Posts Tagged ‘australia’

Brian McLaughlin: Something to shout about after Ulster beat Munster to make the semis

It was a big highlight in my career, probably the biggest day in my life in rugby terms.

Brian McLaughlinQuotes of the week

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Ulster head coach Brian McLaughlin hailed ‘probably the biggest day in my life in rugby terms’ after his side’s stunning Heineken Cup quarter-final victory over Munster.

The visitors pulled off a 22-16 victory to become only the second team to beat Munster at Thomond Park in the history of the competition, joining Leicester who won a pool game there in January 2007.

The win sets up semi-final against Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, April 28 and McLaughlin hailed a memorable victory.

He said: “Unbelievable. It was a big highlight in my career, probably the biggest day in my life in rugby terms.

“It is also important to mention the impact and energy we gleaned from our fans in the stadium. The support was outstanding.”

Key contribution

Ruan Pienaar had a key kicking contribution of 14 points for the victors, landing four penalties from five attempts and converting a sensational early try from the nippy Craig Gilroy.

McLaughlin added: “Ruan’s place-kicking was exemplary and Craig Gilroy’s try, to be 19-0 up after 25 minutes was a dream.

“We played brilliantly. It was our game plan personified.

“We knew Munster were going to come at us and they certainly did. To be 19-10 at half-time, (our captain) Johann Muller said if we were given that beforehand, we would have taken it.

“We knew after half-time it was going to be another battle. We talked about that all week as well. All credit to the guys on the pitch, they were magnificent today.

“Today is the culmination of three years’ really hard work. We have been emphasising the whole way through the importance of getting Ulster up the ladder and getting to that top table.

“We are not there yet. We are under no illusions. Edinburgh showed in their quarter-final win over Toulouse what they can do and it is all set up for another magnificent semi-final.”

McGahan disappointed

Munster head coach Tony McGahan, who returns to his native Australia this summer, was hugely disappointed by the result.

“It is difficult to put it into words at this stage. You need to give the opposition credit. I thought Ulster were terrific today right across the park,” he said.

“They got into a substantial lead. Three penalty kicks from inside their own half. They controlled the scoreboard and they controlled field position in that first half.

“Full credit to the Munster team for the way they fought back to 19-13. But when Ulster pushed out to 22-13 it put a big dent in what we were trying to do.”

Ryan Harris and Michael Clarke celebrate the wicket of opener Adrian Barath

Kraigg Brathwaite: made 57 before falling in the final session of play

Peter Siddle reacts after dropping a catch off his own bowling on day one

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West Indies worked their way to 179-3 before rain cut short the opening day of the first Test against Australia in Barbados.

Teenager Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk Edwards both hit half-centuries as the hosts made slow progress after winning the toss and choosing to bat first at the Kensington Oval.

Ryan Harris, preferred to James Pattinson in the final XI, and Peter Siddle both claimed a wicket apiece for Australia, while there was also a maiden Test scalp for David Warner’s leg spin.

However the tourists were left to rue three missed chances when bad weather arrived to force the players from the field after 73 overs of play.

Let-offs

Siddle failed to hang on to a caught-and-bowled opportunity when Braithwaite had only 10 to his name, and the same batsman was also given a repreive again 34 runs later by a diving Ricky Ponting at third slip.

Shane Watson was the unfortunate bowler on the second occasion, though he too then got a case of butter fingers in the same position as Ponting, letting Edwards off the hook.

The newly-appointed West Indies vice-captain looked set to make Australia pay until he somewhat gave his wicket away on 61, slapping a Warner long hop straight back to the part-time bowler.

Edwards’ departure ended a 104-run stand for the second wicket after Adrian Barath (22) had fallen in the first session, the opener hooking Harris straight down the throat of Siddle at fine leg.

Brathwaite also failed to cash in on the let-offs, edging the 199th ball he’d faced to give Siddle a deserved wicket and provide debutant wicketkeeper Matthew Wade with his first catch behind the stumps.

The 19-year-old opener hit four boundaries in his battling knock of 57 before paying the price for playing loosely outside his off stump.

Darren Bravo, who finished proceeding unbeaten on 20, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (8no) looked untroubled up until the time rain intervened midway through the evening session.

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Laura Trott: Took the gold ahead of Annette Edmondson (L) and Sarah Hammer (R)

Laura Trott has admitted that she did not expect to take victory in the omnium at the Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne.

The 19-year-old, already a gold medallist after Britain’s superb team pursuit display on Thursday, claimed another success as she topped the overall table in the six-event discipline by three points.

She finished second in the flying lap, eighth in the points race and won the elimination race on Friday before placing third in the individual pursuit, 13th in the scratch race and winning the 500m time trial on Saturday.

And Trott, who beat Australia’s Annette Edmondson into second place, admitted that the victory came as a surprise.

“I think I’m setting myself up well for London. I’m pretty shocked,” Trott said.

“The world record and World Championship in the team pursuit would’ve been enough for me. To come here and win the omnium I’m just over the moon.

“I didn’t expect to win. I thought maybe I would pick up a medal, because I had been in the World Cups, but to win – what more can I ask for?”

Unbeaten

Trott’s unbeaten run in the omnium’s final event dates back to December 2010, but she believes her performance in the penultimate discipline was the key to her success.

“It’s such a hit-or-miss race, you never know what’s going to happen,” said Trott, who finished one place ahead of Edmondson in the scratch race.

“My tactic was just to follow the Australian around all day long and when she started to move just make sure that I nipped her on the line. It was a closer race than I wanted it to be.

“In the 500 I just did what I always do. I nailed it.”

Trott was tied for first overnight with Edmondson and had revealed that she did not have the best night’s sleep before the all-important final day.

She added: “My head was going round, what if this happens? What if that happens? What if I crash in the scratch race? It will be all over. This morning I felt like I had a hangover.

“The dope control came round at 8.30am. I was already up because I couldn’t sleep.”

Kimi Raikkonen: close to power steering solution

Kimi Raikkonen believes Lotus are close to solving the power-steering problem that has hampered his Formula One comeback.

Although Raikkonen has scored 16 points in the first two races, the Finn’s results could have been better had it not been for steering problems.

The issues first came to light in qualifying for the Australian GP with the 2007 World Champion down in 17th place. Raikkonen, though, did work his way up to seventh, scoring his first points for Lotus.

The problem was a bit better in Malaysia where he started ninth after a gearbox issue saw him slapped with a five grid slot penalty. He finished fifth.

“The E20 certainly feels good,” Raikkonen said. “We’re working to get the steering exactly right for me – and we’re almost there.

“The speed in the car is good – and this applies to qualifying and race pace. It’s been two frustrating races in terms of where we started.

“We shouldn’t have started so far back in Australia, and the penalty for changing the gearbox before the Malaysian Grand Prix cost us finishing positions too, but that’s motor racing.”

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Shedding more light on the power-steering problem that has been bothering the Finn, Lotus technical director James Allison said that while steps had been taken, the issue was by no means resolved.

“Unfortunately it is not a fix as simple as reversing the switches on the steering wheel!” Allison said.

“Our latest set-up now gives Kimi sufficient assistance in the high speed, high load corners, but we still have yet to give him a power-steering unit which offers the finesse he wants.

“We’re making progress in this area, but the way Kimi drives the car is to find the limit on the front axle and then adjust the car very delicately around that limit; he can only do that if the steering is giving him exquisite feedback.

“We are working hard to provide him with perfect equipment so that he can deliver those last few tenths in qualifying.”

Martin Whitmarsh: Expects title race to become clearer after China

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes the UBS Chinese Grand Prix will see the emergence of this season’s genuine title contenders.

The opening two races of the season have resulted in victories for McLaren and Ferrari, while Sauber and Red Bull have also made it onto the podium.

Whitmarsh and the team have been busy making tweaks to the MP4-27 in the gap between Malaysia and China – but he is under no illusion others will have been working hard on their cars to establish the 2012 pecking order.

“Make no mistake, we’re acutely aware that our rivals won’t have stood still during the past three weeks. We’ve certainly been extremely busy, too, and we don’t take anything for granted,” he said.

“If the overall competitive order was a little hard to read in the first two races, I have no doubt that it will start to become clearer next weekend.”Martin Whitmarsh Quotes of the week

“If the overall competitive order was a little hard to read in the first two races, I have no doubt that it will start to become clearer next weekend, and I strongly believe that, once again, it will be closely fought at the front.”

McLaren have dominated the front row in qualifying for the opening races but only one of those – Australia – brought race victory when Jenson Button took the chequered flag.

And Whitmarsh hopes they can turn the qualifying success into race wins.

“While there are mixed feelings to have only been able to convert two all-front-row starting positions into one race win, everybody here at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes feels extremely encouraged by our pace in the first two Grands Prix of the season,” he continued.

“The Chinese Grand Prix is a race in which we’ve traditionally gone very well – we’ve won three of the past four races here, all of which have come through faultless performances from Jenson (Button) and Lewis (Hamilton) – and we head to Shanghai this year keen to add to that tally.”

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Button goes to China keen to put his Malaysia disappointment behind him. The winner in Australia struggled in the wet in Sepang and knows it will be tricky in China should the weather play a part once again.

“If it rains, then it’s going to be another extremely unpredictable race as we’re all still learning about the cars and tyres in damp conditions,” he stated. “Whatever happens, it should be interesting.

“There will be the usual set-up compromises: setting the car up to offer good downforce through some of the faster corners, but without sacrificing too much speed along the straights.

“We saw different teams address that balance in different ways over the first two races, so it will be interesting to see if things start to converge this weekend after a few weeks back in Europe.

“Tyre wear will also be very important – last year we saw a real disparity between the compounds – so getting the preparation right will be crucial.”

Philip Hindes: hopes to have key role to play for GB at Olympics

Philip Hindes believes he can be the solution to the problem which threatens to derail Sir Chris Hoy’s bid to defend one of his three Olympic gold medals in London.

Competing at his first Track Cycling World Championships, Hindes clocked a personal best in his specialist starter position in the three-man, three-lap team sprint on Wednesday, but his changeover to second rider Jason Kenny – with Hoy third in line – was deemed illegal and Britain were disqualified.

However, after bowing out of the individual sprint in Melbourne, the 19-year-old German-born rider was bullish about his prospects of helping Kenny and Hoy defend their Olympic team sprint title.

“I reckon I can go much quicker,” Hindes said. “I feel like I can improve in every training session. I did a good time (17.5 seconds) and we will see how I can improve in the next months.

“They (the coaches) were really happy with the time. Jason went faster (as starter) in recent years, but I’m second fastest at the moment in Britain.”

Hindes is poised to travel to a training camp in Majorca later this month to step up preparations for London, with the team sprint taking place on August 2, the opening day of the Games track programme.

Key lessons were learned after the takeover between Hindes and Kenny took place too early.

“I won’t do it again,” added Hindes, who had been shown the permitted zone by sprint coach Iain Dyer before the ride.

“You couldn’t really see the line where you had to change.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it in my ride. I had my head down, giving everything.”

Upbringing

Hindes was born in Krefeld, near Dusseldorf in September 1992 and qualifies for Britain through his father, who was posted there with the British military.

After finishing fourth in the sprint and third in the team sprint – becoming the youngest to ride under 18 seconds for the opening lap in the process – at the 2010 Junior World Championships for Germany, Hindes approached Britain about switching allegiance and moving to Manchester.

He contacted compatriot and two-time world champion Jan van Eijden, now one of British Cycling’s sprint coaches, who helped to facilitate the move in October 2010.

Van Eijden knows there is plenty of work to do in the team sprint and that Hindes faces a key period ahead.

“He’s got some talent,” Van Eijden said. “We just need to see how well he can progress and how the team is going to shape up. We need to see. It’s another four months.”

There are numerous permutations available to Britain, with Hoy, Kenny and Hindes joined by Matt Crampton and Ross Edgar in the sprint squad.

Despite trailing world champions Australia, France and Germany, Van Eijden is not overly concerned.

“We’ve got loads of options,” he said. “We now go away, look at all the numbers and we’ll see what’s going to happen.

“Four years ago in Manchester the French beat us by half a second and, come the Olympics, we beat them by a good margin.

“Ideally you want to be sitting in top spot ahead of the others, but it makes us work.”

Serena Williams: targeting success at French Open later in the season

Serena Williams is already setting her sights on the French Open title after booking her place in the last eight at the Family Circle Cup.

The fifth seed looked more comfortable in her second match of the season on clay as she brushed aside Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2 6-2.

Serving six aces and winning 80 per cent of her first serve points, the 2008 Roland Garros champion also displayed some impressive groundstrokes to set up a possible semi-final clash with sister Venus.

“I love the clay. I’m always ready to win the French Open,” she said. “And I never do. Paris is my favourite city in the world. I hate leaving there.”

Venus, playing on a wildcard invitation as she tries to rebuild her ranking following a lengthy lay-off through injury and illness, beat Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova 7-5 6-2.

However, a last four meeting of the Americans is far from certain with Serena facing the winner of Germany’s Sabine Lisicki or Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova and Venus due to take on either second-seeded Samantha Stosur or Yaroslava’s countrywoman Galina Voskoboeva.

Ben Swift: Gold medal in Melbourne

Ben Swift’s World Championship gold in the scratch race was tinged with slight disappointment as that event will not be in the Olympic schedule in London.

Swift hoped to be part of the pursuit team which captured the world title in Melbourne and also broke the world record in the process.

He made up for his disappointment with a solo gold in the scratch race, but sadly for him that event will not be staged at London 2012.

Swift will now take time to consider his options but has not given up hope of cracking into the team pursuit line-up, having trained so hard with the guys who delivered the world record in Melbourne.

“Watching the boys get that world record before I rode the scratch race was unbelievable, I was super proud of them,” Swift told Sky Sports News

Disappointed

“I was a bit disappointed not to be in the line-up but made up for it in the scratch race.

“It won’t be in the Olympics though which is a shame, at the minute I’ll probably still push for a place in the team pursuit team but once we get back from Australia I’ll sit down with my coaches and see where I am.”

Swift insists he was happy for his team-mates to see them grab the world record, after being part of the training set-up for so long.

“I loved seeing them do well,” he insisted. “I’ve been a part of the training and we’ve all been on a real long journey together since November. It’s been a lot of hard work so to see them pull it off and get the world record is unbelievable

“It’s nice to win gold but it’s not an Olympic discipline, it’s still a World Championship and is still a result to going to be proud of.”

The battle between Great Britain and Australia on the track should be a highlight of London 2012, and Swift says neither side is shying away from the clash.

“It’s brilliant. The Aussies here really love it and they’re really looking forward to August, as we are, and it’s going to be a great battle.

“We’ve set down a pretty big marker. We missed out on the team pursuit for the last three years so to come back now and break the world record sends out a big message to the rest of the world.”