Vicky sad over Brad dope row
IRELAND’S Six Nations title hopefuls trained on the IRFU’S sevens pitch at Abbotstown yesterday but expect to be back on the Carton House paddock this morning.
It’s hoped that Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson will take a full part in today’s session as Joe Schmidt puts the final touches on his team selection for the crucial clash with Scotland.
Neither Furlong nor Henderson played in the win over Wales 10 days ago and must prove their fitness to earn inclusion now.
Ulster lock Henderson (above) was very close to facing the Welsh so the main concern has been Leinster and Lions prop Furlong.
Conditions at their Maynooth base, despite the clean-up efforts of Barnhall RFC over the weekend, prompted a change to the Blanchardstown campus.
The squad regrouped on Sunday after a four-day break and Keith Earls admitted that reaching the venue in snow-covered Co Kildare was challenging.
“It wasn’t too bad getting out of Limerick but when we
FRANCE v ENGLAND, STADE DE FRANCE, SATURDAY 4.45PM EDDIE JONES yesterday warned no one’s job is safe after admitting defeat by Scotland had left him unable to sleep.
“We’re in a high-performance environment and high performance means you have to perform,” said the England boss, still coming to terms with the shock Calcutta Cup loss.
“No one is indispensable and the players understand that. It’s the same with me. I lose one game and I might be on a plane back to Sydney.
“You see it in football all the time now and rugby is becoming more and more like football.”
Jones had been up since 4am trying to fix the problems that led England to lose for only the second time in his 26 Tests in charge.
“I can’t sleep because it annoys me losing a game that we shouldn’t have lost,” he said, hinting at changes for what he expects to be a “slogathon” against France.
“I find that’s the best time to think. I go to the office with a thought in my head and start sending texts and emails to various staff members saying, ‘What do you think of this?’.
“Some of them reply straight away, some of them don’t. I don’t have anxiety, I have thoughts about what we have to fix and how we’re going to fix it.” CYCLING queen Victoria Pendleton admitted her heart sank when she saw her former team-mate Sir Bradley Wiggins damned by British MPS.
Wiggins came out swinging last night after a Parliamentary report into doping cultures in sport claimed he won the 2012 Tour de France after taking drugs to enhance his performance instead of medical need.
And Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford is under renewed pressure to quit after the 54-page dossier said he should “take responsibility” for the storm clouds of suspicion over the ethics of his team’s achievements.
Double Olympic gold medallist Pendleton was one of the few cycling big guns who dared to face the music after a Commons select committee chaired by Damian Collins became judge and jury in the trashing of Wiggins’ success.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, she admitted: “I must admit my heart did sink when I saw the report.
“I’d like to believe it’s not true and until there’s any concrete evidence I’m still going to try to be optimistic that these athletes - people I know - and the team have not crossed any boundaries, although this committee has already decided they have.”
Wiggins vehemently denies wrongdoing and raged: “Not at any time in my career did we cross the ethical line. I refute that 100 per cent.
“This is malicious, this is someone trying to smear me.”
But Wiggins’ former coach Shane Sutton told the committee: “What Brad was doing was unethical but not against the rules.”