English gloom ,Australia find a way
1) How many of the eighty quizzers who predicted THREE English tries against Scotland on the opening day thought that despite these comparative riches after four years of one, two or even zero English tries in the fixture, that England would finish, weary and out of ideas, on the losing side. Winning games against Italy(5 tries)and Wales(3 tries)gave no more hint that new coach Borthwick has made substantial progress in repairing the rotten hulk of Eddie Jones’ last few months. The next weeks see games against Ireland and France, apparently the two top sides on paper and on the pitch. Does any quizzer with England as the answer to Q6 still have hopes? Best to look away from the Welsh shambles on and off the pitch; dig out Grandad’s kilt as I have and sing Flower of Scotland.
3)Ten teams lined up for the eighth edition of the Women’s World T20 in South Africa. The rise of the women’s game continues apace, with the first Women’s Indian Premier League scheduled for March – incorporating financial gravitas that some fear could soon make the international game play second fiddle. The first auction even coincided with one of England’s group games here – surely a distraction as half the team got signed up for one of the franchises? There was no distracting AUSTRALIA though, who confirmed their continued dominance in women’s cricket with yet another unbeaten tournament. This was their sixth triumph in this competition and you will be hard-pushed to find a more successful team across international sport so far in the 2020s.
The tournament wasn’t a complete procession for the Aussies though. England and India were both hotly tipped to push them close this time but again fell agonisingly short, this time at the semi-final stage. England were unquestionably the form team in the qualifying groups, unbeaten and characterised by powerful batting and quick scoring reminiscent of their male counterparts at times. They had the semi-final vs South Africa in their grasp but a poor final over gifted the hosts a dozen more runs than they should have got and England then collapsed under scoreboard pressure to fall six runs short. The other semi-final was even closer – India overcame some initial sloppy fielding to appear in control chasing Australia’s 172 before the freakish run-out of captain Kaur proved the turning point. They finished five runs short and their wait for a first international women’s trophy goes on.
The real story was the transformation of the hosts. Initially they looked all at sea, divided by the controversial omission of star player Dane Van Niekerk and suffering a surprise opening defeat to Sri Lanka. They recovered superbly by brushing aside New Zealand and Bangladesh in style to scramble into the semis and their new-found momentum in front of passionate home support proved too much for England. The dynamic opening partnership of Laura Wolvaardt and Tamzin Brits, along with the pace of Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp saw them became new national heroes as the country quickly embraced their run to the final.
They restricted Australia to a competitive target of 157 in front of a sell-out crowd in the shadow of Table Mountain. Although the chase started slowly, Wolvaardt suddenly found an extra gear to bring the game back into the balance. As so often though Australia found a way. Whether it’s their superior fielding, deep batting line-up where everyone in the top 8 can clear the ropes, or their skilful all-round bowling unit – someone always steps up to see them over the line.
Wolvaardt was trapped LBW by Megan Schutt for 61 in the game’s decisive moment and the required rate proved too much for South Africa’s middle-order. Agony for two quizzers,Ed Hood and Rob Pearce, who alone had backed victory for the hosts. Instead over 50% of you bagged more early points backing the favourites. Expertly led as always by Meg Lanning and blending the experience of Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry with the youth of new stars like Darcie Brown, there is no doubt this Australian team are still well ahead of the chasing pack.
2) Super Bowl LVII brought together the number 1 seeds from the AFC & NFC in a much-anticipated shoot out,led by 2 of the most explosive QBs in the league; Patrick Mahomes & his Kansas City Chiefs from the AFC & Jalen Hurts & his Philadelphia Eagles from the NFC. It also brought together brothers, Travis & Jason Kelce, facing each other on opposing teams. Their mum was in the spotlight. The first brothers to face off in a Super Bowl brought with it the opportunity for the now staple of sports merchandise to be on full display; the half & half. For football in other parts of world (I still can’t bring myself to say “soccer”) the half & half is usually a scarf sold by vendors outside the stadium. For this Super Bowl it was a jersey proudly worn by Mrs. Kelce to represent her love for her sons. They say red & green should never be seen, but somehow in this instance I guess the fashion of it didn’t matter much. So on with the game.
The first quarter was end-to-end stuff & set the tone for the game; the Eagles first drive resulted in a 1-yard QB sneak from Hurts to give them a 7-0 lead. The Chiefs immediately answered with the usual pairing of Mahomes & Kelce combining for a receiving TD to tie the game. On the following possession the Eagles were forced to punt the ball away after facing a 2nd & long. The final drive of the quarter took the Chiefs into Eagles territory thanks to another Kelce reception; however, the Chiefs came up empty as their 42 yard FG attempt came off the upright.The score stayed 7-7 going into the 2nd quarter.
The 2nd quarter opened with a bang.Eight seconds in & on the first snap Hurts found one of his wide receivers for a 45-yard receiving TD putting the Eagles ahead 14-7. This time the Chiefs could not answer straight-off, recording a quick 3 & out. However this acted almost as an assist for their next score. Hurts dropped the ball & the Chiefs defence pounced on the loose ball scooping & scoring to tie the game, the turnover being the Eagles first of the post-season. The Eagles went down the field on their next drive, converting on 4th & 5 at midfield & 4th & 2 in the red zone followed by drawing a neutral zone infraction from the Chiefs defence to get them to 1st & goal. Hurts repeated his 1st quarter rushing TD to pull the Eagles ahead 21-14. The end of the half brought 2 more talking points, the first being Mahomes appearing to suffer another ankle sprain as the Chiefs went 3 & out. The second the Eagles extended their lead with a successful 35-yard FG; half-time score 24-14 to the Eagles.
Half-time brought with it elevated & flying platforms, an army of white clad storm trooper-esque dancers & in the middle of it all Rihanna, announcing to the world her pregnancy which no doubt led to millions of “Is Rihanna pregnant?” Google searches during her showpiece performance; my house was not immune to that intrigue!!
The second half opened up fast, with Mahomes returning to the field guiding the Chiefs downfield on their opening drive, bringing them back within 3 points with a rushing TD by his running back. The Eagles first possession almost had the Chiefs on the scoreboard again, however a fumble recovery TD initially called on the field, was turned over on review. The Eagles took advantage of the reprieve getting out a hole on 3rd & 14 after a delay of game penalty to get a new set of downs ultimately leading to them adding a FG with a 33-yard conversion to make it 27-21.
Into the fourth quarter & the game was eagerly poised with the Eagles still ahead by one score, continuing their streak of having never been behind the whole post-season; that was until the Chiefs next drive. The Chiefs worked their way downfield & almost leisurely walked in a receiving TD to take the lead, 27-28. The Eagles spluttered, going 3 & out & the Chiefs capitalized, riding their momentum straight-off the Eagles punt, with the Chiefs returning it back into the Eagles’ red-zone to the 5-yard line & then walking in another TD in a similar fashion to their last, 27-35 Chiefs. The Eagles have been remarkable this season but haven’t been behind too many times. In unfamiliar territory they continued to crank out big plays & finally managed to land a blow on the seemingly untouchable Chiefs. Hurts again rushed into the endzone & secured a game tying 2-point conversion to make it 35-35.
The stage was set for a grandstand finish, one that would have been befitting to the contest & the teams. It wasn’t to be, leaving the neutrals deflated. The Chiefs moved the ball downfield. With less than 2 minutes on the clock they had moved within field goal range. If converted, that would leave enough time on the clock for an Eagles response. Instead of having that opportunity, the Eagles committed a holding penalty,which gave the Chiefs a first down & allowed them to run down the clock before converting the game winning 27-yard FG with less than 10 seconds left, sealing a win for the AFC champions.
The defeat for the Eagles brought the curtain down on a hat trick of final appearances for Philadelphia sports teams in 2022/23 without a single win to show for them; the others being the Phillies loss in the World Series to the (mighty) Houston Astros & the Union coming up short in MLS Cup Final against LAFC. Some would say a year to forgot but I’d go more for “you’ve got to be in to win it”, as all 3 Philly teams left a lot of others in their wake who would’ve loved to have a crack at all that silverware.
The win for the Chiefs brought them their second in success in the last 4 editions & you wouldn’t bet against them being regular participants for the next few years if Mahomes remains healthy & he has a similar supporting cast in his offence to target downfield. With Tom Brady retiring (one has to assume for real this time surely!!), perhaps there is space for a new superstar QB but I suspect this era with the QB talent on show, Super Bowl championships may be shared around the likes of Mahomes, Hurts, Burrow, Allen for the next 10-15 years. Maybe a QB at the Texans could be added to that list in years to come; but that might be the midnight hour & Sauvignon Blanc talking!!
Leave a Reply