Sir Gino does not fit Nicky Henderson’s typical template of a juvenile hurdler – but the giant four-year-old looks so good he has somewhat forced his trainer to go down a tried-and-tested route.
On his arrival from France, Henderson had an inkling he was something out of the ordinary, although his size and shape made connections think he would be more of a longer-term prospect.
Victory on his British debut at Kempton confirmed first impressions that he was very talented but some sloppy jumping still had Henderson thinking he might not be a JCB Triumph Hurdle type.
However, the way he disposed of previous Triumph favourite Burdett Road at Cheltenham soon meant there was only one way to go.
“He’s a lovely big horse. I think we always thought he was very good but didn’t want to get too carried away before we got to see it. Luckily, the spies hadn’t really latched on to him before Cheltenham but we thought he was pretty smart,” said Henderson.
“He’s only had two races for us and one in France, he’s a very talented horse.
“His jumping wasn’t very good at Kempton and he was babyish, he got a bit of a fright when he hit the front. He’d missed a couple on the way, was very good at a couple but he got very goofy on the run-in.
“Normally, we’d expect the French horses to do it in their sleep, as they start with them as yearlings, whereas we chuck them out in the field. The French can normally all do it (jump) blindfolded but he didn’t do it at Kempton, so we did do quite a bit between Kempton and Cheltenham.
“He beat a good horse, but was it the real Burdett Road that showed up and he wasn’t 10lb below his best? We’d have still won but we’re assuming Burdett Road ran to his previous form.”
Usually, Willie Mullins dominates the Triumph Hurdle, but while he did saddle the first four in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown, Henderson was not left having sleepless nights after it.
“I think he’s very good. It will be an interesting race. What surprised me most at the ‘Willie Mullins Festival’ was the race I was watching most carefully, the juvenile, they all finished in a heap,” said Henderson.
“I was expecting something to jump out from that race but it didn’t look obvious. There’s some nice horses, don’t get me wrong, but nothing to do what Sir Gino did at Cheltenham.
“The Triumph is a tough race and this is a big, scopey horse who will jump a fence, he’s not your typical Triumph horse. Sometimes you might have decided to wait another year with him but we’ve got this far, so we may as well keep going.
“We won’t think about next year, let’s get through this year first. He’s only had two runs, one was a very moderate race at Kempton, so you’d hope he could do that, you have to judge whether Burdett Road ran to his best – he was rated over 100 on the Flat.”
Running through some of his other Festival hopefuls, Henderson said: “Marie’s Rock will run in the Mares’ and I couldn’t be happier. Obviously, Lossiemouth is in the way but she’s in great form. It’s where she’s got to go, it’s the sensible race. She was much better last time and moved much better.
“Under Control might go for the Morebattle (March 2), I want to see what the ground is like at Kelso and then when she’s won that, she’ll have to go for the bonus at Cheltenham – that will be easy!
“We turned her around in nine days last year from Cheltenham to Sandown. I don’t know if she’s well handicapped but she doesn’t need to run in a non-handicap. Something went very wrong in the Gerry Fielden, I never found out what, but she finished very strongly at Doncaster, which was encouraging.
“Jeriko Du Reponet has been in good form. I think the two-miler (Supreme) is going to be the hot one. I just need to persuade Ronnie Bartlett (owner of Ballyburn) to run his over two and a half because he promised me he would about Christmas time but they seem to have changed their minds, which is very inconvenient.
“Iberico Lord will have to think about coming out again. I wouldn’t say he’s a step ahead because he’s won two very good handicaps, he looks really well and he’d be in the County, we’ve several in there. Under Control and Impose Toi could also run in it.
“Doddiethegreat won’t get in the Coral Cup I don’t think, and it’s hurting me because it’s the race for him. It would be really sad because he’s crying out for another half a mile.
“I’ve no real novice chasers, we’ve got good novice hurdlers this year but the novice chasers are weak.
“I’ve got four for the Pertemps; Chantry House, Bold Endeavour, Walking On Air needs to finish in the first four at Chepstow on Saturday and Mill Green, who has been third in it twice.
“Shanagh Bob (Albert Bartlett) had a dirty scope and was wrong over Christmas, he schooled this morning and looks a bit sharper than before Christmas.”
Nicky Henderson is unconcerned that Jonbon is heading for his big clash with El Fabiolo in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase on the back of a defeat.
For a horse who has won 12 of his 15 races under rules, the Seven Barrows handler also reads nothing into the fact that all three of his defeats have come at Cheltenham.
Stablemate Constitution Hill beat him in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle two years ago, while El Fabiolo saw him off in the Arkle last term. Most recently, in a performance littered with jumping errors, he was beaten in the rearranged Clarence House Chase as the 1-4 favourite.
He did begin this season with a comfortable win at Cheltenham, though, and that is why Henderson sees no reason to worry.
“He’s schooled this morning, AP (McCoy) was here to see him. He’s in good form, very good,” said Henderson.
“We’ve done nothing different (since the Clarence House). You just put it down as one mistake. You’ve got to. He schooled this morning and jumped more than he will in the Queen Mother.
“He won the Shloer, that proves he goes around Cheltenham, I’ve no worries on that front.”
With Alan King’s Edwardstone looking a reformed character having adopted front-running tactics in the Game Spirit Chase, Henderson feels the Queen Mother will be run to suit Jonbon.
He said: “They’ll go some gallop and I think that suits him. It looks as if Edwardstone has come into pace-making duties and he looked good at Newbury, but in some ways, I don’t think that is a bad thing for us. But I would have been happy to make the running.
“AP thought he was very good (Thursday morning) and would love to ride him himself – of all the horses, I know he’d love to ride him because he would suit him. AP has watched him school so many times.
“There’s one fence in our row of five he always meets on the wrong stride but he is so quick sorting his feet out. I think AP would love the challenge of him. While Constitution is straightforward, he is a bit the other way, he tests you, we call him fidgety.
“He did well really last time (to get back on terms), the thing that cost him was the last fence, not the mistake down the hill. If he’d met it on a better stride, it would have been game over, but he landed in a bit of a heap and the other horse just got away from him.”
A step up in trip had been discussed at the end of last season but he was not even entered in the Ryanair this year.
“We discussed it but never put him in the Ryanair. I would have no problem going over two and a half,” said Henderson.
“If you go back to last year, he was going to go over two and a half at Aintree and it was only because the two-mile novice chase was miles weaker that he ran in it, so we stayed at two and he winged round Aintree.
“A fortnight later, we took him to Sandown against his elders to find out and he winged round there, so we said he was a two-miler. I’d be surprised if one day he doesn’t go over further. We’ll find out between now and the end of the season, let’s see how it all goes.”
The rematch with El Fabiolo was all set for the original Clarence House at Ascot but when the race was moved to Cheltenham, Willie Mullins decided to keep his chaser at home.
“I was really looking forward to Ascot and the clash with El Fabiolo, we were in absolute tip-top shape and I was very confident for that, we were very prepared for it,” explained Henderson.
“He’s the one horse, when you’ve wound up the clock, a week was a long time for him, I couldn’t wind him up any more and it gave us a headache of a week.
“People might say what difference does a week make, but to something like him it does. With Constitution Hill, you could hold him for a month, but Jonbon is a bit different to anybody else.
“He might have had a harder race than we imagined from the betting, but until he made that mistake down the hill, everything had gone really nice.”
Power hitter Kieron Pollard upstaged Babar Azam's landmark outing in Lahore, as Karachi Kings cruised to an emphatic seven-wicket win over Peshawar Zalmi on Wednesday.
Chasing 155, Pollard bludgeoned an unbeaten 49 off 21 balls with four towering sixes and four boundaries to take Kings home in 16.5 overs for their first win in the tournament.
Babar's landmark 271st T20 in which he became the fastest batter to reach 10,000 runs saw Zalmi getting bowled out for 154 in 19.5 overs after the Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Babar followed his half-century in the first game against Quetta Gladiators with a knock of 72 off 51 balls, but his effort went in vain for the second successive game.
Zalmi's innings revolved around Babar's brilliance after it lost three wickets inside the batting powerplay with Shoaib Malik dismissing Saim Ayub off the first ball with a full-pitched delivery that didn't turn much. Hasan Ali, playing against his former franchise, also had a dream start when he knocked back Tom Kohler-Cadmore's off stump off his first ball.
Babar revived the innings with Rovman Powell (39) in a 68-run stand and Asif Ali scored 23 before Peshawar lost its last six wickets for only 18 runs in the last four overs. Powell top-edged a reverse sweep against left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz a while Asif holed out at long-on.
Left-arm fast bowler Mir Hamza (3-28), who bowled to hard lengths with the new ball, chipped in with the wickets of Aamer Jamal and then took a fine return catch to dismiss Babar in his last over as the Zalmi innings folded quickly.
Pollard brought an early finish when he smashed three straight sixes and two fours in a 27-run over against Afghanistan's left-arm wrist spinner Waqar Salamkheil, one of the two changes Zalmi made after losing the first match by 16 runs. Salamkheil conceded 54 off his four overs and got Malik stumped for run-a-ball 29.
James Vince remained unbeaten on 38 and ended up denying Pollard a chance at a much-deserved half-century when he drove Luke Wood (2-20) for the winning boundary in the 17th over.
Kings, who lost their first game against Multan Sultans by 55 runs, have two points from two games while Zalmi is still looking for their first win.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland says he is “not 100 per cent convinced” that Welsh regional rugby will undergo the proper reset he feels it requires.
Wales face runaway Guinness Six Nations title favourites Ireland in Dublin on Saturday – and the contrast between two long-standing rivals could hardly be greater.
On the field, Ireland have lost just two of their last 40 home Tests, while victory over Wales would see them equal England’s record of 11 successive Six Nations wins.
Wales, meanwhile, have lost nine of their last 10 Six Nations fixtures, and off the field it is a similar case of chalk and cheese.
Ireland are thriving from a system of centrally-contracted players that underpins vibrant, successful provincial teams, while Wales’ four professional regions are each preparing for significant budget cuts that will take effect from next season.
Asked to assess the key difference between Irish and Welsh rugby, Gatland said: “I think they (Ireland) have just got the right structures in place.
“Probably, if I look at the previous time I was here (between 2008 and 2019), we were kind of papering over the cracks of the things that were happening in Welsh rugby.
“We have got an opportunity for a reset, which unfortunately I am not 100 per cent convinced we will have a proper reset within our regions.
“It has probably felt sometimes like you are in a sinking ship and you are trying to plug the holes a little bit. So there is still lots of work for us to do.
“It took a long time (in Ireland), but that has benefited from the performances of their provincial teams, which has transferred into their international team.
“We were probably the other way around. We were the reverse. Right now, we are probably reflective of where our regions are. We have got to look at closing that gap.”
Gatland believes having the correct infrastructure at Wales’ four professional regions – Cardiff, Scarlets, Ospreys and Dragons – is key.
“I continue to speak about infrastructure, getting the right infrastructure, the right environment, the right S&C (strength and conditioning) coaches, medical staff, quality coaches. training facilities, grounds and stuff,” he added.
“Forget about the players. Get that (infrastructure) right, and then you start building your squad.
“We have tended to do it the other way around – or a bit of 50/50 – and then it just feels like you are plugging up the holes of a sinking ship.
“The only way we are going to do it as a group is if we work together and we support each other.
“Everyone talks about the finances, and I understand that, but it is (about) making the right decisions.
“The short-term fix is to go and buy two or three players that might plug a couple of holes.
“But if we don’t think about the long-term benefit of the game and the infrastructure we’ve got, we are just going to be behind the eight-ball continuously.
“My advice to all the regions is don’t worry about players. If it means picking young players to your squad, make sure you spend the money on your facilities, make sure you spend the money on the right people within your environment.”
On Saturday’s Aviva Stadium encounter, Gatland said: “There has been a lot said about us being underdogs, but that is not a motivation for us.
“The motivation is the pressure we are putting on ourselves to get better from game one and two.
“We have spoken all week about having no fear to go there. It is going to be a huge challenge for us, but you have got to embrace that, you have got to be excited about that.”
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany has revealed his father’s experiences as a political refugee give him the drive and determination to lead the club’s fight for Premier League survival.
The Clarets are on course for relegation after a 5-0 thrashing at home to Arsenal left them anchored in 19th place with just three wins this season, but Kompany’s resolve has roots far beyond the football pitch.
Explaining his hunger for the fight, the former Manchester City captain cited his father Pierre, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo for Belgium as a dissident in 1975 having protested against the brutal dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko. He later went on to become Belgium’s first black mayor, and put his son on the path to a glittering sporting career.
Offering an emotional account of his inner drive, Kompany said: “It’s a deep answer; it’s about where you come from.
“Where I come from is my dad, who was a political refugee. He had to flee a country not just at war, but as a dictatorship where he was getting whipped in his twenties because he was against the regime over there.
“It’s fleeing from one part of the country to the other, it’s losing family members, it’s everything you’ve experienced. It’s where I come from.
“You say where does the drive and desire come from? I have so many reasons to have that fire in me every single day. So many reasons why I can’t ever do less.
“It’s bigger than one result, or a bad month, or anything like that.”
Kompany also pushed back against the notion that this season’s struggles were a new experience for someone more accustomed to lifting silverware than fighting the drop.
“That’s the bulk of the known experiences, yeah. But a gambler never tells you about his losses, right?” he said.
“That (a serial winner) is what you see, but my experiences feel different. I do feel I’ve had to overcome and do a lot to get where I was.
“You’re in a position where your job is the centre of your life, you’re that focused on it 24/7 that keeping perspective can be difficult, so to have my dad, my mum, our own experiences, it is important.
“It’s important to keep a steady course because you have a bad result and usually the way it works in football is it kind of defines who you are for the next week – you can imagine that after the Arsenal game.
“But the reality is it’s the strength of a team when you are able to move past it and not let it define you.”
One of Kompany’s players who will need plenty of mental strength in the days ahead is Aaron Ramsey, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
The 21-year-old left the field on a stretcher with what looked a nasty knee injury against the Gunners and faces a lengthy lay-off.
“Unfortunately for us he was as bad as we thought, definitely his season is over,” said Kompany.
“Maybe for the larger part of this year he won’t feature. I don’t want to go into specifics but the main thing is he’ll recover fully.”
LeBron James has been ruled out of the Los Angeles Lakers' road game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday as he continues to nurse an ankle problem.
James has been suffering from peroneal tendinopathy in his left ankle, and the issue caused him to miss the Lakers' 138-122 road win over the Utah Jazz before the All-Star break.
The NBA's all-time leading scorer did feature in Sunday's All-Star Game, but he was limited to just 14 minutes on the court as the Western Conference All-Stars lost 211-186 to their Eastern Conference counterparts.
James said before Sunday's game that he would use the break to undergo treatment on his ankle, also suggesting his status for Thursday's trip to Chase Center was uncertain.
On Wednesday, the Lakers announced he had officially been downgraded to out, causing him to miss his eighth game of the season.
James had 36 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists as the Lakers beat the Warriors in a double overtime classic last month, and the 39-year-old is averaging 24.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game this season.
Prior to the trade deadline earlier this month, the Warriors reportedly enquired about James' availability, only to be knocked back by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
James said last week that he wishes to finish his glittering career in Los Angeles, though he is yet to decide whether to take up his $51.4million player option for 2024-25.
Thursday's matchup could prove crucial to the playoff hopes of both teams, with the Lakers emerging from the mid-season hiatus at 30-26 and the Warriors having a 27-26 record.
England have rolled the dice in their bid to reclaim the Calcutta Cup from Scotland by dropping Freddie Steward in favour of George Furbank at full-back.
Steward has been an ever-present under successive England regimes because of his unrivalled ability under the high ball, but having started the opening two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations he is jettisoned from the 23 completely.
The inclusion of Furbank could pay dividends as the Northampton playmaker will provide more of a cutting edge in attack than Steward, but even in the dry conditions expected at Murrayfield on Saturday the selection is gamble.
Furbank has yet to convince in his six caps dating back to 2020 but the 27-year-old, who can also operate at fly-half, is a classy ball player whose skills have helped Saints take the Gallagher Premiership by storm this season.
The decision at full-back is influenced by Ollie Lawrence’s return at inside centre in an injection of ball-carrying clout into the backline.
England have lacked a runner capable of breaking tackles and drawing in defenders as a decoy but Lawrence will perform that role in the pivotal round-three clash in Edinburgh.
He missed the victories over Italy and Wales because of a hip injury but has been preferred ahead of Manu Tuilagi to provide physical presence in the number 12, resulting in Fraser Dingwall being axed from the midfield.
Dingwall’s strength is as a link player and in a nod to the ball skills and game management he provided in the opening two rounds, England feel the all-round game of Furbank is needed at full-back.
Constitution Hill has one more serious piece of work left to complete as Nicky Henderson builds up National Hunt racing’s superstar performer for the defence of his Unibet Champion Hurdle crown.
With just under three weeks to go before the Festival in the Cotswolds that has become ever more consuming in recent years, Henderson has had far from a straightforward season with the unbeaten seven-year-old.
He was supposed to begin his campaign in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle but that meeting was abandoned due to frost and while the race was rescheduled for the following week at Sandown, very testing ground persuaded Henderson to opt against running him.
That meant he went to Kempton on Boxing Day for his first – and so far only – run of the season, where he won effortlessly, but any thoughts of going to Cheltenham on Trials day were scuppered by a dirty scope.
Speaking at a Jockey Club-organised press morning which took place in pouring rain, Henderson’s annoyance at the wet winter was referenced.
He said: “This weather is frustrating. What we would normally do, and would like to do, is being dictated to by the weather, which is rather boring. We like to do a lot of our work on grass and that is not so easy at the moment, there’s no pleasure in all this racing in heavy ground.
“The only horse that has got any major work left to do is Constitution Hill because he hasn’t run since Christmas, which is exactly the same as last year, but we had a couple of weeks off in the middle when he wasn’t quite right.
“Consequently, I’d like an away day, but nothing else needs one as they’ve been running.
“I’d say we’re exactly where we were this time last year, his weight is good, his mind is good – his mind is always good.
“I thought he worked exceptional last Saturday, admittedly it was very foggy, but I thought he moved beautifully. The ground was beautiful, and that is what we want – it was last week, but it won’t be tomorrow.
“When he was wrong, we had to leave him alone for three weeks. You could obviously do without it but he was very fit going into it.
“He had a course of antibiotics and a couple of quiet weeks. He had three different scopes. It’s the sort of thing that happens to all horses all the way through the season. It was probably only a two out of 10, but you can’t ignore it.”
Henderson has often referenced Constitution Hill’s rock-solid temperament and it is for that reason the fact he has only run once this season is of no concern to a trainer who is chasing a record-extending 10th Champion Hurdle.
The Seven Barrows maestro added: “Nothing worries him, he’d run on Friday the 13th if he had to. We’re in good shape, I’d be pretty happy that we are where we were this time last year, or coming into Christmas. He’s in good form.
“At Christmas, he was very ready, as he should have gone to Newcastle, so he was very well prepped for the Christmas Hurdle, but he is again here because straight after Christmas he was back in work because we were trying to get him ready for Trials day, but he hasn’t really missed anything.
“I would still like one good away day, though.”
Last year, Constitution Hill was nine lengths too good for State Man and while Willie Mullins’ chestnut has been mopping up more Grade Ones in Ireland this season, Henderson is content in the knowledge that he has a lot of ground to make up.
He said: “Willie and I have plenty of fun, we’re all good mates. I don’t know what they’ll do (differently), the main thing is we know what we are trying to do.
“So, we can concentrate on what we’re doing, there’s no point concentrating on what everyone else is up to. They’ve got their plans to make and we’ll concentrate on ours.
“State Man looked the same horse to me; he’s a very good horse, there’s no doubt about it, he gets his job done every time.
“But we’ve beaten him once, so let’s hope we beat him again. He only beat First Street a length in the County Hurdle, and we were giving him weight – we know where he is!”
Henderson had mooted running three in the Champion Hurdle but it now appears First Street will step up in trip for the Coral Cup. Luccia will join her stablemate on the first day, however,
“It sounds like Luccia is going to run. Paul Stanley is a real enthusiast, he’s been in the game for years and he’s very keen to run her. Ratings tell you it’s not a great idea but there’s a lot of prize-money,” said Henderson.
“Poor old First Street got put up 4lb for his run behind Lossiemouth, as if he wasn’t high enough in the first place. We’ve just been chasing prize-money with him but he keeps going up in the weights, he wants another half a mile (Coral Cup).”
Shishkin has been unshackled and is ready to make his mark in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Nicky Henderson having no fears about either the stamina-sapping trip or tackling the might of defending champion Galopin Des Champs.
Henderson has come to the defence of his blue-riband contender, who he believes has been treated like a “criminal let out of prison” at times over the course of the current season.
However, despite failing to start at Ascot and cruelly unseating Nico de Boinville with the King George at his mercy, he heads to Prestbury Park as Britain’s leading hope of Gold Cup glory and with a fine chance of handing the master of Seven Barrows his third success in the highlight of the meeting.
“It’s funny how going into Newbury the other day he was treated like a criminal who was let out of prison,” said Henderson.
“People were saying if he doesn’t turn up today, where is he? He did nothing wrong and the King George wasn’t his fault. He didn’t fall, he just knocked his leg and anyone can do that, it’s just pure bad luck.
“I’ve got to say Ascot was his fault and he was a naughty boy, but that doesn’t make him a criminal and that’s what it felt like heading into Newbury.”
Shishkin produced a foot-perfect performance in Newbury’s Denman Chase and having navigated that Gold Cup prep with flying colours, it is full steam ahead to the Cotswolds.
He has also resisted the temptation to repeat his Ascot misdemeanours at both Kempton and Newbury, with the master of Seven Barrows confident there will be zero issues at the start of the Festival’s feature contest.
“If he turns round, he will always go left and at Cheltenham if he does that, there is nowhere to go,” continued Henderson.
“We had to be mindful at Kempton he could and Newbury he was no bother, he just walked straight in.”
Many questioned whether the application of first-time cheekpieces played a part in Shishkin’s refusal to start on his seasonal return at Ascot and although the thought of reapplying the headgear for the 10-year-old’s Gold Cup tilt has crossed Henderson’s mind, he reveals it was Ruby Walsh who first put the idea into his head.
“I won’t say I haven’t thought about cheekpieces and we’ve thought about it since Newbury, but I would say it is very unlikely. I can’t see us doing it,” added Henderson.
“It had nothing to do with why he didn’t start at Ascot, despite what may have been written.
“He races a little bit behind the bridle sometimes and Ruby was at me the whole time that I had to put cheekpieces on this horse. He was telling me the whole time and I did what Ruby told me to do and look where it got us!”
If the Festival’s most successful rider was playing the role of mole in the camp for the Festival’s most successful trainer Willie Mullins, then Henderson is unperturbed.
The Lambourn handler recently went on a scouting mission to the Dublin Racing Festival to watch the defending Gold Cup champion in the flesh and although suitably impressed by what he witnessed, he is willing to concentrate solely on his own horse in the build-up to Friday, March 15.
Henderson said: “Galopin Des Champs is very solid and sometimes I don’t think he’s as flashy as some. He’s a big, fine, good-looking horse and he’s very classy. He gets the job done. There are moments (in a race) when you wonder, but he’s one of these horses.
“When Constitution Hill is doing his real thing – and I hope he will do it again – he’s commanded the performance from beginning to end really. Shishkin doesn’t do that and a lot of them don’t.
“But Galopin Des Champs has won a Gold Cup, he’s come into it via some good prep races and I think we just need to concentrate on what we’ve got, rather than anyone else.
“You’ve got to have a tactical plan and going into the race we invariably will, but those often get thrown out the window after a furlong and you have to be doing something different, but we won’t be riding Shishkin any differently because of Galopin Des Champs – he’s going to do his thing and we are going to do ours.
“I’m sure Willie will have his plan and we’ll have our plan and the jockeys will probably have a completely different plan and not listen to either of us!”
Shishkin undoubtedly ticks many boxes ahead of his tilt at racing’s most treasured prize, but the former two-mile champion will have to prove he stays every inch of the lung-busting Gold Cup trip when he takes his stamina reserves past three miles for the very first time.
It is ultimately a question that will not be answered until the race itself, but Henderson is taking comfort from the mid-race move made by Shishkin’s big-race pilot De Boinville in the King George as proof the three-and-a-quarter-mile yardage will be well within his compass.
He explained: “It was interesting that if you go back to the King George, good old Frodon is bashing away at the front there and he goes a good gallop.
“I don’t think he’s the old Frodon, but Nico saw fit to actually go and push things along halfway down the back straight and often Frodon will still be in front when they are turning in.
“Nico was happy to let him rock and roll from halfway down the back and he was in command from there – he had beaten the others.”
England have rolled the dice in their bid to reclaim the Calcutta Cup from Scotland by dropping Freddie Steward in favour of George Furbank at full-back.
Steward has been an ever-present under successive England regimes because of his unrivalled ability under the high ball, but having started the opening two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations he is jettisoned from the 23 completely.
The inclusion of Furbank could pay dividends as the Northampton playmaker will provide more of a cutting edge in attack than Steward, but even in the dry conditions expected at Murrayfield on Saturday the selection is gamble.
Furbank has yet to convince in his six caps dating back to 2020 but the 27-year-old, who can also operate at fly-half, is a classy ball player whose skills have helped Saints take the Gallagher Premiership by storm this season.
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has announced he is ready to play for Germany again after retiring from international football in 2021.
Kroos, 34, brought the curtain down on his 11-year international career soon after Germany’s 2-0 Euro 2020 defeat to England at Wembley in the last 16.
But he has remained integral to Real Madrid’s success and said on Instagram he had agreed to make himself available for selection for Euro 2024.
Kroos said: “Guys, short and painless: I will play for Germany again from March.
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“Why? Because I was asked by the national coach, I’m up for it and I’m sure that a lot more is possible with the team at the European Championships than most people believe!”
Kroos, a World Cup winner for his country in 2014, is now expected to be included in Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for this summer’s Euros, which will be hosted by Germany from June 14-July 14.
Former Bayern Munich boss Nagelsmann succeeded the sacked Hansi Flick as Germany’s head coach in September last year.
Kroos, who made his full debut for Germany in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Argentina in 2010, has scored 17 goals in 106 senior international appearances.
Joe Hart believes announcing his retirement from football will end speculation about his future with Celtic.
The former England and Manchester City goalkeeper will be 37 when his three-year contract expires in the summer.
Hart made his first-team debut for Shrewsbury in April 2004 and won 75 caps for England.
He followed Sir Kenny Dalglish and Andrei Kanchelskis in claiming winners’ medals in the three major trophies in England and Scotland when Celtic won the Scottish Cup last season but this will be his final season as he looks to help Brendan Rodgers plan for the future.
“This is something I have thought about for a while,” Hart told Celtic TV.
“There’s no right or wrong time is there but the way this club works is that I’m playing out at the moment. There’s so much on it. There’s so much heart and soul poured into what we’re doing as a football club.
“But with the grand scheme of the club, with the support base, and the conversations that go on around it, there’s obviously a conversation around the goalkeeping position for next season.
“So I just think it was really important that with the blessing of the club – I’ve had the conversations with the club with Brendan, with Stevie Woods (goalkeeping coach) – that we get the message out, it takes one thing off the table that people need to speculate over.
“I’m definitely not going to be there next season. I’m not going to be available to play football next season.
“So I want to take that off the table and then we can talk about why and then push forward.”
Hart still feels “great” physically and he stressed his commitment to the Parkhead club as they look to defend their cinch Premiership title and the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup.
With 13 league fixtures remaining, the Hoops are two points behind Old Firm rivals Rangers and Hart, who joined the Scottish champions from Tottenham in 2021, promised Hoops fans he remains up for the fight.
He said: “Mentally I’m in that one place that I like to be, I’m in a place of clarity. Obviously, I’ve thought about this a lot.
“I think the right the right time is now. I’ve got the clarity of mind that I was able to go to the club and explain my position and them totally understand.
“I think the hardest thing for me once I’d made the decision was to explain that although I intend on finishing from June onwards, I’m so up for it. I’m so still so involved and still so committed.
“And I thank the club for that. I think Brendan and Stevie Woods for understanding where my mind was at and understanding me as a person.
“So I appreciate the open mindedness of the club and hopefully the open mindedness of the fans when they see this and understand that this is not someone who’s checking out, this is someone who’s just letting people know because they think it’s important.
“I’m not retiring from working. I just won’t be a goalkeeper anymore.
“All I want to do now is focus. I want to focus on the job in hand, representing this amazing club that I play for and living my heart and soul on the field.”
Ciaran Frawley will make his first Test start in Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Wales after being selected in place of injured full-back Hugo Keenan.
The versatile 26-year-old won his two previous caps as a replacement, including playing the final four minutes of the championship curtain-raiser away to France.
Keenan has been virtually ever-present in his country’s number 15 jersey during the past three years but will miss Saturday’s match in Dublin due to a knee injury suffered in the round-two victory over Italy.
Head coach Andy Farrell, who has included uncapped Munster prop Oli Jager among the replacements, has made seven personnel changes to his starting XV from the 36-0 win over the Azzurri Italy on February 11.
Captain Peter O’Mahony, prop Tadhg Furlong and centre Bundee Aki return following injuries, while lock Tadhg Beirne, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and flanker Josh Van Der Flier are also recalled.
Second-row James Ryan, flanker Ryan Baird, number eight Jack Conan and centre Stuart McCloskey drop to a bench containing a six-two split of forwards and backs.
Prop Finlay Bealham and scrum-half Craig Casey have been left out of the matchday 23 after starting against Italy.
Lock Iain Henderson, who suffered a foot injury playing for Ulster last weekend, is not involved, while centre Garry Ringrose remains absent after missing the opening two rounds with a shoulder issue.
Frawley has been battling Jack Crowley and Harry Byrne for action at fly-half but Farrell has limited back-up options at full-back due to Jimmy O’Brien and Mack Hansen being ruled out of the entire tournament.
The full debutant has played a total of just 44 minutes of international rugby, during cameos in last summer’s World Cup warm-up win over Italy and the 38-17 victory over Les Bleus at the start of the month.
Crowley continues in the number 10 role, partnering Gibson-Park, with Aki and Robbie Henshaw in midfield and Calvin Nash and James Lowe retained on the wings.
In the front row, returning tighthead Furlong will pack down alongside Leinster team-mates Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan, ahead of the second row pairing of Joe McCarthy and Beirne.
Caelan Doris, who stood in as skipper last time out, reverts from openside flanker to number eight. Van der Flier returns to the number seven role, while O’Mahony is back in at blindside flanker.
Hooker Ronan Kelleher, prop Cian Healy and scrum-half Conor Murray complete the bench.
Ireland are seeking a third successive win in this year’s championship – and an 18th in a row at home – after launching their title defence with back-to-back bonus-point victories over France and Italy.
Opponents Wales began with narrow defeats to Scotland and England and have not won a Six Nations fixture in Dublin since 2012.
Jamie Ritchie has been restored to Scotland’s starting XV for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup showdown with England a fortnight after being dropped from the squad altogether for the Guinness Six Nations home defeat by France.
The recently deposed captain is back in the side as one of three changes made by Gregor Townsend, with experienced duo Blair Kinghorn and Kyle Steyn returning to the back three.
Kyle Rowe, Harry Paterson and Matt Fagerson – all of whom started against Les Bleus – drop out of the squad altogether, with the bench unchanged.
Ritchie – who lost the captaincy to Finn Russell and Rory Darge earlier this year – started the first match of the Six Nations away to Wales before being left out against France, but the 27-year-old Edinburgh flanker is back in the number six jersey in place of Fagerson this weekend.
Toulouse full-back Kinghorn returns after missing the opening two matches with a knee injury sustained days before the championship began, while Glasgow wing Steyn – who started against Wales – is back in the mix after having to withdraw from the team on the morning of the France game when his wife went into labour.
Rowe, who started the first two matches in the absence of Kinghorn, has not made the squad this weekend, while 22-year-old Edinburgh back Paterson, who was drafted in at the last minute to start against France following Steyn’s withdrawal, is also out.
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