SPORTS DIGEST:RUGBY: France coach Marc Lievremont has kept faith with the squad which lost to England at Saturday for Les Bleus' next Six Nations game, in Italy on March 12th.
Fullback Maxime Medard returns after missing the Twickenham trip with a hamstring problem, so there is no place for Alexis Palisson, while outhalf Francois Trinh-Duc has also been included for the Stadio Flaminio encounter on Saturday week despite suffering a knee injury at the weekend.
Reigning champions France will look to return to winning ways against Italy in 11 days’ time before later concluding their Six Nations campaign at home to Wales.
FRANCE(squad): Forwards: N Mas (Perpignan), T Domingo (Clermont), L Ducalcon (Castres), S Marconnet (Biarritz), W Servat (Stade Toulousain), G Guirado (Perpignan), L Nallet (Racing-Metro), J Pierre (Clermont), J Thion (Biarritz), T Dusautoir (Stade Toulousain, capt), J Bonnaire (Clermont), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz), S Chabal (Racing-Metro). Backs: M Parra (Clermont), D Yachvili (Biarritz), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Y Jauzion (Stade Toulousain), A Rougerie (Clermont), V Clerc (Stade Toulousain), Y Huget (Bayonne), M Medard (Stade Toulousain), D Traille (Biarritz), C Poitrenaud (Stade Toulousain).
Cipriani fined for 'indiscipline';
RUGBY:Melbourne Rebels major signing Danny Cipriani has been fined a match payment for a breach of discipline and apologised after he was ejected from a local nightclub for taking a bottle of vodka from the bar without paying.
The former England outhalf Cipriani was ejected from the nightclub by security staff following the team’s 43-0 loss to New South Wales Waratahs.
“Danny’s actions were in breach of the expected behaviours of our players,” said Rebels CEO Ross Oakley.
Politics keeping Liu Xiang busy
ATHLETICS:Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang's hopes of a return to Olympic gold medal-winning form are being hampered by political obligations to the state, his coach has said.
Liu, the 2004 Olympic 110 metres hurdles champion and a former world champion, must attend two sessions of China’s top legislature and political advisory body this year.
“Xiang will go to Beijing for this year’s two sessions next week,” Liu’s coach, Sun Haiping said. “But to keep his condition, he’ll receive training while attending the sessions in Beijing.”
Liu became a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) four years ago, according to China’s state-run media. He missed his debut advisory session in 2008 due to an overseas competition but overseas commitments have made carrying out his political duties difficult.
Liu has struggled to return to peak fitness since suffering a heart-breaking Achilles injury at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Olympic racism claim rejected
OLYMPICS:The International Olympic Committee has rejected Iran's complaint that the logo for the 2012 Olympics resembles the word Zion and is racist.
The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else, the IOC stated. The logo shows the numbers 2012 in jagged figures. Zion refers to the city of Jerusalem and Iran does not recognise Israel.
"Certainly other countries, including Islamic nations, will react to this racist logo and this would jeopardise the goals of the Olympic games in the world," stated the secretary general of Iran’s Olympic committee Bahram Afsharzadeh.
He warned that negligence of the issue from your side might affect the presence of some countries, especially Iran.
Calf injury rules Sheridan out of rest of Six Nations
RUGBY:England prop Andrew Sheridan is likely to miss the rest of the Six Nations after suffering a torn calf muscle in Saturday's victory over France, manager Martin Johnson said yesterday.
The Sale forward, who missed all of the 2010 competition with a shoulder injury, was forced off the pitch in the first half of England’s 17-9 success at Twickenham.
The 31-year-old had already been forced to sit out the win over Italy a fortnight earlier with a back injury.
“He has got a tear in his calf which is not great,” Johnson said.
“It probably takes him out for the remainder of the series.”
There was better news on the injury front for outhalf Toby Flood who also limped out of Saturday’s match. “Toby has been scanned and he is pretty good, just a little bit of soreness in his Achilles, so that was a relief, Johnson added.
The injury to Sheridan comes as a blow to England’s Six Nations hopes after victories three wins left them well-placed to claim their first Grand Slam since 2003.
Pettersen and Kerr to lead campaign
GOLF: Leading LPGA players Suzann Pettersen and Cristie Kerr are on a mission to promote golf in soccer-mad Brazil before the sport makes its Olympic return in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Pettersen and Kerr will compete in the HSBC Brasil Cup at Itanhanga Golf Club in Rio on May 28th-29th, where a field of 30 players will vie for a share of the €522,000 purse.
Golf will feature as an Olympic sport for the first time since 1904.
“We’re on a mission,” said Norwegian Pettersen. “We need sports fans in Brazil to know who we are and how good we are and we need to build their desire to see us in five years’ time.
“The competition would be important for creating a foothold in South America, said head of sponsorship at HSBC, Giles Morgan.
