And they’re off! The Premier League jolted back into life last weekend to remind fans, depending on their allegiance, of the joys of the beautiful game or how it feels to see dreams crushed underfoot. Still, only another 37 games to go. Big-spending Manchester United got the ball rolling with a win in last Saturday’s early kick-off, but only after Tottenham defender Kyle Walker rolled the ball into his own net.
Meanwhile, it proved a bad day to be a goalkeeper in London. Chelsea played with 10 men for most of the second half of their 2-2 home draw with Swansea after goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off. And at Arsenal, a flappy debut from the usually unflappable former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech handed West Ham a surprise 2-0 away win.
Australia seal Championship
The Rugby World Cup may be looming large on the horizon – the tournament begins on 18 September when England host Fiji at Twickenham – but the more immediate prospect of last Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup Test kept Australia and New Zealand’s rugby union fans focused on the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship. The home side’s 27-19 victory in Sydney, their first against the All Blacks in four years, sealed the tournament title; the return match takes place in Auckland on 15 August. South Africa suffered a 37-25 home defeat to Argentina in their Championship fixture and, more worrying, lost captain Jean de Villiers with a fractured jaw. Back in the northern hemisphere, Ireland ran in five tries in a 35-21 win against Wales in Cardiff but lost flanker Tommy O’Donnell to a hip injury.
Ruby a National treasure
Irish jockey Ruby Walsh added the Australian Grand National to his collection of English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish National victories when he rode Bashboy to a record third win at Ballarat, Victoria, last Sunday. Walsh took on the ride after regular jockey Steven Pateman was suspended – and the world’s leading jump jockey did not disappoint, fighting off a challenge from second-placed Thubiaan in the home straight. “I’m over the moon that I was asked to come, even happier that I won,” said an ebullient Walsh.
Wada responds to drug report
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) will launch an investigation into doping allegations in athletics following claims last week by German broadcaster ARD/WDR and the Sunday Times that a third of all medallists in endurance events at recent Olympics and World Championships had suspicious blood test results. While criticising the way around 12,000 test results from 5,000 athletes was put into the public domain, Wada hopes its investigation – due to report by the end of the year – will discover the truth.
