BEST WAY TO BOUNCE BACK
ALI CARTER admits that victory in today’s World Grand Prix an final in Cheltenham would mark emotional return to the top table. It is Carter’s first final for two years, but the Chelmsford 39-yearold’s off battles have been mainly the table during his career.
‘The Captain’ has twice beaten cancer and suffered from Crohn’s disease. He said: “It would be surreal to be holding a trophy again. have a lot going on behind the “I scenes at the moment and I am feeling a bit punch-drunk.” ANTHONY JOSHUA is close to confirming that he will face Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller at New on York’s Madison Square Garden
June 1. The WBA-IBF-WBO world to heavyweight champion was set box British rival Dillian Whyte at but Wembley Stadium on April 13 – that date has now been scrapped. Whyte could not get the purse promoter he wanted from Joshua’s to Eddie Hearn, leaving Joshua, 29, pursue a fight with American Miller, who is understood to have agreed a deal. IRELAND bounced back from England’s Aviva Stadium ambush seven days ago to end Scotland’s seven-match Six Nations winning streak at Murrayfield.
The defending champions outscored Gregor Townsend’s side by three tries to one as they turned the screw after the break to put their show back on the road. Having lost World Player of the Year Johnny Sexton in the 24th minute to concussion, a win was all that mattered to Rory’s Best’s injurydepleted side.
The Ireland captain said: “If you lose two games in the Six Nations you’re done. You’re dead and buried. We will have to rely on other people which is not where we want to be but if we hadn’t won today we would definitely be out of it.
“Obviously we wanted to be better and to play a lot more like ourselves and I think physically and emotionally we were where we needed to be. I think we can be better and we can play a bit more rugby but it was really important to get a win.”
The quality was minimal and the entertainment value limited but as a restorative after round one it was a useful exercise for Ireland as well as a handy marker to lay down for when the sides meet again in Japan in seven months’ time on the opening weekend of the World Cup.
Tries from Conor Murray, who seized on a defensive mix-up between Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland, and Jacob Stockdale, who surged over from 40 metres after a midfield switch, gave Ireland a 1412 half-time advantage.
Stockdale’s score came at a cost though with Sexton leaving the field after being clattered in the buildup, then Finn Russell picked off a pass from his replacement Joey Carbery to set up Sam Johnson for his first international try.
The Scots’ possession pipeline clogged up after the break and Ireland compounded their problems when Carbery spotted a half-gap and drove through some weak frontline tackling by Allan Dell and Rob Harley to put Earls away for a 56th minute try.
Laidlaw cut the deficit to within six points with a penalty from a tight angle with 18 minutes left but Carbery replied six minutes later after a sustained period of keepball. The Scots did not have the
SCOTLAND ........ 13 IRELAND ........... 22
firepower to pull the game out of the fire having lost Stuart Hogg to a shoulder injury in the 17th minute when he fell awkwardly after being sandwiched between two Irish tacklers as he chipped ahead, and Ireland closed it out with some ease.
Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw took issue afterwards with the refereeing of French official Romain Poite.
He said: “He doesn’t seem to like us, Romain. He refereed us against South Africa as well and we don’t seem to see eye-to-eye.”
But Laidlaw would have been better off looking at his own side’s inadequacies as their 14 handling errors contributed hugely to Ireland’s win.
“You could understand his frustration but it’s a tough game to referee and Romain is an outstanding ref,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend.
“It was our performance in the second half, through some of the errors, which cost us the game.”