LIONS BACKROOM REVEALED
On Wednesday the British and Irish Lions head coach, Warren Gatland, will announce his assistant coaches for next summer’s tour of New Zealand. There has already been plenty of speculation surrounding Gatland’s choices, with the newly appointed Scotland coach, Gregor Townsend, revealing that he turned down the chance to be part of the Lions’ staff to concentrate on his new role. Wales’s interim coach Rob Howley, the former England forward Steve Borthwick and the Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell are in contention for a place in the Lions’ backroom team. All will be confirmed by the Kiwi in Dublin on Wednesday.
TEAM GB’S FUNDING FATE
A fall in the sales of National Lottery tickets may have a knock-on effect on sports funding for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. On Friday, UK Sport’s funding agency will announce sport-by-sport spending restrictions for the four years in the buildup to the next summer Games. Sports such as swimming were expecting a budget boost following Team GB’s impressive medal count in Rio, but the fall in popularity of the National Lottery, which funds around 70% of UK Sport’s budget, could mean a cut is on the way. Team GB won more medals in the Olympic and Paralympics in Rio than they have in over half a century, but a funding shortfall would dampen their chances of producing a similar display in four years’ time.
EUROPEAN RUGBY IS BACK
After a month of autumn internationals the European Champions Cup makes its return, with Northampton taking on Leinster in the first encounter on Friday evening (BT Sport 2, 7pm). The pick of the weekend’s other games come at Thomond Park on Saturday where Munster, leading in Pool One, take on Leicester (BT Sport 2, 3pm), and at the Ricoh Arena where Wasps – last seen thrillingly drawing 20-20 with Toulouse – will take on Connacht (Sky Sports 2, 12.30pm), with both teams at the top of Pool Two.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINALES
The final round of group matches means the all-important qualifying spots will be confirmed before the last-16 draw takes place a week tomorrow. On Tuesday Arsenal travel to Basel (BT Sport 2, 7pm) in the hope that PSG will drop points at home to Ludogorets and give the Gunners a chance of finishing top. Manchester City, who have also qualified but are unable to catch group leaders Barcelona, welcome Celtic to the Etihad Stadium (BT Sport 3, 7pm). On Wednesday, Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund (BT Sport ESPN, 7.30pm) is possibly the game of the week. The result will decide who tops Group F.
SUNSHINE SHOWDOWN
The Ricoh Arena hosts the decisive third and final netball Test between England and Jamaica tonight (Sky Sports 3, 5.15pm). Tracey Neville’s team are third in the world and Jamaica (4th) are stern opposition – the series is 1-1 after the Sunshine Girls won 66-49 at London’s Copper Box and England levelled with a 63-50 win in Manchester on Friday.
LOOK OUT FOR … HOMESICK FANS
Hammers? Not this time. Spurs are back at Wembley this week for another fake “home” game, and they’re still not feeling it. So far they have lost two out of two Champions League games there, and now need only a draw on Wednesday against CSKA Moscow to earn the consolation burden of a Europa League spot. Still, it could be worse. They could have beaten Karren Brady to the Olympic Stadium rights back in 2012.
Can’t they just give up and go home? Moussa Sissoko wants to. “Going home [for the Europa League games] would just make it easier for us.” But it’s not going to happen: White Hart Lane’s days are numbered – next season they’ll be at Wembley full time, so they need to learn to adjust. Mauricio Pochettino says players like Sissoko should put up and shut up. “The players need to focus on playing. The rest is down to the chairman, to the board and to me.”
So why aren’t they settling? No one likes change – but the total lack of tribal atmosphere and intensity clearly plays a part. West Ham have had the same problem in the wide-open surrounds of Stratford – and Arsenal had it at the old Wembley in the late 90s. They played their Champions League matches there for two seasons, and only managed to win two of their six. In the second season, after being knocked out, they called it a day and went back to Highbury for their Uefa Cup ties – and promptly stormed all the way to the final. Arsène Wenger called the whole Wembley experiment “a nightmare for us … We didn’t feel at home at all – it was something completely unusual. And it was certainly a disadvantage.”
What do Spurs do about it? Knuckle down. “You can’t stop and try to complain or blame,” says Pochettino. “So I am looking forward. We need to make Wembley our home. We have to, we must start thinking like that and avoiding all the negative things about the ground. It doesn’t help us today, and it won’t help us in the future.”
And what does the future hold? After one full season in Brent, they’ll have their controversial, taxpayer-assisted Northumberland Development Project done and dusted – a £450m, 61,000‑seat home, including atmosphere-guaranteeing a 17,000-seat single-tier “Kop”. How West Ham would like one of those. It will be ready for the Premier League, and the NFL, in the summer of 2018.
