UFO Info Week-End

Now with what is bound to look like indecent haste he is not merely changing jobs but changing

Now, with what is bound to look like indecent haste, he is not merely changing jobs but changing sports by accepting an offer he could not ultimately refuse to be commercial and marketing director at Saracens.The man who was briefly his boss, RLE’s chief executive, Colin Myler, does not blame him for taking the carrot. Peter Deakin was marketing manager at Odsal for two years, but his influence at the club went far beyond the bounds suggested by that job description.
For one thing, he had much to do with bringing Brian Smith to the Bulls as coach – the move that revolutionised them on the field and set the standards, since maintained by Matthew Elliott, that will bring them the title, not now against Leeds today, but almost certainly next weekend.For another, he set the style and tone of the match-day package that makes them not just another successful rugby club, but a different type of operation.Six weeks ago, Deakin moved onward and upward, to become marketing guru for Rugby League (Europe), the marketing arm of the 12 Super League clubs. One red card, one yellow card, and one serious injury,” he said.In contrast the New Zealand coach, John Hart, was a happy man “They played right into our hands,” he said “We were never going to let our discipline slip. I’ve warned the guys about it.”South Africa: R Bennett; J Small, P Montgomery, H Honiball, A Snyman; J de Beer, J van der Westhuizen; O du Randt, J Dalton, M Hurter, K Otto, M Andrews, R Kruger (F van Heerden, 10), A Venter, G Teichmann (capt).New Zealand: C Cullen; J Wilson, F Bunce, A Ieremia, T Umaga; C Spencer, J Marshall; C Dowd, S Fitzpatrick (capt), O Brown, I Jones, R Brooke, T Randell, J Kronfeld, Z Brooke..

It would have been ironic if the Bradford Bulls had clinched the Stones Super League title on the very weekend that one of the architects of their remarkable rise is lost to the game as a whole. The scrum- half, Justin Marshall, scored in the 58th minute and Cullen got his second despite the desperate act of James Small, who received a yellow card for an attempted trip. The flanker Taine Randell was rewarded for an outstanding game with a try and Tana Umaga got the seventh.South Africa ended up with five tries to get a bonus point but after three losses they are way out of contention in the series and their coach Carel du Plessis is now facing a torrid time after five losses from six Tests this season “It was a very bad day for us. New Zealand, however, are never more dangerous than when they are down and tries from Cullen, the outside-half Carlos Spencer, and Alama Ieremia, sent them into the break leading 23-21.Two penalties in the opening five minutes of the second half nudged the All Blacks out of reach and Venter’s dismissal finished it off. The No 8, Teichmann, and the centre Percy Montgomery added tries from lucky bounces off their own kicks to give the South Africans a healthy-looking lead.

But more than any record, the game will be remembered for the sending-off of Venter, who vented his frustrations by stomping all over the face of the All Blacks captain, Sean Fitzpatrick, in a ruck.South Africa, who led New Zealand 23-7 in the opening match of the series before losing 35-32, got themselves into a similarly strong position before the All Blacks turned on their awesome backline running.A strong rolling maul in the second minute set up a try for the flanker Ruben Kruger but he was off before half-time with a broken ankle. But it was not the easy success the New Zealand public are starting to expect as they had to fight back from 21-11 down after a stunning opening half-hour by the world champions. It was only the 47th-minute dismissal by Derek Bevan, the Welsh referee, of the Springbok flanker Andre Venter that allowed New Zealand to take complete control and cut loose.
Christian Cullen, the inspirational full-back, scored two of their seven tries, bringing up his 17th touchdown in 17 Tests, as New Zealand posted their highest-ever total against South Africa and the losers conceded more than 50 for the first time.It was also New Zealand’s biggest winning margin against South Africa and, oddly, South Africa’s biggest score against the All Blacks. The British outnumbered the revolutionaries and won a bloody victory, but Howe failed to pursue Washington as he escaped across the Hudson River. Ultimately it proved a crucial mistake and British fortunes here have not improved since..

It was a day of records at Eden Park yesterday as New Zealand savaged 14-man South Africa to continue their unbeaten run in the Tri Nations. But Gary Wolstenholme three- putted the last to give John Harris a win by one hole, his eighth victory in nine Walker Cup encounters.Quaker Ridge is near Winged Foot, the site of this week’s US PGA Championship. When the club was founded almost 80 years ago, the members, who have included composer and 10-handicap golfer George Gershwin, asked A W Tillinghast to design a layout every bit as good as his effort across the road.During the Revolutionary War in 1776, General George Washington slept under a great oak by what is now the 10th hole at Quaker Ridge before an encounter with the British army, led by Sir William Howe. But the Irishman redeemed himself when he later holed from a similar distance at the 18th to earn a half with Chris Wollman. “I battled hard all day and it was great to make a birdie at the last,” said Coughlan. The ball rebounded across to the far side of the adjacent 18th fairway and although the pair reach the green in only two more shots, they had to concede the hole.The Americans were three up at the turn and then Rose, too aggressive on the slick greens, pushed his five-footer four feet past at the 11th, only to see Brooks miss the one back. At the next, Rose had a chance from four feet but this time it lipped out, Brooks missed again and they were five down.Only in the bottom foursome was there any hope as Richard Coughlan and David Park took their opponents to the last green, where Coughlan missed a five-foot birdie putt to halve the match.