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Knocking over France, the only other unbeaten team in the Six Nations, is the toughest assignment in northern hemisphere rugby and with their coach Marc Lievremont stoking up the anti-English feeling, this is a job for fearless characters.

That is why Moody's return looks certain when Martin Johnson names his side for Twickenham on Thursday with the team manager knowing the flanker is equipped to take the fight to the French and their formidable back row in particular.

After five weeks out with a knee injury, Moody made his comeback on Saturday, playing for 23 minutes of Bath's 38-8 hammering of Northampton.

He said: "It was a little bit stiff after the game but I didn't feel the knee during it, which was good. Fingers crossed, we've got through everything.

"Full credit to the physios, who put up with my whingeing and shouting at them over the last five weeks. They worked like stink. I've said all along I wanted to be back for this French game. We said it was a realistic target, so we've all been proved right at the minute.

"We will see what happens, but it is just nice to be fit. It has been wonderful to see the boys do so well so far in the Six Nations.

"Mike Tindall has done a cracking job as captain and the guys who have come in have stuck their hands up, which bodes well in a World Cup year. But it has also been soul-destroying for me. I am a terrible spectator and I have found it difficult."

Leicester flanker Tom Croft also made a comeback as a replacement in Leicester's 21-12 win over London Wasps but will have to wait longer for his recall as Tom Wood deserves to retain the No6 jersey.

France, who kept up their Grand Slam bid with a 25-22 win over Ireland eight days ago, rested all of their players at the weekend and left it to Lievremont to set the tone for the week.

"Well we don't like them [the English], and it's better to say that than be hypocritical," he said smiling.

"We have a bit of trouble with the English. We respect them, well in my case at least I respect them but you couldn't say we have the slightest thing in common with them. We appreciate our Italian cousins with whom we share the same quality of life, we appreciate the Celts and their conviviality . . . and then among all these nations we have one huge thing in common: we don't like the English!

"We left Dublin last week with the encouragement of all the Irish who said 'for pity's sake, beat the English'. The Scots, it's the same thing. It is also what gives you strength against the English, more than just because of rugby.

"This insular country who always drape themselves in the national flag, their hymns, their chants, their traditions. They are people who one regards as a very proud people."

Those observations will add spice to the build-up and ensure little attention is focussed on the battle for the ascendancy in the Aviva Premiership.

Saracens defeated Leeds 39-0 yesterday and stand second just five points behind Leicester courtesy of tries from Michael Tagicakibau, Brad Barritt, James Short, Richard Wigglesworth and Chris Wyles.

Despite this attacking power, it was another area of Saracens' play that really pleased director of rugby, Mark McCall.

"It was important to us to do a very professional job in this game," he said. "Our defence was critical, as we discussed all week, and we were determined to take it to a new level. A lot of our points and our pressure actually came from our defence, which was as good as I have seen it."

Former England skipper Steve Borthwick made his return after a month out with a shoulder injury. McCall added: "His experience in the second row and leadership are very important to us."

London Irish went down 23-9 at Gloucester while Harlequins bounced back from defeat at Exeter to beat visitors Sale 21-9.

Labels: England, fired, Lewis, London, Moody, torment

The 32-year-old has taken over the captaincy during Tests but has had to wait until his 67th cap to have the honour from the start.

Tindall had been vying with Harlequins No8 Nick Easter for the job after regular skipper Lewis Moody was ruled out of the first three matches of the championship with a knee injury.

Although Martin Johnson today gave Tindall the nod for the Millennium Stadium he expects Easter to marshal the pack and inexperienced scrum-half Ben Youngs.

"Nick will do a good job leading the forwards, he's closer in to the play there and will give us direction with Ben and Toby [Flood] at 10," said the team manager. "Mike's a good captain, very experienced, but if he's not there we've got Nick, Louis Deacon, who's had a real good week as well - it's good to have him back and in good form."

Leicester lock Deacon has come in for Courtney Lawes, who has a knee injury, and is one of three changes to the side defeated 21-11 by South Africa in November.

The others are at flanker with Moody's open-side slot going to Stade Francais' James Haskell. Hendre Fourie had been earmarked for the No7 role but the Leeds man has been troubled by a calf injury in recent weeks.

Tom Wood will win his first cap after being handed the No6 shirt ahead of the experienced Joe Worsley. The 24-year-old was not in the original 33-man squad but has been promoted from the Saxons straight into the XV because he offers a genuine line-out option, something England lack with the absence of Tom Croft, who broke his shoulder against the Springboks.

Wood is in his first year with Heineken Cup quarter-finalists Northampton after three seasons at Worcester.

Johnson said: "Would Tom have got there with all the guys fit? He probably wouldn't, but he's worth a look and worth his place. The way he's playing, most importantly, with his club, is pretty impressive.

"It's not great to have guys injured but great to get Tom on the field in a big-time Test match. He's 24, so he's not in his first year of it, he's got a bit of experience.

"Tom's good in the breakdown, even though he's an aerial player, Louis is also a good all-round player, very good at the breakdown and very good organisationally in the line-out, so I think we're fine. We've got good carrying ability in that back five as well with James coming in, all those back-row guys are slightly different and it is a good combination we've got."

In a move that highlights England's tactics, the bench includes Bath back Matt Banahan, who will cover centre, wing and full-back and will be expected to bring his highly muscular play to the part at some point in Cardiff.

Dylan Hartley is at hooker which puts him in the eye of a potential storm as he has been singled out for criticism by Wales coach Warren Gatland after incidents during Northampton's recent match with Cardiff Blues. Jonny Wilkinson, injured during the autumn Tests, is recalled to the bench where he joins Simon Shaw, Steve Thompson and Worsley, giving Johnson four World Cup winners to call upon.

Talk of this autumn's World Cup has featured prominently in the build-up to the game but Johnson is refusing to look too far ahead.

He said: "Regardless of what's happening later in the year - we all know about that - this is still a big game."

Gatland also announced his match-squad today and has gone for James Hook at full-back rather than fellow Lion Lee Byrne, who features among the replacements.

Gatland has paired Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies together in midfield, with Scarlets wing Morgan Stoddart wearing the No14 shirt that was destined for Leigh Halfpenny until he injured his ankle in training two days ago.

As expected, Ospreys props Paul James and Craig Mitchell fill the vacancies created by injured Lions Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones, while London Wasps' Andy Powell packs down at No8.

Labels: captaincy, Easter, fight, London, still, Tindall

Jessica Ennis wrinkles up her face and laughs at the suggestion that she is the poster girl for London 2012. "I don't even really know what that means," she says. "It just kind of started sprouting up everywhere, that phrase, I suppose after the two good years I've had." The 25-year-old heptathlete who, juggernaut-like, won three major titles – world indoor and outdoor champion and European champion – in just 18 months following her return from a horrific career-threatening injury in 2008, is typically understated.

"It's not just me on my own doing the Olympics," she says with a squirm, "there are so many other people – Tom Daley and Rebecca Adlington – all those people who did brilliant things in the last Olympics and I think next year that's when all those faces will start getting thrown around and everyone will start looking at different people more. So although right now it's quite hyped up I don't think it will be that way next year. I hope."

With 2012 just around the corner Ennis is asked the same questions nearly every week – does she feel pressure? How will she cope? What is it like to be the face of these historic Games? She shrugs. Ennis, the girl next door from Sheffield, is not one to dwell on such things.

Still, doesn't she sometimes wish that Britain's only other world champion athlete – triple jumper Phillips Idowu who actually hails from Hackney, one of the five Olympic boroughs – would share the load as the face of the Games? "Yeah, come on Phil!" says Ennis, giggling, "pull your finger out! Get that face plastered round a bit more! Actually it's really weird," she says. "We've virtually achieved the same things – in fact he's achieved more than me with a silver medal at the Olympics."

Idowu's silver medal was won in Beijing, and it is easy to forget that Ennis, so accomplished and now so indelibly linked to the London Games, has never actually been to an Olympic Games before. "It is really weird. People talk to me as though I've been to an Olympics and experienced it but I haven't. It will be all new to me but I'm hoping that my experiences from other competitions, like the world championships and the Commonwealth Games will help."

Ennis was offered the chance to fly out to Beijing while recovering from the injury to her right foot, but in the end she decided not to go. "I just thought: no chance. It would have been unbearable with the injury, just to be hobbling around watching everyone else compete when I could have been a part of it so I turned that down." Instead she watched the heptathlon from her sofa at home in Sheffield, her foot in a protective boot, desperately trying not to dwell on what might have been. "I did feel upset, but I think by that point I was over it, I had moved on. There was no way I was going to be in Beijing and I'd had the whole [experience of] being upset about it already. I just wanted to watch it and then I wanted it to be over so that I could move on."

To combat the pressure of being the home favourite it has been suggested that Ennis speak to athletes who have been in a similar position such as Australia's Cathy Freeman who won 400m gold at the Sydney Games, and the Swedish heptathlon legend Carolina Kluft who won gold at the 2006 European championships in Gothenburg. Ennis hums thoughtfully at the suggestion, but although she wouldn't turn the opportunities down it is clear that she has her own ideas about how to approach a home Games.

"I think I am on my own path," she says resolutely. "It's nice to speak to people who have experiences of similar situations but at the same time I feel that I have to do it for myself, it's my own journey and I will learn from my own experiences. Of course little bits of advice help along the way, but at the end of the day I have to try and do it for myself. I have to try and get myself through it."

Her response sums up the single-mindedness of an athlete her predecessor, the heptathlete Kelly Sotherton, once dismissed with the nickname "tadpole". At five foot five inches Ennis is indeed tiny, especially when set against the enormous frame of the current Olympic champion, Nataliya Dobrynska, but her determination marks her out as unique and – so far – indomitable. Ennis appears to achieve the impossible – despite her tiny size she jointly holds the British record in the high jump at 1.95m – a whopping 30cm higher than her own height, a leap ratio which only six other high jumpers in the world have ever pulled off.

Ennis admits that she struggles to recall much about past Olympic Games. "I think I have a lot of false memories, thinking I've seen Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell run in Barcelona, when actually I've just seen videos of them later on. The first Games that I remember properly is Sydney in 2000."

By then Ennis had already begun competing in the heptathlon and, naturally, it was Denise Lewis's gold medal-winning performance in Sydney that captured her imagination. "She was taped up and really struggling and still managed to come out on top and win. I've got a real appreciation for how much mental strength she had to get through that.

"To be able to pull yourself together, push the pain to the back of your mind and go on to the next event, that's something really special. When she ran the 800m she was taped up on the start line and she just gritted her teeth and got through it, and I know how hard that event is even when you're not carrying an injury. That moment when she crosses the line and realises she's won gives me goosebumps, especially now I know what that feels like."

This year Ennis will concentrate on winning a European indoor title in March, before going on to defend her world title in Daegu, South Korea, this summer. But if Ennis had to choose between two world championship titles and an Olympic gold medal, which would she go for?

Without hesitation she answers. "The Olympic gold medal, especially with a home Olympics. It's just more special, isn't it?"

The suspense ahead of the Games must be unbearable, how will she get through the next 18 months? "Oh this year will fly by. It's going to be really busy…especially with me so preoccupied with being the face of 2012."

Ennis descends into a fit of giggles.

With that level head on her shoulders she will manage it just fine.

Labels: Ennis, Guardian, Jessica, London, smiling

By Sportsbeat staff

THE curtain raiser to next year's Premier League season will kick-off on the final day of the London 2012 Olympics - but a compromise has kept the match out of the capital.

CLASH: The 2012 Community Shield will be staged during the Olympics - but it won't be played at Wembley (Reuters)

A condition of London 2012's host city contract with the International Olympic Committee forces organisers to work with other sporting bodies to ensure the Games takes place in an uncluttered calendar.

Organising committee chief executive Paul Deighton had already negotiated for the FA Premier League season to start one week later than usual but it appeared there was no other way to accommodate the annual Community Shield, between the top flight champions and FA Cup winners.

It was suggested the match could be played one or two days after the Olympics conclude but feedback from clubs suggested they wanted more time between the fixture and their opening league games on Sunday August 19th.

Wembley will stage the final of the Olympic men's football tournament on Saturday August 11th and therefore won't be available to stage showpiece curtain raiser.

Football Association officials had considered taking the match aboard but again there was opposition from the majority of teams consulted - who all wanted the game played on Sunday August 12th.

Manchester's Old Trafford - which will host a men's Olympic semi-final five days earlier - is considered the frontrunner to stage the game, although Manchester United have featured in 14 of the last 18 Community Shield matches. 

Labels: clash, curtain, Games, league, London, Olympics, Premier, raiser

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The offical events schedule for the Games show both Olympic champions will be aiming to retain two of their athletics and cycling sprint titles on consecutive days.

The organisers have released their schedule a month before the tickets go on sale, to allow fans time to decide which events they would like to apply for.

London 2012 chair Lord Coe described it as a "huge moment".

"We are now getting to the business end of the project and we know from the number of people who have signed up for ticket information that there is a real hunger from all parts of the country to be there," he said.

Among the other most popular days are likely to be the July 29 and August 3, when Rebecca Adlington will defend her swimming golds.

Jessica Ennis will be hoping to add to her European and World heptathlon titles by ending the August 4 on top of the Olympic podium.

Diver Tom Daley will be aiming to round up the Games in style, competing in his second event, the 10m platform, on August 11, the penultimate day of competition.

As well as promising a potentially glittering end to the London Games for the home crowd, the schedule offers the possibility of an early celebration.

The first chance at gold will come in the cycling road race on July 27, when the 'Manx Missile' Mark Cavendish will be favourite to win his first Olympic gold.

Defending champion Nicole Cooke will be hoping to retain her title the following day - which would make for a dream start to the games for Team GB.

The very first event will not take place in London but in Cardiff - a women's football match at the Millennium Stadium on July 25, two days before the Opening Ceremony.

:: Read our guide to buying tickets

Tickets for the Olympic games will go on sale on March 15. Fans will have until April 26 to apply for their share of the 6.6 million being made available to the public.

Tickets for the Paralympic Games go on sale on September 9. The Olympics will run from July 27 to August 12 and the Paralympics from August 29 to September 9.

Labels: London, Olympics, Released, Schedule

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Please download Flash from the Adobe download website.

The official events schedule for the Games

The offical events schedule for the Games show both Olympic champions will be aiming to retain two of their athletics and cycling sprint titles on consecutive days.

The organisers have released their schedule a month before the tickets go on sale, to allow fans time to decide which events they would like to apply for.

London 2012 chair Lord Coe described it as a "huge moment".

"We are now getting to the business end of the project and we know from the number of people who have signed up for ticket information that there is a real hunger from all parts of the country to be there," he said.

Among the other most popular days are likely to be the July 29 and August 3, when Rebecca Adlington will defend her swimming golds.

Jessica Ennis will be hoping to add to her European and World heptathlon titles by ending the August 4 on top of the Olympic podium.

Diver Tom Daley will be aiming to round up the Games in style, competing in his second event, the 10m platform, on August 11, the penultimate day of competition.

As well as promising a potentially glittering end to the London Games for the home crowd, the schedule offers the possibility of an early celebration.

The first chance at gold will come in the cycling road race on July 27, when the 'Manx Missile' Mark Cavendish will be favourite to win his first Olympic gold.

Defending champion Nicole Cooke will be hoping to retain her title the following day - which would make for a dream start to the games for Team GB.

The very first event will not take place in London but in Cardiff - a women's football match at the Millennium Stadium on July 25, two days before the Opening Ceremony.

Tickets for the Olympic games will go on sale on March 15. Fans will have until April 26 to apply for their share of the 6.6 million being made available to the public.

Tickets for the Paralympic Games go on sale on September 9. The Olympics will run from July 27 to August 12 and the Paralympics from August 29 to September 9.

Labels: London, Olympics, Released, Schedule

Of course, integrating a ?50million signing into a squad defending the Double is a problem most managers would relish tackling and Torres's proven pedigree enhances the likelihood of a successful career at Chelsea.

But the Spaniard will need time and that is the one commodity Ancelotti does not have, with the Blues harbouring only the faintest Premier League title hopes after this tame surrender to Kenny Dalglish's resurgent Liverpool.

Ancelotti is under exorbitant pressure to deliver the Champions League for an owner who believes he has bought the perfect tool to achieve that goal; ultimately, Torres is more important to Roman Abramovich than Ancelotti is and if the Italian cannot get his new No9 firing soon, his tenure is unlikely to last beyond the summer.

In reverting to the 4-4-2 diamond formation he favoured upon taking charge at Chelsea - but subsequently abandoned for the players' preferred 4-3-3 system - the Blues suffered from a disastrous lack of width which channelled their attacks into Liverpool's strongest areas.

Dalglish's deployment of three centre-backs perfectly nullified Nicolas Anelka, playing at the top of the diamond, while rendering Frank Lampard and Michael Essien ineffective as a lack of wide options forced the midfield pair to attempt to navigate paths through the most congested area of the pitch.

Full-backs Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa were under heavy pressure to provide width but were incapable of balancing such demands with their defensive duties - Torres' debut was disastrous but the blame cannot solely lie with the 26-year-old.

Spending ?50m has bought Chelsea a striker but not a supply line and Ancelotti's task is to best facilitate one of the finest finishers in the game with the ammunition to succeed.

One game is not enough to judge their long-term compatibility but Torres, Didier Drogba and Anelka in the same side appears a difficult blend to manage.

Torres and Drogba are used to both leading the line and, as such, are the focal point of the attack, while Anelka has previously adapted well to a position on the right of a front three, yet that compromise has come at the price of a diminished goal return.

Anelka does not appear suited to a position in 'the hole' behind the main strikers - nor does is make use of his considerable pace - while Lampard is at once relegated to a more defensive role; his goalscoring impact was reduced significantly when Ancelotti first adopted the diamond formation.

With Champions League success the priority, Chelsea have a degree of breathing space to attempt the alchemy given the limited threat FC Copenhagen pose in their last-16 clash but the evidence presented in their defeat by Liverpool suggests much work is needed.

Victory was achieved at Sunderland with the same system but the introduction of Torres combined with a resolute and well-organised opposition proved too much, whatever Ancelotti argues to the contrary.

"The problem wasn't that Torres played - he did a good job on the pitch," said the Chelsea manager. "We had difficulty finding enough space in front because Liverpool defended very well and they put three defenders in the middle and we didn't find the right way to attack them.

"We have to work in training to combine with the other strikers but that's normal. The problem was not putting these players together. These players have a lot of quality - I have to try to use them together and I'll try everything to put them together."

Perhaps the irony of this result is that Dalglish is now arguably more likely to be in his current job next season than Ancelotti; King Kenny punctuated his team's admirable display with no less than 11 separate waves to the visiting supporters, who barely knew where to direct their joy first.

Torres scored on his Liverpool debut against Chelsea but only twice threatened a reverse - Maxi Rodriquez gifted possession after just two minutes but he fired wastefully over before a superb block from Jamie Carragher denied Torres after his only meaningful link-up with Drogba all afternoon.

Maxi missed the best chance of the first half, hitting the crossbar from three yards out, before Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic argued furiously after a miscommunication in dealing with Martin Kelly's cross.

Whatever they said, the lesson went unheeded as Liverpool's winning goal owed a lot to another misunderstanding between the pair.

Cole had been caught upfield and Steven Gerrard exploited the space to deliver an innocuous-looking cross. Cech and Ivanovic left it to each other, enabling Raul Meireles to execute a smart volleyed finish.

Torres had departed three minutes earlier and could only watch on as Chelsea alarmingly failed to rally in his absence. Given the sense of occasion and the boost ?71m of new faces must have provided to the squad, there was a startling lack of riposte to adversity.

Glen Johnson was fortunate not to concede a stoppage-time penalty for barging Ivanovic but the repetitive spot-kick appeals smacked of a side that had run out of ideas. Almost unnoticed amid the frustration was David Luiz's promising 17-minute debut in which he made a couple of decent interceptions but overall Ancelotti was left perplexed by a performance that failed to capitalise on Manchester United's first League defeat of the season.

"We're disappointed for this reason because we had an opportunity to close the gap but now we're still the same distance," he said.

"We have to keep going. We have to try to fight again for the title."

That fight will continue at Fulham a week tonight, when Ancelotti insists he will use the same system again and better will be expected from their new star man. But time is of the essence for Ancelotti, not Torres.

Labels: Ancelotti, being, Fernando, fired, firing, himself, London, Torres

LONDON (AP)—Wayne Rooney could still have to pay a 4.3 million-pound ($6.9 million) compensation claim by his agent’s former management company following a London court judgment.

Manchester Mercantile Court ruled last year that Proactive was not entitled to commission related to multimillion-pound deals brokered by the firm on the England striker’s behalf.

But Lord Justice Alan Ward at London’s Court of Appeal says Proactive’s arguments were valid and that “the mere fact that this was a claim for millions of pounds is almost in itself a compelling reason to give permission to appeal” against the Manchester ruling.

The Manchester United player stopped paying Proactive after agent Paul Stretford quit in 2008, taking the firm’s client with him.

Labels: court, London, Proactive, pursue, Rooney

Morgan, arguably the team's most important one-day batsman, is the latest name added to the list of injury concerns for coach Andy Flower after X-rays showed he had fractured the middle finger of his left hand during the fourth one-day international against Australia in Adelaide on 26 January.

Depending on the specialist's verdict, Morgan might still be retained in the squad, even if he is not ready to play a significant part in the first phase of the World Cup. Regardless of the 24-year-old's talents, it is a substantial risk to include an injured player in a small squad, especially when there are also other men struggling.

Morgan left Perth before England's 57-run defeat by Australia at the WACA yesterday, which sealed a 6-1 series defeat for Andrew Strauss' Ashes winners. The remaining players are scheduled to arrive at Heathrow tomorrow.

Yet while the heavy defeat will concern Strauss and Flower, it is the number of injuries sustained during the campaign that provides greater cause for alarm.

Morgan is the sixth member of England's 15-man World Cup squad with doubts over his fitness just 15 days before their tournament opener against Holland in Nagpur, India. Paul Collingwood (right) is struggling with a back problem, while bowlers Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring), Tim Bresnan (calf) and Graeme Swann (back) have missed some of the one-day series. Stuart Broad has not played since tearing a stomach muscle during the Second Ashes Test in Adelaide in December.

Strauss admitted that the extent of Morgan's injury had caught England's back-room team unawares. "They went for an X-ray and I think everyone was reasonably surprised to see it was quite a substantial fracture. There's obviously a chance that he's not going to feature [in the World Cup]. He just thought it was bruised. He got on with it but just when he was thinking it would start feeling better it got worse and it was restricting his play.

"He is important, particularly in sub-continental conditions, because he is able to clear the ropes. Potentially, it is a big loss for us. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for him to play. If he isn't available, someone is going to have to fill those shoes."

England's build-up for the World Cup has been chaotic, then, but it does not compare with that experienced by Pakistan.

Former captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were all banned for five years over the weekend for their part in the spot-fixing scandal at Lord's last summer, with Amir and Asif ruled to have bowled no-balls deliberately during that game. Amir, 18, is due to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat is sure the World Cup will be free of more scandal as the anti-corruption unit are beefing up their presence at the tournament.

He said: "The vast majority of players are honest and are not seeking to make gains out of untoward means. However, we are alive to what could come to the fore in terms of corruption. I am satisfied we will have measures in place at the World Cup [to deal with that]."

Labels: cause, England, fears, London, Morgan

The Press

Paralympics: World ace Nathan Stephens still wants London gold WalesOnline NATHAN STEPHENS insists his Paralympic heartache won't be buried until he takes gold in London despite winning the IPC World Athletics Championship javelin title in New Zealand. The 22-year-old was the star of the ... McKillop on top of the worldBelfast Telegraph Athletics: McKillop breaks 800m world record to claim goldIrish Independent Jade Jones is happy to be back on trackChronicleLive Discountvouchers.co.uk -The Press all 11 news articles »

Labels: London, Nathan, Paralympics, Stephens, still, WalesOnline, wants, World