Wales have endured a miserable start to the Six Nations but are hopeful they can breathe life into their campaign by reproducing old glories at the Stade de France next weekend.
Admittedly the statistics going into the match against France suggest that only the wildest optimist would punt on a Wales victory as Gareth Jenkins's side have no points and no tries from two matches.
France have a maximum haul of four points from two matches and a bucketful of tries.
PHOTO: AFP
However, should the Welsh revert back to the passion with which they played against Ireland, rather than the limp display against Scotland, then their luck might change.
The French have yet to hit top gear and although they defeated Ireland 20-17, their shaky second-half performance has given Wales some hope.
The other match sees the Scots play Italy, who showed more spirit in their last defeat to England than in the lame display on the opening day against France.
Wales have not been spared the rod by former players and given their past two displays it is hard not to disagree with their accusations.
"It is enough to drive you to drink," wrote former Wales wing Ieuan Evans in his column in the Sunday Telegraph.
However, with two memorable victories at the Stade -- the Robert Howley inspired win in 2001 and then two years ago on their way to the Grand Slam -- Wales can dream of victory.
Certainly France coach Bernard Laporte is taking nothing for granted.
"Don't forget they beat us at Stade de France two years ago," said Laporte, who has once again rung the changes bringing in five fresh pairs of legs to his squad of 22.
"Anyway we have a tough road ahead of us and I do not even want to contemplate the Grand Slam. I couldn't give a damn about it!" he said.
The Irish were left seriously deflated with the last gasp winning try of Vincent Clerc at Croke Park and it will be a measure of how far they have really come under Eddie O'Sullivan in how they react against the English, who looked far from restored to full throttle against the Italians.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),