General Sports Thread

The whole safety cell . Days gone by , he would have been cut in half .

A La Francois Cevert

 

Or died from burns to his lungs. The remarkable thing isn't merely that he survived, but that he was still in any shape to climb out. It's extremely rare for a driver to not walk away from a crash these days.

 

Should say, though, that it's absolutely shocking that there is still Armco on a F1 racetrack. The halo prevented him from being decapitated, but surely there are better options...even though you generally won't have offs in that sort of area, any that do occur are going to be the result of high-speed collisions sending cars completely out of control.

 

If you want to know how well sports are going in the US, the Denver Broncos are starting a wide receiver from their practice squad at quarterback because all four of their QBs either have COVID or had close exposures to it.

 

It should be one hell of a match next week at Twickenham, England v France. I shall try and find a bar as I did yesterday afternoon for the Wales v England match to watch this. The good thing about this fixture is that the French have a decent side again, which is good for England - as England need opponents to push them hard. Really looking forward to the game and looking out for the power of Itoje, the speed of May, the ability of Ford to slalom his way through a gap, and if he plays a try or two from Jonathan Joseph!!

 

England had it too easy against Wales!!! As for the SH sides, do you really thing the ABs could master this England pack? The Springboks might be a different story, but the Boks played England at a moment after England had pulverised Oz and NZ so had nothing left in the tank come the final.

 

Hmmm - the way the ABs demolished the Puma pack, I think they’d give any team a real test, including England.
I tend to agree with you re the RWC final. Losing our best prop early on put us under pressure and a few mistakes by the replacement let the ref get the impression (as they do) that every scrum issue was against us, so we gave penalties away.
I think England need to learn when to quickly offload and when to keep possession. It’ll come - hopefully next year we can show that we can give any team a good contest (and beat them!)

 

Re- the ABs. England have had the better of the last two matches against them. The autumn international in 2018, which was narrowly won by the ABs after England had a try disallowed, but throughout the game, the ABs were pressurised. And of course the semi last year. After that mauling, the ABs will be very wary of meeting this powerful England line up again. The ABs might have the edge regarding artistry and technical ability, but England have the power and in today's modern game that counts for a lot.
If we look at things objectively, the top 4 teams at the moment are the Boks, England, ABs and maybe France with not a lot of diffence between them. Next week will tell us more about where France are. Should be a very intense game. Maybe not the most beautiful but it will be good for the rugby fan and the wider audience.

 

It’s just sad that a full strength French side won’t be playing. I think a full strength English team vs similar from France sound give us a great idea as to who is the strongest N Hemisphere team. I reckon France would have won the 6 Nations if they hadn’t had that idiot sent off v Scotland and I was upset about the way they turned England over earlier. So I reckon we won’t really know till next years 6 Nations and, of course, England play France at Twickenham which should give them the advantage. But, you never know with the french (as we’ve been saying for years!!)
Looking forward to a good game!

 

Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for Coronavirus, and will miss the Sakhir Grand Prix, giving somebody else a chance to win!

 

Van doorne is the reserve driver , I would like Russell to get a chance though .

 

Hope he’s ok. Is he ill?

 

Minor symptoms apparently.

 

Likewise, though I think Stoffel is a better driver now than he was at McLaren. I expect he’d manage points in the car. Unless they give Williams a wedge of cash, I can’t see them releasing George for the weekend (though it would be fascinating, and I bet he’d love the opportunity!)

 

Yes I don't think it will happen , but I'd like it to .

 

And yet here it is.

George Russell will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for the Sakhir Grand Prix. Now this should be interesting!

 

It will be interesting to see how he does compared to Bottas.

 

Another iconic voice from my youth has passed. R.I.P. Golf legend Peter Alliss...
I remember all those nights watching Nick Faldo, Seve, Sandy Lyle, Woosie win and his gentle English humour, he will be sadly missed.

 

I thought France were sending a weakened team to play England.
England being complacent or don’t they handle the pressures associated with finals well enough?