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THEWEEK 13 February 2021SportTennisBritish No.1Dan
Evans beat Félix Auger-
Aliassime 6-2, 6-3 to claim
the Murray River Open –
his maiden ATP Tour title.
However, he lost to his
compatriot Cameron Norrie
4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 5-7 in the first
round of the Australian Open.
Rugby unionWales beat
Ireland 21-16 in the first round
of the Six Nations after Peter
O’Mahony became the first
Irishman to getared card in
the history of the tournament;
France beat Italy 50-10.
CricketEngland won the First
Test against India in Chennai
by 227 runs.ScotlandtravelledtoLondonforthisyear’s
CalcuttaCup(astheSixNationsclashbetween
EnglandandScotlandisknown)havingnotwon
atTwickenhamsince 1983 ,saidPaulReesin
TheObserver.Andonarainsweptnight,Gregor
Townsend’smenbroughtnearlyfourdecadesof
hurttoanendwithacomprehensive11-6victory.
Thescore-line,ifanything,flatteredEngland,said
OliverBrowninTheSundayTelegraph:“ifthere
canbesuchathingasan11-6trouncing,hereit
was”.Scotlandweresuperiorineverydepartment:
cannierintheirplay,monopolisingbothterritory
andpossession,anddisplayingfarmoreattacking
zeal,mainlythankstoFinnRussell,their“pocket
dynamo”ofafly-half.Infact,Scotland’sonereal
failingwasprofligacy:Russellmissedseveral
makeablepenaltykicks,andtheyshouldreally
havescoredmultipletries,insteadofjustone.ForallthatScotlandwereimpressive,thiswasan“absolutely
ghastly”performancebyEngland,saidStephenJonesinThe
SundayTimes.With“rankindiscipline”,theyconceded 15
penaltiesandneverlookedlikescoringatry.Scotlandevenhad
thebetterofline-outsandscrums–traditionallyEnglishstrengths.
OnlyMaroItoje, their excellentsecondrow,“stoodoutfromthe
leaden lumpof muddy whitejerseys”.Englandcanpointto one
factorthat significantlyhinderedtheirteam’s readiness,saidLawrenceDallagliointhesamepaper.Because
non-Premiershiprugbyissuspended,fiveoftheir
team,whoplayforSaracens,hadn’tcompetedin
amatchsinceNovember–andthiscontingent
looked“offthepace”.Thatsaid,itwasawoeful
teamperformance,andalltheplayers“needto
takeaverylong,hardlookatthemselves”.Thetoughestquestionsofallshouldbedirectedat
England’scoach,EddieJones,saidRobertKitson
inTheGuardian.His“obsessionwithcollisions,
aerialbombsandeliminatingriskhassteeredhis
teamdownastiflingtacticalcul-de-sac”.This
wasno“one-offaberration”,butpartofageneral
pattern:Englanddependablybeatteamswhom
theycanphysicallydominate,butstrugglewhen-
everopponentsstanduptothem.Theshameofit
isthatEngland’scurrentsquadisoneofthemost
giftedever,saidOwenSlotinTheTimes.Jonesisstartingtolook
likerugby’sSven-GöranEriksson–“themanwhosefortunewas
toinheritagoldengenerationyetwasunable,consistently,toget
thebestoutofthem”.Scotland,bycontrast,haveachanceto
buildonwhatalreadyfeelslikea“definingperformance”,said
DoddieWeirinTheDailyTelegraph.Thelasttimetheywonthis
competitionwasin 1999,whenit wasstillthe“Five Nations”.
Havingfinally“brokenthe Twickenhamhoodoo”,thiscouldbe
theyear when they win the“SixNations”forthe firsttime.Rugby union: Scotland finally break their Twickenham curseWhen,backin 2019, PepGuardiola–who once
managed LionelMessi–called PhilFodenthe most
talentedplayerhe’deverseen,many peoplescoffed,
saidChrisSutton inthe Daily Mail.Yetgiventhe
20-year-old’s performancesin recent weeks,one
can’thelp feelingManchesterCity’sboss“was onto
something”.AtAnfield onSunday,thediminutive
left-footergavethe full exhibitionofhis talents,said
OliverBrown inTheDailyTelegraph.In thesecond
half, withthe scorelockedon 1-1,heslalomed past
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, and delivered
a“delicious cut-back”fromwhichİlkay Gündoğan
scored. Tenminutes later,he cappedCity’s 4 -1
victorywith agoalthat,dare Isayit,waspositively
Messi-esque. “Findinghimself one-on-one withAndy
Robertson,arguablythebest left-backinthe league,he checked
up, rounded hisman,and letflypastAlisson with hiswandof a
leftfoot.” Amatchthatmayhave decided thisyear’stitle race,it
alsofeltlike amarkerinFoden’s development–the “momentwhenbreathlesspraisegavewayto concreteevidence
thatCityhave unearthedajewel”.“Atalentlike Foden’scomesalong oncein ablue
moon,”saidHenryWinterin TheTimes.And
Guardiola,sofar, hasshepherdedit wisely.Hehas
avoidedthetemptation toplayhimtoooften, and
resistedthe“public clamour” tosendhimout on
loan,arguingthattrainingalongsideCity’s“creative
anddedicated”seniorprofessionalswouldbestserve
hislong-termdevelopment.Such careful handling
isnowbearingfruit, said BarneyRonayin The
Guardian.Alreadya“little nightmare oftechnique
and finesse”,Fodendemonstrated,with several
surgingrunsat Anfield, that hecannow “turnon
the thrusterstoo”–theproduct,it seems,ofrecent trainingwith
asprintcoach.Italladdsuptoquiteapackage. Alreadythe
“best young playerin England”, Fodenseemscertainto playa
pivotalrolein England’scampaignat theEurosthissummer.Foo tball: Phil Foden comes of ageRussell:a“pocket dynamo”Foden: watch out, MessiAmerican football: Brady makes it amagnificent seven Sporting headlinesWhen Tom Brady joined Tampa
Bay Buccaneers this season, few
gave the quarterbackarealistic
hope of adding to his record six
Super Bowl titles, said Bryan
Armen Graham in The Guardian.
He is after all, 43 years old.
That’s right–43. Yet on Sunday
night, in this year’s NFL decider
against Kansas City Chiefs, the
“ageless marvel” yet again
showed why he is the “greatest
quarterback ever” as he steered the Buccaneers
to acomprehensive 31-9 victory. The win
“effectively places him out of reach of any
foreseeable challenger” to his record for Super
Bowl crowns: “No other quarterback in NFL
history has won more than four Super Bowls –
or even played in more than five.”In the match, Brady threw for
201yardsand completed72%
of his passes, so earning his
fifth Super Bowl MVP (Most
Valuable Player) award, said
Charles Walford in The Times.
Yet this wasavictory built on a
overall team performance. Rob
Gronkowski, Brady’s former
Patriot teammate, scored two
of the touchdowns his passes
provided; and the Buccaneers’
defence stifled the dangerous opposing quarter-
back, Patrick Mahomes. Brady’s greatest gift
has always been his determination, said David
Walsh in The Sunday Times: it is this that
enabled him to overcome early setbacks and
keep playing into his 40s. His isahunger for
success that “can never be sated”.Brady: an “ageless marvel”