1) With England taking on the auld enemy on Tuesday here’s some classic encounters. First up that “devastating” game at Wembley from 1928 where Scotland won 5-1 and “many saxpences were banged”. England strike back in 1961 with a 9-3 win, here with all the goals collected into just over two minutes. Scotland fans will enjoy reliving being on top again as they defeat the World Cup-holders in 1967 and again here in 1977 with that pitch invasion. But possibly less so David Seaman’s penalty save and Gazza’s genius at Euro 1996 ...
2) Another step closer to real-life turning into video games in the form of adrenaline-fuelled first-person hurling action. Of course live Mario Kart had got there first ...
3) Nice skills as Filipe Luís makes Neymar look decidedly average during training; Sariñena’s golakeeper makes “the finish of the scorpion” , and a ref receives an absolute haymaker in Ukraine.
4) Kiwi cricket commentators to your mics! Two gems from New Zealand: horror as a six hits this expert’s rental car and elation as this genius catch lands a fan £2,500.
5) GB have a new world champion: Rachael Letsche who went from eighth to gold at the women’s World Tumbling Championship, with this breathtaking display of flinging herself across a long mat.
6) Winning the points classification of the Tour de France for the third time on the bounce, it has been an extraordinarily good and entertaining year too, for Peter Sagan.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) Man on rocket-powered bicycle takes on Ferrari 430. Much as in this season’s F1, Ferrari made to look decidedly average.
2) Silly mid-off takes one for the team. A very, very painful one, while this marvellous footage from Pathé shows us how women took to the crease in 1928.
3) The haka proved popular last week, largely in debate over the best response: France face it down at the 2007 World Cup before promptly knocking New Zealand out; Willie Anderson leads Ireland right into the Kiwi’s faces in 1989; Munster bring their own; the Wallabies simply ignore it in 1996; the more polite haka of the 1940’s and perhaps best of all the magnificent stand-off as Wales refuse to move in 2008 (before losing 29-9). Finally, why does it not end like this more often? As the Cook Islands v NZ Maori haka becomes over-heated.
4) Matias Cano bicycle-kicks his way out of trouble for UAI Urquiza in Argentina against the wonderfully-named Deportivo Morón. But quick, Run to the hills! It’s the Iron Maiden football crossover: in Poland; Stockholm and on stage in New York.
5) Ultimate NFL fail just before a touchdown is bad enough. Then it just gets worse.
6) Prosthetic legs prove no hindrance to the awesome skills of Chilean downhill racer Adolfo Almarza.
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