³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Can it really be over so soon? With 11 months to wait until the next slice of Six Nations action, only one task remains: the now-traditional alternative tournament awards.

I'll start us off with a few suggestions, you come up fast on the outside and take it on from there. Over we go.

Player of tournament
Never an easy one, this, but two men stand out for me - even if only one of them by head and shoulders. For his game-management, place-kicking and old-fashioned scrum-half mouth, the precocious Morgan Parra gets the nod; for his dynamism, forward rumble and old-fashioned no.8 nous, Imanol Harinordoquy joins him on the rostrum.

Most thrilling try
We almost need three sub-categories here. For a score born of team-work and interplay, David Wallace's consolation for Ireland in Paris. For individual brilliance, . And for sheer I-can't-believe-it thrills, Shane's stoppage-time match-winner to snatch victory from under Scottish noses.

Best match
For the most complete performance, we must stand and ovate France for their display against Ireland. But for drama? Easy. - tries, sin-binnings, great forward rumble and running in the backs, a see-saw scoreline and a finish that no-one who saw it will ever forget. For better or for worse, Mr Robinson.

Worst match
If it didn't quite touch the lows of England v Argentina in November, it did its best. A day for fans of fluid rugby to despair. Of any rugby to despair.

Angriest man
Won last year by Martin Johnson for smashing his own thigh after Danny Care was yellow-carded in Dublin, the award is shared this time around by two men: Andy Robinson, for his rages in the Murrayfield greenhouse as England drew with Scotland, and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ commentator Brian Moore for his reaction to referee Bryce Lawrence's interesting interpretations as France squeaked past England to seal the Grand Slam. Former England forward, former England forward, former England forward - there's a theme here...

Read the rest of this entry

Deep in the concrete bowels of the Stade de France, Marc Lievremont looked simultaneously delighted and drained with the as coach. "It is a very nice baby," he said, with apposite analogy, "even if the birth was quite difficult."

Martin Johnson is nobody's idea of the dream midwife. For long periods on Saturday night in Paris it seemed as if there would be no champagne-fuelled celebrations for Les Bleus, no tearful welcome home into the embrace of an ecstatic nation.

That France squeaked home and sealed the Slam with their least impressive performance of the season rather summed up the championship: never mind the quality, feel the tension.

Read the rest of this entry

On his bike, doesn't look quite like you imagine a world champion might. Maybe it's the implausibly youthful face, or the tattered square of dirty, reflective cloth taped to his mudguard, or the white towelling sport socks he's pulled over his cleats in place of overshoes.

Appearances have seldom been more deceptive. Brownlee didn't snatch his triathlon world title last year with a dip on the line, or sneak through as all others struggled. He owned it from start to finish. in the championship series, topped off with a showboating - an unprecedented dominance from anyone, let alone a 21-year-old in his first full year on the senior circuit.

"I didn't have a clue it would happen," he says. "At the start of the year, I thought my form was pretty poor. I didn't feel that great at all. But by the time , I felt unbeatable. That one almost felt easy."

This does not. We are barrelling along through the , a third of the way into a three-hour training ride. From a selfish point of view, it's probably a good job he's still recovering from the stress fracture that will delay the defence of his title; a gentle leg-spin for a world champ is a tongue-out thrash for a rusty amateur triathlete.

Brownlee, born in Dewsbury, schooled in Bradford, resident of Bramhope, is Yorkshire through and through. Not for him the sunshine and open-air pools of South Africa or Australia. Warm-weather training is when enough snow melts for the road to Thornthwaite to re-open again.

"I love it here," he says, surveying the windswept, dun-coloured fells and snowy moors on the horizon. "It's got everything I need - great roads for cycling, perfect running, coaching and medical back-up in Leeds. Australia's too hot, and the roads round are too busy. You can't top Yorkshire."

Read the rest of this entry

England, says Martin Johnson, are getting better. . "We have the potential there."

It was a comment that raised a lot of eyebrows, not to mention a few hackles. If there are green shoots poking through, they don't seem to be hugely evident to many England fans.

So, in the spirit of enquiry, I've been doing a little research. A morning digging out some detailed statistics, an afternoon picking the brains of World Cup winners, coaching staff and current players.

Throughout it all, we'll try to be as positive as possible, both to lift the mood and refute complaints of media negativity. Spring, after all, is in the air, and in any case, no-one likes a whinger.

Read the rest of this entry

It's probably the only place Usain Bolt might not start as red-hot favourite, and that says it all.

Winning World Indoor gold takes a very specific set of athletics skills. Over the next three days in Doha, Dwain Chambers, Jenny Meadows and Jessica Ennis will all be hoping to bring back medals for Britain - but what tactics should they use, and what particular pressures will they be under?

Read the rest of this entry

Let's allow ourselves a little fanciful day-dreaming on this busy working day.

After years of selfless toil out on the rugby pitch, slogging your guts out every weekend and having nothing to show for it but a bashed-up face and heavy limp on Monday morning, the reward you always craved has come: you've been called up to play for England against Scotland on Saturday.

Nice feeling, isn't it - but how does it work? Who tells you you're in, where do you go, how are you introduced to the grizzled legends already in the team? How long do you have to learn the set plays, what do you do about kit and what dreadful initiation ritual is there to go through?

Read the rest of this entry