the times | Wednesday January 19 2022 2GM 63
Sport
Clermont Auvergne prop Daniel Bibi
Biziwu and the Racing 92 flanker
Yoan Tanga are the new faces up
front, while the Lyons fly half Léo
Berdeu and the La Rochelle centre
Jules Favre have a chance to impress
behind the scrum.
A thigh injury has ruled out
Matthieu Jalibert, the Bordeaux
Bègles fly half, but the Racing backs
Virimi Vakatawa and Teddy Thomas
have returned. Bernard le Roux, the
lock, could pass 50 caps in this year’s
competition, and is one of only four
squad members over the age of 30.which he was dominated by Dan Burn,
the Brighton centre back. His defensive
partner took the spotlight though. Mac
Allister, had it not been for Kepa’s out-
stretched palm, would have been the
source of Brighton’s equaliser from the
edge of the area. Instead he was the
creator, curling the resulting corner
into the area, where Webster thun-
dered the ball into the back of the net.
Alonso was at fault, losing his marker
and allowing the Amex to erupt with an
energy that filled their team.
Potter made a double substitution,
introducing Neal Maupay and Leandro
Trossard, which was within a foot of
proving inspired. Brighton’s best
chance was a Trossard cross that Mau-
pay failed to meet, sparing Tuchel’s
team an even more damaging result.France expect Dupont to win Six Nations fitness battle
France have signalled their
expectations that the scrum half
Antoine Dupont will be fit for the
Guinness Six Nations by naming the
Toulouse player in a 42-man squad.
Dupont, 25, has missed one month
of action with a knee problem but is
in line to play for his club this
weekend. He captained France in the
autumn in Charles Ollivon’s absence
and could retain the armband with
the flanker still out with a knee injury.
Fabien Galthié, the head coach, has
named four uncapped players in his
extended tournament squad. TheAt last at the age of 32 and after 95 caps
for his country — and three for the
British & Irish Lions — Dan Biggar will
be the captain of Wales in this year’s
Guinness Six Nations.
The fly half is not quite the last senior
player standing but his promotion is a
reflection of the horrendous injury list
Wales are enduring, with Alun Wyn
Jones, Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric and
Dan Lydiate, all potential leaders,
among its number.
Two players who captained Wales in
the autumn, the centre Jonathan
Davies and flanker Ellis Jenkins, are in
Wayne Pivac’s 36-man squad, but they
are clearly not certain of their places in
the starting side, leading to Biggar’s
summons.
“It’s a number of things,” Pivac, the
head coach, said when explaining that
captaincy decision. “We’ve lost 680
caps so that’s a lot of experience gone.
Dan brings a wealth of experience,
particularly in this tournament. The
captain has to have a guaranteed,
bolted-on position in the team, I guess.
Dan is the form ten and there’s a lot of
competition in the other positions.”
Biggar is a vocal, sometimes even
haranguing, and emotional presence
on the field, but that does not concern
Pivac. “I think it’ll add to Dan’s game,”
he said. “It’s obviously well document-
ed that Dan is a highly motivated
player, he’s very competitive and he
speaks his mind. Certainly we don’t
want to change him as a competitive
player.
“We want him to take on that role as
a captain. He is a very big part of the
leadership group whether he is captain
or not. So there is not much
change for Dan, except he
gets a little bit more lee-
way to talk to referees. We
expect Dan to repre-
sent himself and the
team very, very
well. Dan has the
respect of the
other players and
management. I
know he’ll do a
very good job.”
Others on the
injured list are Elliot
Dee, Josh Macleod, Josh
Navidi, Johnny Willi-
ams, George North,
Leigh Halfpenny and
James Botham, while the
back-rower Ross Moriarty
has been included in the hope
that he can play for DragonsBiggar leads side
robbed of 680
caps by injuries
before Wales face Ireland in Dublin on
February 5, with regaining the title a
challenge Pivac admits is “bigger again”
given the autumn form of France,
Ireland and England.
Pivac revealed that Tipuric would
not feature at all, having injured his
shoulder playing for the British & Irish
Lions against Japan last year.
“We won’t see Justin,” Pivac said.
“George, Toby [Faletau] and Dan
Lydiate are the ones that will probably
be the closest, along with James
Botham. Justin has been slower [in his
recovery] than anyone would have
anticipated. But the Justin I know will
be working very, very hard to get back
on the field as soon as he can.”
Pivac has named the lock Adam
Beard as vice-captain, mainly because
Biggar will have to return to
Northampton Saints at times during
the tournament, but also because
Beard, whom Pivac omitted from his
squad for the 2020 autumn series, is
viewed as a future captain.
“We are well aware that Dan and
others will go back for certain days of
certain weeks so it is important that we
have a leader who can take over,” Pivac
said. “Adam is someone we are
earmarking for the future, post-World
Cup probably.”
Pivac has selected three uncapped
players in his squad: the Ospreys duo of
Jac Morgan, at open-side flanker, and
the hooker Dewi Lake, as well as the
Cardiff No 8 James Ratti, who has con-
verted from lock. “We don’t have a lot of
No 8s in this country,” said Pivac. “He’s
got good size and we want to add to his
game.”
Owen Lane, who was outstanding on
the wing for Cardiff against Harlequins
last Frida, is perhaps the most unfortu-
nate player to miss out, with Pivac
opting instead for the experience of
Alex Cuthbert.
Wales’s Six Nations squad Backs G Davies
(Scarlets, Age: 31, Caps: 65), K Hardy (Scarlets, 26,
8), T Williams (Cardiff, 27, 29), G Anscombe
(Ospreys, 30, 29), D Biggar (Northampton, 32,
95), R Priestland (Cardiff, 35, 52), C Sheedy
(Bristol, 26, 13), J Davies (Scarlets, 33, 93), U
Halaholo (Cardiff, 31, 9), N Tompkins (Saracens,
26, 16), O Watkin (Ospreys, 25, 26), J Adams
(Cardiff, 26, 35), A Cuthbert (Ospreys, 31, 48),
L Rees-Zammit (Gloucester, 20, 12), J McNicholl
(Scarlets, 31, 8), L Williams (Scarlets, 30, 74).
Forwards R Carré (Cardiff, 23, 16), W Jones
(Scarlets, 29, 38), G Thomas (Ospreys, 28, 5),
L Brown (Dragons, 25, 16), T Francis
(Ospreys, 29, 60), D Lewis (Cardiff, 26,
34), R Elias (Scarlets, 27, 23), D Lake
(Ospreys, 22, 0), B Roberts (Ulster, 26,
1), A Beard (Ospreys, 26, 29), B Carter
(Dragons, 20, 5), S Davies (Cardiff,
25, 13), W Rowlands (Dragons,
30, 13), C Tshiunza (Exeter, 20,
2), T Basham (Dragons, 22, 7),
E Jenkins (Cardiff, 28, 14),
J Morgan (Ospreys, 21, 0),
R Moriarty (Dragons, 27,
49), J Ratti (Cardiff, 24,
0), A Wainwright
(Dragons, 24, 34).Steve JamesBiggar could reach 100
caps in the Six NationsBrighton & Hove Albion (4-1-4-1): R Sánchez 6 —
J Veltman 7, A Webster 7, D Burn 8, M Cucurella 8
— S Alzate 7 — T Lamptey 8 (S March 77min), P
Gross 8, J Moder 7, A Mac Allister 7 (N Maupay 61,
6) — D Welbeck 6 (L Trossard 61, 7). Booked Burn.
Chelsea (4-2-2-2): K Arrizabalaga 6 —
C Azpilicueta 5, T Silva 6, A Rüdiger 6, M Alonso 6
— N Kanté 6, Jorginho 5 (M Kovacic 80) —
H Ziyech 7 (T Werner 81), M Mount 6 — R Lukaku
5 (K Havertz 80), C Hudson-Odoi 6.
Booked Alonso, Rüdiger.
Referee K Friend.
Attendance 30,880.Fulham scored their 19th goal in the space
of an extraordinary seven days to extend
their lead at the top of the Championship
to five points. The only oddity was
that Aleksandar Mitrovic, the division’s
runaway top scorer with 27, claimed none.
Marco Silva fresh from his Fulham side
thrashing Reading 7-0 and Bristol City 6-2,
saw Neeskens Kebano, Fabio Carvalho and
Tom Cairney add to an own-goal opener.
Ivan Sunjic and Gary Gardner replied for
Birmingham, before Carvalho extin-
guished faint away hopes with a fifth and
Antonee Robinson completed the rout
with virtually the last kick of the game.
“It was a very good result, a fantastic
score again,” Silva, the Fulham manager,
said. “It wasn’t our best performance but we
created chances and scored goals from
some very good attacking moments. It is a
good sign that we are able to score six goals
even if our top scorer doesn’t score.”
An own goal by Marc Roberts in the
tenth minute set the tone as the defenderFootball
Premier League Brentford v Manchester
United (8.0); Leicester v Tottenham Hotspur
(7.30).
Sky Bet Championship Hull City v Blackburn
Rovers (7.45); Reading v Luton Town
(8.0).
Women’s League Cup quarter-finals
Arsenal v Manchester Utd (7.15); Manchester
City v Bristol City (7.0); Tottenham Hotspur v
Liverpool (7.30); West Ham United v Chelsea
(7.30).
bt V Golubic (Switz) 6-3, 6-4; (12) E Rybakina
(Kaz) bt Zarina Diyas (Kaz) 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3),
6-1; (14) S Halep (Rom) bt M Frech (Pol) 6-4,
6-3; B Haddad Maia (Br) bt K Volynets (US) 3-6,
6-2, 6-3; D Kovinic (Mont) bt Su Jeong Jang (S
Kor) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; (17) E Raducanu (GB) bt S
Stephens (US) 6-0, 2-6, 6-1; (29) T Zidansek
(Slovenia) bt A Rus (Neth) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8);
H Watson (GB) bt M Sherif (Egypt) 6-3, 5-7,
6-2; A Cornet (Fr) bt V Tomova (Bul) 6-3, 6-3;
(3) G Muguruza (Sp) bt C Burel (Fr) 6-3, 6-4; (7)
I Swiatek (Pol) bt H Dart (GB) 6-3, 6-0; R
Peterson (Swe) bt D Saville (Aus) 6-2, 6-3; M
Linette (Pol) bt A Sevastova (Lat) 6-4, 7-5; (25)
D Kasatkina (Russ) bt S Voegele (Switz) 6-3,
6-1; S Cirstea (Rom) bt (20) P Kvitova (Cz) 6-2,
6-2; K Kucova (Slovakia) bt M Doi (Japan) 6-3,
7-5; S Stosur (Aus) bt R Anderson (US) 6-7
(5-7), 6-3, 6-3; (10) A Pavlyuchenkova (Russ)
bt A Bondar (Hun) 6-2, 6-1; K Kanepi (Est) bt
(16) A Kerber (Ger) 6-4, 6-3; M Bouzkova (Cz)
bt R Marino (Can) 6-1, 6-3; H Baptiste (US) bt C
Garcia (Fr) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; M Inglis (Aus) bt
(23) L Fernandez (Can) 6-4, 6-2; (31) M
Vondrousova (Cz) bt P Hon (Aus) 6-2, 6-3; L
Samsonova (Russ) bt E Bektas (US) 7-5, 6-4;
Xinyu Wang (China) bt A Li (US) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3;
(2) A Sabalenka (Bela) bt Storm Sanders (Aus)
5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
*British players
Fixtures
Fulham’s goal glut continues
Sky Bet Championship
Jon WestFulham
Roberts (og) 10, Kebano 35, Carvalho 38, 75,
Cairney 43, Robinson 90+3
Birmingham City
Sunjic 45, Gardner 746
2
deflected Harry Wilson’s cross into his own
net, although Mitrovic would surely have
converted had he not intervened.
Birmingham conceded three more
between the 35th and 43rd minutes. First,
Kebano sprinted into the box ahead of
Maxime Colin for a thumping conversion
of Denis Odoi’s cross. It was Robinson, the
other full back, who turned provider in the
38th minute when his cross allowed Car-
valho to nip in ahead of Teden Mengi to
send a glancing header into the bottom
corner. Cairney’s shot went in off a post as
he fell on his backside after Wilson, Keba-
no and Carvalho had exchanged passes.
Sunjic pulled one back before the break,
also off an upright with a fine strike.
Gardner gave Birmingham brief hope by
making it 4-2 in the 74th minute. Kristian
Pedersen advanced at pace to set the mid-
fielder up for a precision drive between
goalkeeper Marek Rodak and his left-hand
post.
Fulham restored their three-goal advan-
tage within seconds, however, when Car-
valho danced along the edge of the box and
planted the ball beyond Neil Etheridge’s
reach.
Robinson scored a stoppage-time sixth
to complete Birmingham’s humiliation.
Lee Bowyer, their manager, said: “You have
to give Fulham credit — they are a differ-
ent animal to my team.”moody malcontent
GLYN KIRK/GETTY IMAGESminute to head past Arrizabalaga, standing in for the absent Édouard Mendy, to draw Brighton level at the Amex Stadium
How they stand
P WD L FA GD Pts
Man City..............22 18 2 2 54 13 41 56
Liverpool.............21 13 6 2 55 18 37 45
Chelsea................23 12 8 3 46 18 28 44
West Ham...........22 11 4 7 41 30 11 37
Arsenal................20 11 2 7 33 25 8 35
Spurs.....................18 10 3 5 23 20 3 33
Man United........ 20 9 5 6 32 29 3 32
Wolves................. 20 9 4 7 17 15 2 31
Brighton............... 21 6 11 4 22 22 0 29
Leicester.............. 18 7 4 7 31 33 -2 25
Crystal Palace.... 21 5 9 7 30 31 -1 24
Southampton..... 21 5 9 7 25 33-8 24
Aston Villa......... 20 7 2 11 27 32 -5 23
Brentford............. 21 6 5 10 24 33-9 23
Leeds................... 20 5 7 8 24 39 -15 22
Everton................ 19 5 4 10 24 34 -10 19
Watford................ 19 4 2 13 23 37 -14 14
Norwich............... 21 3 4 14 10 45 -35 13
Newcastle.......... 20 1 9 10 20 43 -23 12
Burnley................. 17 1 8 8 16 27 -11 11