Jamie George insists he is ready for the pressure that accompanies the England captaincy despite seeing the toll it took on his close friend Owen Farrell.
George will lead England into the Guinness Six Nations in what he describes as the “greatest achievement of my life”, starting against Italy in Rome on February 3.
When first offered the role by Steve Borthwick earlier this month, the 33-year-old Lions hooker was told to take a weekend to make his decision in a nod to recent events that have seen Farrell take a break from Test rugby that could yet be permanent.
It was the fierce online scrutiny of Farrell leading into the World Cup and his booing by fans in France that compelled him to rule himself out of the Six Nations in order to prioritise his and his family’s mental well-being.
Borthwick turned to one of England’s most influential figures to take over and having considered all aspects of the captaincy, George knew he only had one choice.
“When you’re given the weekend to go and think about things, the obvious thing to do is to go and look at both sides of the coin,” George said.
“And for me, there are so many positives that come with this. This is the greatest achievement of my life. Stepping out on the field in Rome is going to be one of the best moments that I will ever experience.
“And I felt like it was a decision that if I had turned down for other reasons I would have absolutely regretted because I’m at a good stage of my career to step up and take this on.
“I have a good understanding of what might be out there to come, but at the same time I’m also hopeful that we’ve learned a lot of lessons from the Owen situation.
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“A lot of people out there have a better understanding of the reality of life, the reality of professional rugby players, that we are all human beings. So I’m hopeful for a much more positive environment to be able to work in.
“I’m not hiding away from the fact there is additional pressure and responsibility.
“I personally think that pressure is a privilege.
“I spoke to Owen about it. He was probably one of the first people I told when Steve asked me. That was the natural thing to do because Owen and I are very, very close.
“The only thing he said to me was that if I needed anything, he is the first person I should call and that he would always be there to have a conversation. That is invaluable to me.”
Even when offering the ultimate position in English rugby, Borthwick made it clear that it comes with challenges.
“We sort of tip-toed our way around the captaincy conversation, but we also laid the foundations for it,” George said.
“We spoke a bit about what it might look like and then Steve was amazing and said ‘take the weekend to have a think about it because it can have a big impact on you, as we’ve seen’.
“It was a bit like a proposal! At the time I wanted to snap his hand off and say yes, but it was good to be able to speak to my family over the weekend and get their thoughts on it all. I phoned him first thing on the Monday to accept.”
Warren Gatland has paid new Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins a major compliment by saying he expects to see him “in the mould of Alun Wyn Jones”.
Jenkins has won many admirers through his captaincy of Exeter Chiefs, with the Gallagher Premiership club in title contention and progressing to the Investec Champions Cup knockout phase.
The 21-year-old will take charge for Wales’ Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 3, with Gatland enthused by his potential.
“We’ve got a young captain who I think will be an outstanding professional,” Gatland said.
“I expect to see him in the mould of Alun Wyn Jones. He doesn’t say a lot, but he leads by example.
“He is last out of the gym, he does his analysis and he has got an edge to him. I don’t mind that. He’s got a group of good men that will be there to support him too.”
Jones made a world record 170 Test match appearances for Wales and the British and Irish Lions, ticking every box as a true great of the game.
He retired from Test rugby in May last year and, with the likes of fellow Welsh Lions Justin Tipuric, Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny also exiting the international game, Jenkins now heads up a new generation.
“The edge is about someone who doesn’t back down,” Gatland added.
“You are looking for someone who doesn’t back down from anyone, someone who gets excited by challenges.
“When I look back on my time in rugby, the best player I coached in that was Lawrence Dallaglio. The bigger the occasion, the more excited he got.
“He absolutely loved it. He would get pumped up for a challenge.
“I think Daf will be like that, going forward. Whatever he is up against, he is not going to fear anything.
“I think with captains, you get different personalities and people. I suppose that is the beauty of it.
“With someone like Daf who has come into that role, it is about how much we support him from a coaching perspective as staff and also the experienced players, like Gareth (Davies) and George North.
“I think we’ve got some quality men in the team and that makes a big difference to me. What I like about this group of people is they are good people.
“If you galvanise them and bring them together, work hard and they will play for each other.”
Gregor Townsend expects Jamie Ritchie to respond positively to losing the Scotland captaincy as he challenged the Edinburgh flanker to get back to “his top level” and book himself a starting berth for the opening Guinness Six Nations match away to Wales.
The 27-year-old replaced Stuart Hogg as skipper for the 2022 autumn Tests and also led the Scots in last year’s Six Nations and at the World Cup in France.
However, with Ritchie no longer guaranteed a starting place amid intense competition in the back-row, it was revealed on Sunday that Townsend had appointed Bath stand-off Finn Russell and Glasgow flanker Rory Darge as his new co-captains ahead of the upcoming championship.
“He’s reacted really well,” said Townsend, when asked on Monday at the Six Nations launch in Dublin how Ritchie had taken the news. “I’ve been in communication for a few weeks now around his game and also the captaincy.
“He was well aware that we were going to leave this decision until the weekend. The focus for him is about getting into the team that plays Wales and he’s really determined to do that. That will be tough because the competition we have in the back-row right now is at a high level.
“We’re all optimistic that this (relinquishing the captaincy) will bring out the best in Jamie and he can be one of our best players, back at his top level.
“We saw on Friday night when he came off the bench against Scarlets, there was a real hunger and intent about how he went through his game. The competition in the back-row and the ability to just focus on that at training should be a positive for him leading into the Wales game.”
“He can be one of our best players but he is competing with some guys who are in really good form at openside and blindside. Jamie will be a key leader for us if he’s in the 23 or the XV.”
Glasgow back-rower Darge is hopeful of being fit for the start of the tournament despite concerns he might be out until late February with a knee injury sustained against Edinburgh at the end of December. The 23-year-old declared on Monday “I’m aiming for one of the first two games.”
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“We got good news on Rory on Friday that he’s able to start that rehab process and we’ll assess how he goes after a week’s rehab,” said Townsend.
The prognosis is not so promising for free-scoring Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham, who will miss at least the first two games against Wales and France with a quad issue.
“He’s obviously very disappointed,” said Townsend.
“He played against Gloucester (on January 13) and was tight around the quad area so we thought it would be worth getting a scan, hoping it would be a week to two-week injury at most because that’s what happened when he had the same problem during the World Cup warm-up games.
“But it was actually more significant. We’re hopeful he’ll be available for round three (at home to England on February 24) but it all just depends how it reacts when he starts rehab again.”
Ground conditions at Doncaster are likely to dictate whether Famous Bridge is rerouted to Saturday’s Great Yorkshire Chase after the weather scuppered his planned return to Haydock last weekend.
The eight-year-old, who runs in the colours of the late Trevor Hemmings, has won his last two starts over fences at the latter venue, most recently landing the Tommy Whittle Handicap Chase pre-Christmas.
He was due to bid for a hat-trick on Merseyside in Saturday’s Peter Marsh Chase, but the abandonment of Haydock’s card has forced trainer Nicky Richards back to the drawing board.
When asked whether it was the plan to run Famous Bridge in the Great Yorkshire Chase, the Greystoke handler said: “It is and it isn’t. Mick (Meagher, racing manager) said to put him in, so we confirmed him, but we’ll just be keeping an eye on the ground. If it’s windy and dry all week and it’s edging towards good ground, I’m not quite sure what we’ll be thinking.
“He’s in grand form and it’s a shame Saturday was off (at Haydock). I don’t know why they couldn’t reschedule for Sunday, but I suppose in the circumstances that wouldn’t have been very pleasant either.
“A bit of good to soft ground wouldn’t bother him. I wouldn’t like to pigeon-hole him and say he’s just a Haydock horse or anything like that. He’s won two around Wetherby, he’s won at Kelso and Ayr – this horse would go around anywhere.
“He’s just a proper National Hunt horse, a fairly big boy and a strong horse, so we’ll just keep an eye on the weather and the ground and see where we are later in the week.”
Richards – whose yard was feeling the effects of Storm Isha on Monday, being without power for large parts of the day – has also confirmed Universal Folly, who has won three times and finished second on four occasions from only eight chase starts, and the trainer feels a sound surface may bring him into the equation off a light weight.
He added: “His owner is away on holiday, he’s in Barbados, I think, and I think I woke him up this morning when I gave him a call and asked him what he thought about entering for Doncaster.
“There is also the Edinburgh Grand National at Musselburgh for him and if it’s softer ground at Doncaster, the Musselburgh race might not be as strong, so we’ll just see what the weather does.
“If it’s a windy, dry week, I know it will take a lot of winning the Great Yorkshire, but it might take a bit less winning if it’s on good ground as a lot of other trainers might be thinking like we’re thinking with Famous Bridge.
“We’ll just see how the week pans out, but he’s in grand form as well and is ready to run somewhere.”
The Richards pair are among 27 horses still in the mix for the £100,000 contest, with the weights headed by Jamie Snowden’s Ga Law, who looked the likely winner when falling at the final fence 12 months ago.
Snowden could also saddle Git Maker, while ante-post favourite Victtorino is set to represent Ventia Williams following back-to-back wins at Ascot.
Other hopefuls include Anthony Honeyball’s Forward Plan and the Nicky Henderson-trained Mister Coffey, who finished first and second over the course and distance last month, and the improving Surrey Quest from Toby Lawes’ stable.
The only remaining Irish contender is the Emmet Mullins-trained Sweet Will.
Persistence paid off for Hayley Turner after she bounced back from being unshipped leaving the paddock to ride Flag Carrier to victory at Kempton.
The 41-year-old was thrown off in dramatic fashion ahead of the Try Unibet’s Improved Bet Builder Handicap and the Harry Eustace-trained gelding had to be walked down to the start on his own.
Turner only got back on board her mount in the stalls and the three-year-old continued to cause her problems by pulling hard in the early stages.
However, when Flag Carrier finally settled down to business in the home straight of the seven-furlong contest, he picked up well from mid-division and went on to score by a length at 3-1.
“I think what’s happened is that he’s run with the blinkers on quite a lot and I just think it might have got the better of him today,” Turner told Racing TV.
“He’s been here before but he’s just got himself into a tizzle, so I think the guys have done a really good job of actually getting him to the start in one piece.
“I should probably give them my riding fee, because actually in the race he was a little bit keen but did it quite comfortably in the end.”
It was the first time Turner had partnered Flag Carrier, who broke his duck at the seventh time of asking, and she was happy to laugh off his unruly behaviour beforehand.
“He wasn’t the most straightforward and that’s not him generally, but he just had a bee in his bonnet today,” added the jockey.
“He still won despite that and at least I got a nice fall, because I landed in the hedge. The hedge hasn’t done very well out of it, but I was fine!”
Warren Gatland says he is excited about developing a new generation of talent that will start with this season’s Guinness Six Nations campaign.
Gatland has named five uncapped players in his squad for the tournament, with 21-year-old Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins taking over from an injured Jac Morgan as captain.
Morgan and his World Cup co-skipper Dewi Lake are long-term absentees, while injury has also sidelined number eight Taulupe Faletau, star wing Louis Rees-Zammit has quit rugby to try and forge a career in American football, and the likes of Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny have retired from Test rugby.
Almost half of Gatland’s 34-strong squad have not yet hit double figures in terms of caps, and that collective inexperience has contributed to Wales being written off in many quarters as genuine Six Nations contenders.
“What I have looked at with where we are at right now is we have a group of really talented young players and a couple who are injured at the moment in Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, who I think are going to be world-class,” said Wales head coach Gatland, speaking at the Six Nations media launch in Dublin.
“I see this as a chance to mould some talented youngsters and give them an opportunity to take control of how they want this team to operate in terms of working with the coaches and setting standards. That is what really excites me.
“We go into the Six Nations with people probably not having too much expectation on us or writing us off, and that is always a nice position to be in.
“It is often said about Wales that you write us off at your peril, because we will work incredibly hard.
“It’s one game at a time, and if we start well against Scotland we will build confidence and momentum. The thing with Welsh players is they become incredibly tough to beat, and that is what I am pinning my hopes on anyway.”
Although Welsh regional rugby is currently operating in a testing financial climate that continues to hit all four professional teams, Gatland is upbeat about developing a largely new-look playing group.
Wales kick off their campaign against Scotland on February 3 – then face successive appointments with England, Ireland and France – and Gatland knows that momentum is key.
“There is a bit of doom and gloom, and people will take that narrative, but I don’t see it like that,” he added.
“I see it as a reset of the regions financially, with the support of the union (Welsh Rugby Union), and the 19, 20 and 21-year-olds now have an opportunity they wouldn’t have had in the past.
“Of all the Tier One nations we are the one with the smallest playing base, so when we see some talent sometimes we’ve got to expose them and see if you can fast-track them.
“It is not about age or experience, it is about allowing that talent to develop.
“It is definitely thinking about the future – not just for this cycle and the next World Cup, but the one after.
“We’ve got five new caps and eight who have never played in the Six Nations. They will learn and develop from that experience, but that doesn’t mean we are not taking the competition seriously.
“Our first game against Scotland is incredibly important. It is one game at a time, and the first one is hugely-important for us at home.”
Fergal O’Brien is happy with his plan to send Long Walk hero Crambo straight to the Stayers’ Hurdle, as he begins to step up his star performer’s work ahead of the Cheltenham Festival.
Owned by Jared Sullivan and Chris Giles, the seven-year-old advertised his potential with some fine performances in handicap company, including when winning last year’s EBF Final at Sandown.
However, he announced himself as a major player in the staying division when outbattling the stalwart Paisley Park to claim Grade One honours at Ascot prior to Christmas.
Crambo is as short as 6-1 for Cheltenham success in the spring, but while some of his Stayers’ Hurdle counterparts will tune-up for Festival action in Saturday’s Cleeve Hurdle, O’Brien is content to prepare his charge at his Ravenswell Farm base.
“Crambo is in great form and he had a hard race at Ascot, so he’s just stepping up his work again and tipping away,” said O’Brien.
“Eve, who looks after him and rides him, is very happy with him and he actually did his first piece of work on Saturday since he won and we were very happy with him.
“He was in a proper battle with those boys at Ascot and he doesn’t need to do that again until Cheltenham, so fingers crossed he will turn up at Cheltenham in the same form as Ascot and do the job for us.
“What I loved about Ascot was he jumped the last and looked like he was going to go away and win and Paisley Park thought ‘I’m not giving this up’ and actually got back ahead of him.
“Five or six strides from the line, he managed to get back in front and started to go away again, so it will give him huge confidence and give Johnny (Burke, jockey) confidence in him.
“He doesn’t show anything at home but he just has a fantastic will to win.”
O’Brien is still to taste success at National Hunt’s showpiece meeting but will head to Prestbury Park with one of his strongest hands to date, as alongside Crambo, he is also poised to saddle Dysart Enos, who is one of the leading fancies for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
The Grade Two bumper winner has maintained her unbeaten record since switching to timber this term and is in line to complete her Festival preparations at Doncaster on Sunday in the Download The At The Races App Novices’ Hurdle.
“She hopefully goes to Doncaster on Sunday for just an ordinary novice,” continued O’Brien.
“Fingers crossed, she can have a nice clear round there, do her job and then go to Cheltenham.
“She wouldn’t be able to wait until Cheltenham, it would be too long for her, but we’ve been very happy with her.”
Givemefive looks set to take his famous golfing owners to the Cheltenham Festival after maintaining his unbeaten record over obstacles with a runaway success at Warwick.
The four-year-old carries the colours of Smash Racing, a syndicate that includes a couple of Major champions in Northern Ireland’s 2010 US Open hero Graeme McDowell and his American colleague Brooks Koepka, who claimed back-to-back victories in the same event in 2017 and 2018 and has also won three PGA Championships.
A winner on the Flat for Johnny Murtagh in September, the Holy Roman Emperor gelding was subsequently snapped up to pursue a jumping career with Harry Derham.
Derham recalled how winning a challenge with McDowell during a Pro-Am contest led to him getting the two golfing stars on board.
He said: “I’ve known Graeme for a long time and the conversation about owning a racehorse came about at a Pro-Am event. He said if I got closer to the pin than him then he would buy a horse and I somehow managed to get it within a few feet of it and beat him.
“Graeme then got the other guys involved and they are both very engaged in all the conversations about the horse on WhatsApp.”
With Koepka’s friend Daniel Gambill also an owner, Givemefive made a successful debut for his new connections at Market Rasen last month and was a 2-1 shot to follow up under a penalty in the Hazelton Mountford Insurance Brokers Juvenile Hurdle.
Derham had been eyeing the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Festival prior to his second jumping start – and while that still looks his most likely Cheltenham target, the trainer admitted he will also have to look at the Triumph Hurdle following a dominant 18-length victory in the hands of Paul O’Brien.
It could be a big weekend for Gary Moore’s juveniles as Irish Derby fourth Peking Opera is pencilled in to begin life over obstacles at Fontwell on Sunday.
The son of Galileo was a Listed winner for Aidan O’Brien on the Flat before going on to finish just over nine lengths adrift of Auguste Rodin at the Curragh in the summer.
He also saw Group One action in the Grand Prix de Paris before finishing his spell at Ballydoyle with a third behind Vauban in the Ballyroan Stakes.
The four-year-old is now set to try his hand at a new discipline and, having been picked up for 100,000 guineas at the sales, has joined Gary Moore to run in Steve Packham’s colours, made famous by Goshen.
He can be backed at a best price of 20-1 for the Triumph Hurdle, but before thoughts of the Cheltenham Festival enter the picture, he will have to pass his first assignment, having been handed an entry for the Join The Vickers.Bet Free Bet Club Novices’ Hurdle.
“If everything is all right, we might run on Sunday at Fontwell,” said Moore.
“We’re running tight on time and I need to get a run into him.”
Although Peking Opera has yet to jump a hurdle in public, stablemate Salver has already put down a marker when romping to a wide-margin victory in Chepstow’s Finale Juvenile Hurdle over Christmas.
A best price of 14-1 for the Triumph, he is unbeaten in three over obstacles and holds an entry for the Grade Two JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday although ground conditions at Prestbury Park are set to determine his participation.
“The horse is very well and he has an entry just in case the ground came up soft,” said Moore.
“He’s probably not going to get his ground and if it did come up soft, he would go there, but if it isn’t then he won’t go.
“It’s a stiff two-mile-one and I thought I would just make the entry, but he would be 50-50 – it would have to be good to soft or softer at least. I wouldn’t even want too much good in it, I want it proper soft ground.
“I’m very mindful of the fact he has improved with every time he has run and it will also depend on how he works in the morning more than anything.”
Wigan’s sold-out World Club Challenge clash with Penrith Panthers next month could herald the start of a new golden era for the reigning Super League champions, according to executive director Kris Radlinski.
The club announced on Monday that no more tickets are available for the February 24 showdown, a level of interest seldom seen since almost 37,000 packed into the old Central Park to watch Ellery Hanley inspire an 8-2 win over Manly in 1987.
Wigan will be looking to emulate St Helens’ stunning win over the NRL champions in Australia at the start of last season and further tilt the balance of power in the global club game in favour of the northern hemisphere.
“To sell out so far in advance is unprecedented and I’ve probably not felt this kind of excitement for 30 years,” Radlinski, who made 322 appearances for the club between 1993 and 2006, told the PA news agency.
“It’s a great opportunity for our players to write their names into the Wigan history books against one of the best teams the NRL has produced. The Manly game was an “I was there” moment, and it’s exactly what we need more of in our sport.
“I’ve been in the game long enough to experience ups and downs but there’s a great spirit in the club at the moment. We’ve got a real connection with the fans and an outstanding head coach, and it really does feel like something special.”
Close-season additions of the likes of former Leeds pair Kruise Leeming and Sam Walters plus Catalans Dragons winger Adam Keighran, who started his career with Penrith, have cemented Wigan’s status as the team to beat for the 2024 campaign.
And they are relishing the prospect of kicking off by testing themselves against a Penrith side still smarting from last season’s loss to Saints, when Lewis Dodds’ golden point drop-goal claimed an implausible 13-12 win in Sydney.
“The Super League owes a massive thank you to St Helens for what they did, not just against Penrith but over the last four years in pressurising the rest of us all to raise our standards,” added Radlinski.
“It was an outstanding match last year when Saints won it, and the pressure is now on us to try to repeat the feat. Whatever happens it is going to be an outstanding occasion and the anticipation around the town is something else.”
Steve Borthwick admits England’s recent record in the Guinness Six Nations is unacceptable having repeatedly failed to deliver on expectations.
Borthwick offers a damning win ratio of only 50 per cent from the last six Championships – a sequence that has included two fifth-place finishes under his predecessor Eddie Jones – as evidence of underperformance.
Starting with their opener against Italy in Rome on February 3, Borthwick is determined for England to use his second Six Nations as head coach to ignite a revival.
“We want to make sure this England team is competing in every single game, which is not something you can say about recent years,” Borthwick said at the tournament launch in Dublin.
“The expectations of supporters are a lot higher than what the team have actually achieved – and quite rightly.
“The team is really well aware that we haven’t performed in the Six Nations for a period of time.
“Ireland and France have been the dominant teams and everybody is trying to compete with those two sides.
“What’s happened in the past is that lots is talked about England prior to the tournament, but England haven’t then achieved.
“Our intent is to hit the ground running in Rome the way we want with the intensity that we want to, which again is something that England have not done in recent years.
“At times we have not jumped into this tournament and have been caught in that first game.
“We want this to be a different mindset for England, a different way of approaching the game and the tournament. And we will approach our camp in Girona differently.
“We’re taking a different approach because we need different results to previous tournaments.”
England depart for their pre-Six Nations training camp in Girona on Tuesday nursing a number of minor injury concerns, especially to their back five.
Hot on the heels of George Martin being ruled out for a number of weeks because of a knee problem, his fellow Leicester lock Ollie Chessum failed a head injury assessment on Champions Cup duty on Saturday while flankers Ben Curry and Sam Underhill are struggling with ankle problems.
Borthwick is optimistic that each of them will be able to play full roles in preparation to face Italy, as will hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, centre Oscar Beard and wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who are also in the treatment room.
England’s head coach was present at the Six Nations launch in Dublin in defiance of Storm Isha, which has caused travel chaos across Great Britain and Ireland.
Borthwick’s newly-appointed captain Jamie George was prevented from travelling from London by cancelled flights, while France were unable to attend in any capacity because of the weather.
Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison was also missing from the event, which forms the annual centrepiece of the build-up to the tournament.
British interest in the singles at the Australian Open ended with Cameron Norrie’s five-set defeat to Alexander Zverev in the fourth round.
The 19th seed came agonisingly close to another upset but lost out in a deciding tie-break.
Carlos Alcaraz eased into the last eight in Melbourne for the first time while Zheng Qinwen is the only seed left in the top half of the women’s draw.
Picture of the dayTweet of the dayStat of the dayJunior powerMixed doubles
Unusually, no British players have made the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles. But there is guaranteed to be a British semi-finalist in the mixed doubles, where Joe Salisbury and Heather Watson play Neal Skupski and his American partner Desirae Krawczyk.
Fallen seeds
Women: Victoria Azarenka (18), Elina Svitolina (19), Jasmine Paolini (26)
Men: Cameron Norrie (19)
Who’s up next?
The quarter-finals get under way on Tuesday, with Novak Djokovic again given a day-session slot for his clash with American Taylor Fritz.
Coco Gauff is first up taking on unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, while defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka plays Barbora Krejcikova at night.
The final match of the day pits fourth seed Jannik Sinner, who is yet to drop a set, against fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
Jonbon is the headline act among six entries for the rearranged Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham – but Gary Moore is hoping history will repeat itself for defending champion Editeur Du Gite.
Nicky Henderson’s Tingle Creek hero began his campaign with victory in the Shloer Chase at Prestbury Park in November and was fully on course for a clash with old adversary El Fabiolo at the race’s traditional home of Ascot last Saturday.
With that card falling victim to the weather, the Seven Barrows handler was eager for the race to be swiftly rearranged to the Cheltenham Festival Trials Day, as it was when Editeur Du Gite downed Edwardstone and Energumene in a thrilling contest 12 months ago.
There is set to be no Irish representation this time around, with as expected El Fabiolo keeping his powder dry in favour of the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown a week later.
But Jonbon will head to the Cotswolds, with Moore also keen to add Editeur Du Gite’s name to the mix on the back of his second Desert Orchid Chase victory over the Christmas period.
“It would be nice wouldn’t it, if lightning could strike twice,” said Moore.
“He seems in good order and the horse is very well – he’s entitled to take his chance.
“We’re under no illusions we will beat Jonbon, but I just hope he runs a big race – I’m sure he will.”
Dan Skelton’s Nube Negra got the better of Elixir De Nutz in the battle for second when three lengths adrift of Editeur Du Gite at Kempton last month and both are set to reoppose in the Grade One contest.
Despite struggling to make an impression so far this term, Venetia Williams’ Funambule Sivola finished second in the Champion Chase behind Energumene in 2022 and represents a team in good order.
Richard Hobson’s December Gold Cup hero Fugitif completes the entries but is also engaged in the £100,000 Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase on the card.
Andy Farrell says he does not buy in to so-called World Cup cycles as Ireland prepare for their Guinness Six Nations title defence.
Ireland kick off the tournament against France in Marseille on February 2 – their first game since making a crushing World Cup quarter-final exit to New Zealand.
World Cup skipper Johnny Sexton and wing Keith Earls have since retired, while the likes of Ross Byrne, Dave Kilcoyne, Rob Herring, Mack Hansen and Jimmy O’Brien now miss out due to injuries.
Munster flanker Peter O’Mahony has succeeded Sexton as captain, but Ireland head coach Farrell is keen to build, rather than make a fresh post-World Cup start for Australia 2027.
And that approach is underlined by him selecting 26 players in his Six Nations squad who travelled to the World Cup in France.
“You look at the squad we have picked,” Farrell said, speaking at the Six Nations media launch in Dublin.
“Over the last couple of years we have capped a lot of players. Some of those players are under 10 caps or so, some have not been involved in the squad over the last 12-18 months, so trying to grow the squad in that sense is pretty important.
“Is this a new start? It’s not, because of everything we have been through.
“We want to continue to grow, we want to continue to evolve our game, and you don’t do that by just cutting the legs off it and going again.
“Competition for places is premium, and it has to stay that way, so this is the start of a new Six Nations.
“I don’t buy into the four-year cycle that tends to come around when World Cups are finished.”
Key to the Six Nations campaign will be 34-year-old O’Mahony, who first captained Ireland in a 15-12 win over the United States in June 2013 and has won 101 caps.
Farrell picked him for the role ahead of players like James Ryan, Iain Henderson, Garry Ringrose and Caelan Doris.
O’Mahony guided Munster to last season’s United Rugby Championship title but stepped down as skipper of his province in November after 10 years in the role.
Farrell added: “There are a few candidates because we have got some great leadership within the group, and that will continue to grow and Peter will be at the heart of that to help it.
“There are certain people that make the room feel right. It is pretty important around the place, and certainly on match-day, that you have that type of person in the dressing room, and Peter is certainly one of those.
“Just being himself and helping others to grow. I know he will do the country proud.”
And O’Mahony said: “It is a huge honour. I am incredibly grateful to be asked.
“I think I have done it on 10 occasions, but to do it for a Six Nations campaign is very special and probably the biggest honour of my career so far.
“I wasn’t expecting it, to be honest. It was a special phone call to get (from Farrell), and a huge honour.”
Nikola Jokic displayed just why he is such a stellar talent as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Washington Wizards, so says Michael Malone.
Jokic scored a season-high 42 points, adding 12 rebounds and eight assists, as the Nuggets won 113-104 on Sunday.
It marked Jokic's highest points tally since he scored 46 against the New Orleans Pelicans in June 2022.
The Nuggets are now 30-14 for the season and are third in the Western Conference, and coach Malone was effusive in his praise for the 28-year-old.
"Nikola was phenomenal tonight from beginning to end," Malone said.
"He continues to illustrate why he's the player that he is."
Even though the Nuggets were playing on the road, there were chants of "MVP" from the crowd as Jokic sank his final free throws of the game.
"That's unique," Malone said.
"It doesn't happen very often, so I think it's just recognising greatness.
"Here's a guy who was a two-time MVP as a second-round draft pick that brought a franchise its first world championship in history, and he's a Finals MVP as well."
Despite having lost their last four games in a row, Malone believes the Wizards provided a stern challenge to his team.
He said: "That’s what happens when you're the reigning world champs.
"You have to be up for those games because you know you're going to be getting everybody's best."
Betfair Chase champion Royale Pagaille will get the chance to strengthen Venetia Williams’ Cheltenham Gold Cup hand in the Paddy Power Cotswold Chase.
Owned by Rich and Susannah Ricci, the 10-year-old looked to be at the peak of his powers at Haydock in November when scooping his first Grade One success, and is one of six entries for the blue riband trial at Prestbury Park on Saturday.
Royale Pagaille was set to return to his favoured Merseyside venue for a crack at the Peter Marsh before the cold snap intervened, but his trainer is more than happy to head to Cheltenham, where he could follow up stablemate L’Homme Presse’s dazzling success in Lingfield’s Fleur De Lys Chase.
“He’s been good since Haydock (Betfair Chase), the Peter Marsh looked a nice opportunity for him, but he’s not run badly at Cheltenham before so we will see,” said Williams.
“If you take his run in the Betfair at Haydock in a straight line, it suggests, at the age he is, he is at a career high, so let’s hope. We will see how we get on.”
Patrick Neville’s King George fourth The Real Whacker and Paul Nicholls’ well-regarded novice Stay Away Fay both have fond memories of Prestbury Park and were successful at the Cheltenham Festival last year, while Lucinda Russell will be hoping a return to the Cotswolds inspires Ahoy Senor, who was victorious 12 months ago.
Jamie Snowden’s Coral Gold Cup hero Datsalrightgino and Irish raider Capodanno are also in the mix.
There may be no Constitution Hill in the Unibet Hurdle, but it promises to be a competitive event with 10 in the mix at the six-day stage.
Willie Mullins has three possible runners, with Festival scorers Impaire Et Passe and Lossiemouth both handed entries alongside stablemate and fellow Grade One winner Gala Marceau. However, both Lossiemouth and Gala Marceau are engaged at Doncaster on the same afternoon.
Rubaud has marked himself out as one of the best British two-mile hurdlers this term and chased home Constitution Hill at Christmas, while James Owen has given Triumph Hurdle favourite Burdett Road the option of competing in open company despite also holding an entry for the Triumph trial that opens proceedings.
Love Envoi has seen possible outings at both Sandown and Lingfield scuppered by the weather in recent weeks, but now gets the chance to return to a track where she has a fine record.
“We looked at going to Lingfield but obviously that wasn’t on, but she will have a run in the International on Saturday,” said Noel Fehily of her owners Noel Fehily Racing Syndicates.
“She’s run well on the New course before, she’s in great form and we’re really looking forward to getting her out again.
“There are probably going to be a few Irish horses coming over, but it is a good race, there’s plenty of prize-money on offer. It’s going to be competitive, but we’re looking forward to running her.”
Also on the card some of the best staying hurdlers around will clash in the McCoy Contractors Cleeve Hurdle and Emma Lavelle’s Paisley Park is one of 10 entrants as he seeks his fourth victory in the race.
Fellow veteran Dashel Drasher was second in the race behind French raider Gold Tweet last year before filling the same spot in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Festival, while Nicky Henderson could call on the services of both Champ and Marie’s Rock.
Emmet Mullins’ Grand National hero Noble Yeats and Dan Skelton’s West Balboa are other notable names on the list of entrants.
Cameron Norrie leaves Australia convinced he can compete with the world’s best after suffering an agonising five-set loss to Alexander Zverev.
The British number one broke new ground with a brilliant attacking display to defeat Casper Ruud in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday and again showed the new dimensions he has added to his game to push the sixth seed all the way to a deciding tie-break.
Norrie, who had not won a set in their four previous meetings, twice came from behind to force a decider but it is Zverev who moves through to the quarter-finals after a 7-5 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 (10/3) victory.
Norrie, the final British singles player standing, reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022 but the draw opened up for him and he did not have to beat a top-30 player, which has certainly not been the same here.
The 28-year-old is still yet to beat a top-10 opponent at a grand slam, but he said: “I think Sascha (Zverev) is probably one of the best players in the world at the moment, and playing close with him and somewhat deep in a grand slam, losing in five sets, a few points in it, I think it’s exactly where I want to be.
“I can take a lot of confidence from that. It’s disappointing but I think it’s nice to know I’m just looking for ways to evolve my game. I was toe-to-toe with him. I got absolutely chopped by him in Vienna at the end of last year, and I managed to take a completely different approach.
“I think there’s still lots to come. I’m still 28 years old. I think you look at the longevity of the other players playing now, I think they’re getting better. I just want to keep learning and keep pushing and keep improving.
“I learned a lot last year and the years before. I know I’ve got the top-10 level in me. I want to just keep taking steps towards that. I’m having fun playing.”
The match was briefly interrupted in the third set by a protester, who threw ‘Free Palestine’ flyers onto the court from the front row of Margaret Court Arena before being forcibly escorted away by two spectators.
Zverev criticised the lack of a response from security personnel, saying: “They wouldn’t let me into the gym because I forgot my credential in the locker room.
“What are you doing? You’re protecting players from players. Something like this happens and it takes three, four minutes for somebody to show up. I think that should be the opposite. I think, when something like this happens, it shouldn’t be another fan dragging the other person out.”
Organisers defended the handling of the incident, saying: “As soon as the behaviour was identified and reported, venue security was deployed to detain the individual.
“The individual was subsequently evicted from the event. Two patrons were active in notifying security and stopping the protester, and we appreciate their actions.”
A coordinated protest also took placed on Kia Arena, with police saying two women were evicted from the tournament.
Norrie’s tactics against Ruud came as no surprise to Zverev, who spent the off-season practising with the British number one in Monte-Carlo.
A serve-dominated first set went the way of Zverev, who then broke to lead 3-2 in the second, but Norrie played what must be one of the best returning games of his career to hit straight back and took the set with a run of four games in a row, saving four break points.
The 19th seed was unable to come to the net as much as he did against Ruud because of the quality of Zverev’s passing shots but he kept the German on his toes with drop shots and short, angled slices.
Zverev responded to take the third set but Norrie upped the aggression again in the fourth, and, after an early exchange of breaks in the decider, he withstood pressure to keep his nose in front.
When Zverev opened the 10th game with a nervy double fault, Norrie must have scented blood, but the sixth seed did not allow him any more looks and the big disappointment for the British number one was that he could not maintain the same level in the tie-break.
Norrie blamed the balls, saying: “The balls were huge in the end, and he was able to get a better hit on the ball. I mis-executed a couple of balls, and he served really well. Nothing in it, and credit to him. I think he played a more complete match than me.”
Zverev was impressed by the level of his opponent, adding: “If he can play this way then for sure it’s going to make him improve.
“Incredibly aggressive, I thought. Taking the ball very early. He usually does that with his backhand, not so much with his forehand. For the first time since I’ve been playing him, I thought his forehand was better than his backhand.”
Paul George warned that the Los Angeles Clippers never know when they are beaten after their unanswered points streak in Sunday's win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Having gone into the fourth quarter trailing by 15 points, the Clippers reeled off a 22-0 run to close out the game and triumph 125-114.
It brought up their 10th win in the space of 12 games in stunning fashion.
Kawhi Leonard led the epic comeback, scoring 14 of his 21 points during the Clippers' 22-0 run over the game's final 5:17, with Los Angeles improving from 44.7 per cent shooting across the first three quarters to 75 per cent in the final period.
"That was first of a kind, with a slow start and then get red-hot at the end," said George, who finished with 12 points.
"We're going to always compete to the very end. The great thing about this group is we don't ever believe that we're down and out of it."
After scoring 24 points and adding 10 assists against his former team, James Harden said: "They came out and punched us in the mouth and in that fourth quarter we played Clipper basketball, got some stops and the rest is history.
"It was like a party. The energy was 100. That right there is home-court advantage."
Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn with 26 points but scored just six after half-time, and he offered few excuses for the Nets' capitulation.
"Just got to be better for the whole 48," Bridges said. "Definitely not fun.
"We were stuck, didn't know what to do or how to break it."
The Clippers are fourth in the Western Conference with a 27-14 record, with a clash against their city rivals the Los Angeles Lakers next up.
A blockbuster set of men’s quarter-finals awaits at the Australian Open after Carlos Alcaraz led the favourites into the last eight on Monday.
In complete contrast to the women’s draw, all of the top six seeds have made it through, while Taylor Fritz, at 12, is the lowest-ranked player still left in the tournament.
Alcaraz rated his performance against Miomir Kecmanovic as almost perfect, the second seed hitting 43 winners in a 6-4 6-4 6-0 victory on Rod Laver Arena.
If he can maintain the same level through the next six days, he will fancy his chances of possibly beating another Serbian on the same court on Sunday.
Alcaraz missed last year’s tournament with a leg injury but has dropped only one set so far on his way through to a first quarter-final in Melbourne.
Asked what worked well, the second seed said with a grin: “I think everything. I did everything almost perfectly.
“I pushed him to the limit in every ball, in every point. Obviously he has played a lot of matches in five sets, a lot of tough matches, so probably physically he was not at his 100 per cent.
“I’m feeling better and better every day. Every match I’ve played here in Rod Laver I’ve been feeling more comfortable.”
Alcaraz will next take on sixth seed Alexander Zverev, who survived a deciding fifth-set tie-break for the second time in four rounds to make it past Cameron Norrie.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev and ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz were up against the only real surprise packages of the fourth round in Nuno Borges and Arthur Cazaux, respectively.
Medvedev had a wobble against 69th-ranked Borges, the first Portuguese player to make the fourth round here, in the third set, losing five games in a row from 5-2.
But he regrouped in the fourth to claim a 6-3 7-6 (4) 5-7 6-1 victory and reach the last eight for the third time in the last four years.
Former US Open champion Medvedev has not been talked about as much as Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as a potential challenger to Novak Djokovic, but the Russian, who lost in the final here in 2021 and 2022 and won in New York last year, is happy to blow his own trumpet.
“I know what I’m worth,” he said. “I know how good I can play. I proved it in the US Open, especially for myself, playing some tough opponents, in my opinion, game style-wise. I managed to beat them.
“I’m ready. Hopefully I can show it on the tennis court. We can talk forever who is ready, who is favourite. You need to win.”
Hurkacz ended the run of French wild card Cazaux, coming from a break down in the opening set to win 7-6 (6) 7-6 (3) 6-4 and reach the last eight at a slam for just the second time, while he is the first Polish man to make the quarter-finals here.
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