24 C Koch and L Davies v B Daniel and K Robbins 06 "I don't have the best record as captain - played four, lost four, only one decent performance - and Colin has more experience," Williams explained "I feel better now that he has taken the job on. I believe he is the man to do it." For his part, Hansen praised Williams for his "great honesty".Given their current plight - their performance against an England shadow side in Cardiff last month was unimaginably bad - it is no great surprise that the Welsh should find themselves turning to a player who has effectively priced himself out of the domestic club market and would not be going to the World Cup at all but for a private sponsorship deal with the owners of a Cardiff restaurant. Steve Hansen, the national coach, yesterday re-appointed the 30-year-old flanker to the position following discussions with a second back-row forward, Martyn Williams of Cardiff Blues, who had been expected to shoulder the burden in Australia next month.
A reluctant leader at the best of times, Williams informed Hansen of his view that Charvis would make a better fist of it. Colin Charvis has no club, no consistency of form and precious little support from certain sections of the Welsh rugby community What he does have, though, is the World Cup captaincy. "We have never received any enquiry about Sculthorpe's availability, for one simple reason - he is not available at any price.". Their opponents, Hull, still needing to make sure of a top-six finish, have two of their long-term injury victims, Scott Logan and Warren Jowitt, back in contention.St Helens have denied the claim of the Hull coach, Shaun McRae, that their Great Britain loose forward, Paul Sculthorpe, is available for transfer for a £400,000 fee."I find it difficult to dignify such nonsense," Saints' chairman, Eamonn McManus, said. "It has been a long, hard season for everybody and I will require two minor operations if I am to be ready for the start of the new season." Ireland are left looking for a third-choice captain, after Leigh's Tommy Martyn also opted to concentrate on his club rugby.Wigan continue their pursuit of second place in Super League tonight, with Adrian Lam out and Andy Farrell doubtful. Wigan have released Nick Graham, the Australian back-rower who helped them through their mid-season injury crisis. The former Cronulla player, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury himself, is expected to join Wests-Tigers for next season."Nick joined us at a time when we were ravaged by injury and we are grateful for his contribution," the Wigan chairman, Maurice Lindsay, said.Wigan's experienced prop, Terry O'Connor, has announced he is standing down as Ireland's captain for this autumn's internationals, to ensure that he is fit for the start of next season."As captain of the side, it has been a difficult decision," O'Connor said. "We did a lot of very long runs with them and we think we're very competitive."Schumacher pointed out that in 2000 Monza was a turning-point race and that he came from behind to win."It's a tight competition, but like I said, I'm optimistic," he said.Montoya was as pragmatic as ever. The Colombian looks like a man who can see a crown in the near future."We changed our tyres, the FIA were happy, and now we are happy with the new ones," he said. It's no big thing that translates into lap time, but maybe it could work in strategic situations."Montoya, too, knows about pressure and inwardly he is bubbling after Williams found last week that the revised Michelins suit the FW25 better than the old ones. Those other guys are good enough to do the job too, or they wouldn't be here.
"We had a good test last week and feel that the car suits this type of circuit better," he said. "We have taken some good steps forward aerodynamically, so I'm feeling reasonably confident."Was it an advantage to have been in the situation before of fighting for the title? "We'll find out, but it's not that big an advantage. And Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya? Neither was doing anything but try to out-psyche the other.Schumacher's Ferrari team have been forced to admit they were behind the protest that led to the FIA checking the compliance of Michelin's post-race tyre measurements after Hungary, allegedly because the team have been so blown away recently that the German's title lead has been eroded to a mere point with three races to go.But far from admitting life has been difficult of late, the world champion kept his end up. Fernando Alonso, the most popular of the three young pretenders to Michael Schumacher's throne, looked as satisfied as any 22-year-old has a right to be after becoming the youngest Grand Prix winner. Jarno Trulli appeared to be wearing an Ali G disguise for a silly bet. Since the Hungarian Grand Prix, the down-time cause c?bre has switched from who caused the shunt at the start of the German Grand Prix to something with possibly far further-reaching consequences - the possibility that Michelin's tyres did not comply with width regulations at the end of a race even though they started out in full compliance. This could obviously have a massive influence on the outcome of the best world championship fight in years, but you would not have known it fromthe body language of five of the contenders yesterday as they looked forward to this weekend's Italian Grand Prix in Monza.Giancarlo Fisichella looked as if he just wanted to escape Jordan to join Sauber-Petronas for 2004. "People who think Annika is an individual are wrong," Davies said "She wants this one. She hates losing and that's what makes her so great."* Laura Davies will become the fourth woman to play against men this year, after Annika Sorenstam, Suzy Whaley and Michelle Wie, when she competes in the Korean Open next month.SOLHEIM CUP: Today's Foursomes (Europe names first, times BST): 06.24 C Koch and L Davies v B Daniel and K Robbins; 06.36 J Moodie and C Matthew v J Inkster and W Ward; 06.48 A Sorenstam and S Pettersen v L Diaz and H Bowie; 07.00 S Gustafson and E Esterl v M Mallon and R Jones.. "With the Solheim Cup you really feel like a loser and there's nothing worse than that," Davies said.At the end of that match, Sorenstam, not the most natural leader, wrote the figure "364" all around their team room to signify the number of days until this encounter. France's Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, a major-winner this season, will only play in the afternoon as she is four months pregnant and has suffered badly from morning sickness.Davies admitted last year's defeat at Interlachen was the worst she could remember Europe led going into the singles on the final day but lost. Laura Davies, the only player to appear in all eight Solheim Cups, plays with Carin Koch, who has never lost in eight games so far but was paired with Sorenstam last year.Instead the world No 1 plays with Suzann Pettersen, the young Norwegian, while Janice Moodie and Catriona Matthew make an all-Scottish combination. I am a mother, and knowing she has two little children, it is devastating."Nilsmark, who watched her team practice using a specially adapted buggy, produced some surprises with her opening foursomes line-up. |
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