Evening Standard

Evening Standard

by Michael Prodger

The infiltration of sport is such that the 2010 football World Cup final was watched by 700 million people. Amazonian Indians and Kalahari Bushmen notwithstanding, that is one in 10 of the world’s population.

What they saw was a match of minimal finesse and maximum thuggery as Holland and Spain forsook the laughably titled beautiful game and reverted to what Philip Stubbes in his 1583 tract Anatomie of Abuses called “this murthering play”. Kicking an opponent’s shins was only banned from the sport in the 1860s but it looked as though the rule – on shins and other body parts – had never been passed….Read the full review

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Evening Standard

British aid to India was once an admirable, benevolent gesture. But to carry on giving aid is a colossal failure to understand how the country has changed.

Just consider the new India. The ninth largest economy in the world by GDP, it is growing at over seven per cent and is predicted to overtake the UK by 2022. There are more billionaires in India than in this country. Since India gained independence in 1947, Indians have squirrelled away more than £900 billion in Swiss bank accounts, more than the rest of the world combined. India also gives £3.5 billion of aid to Africa and is spending £2 billion to put Indians into space.

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Evening Standard

'By winning the world title I proved that even when the chips are low, I can still come back and deliver the goods,' says Lewis. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

For a man who has become world darts champion for the second year running, Adrian Lewis could be forgiven for resting on his laurels. But, as we meet in a pub near the Bank of England, the 27-year-old exudes the hunger that Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank, would like to see in this country’s entrepreneurs.

“I want to help England win the World Cup and be No 1 by the end of the year,” he says. “I have won two world titles and I want to win many, many more. I’ve got respect for everybody I play but I don’t fear anybody. Nobody causes me sleepless nights.”

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Evening Standard

Image courtesy of Evening Standard

England have broken with the old guard following their poor World Cup but Francois Pienaar says the team will only progress if the game in this country is overhauled from top to bottom.

The flanker, who captained South Africa to their epic 1995 World Cup triumph, played for and coached Saracens and believes the disjointed nature of the fixture list is harming the development of talent.

Pienaar told Standard Sport: “The English game suffers from a vicious cycle in the way the season is organised. Having played in England and being still involved with Saracens, I’ve always said the structure of the season baffles me.

“It starts, then you shut down in September and go into Europe, then you start again and shut down for the Six Nations. To produce international winners you need a virtuous cycle. When I played in England I proposed changes but they were ignored. Given the downward cycle England are in, it will be difficult to rebuild unless you look at the entire structure starting at the grass roots, going up to the selection of players, refereeing and the administration.”

Pienaar’s comments came ahead of him collecting an award from the All Party Parliamentary Rugby Union Group. He will attend a dinner at the Commons tonight when MPs will also honour World Cup winners Jonny Wilkinson and John Eales plus Wales’ record try scorer Shane Williams.

Evening Standard

'England made me,' says Mouritz Botha. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

Mouritz Botha is so relaxed about his South African origins that he can even joke about his name. “Be sure to spell my name correctly,” he says. “Mouritz, not Maurice, otherwise I would sound really English. Then I might even have to be called Maurice Botham.”

There’s no danger of confusing the lock born in Vryheid, KwaZulu Natal, with Beefy. But the 29-year-old likely to face Scotland in the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield on Saturday week will wear the England shirt with just as much pride as England’s most celebrated all-rounder.

“There is no extra pressure on me because I was not born in England,” he insists. “I enjoy living here and am very proud to represent this country. England has a unique and renowned culture that had a massive influence on South Africa. I adapted to the culture. I find it wrong when people move to a country and cling to all the things from their country of origin.”

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