Sport magazine 328

Issue 328 | October 25 2013

World War league England captain Kevin SinďŹ eld is ready to lead his troops against the mighty Australians

Contents Issue 328, October 25 2013 Radar 05 Lion-dog boots That’s right, lion-dogs. What more to say about the latest from adidas?

06 FIFA 14: next generation We pick out the best features on the XBox One and PS4 versions

06 Brits v Barcelona Ahead of Gareth Bale’s El Clasico debut, we look at how our exports to Madrid have fared previously

08 A new book There’s an autobiography out this week. You may have heard about it oFeatures this coming week

18

Kevin Sinfield We face up to the England star as he prepares to lead his team in the Rugby League World Cup

30 Elise Christie

Cover image: Jon Enoch. This page: Jon Enoch, Sky Sports/Andrea Southam, Bryn Lennon/Getty Images, 2013 Marvel

18

The Team GB speed skater who has one eye on Sochi and one arm covered in bruises

32 Sir Bradley Wiggins

32 06

30

Cycling’s Modfather reflects on a mixed 2013 and gives us the heads-up on plans for next year

36 Rory: back in business?

Destination China for the latest WGC event on the calendar

Extra Time 46 Gadgets Including a wireless speaker and a Transformer tablet

48 Grooming Some bathroom gear to get you in the mood for Movember

50 Entertainment Thor is back – and, for one week only, a sexually deviant octopus

50

54 Kit Dark mornings, dark nights: you need some high-vis trainers | October 25 2013 | 03

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Radar

p06 – Brits v Barca: how will Gareth Bale fare in his first El Clasico?

p08 – Call the bomb squad: Deontay Wilder tells us how to strike a knockout blow

Beastly boots F

ittingly released just in time for Halloween, these terrifying boots have been created in conjunction with respected Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto. His design for the Yohji Yamamoto adizero F50 boot mixes the imperial ‘lion dogs’ that guarded the Japanese emperor in ancient times with more futuristic parts based on the country’s modern sci-fi culture. The result is an eye-popping design that you’ll have to be astonishingly good to even consider wearing for your Sunday side. Perhaps it’s just as well that only 2,000 pairs of the super-lightweight boots will be made – they’ll loyally stay on the feet of anyone who can really terrorise defenders.

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The super-lightweight boots weigh just 165g – the same as a jar of Tesco Value Mint Sauce

The design mixes elements of Japanese culture to create a terrifying robotic lion-dog

| October 25 2013 | 05

Radar

Generation game W

e’ve played the next generation of FIFA, and it is wonderful. Here are the four best features awaiting gamers on the Xbox One and PS4 versions of FIFA 14.

1. Proper crowds: individually rendered fans celebrate when you score, hold hands to their heads when you miss and do everything a real crowd would do (except the illegal stuff).

2. Amazing graphics: you can see individual blades of grass flicking up off your boots, and there are a host of new animations, from the crossfield ball to the slide-rule pass.

3. Improved AI: four times as many calculations go into making the players smarter and sharper – they anticipate your actions to ride tackles and brace for impact.

4. Little details: the action is always going on, so players retrieve the ball when it goes out of play. The touchlines are a hive of activity, with ballboys and policemen – whose uniforms change with the country in which you’re playing.

FIFA 14, out at launch on Xbox One and PS4

G

Laurie Cunningham A trailblazer on several levels, the striker was a Spanish success almost instantly as Madrid welcomed the Catalans just three games into his debut 1979-80 season. He scored the winner in a 3-2 victory for a side that also included future Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.

He dazzled again in the return fixture, leaving the pitch at the Nou Camp to a standing ovation for his role in a 2-0 victory.

06 | October 25 2013 |

Steve McManaman Scored with a chip to help knock Barcelona out of the Champions League semi finals in 2002, and remembers “empty whisky bottles, golf balls and mobile phones” raining down on the pitch in the infamous pig’s head game. Had a 10-minute cameo in his first Clasico, a 3-0 win, and had a terrific overall record against Barcelona. Indeed, he was never on the losing side, winning four and drawing three.

David Beckham Never found the net against Barcelona for Madrid, although a 2-1 away win in his first meeting augured well. He came up against the Catalan side a total of seven times in the white of Madrid, winning three and losing three. His finest moments arguably came in a 4-2 win in 2005, when he provided two assists: a free-kick headed in by Ronaldo, and a long through ball typically finished off by Michael Owen.

Michael Owen Played both league games against Barcelona in his solitary season in Spain, with the highlight being the fourth goal in that 4-2 victory in which Beckham also starred. That was a happier occasion than his Clasico debut, when he came on after 82 minutes as a replacement for Beckham, with his side already three goals down. Another player made his Clasico debut that day, too: Lionel Messi.

All pictures Getty Images

areth Bale is in line for his first taste of El Clasico this weekend, as Real Madrid visit the Nou Camp early on Saturday evening. But how have Real’s other British imports fared against Barcelona?

Radar

KnocKout power

D

estructive US heavyweight Deontay Wilder – with 29 knockout wins in 29 fights – shares the secrets of KO power

Journeyman to puncher “The first time I realised I had knockout power was maybe my third ever week in a boxing gym. My whole mentality at that time was to become a journeyman and try to make some money. I had no thoughts about the Olympics [Wilder won a bronze medal in 2008] and all that.

But I sparred a pro for the first time that week and, after just a couple of seconds, I laid him out. He lifted up

his head from the canvas and said: ‘Keep this kid in the gym – he is strong!’”

Born, not Built “Power is something that I’ve been blessed with my whole life. I was one of those skinny kids when I was growing up. I didn’t look the part, but I was always as strong as the bigger guys. Now, there’s a saying in boxing that speed is power. So my argument is, what if you have natural strength already, then you develop speed? Add that together and you ain’t got nothin’ but a [yelling suddenly] bomb squad!”

target practice “If a guy has his guard down, I aim for anywhere in the face. There’s really no specific, ideal place I want to hit you, I’m going to go for every spot: the chin, temple, eyes, nose.

If my leather glove is connecting to your head, I can feel that it hurts.”

Spectacular Stoppage “My best knockout is definitely my last one against Siarhei Liakhovich.

To see him shake like that in the ring after I caught him with a right hand – man, that was crazy. Of course, my right hand is my most powerful punch, but I also have a serious left

hook that I haven’t had a lot of time to display.”

BeSt Big-hitter “My two favourite fighters of all time are Muhammad Ali and Tommy ‘The Hitman’ Hearns. Hearns had a nice, devastating punch on him. He had that long reach because, just like me, he’s lanky. So he got leverage on his punches. He really could get guys out of there.”

Bernard Hopkins v Karo Murat and Deontay Wilder v Nicolai Firtha is live on BoxNation this Saturday night from 2am. boxnation.com

T

he papers have picked clean the bones of Sir Alex Ferguson’s second autobiography, although you might have missed some revelations, like the painting by Kieran Richardson he had in his office, or the section on his bookshelf dedicated to despots. But, once you get past what ghostwriter Paul Hayward called the “news tornado”, what is My Autobiography actually like to read?

It begins at the turn of the century, after Ferguson’s U-turn on retirement, and there is very little overlap between this and his first book – although he does call on anecdotes from his Govan days.

08 | October 25 2013 |

There are amusing tidbits – such as Fabien Barthez begging to play up front in a pre-season game, or Nemanja Vidic insisting that it was his duty to join the Serbian army if he got called up to fight in Kosovo – but you’re left wanting more detail on the many controversies that he glosses over or ignores.

At times it reads like a 350-page diatribe against those who have dared criticise Ferguson; Roy Keane, Rafa Benitez and Owen Hargreaves are dealt with in a brutal manner. But, much like his teams, Fergie’s final word seems designed to ensure he gets the last laugh.

My Autobiography by Sir Alex Ferguson, out now, hardback, £25 (Hodder & Stoughton)

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

The book of revelations

Radar Editor’s letter Children are our future: so the new fund has to be good news for football www.sport-magazine.co.uk @sportmaguk facebook.com/sportmagazine

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Commercial

Grassroots and all A football fund worth more than £100m over three years spells good news for deprived areas

Acting editor Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

aimed at boosting the provision of grassroots footballing facilities in deprived communities. The snappily-named Premier League and FA Facilities Fund – careful now people, you don’t want to oversex it – will be worth £102m over the next three years, and will hopefully go some way to regenerating the playing fields and community sports facilities lost in the recent wake of council budget cuts.

As the name suggests, the project is a joint venture between those uncomfortable bedfellows: the Premier League and the Football Association. Both are set to contribute £12m a year for the next three years, with the other £30m coming from the government, through Sport England. There are many who will no doubt castigate the moneybags Premier League for not offering more, but the reality is that we are looking at a commercial organisation with no specific remit for funding or supporting the sport at any level. That they continue to do so, even to the tune of an amount equivalent to a drop in the ocean of their annual revenue, is surely better

than nothing? Heck, if we’re all nice about them, maybe over time they’ll invest more – and that can only be a good thing.

A weekend of sensational goals in the Premier League, with special mention for Pajtim Kasami’s remarkable strike for Fulham against poor old Crystal Palace on Monday. But my vote goes to the latest from a scrapbook full of them in the possession of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Anyone who hasn’t seen the Swedish forward’s first goal from PSG’s 4-0 stroll past Bastia on Saturday should head to YouTube and give it a watch. Absolutely ridiculous.

In the grand old tradition of raising home expectations before major events, the England rugby league team could not have done a worse job than in somehow contriving to lose to Italy in a warm-up game at Salford last Saturday.

Noises from within remain positive ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup opener against Australia at the Millennium Stadium, and captain Kevin Sinfield – our cover star this week – is not a man prone to panic. A huge game against the old enemy offers his team the perfect opportunity to jump back on the horse. Let’s hope they take it.

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E

clipsed by the inevitable hullabaloo surrounding the release of Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography on Tuesday was the announcement of a new fund

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Flats on Friday

David Lyttleton

Radar Opinion

Everyone in the firing line

M

ost people exist in two basic environments: work and home. At work, most folks are a bit more formal in their behaviour in that they dress smartly, control the tone of their conversation and mind their language. At home, most of us like to slip into something more comfortable before eating dinner with our mouths open while watching sport and grunting answers to questions from him/her indoors. That’s not just me, is it?

Home, therefore, is generally where one can let go a bit and forego conduct protocols.

Professional sportsmen, however, live somewhat differently. Imagine spending every working day with your best mates and having everything laid on for you. They arrive to a cooked breakfast, which they share as a group; they hit the gym together; they chat over a recovery coffee, and they take the field to smash each other to bits for the cause.

In basic terms, they bond – hard. Relationships in these teams – I speak for rugby, not necessarily for football – run deeper than sporting respect.

The bonds are primal. I could tell you the names of 50 men who would have died for me on the field, and I’d have returned that favour without blinking.

This is all wonderful, but it doesn’t prepare you for the real world. Sure, you can have great relationships with the guys from work, but you cannot expect to behave as you always have in a

12 | October 25 2013 |

‘real’ environment. I have been retired for more than a year now, and still I find myself telling jokes and stories that shock the office. Thankfully, I work alongside a great bunch who love a naughty tale – but I genuinely think I’d struggle in a more corporate working environment. And I’m not alone.

Rugby players are, as a rule, polite and respectful. This is primarily because anyone who steps out of line is chinned in training, so it becomes a self-regulating system. But we often used to joke that, if anyone planted a dictaphone in our changing room, we would be in trouble.

Rugby humour is dark and, by today’s standards, probably not terribly correct in political terms. The vital ingredient is equality: every single player is subject to banter for every single reason.

Very little, if anything, is off limits. This is probably because players go to such horrible places together, so orthodox boundaries are annihilated.

To defend another man with your body, there must be respect, and we see that trait repeatedly exercised in rugby – so the environment works.

The only problems arise when new colleagues don’t quite get it, and when someone on the outside decides to become vicariously offended.

As much as we love insight, we must, to a point, let those inside the locker room be – as Roy Hodgson will no doubt testify. @davidflatman

It’s like this…

Bill Borrows

I

t was the look on the face that said it all. The look on the face of Rafael as he went tumbling in the penalty area against Southampton during the period of the game previously known as ‘Fergie Time’ on Saturday. Play on…

He looked like a little boy whose dad just told him that Father Christmas didn’t really exist and, consequently, would be getting no presents this year. Or indeed next.

I’d like to say that this brings me absolutely no pleasure at all. But I’d be lying.

After a poor run both home and away, the papers, predictably overexcited about a new story to overanalyse, have been moved to talk about the ‘fear factor’ disappearing from Old Trafford with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

David Moyes shrugged: “I think the fear factor is from the team on the pitch, that’s always the case… obviously Sir Alex has a great history, but the players will always be what matters on the pitch.”

He’s wrong. On two counts. And he knows it. First, this ageing United team don’t scare anybody. Second, vitally, it’s not just the opposition players who are untroubled by appearing at Old Trafford. It’s the referees and their assistants.

It’s a pretty well-known stat, but between 1993 and 2003, only two away teams converted a penalty at Old Trafford in the league. That was Sheffield Wednesday’s John Sheridan, and Ruel Fox for Norwich. That’s two in 10 years. It took a while for Ferguson to upgrade his hairdryer to a paint-stripper, but once he found the correct setting it counted for 10 points a season.

To perhaps push the analogy too far, Moyes taking a match official to one side for ‘clarification’ after a game must be like dealing with a chihuahua’s fart – not something you’d wish for as a referee or linesman, but essentially inconsequential and easily forgotten.

Frank O’Farrell was the anointed successor to Matt Busby in 1971, and given a five-year contract at Old Trafford. “We finished eighth, which wasn’t bad considering the rebuilding job we had to do, but it was disappointing having been top,” he has just told the authors of brilliant new book The Lost World of Football.

He goes on: “Managers were made scapegoats for what Matt Busby hadn’t done in the latter part of his career... they had to go down to the Second Division to rebuild.” United are currently eighth. Just saying… @billborrows

Plank of the Week Anthony Taylor, Stamford Bridge Well done, ref, for banishing Jose Mourinho to the fifth row for being a smug irritant, but the first Eden Hazard goal? Really? The keeper was not in control of the ball?

Come on. It’s 150 years ago this week since the rules of association football were codified. How long do you need to familiarise yourself with them?

Frozen in time

14 | October 25 2013 |

The jockeys may be full size, but the nags most certainly are not. Here, Budd’s Beauty lands the Shetland Pony Gold Cup under a stirring ride from young Phoebe Anderson (racing fans will note the colours of legendary trainer Guy Harwood).

But mainly, we’re reminded of Alan Partridge interviewing jockey Mickey Doolan: “Your mum and dad must be pleased. What do they think of you doing this? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

| 15

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Cavalry charge

Kevin Sinfield

18 | October 25 2013 |

photography by joN eNoch

NatioNal iNterest

This weekend, Kevin SinďŹ eld leads England out against Australia for the opening game of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. In an exclusive interview with Sport, he speaks of the pride he takes from being captain, reects on the beliefs he inherited from his father, and reveals the camaraderie he thinks can drive his team on to glory

Saturday Rugby League WoRLd Cup: engLand v austRaLia | MiLLenniuM stadiuM | bbC one 2.30pM

| 19

Kevin Sinfield

“it would meAn everything to win it.i would swAp All my other medAls f o r t h i s t r o p h y. it would be the biggest thing in my cAreer” and League Leader’s Shield twice. A host of individual honours accompany that roll-call – he has twice picked up the Harry Sunderland Trophy awarded to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final – but Sinfield is not the kind of man to accentuate his personal achievements.

With Kev, it’s all about the collective.

A better life

T

he Rugby League World Cup is a sporting trophy like no other. Weighing in as much as a fiveyear-old child with an aversion to salad, it makes the Association Football equivalent appear like a trashy bauble that might have dropped from a Christmas tree. All the more remarkable then that, having been stolen from a hotel on a rain-drenched Bradford night in November 1970, it disappeared for 20 years before turning up a couple of miles away in a ditch used for fly-tipping.

20 | October 25 2013 |

Indeed, the trophy would not be available for the grandiose presentation ceremony after the final at Old Trafford on November 30 at all had someone not stumbled across it and, convinced of its inherent worth, both symbolic and financial, attempted to track down the owners while it rested on a sideboard in his West Yorkshire council house. An article in the Telegraph and Argus finally did the trick. The only reward the discoverer wanted? A couple of tickets for a game of his choice.

It is this piece of silverware with the remarkable history that England captain Kevin Sinfield is referring to when he says: “It would mean everything to win it. I would swap all my other medals and rings to win this one. It would certainly be the biggest thing in my career.”

Quite a statement from a player informally known as ‘Sir Kevin’, accepted as the best kicker in world rugby, and who is able to reflect upon a decade at the helm of Leeds Rhinos that has brought him no end of team silverware: six Super League titles, the World Club Challenge three times

Sinfield is the son of trades union activists and schooled in the teachings of Che Guevara but, typically, he plays it all down.

“People seem to think we’re a wacky family, but we’re not,” he says. “My dad was a shop steward, with firm beliefs about trying to help others, and I suppose I have just inherited that. I’m not a crusader. I just think we could make life better for one another if we cared a little more. If that’s linked to Cuba or Che Guevara, so be it.

“The political stuff makes a good story, I guess, but at the end of the day I am just a normal bloke.”

A normal bloke who first captained his club side at the tender age of 22, and who is about to lead his country in their bid to win the Rugby League World Cup for the first time since 1972.

“I don’t think there will be any Churchillian speeches [from me in the dressing room],” he insists. “I think our head coach Steve McNamara does a great job in motivating the team and speaks very well.”

He certainly does. Asked to explain why he made Sinfield his captain, McNamara said: “He’s not the biggest, and he’s not the fastest, but he is the best.”

The best at what? “He’s a leader. He’s the leader in a team of leaders. And that’s a leader for you.”

Sinfield continues, trademark understatement to the fore. “I think my job as captain is to make sure that what Steve wants is implemented on the field.

We try and make sure that everybody is in the right frame of mind and ready to go. Sometimes that’s by being ‘human’, but sometimes it’s by being very technical and tactical and how we approach the k Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

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Kevin Sinfield

“there is a very gooD feel about where we are now. these laDs genuinely Do care about each other” dressing room. It is a good mix, though, and a lot of that is down to feel.”

Australia, as you might expect from a team that has won or finished runners-up at every World Cup since 1957, are tournament favourites with the bookies. New Zealand, the holders, are obviously in the mix, but the England captain is not fazed. In fact, there is every feeling that Sinfield doesn’t even acknowledge the concept of being ‘fazed’.

He thinks England are perfectly poised.

“We can win it,” he smiles. “Of course we can. We have just been in South Africa at a training camp, and it was fantastic. We built a level of intensity there that we couldn’t get in this country. It’s about spending time with each other. When you hear an England player speak, they will tell you how close the group is. And it is all true. It has taken a long time to get us here. There is a very good feel about where we are now. The lads genuinely do care about each other. It’s about trust and honesty.

“On one level there are tactics and different styles of play, but what it actually boils down to is that you are relying upon your mate alongside you to do the best he can. Those qualities are far easier to get from each other when you are mates and you spend time with each other. Hopefully that will play a part in where we are going, and how successful we can be over these next two months.”

He confesses, eventually: “I suppose it is a bit like being a shop steward. I feel very proud and honoured to captain the side. It is certainly not a one-man job, and to play international rugby you have to be a leader of some sort – and we have a really good mix of youth and experience, all from different backgrounds. We are all prepared to fight for each other and sacrifice ourselves to make sure the group is successful.”

Declaration of Determination

In front of the press, in front of the world, outside his comfort zone, Sinfield is measured. Deliberate.

On a pitch, if you’ve ever seen him play, he’s Jonny Wilkinson with a broken nose. Either for England, with that lipstick red St George Cross smear of intent across his chest, or for Leeds, with that unsmiling, always-thinking declaration of determination across his face, you know what you’re going to get. One hundred per cent. k 22 | October 25 2013 |

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“if you hAve never seen A gAme of leAgue before, go And wAtch one – you will Absolutely love it” Despite what most professional footballers might think (Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes are amongst Sinfield’s biggest fans), there is no more.

It only goes up to one hundred. As he knows.

“I think we all realise what a successful England World Cup campaign could do for our sport,” he says, embracing the larger picture. “Look at the Olympics last year, and what happened in 2003, with the World Cup win in rugby union. The sport was able to ride the crest of that wave, and I think we can showcase rugby league in the same way. On the back of that, different things could come, in terms of participation figures and the numbers of clubs continuing to prosper. That’s important.”

A mAtter of code

The number of league players making the switch to union has swelled in the past decade, since Jason 24 | October 25 2013 |

Robinson starred in the aforementioned Rugby World Cup win of 2003 – and with the money in the 15-man game now vastly exceeding that within its 13-man equivalent. Sinfield is unmoved.

“I haven’t got a problem with rugby union,’ he insists, and we believe him. “You’re talking about two different codes and two different sports.

Rugby league gets a lot of negative press, so it is really important that we have a successful World Cup campaign. What I would say to people is that if you have never seen a game before, go and watch one – you will absolutely love it, it will be great entertainment. It is really well priced, especially for a country in recession; to go and watch international players, exceptional athletes… for that price, it’s a fantastic product.”

And Sinfield is a fantastic ambassador for it, even if he is typically unwilling to sing his own praises – particularly when it comes to the kicking

game that will surely play such a huge part if England are to have a serious chance in this World Cup. “I have kicked a rugby ball from the age of seven, so it’s something I really enjoy and think has been at the heart of my success,” he says. “But I’m hoping England won’t be relying on it, and that we will be good enough in different areas of the field.

“It is certainly something I practise, but not stupidly. I am not out there hour after hour, but I try and kick regularly and make sure I get enough practice. I have a certain routine, but it is important that you do the other parts of your training as well.

It is totally different to rugby union, because there are certainly different parts of my game that need to be good. Sometimes a kicker in union is just a kicker, and doesn’t have that many roles to fill.

In rugby league, there is no hiding place.’

The thing about the original Rugby League World Cup trophy is that in 1970, it belonged to the Australians. They were the holders. In 2013, precisely the same trophy is back in the United Kingdom and up for grabs. We probably won’t give it to the Aussies to leave in a hotel in Bradford this time, but it might be nice if we just won it and put it somewhere for safekeeping. Forever.

Bill Borrows @billborrows England will kick off their Rugby League World Cup 2013 campaign against Australia on October 26 at the Millennium Stadium. To buy tickets, visit www.rlwc2013.com/tickets Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

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Kevin Sinfield

Rugby League World Cup

en GlAn d D

on’t be put off by England’s shocking display against supposed minnows Italy in the warm-up that left us all cold last weekend. If they don’t lift the World Cup trophy for the first time since 1972, then it won’t be for lack of preparation. Both the players and backroom staff have talked of leaving no stone unturned in their quest for overdue glory.

In a bid to negate any of the inter-club rivalry that marred the 2008 World Cup campaign, coach Steve McNamara has fostered a club mentality in the England camp. All the latest sports science has been employed and, following a training camp at altitude in South Africa, the players should be honed to perfection. It’s up to them to deliver on the pitch.

Despite the Italian job going so wrong, England still possess a set of forwards that can dominate up front. The three Burgess

brothers and James Graham all play in Australia’s NRL, so won’t be intimidated by anyone, while James Roby will aim to prove that he is the best hooker in the world.

The back line should pose plenty of threat, too, with the mercurial Sam Tomkins at full-back, two powerful and lethal wingers in the shape of Ryan Hall and Josh Charnley, and the hugely talented Kallum Watkins in the centre.

At half back, skipper Kevin Sinfield knows how to control a game; his kicking both out of hand and for goal will be crucial.

Alongside him is Rangi Chase, an unpredictable talent who can amaze and frustrate in equal measure.

This is a squad that can’t afford any more off days like they experienced against Italy.

If they stay fit and focused, however, there remains a chance that they could yet end 41 years of hurt.

sAm BurGess

Persuaded by actor Russell Crowe to move from the Bradford Bulls to South Sydney Rabbitohs at the end of 2009, the 24-year-old prop from Dewsbury has since established himself as a superstar in the NRL. Big and strong, his game has blossomed – he is respected by Aussie players, fans and media.

sAm Tomkins

A genuine star, Tomkins is one of the most dangerous broken-field runners in the game. The long-striding full-back can turn a game on its head with his pace.

Having signed for the New Zealand Warriors, he’ll be keen to impress his new employers – and leave England fans with something to remember him by.

kAllum wATkins

Big, quick and elusive with a happy knack of scoring some spectacular tries, the 22-year-old Leeds centre is a genuine talent. He could shine in this tournament, and it will be fascinating to see how he measures up to that other centre of excellence: Australia’s Greg Inglis. Much could depend on that head to head clash.

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The 2013 Rugby League World Cup kicks off with Australia v England at the Millennium Stadium this Saturday, and organisers will be hoping the same teams meet in the final, to be staged at Old Trafford on November 30. The 14 competing teams are split into four groups, with the top three from Groups A and B and the Group C and D winners progressing to the quarter finals. Should England beat the Aussies this weekend, they would probably progress to a quarter final against Wales. Lose this weekend, and a difficult semi final against defending champions New Zealand looks very likely. > | October 25 2013 | 27

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The Groups

Rugby League World Cup

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robably still smarting from having the World Cup wrestled away from them by New Zealand in 2008, the Kangaroos remain the team to beat. Australia have been the dominant nation in the past five years, and have so much talent to choose from that they could easily name three squads and still be competitive.

There are no weak links in the current squad, either. The forwards are big, physical and relentless, and on the back of their dominance the likes of electric-heeled full-back Billy Slater, half back Johnathan Thurston

and hooker Cameron Smith will flourish.

Could complacency set in if they win too easily in the group stages?

Unlikely, with coach Tim Sheens only having to mention that 2008 final defeat to the Kiwis to spur on his men.

That was unexpected: Australia won’t be able to stomach a repeat.

Australia have won the last two World Cup tournaments played in this country (1995 and 2000), and it’s hard to envisage a final without them.

Sit back and enjoy the strength, power and sublime skills of some of the best rugby players on the planet.

on e to watch

Gr e G i n Gl is

Often described as the best athlete ever to play the game, it’s not hard to disagree when you see his 6ft 5ins, 16st 10lbs frame gliding through defences. The 26-year-old has played most of the season at full-back for South Sydney, but expect him to wreak havoc in the centres here.

ne w zea land T

Warrior Thomas Leuluai. The last-minute return to the squad of the enigmatic Sonny Bill Williams is a huge boost, too.

Expect the pack to be physical and uncompromising, and the backs much the same. The result, when you throw in the unpredictable Issac Luke at dummy half, is a team with the potential to beat anyone – but it can just as easily go wrong. The only thing guaranteed is that they will make for riveting viewing, and any clash against the Australians could be dynamite.

Don’t bet against them repeating their feat of five years ago.

on e to watch

s on n y Bi ll w il l ia ms

The 28-year-old began his career in rugby league before switching to union and helping the All Blacks win the 2011 World Cup. Williams moved back to league this year, with the Sydney Roosters, and was outstanding at second row in their NRL Grand Final victory. His ability to offload in the tackle is legendary.

wal es ales have produced some of the greatest players in rugby league history, but the days when they could call on top rugby union stars are long gone. The game is growing organically, however, with semi-professional outfits North Wales Crusaders and South Wales Scorpions attracting local talent to be developed as rugby league players.

The squad does contain a raft of players with Super League experience, though, including Lloyd White of Widnes Vikings, Wigan props Gil Dudson and Ben Flower, Salford forwards Jordan James and Jacob

W

Emmitt, and the highly-rated Bradford wing Elliot Kear. Twins Ben and Rhys Evans could make history as the first pair of brothers to play in the same game for Wales if selected.

Coach Iestyn Harris and assistant Lee Briers were two of the shrewdest half-backs ever to play the game, and featured in the Wales team that gave the Australians a fright in the semi-finals of this tournament back in 2000. They will prepare the squad well, and with pool games against the USA and the Cook Islands, will fancy their side’s chances of qualifying for the quarter finals.

on e to watch

cr a i G Ko p c z a K

Wales have no shortage of big front-rowers, and Huddersfield prop Kopczak is one of the best.

Although born in England, he has played for the country of his heritage since 2007. Named Wales’ player of the tournament in the 2011 Four Nations, the 26-year-old will lead by example, making the hard yards up front. | October 25 2013 | 29

Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images, Paul Thomas/Getty Images, Gareth Copley/Getty Images

he current world champions are an enigma. An intensely physical outfit who boast some exquisitely talented individuals, yet for whatever reason they don’t always gel as a team and can often self-destruct.

If anyone can keep them on the right path, though it’s coach Stephen Kearney – a hugely respected figure who was in charge when they lifted the trophy five years ago.

Star half back Benji Marshall may now be lost to rugby union, but the Kiwis have three half-backs of genuine class in the shape of Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson and former Wigan

Elise Christie Doesn’t racing in the pack make you more vulnerable to crashing, though?

“It does, because a lot of people want to be in there – they don’t want to be in the front because it’s hard work out there. So there are a lot of people fighting to be in second and third place.

I’ve been trying to figure out the balance between not waiting until too late in the race to move, and not wasting too much energy trying to get to the front at the start – finding the happy medium.”

What do you need to do at the qualifiers next month to make sure of your place in Sochi?

“You can only qualify a spot for Team GB, not one for yourself as an individual. But, to be able to do that, they say you have to finish in the top 32. But the problem with that is that the relay spots push you down. So, realistically, you want to be in the top 25 – then we’re selected internally by who has the highest results. If it was going on the World Cup I’ve just raced in Korea, then I would have qualified a spot in each distance (500m, 1,000m, and 1,500m) and be the top-ranked girl – so it’s going the right way.”

You posted a picture on Twitter (@Elise_Christie) recently showing a bruise covering your entire forearm after a crash at a World Cup event in Korea. Is crashing something you just have to get used to in speed skating?

“The bruise looked bad, but it didn’t hurt that much. I actually ended up with a small tear in my shoulder from twisting my arm as I fell, which was the sore bit. Crashing isn’t something I enjoy, but everyone’s different. I try to avoid the crashes, but some people actually go out looking for them. I like the argy-bargy to an extent, but not the crashing.”

But you did pick up two penalties in the first World Cup event of the season, in Shanghai…

“For one of them, I went to overtake up the inside and slipped as I did it, so I accidentally crashed into the girl.

And the other one, the referee decided I swung my arm into the girl when I didn’t even know that I had. Some refs

30 | October 25 2013 |

would call it, some wouldn’t – but if they think that then it’s fair do’s, I suppose. A penalty means you are put to the bottom of the round. So, I was put into eighth place of the 1,000m semi final, which meant I wasn’t able to race again.”

With the Olympic qualifiers coming up next month [in Torino, Italy, and Kolomna, Russia], did you use those World Cups almost as test events?

“I used them to try out different tactics. I normally race from the front, which is unusual in short track because it takes a lot of strength to go out in front for the whole race.

I wanted to work on racing in the pack a bit more so that, come the Olympics in Sochi, if I’m not at the front off the start I will still know how to perform to my best. I need to work on my weaknesses – and that means I have had to put the ego aside for a bit and forget about just racing to win.”

You began figure skating at the age of seven, so why won’t we be seeing you pirouetting in Sochi instead of racing?

“Initially, one of the things I noticed was that the boots in speed skating looked a lot more comfortable! So the footwear is one reason, but once I’d tried speed skating I liked the fact that it wasn’t judged – if you won the race, you’ve won. I didn’t really like the fact that in figure skating you had to present yourself in a certain way.

I like just being me.”

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Elise Christie is one of 12 young athletes to be awarded a Sky Sports Scholarship.

Follow Elise’s progress at www.skysports. com/scholarships

Sky Sports/Andrea Southam

With next Tuesday marking 100 days to go to the start of Sochi 2014, GB speed skater Elise Christie tells Sport about dodgy refereeing decisions and argybargy on the ice

The 2014 Winter Olympics would be your second trip to the Games. Was Vancouver 2010 a positive experience?

“I’d only been on the team about three years, but I’m glad I got to do one that young because it is a different experience to anything else. Everyone said it would be, but I never really believed them – I thought it was just another competition. I did find it hard at that age [19], though. I got run-down and ill and found it all quite stressful.

You’re away for such a long time and stuck in the village, so you lose a lot of normality to your life. But it felt amazing to be part of it. Now I know what to expect, I can go to Sochi and be a bit more performance-focused.”

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Sir Bradley Wiggins

32 | October 25 2013 |

A year on trial Sir Bradley Wiggins on a season of Grand Tour disappointment, a world time trial silver and why he could compete for the Yellow Jersey in 2014

As Team Sky’s leader he was, he said, aiming for what would have been his second Grand Tour victory – in the Giro d’Italia – before defending his Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France later in the summer.

But a catastrophic attempt at the Giro saw him crash on the seventh stage – during which he said he “descended like a bit of a girl” in treacherous conditions – and ended when he was forced to withdraw before the start of stage 13 with a chest infection, already five minutes and 22 seconds behind eventual winner Vincenzo Nibali. Then, with intense speculation over who would be Sky’s lead rider at the Tour, and with team principal Dave Brailsford publically backing Chris Froome, Wiggins ruled himself out of defending his Maillot Jaune because of a knee injury.

So, we have to ask when we meet cycling’s Modfather at the launch of his official Opus, which chronicles his Tour and Olympic time trial successes of 2012: just where did it all go wrong in 2013?

“I was just going through the motions with the Giro,” he explains. “I know I said different things to you at the time, but you have to convince yourself – you have to do what you do. I was very fit at the time; I had good form and good condition. But my head wasn’t in it. But, out of duty and being a professional, you have to try and do that [talk like you have a chance of winning], you know? You have to. And I wasn’t going to sit there at the time and go: ‘You know what? I can’t be arsed with this.’

“And so, you know, you go through the motions, you say all the right things, you do all the right things. But I think the way I rode in the Giro reflected that [I was just going through the motions], you know?”

We should have known – he even told us as much back in April (“I might think differently, but that’s

what I say outwardly”), had we read between the lines. So what about not being there to defend his Yellow Jersey this summer, with Froome instead becoming the 100th Tour champion?

“The best thing – and I’ve said a few times – the best thing that happened to me was not going to the Tour, because it made me realise what I was missing out on and what had happened to me last year,” says Wiggins. “So I got back to the drawing board, and I started training again at home in July, going out on my own – no support, doing it on my own, stopping at petrol stations filling up water bottles, fixing my own punctures. And it was like going back to grassroots. And slowly, just one step at a time, I built back to where I got to with the Tour of Britain and the worlds.”

Eye of the tiger Sport suggests that what Wiggins is describing sounds like his own Rocky montage.

“Yeah… it wasn’t that Rocky,” he counters. “I was enjoying it; enjoying the solitude of it. I love that.

I love going back to being the underdog with everyone writing you off. And a strange part of me did enjoy that part of it, too.”

Earlier in the evening, Wiggins spoke about how being Sky’s team leader in 2012 was “hard work” while addressing the crowd gathered at the Paul Smith store in Covent Garden for his book launch.

“If I won or failed, I carried the can,” he said.

“As much as it’s a team sport, it’s still you up there at the end of the day, having to deal with the press and all the people accusing you of doping on Twitter.”

Instead, this year, it was Froome who had to face the seemingly endless questions over Sky doping at Le Tour, as well as being the peloton’s default spokesman as holder of the Yellow Jersey from stage eight onwards. We suggest that, in a roundabout way, that shift of focus might have benefited Wiggins.

“I think it’s taken a weight off my shoulders, with everything that happened last year and trying to > | 33

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

W

hen Sport last caught up with Sir Bradley Wiggins, he spoke with formidable confidence about his form and ambitions for 2013.

Sir Bradley Wiggins

deal with that,” he says, adding that his low point was “most of the season, up until I was told I wasn’t doing the Tour de France”. Why? “I just didn’t enjoy it at all,” he explains. “There were loads of issues in the team. I was getting sick and tired of this leadership thing with Chris Froome.

I’d had enough of it all, to be honest. And then [when Froome was named team leader for the Tour] it was like: right, someone else is going to lead this team.

So I probably just felt undermined, in a way. And I was like, well, they’re backing someone else now. So, you know. [Shrugs] That was that, really.”

Champagne moments

Wiggins is famously uneasy at being the centre of attention – but has he, in time, learned to enjoy events like this that celebrate his achievements?

“Not really, no,” he says. “Part of it [the enjoyment] is that I don’t have to rush off, have something to eat, get to bed and go training in the morning. So it’s nice to have a night off more than anything. Gin and tonic helps.”

So, presumably, does a big bottle of champagne on top of the podium: an experience with which Wiggins refamiliarised himself at his Tour of Britain win in London in September – an achievement he describes as his highlight of 2013. He came close to 34 | October 25 2013 |

repeating that podium position in the World Championships time trial at the end of last month, too, but missed out on a first road world title as Germany’s Tony Martin took a third consecutive gold with a commanding ride in Florence.

“The time trial was what I’ve been building to since I announced I wasn’t doing the Tour,” explains Wiggins. “And it was nice to be back on the podium in that company with those guys [Martin and Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara].

“I was disappointed at the time, because you always build yourself up for a race like that so that you go in wanting to win it. But, in hindsight, it’s an honour to be in the company of those guys, and beat Fabian to be second best. I couldn’t have done much more than that on the day, with Tony [coming in 46 seconds ahead], so it’s nice. After that, with the road race, it was all a bit of an anticlimax really.”

Every member of the eight-man British team abandoned a rain-soaked road race in Florence well before the end, coming in for criticism from Britain’s road manager Rod Ellingworth, who said: “The lads’ attitude wasn’t where it needs to be.”

So, did his time trial exertions earlier that week affect Wiggins’ performance?

“I really struggle to recover,” he explains. “An hour and seven minutes at that intensity – people don’t

realise what that takes out of you, and I was never in the road race on the Sunday. It was a shame really, but I think you can only do one or the other. I don’t think you can do both.

“I always take the positives from disappointments, and I think 2013 has been a big disappointment at times. Well, the first part of it was, but it’s taught me a lot. So, it finished with disappointment. But looking back, on an individual level, it was also brilliant.”

And what of next year? Wiggins says he doesn’t currently have a target for 2014 – or maybe, quite understandably, he is not yet ready to share one.

“I think at this stage, it’s too early,” he says. “We have a get-together in December, and I know what I’m doing in terms of training for the next few months.

So once we get there I’ll sit with Dave [Brailsford] and all the team, and start talking about next year.

At this stage, I think it will probably include the Tour de France – that’s the obvious thing to go back to.”

He rode the Giro to win, but ended up going through the motions. His season’s been disappointing, but also brilliant. And he’s uneasy with being centre of attention, but keeps popping up on the podium. It’s been a year of contradictions for Bradley Wiggins.

But you read it here first: he will ride Le Tour in 2014. Well, that’s what he’s told us, anyway.

Graham Willgoss @grahamwillgoss Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images, Oli Scarff/Getty Images

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A return to form?

The last 12 months must have seemed an eternity in the short life of Rory McIlroy. This time a year ago, he chose not to play in the HSBC International, opting instead to watch girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki play in tennis’ Tournament of Champions. It was a decision many point to as the start of his decline; he was, after all, reigning US PGA champion at the time, and led the money list on both sides of the Atlantic – but off-course activities have dominated in the intervening year.

The relationship with Wozniacki, the megabucks deal with Nike and the acrimonious split with his management company have all been cited as reasons for the Ulsterman's poor year – one in which he has struggled to hit his hat, let alone the ball.

So a second-placed finish in last weekend’s Korea Open will have been a blessed relief to McIlroy.

True, he was the star name in the field and anything less would have been rather embarrassing, but a closing 67 will have him feeling that maybe all is not lost as he heads to China.

Defending champ is the mercurial Ian Poulter, who Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images

won last year (at Mission Hills rather than Sheshan) by two from Jason Dufner. The Postman will do well to repeat the feat, having struggled to hit his best form in 2013, so better to instead look to some of the players who have closed the season well: Henrik Stenson, Webb Simpson and Ryo Ishikawa are good bets as Wednesday night turns to Thursday morning.

36 | October 25 2013 |

OCT 25-OCT 31 HIGHLIGHTS » Football: Premier League » p38 » Formula 1: Indian Grand Prix »p40 » NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars v San Francisco 49ers » p40 » Rugby Union: Bath v Gloucester » p42 » MotoGP: Air Asia Grand Prix of Japan »p42

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7 Days

Premier League

Saturday crystal palace v arsenal selhurst park | bt sport 12.45pm

Pellegrini and Mourinho battle it out for ‘best loser’, Alan Pardew plots sweet revenge and the Eagles pray for a 70s-style result at Selhurst Park Sunday chelsea v manchester city | stamford bridge | sky sports 1 4pm

Arsenal are the only side to have scored in every league game this term, and have won more points than any other team in 2013. It’s a run that will surely end sooner rather than later, but that’s more likely to happen against Liverpool or Man United next month, and not against Palace. The Eagles haven’t beaten Arsenal at home since 1979, although they did hold them to a 1-1 draw at fortress Selhurst last time the Gunners visited in 2004.

Saturday southampton v fulham | st mary’s sky sports 1 5.30pm

Manuel Pellegrini and Jose Mourinho spent much

the road, with their Stamford Bridge visit sandwiched

Saints have conceded just three

of their time together in Spain – at Malaga and Real

between journeys to Moscow (in the Champions League)

goals this season. After eight

Madrid, respectively – bickering. That included Mourinho

and Newcastle (in the Capital One Cup).

games last term they had let in 24.

stating Pellegrini’s 96-point haul for Madrid in 2009-10

Mourinho’s side are yet to be beaten at home

And, after an impressive draw at Old

(then a club record) only made him the ‘best loser’ to

in the league this season, although they were less

Trafford, where they fired in 18 shots

the Special One, whose side went on to claim 100 points

comfortable for periods of their win over Cardiff City

to Man United’s 12, the south coast

in 2011-12.

last weekend than the 4-1 scoreline suggests. Not that it

side are playing with genuine belief.

mattered. By the time the final whistle blew, Chelsea were

Fulham took a point from both

on English soil, but neither man’s team has managed to

up to second in the table and finally had a striker on the

games against Saints last season,

repeat that dominant La Liga form. Pellegrini oversaw his

scoresheet in Samuel Eto’o.

but after Monday’s display against

They’ve kept it largely respectable since they’ve been

first away win as Manchester City boss last weekend when

With Pellegrini insisting he can make the most of City’s

Crystal Palace – and that Pajtim

a Sergio Aguero double helped see off West Ham. The

attacking talent at home or away, and Chelsea’s front line

Kasami (pictured) goal – they might

timing was useful. City now face another three games on

finally firing, we’re struggling to call the ‘best loser’ here.

well fancy all three.

38 | October 18 2013 |

Saturday liverpool v weSt brom | anfield | 3pm

Saturday mancheSter united v Stoke old trafford | 3pm

Saturday norwich v cardiff | carrow road | 3pm

Everton have gone the longest

A fixture that will show how far

Mark Hughes’ chance to prove he

With both teams having lost their

period without losing at home in

removed the Liverpool of this

should be the one in the home

last league outings 4-1, this has the

the league this season, but away

season are from that of the last.

dugout has arrived. Although given

potential to be a nervy affair

from Goodison they’ve found life

The Reds lost home and away to the

that Stoke are without a win in the

between two sides already casting a

slightly trickier – winning one, losing

Baggies last term – the 2-0 defeat at

league since August, he’s unlikely to

nervous glance downwards. Carrow

one and drawing two. Aston Villa,

Anfield a particularly galling one as

be the first name United fans call for

Road hasn’t proved a happy home

meanwhile, have been on the losing

the away side scored twice in the last

should they lose patience with David

for the Canaries so far this term.

side three times already at home this

10 minutes to capitalise on a missed

Moyes (pictured) this season. The

And, in Cardiff, they face a team that

term. They’re also the unfortunate

penalty by Steven Gerrard (pictured).

Potters haven’t beaten United since

has taken four points from their past

owners of the lowest possession

Conversely, West Brom will look to

a League Cup win in 1993, and at Old

four visits to Carrow Road (one win

ratio in the league (41.3 per cent) –

prove they’re not so far removed

Trafford they’ve been beaten by at

and one draw). They’re also still sore

a stat Roberto Martinez’s side are

from the side that promised much

least two goals for the past two

over a goal that shouldn’t have been

more than capable of exploiting.

at times last season.

seasons. A cert for Moyes, right?

last weekend. Rules is rules.

Sunday Sunderland v newcaStle | Stadium of light Sky SportS 1 1.30pm

Sunday SwanSea v weSt ham | liberty Stadium | 4pm

Sunday tottenham v huLL | white hart lane | 4pm

Premier League tabLe P

W D

L

F

A

Pts

1

Arsenal

8

6

1

1

18

9

19

2

Chelsea

8

5

2

1

14

5

17

3

Liverpool

8

5

2

1

13

7

17

4

Man City

8

5

1

2

20

9

16

5

Tottenham

8

5

1

2

8

5

16

6

Southampton 8

4

3

1

8

3

15

7

Everton

8

4

3

1

12

10

15

8

Man Utd

8

3

2

3

11

10

11

9

Hull

8

3

2

3

7

9

11

10 Newcastle

8

3

2

3

11

14

11

11 Swansea

8

3

1

4

12

11

10

12 West Brom

8

2

4

2

7

6

10

13 Aston Villa

8

3

1

4

9

10

10

14 Fulham

8

3

1

4

9

10

10 8

Sunderland’s 3-0 win at St James’

Swansea notched their first home

The first of two consecutive Spurs

15 West Ham

8

2

2

4

8

8

Park last season ranks as one of

league win since March – and an

versus Hull fixtures (the second is

16 Stoke

8

2

2

4

4

7

8

8

2

2

4

8

13

8

Alan Pardew’s darkest days as

emphatic one at that – against

on Wednesday in the League Cup)

17 Cardiff

Newcastle boss. For Gus Poyet, the

Sunderland last weekend, with a

sees Spurs back at the scene of their

18 Norwich

8

2

1

5

6

13

7

darkness has arrived early in his

beauty from Jonathan de Guzman

3-0 drubbing by West Ham. They will

19 Crystal Palace 8

1

0

7

6

17

3

0

1

7

5

20

1

reign, after the new Sunderland

(pictured) to boot. Big Sam

be buoyed by a 2-0 at Aston Villa

20 Sunderland

8

manager gritted his teeth through

admitted his side weren’t allowed to

– only the second time this term

last weekend’s 4-0 loss to Swansea

find their best form by Manchester

Spurs have scored more than one

in his first game in charge. “It’s not a

City last weekend, but he’ll expect

goal in the league (though one of

nice welcome to the Premier League

more from the likes of Ravel

those was an accident). Hull’s three

for me,” said Poyet afterwards.

Morrison against a Swansea side

defeats have all come away from

01

Champions League game. Sergio

Pardew will hope he feels the same

that has conceded 11 league goals

home this season, but are proving

Aguero also scored his first headed

after the Tyne-Wear derby.

so far this campaign.

far more resolute than expected.

goal in the league last weekend.

Mesut Ozil’s goal v Norwich is the first time he has scored with a header in a league or

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 39

All pictures Getty Images

Saturday aSton villa v everton | villa park | 3pm

7 Days SUNDAY FORMULA 1: INDIAN GRAND pRIx | BUDDh INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, NEW DELhI | SKY SpORTS F1 & BBC ONE 9.30AM

Sacred Bull After a lengthy construction process costing

high-speed corners and elevation changes,

near £200m, New Delhi’s Buddh International

and has the potential to serve up some

Circuit – and the Indian Grand Prix that goes

exciting overtaking opportunities.

with it – has been axed from the F1 calendar

It could also see Sebastian Vettel seal his

for next season. After nearly selling out in year

fourth title in a row – he's 90 points ahead

one, the race has struggled to find favour with

with a maximum of 100 available, so another

local fans for its third edition. When we went

win (his third in a row here, and his sixth in a

to press, just 22,000 tickets for Sunday's race

row this season) will do it. In fact, he need only

at the 110,000 capacity venue had been sold.

finish in the top five, which he almost certainly

It's a shame, because the track is one of the more interesting modern circuits, with

will. We'll be watching from the edge of our seats, though, even if few of the locals are.

SUNDAY NFL: JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS v SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | WEMBLEY STADIUM | ChANNEL 4 & SKY SpORTS 2 5pM

Jaguars call Wembley home The Jacksonville Jaguars host the

was dispelled by last weekend’s

San Francisco 49ers at Wembley

miserable defensive performance

Stadium this Sunday, the second

against the San Diego Chargers, who

NFL game in London this season.

had five possessions of 10 or more

The Jags’ owner, Shahid Khan, who

plays and ran out 24-6 winners.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images, Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

purchased Fulham this summer,

The Jags’ opponents at Wembley

has committed his Jaguars franchise

are the San Francisco 49ers, who

to playing a game in London for

reached Super Bowl XLVII back in

the next four years, prompting

February. They arrive in good form,

speculation that the team may

having won their past four games –

eventually move across the Atlantic.

most recently seeing off the

On the field, however, things aren’t looking so great. The Jags sit bottom

Tennessee Titans 31-17.

The game will have the usual

of the AFC South with an 0-7 record

Tailgate Party in the car park for

and haven’t had a winning season

ticket holders from 11am, while Ne-Yo

since 2007, when they progressed to

will perform The Star Spangled

the playoffs. Any brief optimism the

Banner before kick-off. Close your

Jags gained after holding the Denver

eyes, cling on to a cup of hot tea,

Broncos to only 35 points in week 6

and you could almost be in Florida.

40 | October 25 2013 |

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

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7 Days SuNday motogP | rounD 17: air asia granD Prix of jaPan | twin ring motegi | BBc two 5am

Friday rugBy union | aviva PremiersHiP: BatH v gloucester | tHe rec | Bt sPort 1 7.45Pm

Wide open A mad race at Phillip Island has put Jorge Lorenzo back in the hunt for the MotoGP world title. The race was shortened to 19 laps, with a mandatory bike change halfway through, because Bridgestone couldn’t guarantee the safety of their tyres beyond 10 laps on the newly resurfaced track.

Honda misread the temporary rules, and did not call their championship leader Marc Marquez in until lap 11 – so he was dramatically disqualified for exceeding the maximum number of laps permitted before having to pit. Lorenzo (leading the field, below) won the race, leaving him 18 points behind his countryman and rival with two races to go.

The first is in Japan on Sunday – at the Twin Ring Motegi, which was built by Honda and would be a fitting venue for them to claim the riders’ championship. To do that, Marquez needs to win and Lorenzo finish third or lower. If the former starts to feel the pressure, though, we could be set for a thrilling finale to the season in Valencia next month.

Saturday Horse racing | racing Post troPHy | Doncaster | cHannel 4 3.50Pm

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images, Stu Forster/Getty Images, Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images, Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Classic clues?

Since the turn of the century,

Sir Michael Stoute and Aidan

four winners of the Racing Post

O'Brien have paid to respectively

Trophy have gone on to taste

supplement Snow Sky and

glory in the following year's

Century for the race, although the

Epsom Derby. So, when this

younger generation are getting

year's renewal of the famous

involved too. New Godolphin

Doncaster race takes place on

trainer Charlie Appleby has the

Saturday, it might just be worth

unbeaten Pinzolo primed to run,

taking notice.

while Roger Varian has spoken in

High Chaparral, Motivator, Authorized and most recently Camelot comprise the

42 | October 25 2013 |

glowing terms of his exciting Kingston Hill (pictured, leading).

At the time of writing, however,

aforementioned list of future

the market is led by another

Derby winners to have impressed

unbeaten colt. Toormore is the

over the Doncaster mile. Time will

highest-rated juvenile of the

tell if this year's field contains

season, has won three from three

anything to match any of those

in increasingly impressive fashion

champions, but the number of

and represents the imposing

horses added to the line-up late

champion trainer-jockey

on implies that a good few

combination of Richard Hannon

trainers think they have a beast of

and Richard Hughes. If he lines up

rare talent up their sleeves here.

on Saturday, he may prove very

Multiple Derby-winning trainers

hard to beat.

Saturday baseball | WorlD series game 3: st. loUis carDinals v boston reD soX | bUscH staDiUm, st loUis | bt sPort 1 12.30am

West sides story Bouncebackability will be the buzzword on the terraces tonight

Meet me in St Louis.

The Boston Red Sox head to St Louis on

The St Louis Cardinals were knocked

Saturday night, to play game three of the

out in the NLCS last year, but won the

best-of-seven World Series. It is the first

World Series in 2011 and will look to

time since 1999 that the sides competing

repeat the feat with their talented young

in the World Series had the best regular-

pitching rotation. In the NLCS this year

season records in their respective

against the LA Dodgers, pitcher Michael

leagues. The Red Sox, under new manager

Wacha was named MVP, winning his two

John Farrell, pulled together to help

starts without giving up a run in 13.2

support their city after the Boston

innings. A year ago, 22-year-old Wacha

Marathon bombings, and their '617 Boston

was still pitching in college, and made

Strong' T-shirts became a rallying cry.

only nine starts in the regular season

The supremely bearded Mike Napoli

before outpitching Dodger ace Clayton

(Friday), when another fierce West Country derby writes its

(below) propelled the Red Sox to victory

Kershaw in games 2 and 6. With the bat,

name into history. That’s because both sides lost their previous

in the AL Close Season, with home runs in

Carlos Beltran – who has statistically been

Premiership outings, with Bath taking a losing bonus point from

games three and five against the Detroit

one of the best hitters in post-season

Sale and Gloucester falling at home to Exeter.

Tigers. In the bullpen, Koji Uehara was

baseball – has finally made the World

named MVP after his three saves, while

Series after losing in the NL Close

striking out nine in six innings pitched.

Season in 2004, 2006 and 2012.

In truth, their respective starts to the season have been unexpected, with Bath challenging the top four and Gloucester stuck near the bottom. Although only five games have gone, the Cherry and Whites are locked on nine points with three other sides in second-bottom position, and need a win here to ease the pressure. Time, then, for their star men to step up.

And, after resting numbers for their Heineken Cup trip to Munster last week, they’ll be fresh for the challenge. Freddie Burns (pictured) v George Ford will be a major focus, but it’s up front where this could be decided, with the recent wet weather creating one of those classic ties that your dad will tell you is ‘real rugby’.

The respective backlines are electric, but don’t expect a highscoring tryfest. Winter is here, and these two sides are in for a heavyweight slog in the mud.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

| 43

Advertising Feature

London caLLIng

Arsenal made it past West Brom on penalties in one of several exciting third round fixtures in the Capital One Cup. They’ve been rewarded with a visit from Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, in a clash of city rivals that hasn’t always gone the Gunners’ way in recent years

I

n the third round of the Capital One Cup, the Champions League clubs entered the fray. But they didn’t have it all their own way. Some eased through ties against lower league opposition – such as Man City’s 5-0 revenge win over Wigan, who beat them in last season’s FA Cup final.

Others made the mistake of underestimating their opponents – last year’s winners Swansea lost to Birmingham, who famously won the competition in 2011.

Arsenal lost out that day – and their hunt for their first trophy in almost a decade continues in the tie of the round against Chelsea at the Emirates. We’ve got the views of an Arsenal fan about burying the demons

fan vIew

Avenell Dave from ArsenalAddict.com gives us the red and white view on Arsenal v Chelsea

of that defeat to Birmingham, and how Didier Drogba’s departure might mean they have a chance. The London rivals’ last meeting in this competition was in the 2007 final, played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff – Drogba scored twice in a game that saw three players sent off after a last-minute fracas.

Hopefully passions won’t boil over to quite the same extent in the other ties. Sunderland welcome Southampton in what will be new manager Gus Poyet’s third game in charge.

The Black Cats’ northeast rivals Newcastle welcome Man City, while Manchester United host Norwich, who got to the quarter finals last season. England hero Andros Townsend will be in action for Tottenham, who play Hull

What does the Capital One Cup mean to Arsenal fans?

“I think we see it as a great opportunity to blood young stars. Cesc Fabregas is just one of those who made their name in the competition, and it provides great experience for fringe players looking to establish themselves. Losing to Birmingham a few years ago was a huge blow given the pressure to secure a trophy.”

Are you still hurting from the defeat in the final a few years ago?

44 | October 25 2013 |

Leicester City will fancy an upset against Martin Jol’s Fulham

“It still hurts to have lost, given the quality of the opposition, and the disastrous way we gifted Birmingham the winning goal.”

Are Chelsea something of a bogey team?

“We used to have a good record against them, but whenever we faced Didier Drogba, they seemed to get the better of us. I don’t think it’s been as uneven in the past couple of years, though. Plus, for all the money they have spent, we have finished above them in the table on occasion, despite being financially constrained.”

Spot kick Star A new app from credit card provider Capital One lets you get one over on your mates from 12 yards.

Capital One Penalty Shootout is an innovative 3D turn-based game – you take it in turns shooting and saving penalties against your Facebook friends. Will you be able to hold your nerve with bragging rights on the line?

A defensive mix-up in the 2011 final allowed Birmingham to score a late winner

The free app is available now on iPod touch, iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones, and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

Will Hull be able to stop the in-form Andros Townsend?

Those constraints were lifted to sign Mesut Ozil. Do the fans want more investment?

“We desperately need a world-class striker as an alternative to Olivier Giroud – an Aguero-type pacy goal-getter, rather than someone tall and slow.”

Drogba had an amazing record against Arsenal, almost a goal a game. You must be glad to see the back of him?

“Absolutely. Apparently Arsene Wenger was thinking of buying him at one stage before he went to Marseille, but decided

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against it. Big mistake! He always gave us a torrid time. I admired him as a player but he let himself down by going to ground too easily.”

What’s your best memory from an Arsenal v Chelsea game?

“It has to be the 3-2 where we came from 2-0 down, with Kanu scoring that incredible winner in injury time.”

And your worst memory?

“Losing in the Champions League quarter final game 2-1 at Highbury has to be up

there. We were bang on form but sloppiness at the back cost us dear and, given the rest of the competition, I would have fancied us if we’d won that one.”

How should the Gunners approach this?

“The same as every game over the past six months – disciplined, resolute and with fast passing. We have the players to hurt them, but we need Mathieu Flamini and possibly Mikel Arteta stopping their playmakers, because they have a fair few who can hurt you at any time.”

All pictures Getty Images

at home twice in four days, in the league and then the cup.

If you’re a fan of upsets, the best place to look might be Leicester – they’re currently third in the Championship and have a winnable tie against Fulham. A higher-profile scalp might be Manchester United, who are struggling to adjust to life under David Moyes; Norwich could cause them some problems.

The Capital One Cup is always an exciting change of focus from the league, and a chance for younger talents to stake their claim for more regular first-team football.

With some mouthwatering ties in prospect this week, this year’s fourth round looks to be no exception.

| 45

EXTrA TimE Making the most of your time and money

P50 James Hunt adjusts surprisingly well to being flung back in time

Gadgets

Wireless wonder Sonos Play:1

Playing music in every room is no longer solely the preserve of the wealthy. The Play:1 is a great Sonos wireless speaker system in its own right and, with two or more Sonos products, you can use the app to control music – either from your own collection or streamed from Spotify – throughout the house. £169 | sonos.com

ASUS Transformer Pad TF710T tablet

If you’re looking for something a little different to the new iPads, the Transformer might be for you. It’s Android-powered, has a detachable keyboard and dual cameras, and weighs just 585 grams. It’s a great buy, even though – misleadingly – it doesn’t turn into a giant robot. £429 | amazon.co.uk 46 | October 25 2013 |

Denon Speaker Base

Flatscreen TVs suffer from a lack of audio punch, and that’s something Denon have tried to rectify with this box designed to sit under your telly. It beefs up the sound of your favourite shows or sports, and supports screens of up to 50 inches or weights of up to 27kg. You can even stream music through it. £249 | amazon.co.uk

Parrot Flower Power

Like an insistent partner who is away for the week, this Bluetooth gadget will remind you to water the plants. It sits in the soil, measuring and tracking sunlight, temperature and soil moisture, and then sends the data to a smartphone app.

It’s the next best thing to using your eyes to examine stuff. £50 | parrot.com

Xsories Weye Feye

If you can ignore the name, the Weye Feye could prove a useful addition to your camera kit.

It connects wirelessly to DSLRs to enable you to remotely capture photos via your smartphone. We really feel sorry for people who don’t have a smartphone – they can hardly use any of this stuff. £199 | amazon.co.uk

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

iPad edition on Newsstand now

ET

Grooming

ToPLiPTASTiC

With Movember on the horizon, you will likely be surrounded by dashing gents before you know it. Time to scrub up and join them

The works

mrporter.com

This month, mrporter.com has done what he’s been doing with finer garments for a fair while now, and launched a grooming section on his website. It showcases a selection of products from specialist men’s grooming brands that you can buy individually, as well as a range of specially boxed gift sets. We’ve picked out three of our favourites from the items you see here: the Number 88 Shaving Set and Soap (£310, on the shelf above), from Czech & Speake, who specialise in traditionally crafted bathroom accessories; the D.R. Harris Soap Kit (£69, on the bottom shelf to the right), featuring almond oil soap, a ceramic soap dish and toothbrush mug (not pictured); and the restorative Perricone MD Nourishing Moisturiser (£60 for 59ml, top shelf, to the left) with nourishing olive polyphenols. We recommend you log on.

The eyes LAB Series Age Rescue+ Eye Therapy

The first of two new products from the LAB is an anti-ageing eye treatment that helps fight wrinkles and stops you looking fatigued. Ginseng energises skin and helps reduce the appearance of dark circles. No longer need you look like Uncle Fester. £28 for 15ml | labseries.co.uk 48 | October 25 2013 |

The face LAB Series Age Rescue+ Face Lotion

The second new addition from the men in white coats repairs the appearance of lines and wrinkles as well as improving the firmness and elasticity of your skin. The oil-free, lightweight gel lotion instantly hydrates and gives skin a soft glow. £40 for 50ml | labseries.co.uk

The talc D.R. Harris Arlington Talcum Powder

A classic English fragrance for gentlemen is what’s promised on the bottle, and it doesn’t disappoint. Ambassadors, statesmen, field marshals and admirals have, we’re told, all used it to soothe their skin after a soaking. And now you can, too. £11.50 for 100g | drharris.co.uk

The scrub Rodan & Fields Proactiv Deep Cleansing Wash

Pleasing product from Proactiv contains massaging, gentle botanicals to reduce oiliness and unclog pores. It’s specially formulated to clear blemishes on the body and is great for acne-prone skin – it will even help prevent future breakouts. £19.99 for 240ml | boots.com

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Advertising Feature

the Best a Mo Can Get

ette l l i G h t i w ort p s d ... o r o e g b y m d e d v o u r M this Be a

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ou’re a sportsman, and a ruddy good sport, at that. But you’re missing that bit of polish, old boy. Turn yourself into a real gent, then, through the power of the mo this Movember with Gillette.

For the second year running, Gillette has teamed up with Movember to change the face of men’s health. Together, they will raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s mental health – for every product sold with a Movember stamp, Gillette will also donate 25p to the cause.

Mo Gents United To make Movember all the more splendid, why not join Mo Gents United – Gillette’s nationwide

team of fundraising gents – for camaraderie, shenanigans and the chance to win some jolly good prizes! Sign up at facebook.com/GilletteUK* for mo-tastic challenges and rewards, including your chance to join the greats with your own Association Football sticker-style photo, be part of a world record shave attempt, and find out how to keep your mo looking tip-top.

And, if trimming your own ‘tache isn’t your thing, pop down to Gillette’s Mo Gents United Clubhouse at 7 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, WC2.

Open throughout Movember, it’s offering free hot towel shaves, ‘tache trims and will host comedy nights, acoustic performances and motivational evenings. Spiffing!

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ET

Entertainment

STOp. HAMMER TiME

More big superhero hits as Thor and family keep up Marvel’s golden run, while a youthful Batman has a price on his head

Film

Game

Batman: Arkham Origins

It’s a tale of two halves for Marvel’s bulky blonde hammer-swinger in his second solo outing. The first part plods along, as dark elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston under a metric ton of make-up) plots an attack on Thor’s home world, Asgard.

Malekith’s aim is to get his mitts on Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), possessed by an all-powerful something or other and hauled to Asgard for safekeeping by her thunderous boyfriend. Standard fare, yet the film gets a vital jolt of energy when

Music

Reflektor Arcade Fire

Seven-minute singles, a 13-track double album, weighty concepts: Canada’s lauded Arcade Fire are either ambitiously brilliant and/ or overly pretentious. Reflektor, their fourth studio album, uses mesmerising synths and fuzzy guitars to anthemic effect, but even die-hard fans may struggle with the long, meandering song outros. Likely to divide opinion.

Out Monday 50 | October 25 2013 |

a desperate Thor jail-breaks his devious brother Loki, an uneasy ‘bros before foes’ truce is formed and the duo trade verbal barbs. The finale comes on Earth and a spectacular showdown in London, involving Thor sliding down the Gherkin and hopping on a Tube to Greenwich.

It takes its time getting there – star Chris Hemsworth coping manfully with some clunky early dialogue – but by the end, Thor: The Dark World delivers a winning mix of chuckles and knockout action.

Out Wednesday

Film

The Selfish Giant

Two misfit lads from a Bradford council estate make cash selling scrap metal to a manipulative traveller in this Ken Loach-esque drama. Bleak, but shot through with black comedy by director Clio Barnard, the film’s heart-inmouth moment arrives when one of the boys is involved in a cruel, high-risk horse-and-cart drag race. A riveting British drama.

Out today

Music

Exhibition

Corsicana Lemonade White Denim

Texan rock band White Denim deliver where last album D left off on opening song At Night in Dreams: punchy, bluesy hooks and rousing vocals. Yet this is a band subtly experimenting. The title track and the acoustic New Blue Feeling show the boys can be velvet-smooth as well as wild turkies. Another cracking effort.

Out Monday

Hokusai Exposed

The works of Japanese master Katsushika Hokusai are rendered using digital technology in this unique exhibition at London’s Old Truman Brewery. It also contains a recreation of the pleasure districts of 18th-century Tokyo, including a 3D display of Hokusai’s notorious Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, which features a sexually deviant octopus.

Opens Saturday

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© 2013 MVLFFLLC. TM & © 2013 Marvel

Thor: The Dark World

It’s Christmas Eve in Gotham, but Home Alone-esque Wet Bandits are the least of Bruce Wayne’s worries. A young, raw Batman has a bounty on his head in this hotly anticipated Arkham series prequel, meaning everyone from muscular Bane to ace marksman Deadshot is after him. The result is an array of epic one-on-one duels against diverse rivals that will stretch your skills on the game’s slick new combat system.

Dazzling visuals and all-new gadgets come as standard, but it’s a multiplayer mode that gives you a chance to play as the Joker and his henchmen that excites.

Sure to put a smile on your face.

Out today

Shot taken with the Nokia Lumia 1020.

i l

Actuall size.

A i

41 megapixels puts you pitch-side.

Meet the Nokia Lumia 1020. windowsphone.co.uk | #reinvented

64GB Exclusive

Reinvented around you.

41 megapixel sensor takes maximum 38 megapixel image. Apps from the Windows Phone Store. Availability may vary.

Extra time

52 | October 25 2013 |

Good call T

he Jacksonville Jaguars play the San Francisco 49ers at Wembley on Sunday. If you haven’t got your ticket yet, it’s time to start making some calls. No such last-minute panic for Whitney here. She’s just been on the blower to the DVLA to make sure her car tax is in order, and will be pitchside with the rest of the ROAR of the Jaguars cheersquad this weekend.

Away from the cheering, the 24-year-old from Folkston, Georgia, is a college student majoring in nutrition. She is set to spend a little more time cheering in London, however, with the Jaguars having signed up to play at Wembley in both 2014 and 2015.

Now, does anyone have a spare 20 pence?.

Jacksonville Jaguars take on the San Francisco 49ers at Wembley Stadium on Sunday October 27. THE 2014 ROAR of the Jaguars Lingerie Calendar is available now from the NFL Europe Shop, www.europe.nflshop.com

| 53

ET

Kit

run This Town TonighT

And do so without worrying about fading into the darkness, thanks to some top-drawer reflective trainers that will keep you shining bright in the twilight

nike Air Pegasus 30 shield Flash

Yes, that is a cheetah print pattern. Yes, it looks ace. This is one of six styles given the Flash treatment. All six boast a three-layer mesh that repels water, and a micro fleece collar and tongue lining for warmth – basically, all you need for winter running. Also available in a simpler diamond pattern for those with slightly less of a penchant for something ‘different’.

From £90, without customisation | nike.com

adidas Energy Boost

For those who haven’t had the Boost experience, the energyreturning foam midsoles counter your step and, well, return the energy you put in. They also feature an external heel counter for maximum fit and running comfort, include ADIWEAR outsoles that offer the ultimate in high-wear durability, and are miCoach-compatible. £110 | adidas.co.uk 54 | October 25 2013 |

Asics gel nimbus 15 Lite

Ideally suited to long runs, so you can get your winter marathon training going in style.

A guidance groove on the sole leads your foot through the gait cycle to increase efficiency, and high-tech cushioning in the midsole and the heel ensure your feet are happy no matter the distance. And isn’t that the real aim here? £140 | 0141 342 5722

Puma glow Mobium

Seen here in their ‘lit up in the dark’ mode, the Glow Mobiums come with top tech too: Puma’s MoveCell technology means the shoe adapts as you move, with Expansion Pods in the outsole that expand and contract along with you as you run. The mesh upper also comes with synthetic overlays for a comfy fit. £100 | prodirectrunning.com

new Balance M890 speed

Weighing in at just 271g, the M890s promise to be a high-performing trainer. The REVlite material ensures a light run while avoiding the barefoot feel, while strong cushioning means your feet will stay comfy over time. New Balance’s Crash Pad allows enhanced motion control and stability within the heel. £64 | kitbag.com

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

“This is the best smartphone in the world right now.� Sept 2013 Equipped with the latest cutting edge technology, the new LG G2 is a true powerhouse smartphone that delivers greater speed in a sophisticated, slim line design. With a unique rear key button that not only allows you to control the phone in its most intuitive way, plus a near zero bezel and a full HD IPS display that allows you to consume media better than ever before, the G2 demonstrates premium design sophistication at its very best.

Also available in white.

Visit lg.com/uk/G2