SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12 , 2017 SPORTS Scotland are a team for all terrain, says coach PARIS: Scotland may be getting a repu- excites and throws the ball around with “I’d like to think we’ve got an all- coming into the fold is pretty impres- through much of it, so they’re a very tation for being an expansive running confidence and expectation. court game and can play in any condi- sive. I think they were a little bit reck- dangerous team.” outfit but assistant coach Jason Yet O’Halloran, a former All Black tions.” There are high hopes that less with their offloading last year but I As for the spectacle, O’Halloran is O’Halloran believes they can still mix it international, believes they proved last Sunday’s Six Nations clash at the Stade assume he’s tightened up on that and confident both teams will put on a in the mud. week they can still toil when necessary. de France will be a high-octane and they’re much more accurate in that show, aided by South African referee In days gone by, Scotland were “I like to think we can play in both con- enthralling affair, with two teams department. Jaco Peyper. “I heard the forecast (for known for their dour kicking-based ditions. The way we muscled up, up backing themselves to beat each oth- “I thought their performance against Sunday) is very good so we’re looking brand of rugby that could prove effec- front against Ireland last week, suggests er on merit. the All Blacks in the autumn was out- forward to it. “Both teams showed some tive on cold, wet and windy nights at we could play quite alright in these But O’Halloran says France will not standing and they were very unfortu- good attacking intent last week so I’m Murrayfield in November. type of conditions where it’s wet and be quite as cavalier as they were last nate not to win that game-Beauden expecting an open game with a lot of They had toppled Australia in 2009 slippery. It puts a premium on ball secu- year, when they went to Murrayfield Barrett goes 95 metres off an intercept advantage played by the referee-he and South Africa a year later in such rity and making those hard yards and lost 29-18, during coach Guy and I think that was a massive turning likes to play that way, so I’m expecting conditions. But the Scotland of New around the fringe and being really Noves’s first Six Nations in charge. point (France lost 24-19). long passages of play and opportuni- Zealander Vern Cotter is one that physical in defence,” said O’Halloran. “What he (Noves) has done since “I think they dominated that game ties for both teams.” — AFP RUGBY No room for sentiment as Six Nations takes shape CARDIFF: Italy coach Conor O’Shea has Australian, had already done his bit for insisted there will be no question of divid- Anglo-Welsh relations before insisting, ed loyalties when the Azzurri face his native against Wales’s wishes, the Principality Ireland in the second round of the Six Stadium’s retractable roof remain open. Nations Championship yesterday. “They’re a cunning lot the Welsh aren’t Italy and Ireland will both be coming off they?,” said Jones, whose England side are defeats in Rome whereas the second match looking to extend their national record features two sides who enjoyed first-round winning-streak to 16 Tests. wins. Wales, fresh from a 33-7 victory away “They’ve got goats, they’ve got daf- to Italy in Rome face Grand Slam champi- fodils,” added Jones, fired as Australia coach ons England, who launched their title following a 2005 defeat in Cardiff. defence with an unconvincing 19-16 home Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde victory over France, in Cardiff. summed up the game’s enduring impor- Today will see Scotland aim to back up tance by saying: “It is that English-Welsh their 27-22 win over Ireland by ending their rivalry, and wanting to get the better of 18-year wait for a Championship victory your neighbour.” against France in Paris. “Ireland is where my England centre Jonathan Joseph, who family is, where my home is and where I scored a key try in his side’s win in Cardiff spend my holidays,” said O’Shea. “But right two years ago, said of the Principality now my only priority is rugby with Italy.” Stadium: “I like the atmosphere, it spurs me Ireland’s preparations suffered a setback on and gets me going and I think that it when captain Rory Best went down with a does that to a lot of the other boys too.” stomach bug on Friday, the hooker con- Scotland stunned Ireland with three fined to the team hotel. “Hopefully he is tries inside the first half-hour at Murrayfield going to be better with some extra hours before the Irish edged ahead. However, two of sleep,” said Ireland assistant coach Simon late penalties from Scotland captain Greig Easterby. Italy captain Sergio Parisse Laidlaw sealed victory. warned his side to beware of an Ireland “We understand how we can win games that will “want to go out and do some dam- from being behind,” said scrum-half age”. Meanwhile Wales were sweating on Laidlaw. France centre Remi Lamerat the fitness of wing George North (leg) and added: “Scotland play an attractive game fly-half Dan Biggar (ribs), with Alex that is also effective given that they beat MELBOURNE: Bolt All Stars celebrate after winning the Nitro Athletics meet in Melbourne yesterday. — AFP Cuthbert and Sam Davies on standby. Ireland.” Last week at Twickenham saw France again go close against a major side ATHLETICS ‘CUNNING’ WELSH only to lose narrowly, just as they did in Friday saw BBC Wales axe a promotional November defeats by Australia (25-23) and film where several Wales fans were appar- world champions New Zealand (24-19). ently unable to answer the question: “Only a victory can unlock the next “What’s good about England?” improvement,” said France coach Guy Bolt fires ‘All Stars’ England coach Eddie Jones, an Noves. —AFP to Nitro Series win MELBOURNE: Usain Bolt fired his team of inter- of mile eliminations, mixed distance medleys will be a big test for the Series’ ambitions. national ‘All Stars’ to victory in the inaugural and 300m relays, there was inevitably confusion “In my lifetime, I’ve not seen anyone grab the Nitro Athletics Series in Melbourne yesterday, at times among some athletes and fans. sporting landscape, probably not since capping the glitzy event with a dominant win in Bolt, who is contracted to bring his ‘All-Stars’ Muhammad Ali,” said British distance running the 4x100m relay to pip hosts Australia in the to Australia for the next two years, said he hoped great Coe. final standings. to make the event international and attract over- “The big challenge is to make sure that when Running the second leg of the relay, the seas investors. we don’t have Usain out there, that the world eight-times Olympic gold medal-winner took But with his retirement after the world cham- recognises that the sport is full of extraordinary the baton from fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa pionships in London, his absence from the track talent.” —Reuters Powell before Jeneba Tarmoh and Natasha Morrison powered to the finish in front of a sell- out crowd at Lakeside Stadium. GOLF Having run in only the relays in the opening two instalments of the three-night series, Bolt ROME: Ireland’s CJ Stander, right, chased by Italy’s Angelo Esposito scores a try dur- also took his first individual run of the year, burn- ing a Six Nations rugby union international match between Italy and Ireland at the ing away from a modest field for an easy win in Willett regains Rome Olympic stadium, yesterday.— AP the 150m sprint ahead of New Zealander Joseph Millar. The ‘All-Stars’ finished the team-based meeting with 3,040 points, edging Australia by lead at Maybank Spieth holds clubhouse lead 77 points, with Bolt playing a key role as both his team’s linchpin and the event’s ‘chief entertain- at weather-hit Pebble Beach ment officer’. KUALA LUMPUR: Reigning US Masters South Korea’s K.T.Kim. But the final score was less important than champion Danny Willett took a three-shot Indian star Anirban Lahiri, the 2015 Asian CALIFORNIA: Jordan Spieth delivered a round, which was suspended on Thursday the crowds and television figures for an event putting masterclass on the way to setting because of heavy rain, was finally complet- advantage after three rounds of the Maybank Tour number one, missed several putts in his that promised to “revolutionise” athletics by bor- Championship Malaysia, scoring a five-under round of 69 to end the third round in a share the clubhouse lead in the weather-hit ed mid-morning on Friday. rowing heavily from the formula of sport and Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Friday However, fog then delayed the sched- 67 to finish the day ahead of American David of ninth position. — AP entertainment that has underpinned Twenty20 Lipsky. The top-ranked player at the tourna- before second-round play was suspended uled start of round two before later forcing cricket’s considerable success. due to thick fog on the Monterey Peninsula play to be suspended for the day at 4:21 ment was 16-under par after 54 holes, a score “It was brilliant, it was exciting.