Cracking the Code

If there is a competition that highlights time and again that the divide between success and failure in sport can be beyond negligible, it is Australia’s premier rugby league competition the NRL . With time up in this year’s grand final the Cowboys of North Queensland trailed the Brisbane Broncos by 4 points, for the Broncos it was a case of one more tackle and they would be premiers. However, the Cowboys bundled up all the clichés as they threw caution to the wind, rolled the dice and held nothing back to produce the impossible to score in the corner. With the board locked at 16 each, Jonathan Thurston stepped up to win the game for his beloved Cowboys. As the kick homed in on the posts and drew back in classic Thurston fashion , the North Queensland talisman raised his arm in the air believing his kick was about to creep inside the sticks only to see it collide with the near upright. As it materialised, JT would get another opportunity, and this time he was on the money as he nudge...

Whilst millions at home were enjoying watching Six Nations super Saturday unfold, I was forced to scurry around the Internet looking for alternative outlets for following events. The letters VPN became my nemesis. A combination of Radio Wales, Radio Ulster, BBC sport app and Twitter just about managed to keep me in check. Although the masses lauded this the best day's rugby in history, questions quickly started to emerge around the structure of the competition and why fans hadn't been treated to such free flowing games on previous weekends.  It is difficult to reject the notion that synchronised kick off times on the final weekend would assist in creating a level playing field as teams fight it out to determine their final standing. The concept is deployed in major football competitions for that very reason. It was undoubtedly to England's advantage that they had a total to chase, as opposed to Wales and Ireland who knew they just had to post their best and hope. Conver...

As I sit to write this, the 2015 Rugby World Cup countdown reads 315 days 22 hours and 33 minutes. This weekend, sees the return to our shores of the SANZAR superpowers on their end of year tours. Traditionally the Autumn Internationals provide an opportunity for the tourists to drip feed some new talent into the test environment whilst trying to exert dominance over their Northern Hemisphere opponents. For the hosts it is the start of the international season, a chance for the respective coaches to observe if their group can not only compete but defeat world class opposition. Given the proximity and location of next year's Rugby World Cup, does this year's series bare greater significance than previous? In June 1997 the English football team visited France to compete in Le Tournoi a four team round robin tournament featuring France, Italy and Brazil. The Tournament was played out as a prelude for France 98 the following year. England left as victors having defeated both F...