Cup final coverage

V

ASTON VILLA V UNITED

The Carling Cup final kicks off on Sunday afternoon (15:00), but here at ManUtd.com our big-match build-up begins 24 hours earlier.
Nick Coppack will be down in the capital on Saturday and blogging from the United team hotel as the players arrive at their London headquarters. He’ll also be present when MUTV broadcast live from the hotel at 18:30, for a show expected to include on-air interviews with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Paddy Crerand and Lou Macari.

On Sunday, Nick will get to Wembley early to talk to fans outside the ground and give ManUtd.com readers a taste of that famous cup final atmosphere.

During the game you’ll be able to follow every kick thanks to Match Tracker (text commentary by Matt Nichols), while Nick will continue to blog from his seat in the Wembley press box.

After the final whistle, read Adam Bostock’s match report for a detailed analysis of how events on the pitch unfolded. While you’re doing that, Nick will be down in the Wembley tunnel, hopefully grabbing some post-match reaction from one or two of the United players and coaching staff.

Video highlights will be available onMUTV Online 24 hours after the final whistle.

Johnson will only settle for victory over Ireland

Winning isn't everything for England manager Martin Johnson -- it's the only thing.
And that may explain the World Cup-winning captain's annoyance that an England team aiming to complete the third leg of a Six Nations Grand Slam, against defending champions Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday, still faces sustained criticism for its style of play.
"When you win games you don't have to make apologies for how you do it, although we seem to have to," said Johnson, with considerable feeling for a former lock, this week.However, England only sparked into try-scoring form against Wales when their opponents were reduced to 14 men and then squandered numerous chances against an Italy team once more facing a wooden spoon battle.
The charge against Johnson's team, and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, whose usually impeccable goalkicking let him down in Rome, is that England need to do more if they are to defeat leading sides such as Ireland.
When England have enjoyed sustained success a strong pack has been supported by steady half-backs with a playmaking centre such as Clive Woodward in the early 1980s, Jeremy Guscott in the 1990s and, in Johnson's World Cup-winning side, the under-rated Will Greenwood.
Mathew Tait, England's lone try-scorer in Rome, appears the heir to that tradition yet much of England's tactical kicking in Rome was aimless, while too many chances were squandered for comfort.
Nevertheless, England captain Steve Borthwick insisted immediately after the final whistle at the Stadio Flaminio his side had been "fantastic".
Disbelieving ex-England captain Lawrence Dallaglio countered: "You don't pretend you've performed when you haven't."
Meanwhile, ever cautious Ireland coach Declan Kidney observed: "Last year there was some negative press over England but they still finished second in the Championship."
Johnson, keen to avoid England playing an open game just to placate their critics, did suggest his unchanged side -- although wing Mark Cueto had a stomach bug on Thursday -- understood the need for flexibility against Ireland.
"If we have to kick for 80 minutes on the day to win, we'll do it; if we have to run the ball for 80 minutes, we'll do it," he said.
Another question concerns how Ireland will respond to a crushing 33-10 defeat by France in Paris that put paid to their bid for a second successive Grand Slam and ended a 12-match unbeaten run.
Ireland's 'golden generation' lost much of its lustre against a younger, sharper and more powerful France team.
Even Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll was reduced to the status of a rugby mortal by the tournament leaders and the centre admitted there could be some lingering damage.
"We feel we're going in the right direction but all you need is one bad result and that's what happened in Paris," O'Driscoll said.

"If you've previously been carried away, that sort of result can inhibit your future."

 

Such sentiments may explain Kidney's decision to drop veteran Ronan O'Gara and bring in Jonathan Sexton for only the fly-half's third cap.

Sexton may be a novice but when put to the test, be it guiding Leinster to victory over Johnson's old side Leicester in last season's European Cup final or helming Ireland's November win over world champions South Africa, he has responded superbly.
An injury to full-back Rob Kearney has led to a recall for Geordan Murphy, with lock Donncha O'Callaghan returning after a knee problem and Rory Best replacing Jerry Flannery following the Munster hooker's suspension for tripping France wing Alexis Palisson.
Others may come and go but John Hayes just keeps going and his exemplary endurance will be rewarded once again when the prop becomes the first player to win 100 caps for Ireland on Saturday.

Arsenal 1 Utd 3

United are breathing down Chelsea's necks again after a maiden league win at the Emirates Stadium left Arsenal's title credentials in tatters.

The Reds raced into a 3-0 lead through Manuel Almunia's own goal, Wayne Rooney's 100th Premier League strike and a first notch of the season for Ji-sung Park. And although the Gunners scored late on through Thomas Vermaelen, it was to be no more than a consolation for the hosts in a game that started – and finished – in end-to-end fashion.

The first warning shot across United’s bows came from Andrei Arshavin but after running at Brown from the left flank, he failed to bend the ball inside the far post.

The same side of the pitch yielded the Reds’ first raids of promise when Darren Fletcher and then Nani played low balls into Arsenal’s six-yard box; William Gallas prevented Wayne Rooney from netting the first one, while Alex Song swept the second one out for a corner. Arsenal almost self-harmed at the setpiece, but Nasri was on duty at the near post to clear Denilson’s (own) goal-bound header.

Arshavin was again the outlet for Arsenal in the 14th minute but although Edwin van der sar was concerned enough to dive, the Russian’s second attempt from left to right flew wide like his first. A more central threat from Arshavin ended in disappointment for the home fans when he wildly sliced a shot from the edge of the area, and although it fell to Nasri, the Frenchman couldn’t follow up

Rooney proud of four-goal haul

Wayne Rooney has spoken of his pride at netting all four goals in the victory over Hull City as United returned to the Barclays Premier League summit.

The England international produced yet another menacing display and got proceedings off to the perfect start with a close-range finish on eight minutes. Despite a couple of scares, United always looked on course for victory and Rooney made sure of the points with three devastating finishes in the final 11 minutes.

"The last time I scored four goals was probably when I was about 12!" he joked during an interview with MUTV afterwards. "It's my first time in professional football so I'm obviously delighted. It's a great feeling to score one goal in the Premier League, so to score four makes me very proud.

"Hull had a couple of chances when it was 1-0 and it was a bit nervy," he added. "That was when we had to show our experience and make sure we got that second goal.

"We'd had some good chances before then and maybe should have got our second in the first half, but it wasn't to be. Thankfully it eventually came and we pushed on from there with two more goals which killed the game off."

While Rooney was delighted with his four-goal haul, he was even more satisfied to have helped the Reds leapfrog Chelsea and Arsenal into top spot.

"Being top is very important," he insisted. "We can only do our job and we've done that today by getting the win to go top and it puts a bit more pressure on the other teams."

Diouf's dream debut

The last time United signed a relatively unknown centre-forward from Norwegian side Molde FK, it turned out to be an extremely shrewd piece of business. Is it possible Sir Alex has struck gold yet again in Mame Biram Diouf?

Like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Senegalese striker’s arrival at Old Trafford was decidedly low-key. And on Saturday against Burnley, Diouf continued to mirror Ole’s early OT career by netting on his home debut.

Diouf, sent on for Wayne Rooney on 73 minutes, put the icing on the cake of United’s 3-0 win, stealing in during injury time to head over the onrushing Brian Jensen at the Stretford End.


“It feels good to score in my first game here,” he told MUTV. “I was nervous for the first two or three minutes but then you forget about all the people in the stands and you do your job.”

Diouf’s debut came last weekend at St. Andrew’s, where he was handed a late cameo in the Reds’ 1-1 draw. And he insists he’ll give his all whenever Sir Alex selects him next.

“I’m just going to work hard and do my best and we’ll see when the manager needs me. I’ll be ready, though.


“I want to give my best for my new team and be ready when they need me. I’ll work hard in training, never give up and be ready for the next chance that comes along.”

The 22-year-old, who scored 23 times in 52 games for Molde in Norway, says he’s keen to work closely with United’s other forwards.

“I’m sure I can learn [by playing alongside Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov],” he said.

“They are top players, some of the best in the world. They’ve done so much in football and in this league so I’m going to try and learn a lot.”

Polis Bersatu juara ragbi antara kelab

Sunday, 17 January 2010 19:30

Diambil daripada: http://www.utusan.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR - Pasukan pilihan, Polis Bersatu berjaya membenam cabaran Keris Conlay-BIB 15-3 pada perlawanan akhir, semalam untuk muncul juara Kejohanan Ragbi Antara Kelab Kebangsaan 2009.

Bertempat di Pusat Latihan Polis (Pulapol), Jalan Semarak, persembahan skuad Polis Bersatu yang diuruskan oleh Deputi Supritendan, Ridzuan Abdul Aziz ternyata sukar ditandingi oleh Keris Conlay.

Namun, Keris Conlay terlebih dahulu mengejutkan Polis 3-0 seawal minit keenam menerusi penalti yang disempurnakan oleh Mohd. Fauzi Fuad.

Tersentak dengan mata lawan, Polis bingkas memperhebatkan asakan dan hasilnya pada minit ke-20, Ahmab Sofian Rosli tenang mengambil sepakan penalti untuk kedudukan 3-3.

Polis tidak menoleh belakang lagi selepas itu apabila memperolehi try pertamanya melalui Shahril Azri Raup pada minit ke-37 bagi memberikan pendahuluan 8-3 untuk separuh masa pertama.

Sebaik separuh masa kedua bermula, Keris Conlay terus longlai dengan banyak melakukan kesilapan sehingga memberikan ruang kepada Polis untuk mengasak.

Akhirnya, Muhd. Juraimi Jasmin mendapatkan try kedua kepada Polis pada minit ke-66 sebelum dua mata lagi diperoleh melalui conversion yang diambil Ahmab Sofian bagi kedudukan 15-3 di minit ke-67.

Walaupun Keris Conlay berusaha keras merapatkan jurang, namun gagal menembusi benteng Polis yang berjaya mematahkan usaha mereka termasuk percubaan try di akhir permainan.

Hadiah kejohanan termasuk Piala Pusingan Dauk Seri Syed Razlan Jamalullail telah disampaikan oleh Timbalan Ketua Polis Pahang, Datuk Sharifuddin Ab. Ghani.

Polis dan Keris Conlay yang merupakan dua pasukan terbaik kejohanan itu layak beraksi ke Liga Super Ragbi Kebangsaan yang akan bermula pada pertengahan Februari ini.

Pengurus Polis, Ridzuan berkata skuad itu akan berangkat ke Thailand pada bulan Jun depan bagi menghadapi perlawanan menentang pasukan Polis Thailand.

"Kami mahu memberikan kejutan dalam perlawanan tradisi tahunan ini kerana Polis Thai sering muncul sebagai pemenang," katanya.

New Zealand's All Blacks - Team of the decade

 

South Africa might currently have the World Cup and the tri-nations title and been voted the 2009 IRB Team of the Year - but there can be little doubt New Zealand have been the Team of the Decade despite missing out on two World Cups won by England (2003) and South Africa (2007) respectively.
In fact, the Boks are only ranked fifth on win percentage in this time, despite having the next best number of wins after New Zealand.

The Springboks' low winning percentage stems from the lean years between 2000 and 2003, when they won only 23 and drew one of their 46 Tests.

 

England's strong stats come largely from the same period when under Clive Woodward they won just about everything they contested.

The Boks played the most Tests (125) winning 76 for a 60,8% win ratio. New Zealand played 122 Tests and won exactly 100 for an 82% win ratio.
That equates to 10 Tests won per year from an average total of 12,2 Tests played in each of the 10 years.
The All Blacks underlined their supremacy over the period by also scoring 133 more tries than the next best attacking side, Australia.
New Zealand scored 526 tries (4,31 per Test) compared to the 393 of Australia (3,20 per Test) and South Africa's 384 (ave.3,1). Argentina, with only 85 Tests played, averaged 3,7 tries per Test.
The All Blacks beat the Springboks in 16 of the 24 Tests played during the decade - and four of the eight Bok wins came with Peter de Villiers as national coach, three of them this year.

It is interesting to note De Villiers has the second best winning ration of any Bok coach after Nick Mallett.

 

During the decade, New Zealand averaged Test scores of 36-16.

Yes, the All Blacks were the best and most consistent over the decade and won almost 60 % of their matches against the Boks despite this year's three consecutive losses.

But they still don't have the World Cup, and interestingly Ireland, second on winning percentages, also have an inferior competition  (Six Nations and world Cup) record to France, who are only fourth on the list.

 

The All Blacks will host the 2011 Rugby World cup and it has yet to be seen whether home advantage will aid the All Blacks in their world cup quest or whether it will add further pressure on them which could lead to another slip up.

 

Whatever happens in the next decade the All Blacks will have three chances to become World cup Champions (2011 in NZ, 2015 in England and 2019 in Japan).