ARSENAL COULD HOST SCOTS v WALES
IS THIS THE END FOR SERENA’S SLAM DREAM?
ARSENAL have been approached to loan out their Emirates Stadium for the final Six Nations match between Wales and Scotland next month.
Sportsmail can reveal that fellow English Premier League clubs West Ham and Tottenham have also been in discussions over the potential use of their grounds, with Wales unable to host the game at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff as it is being used as a field hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the day of the game — Saturday, October 31 — Arsenal and West Ham are both playing away from home, although Spurs, who are eager to host, are due to play at home against Brighton. The Welsh Rugby Union want to play the game in the English capital provided fans are allowed to attend to bring in some much-needed income. If there are no fans allowed at the match, which has been delayed since March, it will be played behind closed
doors at a regional stadium in Wales. The game, which will be broadcast on the BBC, is one of six internationals Scotland will play over a seven-week period in October, November and early December.
Gregor Townsend’s men start with a home friendly against Georgia then, after Wales in the Six Nations, focus on their Autumn Nations Cup matches — at home to France and Fiji, away to Italy and another in the knockout stages — that will all be shown live on Amazon Prime Video with highlights later on Channel 4.
Every game, apart from Ireland’s three pool matches against England, Wales and Georgia which will be shown live on Channel 4, will be available only on Amazon. Their coverage will be fronted by Gabby Logan and South African World Cup winner Bryan Habana.
It’s another major coup for Amazon, who have also been showing the US Open tennis over the past fortnight and have acquired English Premier League football matches in the past.
Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe, said: ‘It is a unique event bringing a new level of competitiveness to Autumn international rugby and will offer something back to all the fans who have missed top-level rugby.’
Meanwhile, Chris Paterson, Scotland’s second most capped player of all-time, believes that turning the Autumn Tests into a mini-league with a trophy to the winners will give it an extra edge.
‘The Autumn Nations Cup now creates something new, adding a new level of pressure with tournament points available,’ said Paterson.
‘The window is now more competitive and there is a chance to win a trophy. The new level of pressure and competition is great and it means the players will have to be ready to deliver from the opening match away from home against Italy.’
The tournament starts only three weeks after the new season of the Pro14, with Paterson believing these early league games will be vital for players looking to secure a place in Townsend’s plans for the Autumn Nations Cup.
‘The players are going to have to work really hard to be at the required level to play international rugby quickly,’ said the former Scotland full-back.
‘There are only three rounds of Guinness Pro14 fixtures for home-based players and players in other leagues will have had varying amounts of games time before the tournament starts.
‘It is a real opportunity to start the season with a bang, find your form quickly and, in turn, put pressure on the Scotland coaches to select you.
‘It’s a good opportunity for every player to lay down a marker in those limited games to be part of the first Autumn Nations Cup.’
The one match Paterson is looking forward to more than any other is when former Scotland head coach Vern Cotter brings his new team Fiji to BT Murrayfield for a Nations Cup fixture.
‘The final pool match is an inspiring fixture,’ he said. ‘Fiji and the brand of rugby they play, coached by Vern Cotter, will relish the opportunity to play on the open expanse of the BT Murrayfield turf, but so do Scotland.
‘I think this fixture has the potential to light up the tournament. Fiji can select from some of the world’s best individual players, including Bristol’s Semi Radradra, Edinburgh’s Bill Mata and Glasgow’s Leone Nakarawa but they must play with a team discipline to be successful. This fixture is worth looking out for.’
WITH the prospect of rugby fans getting into grounds any time soon diminishing, TV coverage has never been so important. But how much will Scottish supporters have to pay to watch their club or country in action?
SERENA WILLIAMS had to wait nearly eight months for another Grand Slam opportunity, and now two of them have come along at once.
Yet you suspect that she has already missed her biggest, and perhaps final, chance to reach 24 Grand Slam titles.
After going down 6-1, 3-6, 3-6 to Victoria Azarenka in a high-quality US Open semi-final, she wasted no time in declaring that she would travel to Europe for the rescheduled French Open, starting later this month.
‘I feel like other times I’ve been close and I could have done better. Today I felt like I gave a lot,’ she concluded. ‘I’m definitely going to Paris.’ The American will turn 39 the day before the tournament starts. It will be a further reminder the clock is ticking closer to midnight on her hopes of matching Margaret Court’s tally of major titles.
Williams had a lot going for her this fortnight, but was stopped by a stirring performance from Azarenka, who will now meet 2018 winner Naomi Osaka in today’s final. Roland Garros will be far more difficult for her to win, especially given all the things in her favour in New York.
The most obvious of these was the absence of six of the top ten women, but there were others, including having the new Flushing Meadows Laykold surface laid on a court near her home.
Her scheduling during the tournament was distinctly generous. All of her six matches were played in Arthur Ashe Stadium and five of those were in daytime sessions, including being given the earlier slot for her quarter-final.
As one of the eight players paying substantially extra for renting private accommodation, she was even allowed more passes for her entourage to watch her matches.
The French are insisting that all players must stay in the official hotels in Paris, including Williams, who owns an apartment in the city.
The clay-court Grand Slam is, in any event, somewhere she has not gone beyond the fourth round on her last two visits. Barring late withdrawals, the overall entry is stronger than it has been this fortnight.