Sport magazine 309

Issue 309 | June 14 2013

Phase two Andy Murray talks exclusively to Sport about the next chapter in his Grand Slam-winning career

Contents

18

Issue 309, June 14 2013 Radar 06 Why on earth?

The new film charting the frankly insane runners who tackled the four toughest marathons on the planet

08 Vroom!

The £5,000 iPod docks made from the exhausts of classic sports cars

10

I don’t like cricket... ... I love it. A new game and a new app for the aficionados

oFeatures this coming week

18

Andy Murray Taking his next step in a Grand Slam-winning career, and what it’s like to take on some of the greatest players of all time

27 The state of Australian sport What’s the problem? We ask Aussie sportsmen and journalists just how bad things are... if at all

31

Jonny Wilkinson The truth behind all the Lions speculation – and how much the Heineken Cup win meant to him

08

27

34 Tommy Bowe’s diary

31

Even with a broken hand, our man’s reporting from the Lions front line

Extra Time 44 Gadgets A great new DAB radio to listen to the summer of sport, and a golf gizmo that analyses your swing

46 Father’s Day gifts A veritable smörgåsbord for the inevitable last-minute purchase

Phil Walter/Getty Images, Clay Enos

48 Grooming And if the above gifts don’t hit the spot, revert to plan B: stuff to make the old boy smell a bit nicer

52 Entertainment

52

Man of Steel gets the treatment this week, while Carl Hiaasen and Kanye West are the support acts | June 14 2013 | 05

Radar

Milk was a bad choice I

t’s so damn hot,” laments Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy as he ruefully chugs a pint and a half of the white stuff in Anchorman.

We can only imagine what it was like for the equally heat-addled folk featured in new documentary Desert Runners. The film follows four non-professional athletes as they attempt the four hardest ultramarathons on the planet: in the Atacama, Gobi and Sahara deserts, and in Antarctica. In the process, they tackle the (respectively) driest, windiest, hottest and coldest places on earth. The film premieres at the Edinburgh Film Festival next weekend, and it should be slogging its way to a screen near you soon. It is, say its makers, “a story about life beyond the comfort zone”. Expect blisters. desertrunnersmovie.com 06 | June 14 2013 |

p08 – Sir Chris Hoy: the international man of mystery and his new bike p10 – Ashes Cricket 2013 on the PS3: rain welcome p11 – ESPNcricinfo: the updated app for a summer of stats

Radar

SIr ChrIS hoy Six-Time Olympic cHampiOn and ‘HaS-been’

B

ike Week begins tomorrow. And who better to design a bike than a man who has bagged six Olympic gold medals riding one? We caught up with Sir Chris Hoy as he began his countrywide roadshow visiting Evans stores and riding his new range of trusty two-wheel steeds...

Designing your own bike is something of a schoolboy’s dream, no?

“It reminds me of when I was a kid and I had my Saturday job. You’d save your money up and have a budget to build your racing bike for the year. And, for that money, you were trying to build the best possible bike you could. Now, really, I’ve done the same thing – only I have a slightly bigger budget on a slightly different scale.”

Unlike your track bike, presumably these ones have brakes?

“One of the biggest things is the disc brakes – strong brakes that mean if someone opens a car door, you can stop very quickly.”

08 | June 14 2013 |

ew engine regulations coming into force next year mean that, from 2014, Formula 1 engines will sound very different (as well as being more efficient). They’d have to go some way to sound anything like this one, though. Italian company iXoost takes exhausts from classic sports cars and combines them with polished aluminium and electronics to make truly unique iPod docks that sound sweeter than any engine.

They’ll set you back almost as much as a new car, though. Prices start at €5,000.

Find out more at ixoost.it

– the bit in the film when they’re chased by the police. Straight away, that was what I wanted to do. I started racing BMXs, and that was what got me into cycling.”

Given that the velodrome that bears your name in Glasgow will host next year’s Commonwealth Games, why retire now?

“If I could have continued, I would have.

But it’s not a choice. Cycling is a very objective sport. You measure everything – data, power outputs, speeds. There’s clear indications of your form and what you’re capable of. And London was really hard. And I realised I’d got the best out of myself. But to turn up in Glasgow with anything less than 100 per cent, you are not going to be competitive. I didn’t want to be there just to make up the numbers.”

Sport’s been knocked off its bike commuting, but not by a car door. It was another cyclist.

“He wasn’t French, was he? I’ve met a few of them on the track. ”

The French aside, what won’t you miss?

“The biggest thing is being able to say: ‘Do you fancy a glass of wine tonight?’

Or: ‘Yeah, I’ll have a beer.’ Brilliant! For so long – and it’s not that I’m desperate to drink alcohol every minute of the day – it was one of the things that I just could not do. And when you can’t do something, that’s when you really want to do it.”

We’ve read that you were inspired to take up cycling after watching E.T.?

“It’s true. It was the first time I’d seen a BMX. I was six, and I thought: ‘This looks mental.’

They were hammering through the streets

Your passport would have read ‘track cyclist’ before. What does it say now? “‘International man of mystery’. Er… good question. ‘Has-been’? Let’s say ‘has-been’.” hoybikes.com

Geoff Waugh for HOY Bikes

Hear me roar

N

Radar

game on P

Safety first: Trott races to 11 off 298 balls

All pictures Getty Images

atience and guile don’t tend to translate that well to the video game format: you only have to look at EA Sports’ quietly shelved Kasparov Chess franchise to see that. So it’s no surprise that cricket has been routinely shafted on the digital front – the last decent console cricket caper had Brian Lara on the front, and he’s been retired six years. We are hopeful that Ashes Cricket 2013, the official game of the series, will change that. The game engine has been completely revamped, with 360-degree control over shot placement, while a brand new line-and-length bowling system makes it much easier to try and tempt them into an edge outside off stump, or just opt for a more historically accurate Bodyline. Howzat?

Out next month on Xbox 360 and PS3

10 | June 14 2013 |

Trouble free scores one are the days when bespectacled cricket nerds would have to lug around dozens of copies of Wisden to sate their unquenchable thirst for stats.

The updated ESPNcricinfo app provides all the information you could want on goings-on in the cricketing world, with scores, fixtures, news and even video highlights. Best of all, it’s completely free – and should prove a great way to keep up with what’s happening in the Ashes when the time comes. Right now, we’re using it to keep tabs on West Indies six-machine Chris Gayle, so we can don appropriate protective headgear if he’s anywhere in the vicinity. That’s one thing in Wisden’s favour: it’s certainly a more effective shield.

Available now for iOS and Android, free

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action packed dVds & blu-rays at great prices © Entertainment One UK Limited 2013. All Rights Reserved.

| 11

Radar Editor’s letter The Happy One: will win something, then get fired (again). Probably www.sport-magazine.co.uk @sportmaguk facebook.com/sportmagazine

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What do they do?

Managers, that is. They turn up in a blaze of glory, may or may not win things, then leave

A

Editor-in-chief Simon Caney @simoncaney

But as I ruminated on it a bit longer, I realised that this is exactly what will happen. Mourinho will almost certainly win a trophy of some description in his first season. But that will have less to do with his managerial ability than the fact that he is inheriting a squad of enormous potential.

And therein lies the rub: beyond Sir Alex Ferguson, whose like we shall never see again, and Arsène Wenger (probably likewise), managers don’t get to stick around any more.

Ask Roberto Mancini or Roberto Di Matteo.

This is the modern manager’s lot: if you have some money to spend, then chances are you’ll win something or other, followed by the sack a year or two later, for either not winning something more important or not being holistic enough. There will always be a reason for clubs to sack their managers, no matter how successful.

(If you don’t have any money to spend, by the way, you’ll not win anything and still get the sack. Operating within a tight budget might buy you an extra season.)

What counts for pretty much nothing is how good the manager might be at coaching his team of 11 players to beat other teams at football. With many managers having lost control of their club’s purse-strings, and with today’s game no longer allowing managers to ‘motivate’ players as Ferguson or Brian Clough used to, I wonder if the modern gaffer is an increasingly redundant position. And if they’re not made redundant, they just get the sack.

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Very sorry to learn of the death of master trainer Sir Henry Cecil this week. Racing as a sport often does too little to embrace its public. But Cecil understood it was a sport – and, as such, entertainment. He was a genius at training horses, yes, but his death leaves a huge void in a sport that is crying out for characters.

Shameless plug alert: following the great success of the Sport iPad app, we’ve now branched into iPhone territory, too. So download it from the app store right now – and, should you find yourself unable to pick up a copy of the mag, then Bob’s yer auntie’s live-in lover, as they say.

Either way, take a look and let us know what you think.

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12 | June 14 2013 |

@FeeNichol

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s the José Mourinho circus got under way at Chelsea this week, someone asked me how I thought he’d fare. “He’ll win a few things, then he’ll get the sack,” I replied, without really thinking.

Colour reproduction: Rival Colour Ltd Printed by: Wyndeham Group Ltd

Radar Opinion

It’s like this…

David Lyttleton

Bill Borrows

Outdone by the French?

I really must protest

D

id you see the protest at the French Open? It was an outrage.

A disgrace. A bare-chested man in russet-coloured trousers (the very wearing of which should be rewarded with a custodial sentence), a mask and carrying a flare protesting about gay marriage. You could be forgiven for thinking he might be suggesting it become compulsory – but apparently not.

Forget the issue. Either way, it’s just not right. Why should France still have halfdecent protests at sporting events? What’s happened, Britain? What have we been doing while the French have been dreaming up ways to make political points while adding an extra dimension to a marvellous sporting occasion? Yet again we have fallen behind our European competitors.

As with many things, we set the gold standard when Emily Davison was killed by King George V’s horse at Epsom almost exactly 100 years ago – there is now even a plaque at the course, although the debate still rages about whether she meant to kill

14 | June 14 2013 |

herself or merely pin a rosette to 1,200lbs of horse meat travelling at more than 30mph.

One is clearly an heroic commitment to the cause of universal suffrage, the other an ill-considered gesture by someone who had clearly never been to the races before. But that is irrelevant – she set out to protest and chose to do this through the medium of sport.

While the Springboks were touring from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, there were so many pitch invasions and long-haired people with placards wandering about that, to paraphrase American comic Rodney Dangerfield, you couldn’t go to an antiapartheid demonstration without a rugby match breaking out.

In 1975, a Test match between England and Australia at Headingley was disrupted to the extent that further play was impossible after supporters campaigning for the release of convicted bank robber George Davis vandalised the wicket. He was eventually released before the end of his sentence, although there were, perhaps

understandably, fewer incidents of direct action after he pleaded guilty to two further armed robberies.

But that’s not the point either. Protesting at sport got things done: votes for women; the end of apartheid; the release of an, ahem, innocent man. What have we got now?

Idiots like Karl Power (appeared in team line-up in full kit, Manchester United v Bayern Munich, April 2001) and defrocked Catholic priest/part-time transvestite leprechaun Neil Horan (British Grand Prix at Silverstone, July 2003 and men’s marathon, Olympic Games, Athens 2004) trying to, respectively, scrape together a few quid and warn the world of its imminent demise.

Admittedly, Horan is not British – he’s Irish – so they can’t pin that one on us, but then neither is Trenton Oldfield. Who? You recall, the Aussie who disrupted the 2012 OxfordCambridge Boat Race to protest against elitism in this country. His act of staggering ineptitude (failing in his stated desire to stop the race being completed) would have been easier to deal with if he had not used the accompanying platform to promote himself.

Hang on, I’ve forgotten John Foley (Everton v Manchester City, January 2012), who handcuffed himself to the goalposts at Goodison to complain about Ryanair. At last, something everybody can agree about… but no, this was nothing to do with their hand baggage policy, rather something to do with their treatment of flight-attendants. See what I mean? We can’t even get that right.

What’s gone wrong? I blame Erika Roe (top off, England v Australia at Twickenham, January 1982) for this inglorious pantheon of clowns – but, magnanimously, can just about find it within myself to forgive her.

I’m very generous like that. @billborrows David Flatman is away looking uncomfortable on a bike. He will be back on June 28

Planks of the Week England U21 footballers (on holiday) And so everybody’s got it in for Stuart Pearce. Yes, he cost us the 1990 World Cup, forgot to pick a goalkeeper when picking his first team as a manager, and once cost me £350 on an accumulator – but, on this occasion, he is not to blame. He’s had a go at the players who travelled to Israel and told them to “look at themselves”, but the ones who should be doing that are currently on a beach somewhere and looking at something else. They know who they are, and so do we.

Frozen in time

16 | June 14 2013 |

It’s not often we get to watch bona fide sporting history being made, but last weekend we had a little bit of exactly that. Rafa Nadal became the first man to win the same Grand Slam tournament eight times when he prevailed over countryman David Ferrer in the final of the French Open.

But after doing it eight times, does he need to collapse on the ground in a state of such abject shock? Surely he’s at the stage where he can just shrug and start counting down the days until he can get on the plane to Paris again...

| 17

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Man down

Andy Murray

“I just wAnted to wIn A grAnd slAm. I dIdn’t cAre whIch one It wAs. I just wAnted to wIn one” Ahead of his return to Wimbledon, Andy Murray speaks exclusively to Sport about his momentous year, injuries, and why it always pays to keep your eye on the ball

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

A

18 | June 14 2013 |

ndy Murray is reflecting on the first phase of his career as a professional tennis player – the phase that came to an end at 2.05am on September 10 2012, when an overhit Novak Djokovic return handed the Scot the maiden Grand Slam title he’d spent more than a decade working towards. Sinking to his haunches, Murray’s hands covered his mouth as he struggled to absorb the enormity of what he had achieved.

That momentous New York night feels like it was longer than nine months ago when Sport sits down with Murray beside the centre court at Queen’s Club – an arena that has brought him the only grass-court titles of his career so far (his Olympic gold aside).

The US Open champion has just emerged from the players’ lounge, where he’s been glued to the final set of Rafael Nadal’s French Open semi-final win over Djokovic. The tournament is the first Slam Murray has missed in six years (he sat out Wimbledon in 2007 with a wrist injury), but the gruelling nature of the four-hour, 37-minute battle he’s just witnessed has proved his difficult decision to sit out the tournament was the right one.

“That sort of match is the reason why I wasn’t playing, because I wouldn’t have been able to compete at the level I’d want to compete at,” he explains. “My back just wasn’t good enough.”

The injury was so bad that it forced Murray to retire from his second-round match at the Rome Masters in May, and he admits to fearing the worst as he departed the Italian capital. “My back had been bad the week before, in Madrid, but I just hoped that with a few days’ rest before Rome it would be okay,” he says. “After I pulled out, I was going to see back specialists, having scans and just getting a lot of different opinions from a lot of people. In your head, you do prepare yourself for really bad news.”

Murray suffered from back spasms at a similar stage of last season, leading some to conclude the problem is aggravated by the switch in surfaces at the beginning of the clay-court campaign – thus something the 26-year-old might therefore have to manage for the remainder of his career.

“All players have things they need to manage,” he continues. “Roger’s had back issues for a while and Rafa’s had problems with his knees. The game is so physical now that it’s almost impossible not to have >

| 19

Andy Murray

INTERESTED OBSERVER

Many injured sportspeople close their eyes and ears to events they’re being forced to miss – it’s an ‘if I’m not there, then I’ll pretend no one else is’ mentality designed to ease their disappointment. Not Murray.

He used his time off to watch what unfolded in Paris, offering opinions and predictions via his Twitter account, much like your average tennis fan. But is he able to watch the game in the same way as any other fan, or does his tennis brain kick into gear even when he’s watching it from his sofa with a sausage sandwich and mug of tea on the go?

“Sometimes I just want to enjoy the match and not focus too much on tactics or anything,” he answers.

“But there are also times when I’ll sit down and take notes. Watching the end of the match with Rafa and Novak earlier, I was thinking that when you’re watching as a player you can see: ‘Oh, he should be doing this or that, and this is what is working and this is what isn’t.’ But when you’re the one on the court, it’s very difficult under that pressure – especially after playing for four hours – to concentrate and know the exact tactics you should be using.

“You can learn a lot from watching. When I was about 17, I injured my knee and missed four or five months of playing. But I used to take notes on all the matches and players I watched – so when I did manage to get on the tour and play against them, it wasn’t like I’d never seen them before. I knew a bit about what they did and their strengths and weaknesses. These days, I take notes more on specific players or matches. Sometimes, if the top guys are playing and someone’s giving them trouble, it’s useful to look at what they’re doing to make it difficult for them.”

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER

It wasn’t too long after that injury layoff that Murray made his senior debut at Wimbledon (left), where he will return 10 days from now for his eighth attempt at ending Britain’s long wait for a homegrown singles champion (still Fred Perry, still 1936). On that Tuesday afternoon in June 2005, however, nothing could have been further from an 18-year-old Murray’s thoughts.

“I was just so excited to play and there was no pressure – it was about pure enjoyment and excitement. I still have the excitement, but it is hard when you’re on the court to really enjoy it as much as I did when I was 18 and playing there for the first time. Back then, if you lose in the first round... well, no one’s expecting anything of you and you’re not expecting anything of yourself. Obviously now it’s a bit different.”

20 | June 14 2013 |

“IT wAS ThE FIRST TImE ThAT, hAVING lOST A SlAm FINAl, I’VE RESpONDED wEll. I FElT REAlly GOOD BEFORE ThE OlympIcS” The expectation level isn’t the only thing that has changed about Murray’s appearances at Wimbledon.

The rake-thin teenager whose T-shirt billowed around his delicate frame on his SW19 debut is gone, replaced by an athlete with the physique and fitness levels to match – if not better – any of his colleagues in the men’s game.

“When I was training in Spain [Murray left home at 15 to train at the Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona], I never went to the gym,” he remembers.

“I spent all my time on the court. I had quite strong legs, but my upper body was really weak – so I got tired in the long matches. It wasn’t until I was 19 or 20 that I started taking the work in the gym seriously, and it made a big difference.

“I probably enjoy the gym more than practice now, because practice can be quite repetitive, whereas with the gym there are so many things you can do.

You can do different types of cardio or you can swim, lift weights, do core work, yoga, pilates. There are so many aspects to training nowadays and that’s why I enjoy it – because it’s not the same all the time.”

Repetition on the practice court is one thing, but Murray would probably accept a repeat of his performances at Wimbledon last summer: two finals, one gold medal and an outpouring of emotion that softened even his harshest critics. The 2012 grasscourt season was a tumultuous time for him, with what he calls his “toughest ever defeat” to Federer “I’m getting closer” – Murray reflects on his final defeat last year

in the Wimbledon final, followed four weeks later

by Olympic gold on the same court. It was, as he referred to it then, “the biggest win of my life”.

“It was the best I’d played in a final up to that point,” he says of the four-set loss that left him unable to stop the tears from flowing on centre court. “And it was the first time that, having lost in a Slam final, I’ve responded really well. I took five or six days off and then, when I started practising again before the Olympics, I felt really good. But it was a really tough one for me for a few days, that’s for sure.”

GETTING OVER IT

Asked to describe the processes he goes through during those few painful days following such a defeat, Murray swallows hard and exhales deeply, as if to suppress the rising emotions still associated with that particular loss: “It’s difficult – for the people around me as well. They all saw that it hurt me a lot losing that match. And as much as you want to have a life away from tennis, they also saw how much time and effort I’d put in to try and win one of those events.

It’s hard for them to know the best thing to do. They might think that maybe babying me or telling me I’m great will help, but also they just want to be normal and talk about other stuff away from the court.

“I wasn’t really ready to do that until I got back on the practice court – that’s when I started to get over it. The first few days were not much fun for me, and probably not for everyone around me, too. But the thing that was nice was that everyone was very supportive after Wimbledon. When I’d lost big matches before, there had sometimes been a negative feeling. But I didn’t really get that after the Wimbledon match, and it helped me to get over it. As did the fact the Olympics was only a few weeks away. That was something I was never going to experience again in my life, so it was a really big motivation.”

Four years before London 2012, Murray had made what he now sees as a serious error in making his Olympic debut in Beijing. “It was one of the best experiences I’d had in my tennis career,” he says.

“Just being there, being around the other athletes, going to the Opening Ceremony and all that stuff. > Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Julian Finney/Getty Images, 2005 Getty Images

niggling injuries, but if you have the right structure to your training and rehab then you can get by. It’s when you try to not think about it, and don’t do the right treatments or see the physios, that you’re going to have problems and be forced to miss more events.”

Andy Murray

“NOw I’ve dONe IT ANd I cAN MOve ON. I feel lIKe IT’S THe SecONd pART Of MY cAReeR NOw”

But I lost in the first round. I was so dehydrated – I’d lost about four kilos between leaving the States to get to Beijing and the end of my first match. I was annoyed at myself, because I’d been so excited to be part of the Olympics that I took my eye off what I was there to do: compete for my country. I wanted to change that this time around. I didn’t get to do any of the ceremonies and what-not in London, but I did what I was there to do – which was to try to win medals.

“The final was the best atmosphere I had ever played in. But the best thing about the Olympics was the fact that, every time you turned the TV on, in every sport, on every day, everyone was just so positive. People were winning, the press was positive, the country was positive, the public were loving it and I think it made a huge difference to how the athletes performed. People were putting in the best performances of their career at the Games.”

Michael Heiman/Getty Images, Andy Murray/Facebook

MAKING HISTORY

Murray carried that positivity with him to New York, where his previously unsuccessful efforts to add his name to a list of Grand Slam winners that had featured only four men since Nadal’s first French Open win in 2005 would finally have a happy ending.

“Tennis is tough right now,” he says. “Look at the guys who were ahead of me at the time I won in New York – one of them had won 17 Grand Slams, one of them had won 11, and the other one was on five or six. They had more than 30 between them, and every time I got to a final I was playing against one of them.

“When Roger won his first Wimbledon, he was playing against Mark Philippoussis, who had never won a Slam. When Rafa played in his first French final, he played against Mariano Puerta, who had never played in a Grand Slam final. And when Novak won the Australian Open for the first time, he played against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who’d never won a Slam.

I was getting into the position to play for these titles and coming up against Roger, who is the best player 22 | June 14 2013 |

ever, and Novak, who is one of the best hard-court players of all time. It was tough.

“I was trying my hardest, but I just had to keep saying: ‘If I’m not good enough, then I’m sorry but it’s not because I’m not trying my best.’ Just because we’re from the UK, it doesn’t mean we have a right to be better than anybody else at sport.

“Now I’ve done it and put my name among them, I can move on. I feel like it’s the second part of my career now. I’ve probably only got another five or six years left of playing at the highest level, so I want to try and give myself the best chance at all the Grand Slams I play. Ivan [Lendl, Murray’s coach] has helped a lot with keeping me focused and not letting my mind drift and just think that [winning the US Open] is what I was here to do. It’s important to reset your goals. Before, I just wanted to win a Grand Slam.

I didn’t care which one it was, I just wanted to win one. Now it’s a bit easier to start prioritising individual tournaments, and I think that will help.”

Phase two of Murray’s career comes at an interesting time. While Federer’s dominant days are over and Nadal is having to accept that less is more when it comes to balancing his fragile knees with his playing schedule, Murray and Djokovic are reaching what could be termed the middle age of their careers.

“There are certain things you look back at and think I would have done things differently, but that’s the beauty of growing up,” he reflects. “You make mistakes, you learn from them and you get better from making those mistakes.”

He smiles as he continues: “Yeah, I’d like to be 21 again, but I’m not. My body hurts more than it did when I was 21 as well, but I need to enjoy it while I’m able to... and hopefully win another Slam.”

As Murray prepares to return to the court that brought moments of acute pain and sheer joy last season, he adds a final thought on the possibility of Slam number two: “There are no guarantees. I know how difficult it is to win them.”

ANdY MuRRAY: THe MAN BeHINd THe RAcKeT

Andy Murray openly admits to putting on a poker face whenever confronted by a headline-hunting interviewer, meaning that only those closest to him get to see the ‘real’ Andy.

But in recent months, a BBC camera crew has been granted access into the inner Murray sanctum, revealing his emotional homecoming in Dunblane after his US Open win, his pilates sessions in Miami, ice baths in Monte Carlo and life at home in Surrey with girlfriend Kim and his most faithful fans: terriers Maggie and Rusty. Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all appear, too. As does fellow Scot Sir Alex Ferguson, who was courtside as the Olympic champion won his maiden Grand Slam in New York. Probably sitting in Rusty’s seat, too, the old rogue.

Showing on BBC One, 10.25pm, June 23

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Australian Sport

state of the aussie nation

All pictures Getty Images

With cricket and rugby struggling in oz, the lions tour and the ashes could make or break their future. sport caught up With the men in the knoW to get the loWdoWn from doWn under When Adam Scott sank the putt that put an Australian’s name on the Masters trophy for the first time back in April, you could be forgiven for hearing a rather exuberant cheer from the land down under. It’s not been the best of decades for our Antipodean friends, you see, and Scott’s win was seen by many as a badly needed boost ahead of a massive year.

“There’s no question that Scott’s win did wonders for the morale of Australian sport,” explains Wayne Smith, a sports writer for national newspaper The Australian. “It was our first significant sporting triumph in years, and hopefully it can be as pivotal a moment as El Alamein was in the Second World War.” Smith’s tongue may well be firmly in cheek with that final line, but it’s no secret that Australian sport has been in a state of flux for some time, and it’s a paucity of peaks that has been made worse by the fact the country is so used to victory on the cricket and rugby fields.

John Eales lifted the 1999 Rugby World Cup while his cricketing compatriots were in the midst of a period of Ashes dominance that saw the English defeated in eight consecutive series.

Since losing the 2003 Rugby World Cup on home soil, though, Australia have failed to challenge in two consecutive renewals and won just one of four Ashes series. To make matters worse, they brought home only seven gold medals from last

summer’s London Olympics. For Smith, it comes down to one simple reason.

“The Australian Rules teams are gobbling up all the best sporting talent in the country,” he explains. “And that’s not just in cricket and rugby union. The Olympic sports are complaining about the same thing, and none of these sports can compete with the money the AFL can offer youngsters with sporting ability.”

What better time, then, for a Lions tour and two Ashes series to reignite public interest?

“The Lions tour could not have come at a better time for the code in Australia, both from a morale and financial viewpoint,” agrees Smith.

And the Ashes? “Well, yeah, but rugby has the players and just needed the boost in profile – I dread to think what might be the impact on Australian cricket of back-to-back series defeats to the English.”

fountain of youth runs dry

One man who knows what the Ashes means more than most is Ricky Ponting, who led the Baggy Greens in four series against the English.

He blames a lack of foresight for Australian cricket’s lack of depth. “I don’t think we were as well prepared as we could have been for the changeover of players, and I don’t think we invested enough money or time into making

Ponting: “Australia didn’t pay enough attention to the grassroots stuff”

sure that the next couple of levels down were looked after in the right way,” he explains. “I don’t think we paid enough attention to the grassroots stuff. We just expected to keep producing guys who average 55 in Test matches or others who can take 600 to 700 Test wickets. Look at every sporting team in the world that’s having success, though, and you’ll see the ones spending the most money.”

It’s a theme that Smith points to on the Australian rugby front, too, where the powers that be have “run up a total deficit of $19m over two years, and have no money to pour into developing the code”. The series ahead might be important for raising interest and developing new talent. Financially, though, it’s about securing a future for the sport in a competitive market – and the Lions coming to town gives the Wallabies an edge they haven’t had for some time, says former Wallaby Tim Horan.

“We had a Lions tour in 2001 and a World Cup here in 2003, and there has been a bit of a lull since, so Aussie rugby has been starved of big matches,” he reasons. “It has affected the lure > | June 14 2013 | 27

Australian Sport

WIZARDS OF OZ

OUR AUSSIE EXPERTS PICK OUT THREE KEY MEN FOR THE WALLABIES AND THE BAGGY GREENS IN THE MONTHS AHEAD 01

Tim Horan on the Wallabies Will Genia The glue that holds the Aussies together, and the best nine in the world – nullifying his threat is key. His battle with Mike Phillips will be great viewing.

James O’Connor Looks like he has the 10 shirt, so link-up with Genia is important.

Brings a more solid game favoured by Robbie Deans.

You little rippers: Adam Scott celebrates on his way to winning the Masters in April (1); Quade Cooper after defeat to New Zealand in the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi final (2); the Baggy Greens take to the field after loosing the fifth Ashes Test in January 2011 (3)

03

of the sport. It’s very rare to have a touring side play all over the country, so this tour could be great for Australia in raising the game’s profile.”

And it’s a profile that seriously needs raising.

The lack of big names is a big issue facing the two sports down under, and Smith believes that this summer of sport presents the chance for new heroes to be born.

“A lack of Campeses, Lynaghs, Warnes and Waughs is clearly an issue, but the Australian public just love winners more than anything,” he says. “The lack of big games has meant a lack of big moments from players, but this year presents a chance to change that. If some real performers start to emerge in the Ashes, or if someone kicks the winning penalty or steals the important last-minute lineout against the Lions, the Australians will start to embrace the new generation. It’s less a problem in rugby than it is in cricket, true, but new legends could be made.”

OPTIMISTIC OZ

Whether it’s raising money, raising fanbases or simply raising team morale, it’s clear the Test series that lie in store are huge for the future of both cricket and rugby union in Australia.

“Australian cricket at the moment is probably at a bit of a crossroads,” agrees Brendon Julian, who represented the Aussies on the 1993 Ashes tour. “But I also think this series could be the start of something. If they get out and draw or win this series in England, it’ll give them a lot of confidence, because it’s still a very young side and a lot of people have written them off.

They go to England with not too much to lose,

because defeat is what most people expect.

It will also be a series that defines Michael Clarke’s captaincy, because every captain wants to win an Ashes series in England. He might downplay it, but he’ll desperately want to win.”

Ponting agrees: “Things probably aren’t as bad within the team as the perception from the outside would have it. There’s been a lot of rotation and we’ve lost a lot of experienced players, but we’ve picked our best squad and I honestly believe if they play as well as they can, it will be a lot closer than everyone expects.

We’ll have a clearer picture over the next six to eight months just where Australian cricket is at.”

It’s a theme that rings true in rugby circles as well, with the knowledge that the Lions are coming to town having had a clear impact on the performances of those with Wallaby selection hopes. “The way the Super Rugby teams have played has really been of a higher standard than before, and there are a lot of players putting their hands up for selection,” explains former international Brendan Cannon. “There’s genuine excitement within the Australian sporting public, and rugby union down here has needed this profile boost for some time.”

Clearly, the state of our friends on the other side of the world isn’t as bad as some would have you believe, and the series whitewashes predicted by all and sundry might be premature.

Winston Churchill once wrote: “Before El Alamein, we never had a victory. After El Alamein, we never had a defeat.” If Wayne Smith is right about the impact of Adam Scott’s putt, this summer is set to be a good one for Australia.

Stephen Moore Consistent, and has really developed this year. Makes the Brumbies tick; one of the few Aussies who is irreplaceable.

Brendon Julian on the Baggy Greens Ryan Harris If he’s fit, he can win games on his own.

Australia’s fastbowling attack is their main weapon, and Harris could be central to that.

Michael Clarke Under pressure to bring the changing room together, and there’s no better way than putting a score on England. A big performance with the bat could make his captaincy.

Shane Watson He is at a stage in his career where he’s got to perform with the bat – and this summer could be his time to shine.

All pictures Getty Images

02

Mark Coughlan @coffers83 | June 14 2013 | 29

Jonny Paul Wilkinson O’Connell

Fresh from Heineken Cup glory, Jonny Wilkinson tells us why he chose staying at home over one last chance at Lions

After the Top 14 final, there were a lot of headlines saying you had told Gatland to ’come and get you’.

Can we expect to see you out in Australia soon?

“Unfortunately, I had a torn muscle in my groin at the end of this season that I’ve had a minor procedure on, and that’s going to put me out for a couple of weeks. With the way the season ended – with me not being able to train much and just managing my body in order to just play games – it would clearly be tough. There’s always a good discussion to be had, but it’s looking more and more unlikely that I could add anything even if I should ever be required.”

So, fitness is the big problem?

“Yeah, we got to the final of both tournaments we were involved in. And, unfortunately, I was getting less and less happy with the way I was playing as the season got near the end, because I wasn’t able to go out there and prepare the way I wanted to, and the way I’ve been able to throughout the peaks of my career. I’ve got one more opportunity to play rugby next year, and that’s here in France. If I don’t look after myself properly, then that opportunity won’t be there. I’ve done that before in my career several times, and I’ve paid the price for it.”

How special is being involved with the Lions, though, and how much did you enjoy it?

“There is nothing out there like it, to be honest. It is phenomenal. The two tours I was involved with [2001 and 2005], I just remember the joy of meeting and playing with guys you’ve only played against.

Learning from them, feeding off their spirit, and getting that special connection and magical rapport that you discover from a unique group. It’s that feeling that allows you to go and do special things, and I think I’ve been hugely lucky to spend time with the likes of Scott Quinnell, Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Howley, Keith Wood and all these guys. For most players, you just have the opportunity to play alongside them for one time, and one time only.” > | June 14 2013 | 31

Ian Walton/Getty Images

a tour too far

We’ve heard a lot of different stories. What really happened ahead of the Lions squad announcement?

“I got a call from the management the day before, and the conversation was basically that if I could guarantee I would be available for the plane journey out there, there was a ’strong possibility’ that I’d be selected. That was amazing, but I knew immediately that, with our desire to get to the Top 14 final here with Toulon, there was no way I could guarantee my availability. My loyalties to Toulon, with my age and with what they had gone through for me, and how much we wanted to do something special with the team, meant there was no way I could promise anything. I fully understood why Warren [Gatland] wanted everyone to get on the plane together.”

Jonny Wilkinson

“

It’s certainly not far-fetched to think that my career was quietly fading out, so to come back and be able to do what I’ve done with Toulon – I’m going into my fifth year here now – is something I would never have thought was possible. It’s great, and I owe it to all the guys in the team and in the region here.”

i Just remember the Joy of meeting and playing with guys you've only played against. learning from them, feeding off their spirit

You seem more relaxed in general these days.

Have you learned not to take so much on yourself?

“No, not at all! I’m trying different ways of dealing with it. But, to be honest, I’m growing to possibly believe that one of my strengths on the field is my level of focus. I do care hugely about what’s happening and how it’s going to happen, and my part in it and making sure my part’s right – and I do think about it all the time. I do sometimes wish I could escape that and make life easier. But, at the same time, that’s what gets me up off the floor to make a second tackle in a row and what keeps me doing the extra hour after training. And I know it’s what’s going to drive me to the very end. I am trying to change my perspective to make sure it doesn’t dominate the rest of my life, though.”

”

So, if the injury recovers well in the next week or two, and you got the call to go out and sit on the bench for the second or third Test…?

“Like I say, it’s on the unlikely side because of everything that’s happened. My mindset right now, as it has been since the loss to Castres, is just that I need to get myself ready to go again at some point.

You’re talking about a Lions Test series, though. It is special moments that make careers, and it sounds like a great idea. But, like I say, we’re at that stage where I have nothing to do with the Lions tour – it might be time for everyone to focus on the guys who are out there doing a great job.”

Fair enough. It’s 10 years since that World Cup win, and there’s been an absence of trophies since.

How much did winning the Heineken Cup mean?

“This whole season in the Heineken Cup was amazing.

It’s always been something that’s been a bit out of reach for me, despite a few dabbles with quarter finals with Newcastle and Toulon – then this year we finally made that semi-final stage and it just got bigger and bigger. To actually come away winning the thing at the end of it is something I’m so proud to have been part of, because it’s an experience reserved for so few. So it’s right up there as one of the highlights of my career.”

How much has life in France, and having these quality players around you, played a part in extending your career?

“I think it has been a bit of a rejuvenation in the sense that I needed a change. It got to the stage where my career was just injury after injury, and comeback after comeback, with pressure and hype surrounding it each time, and it was a cycle I couldn’t get out of.

We imagine the French beaches and sunshine help?

“Yeah, the weather and the surroundings are phenomenal. In a way, I think that’s the main difference here – because you’re kind of lodged somewhere between being more intense about rugby than ever, and more professional than ever, but at the same time you’re almost on holiday once the day has finished. That leaves me nicely relaxed, and lets me go a bit further in training and hit a bit harder, because I know I’ll be able to switch off and relax once we’re done. The two things feed off each other.”

Have you changed a lot as a player over the years?

“I’ve changed hugely year on year, and probably month on month, trying to find ways of just getting better. I’ve been more and more prepared as I’ve got older, to go to that uncomfortable area of when it feels a bit awkward, and I’ve changed my perspective of how my game affects others. At the same time, there’s a part of me that hasn’t changed that I’m proud of, and that’s the part that says no matter how old I get, I’ll do whatever’s required of me on that pitch.”

Mark Coughlan @coffers83

Wilko's Wisdom Jonny’s three tips for any youngsters taking up the game a better player, and you’re winning – whether you’re four or 34.

2

Take your time to be precise about your skills. Think about what you want, not what you don’t want to happen. When you’re passing, look at where you want the ball to go and make it go there with positive visualisation. It’s a bit like riding a bike – if you’re riding

your bike and you see a big rock in your path, and you stare at that rock, you will ride into it. So you need to keep your focus on where you want to go, and not where you don’t.

3

Rugby’s the purest form of team sport. Your primary focus is to help others do their jobs better. If you’re helping someone, that’s a success.

Gillette’s Great Start programme celebrates the role of coaching and encourages the next generation to get into coaching. Apply for a coaching grant at facebook.co.uk/GilletteUK

32 | June 14 2013 |

David Rogers/Getty Images

1

Learn from your defeats as much as you learn from winning. Rugby’s a game that moves on week in, week out, so the guys who get caught looking back are the ones who find themselves in tricky situations. So, every time you win or lose, treat them both as experiences that are invaluable. Do that, and there is no such thing as regret or failure. Learn from defeats to become

Julia Pickering, Snowboard Mountaineer, Cumbria.

L A M B S N AV Y R U M. C O M

British & Irish Lions

tommy bowe

game against the Queensland Reds – but his tour is still alive

‘Tour has properly begun’ Despite his hand injury, the Lions winger gives us the lowdown from inside the camp

T

he good news is that I’m still on tour! I’m currently resting up after having the operation on my hand.

We’re just playing it by ear at the moment, but hopefully I’ll be able to play some part on the tour – it just depends on how quickly I can get myself back.

It was nice to meet up with all the lads in Hong Kong, but arriving in Australia felt like the start of the real tour.

It was a relief, because the heat in Hong Kong was savage – I didn’t have to play, but even the training was ridiculous, and the lads with more ‘Celtic’ skin suffered in the pool sessions, too. There were a few burned shoulders before we even arrived in Australia.

I guess the tour has properly started now. And, in that regard, the game against Queensland definitely helped.

We scored loads of tries in our first games, so it was nice to have a real step up in intensity. Training’s been great since we got to Australia, and the conditions are ideal for the high-tempo rugby we’re looking to play. Warren Gatland’s approach is all about trying to train at match intensity, so that’s been the case since we joined the camp, and the boys are pretty confident. Most people have played one or two games now, and we’re in as good a position as we could be with this final week to go before the first Test.

34 | June 14 2013 |

On the social side, we’re travelling so much that there’s a lot of focus on having a craic on the bus. Sean O’Brien and Ian Evans are calling the shots up at the front of the bus, and they’ve been very funny so far. Matt Stevens is some singer, too, and Sean Maitland’s a great guitar player, so the two of them are having some proper jamming sessions. Oh, and Jamie Roberts fancies himself on the guitar, too.

I’m on the social committee along with four other lads, which is going okay at the minute. It’s tough because of the travelling, but we’ve been doing alright. I picked a restaurant for the first time today. My roommate Tom Croft said he’ll batter me with pillows if it isn’t up to scratch.

I’m currently waiting for them to come back, so we’ll see.

And, speaking of Crofty, this is my first roommate who hasn’t been Welsh! I don’t know why, but before this week I’ve had Jonathan Davies, Ian Evans, Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate. To be fair, they’re all top lads. Leigh Halfpenny’s heading up the rooming committee, and I think he’s going to be in for a bit of stick with some of the choices in the past two weeks. The committee are saying the names are picked out of a hat – but I think there are a few lies going on, so I’ll be watching them closely! @TommyBowe14

David Rogers/Getty Images, Brian Lawless/Sportsfile

My lions diary

A wounded Bowe after the

The British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2013 Live and exclusive national radio commentary of every match only on

Sat June 1 Lions v Barbarians (Hong Kong, 12:30am) Wed June 5 Western Force v Lions (Perth, 11:00am)

Sat June 8 Queensland Reds v Lions (Brisbane, 10:30am) Wed June 12 Combined NSW & Queensland Country v Lions (Newcastle, 10:30am)

Sat June 15

NSW Waratahs v Lions (Sydney, 10:30am)

Tue June 18 ACT Brumbies v Lions (Canberra, 10:30am)

Sat June 22 1st Test: Australia v Lions (Brisbane, 11:00am)

Tue June 25 Melbourne Rebels v Lions (Melbourne, 10:30am)

Sat June 29 2nd Test: Australia v Lions (Melbourne, 11:00am)

Sat July 6

3rd Test: Australia v Lions (Sydney, 11:00am)

1089 / 1053 AM, on digital radio and online at www.talksport.co.uk facebook.com/talksport

#livelions

@talksport

7 Days OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

JUN 14-JUN 20 HIGHLIGHTS » Rugby League: England v The Exiles » p38 » Tennis: AEGON International, Eastbourne » p38 » Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy – England v New Zealand » p40 » UFC 161: Rashad Evans v Dan Henderson » p40 » Horse Racing: Royal Ascot » p42

SATURDAY FOOTBALL | CONFEDERATIONs CUp: BRAZIL v jApAN | EsTáDIO NACIONAL DE BRAsíLIA, BRAsíLIA | BBC THREE 8pm

Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Sneak preview

falling in), it brings together the hosts of the next

eyes on redemption after losing to the USA at the

tournament, the holders, and the winners of each

semi-final stage four years ago. They've picked a

of the continental competitions for a condensed

strong squad – Xabi Alonso is the most notable

version of everyone's favourite tournament.

omission from the Euro 2012 line-up, while Roberto

This year, that means exciting fixtures such as

Soldado and David Villa step into the forward line.

Italy v Brazil, along with slightly more one-sided

It might not be as exciting as the World Cup or the

ones such as Spain v Tahiti. The hosts are under fire

Champions League. But beggars can't be choosers.

It's been three weeks since the final whistle in the

at home going into their own tournament, but a

Champions League final, and our need is great.

fourth Confederations Cup win could help take some

Group A

We are, in short, crying out for some top-level

of the pressure off. By contrast, the pressure is off

Brazil v Japan, Saturday 8pm, BBC Three

footballing action. Fortunately, the Confederations

Japan, Brazil's opponents tomorrow – they became

Mexico v Italy, Sunday 8pm, BBC Three

Cup is well poised to deliver – in places, at least.

the first team to qualify for the World Cup with

Traditionally held a year before the World Cup to

a playoff victory over Australia a fortnight ago.

Group B

smooth out any niggling infrastructure problems

Spain, meanwhile, could complete a clean sweep of

Spain v Uruguay, Sunday 11pm, BBC One

(or, in Brazil's case, to make sure the roof isn't

international trophies – they'll have their talented

Tahiti v Nigeria, Monday 8pm, BBC Three

36 | June 14 2013 |

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

7 Days FriDAY RUGBy LEAGUE | ENGLAND v THE EXILES | HALLIWELL JONES STADIUM, WARRINGTON | SKy SPORTS 2 8PM

England prepare to be Exiled

TUESDAY > TENNIS | AEGON INTERNATIONAL | DEVONSHIRE PARK, EASTBOURNE | BBC TWO 1PM

Feast on grass The week before Wimbledon must be the only time when Eastbourne can expect an influx of tourists who are under the age of 50 and have no interest in the early bird specials at the local diner.

The AEGON International features both ATP and WTA events, but it's the latter that will provide the biggest names next week.

Tonight’s clash against the Exiles is a vital

World number four Agnieszka Radwanska (pictured) leads a field

game for England, given that it will be their

that includes former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, 2011 French

only serious hit before they face Australia in

Open champ Li Na, last year's winner Tamira Paszek, top-20 players

the World Cup on October 26. Pitting them

Marion Bartoli and Sam Stosur, and Rory McIlroy's struggling

against a team made up of the best overseas

girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki. Meanwhile, Laura Robson and Heather

players in the Super League represents a real

Watson will be carrying hopes for the home crowd.

test for coach Steve McNamara’s preparations.

McNamara’s squad has been hit by injuries,

The men's line-up, meanwhile, has Gilles Simon, Juan Monaco and Andreas Seppi at the top of the running order – not quite the

while key players Gareth Ellis and James Roby

biggest hitters in the men's game. Part of the reason behind that

have only recently come back from long

lies at Stoke Park Country Club, where the Boodles Challenge is

layoffs. The manager, however, is confident

taking place at the same time as Eastbourne.

that his team, captained by Kevin Sinfield

The exhibition event (which will be streamed live on

(below) is up for the fight. “The players have

www.theboodles.com) seems to attract the star names every

been talking about the fixture for the past few

year, with world number one Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych,

months,” he says. “And it was clear from the

Juan Martin Del Potro and Richard Gasquet all confirmed

conversations we had in camp that there is a

along with Maria Sharapova's less shrieky other half,

real desire not just to be involved, but to win.”

Grigor Dimitrov, and the huge-serving Milos Raonic.

Exiles coach Brian McClennan, who oversaw

In summary, then, stick the ladies on the TV,

his side’s victory in the inaugural fixture in 2011,

the men on the laptop and book the next three

countered: “This is a very strong squad – you

weeks off work.

only have to look at the names of some of the players I’ve left out to see that. England will have to be at their very best to beat us.”

Indeed, of the three 'Origin' games played so far, the Exiles have won two. And, with the likes of hard-hitting St Helens forward Sia Soliola, Leeds enforcer Kylie Leuluai and Wigan scoring machine Pat Richards in their line-up,

Chris Brunskill/Getty Images, Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images

expect fireworks.

38 | June 14 2013 |

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Which englAnd plAyer dressed up As A WomAn in the AdelAide red light district?

And Which Aussie opener prActised nAked in front of the mirror on the first morning of the Ashes?

Which Aussie skipper got fit for the Ashes by shovelling coAl on the voyAge to englAnd?

OUT NOW! order from

7 Days Sunday CriCket | iCC Champions trophy: england v new Zealand | Cardiff | sky sports 1 10.30am

Pitch imperfect After being spanked by New Zealand in two of three matches in the recent one-day international series, England will be wary of the Kiwis for their final Champions Trophy group game. The Black Caps also have recent experience of Cardiff, having been involved in a low-scoring thriller against Sri Lanka last weekend. Conditions were expected to be set fair for batting, but the surface proved treacherous. Even in victory, only one New Zealand player scored more than 30 with the bat (Nathan McCullum with 32).

By contrast, Ian Bell (right) hit 91 against Australia in England’s first game, and was full of praise for his side’s bowlers. Given how much turn Daniel Vettori got from the Cardiff wicket, it will be interesting to see how England shuffle their pack with the ball for this one. There's a chance two spinners could be picked, with James Tredwell playing alongside Graeme Swann – assuming the latter is fit. A tricky pitch to negotiate may be no bad thing for England, however, given their top four is set up more for accumulation rather than destruction. A cautious start could be the order of the day, whoever bats first. But, as we've already seen, a nail-biting match where every run is vital can be just as enthralling as watching some brute with a 4lb bat heaving the ball over long-on.

Suga and spite

His biggest weapon, however, is his sledgehammer right hand – something to which

Two mixed martial arts veterans clash this

Britain’s own Michael Bisping (and countless

weekend, as Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson (left),

other victims) can attest.

age 42, takes on ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans, 33.

40 | June 14 2013 |

Expect to see Evans using his greater skill

And both men are looking to move back into

and mobility to stay out of range of Hendo’s

the UFC light-heavyweight title picture.

big right, while peppering his opponent with

Evans, a former holder of the belt and

quick strikes as he looks for a points victory.

Ultimate Fighter winner, is an accomplished

Henderson is a sly old dog, though; he loves

wrestler and slick boxer with decent power,

a war, and will no doubt look for the first

a KO of UFC legend Chuck Liddell being his

opportunity he can to drag Evans into one.

career highlight so far. Henderson is also an

Although the latter will probably prevail,

expert grappler, having represented the

it could end up being a bitter-sweet

USA at the Olympics twice in the 1990s.

experience for the man known as ‘Suga’.

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Michael Steele/Getty Images, Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

SaTuRday UfC | UfC 161: rashad eVans v dan henderson | mts Centre | winnipeg, Canada | espn 1am

7 Days Tuesday > Horse racing | royal ascot | cHannel 4 & racing UK 1.40pm

Three to follow Paul Kealy, betting editor of the Racing Post, has been through the entire week and picked out three horses he believes you would be wise to back...

St James's Palace Stakes, Tuesday Magician won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in a canter and looks the banker of the meeting in the St James's Palace Stakes. He has serious pace, loves fast ground, and any odds against is a gift as long as Derby flop Dawn Approach doesn't run – which has been pretty much confirmed as the case by his trainer Jim Bolger.

Royal Hunt Cup, Wednesday There hasn't been a back-to-back winner of this race since 1948, but Prince Of Johanne can remedy that.

The seven-year-old big-field specialist has also won a Cambridgeshire and is back on the same mark as he was

Animal magic?

when winning the race 12 months ago.

He looked every bit as good as ever when second in his prep at York in May, and should be a major player.

There will be sadness in the air at Royal Ascot next

impressive win in the Dubai World Cup (the sport's

week, as racing mourns one of its finest trainers, Sir

richest race) in March. As such, he will start favourite

Henry Cecil. The trainer of an unbelievable 75 Royal

to land Tuesday’s big race – although whether he can do

Wokingham Stakes, Saturday

Ascot winners in his career, Sir Henry was the toast of

so in the manner of Frankel is far from a guarantee.

The meeting's other major handicap

That is race one of a genuinely fantastic week of equine

can fall to Nocturn if he squeezes in at

sport, however, during which there will be plenty of

the bottom of the weights. The only

chances for punters to strike gold. There are some expert

horse to race up with the pace into a

flat-racing calendar, and the biggest noise of all for 2013

tips elsewhere on this page, but if you prefer to listen to

fierce headwind and finish anywhere

could come from an overseas raider in the very same

the amateurs then it might be worth noting Pearl Secret

near the winner at York in May, his

race, as Animal Kingdom (pictured) becomes the first

in the King's Stand Stakes on Tuesday and Estimate in

second place marked him down as

Kentucky Derby winner ever to race at the royal meeting.

the Ascot Gold Cup on Thursday. The latter is unbeaten

a hugely improving sprinter – and

It is now more than two years since the five-year-old won

in two starts at the track and, owned by the Queen, would

he followed that up with a win at

one of the United States' most prestigious races, but

be an appropriate and popular winner. Sir Henry would

Newmarket last weekend.

he proved his ability remains intact with a mightily

certainly approve.

to an 11-length win in the Queen Anne Stakes.

There’s no question Ascot is the biggest week of the

42 | June 14 2013 |

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Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images

the meeting last year, when his awesome Frankel romped

ExTrA TiME Making the most of your time and money

P52 is it a bird? is it a plane?

Obviously not.

Henners here is too handsome to be either

Gadgets

Now hear this Pure Evoke F4 with Bluetooth

Beam the thrilling sound of talkSPORT’s Lions coverage through your house this summer with Pure’s Bluetooth-enabled DAB radio. It can link up to other Pure products, so you can stream to multiple rooms whatever you’re listening to.

We suggest you keep it out of the bedroom, though – the last thing you want is Brian Moore scolding you in there. £180 | pure.com

Bose SoundLink Mini Speaker

This shrunk-down speaker packs a deceptively powerful punch. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, it is scratchresistant and durable – perfect for chucking in your bag when you’re out in the sun. Slot it into the included charging cradle when you get back, and it’ll be juiced up and ready for the next time there’s a break in the clouds. £170 | bose.com (from July) 44 | June 14 2013 |

Hauppauge myTV 2GO-m

If you’re not one of the seven lucky people to have switched to 4G, trying to watch live TV on your phone is a lot like trying to watch it through a roll of cling film. Plug this into your iPhone 4S or iPad 2, however, and that changes – it tunes into Freeview and lets you watch courtesy of a free accompanying app. There’s a built-in battery, and it doesn’t eat into your data plan. £55 | amazon.co.uk

Toshiba Excite Write

The Excite Write lets you write upright with the optional keyboard cover – or, if you’re a bit less uptight, you might quite like the Digitizer Pen. The Android 4.2 tablet is not quite as light as its competitors. It is designed to emulate a real pen-and-paper-experience, converting any bright ideas you might write down into digital text in real time. Tight. £499 | currys.co.uk (from July)

GolfSense Golf Swing Analyser

Take your game to the next level by clipping this contraption to your glove the next time you head out for a round of golf.

It connects to iOS devices via Bluetooth and takes thousands of measurements a second for an accurate picture of your swing. Really gets to the heart of why you can’t seem to get past that windmill at the eighth. £105 | sportsgadgets.co.uk

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

4G is nice.

But our

network is built for more.

Running at what we affectionately call 3.9G, our Ultrafast network is built to give you all-you-can-eat-data.

So you won’t run out when sharing pictures of happy cheese graters.

And when we roll out 4G, we’ll nudge you up without charging you for the privilege. Which is nice too.

Our Ultrafast network currently uses DC-HSDPA technology. The speeds you’ll get will vary by device, location, coverage, demand and TrafficSense.™ See Three.co.uk

aces f e e #is

et

kit

keep the big man happy

It's Father's Day on Sunday. We all know you don't have a present for him yet, because you're a terrible bloke. Fear not: we've picked out some top deals to help make his day

Ralph Lauren Jumper and polos

Those good people at Ralph know what they're doing when it comes to attiring the old boy gracefully. Witness the half Zip Jumper (£115), with ribbed neck, cuffs and hem, zipped neckline and contrast polo pony. It will sit nicely over the top of either the pro-Fit polo (£90) or Slim Fit polo (£70). Alternatively, buy one for yourself and give him a gift card. We'll leave it to your conscience. johnlewis.com

Dunlop Dp1 Driver

Dads love golf. And golfers love a driver. At just £85, then, and with a graphite shaft, 460cc titanium head and drag-reducing Aeroskin sole, how can you not buy this for the old fella? £85 | sportsdirect.com 46 | June 14 2013 |

Storm Duodisk

Available in slate, brown blue or this lazer blue number, pops is sure to love this wrist wrap.

Two revolving discs feature dual time, while it's water-resistant to 50m and weighs just 148g. £140 | stormwatches.com

FWe multi tool

One for the bike-loving head of the family, this nine-in-one tool features a variety of allen keys, plus a Phillips and flathead screwdriver to help your old man fix his two-wheeled monster. £5 | evanscycles.com

adidas Originals adicolor Vintage holdall

Your dad will be the toast of Father Club – it's like Fight Club, but with less homemade soap – with this retro leather number, boasting 22 litres of space. £40 | prodirectselect.com

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

ET

Grooming

WHO’S THE DADDY?

If the old boy is a man of exceptional style and taste, you’ll find something for him here. And if he’s not, it’s a good place to start...

The voice of experience

Nivea Men Originals

The old ones – or, at least, the original ones – are the best, as Nivea’s classic range ably demonstrates by going back to its roots and re-embracing its blue roundel logo. Behind the logo, though, is the same longstanding excellence we’ve come to expect in the (from left to right) Exfoliating Face Scrub (75ml), Deep Cleansing Face Wash (150ml), Moisturising Shave Gel (200ml), Replenishing Post-Shave Balm (100ml), Rehydrating Moisturiser (75ml) and Intensive Moisturising Cream (£6.49 for 50ml). And you can pick up the lot (apart from the moisturising cream) for only £19 in Nivea’s Father’s Day Originals Bundle. nivea.co.uk

The fatherly fragrance David Beckham Urban Homme

Is there a better example of everything the modern dad should be? Treat your childhood role model with the same reverence you’d reserve for Becks with this mix of mandarin, green apple and thyme, and a base of amber, suede and cedarwood. A golden (balls) combo – even more so if your old boy’s recently retired too. £24.95 | Available nationwide 48 | June 14 2013 |

The competitive dad Molton Brown Sport

If pops is on his way to being one of those sporty, wiry old buggers who will never die, MB’s new Sport collection – with its 4-in-1 Sportswash (£16 for 200ml) for body, face, hair and shaving, Anti-Perspirant Sportstick (£16 for 75g) and Body-warming Sportbalm (£18 for 200ml) with vanillyl butyl – will keep him fresh in perpetuity. moltonbrown.co.uk

The old smoothy REN Clean Bio Active Skincare

Dads hate messing about. Fact. Fortunately, they won’t find any here: REN’s Tamanu High Glide Shaving Oil (£16 for 50ml) – formulated to give a smooth, easy shave and minimise dryness and irritation – and Multi-Tasking After Shave Balm (£20 for 50ml), which cools, calms, moisturises and conditions post-shaved skin. renskincare.com

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Losing your hair like your Dad? If you’re losing your hair, you’re looking for facts, not fiction. Fact: for 95% of men, hair loss is hereditary. REGAINE® scientifically proven foam could be the answer. It is proven to help stop and even reverse hereditary hair loss, working deep down at the root.

Find out the facts at regaine.co.uk

REGAINE® for Men products and treatments are for male hereditary hair loss. REGAINE® for Men Extra Strength Scalp Foam 5% w/w Cutaneous Foam contains Minoxidil. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL.

50 | June 14 2013 | Follow her on Twitter @VanessaLansom

A

nyone who owns a copy of David Haye’s recently released Box & Tone DVD may just recognise Vanessa Lansom as one of his co-stars on the front cover. “David taught us to box, which was awesome, but we did a lot of toning and cardio as well,” she tells us. “We were pretty dead by the end of filming, but David was a good laugh and very helpful – he said I had a real punch!”

We can believe it. The 29-year-old is first and foremost a dancer, having appeared on the German version of X Factor and in music videos for Lawson and Dido. “I like football and boxing, and I enjoy seeing how rough rugby gets,” she adds. “I’m a bit of a tomboy, really, although I think it would be cool to be an Olympic gymnast. They are so amazing and feminine and glide through the air, but they are muscly and look like they could knock you out!”

Anyone noticing a theme here?

Packing a punch

Extra time Vanessa Lansom

| 51

eT

entertainment

Blue STeel

He’s forsaken his red pants, but the man in the blue spandex still offers thrills. Meanwhile, Kanye West gets his scowl on

Film

Music

Yeezus Kanye West

With the Dark Knight trilogy capturing the gritty lowground and Marvel’s superhero films a cartoonish treat, it was always tough to see where Zack Snyder would pitch his Superman reboot. Thankfully, he’s found an ideal balance between grandiose epic and sci-fi action.

It starts with war on Krypton, but hits its stride during Clark Kent’s formative years on Earth. Rather than a hero, he’s a baffled, beardy outsider, wanting to help but unsure how folk will react when they discover he’s a buff, blue-eyed extraterrestrial. That changes when fellow Kryptonian General Zod shows up with his David Moyes stare, forcing Supes to act. Their showdown

Book

Bad Monkey Carl Hiaasen

Sun-soaked yet blackly comic crime fiction from the US master Hiaasen. With a human arm in his freezer and a desire to earn back his Miami police badge, Andrew Yancy delves into an increasingly wild case, meeting the arm’s twitchy widow, a Bahamian voodoo witch and the eponymous no-good primate.

Outrageously enjoyable stuff.

Out now 52 | June 14 2013 |

is spectacular, but it’s in its tone where this film really works. Man of Steel certainly isn’t perfect (some time for the characters to breathe would be nice), but the mix of pomp and giddy fun is mostly spot on. The cast also come up trumps, even if Amy Adams’ Lois Lane is underused. We’d like more of her next time, please.

Out today

Film

Much Ado About Nothing

Director Joss Whedon engages in a simpler task than last year’s Avengers flick with this take on Willy Shakespeare’s comedy about two couples getting it on.

Filmed in 12 days, it’s been called the best Bard adaptation since Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. Do expect: a fast-paced farce that brims with energy.

Do not expect: a Hulk cameo.

Out today

Music

Turbines Tunng

DVD

This British six-piece may have been labelled ‘folktronica’, but thankfully Tunng’s music sounds far better than that genre suggests. Plucked guitars mesh subtly with the synths, So Far From Here perfectly illustrating this fifth album’s strengths of lush melodies and swooning harmonies. Warm, classy and and catchier than a pandemic.

Out Monday

Warm Bodies

Romcoms don’t usually start with the male lead killing and eating the brains of his romantic rival. However, Warm Bodies puts a twist on the Shaun of the Dead-style ‘zomcom’ by having undead Nicholas Hoult slowly rediscovering his humanity after rescuing foxy Teresa Palmer.

A lightweight but sporadically amusing zomboy-meets-girl tale.

Out Monday

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Guillaume Baptiste/AFP/GettyImages, Clay Enos

Man of Steel

He’s not the slickest rapper ever to put lips to mic, and he may be something of a tool, but Kanye West deserves credit for being continually innovative. His previous solo album (2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) deserved its acclaim – and his 2013 follow-up looks set to push hip-hop’s boundaries once more.

Early tracks such as New Slaves and Black Skinhead are gloomy and relentless, the latter a mix of dog barks, throbbing drum beats and West’s snarled vocals.

His angry act is as subtle as a sledgehammer, but this is uneasy listening of the highest order.

Out Tuesday