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THEWEEK 14 March 2020SportFootballLiverpool beat
Bournemouth 2-1 to take a
25-point lead at the top of
the Premier League. Third-
placed Leicester City beat
Aston Villa 4-0.
CoronavirusThe Indian Wells
Masters, in California–one of
the biggest events on the
tennis tour–was called off
24 hours before it was due to
start. In rugby union, France
and Ireland’s match in the
Six Nations was postponed,
joining other delayed fixtures.
GolfTyrrell Hatton from
England won the Arnold
Palmer Invitational in Florida,
beatingafield including
World No.1Rory McIlroy.The33- 30 scoreline“suggestedaclosecontest”,
saidPaulReesinTheObserver.Forthemostpart,
however,itwasanythingbut.Englandsecuredthe
triplecrownatTwickenhamwithacomposedand
authoritativedisplayagainstWalesonSaturday
thatunderlinedthe“deep”gulfinqualitybetween
thetwosides.Inthefirsthalf,EddieJones’smen
wereespeciallydominant,astheyunpicked
theWelshdefencewith“surprisingease”,twice
scoringtriesfromattackingline-outs.Bycontrast,
thedefendingchampionswere“carelessand
disjointed”,astheyhavebeenthroughouta
falteringcampaign.Aftertheresumption,the
Welshbrieflyrallied,rattlingtheiropponents
witha“sensational”trythatbegandeepintheir
ownhalf.Butthen,onceagain,Englandwrested
control,openingupa33-1 6 leadwithtwoOwen
FarrellpenaltiesandatrybyManuTuilagi.Withjustminutestogo,“theresultseemedtobecastiniron”,
saidNikSimoninTheMailonSunday.England’srecent
performances,however,havebeenmarkedbymomentsof
indiscipline–andonceagainitcreptintotheirgame.WithEllis
Gengealreadyinthesinbin,Tuilagiwasshownaredcardfora
shoulderchargeagainst Welshwinger George North–forcing
Englandtoplayoutthe matchwithonly 1 3men.Duringthe
nerve-rackingminutesthatfollowed,Walesscoredtwotries.Afterwards,EddieJoneswasontypically
combativeform,describingTuilagi’ssendingoff
as“ridiculous”,saidBrianMooreinTheDaily
Telegraph.Hehasapointinthatthedriveto
stampouthightackleshasmadeit“almost
impossibletogetlowenoughtomakealegal
tackle”onanopponentwho’sdivingforthetry
line.Tuilagi’scrime,however,wastofailtouse
hisarmsinthetackle.Inthemoderngame,you
simplycannotdothis.Tuilagi’ssendingoffwasn’teventhemost
controversialmoment,saidDavidWalshinThe
SundayTimes.Duringthefirsthalf,England’s
prop,JoeMarler,wascaughtoncamera
deliberatelytweakingthegroinoftheWelsh
captain,AlunWynJones.OnITV,thegayformer
WelshinternationalGarethThomasjokedthat
hadsuchbehaviourhappenedinhisday,hewould“neverhave
retired”.Buttheauthoritiesareunlikelytoseethefunnyside,and
Marlerisexpect edtoreceivealengthyban.FollowingFrance’s
surprisedefeattoScotland,EnglandnowheadtheSixNations
table,andarefavouritestowinthecompetition,saidChrisFoy
intheDailyMail.However,thetrophywon’tbedecidedun til
allthepostponedmatchesinvolvingItalyare played–probably
intheautumn.Whatever thefinalresult,it willbe a“suitably
disjointed waytoconcludealess -than-vintagecampaign”.Six Nations: England nearly throw it all awayFor thefirsttimein adecade, ManchesterUnited
havealeaguedouble over ManchesterCity, said
JamieJacksoninThe Observer.At OldTrafford
lastSunday,OleGunnar Solskjær’s teamcontinued
theirrecent revivalwitha2-0 victory over their
“crosstownrivals”.Bothgoalswere theproduct
of goalkeepinghowlers:in thefirsthalf,Ederson
letavolley byAnthonyMartialsqueezeunderhis
hands;and inthe96th minute,hethrewthe ball
straighttoUnited’ssubstituteScottMcTominay,
who “found theempty netfrom40 yardsout”.
Nonetheless,United richlydeservedtheirvictory:
they were“simplymore dangerousthantheir
strangely toothless opponents”.Theyarenow
unbeatenin their lastten matches in all competitions,
andremain“firmlyinthehuntforaChampions
Leagueberth”. Afterwards,OldTrafford witnessed the kind of
“jubilantscenes”thathave beenall too rareinrecenttimes.The “catalyst” inUnited’sre-emergencehas
beentheir newlysignedPortugueseplayer, Bruno
Fernandes,saidHenryWinter inTheTimes.Since
hisarrival,hehas electrified United’s midfield,which
hasbeenmissingtheinjuredPaulPogba.Against
City,Fernandeswasthe“heartbeat” oftheside,
“creatingchancesandhavoc”,andgiving confidence
to the rest oftheteam.Atonepoint, heeven “lifted
theindexfinger onhisright hand tohis lips and
shushedPep Guardiola”–agestureofdisrespect
towardsCity’smanagerthatwassymptomaticof
histeam’snew-found“swagger”. City, bycontrast,
wereprettydismal,saidChrisSuttoninthe Daily
Mail:thiswasa“goalkeeping and defensive
disasterclass”whichmadeitalltooclearwhythey
areso faradriftofLiverpool. Despitethe millions
alreadyspent onthissquad,their defenceisstillin need of
“significantsurgery”,and it’sclearthatCitymust“investagain”.Premier League: Manchester United back on formTuilagi:atry andared cardFernandes:a“catalyst”Twenty20 World Cup final hits straight sixes Sporting headlinesIt was dubbed the “biggest
game” ever in women’s cricket,
said Geoff Lemon in The
Guardian. And, quite literally, it
was.Acrowd of 86,174 turned
out at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground last Sunday to watch
Australia face India in the final
of the Women’s Twenty20
World Cup–beating the record
attendance forawomen’s tie
by 50,000. The match itself was something of an
anticlimax, asarampant Australia powered to
their fifth title against an “overwhelmed” India.
Batting first, Australia’s openers Alyssa Healy
and Beth Mooney raced to 115 in just 11 overs.
Healy’s 75–the best innings of her life –
came from just 39 balls, and included three
sixes inarow against seamer Shikha Pandey.
Chasingadaunting184, India needed a“fast start”. Instead, they kept
losing wickets.India may have put up scant
opposition, but their presence in
the final was “significant”, said
Alison Mitchell in The Daily
Telegraph. The women’s game
has long been dominated by
Australia and England.
However, many regard India as
its “sleeping giant”, withapopulation of more
thanabillion andthe potential for massive
investment, given the “vast wealth and power”
of the Indian cricket board. As the youthfulness
of the current national side suggests, there is
awealthofteenage talent in the country. With
the right domestic structure–includingafully
fledged women’s Indian Premier League–they
could dominate the sport for years.Healy and Mooney: dominant