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Italy's Sebastian Negri has apologised after his tackle left England flanker Jack Willis facing the prospect of a long spell on the sidelines.

Willis' leg buckled awkwardly after Negri pulled him out of a ruck in the second half of England's 41-18 victory.

The Wasps back row, who moments earlier had scored the fifth of his team's six tries, cried out in pain and was driven from the field on a medical cart.

Willis, 24, is having scans to assess the extent of the damage to his knee.

It appeared Negri used a move known as a 'crocodile roll' - a sometimes controversial method of clearing out players from a ruck.

It is not illegal as long as it does not involve a tackle around the neck, and no action was taken against Negri.

"A quick message to Jack Willis. So sorry about what happened yesterday," Negri said on Twitter.

"Just horrible and never nice to see. Myself and all the @Federugby boys are wishing you all the best.

"I hope to see you back on the field again soon. Take care and we all know you will be back stronger."

Willis, the current Premiership player of the season, broke into the England team last autumn having battled back from previous knee and ankle issues.

"It's one of those, it's quite emotional," said Wasps head coach Lee Blackett.

"We have seen Jack, for the last few years, come back from his last one, just on the verge of England, then gets himself in this time, and it looked a nasty one. We'll know more come today [Sunday]."

Captain Stuart Hogg has vowed there will be no repeat of the ill-discipline that cost Scotland dear against Wales.

Gregor Townsend's side conceded just six penalties when opening the Six Nations with a first win over England at Twickenham since 1983.

But they almost doubled that tally against the Welsh and lost Zander Fagerson to a red card in a 25-24 loss at Murrayfield on Saturday.

"We'll be much better prepared for the France game in two weeks," said Hogg.

"It's little things that are costing us. But the pleasing thing is we know exactly where we're going wrong. There's been times in the past where we've made mistakes and keep making them, whereas now I believe that's a one-off in our ill-discipline.

"For long periods of the game we were very much in control. We were playing in the right areas and causing Wales problems.

"I fully believe we can go across to France and win."

Scotland last won in Paris in 1999.

Seeking a fifth successive victory in the championship for the first time since 1984, Scotland got off to the perfect start against Wales, with Hogg touching down after Darcy Graham's opening try.

But Wales responded through Louis Rees-Zammit and Liam Williams and were within two points when Fagerson was sent off for a dangerous clearout.

Hogg added his second try to restore the home lead after a Wyn Jones score but Rees-Zammit won the game with a brilliant solo effort.

Despite being a man down for almost half an hour, Scotland were always in the contest and could have snatched it in stoppage time had Hogg received a better pass from Duhan van der Merwe as the charging winger was tackled.

"That just shows the character within the squad and the ability that we've got," said the captain.

"We challenge ourselves daily to get the best out of each other - you see how much we're enjoying it being out on the field.

"Yes, it didn't quite go to plan at times, but that's something we can learn from and improve on, and we'll get excited about the next challenge in a couple of weeks against France."

Will Manufacturers Help Decide The Daytona 500?

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 08:00

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After a week of preparation, drivers will strap into NASCAR Cup Series race cars Sunday afternoon and kick off the season with stock car racing’s biggest event, the Daytona 500.

The storylines surrounding the 63rd running of The Great American Race at Daytona Int’l Speedway are almost too numerous to count.

New ownership by internationally-known superstars will debut in the Cup Series, headlined by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Grammy Award-winning rapper Pitbull, who will debut as co-owners for 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing Team, respectively.

Denny Hamlin will chase his record-setting third consecutive Daytona 500 victory, trying to tie Cale Yarborough for second on the list of all-time wins in the historic event with his fourth win overall. Richard Petty won seven Daytona 500s.

Austin Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 winner, will try to deliver a Daytona 500 triumph for Richard Childress Racing 20 years after the team left Daytona Beach mourning the death of seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt.

And Kyle Larson will make his highly-publicized return to NASCAR Cup Series racing with Hendrick Motorsports, 10 months after the use of a racial slur in a streamed esports event cost him his job with Chip Ganassi Racing and led to Larson putting together a season for the ages in dirt-track competition.

But through all the storylines that have been talked about ad nauseam during Daytona Speedweeks, one topic has flown under the radar that may well decide the winner of the iconic Harley J. Earl Trophy: manufacturer alliances.

Like it has for nearly the past decade, team and manufacturer alignments are expected to play a pivotal part in the outcome of the Daytona 500, with Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota competition officials all meeting with their drivers during the week and devising plans for success on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

It’s a strategy that first reached major prominence in 2016, when Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing’s Toyota teams dominated the closing laps of The Great American Race before settling the final lap among themselves, with Hamlin beating Martin Truex Jr. in a photo finish for his first 500 win.

Ever since, Cup Series drivers have heard the mantra, “Help the brand you drive for,” preached time and time again during the lead-up to the four superspeedway races on the calendar.

However, that line takes on even more meaning on race day for the Daytona 500, which has annually paid out more than $1 million to the winner and made legends of the drivers who have parked in victory lane.

Toyota-backed young gun Christopher Bell has been with the marque for his entire professional career in motorsports, and believes the Toyotas in the field will “try to stick together” when they can.

“I think it’s going to be a big part of what you see on Sunday, but I think when it gets to the end of the race, we’re going to all be out for each other and trying to get to victory lane ourselves,” noted Bell. “There’s no doubt that sticking together as a team will help us out the course of the race and keep us up front a little bit, but it’s not going to solely be what decides the outcome, I don’t think.”

Bell knows the numbers aren’t necessarily in Toyota’s favor, with only five Camrys in the field compared to 18 Chevrolet Camaros and 17 Ford Mustangs, but he’s hopeful that won’t matter as much “when it’s every man for themselves” coming toward the checkered flag.

“The numbers don’t work in our favor. We only have five cars in the field, so we don’t have a lot of depth, but I do think we have a lot of strength,” Bell said. “We saw that through practice in the draft, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the 500. The biggest thing for me is going to be trying to finish the race and get all the way to the checkered flag this time (after crashing out last year).”

To continue reading, advance to the next page.

PHOTOS: 63rd Daytona 500 Starting Lineup

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 09:00

Against The Odds: Hamlin Seeks Daytona 500 History

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 10:00

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two-time defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin will be pursuing history when the 63rd running of The Great American Race kicks off at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Hamlin, who is chasing his fourth Daytona 500 triumph overall, is seeking to become the first driver to win three consecutive Daytona 500s.

Hamlin joined an elite club of back-to-back winners of the Daytona 500 with his second victory in a row last February, joining Richard Petty (1973-’74), Cale Yarborough (1983-’84), and Sterling Marlin (1994-’95) in that exclusive category.

But a third-straight win Sunday would place Hamlin in a class all his own, and he knows it’s an important moment.

“This is a big opportunity for us, for my team and for myself personally; I never would have imagined that we’d be in this position by any means, especially five years ago when we didn’t have any (Daytona 500 wins),” said Hamlin. “I always think, in these situations and anytime you get asked, about all the ones that slipped away that I had in control and didn’t make the right decision at the end to finish it off.

“(A third consecutive victory) would be by far the biggest victory of my career and one that I probably wouldn’t exchange for anything.”

Though Hamlin recognizes there is an element of luck involved in winning multiple superspeedway-style races in the NASCAR Cup Series, he’s also “extremely proud” that his team is even in position to achieve the coveted three-peat. In Hamlin’s estimation, winning the Daytona 500 is tougher than ever before.

“I find the most pride in where we are right now because I think it’s harder than it has been in history,” said Hamlin of winning the Daytona 500. “I mean, go back and watch races from 2004, 2005 … there were just five or six superior cars that could pull away from the pack, or they just were better. The cars were strung out more, the wrecks weren’t as big and you didn’t have as much attrition as what you have now. It’s harder. It is truly, in my mind, harder to win the Daytona 500 now because the field is closer. The chances of getting in wrecks are higher and everyone’s car is so close. It’s very, very difficult.

“I just think that it is a skill game, but sometimes you get unlucky in that skill game. And I think that there are a lot of guys that are very, very good on the superspeedways that just have been very, very unlucky in the last few years,” Hamlin continued. “We’ve been fortunate, we’ve been on the other side of it. That hammer hasn’t hit on us yet, but I mean, we could break out of the next five Daytona 500s. You just don’t know, right? We’ve been fortunate, but it’s still, in the end, a skill game and making sure you’re putting yourself in the right position.

“I take a lot of pride in what we’ve done. I really do. It’s definitely not by chance or by accident.”

Hamlin is the oddsmakers’ favorite to win Sunday’s Daytona 500, coming in at 8-1 via BetOnline.

Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion, joked that if you’re bringing odds into the conversation, Hamlin should take his Daytona 500 success and make a trip to the casino with it.

“Just to be running at the end is pretty impressive in two straight (Daytona 500s),” Keselowski said. “The odds — you probably have about a 25 percent chance of just being alive at the finish of the race, so if you multiply 25 by 25 … you have about a six percent chance of being running at two consecutive Daytona races, let alone winning those races. It would be a heck of a turn on any kind of card table, but he’s been able to pull it off.

“Much credit to him. He’s a good racer,” added Keselowski of Hamlin. “Surviving is the most important thing, and then once you survive, you have to capitalize, and the fact that he’s been able to survive is really pretty amazing.”

Denny Hamlin (11) leads Bubba Wallace during practice for the 63rd Daytona 500. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR photo)

Though most of practice Saturday was rained out, Hamlin felt good about his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry during drafting runs Wednesday afternoon, even though he finished a disappointing 13th in his Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying race on Thursday night.

Hamlin will line up 25th, hoping it’s his time to write a new page in the record books at the World Center of Racing.

“It took about two laps of practice before I was like, ‘Wow, this car is doing a lot of really good things,’” Hamlin noted. “Even though I’ve run in a straight line with my teammates (in past years), there have been times where I couldn’t get to the person in front of me or I couldn’t get the person behind me close. It seemed like my car this week was able to do that right away. With that said, I’m very excited about it and the possibilities.

“I’ve said before that superspeedway racing is a skill game, but sometimes you get unlucky. We just hope to not get unlucky and at least give ourselves a shot at the end,” Hamlin added. “You just hope that, when it matters, you make the right decisions. Sometimes your fate is out of your hands and you get unlucky, but I feel we’re in a really good place and I like where my car is at going into this race.”

The 63rd Daytona 500 goes green at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, with live coverage on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Real Madrid leapfrog Barca with Valencia win

Published in Soccer
Sunday, 14 February 2021 10:25

Real Madrid moved into second place in La Liga with a 2-0 victory at home to Valencia on Sunday.

Karim Benzema, captain for the day, put Madrid ahead after 12 minutes before before Toni Kroos doubled the advantage just before half time at Valdebebas. Ferland Mendy thought he had made it 3-0 just after the hour mark but it was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

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Victory for Zinedine Zidane's men was enough for them to leapfrog Barcelona, who hammered Alaves 5-1 on Saturday, with Madrid gaining some momentum ahead of their Champions League clash against Atalanta at the end of the month. Leaders Atletico Madrid are five points clear and with two games in hand on Zidane's side.

The only negative from the afternoon came when Dani Carvajal limped off with an apparent hamstring injury.

With Atleti, Barcelona and Sevilla all on relentless runs of form, Kroos said Real could not afford to drop any more points if they wanted to keep up with the pacesetters.

"The others just keep on winning so we have to try and do the same. If we want to have any chance of staying at the top we have to win all our games," he said.

"Every game we play we always try to win that's all we can do, it's what everyone else is doing so we have to try and do it too. We're worried about the injuries as we're missing some very important players but there's not much we can do about it."

Real were without seven players due to fitness issues and midway through the first half they lost Carvajal to yet another injury on his return to action, taking the total number of injured defenders in their squad to five.

Yet even without some of their most influential players, including Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard, they proved far too strong for Valencia, who had to make do without coach Javi Gracia on the sidelines due to a touchline ban.

The visitors missed their coach's presence as they played with barely any urgency or ambition, particularly in a lifeless first half in which they failed to register a shot on goal.

"We're left with a terrible feeling as we gave away the first half," said Valencia captain Jose Gaya, whose side thrashed Real 4-1 at home earlier in the campaign.

"It's not the first time this has happened this season and if we don't improve we won't get the results we need. We were better in the second half but overall we didn't show the intensity a game like this demands. We made it too easy for them."

WEST BROMWICH, England -- It took 83 seconds for West Bromwich Albion to show why Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants -- and Manchester United need -- a new centre-back.

Conor Gallagher swung in a hopeful cross from the right and Mbaye Diagne barrelled through Victor Lindelof to head past goalkeeper David De Gea. De Gea might have come for the cross, and Diagne was all over Lindelof, but it was a frighteningly easy way for West Brom, the lowest scorers in the Premier League, to breach Manchester United's defence.

It was the 31st goal Solskjaer's team have conceded in the league this season, ranking 12th in that category. It set up a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns on Sunday, as United have now dropped nine points in their last five games.

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"It's something we knew would happen from the kick-off. We knew they'd put us under pressure and put in a few throw-ins," said Solskjaer. "They put a cross in, and [Diagne] finished well. We should play better, but we gave ourselves a tough start. You have 90 minutes to make amends, but we didn't build that momentum until late in the first half."

There is a lot to like about Solskjaer's side -- in particular, the resilience they show to battle back from losing positions so often -- but not their tendency to defend as if keen to make every game as difficult as possible.

Since the turn of the year, they have shot themselves in the foot against Sheffield United, Everton and West Brom, allowing Manchester City to open up a seven-point lead at the top. If City continue their imperious run of form, which already stands at 16 straight wins, Solskjaer's focus will soon turn to how he's going to bridge the gap.

He can be buoyed by the fact that United have made suitable progress, even going top of the league for a spell in January, and that in Bruno Fernandes -- who scored a spectacular equaliser at the end of the first half -- he has one of the most effective attacking midfielders in Europe. Yet they need to make up ground somewhere if the wait for a title is going to end under Solskjaer's watch, and the goals against column would suggest central defence is an area that could be upgraded.

Solskjaer has invested heavily in Harry Maguire and already made him captain, but if the debate is about who should be his long-term partner, it was not an afternoon that saw Lindelof do much to push his case. The Sweden international will perhaps feel he was fouled by Diagne for West Brom's opener, but he should have been stronger, and the striker on loan from Galatasaray was the only one who looked determined to win Gallagher's cross.

Lindelof struggled with Diagne throughout the 90 minutes and after being penalised for one clumsy foul on the halfway line, Solskjaer raced to the edge of his technical area to shout: "Victor, think!" It might have been worse for Lindelof late on, when he was wrestled out of the way by Diagne, who got on the end of Conor Townsend's cross, but couldn't force it in.

In the end, Solskjaer will feel United should have won -- particularly after Sam Johnstone's wonderful save to tip Maguire's late header onto the post -- but instead, they paid a high price for a sloppy moment with barely two minutes on the clock. By contrast, the winning run to put Man City in pole position to lift the title has been built on a defence that's conceded just two league goals in 2021. Pep Guardiola has benefited from the investment in Ruben Dias in the summer and Solskjaer should be thinking along similar lines.

"I didn't feel we created enough big moments to score the goals," said Solskjaer.

"We did get down the sides, but maybe the cross or the positioning or the movement wasn't there. We didn't have big moments where you thought that should have been a goal even though the ball was in their last third all the time. It is disappointing, of course. We have come away with two points less than we wanted to. The start was difficult."

Man City will stretch their lead to 10 points before United play again if they can beat Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday. Solskjaer is not ready to concede the title just yet, but the truth is that next season may present a better opportunity if continued progress can be married with the right players, including a new centre-back, coming in this summer.

"It's a compliment for the boys that we got into the position we are now," said the Norwegian. "We won't let [Manchester City] run away with it -- we're playing them soon. We're not giving it away early, no we're not."

Arsenal survive Leeds scare with Auba hat trick

Published in Soccer
Sunday, 14 February 2021 10:27

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his first Premier League hat trick to guide his side to a 4-2 win against Leeds United at the Emirates on Sunday.

Hector Bellerin scored his first goal since January 2020 to bring it to four but Arsenal nerves were on edge as Leeds United claimed back two second half goals through Pascal Struijk and Helder Costa.

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Aubameyang's skills were on show for his first goal on 13 minutes as he confused the Leeds United defence with his footwork before getting his shot away into the bottom left corner.

Stuart Attwell awarded Arsenal a penalty on 34 minutes after Buyako Saka was brought down under a clumsy Liam Cooper challenge.

However, VAR asked Attwell to go back and look at the challenge and it was rescinded as the referee found Saka went down too easily, much to the ire of Mikel Arteta and his team.

Leeds United didn't learn from their early let off though and barely five minutes later Illan Meslier brought Saka down in the box and Attwell awarded a penalty.

Aubameyang made no mistake with his strike and scored his 200th European league goal.

Arsenal's third came from poor defending in the Leeds box which allowed the London side to pass the ball around until Dani Ceballos found Bellerin who hammered a low ball past Meslier.

One of the few bright spots in Arsenal's season has been the revelation of Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe and both teamed up for Aubameyang's third goal with Saka charging down the pitch before Smith-Rowe floated a ball into the box which the skipper headed into the net.

Leeds United continued to search for a goal, however, and Struijk found the opening on 58 minutes when he jumped above David Luiz to guide the ball past Bernd Leno.

Their second came on 69 minutes as Costa was left in too much space and fired in a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner.

Mominul Haque knows that winning and losing a game for Bangladesh produces two very different types of reactions. It was all very calm when Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe last year, but after West Indies blanked them 2-0 in their backyard, he knew "a lot of things won't be in your favour and a lot of things will come out".

One of those is a public tongue-lashing from Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, shortly after the 17-run defeat against West Indies in Dhaka. Previous captains have endured such dressing downs, in both public and private, and this was no different. Hassan slammed the captain and coach for the decisions they took, one of which was the selection of Soumya Sarkar from outside the squad, to replace the injured Shakib Al Hasan.

Hassan, who often gets involved in the minutiae of running the Bangladesh team, said that Sarkar was his fourth choice.

"When Shakib was injured, I had [board directors] Akram [Khan], [Khaled Mahmud] Sujon, [Ismail Haider] Mallick, [chief selector Minhajul Abedin] Nannu and [selector Habibul Bashar] Sumon in front of me," Hassan said. "I gave them four or five options. My first choice was Mahmudullah Riyad, and then Mosaddek [Hossain], Mahedi [Hasan] and the fourth option was Soumya [Sarkar]. They [captain Haque and coach Russell Domingo] selected Soumya.

"I still went ahead and personally called Mahmudullah, who told me he had back pain. Mosaddek was in Abu Dhabi. We tried, but they [Haque and Domingo] had only one choice. They didn't mention any other names."

Haque said they needed an allrounder in place of Shakib. "Shakib bhai's absence threw off our combination. I needed a batsman who could bowl medium-pace.

"I went with Soumya because he is an experienced player, and has been playing ODIs recently too. These things come up when you lose a game, and it would have been a different story if we had won."

Sarkar's selection was just one of many topics that Hassan criticised the Bangladesh team for. He also took offence about Taijul Islam saying after the third day of the first Test that a lead of 250 was good enough on that pitch. Bangladesh, though, set West Indies a target of 395, which they chased down with three wickets in hand.

"We are not going to make abrupt changes but we can't let this happen," Hassan said. "Definitely it is time to look into these things. Look, we can lose a Test but we cannot just declare that a 250-lead is enough to beat a visiting side.

"We couldn't defend 395, and a batsman went on to score a double-hundred on the fifth day. These are unacceptable. We bowled poorly, no doubt."

Hassan sounded ticked off by the spin strategy as well, and said the team management should have picked a second seamer for the Dhaka Test.

"Since the Afghanistan Test [in 2019], all I have heard is spinning wicket. Recently our pacers did well in the domestic tournament. We have a number of pacers. But we didn't play the pacers. We took five pacers, closed down any room for an allrounder but we played only one pacer. Why did we then take these pacers?"

Hassan said that there is a detachment between the Bangladesh team and him due to their bio-secure bubble. He took exception to the fact that Haque and Domingo, the captain and coach, had taken all the team decisions during this series. Pre Covid-19 and bio bubbles, Hassan and some of the board directors typically stayed with the team management during home and away series.

"The decision-makers are the captain and the coach. We are not part of it. We will seek answers from all of them, not just the captain and the coach. I must know whether they [Bangladesh's team management] had a team meeting before today's play. My hands are tied due to the bio-secure bubble. I am totally handicapped.

"After a game, I am usually entering their dressing room at this time, or sit in their team hotel. I haven't been able to interact with them. We only had one Zoom meeting with the full team but that's not enough to know what's going on. I asked Akram what the plan is. He says he doesn't know. The selectors don't know. We are not inside the bubble. We have to know what happened before I can tell you anything."

He called the lack of access he had "intolerable" and warned about a "message" being given to the team.

"I cannot give you any more details but I want to tell you that we tried. Now we have to know what's happening, as it is becoming intolerable. There's however very little time since we are heading to New Zealand, and then a week after New Zealand we are going to Sri Lanka. We cannot make a lot of tumult in this short time but the message will be given."

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

Owen Farrell is an England great but right now it is as if he does not fit in the side's attacking structure.

Whatever is going on in his rugby life, he is under pressure. You could see it at times when he was talking to the referee.

Farrell was scrapping, fighting and was lucky he was not punished for a late tackle on Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney.

He is on the edge. He will not like it, but we have all been there and it has got to be recognised by selection.

It does not mean Farrell is not going to be a world-class player, but there just needs to be a bit of coaching and training - maybe away from the side. Something needs to happen, because it is holding England back.

There were moments when he was not sharp, dropping the ball or knocking it on. That may be because he has not been playing while Saracens wait for the Championship to begin.

You do not lose your world-class status and talent because of a couple of poor games, but it has been an extended period where he has not been lighting it up.

Against Italy, you had fly-half George Ford zipping around, the ball was getting moved really quickly but 12 - where Farrell played against Italy - is a real problem for England.

There is not that link to the outside backs, so everything becomes very lateral and there are no decoys or threat to hold the defence.

When play breaks up, you had the brilliance of Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Henry Slade - the real threats for England - but the ball has got to get to them.

Eddie Jones has not found the 12 who can get the ball to where the space is quickly. Is Jones ever going to try Ford and Ollie Lawrence at 10 and 12?

Is Paolo Odogwu, who has been called into the England squad but not yet capped, going to get a chance? Do you put Slade at 12 instead of 13 and give him that playmaking role?

Jones could easily have rested Farrell this week, saying he had a knock and wanted his captain fit for the Wales game in two weeks. It would have been a bit of a story but you could probably have got away with it because it was Italy.

Now if they do not include him against Wales - which is not going to happen, he is going to play - it is such a big game that it would be massive news.

'I am not convinced by England's attack coaching'

England had so many opportunities against Italy but they made hard work of it. There does not seem to be an attacking instinct about them.

A lot of the time their tries and line breaks came from forwards who were offloading - Courtney Lawes, Kyle Sinckler and Maro Itoje - or there was a bit of brilliance from Watson.

England do not seem to be able to run the lines and fool the opposition so that there is a lovely clean line break. They seem to be quite predictable.

I am not convinced they are being coached well enough in their sessions day to day. They have got attack coach Simon Amor, who was a world-class sevens player and no doubt has a fantastic ability to coach skills.

Does he have the knowledge to be coaching a team how to play 15-a-side attacking rugby at this level? I am yet to be convinced of that.

We have been told we are going to see an attacking side now and England have changed their emphasis to attack.

Every single team practises both defence and attack and England have made a meal out of it. I find it nonsense.

England want to be the greatest team of all time. How on earth do they think they are going to be the greatest team of all time if they have not been practising their attack? That does not make sense to me.

France, Wales and Scotland - teams that do all their attack and defence in training - are hitting their straps in this Six Nations. They understand their running lines and have moves to break teams down.

It is all connected and they are in sync with one another. England do not look in sync. I am hoping that is going to progress over the next couple of weeks - but England have been slow out of the blocks.

'It is moving towards an epic Six Nations'

After the fallow week, defending champions England go to Wales, who claimed victory against Scotland in a seven-try thriller. If England win, their title hopes will be revived after the opening Calcutta Cup loss.

It is moving towards an epic Six Nations and, despite my reservations about them, it is actually pretty much in England's hands. If they beat France and Ireland too, it will go down to bonus points or points difference.

I have not changed my mind about Italy's place in the competition. The Azzurri's performance against England was one of the best I have seen from Franco Smith's side, because they look structured and threatening at times.

But the fact remains the score was 41-18 - and it is their 29th Six Nations loss in a row.

There are a couple of nations who, if they were given financial support and a leg up into a tier-one tournament like the Six Nations, they would be competitive after 20 years.

I will not start thinking Italy deserve their place until they start winning.

Matt Dawson was speaking to BBC Sport's Becky Grey.

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EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSome of the NBA's greatest talents were raised not too far from the...

Baseball

Follow live: Royals, Yankees meet in the Bronx for ALDS Game 2

Follow live: Royals, Yankees meet in the Bronx for ALDS Game 2

Carpenter's 3-run homer off Clase sends gritty Tigers to 3-0 win over Guardians in Game 2 of ALDS Ke...

Slumping Bohm back in Phillies lineup for Game 3

Slumping Bohm back in Phillies lineup for Game 3

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- Slumping third baseman Alec Bohm will be back in the Ph...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

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