Turning the lights out on Taylor’s career hasn’t sunk in yet: Cross
NEW World champion Rob Cross says he is on “cloud nine” after his life-changing victory over 16time winner Phil Taylor in the William Hill World Championship final at Alexandra Palace on Monday night.
Taylor was hoping to retire with a 17th World title, but 27-year-old Cross, who was not even born when Taylor won his first crown in 1990, had other ideas as he produced a stunning performance to claim a 7-2 victory.
He said: “I’m on cloud nine. It’s surreal, it’s not settled in yet. It was tough to take everything in last night.”
When asked if taking the title had changed his life, the former electrician — without a tour card this time last year — added: “Definitely. Darts already, even before the World Championship, had changed my life.
“I couldn’t have expected the way my year’s gone, but it has absolutely changed my life.”
He added: “Phil’s walk on was emotional, I never really got dragged into that. I still stayed focused and knew what I had to do. With the crowd, I expected it to be a little bit more hostile towards me but when I managed to get in front in the game, I think I quietened them down.”
Cross averaged a remarkable 107.67, hit 11 maximums and had a checkout rate of 60% en route to collecting a cheque of £400,000.
Taylor was criticised by some for his demeanour in the final, which included him allegedly flipping his middle finger after winning the fourth set, but Cross had nothing but admiration for the 57-year-old.
He said: “He’s phenomenal and I’d like to wish him a very happy retirement.
“He’s a great guy. I don’t believe you’ll ever see another sportsman dominate their sport as much as he has done.
“Without Phil, the money probably wouldn’t be in it, the crowds that we play in front of. You’ve got to be grateful for that.”
ULSTER talisman Charles Piutau hopes that, when all is said and done come May, the province can look back on Monday’s stunning turnaround as a key moment in their season.
Trailing 17-0 to Munster, Les Kiss’ side must have been fearing the worst, with the pockets of restless natives around Kingspan Stadium preparing to vent their frustrations.
Having failed to convince in the PRO14 this season, even during some relatively lengthy unbeaten stretches, wheels that were loosened before Christmas in Connacht were threatening to come off against the southern province.
With the Galway outfit having racked up a record score last time out, Munster’s first three-game winning streak in Belfast for over 100 years seemed an inevitability that was sure to heap the pressure on Kiss and his coaching ticket.
A different team emerged for the second half, though, and pulled off the most unlikely of bonus-point wins thanks to a combined four tries from the impressive trio of Darren Cave, Craig Gilroy and Rob Lyttle.
While there was plenty from the first 40 that will quantify as a video nasty when the team reconvene today in a short week ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leinster, Piutau wants to make sure that the win becomes a turning point rather than further evidence of maddening inconsistency.
“Although it wasn’t pretty, we’ll look back at the (end of the) season and say we got points from this game,” said the former All Black who will join Bristol this summer. “(We can say) New Year’s Day, we played in front of our crowd, coming from a game we were hurting from, and we got the result.
“We can go forward and build on this.”
With the pair of sides ahead of them in the PRO14’s conference B, Leinster and Scarlets, both banking two wins from two over the festive season, losses to finish 2017 and then start 2018 would have left the table looking bleak with only nine games remaining.
And with trips to Dublin, Llanelli, Edinburgh and Limerick all still to be negotiated if the gap to the top two is ever to be bridged, Piutau understands they will have to deal with adversity just as well as they did on Monday after being nilled on their own patch for over 50 minutes.
“During the week we had a big emphasis on our response,” he revealed. “If we make a mistake or if we put together some good phases, it’s how we respond to the next play and how quickly I can get a hold of myself if I’ve made a mistake.
“It’s hard when there’s moments where the momentum is with another team, and I think being out there the feeling was it’s not happening now but it’s only a matter of time. The next chance