The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Rugby-England players horrified over leaks
- O'Hara retains lead at South African Open
- Montgomerie replaces bullets with golf balls in Afghanistan
| Rugby-England players horrified over leaks Posted: 25 Nov 2011 05:04 PM PST LONDON Nov 25 (Reuters) - Many England players are horrified by the series of leaked confidential reports on England's troubled World Cup campaign which are selective, former manager Martin Johnson said on Friday. Widespread friction in the camp was revealed in three reports leaked to The Times newspaper this week, giving a grim account of ill-discipline, mismanagement, division and greed in a tournament that ended in a quarter-final loss to France. "Of course it is not great to see those bits. It was one of the worst things I have experienced in the game," Johnson, who stood down as team manager last week, told Sky Sports News. "You don't like seeing criticism of people, of yourself, of players." The trio of reviews by the Rugby Football Union's director of elite rugby Rob Andrew, the players' union and professional clubs, had not been intended to be seen by the public but were obtained by the newspaper. "Do not take the extreme opinion written in extreme circumstances as fact," Johnson said. "You are frustrated because what is being reported is not anywhere near the truth of it. From my point of view that is a fact. That is not what happened." He added that the opinions that were printed were selective and not representative of the squad. "To pick out the most emotive and the worst comments is dangerous and very damaging and not a true reflection of that group," he said. "One of the things they did in difficult circumstances was stick together. "Sometimes you let things go by but the way it has been reported is so inaccurate I thought I had to come here (and speak out) for the good, not only of the management group and the players but the whole game. "The saddest thing for me is that it doesn't reflect well on the whole game right now. A lot of the players are horrified at how it has come out and how it is being reported." 'ROCK BOTTOM' Andrew accepted full responsibility for the chaos surrounding the England team on Thursday, saying the RFU was at "rock bottom" - and that was before fresh controversy reported by The Times on Friday. The newspaper said three England players were put under pressure by the RFU at the World Cup to pay NZ$30,000 ($22,200) to buy the silence of a chambermaid who had alleged she had been harassed. The RFU was unavailable for comment on that matter but Johnson said he had believed it had been closed when the players had been told to apologise for their actions and had done so. "I had spoken to the girl involved before the incident, after the incident, a number of times, the players apologised to her, we thought that was the end of the matter from both sides," he said. "We spoke to her a week later, so sort of three weeks after the event there are now through lawyers a demand asking for compensation ... and then you are in a very difficult position. "The first thing we said to the players ... was you need to get independent legal advice as to how you want to act on this matter ... She asked for compensation and an option you could do was do that." Johnson, who led England to the Six Nations title this year, agreed with Andrew's 'rock bottom' assessment. "That is probably true. That is what is disappointing," he said. "The England team should be at the top of the game for everyone to look up to and admire and respect." The RFU is bringing in outside help to investigate the source of the leaked reports. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| O'Hara retains lead at South African Open Posted: 25 Nov 2011 05:01 PM PST KEMPTON PARK, South Africa, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Briton Steven O'Hara fired a 68 to sit alone at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the South African Open at the Serengeti Golf Estate on Friday. Overnight leader O'Hara moved to 11-under-par overall, one stroke ahead of two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and fellow South African Merrick Bremner. The Scot is desperate for a good finish this week. He sits 134th on the European Tour money list and a top-four finish in this co-sanctioned event with the Sunshine Tour will ensure he keeps his card. A top-10 finish will gain him entry into next week's Hong Kong Open, which is his last chance to retain his playing privileges. O'Hara credited new-found success with his putter for his lead. "For the last month I've been hitting the ball really well, I don't think I've hit it better. But it's been so frustrating, I haven't been able to sink any putts. "But I've holed some putts here. For some reason, I'm seeing the lines better, rolling the ball well," O'Hara told a news conference. South African Lyle Rowe, after a six-under round of 66, and compatriot Garth Mulroy, the winner of last weekend's Alfred Dunhill Championship, are a further stroke behind Goosen and Bremner. Jbe Kruger, who shared the first round lead with O'Hara on seven-under, had to be content with a 71 on Friday and a share of sixth place on eight-under with fellow South African Jean Hugo. Goosen, who has won the SA Open twice, had just a single bogey in another solid round in tougher conditions than on the first day due to a stronger, less predictable wind and quicker greens. All of the leaders in the one million euro event will be acutely aware of the lurking presence of five-time winner Ernie Els, who shot his second successive 69 to lie in a tie for 14th, on six-under, five shots off the pace at the halfway stage. "I drove a bit better today and putted nicely too, and I really feel there's a low one out there for me. But obviously I'm looking for two really good rounds on the weekend," Els said. The cut, made on two-under-par, claimed the notable scalps of England's Simon Dyson, the highest-ranked golfer in the field, and South African George Coetzee, who is 25th on the Race to Dubai. Both were one shot shy of the cut. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Montgomerie replaces bullets with golf balls in Afghanistan Posted: 25 Nov 2011 04:59 PM PST KABUL, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Colin Montgomerie has helped transform soldiers' firing ranges into driving ranges on a trip to Afghanistan to support foreign troops and promote golf in a country with plenty of checkpoints, but few fairways. The 48-year-old Scot gave golf lessons and donated equipment to troops and Afghan children on a three-day trip this week where he travelled from the main British military base in Helmand, one of the country's most violent regions, to foreign troops' headquarters in the capital city Kabul. The former European Ryder Cup captain said he had helped turn a 300-metre firing range into a makeshift golf driving range at Camp Bastion in Helmand. "We used the long-range firing range," Montgomerie told reporters in Kabul on Friday. "It was quite good to get the lads out and to have a go." Later Montgomerie showed off his golfing prowess on a patchy soccer field at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters. He gave swing tips to army personnel and about two dozen Afghan children who had never picked up a golf club before. "It's the first time I've ever done this on a football pitch," he joked while swinging his club and targeting a soccer goal down the other end of the field - he hit it on his fourth attempt, to cheers. But later he said the trip also had serious intentions to promote golf and bring relief to troops. "These kids, they were born into war and grew up in war and it's been a very difficult," he said, adding he hoped that the Afghans might qualify a golf team for the 2016 Olympics, where golf will be played again. "It is great to promote the game here to encourage the Afghans to have a team there in 2016." Masoma Alyari, a 15-year-old Afghan schoolgirl, hit the ball after several airswings and said she hoped to play again. "It's the first time that I've played golf, and it's really interesting," she said. Montgomerie, who has been succeeded as Ryder Cup captain by Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal, said it was a first for him to visit a country in the midst of war and that of all of his golf experiences, "it has to be the most unique". He is traveling with the Ryder Cup trophy his team won at Celtic Manor in Wales last year on the trip planned by the Professional Golfers' Association of Britain and Ireland. Mohammad Afzal Abdul, the golf pro at the dusty nine-hole Kabul Golf Club - dubbed the most dangerous in the world - said he hoped Montgomerie might inspire others to play in a country torn apart by three decades of occupation, civil war, Taliban rule and now the NATO-led military campaign. "Maybe when Afghanistan's security is better, maybe more golfers will come," he said. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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