Sam Burgess

They call him Slammin Sam. It doesn’t seem the world of Rugby Union especially  Bath will be jamming anytime soon  with the way things are running with Sam Burgess. As the print media in the Uk throws out ink about his high profile move back to Rugby League and South Sydney Rabbitohs in NRL shunning the purist culture in Bath , there are many Union lovers who would be critical of this act. Slammin Sam says his heart was always with Rugby league. Was it ?  He won the Churchill Medal for being man of the match in NRL final leading the Rabbitohs to their 1st title in 43 years.

 

Switching codes to Bath rugby in late 2014 , he was selected for  Stuart Lancaster’s world cup squad  of 2015, amove that could be debated for many reasons let alone the playing style and place he occupied. The Hosts struggled and bowed out before the quarterfinals following defeats to Wales and Australia . Sam had an ambivalent role playing the inside centre slot which was highly debated in the circles leading up to the tournament.

The Dewsbury native decided not to continue with the Aviva Premiership season and go back to Sydney where his mum and brothers also reside. There’s no doubting his talent as Rugby League player  with skill, agility and talent.  This move was pleasing to his fans who followed his career as a Bradford Bull and later on as a Rabbitoh.The deal is lucrative  which itself could be reason enough but the  bottom line is he couldn’t adapt to Union  as some what have expected. Sonny Bill Williams will have to wait for England.

 

Jamie  Vardy 

    Non league football has produced many great names for top flight clubs over the years . John Barnes, Vinnie Jones, Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle and more recently Charlie Austin have enjoyed premier league success coming from very humble beginnings. The latest in that series of success stories seems to be Sheffield born Jamie Vardy. Released in 2002 by Sheffield Wednesday as a junior to join Stocksbridge Park Steels in the Northern Premier League , the forward played for 4 seasons before subsequent moves to Halifax town and Fleetwood town. His big move came when Leicester made him a million pound buy from non league Fleetwood.That was a record itself. Leicester gained promotion in 2014 and Jamie prospered.

 

 

 

 

This season in particular,he has had a flying start scoring in nine consecutive premier league games , leaving him one behind  the record heading into 13th round of EPL games .Combined with Riyadh Mahrez , they form the top two rated footballers of the league. No wonder Leicester  find themselves 3rd in the table ahead of Manchester United , whose  former player Ruud Van Nistelrooy is the holder of the league scoring streak at 10. St James Park at the weekend is the place to be as the fast flicking forward fox tries to overcome a thigh injury  in a bid to overtake the record .

Jamie’s speed and skill as well as finish in the final 1/3rd has been one of the bright spots in the Premier league this fall.He is a breath of fresh air and much needed forwarding boost that Harry Kane provided last winter in his steep rise for Spurs. Nevertheless , the season has just been just 12 games old , so more challenges await for Leicester and Vardy in the winter.

Jamie will find good company in the League and England squad come next summer. Dele Alli who was playing in League One a year ago is one of them. Another is Ross Barkley who at one point struggled to make  Leeds United’s first team whilst on loan.Both started this week’s England friendly versus France. A combination for the future.

As for club he played as a junior,Sheffield Wednesday must be missing him now considering his form this season and  their recent quest for promotion to top flight football from the Championship. Hillsborough might just not be on his mind yet,as greener pastures await.

Final Four of Euro 

Date, July 2016. The venue, Stade de France. The occasion, Euro 2016 finale. All looked a bit distant as the events in Paris overtook the sporting headlines between the recent France and Germany friendly.How ironic it might be if the two teams actually make it to that final in 8 months time.

 

As the race for European qualification climaxed  in the last week, Sport overcame the off field issues as it usually does , with qualifiers resuming and France playing a friendly at Wembley. Hungary produced a shocker beating Norway , whilst Ireland courtesy Jon Walters progressed past Bosnia at Dublin. Sweden won the Battle of Scandinavia as Zlatan Ibrahimovic the Paris St Germain forward  starred again scoring his 62nd international goal .

The final spot was clinched by Ukraine who held to 1-1 draw with Andriy Yarmalenko’s strike. The Russian born forward  has 22 international goals in 55 appearances for Ukraine and 74 for Dynamo Kiev in 185 games and potential move to EPL might be in the offering for next summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it. All 24 decided and set for France 2016 who host for the 1st time the event since winning at home soil in 1984. And if hosting is any way to go by, then 1998 is a much recent note for many at how well they do it. Just ask Zizou.