A bit of everything

Another great week of sport has passed. First up, 6 Nations rugby and what a strong start it was on Saturday with Ireland and England taking their first wins of the championship. I was buoyed to see England in control for most of the game and I really feel they have one of the strongest chances to at least take the championship come mid-March. But obviously certain things have to happen for Martin Johnson's side. First of all, good wins at home, the first half of that against Wales has been done and a similar sort of result against the Irish on the 27th would be a great boost to any chance England have. Secondly something out of their own hands, France failing to beat Wales, as I think it will go down to a showdown in the north of Paris to see who takes the trophy and even though England played well, they'll have to play even better to take the French on in the Stade de France. Next weekend's game between Wales and Scotland could be a cracker, Wales will have felt avenged on Saturday as their performance wasn't too bad at Twickenham whilst the Scots never really got going at home on Sunday. Neither side wants to finish 5th and given how the first weekend of results this could be a 4th place game that will be eagerly constested.

As the title suggests it wasn't all about rugby union this weekend. Last night I stayed to watch SuperBowl XLIV, played out between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. The Americans really know how to put on a sporting display and once again I fully enjoyed the spectacle of a full length game of American Football, I really do regret losing touch with the season dismally quickly after watching quite a bit of pre-season action when on holiday in Florida. What a shame I have to wait until the summer for it all to start again. The key play was obviously at the start of the 2nd half where the Saints pulled a cheeky on-side kick that surprised the up-to-then leading Colts, retained the ball of the kick off and scored a touchdown in the consequent play. The Saints never looked back and you have to admire the tactical nouse of head coach Sean Payton. Another great American sporting tradition takes place next weekend with the running of the Daytona 500, the first grand race of the NASCAR season. If you've never seen NASCAR before or think that it's boring because it literally is cars going in circles then please give it a chance. I mean come on, guys pushing each other and truly pushing each other, at 200mph, in packs of 20 cars plus, and the frequent pile-up, how is that boring?

Carrying on with a motorsport theme I'll quickly mention last week's F1 tests. Ferrari do look in ominous form but of course we won't really know where everyone is off the back of one test. Instinct tells me that Sauber where running low fuel to grab some headlines to gain some sponsorship but people said that about Brawn and Jenson Button last year so once again, watch this space. We see the true performance of a car from one of the new teams this week as Virgin Racing/Manor Motorsport join the established ranks at Jerez for test two. Whatever the pace though I already love Virgin Racing, good drivers, cool livery and it's got a Yorkshire rose on it, what more could you want. Red Bull launch their car this week to and their pace will be a large talking point, can they carry on good form from the 2nd half of '09 into '10. Let's wait and see...

PS. Next week, Winter Olympics, come on people on teatrays!