Kieran’s KO blow
KIERAN HARDY will miss the rest of Wales’ Grand Slam bid after being ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The scrum-half, whose second-half try against England last Saturday helped maintain Wales’ 100 per cent record in the Six Nations, has returned to the Scarlets for treatment.
Wales are set to turn to Gareth Davies against Italy in Rome next weekend with Lloyd Williams as bench back-up.
MARK SELBY is not thinking about the money in a race for a £150,000 bonus with world No.1 Judd Trump this week.
Three-time world champion Selby went 2-0 down against veteran Ken Doherty before moving into the Gibraltar Open third round with a 4-2 victory in Milton Keynes.
The tournament is the final event in a series of six, with the leading prize money winner scooping an extra jackpot – and it is down to either Selby or the Juddernaut.
Selby joked: “I know it is four more best-of-seven wins to guarantee myself the £150,000 – easy, isn’t it!
“It is in my hands, too, because whatever Judd does here I have to do that, get to the final.
“I didn’t really think about the money during the game, I never do.”
Trump stayed on course for a potential semi-final ‘winner takes all’ clash after a 4-1 victory over Thailand’s Sunny Akani.
MICK MCCARTHY heads into his 1,000th game as a manager tonight riding high at Cardiff – but has seen enough to know how things can quickly change.
Since replacing Neil Harris in January, the vastly experienced Mccarthy, 62, has won seven out of 10 games, drawing three, and turning the Bluebirds into play-off contenders.
He yesterday signed a two-year deal after initially being appointed until the end of the season.
Mccarthy, whose side visit Huddersfield tonight, said: “I was 32 when I became a manager – I’m a bit more comfortable in the role now.
“At the moment it’s great but there’s no point getting carried away. Everybody gives you a pat on the back and then suddenly there is a knife in their hand – that’s just the way it is.”
Huddersfield boss Carlos Corberan is in his first managerial job and the Terriers are in a desperate survival battle.
Corberan, 37, said: “It’s important to concentrate on yourself, wherever you are in the table. We need to focus on what we can control – our results and performances.”
PATRICK BAMFORD admits he would have lost his mind if football had not returned after the first lockdown.
Sunday marks one year since Leeds last played at a packed Elland Road, when they beat Huddersfield 2-0 in front of 36,500 people.
Days later the country went into national lockdown and Bamford (inset) says he could not have coped if football had not returned in June.
“I know technically it’s a job but it’s also a hobby, so to have that taken away from you is hard,” said the Leeds striker.
“I don’t know what I would have done if it had gone on from March for the whole year.
“I would probably have lost my mind. Football is a game of highs and lows and going without football makes you appreciate even the lows.”
Leeds went top of the Championship by beating Huddersfield and
Bamford remembers the players were preparing for their next game against Cardiff when football abruptly shut down.
“No-one had said the country was going to shut down for three months. Then everything stopped,” he told the Official Leeds United Podcast.
“The next day the van turned up with the physio dropping off exercise kit and that was it.”
Leeds won the Championship and have established themselves back in the Premier League. Bamford has 13 top-flight goals and says he misses not being able to enjoy that with the supporters.
“The one thing I miss most is when you score and you celebrate with the fans,” he said. “You’re pumped up, then you see someone in the crowd going more nuts and it just hypes you up even more.”