England Declare Their Intent

Stuart Lancaster revealed the England team he believes can win at Murrayfield for the first time since 2004.  His selection has thrown up 8 debutants in the 22, 3 of whom are starting.  The backs heavily rely on Saracens players and the back row looks as dangerous as it has for a long while for England.  So here's the full team:

Ben Foden; Chris Ashton; Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell, David Strettle; Charlie Hodgson; Ben Youngs; Alex Corbisiero, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole; Mouritz Botha, Tom Palmer; Tom Croft, Chris Robshaw (captain), Phil Dowson.

Reps: Rob Webber, Matt Stevens, Geoff Parling, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Jordan Turner-Hall, Mike Brown.

The most notable combination in the line-up is the centre pairing of Saracens duo Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt, both of whom are earning their test debuts.  It's a risky strategy from Lancaster to field two international novices, but one where he is relying on the success of the partnership at club level to transpire in the test arena. 

Brad Barritt makes his debut alongside

Saracens teammate Owen Farrell

With 4 of the 7 backs plying their trade at Saracens (the others being David Strettle and Charlie Hodgson who have both endured long spells out of the English set-up), it would be easy to assume that the style of rugby Lancaster is looking for would be similar to that employed by the club, but Lancaster suggests otherwise, stating at today's press conference that "[Hodgson, Farrell and Barritt] are used to playing together, but we will use them slightly differently to how Saracens do."

In the forwards, the fifth Saracens player, lock Mouritz Botha, earns only his second cap whilst the back row includes a mix of experience and otherwise with Phil Dowson earning his debut, new captain Chris Robshaw and seasoned campaigner Tom Croft.  All three are good ball carriers and handy at the lineout, no doubt a specific tactic to confuse the likes of Hamilton and Gray.

The bench sees Lancaster continue to pick on form, with no evidence that he will be relying on experience if things start to go pear-shaped on Saturday. Harelquins duo Jordan Turner-Hall and Mike Brown are joined by Geoff Parling, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson with Matt Stevens and Rob Webber completing the line-up.

Lancaster has hailed his selection as "...a team for now, and a team for the future – we’re trying to achieve both."  Certainly, the first part of that statement is true as he has picked a team very much based on current form.  As for the second part of that statement being true?  Well I guess we'll find out over the coming weeks.  There are certainly a lot of players that will be looking to cement a place in the England team for years to come.

Scotland Announce Calcutta Cup Team

The Scotland team for the Murrayfield clash against England has been announced:

15 - R Lamont
14 - Jones
13 - De Luca
12 - S Lamont
11 - Evans
10 - Parks
9 - Cusiter

1 - Jacobsen
2 - Ford
3 - Murray
4 - Gray
5 - Hamilton
6 - Strokosch
7 - Rennie
8 - Denton.

On the bench: Scott Lawson, Cross, Kellock, Barclay, Blair, Laidlaw, Morrison.

Andy Robinson has made some bold calls with the inclusion of Lee Jones on the wing who has played very well for Edinburgh this season.  Perhaps the biggest surprise is the omission of John Barclay from the starting XV where Ross Rennie takes his place alongside David Denton and Ally Strokosch in the back row.

Superbowl XLVI Preview

This Sunday sees 'the biggest show on earth' take place in Indianapolis for the first time.  Yes, it's the Superbowl, and it sees two of the NFL's oldest and most prestigious teams slog it out for the Vince Lombardi trophy.

As has happened a few times this postseason, the Superbowl sees one of the best defences in the league up against one of the very best quarterbacks the league has ever seen.  So far, the defences have come out on top, so can Brady & Co stop the Giants to claim a 4th Superbowl since 2001?

I defy anyone to claim that they saw this match-up coming, even deep into the regular season.  After week 12, neither team could be regarded as Superbowl material, especially the Giants.

Head coach Tom Coughlin had been coming under fire after the Giants went 6-6 after week 12 in a very tight NFC East division.  Fast forward to now and the Giants are one of the most rounded and balanced teams in the NFL on a 5 game streak coming into the game in Indianapolis.  That streak started after narrowly losing to the Packers in week 16 at Meadowlands 38-35.  That game did two things: It showed the defensive vulnerabilities of the Packers, but also signs from the Giants that they could mix it with the best.

In Eli Manning, they have one of the best quarterbacks outside of the 'top 4' (Brady, Rodgers, Brees & brother Peyton Manning) and certainly the best of the remaining bunch that have stayed fit all year.  The irony isn't lost on NFL fans that Eli will be leading his team out for the first Superbowl to be hosted in Indianapolis, the home of his elder brother and rival QB Peyton and the Colts.

It's generally recognised that Peyton is the superior quarterback, and certainly the more consistent, but to many, quarterbacks are ultimately judged on how many Superbowl rings they get.  So far, both Eli and Peyton have one apiece.  If Eli wins on February 5th, in many peoples eyes, that will promote him to being the top Manning quarterback.

I've had this very debate a couple of times over the last week that rings reflect the overall quality of a quarterback.  If Eli does get a second, can he really be considered a better QB than Dan Marino, Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger who each have one?  I'm not so sure.

Tom Brady doesn't need any such justification.  Already the owner of 3 Superbowl rings, Brady is looking to win a record equalling fourth to sit in the rarefied atmosphere alongside Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.  Let us not forget that Brady will be motivated to exact the misery he suffered at the hands of the Giants at Superbowl XLII.  He claims he still hasn't watched that game back.

Tom Brady is going for his 4th Superbowl ring

Many would argue that the New England Patriots team going into this years Superbowl aren't the force they were in 2008.  They don't have the wide receivers they had then to provide the options for Brady that allows his game management to flourish.  In Rob Gronkowski, they do have a tight end that has broken the mould this season, scoring more TD's than any other tight end in NFL history.  If the Giants can close him down, the Patriots' attacking options suddenly look sparse.

For the Giants, Manning has a little more to aim at. In Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks, Eli has 3 guys that have improved immeasurably over the course of the season.  The Nicks/Cruz combination has really started to click and has given headaches to the best defences in the post season.  On the other side of the ball, they also have Jason Pierre-Paul, the one-man offensive play wrecking ball who always rises to the occasion.

In many ways, Superbowl XLVI is too close to call.  As has happened a few times already in the postseason, both sides may have to depend on their special teams to get an edge on the other.  Whatever happens, it promises to be an epic battle.  It was a close contest when they met earlier in the regular season, and I expect nothing less this time around.

Ultimately, I fancy the Patriots just because of the impetus they will have following the defeat in '08 which saw the Giants put an end to the perfect season.  Brady is too wise and too good for that kind of thing to happen to him twice.

Djokovic Shows What It Takes

For anyone that may have had doubts about Novak Djokovic’s credentials as world number 1 player, surely they were dispelled following epic semi-final and final victories in the Australian Open. 

Between the two games, Djokovic played 10 sets of tennis and for over 10 hours as he took on and beat a spirited and quite unlucky Andy Murray before competing in the longest Grand Slam final of all time in a colossal contest with world number two Rafael Nadal.  

The semi-final was very much down to who could take their chances.  With 3 break points at 5-5 in the deciding set, it was Murray that looked to be holding the advantage and possibly knocking out the Serbian in what would have been the greatest victory of Murray’s career.  But ultimately, it was Djokovic that showed the resolve to save each break point and go on to hold serve before breaking Murray to take the match clinching game.

Djokovic in full flow

In the aftermath of the semi-final, Murray was upbeat about his performance and stated that he was definitely closing the gap on the top 3 players.  Certainly, his performance in the semi was a marked improvement from the final a year ago where Djokovic dispatched him in straight sets.  I’ve always believed that Murray’s best chance of winning a Grand Slam will come on hard courts, which implies either the Australian or US Open.  With a winter break, it may even be more likely that the Australian Open is his very best chance of the year.  Recent results in the tournament (2 finals and a semi in his 3 last appearances) show that Murray comes out of the blocks very strong after winter training.  Physically, he is close but not perfect.  It was clear in the fifth set on Friday that Murray was starting to struggle with cramp.  Had he gone on to win that game, I’m not convinced he could have gone the distance with Nadal in the final.

And that may be the most impressive part of Djokovic’s victory this week.  This will go down as his greatest Grand Slam victory to date because of the way he did it.  He was pushed all the way in two matches against two very good competitors and came through the other side with flying colours.  Not only were the physical demands extraordinary, but the mental toughness to see out both of those games was astonishing.

Last year was one of the most remarkable for any tennis player in any era for Djokovic.  This year, he has to cement that success.  Getting to number one in the world is the easy bit.  Holding on to it is the tough part.  As everyone around him improves, it is a true sign of a champion that he can see off these ever-changing and ever-increasing challenges with consistent success.  His victory on Sunday certainly showed everyone that he is every bit the number one in the world.