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Wednesday, 5 July 2017

Tew Confirms List of Hansen Options

Joe Schmidt remains among the front runners to succeed Steve Hansen as All Blacks boss following the 2019 World Cup. The New Zealand Rugby Union have revealed they have stayed in regular contact with Schmidt as they prepare for life without Hansen following the tournament in Japan.

Before the start of the Lions tour the organisation also said that they were considering touring coach Warren Gatland for the top job.

Schmidt’s back-to-back Six Nations title successes with Ireland in 2014 and 2015, plus his win over the world champions in Chicago last November, have catapulted him to the front of the queue to take over the country of his birth. Hansen is expected to leave his job in charge of the All Blacks within the next two years, with discussions as to who will succeed him expected to start soon after the current series with the British & Irish Lions.

“You’d have to ask Joe if he wants to apply for the job, but he’s obviously a very good coach,” said New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew.

“We’ve kept in contact with Joe about the job, like we’ve kept in touch with Vern Cotter and others. Where do I start and stop? There’s Jamie Joseph, there’s Warren Gatland, there’s Pat Lam and others and we will consider a number of options. Joe is among those options.

“We’ll be having a conversation with our board in the second half of this year about the process that will run. Then we’ll make that known to everybody once it’s done and dusted.”

Schmidt, who was born in Woodville, New Zealand, has had a hugely successful coaching career in the northern hemisphere with Clermont Auvergne, Leinster and Ireland.

His Ireland contract runs up until the 2019 World Cup – Wales coach and current Lions boss Gatland is in the same position – and that that year is likely to mark a significant reshuffle in international coaching.

Hansen’s current assistant Ian Foster is also in the running to take over the All Blacks, but the world’s best side are already looking at the other options available to them.

Demare Wins Stage Four in Vittel

Arnaud Démare stormed to victory in stage 4 of the 104th Tour de France as he fended off Peter Sagan and Alexander Kristoff in a bunch gallop in Vittel. Two crashes in the last kilometer prevented some sprinters from contesting the victory. Geraint Thomas retained the yellow jersey for the fourth consecutive day ahead of the first summit finish at La Planche des belles filles.

195 riders took the start of stage 4 in Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxemburg. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) attacked from the gun and there was no reaction from the peloton. He got a 13.15 advantage at km 59 before Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Julien Vermote (Quick-Step Floors) started setting the pace of the peloton after leaving the Team Sky of race leader Geraint Thomas regulating a slow tempo for the first hour of racing.

French teams FDJ with Arthur Vichot and Cofidis with Nicolas Edet, racing for their respective sprinter Arnaud Démare and Nacer Bouhanni, helped the two Belgian squads from half way into the stage. The gap was down to six minutes with 90km to go. At the intermediate sprint of Goviller with 50km to go, the deficit of the peloton was 2.40 and the fastest man was Démare who outsprinted Peter Sagan, André Greipel and Marcel Kittel. Van Keirsbulck's advantage was down to two minutes when he scored the only King of the Mountains up for grabs at the col des Trois-Fontaines 37km away from the finish in Vittel. Nathan Brown (Cannondale-Drapac) remained in the polka dot jersey, becoming the first American to do so since Greg LeMond (in 1986), Tejay van Garderen (in 2011) and Taylor Phinney (yesterday) lost it after one day.

Van Keirsbulck was reined with 16.5km to go after 191 kilometers of a solo breakaway. He received the price of the most aggressive rider of the day. A crash with one kilometer to go stopped Marcel Kittel. Démare made the right move to overtake Alexander Kristoff while Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish clashed and the Brit went down heavily. Démare is the first Frenchman to win a bunch sprint of the Tour de France since Jimmy Casper in Strasbourg in 2006. The last French stage winner wearing the blue-white-red jersey of French champion was Thomas Voeckler in Bagnères-de-Luchon in 2010 Luchon.

Démare also took the green jersey, which no Frenchman did since Sylvain Chavanel, also in 2010. Geraint Thomas came home safely to retain the yellow jersey.

McEnroe Cannot be Serious

John McEnroe surprised BBC Wimbledon viewers when he compared Novak Djokovic with troubled golfer Tiger Woods.

Speaking about Djokovic's period of poor form, McEnroe compared the former Wimbledon champion with Woods, who in the past has had a high-profile divorce, been arrested, and suffered problems with prescription medication.

McEnroe claimed Djokovic "had some off-court issues with the family," adding: "That's going to throw you."

"If you're distracted you're not the same player," he said.

"When he [Woods] had the issues with his wife and then he seemed to go completely off the rails and has never been even close to being the same player.

"So we're starting to say: 'Wait a minute, is this possible with him [Djokovic]?'"

Former world number one Djokovic has suffered with his form in the last year - after completing a career Grand Slam last year, he started to lose matches and momentum.

He is married to Jelena, 31. They have a son together and she is expecting their second child.

In 2009, Woods crashed his SUV into a tree and a fire hydrant outside his Florida home. Just months later he was divorced after reports of extra-martial affairs surfaced.

McEnroe added: "I think there's a big difference, one is the age, but two the health. I think this (Djokovic's form) isn't a physical thing, this is more a mental thing."

The commentator also sparked controversy recently when he said that 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams would be ranked around 700 if she competed in the men's game.