El Mundo Del Deporte
Created | Updated Nov 1, 2007
This week, baseball, both codes of Rugby and a new man in the hot seat at Tottenham.
Major League Baseball – The Business End Of the 2007 Season Part Two
Following on from the review of the American and National League Division Series in my last column, now it's time for the story of the two Championship Series. In the National League, the Colorado Rockies aimed to reach their first World Series by beating the 2001 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. The first two games of this series were held in Phoenix, but it was the team on the road, the Rockies, who opened up a 2-0 lead with 5-1 and 3-2 wins in the first two games. It was then all back to Denver, where the Rockies continued their domination to record 4-1 and 6-4 to complete a 4-0 sweep in the series.
In the American League, the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox took on the Cleveland Indians. The Red Sox won the first game of the series 10-3 at their home ball park but suffered a shock 13-6 defeat in the second game in Boston. The series then moved over to Cleveland, where the Indians won game three 4-2 and game four 7-3 to open up a 3-1 series lead and leave them one win away from the World Series. However, the Red Sox then rallied to take game five 7-1 in Cleveland before winning game six 12-2 back in Boston to level the series at 3-3. These losses knocked the confidence of the Indians whilst boosting that of the Red Sox and it came as no surprise when they were the winners of game seven by 11 runs to 2 to set up a World Series showdown with the Colorado Rockies.
The Rugby League Centenary International –
The Northern Union v The All All Golds
On Saturday 20 October, the Rugby League Centenary International took place at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium. The Northern Union, a Super League representative side-drawn from coach Tony Smith's Great Britain training squad, took on the New Zealand All Golds who included in their number Australian test prop Steve Price, taking the role of the legendary Dally Messenger, who was the sole Australian representative in the 1907 tour. The scoring system from 1907 was also used for this game, meaning three points for a try and two points for any goals, including drop goals.
The first points in the game went to the Northern Union courtesy of stand-off Danny McGuire. The Leeds man touched down under the posts and the extras were added by Wakefield's Jamie Rooney to give the Northern Union a 5-0 lead. This lead was short lived, however, as McGuire's club team mate Ali Lauititi scored two quick tries, both of which were converted by Stacey Jones, playing his last match before retirement, to make the score 10-5 to the All Golds. Greg Eastwood also touched down for the All Golds and following another Jones conversion, the half-time score was 15-5.
The Northern Union began the second half strongly, and were rewarded when McGuire went over for his second try of the game. This was followed by further tries from Warrington's Jon Clarke and Hull's Kirk Yeaman. Rooney converted two of these to put the Northern Union 18-15 ahead. However, late tries from new Warrington arrival Louis Anderson, and Leeds' Clinton Toopi turned the game the All Golds' way. Both of these tries were converted by Jones, meaning that, fittingly, he scored the final points in the final match to bring the final score to Northern Union 18, All Golds 25.
The Rugby League Test Series –
Great Britain v New Zealand (First Test)
On Saturday 27 October, the first test of the series between Great Britain and New Zealand took place at Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium. The first points of the match were scored by New Zealand's Shontayne Hape, which made the score 4-0 after Hohoia failed to add the extras. Great Britain quickly hit back and after James Roby had failed to gather his own kick to score, a break from Rob Burrow set up the opportunity for Somoan-born prop Maurie Fa'asavalu to crash over from close range. Burrow added the extras and a penalty shortly after, to give GB an 8-4 lead. However the Kiwis then hit back when Huddersfield's Paul Whatuira punished a mistake from Fa'asavalu to score and Hohoia added the extras to bring the half time score to GB 8 New Zealand 10.
Great Britain regained the lead when Kiwi full-back Sam Perrett failed to deal with a long kick from Burrow, allowing Gareth Raynor to touch down. Burrow duly added the extras and GB led 14-10. New Zealand then had a sustained spell of pressure but could find no way through the British defence and were punished when Leon Pryce broke through their lines and offloaded to 18 year old debutant Sam Burgess to score. The extras were again added, and although New Zealand managed a late try from Hape, Great Britain secured a 20-14 victory over the tourists.
The Rugby Union World Cup Final
On Saturday 20 October, England took on South Africa at the Stade de France in the final of the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup. The South Africans had the better of the opening exchanges and took the lead through a penalty from Percy Montgomery, given against England's Mathew Tait. England were soon level through a Jonny Wilkinson penalty following a South African infringement at the ruck after they failed to deal with a high kick. However, the game was not level for long, before two further Montgomery penalties brought the half-time score to England 3, South Africa 9.
Two minutes after the restart, England had an opportunity to get right back into the game. Centre Tait broke deep into South African territory and the ball came back to scrum half Andy Gomarsall; he fed the ball wide for winger Mark Cueto to dive over in the corner. However, the try was disallowed by the TV match official, who stated that Cueto's foot was in touch before he grounded the ball. The referee had been playing advantage from an earlier infringement and came back for the penalty which Wilkinson made no mistake with, the score now England 6, South Africa 9. The SA six point was soon restored however, when a Montgomery penalty made it 12-6 to the Springboks. England continued to press for the elusive score but fell further behind when Francois Steyn added a penalty, following obstruction as England brought the ball out of defence. England kept trying until the final whistle, but could add no further points, meaning that South Africa become World Champions with the final score in the final of England 6, South Africa 15.
And Finally
Tottenham Hotspur have appointed Spaniard Juande Ramos as their new head-coach, after parting company with Dutchman Martin Jol. However, they could face investigation over the appointment, after the president of Spanish side Sevilla, Ramos' former club, claimed that they had made an illegal approach for the 53-year-old, and said that he would ask FIFA and UEFA to investigate the matter.
