The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Smiling Lievremont issues final French line-up
- Australia's Sharpe to win 100th cap against Wales
- Badminton odyssey for Danish youths in Odense
| Smiling Lievremont issues final French line-up Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:04 PM PDT AUCKLAND (Reuters) - Unpredictable to the end, a smiling Marc Lievremont on Wednesday named an unchanged French starting line-up to face New Zealand in Sunday's rugby World Cup final - his last match in charge of Les Bleus. Having built a reputation as a coach who constantly tinkers with team selections, Lievremont uncharacteristically kept faith with the 15 players who started when France beat Wales 9-8 in the semi-finals. It was a second consecutive unchanged starting 15 for Lievremont, but he will not name his seven replacements for Sunday's Eden Park clash until later in the week. "There are still some players slightly injured who didn't train yesterday, so I will name replacements later," the coach told a news conference. "It was quite clear for me to name the same 15. A simple decision." Dimitri Yachvili starts at scrumhalf despite the thigh injury that saw him give up kicking duties against Wales, while Morgan Parra, a scrumhalf at test level until this tournament, retains the number 10 shirt. The replacements must be named before Friday evening. Both Yachvili and Parra, plus William Servat, are carrying niggling injuries, but Lievremont said he was not overly concerned. "It is the same as last week with minor injuries ... I expect these 15 players to be on the pitch at nine o'clock on Sunday." The enigmatic coach said the French preparations had not changed and that he had great confidence in his team before their mammoth task. "Everything has been more or less the same - our preparation on and off the pitch - and we will use any pressure we are feeling to our advantage." The French have already faced the All Blacks in this World Cup, going down 37-17 in the pool stage. "Yes, we've played them before, and we all remember the score there," Lievremont smiled. "But ... we now know the team and that will help us. "All I am focusing on now is this match, preparing the players and making sure we have the best chance possible. "I know how we are going to try to win ... but I'll keep those words for my players' ears only." Team: 15-Maxime Medard, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Aurelien Rougerie, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Alexis Palisson, 10-Morgan Parra, 9-Dimitri Yachvili, 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Julien Bonnaire, 6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5-Lionel Nallet, 4-Pascal Pape, 3-Nicolas Mas, 2-William Servat, 1-Jean-Baptiste Poux Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Australia's Sharpe to win 100th cap against Wales Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:03 PM PDT AUCKLAND (Reuters) - Australia lock Nathan Sharpe will win his 100th test cap in Friday's rugby World Cup third-place playoff after being named in the starting line-up on Wednesday. Australia coach Robbie Deans brought the 33-year-old lock, who made his debut against France in 2002, back into the side after leaving him out for the semi-final defeat to New Zealand. Deans has overhauled the team that were humbled by the All Blacks at Eden Park last weekend with an entirely new front row and two thirds of his back row also changed. Kurtley Beale returns at fullback after missing last weekend's match with a hamstring problem, while Berrick Barnes replaces Pat McCabe at inside centre. Four of the changes were enforced by injuries to McCabe (shoulder), lock Dan Vickerman (shoulder, leg and nose), prop Sekope Kepu (eye) and hooker Stephen Moore (sternum). Deans decided to drop prop Ben Alexander to the bench to "lighten his load" after an arduous international season, while flanker and former captain Rocky Elsom was left out of the squad altogether. Ben McCalman takes over at number eight with Radike Samo dropping to the bench and Scott Higginbotham playing on the blindside flank in place of Elsom. In the front row, Salesi Ma'afu gets his first start of the tournament at tighthead prop alongside hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and James Slipper, who both came off the bench against New Zealand. Sharpe will be the fifth Australian to record a century of caps after David Campese, George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and George Smith. Australia lost their only previous World Cup third-place playoff at the inaugural 1987 tournament, going down 22-21 to the Welsh at Rotorua. Team - 15-Kurtley Beale, 14-James O'Connor, 13-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12-Berrick Barnes, 11-Digby Ioane, 10-Quade Cooper, 9-Will Genia, 8-Ben McCalman, 7-David Pocock, 6-Scott Higginbotham, 5-Nathan Sharpe, 4-James Horwill (captain), 3-Salesi Ma'afu, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-James Slipper Replacements: 16-Saia Faingaa, 17-Ben Alexander, 18-Rob Simmons, 19-Radike Samo, 20-Luke Burgess, 21-Anthony Faingaa, 22-Rob Horne. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Badminton odyssey for Danish youths in Odense Posted: 18 Oct 2011 04:24 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: The focus may be on the world's badminton stars when the Denmark Open begins today but the hosts have not forgotten their juniors. The inaugural Yonex Denmark Junior tournament will be held concurrently with the US$400,000 Premier Super Series event and Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann thinks that it is a good idea to inspire the youngsters. A total of 650 juniors from all over Denmark will participate in the youth competition at halls around Odense in the morning. In the evening, they will make a beeline to watch their stars in action at the Odense Sports Hall – for free. And Choong Hann feels that Malaysia should emulate Denmark's efforts. "I applaud them. They certainly think of the future. A junior player gets to achieve two things at the same time. They get good competition and they will also be inspired by watching their stars in action. The majority may not come if it is only to watch the matches," said Choong Hann. "This is a great way to inspire the young players. Denmark have the knack of being creative and always try to do their best for their juniors. They know that it is worth investing in the future. I hope Malaysia can do something similar." Denmark's emphasis on junior development programme paid dividends when Viktor Axelsen was crowned world junior champion last year. Malaysia could host an Inter-State tournament during the Malaysia Open Super Series next year and this will give shuttlers from all corners of the country an opportunity to compete and also watch their stars in action at the same time. Meanwhile, Choong Hann is continuing to do his part to give badminton fans a platform to polish their skills. Choong Hann and his Pioneer Sports Management company partners – Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng – have set up their third badminton centre – Tropicana Badminton Academy, in Sungai Buloh. Their first two centres are at Sunsuria Avenue in Kota Damansara and Endah Parade in Sri Petaling. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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