Croatia then defeated Serbia 83-71 before France beat Great Britain 82-60. Players and coaches were pleased with their surroundings. "It's a beautiful place, a first class facility," said China coach Robert Donewald. "We're happy to be here." Australia player David Barlow was also impressed. "It's very important to try it out. It's just like having a home venue, where you need to get familiar with it," he said. "It was good to see the English people come out to enjoy the basketball. "It's a great venue. There's a lot of people here, I can't wait to see it all at the Olympics." Team-mate Dan Kickert added: "It's important not just for the team, but for everyone involved, including the organisers, to see how everything works. "It's a good court and atmosphere. It wasn't full but the atmosphere was loud." Spectators faced a 10-minute hike from Stratford station to the site entrance, before going through airport-style security and taking a shuttle bus through the Olympic Park, still a maze of barricades and concrete blocks. Inside, the seats are in the black and orange colours of a basketball, with a steep slope on the upper tier. Jeff Harkman, 71, and his wife Heather, from Guildford, southwest of London, found the public address system fuzzy. "I m a bit old but it is difficult to understand what they're saying," he said "The seats were easy to get to and there's loads of space, it's very comfortable. "I can't say we're basketball fans but we're very supportive of the Olympics. We're enthusiastic about the whole thing and want to see the site." Bob Cook, 62, a retired engineer from Farnborough in southern England, said the atmosphere inside was vibrant. "It's very loud and lively, you can imagine it will be buzzing here next year. "It's amazing how much is still going on outside but it's all taking shape," he added. Construction work on the arena was completed in June within the US$$70mil budget. The outer frame of 20 steel arches has been wrapped in white fabric to form the canvas for a lighting display. Some commentators say it resembles icing on a cake. After the Olympics, parts of it are expected to be reused or relocated elsewhere in Britain, though it could yet reappear at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. — AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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