Not since the time of Confucius have there been so many Chinese whispers; not since Sven Goran Eriksson confirmed his departure at the end of the World Cup finals have so many names been dropped into so many hats as part of so many agendas. Martyn Thomas, who beat the former England manager Jack Rowell to the chairmanship of the union in last year’s election, was not prepared to identify where the guillotine might fall during a lengthy, and at times extraordinary, briefing at Twickenham. Instead, he chided the media for indulging itself in a feeding frenzy of the most fanciful kind. “There were times last weekend when I thought Hans Christian Andersen had come back from the dead,” he said, pointedly.
If a few fairy tales have been told, it is equally true to suggest that there is dirty work afoot in the forest. In human terms? This has yet to be decided, but the phrases used by the chairman and chief executive of the Rugby Football Union yesterday – “fourth place is unacceptable”, “the issues we’re addressing are both serious and complicated”, “the problems we face will not be solved by money alone” – indicated that heads are on the block. The precise degree of fall-out from England’s second successive misfire in the Six Nations Championship is beginning to emerge.
In financial terms, the cost is being calculated at a cool £1m. Gregory is the former Great Britain captain, described at his tribunal as “a national hero” and scorer of what is perhaps the most famous try of the modern era. He won 20 caps for his country, the most memorable of them in the third Test in Sydney in 1988, when his score from long range clinched the first British victory over Australia in a decade.. With Danny Orr facing several weeks out after tearing knee ligaments at Bradford on Friday, Ian Millward has promoted the 18-year-old Eamon O’Carroll for his debut at Belle Vue.. From Mike Gregory’s front doorstep on the outskirts of Wigan, you can almost see the JJB Stadium, home to a sporting institution of which, despite the settlement he reached with them at an employment tribunal last week, he still takes a very mixed view.
Wigan’s growing injury toll will force them to field another untried teenager against Wakefield in the Challenge Cup on Sunday. However, with the five dissenting companies – BMW, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes and Renault – confirming their entry for the 2008 world championship on Monday, those talks now appear to be a formality.. “We look forward to working with Bernie Ecclestone and his team to further develop and grow the business,” said CVC’s Donald Mackenzie.Alpha Prema’s first task as Formula One’s commercial rights holder will be to agree a deal with the manufacturers and avoid a breakaway championship. Alpha Prema, a new company and subsidiary of CVC, will now control Formula One’s commercial rights after completing a buy-out of the SLEC holding company, which was previously owned by Bernie Ecclestone and the Bavarian bank BayernLB.
Ecclestone is expected to remain at the helm of the business as chief executive, while his family trust, Bambino Holdings, will retain an unspecified stake. The EU’s stipulation came because of concerns that having one parent company controlling both Formula One and MotoGP rights might reduce competition in the sale of television rights in Spain and Italy, where both championships attract big audiences.
