D Wednesday, December 16, 2009 METROSPORT 21 Leinster prop Mike ross has given his support to disgraced former Harlequins director of rugby Dean richards, claiming the man behind last summers Bloodgate scandal would be an asset to any club. england legend richards was banned from rugby for three years after Quins winger tom Williams admitted at an erC appeal hearing in August that he had been told to fake an injury by biting on a blood capsule during last seasons Heineken Cup quarter- final against Leinster. But, less than a week after Quins chief executive Mark evans refused to rule out richards return to the club after his suspension, ireland front-rower ross paid tribute to a man who kick-started his career when giving him a three-month trial at the stoop in 2006. ross said: [Dean] was very good for me. He gave me a chance to play professionally. i dont know if id have continued otherwise. i do think that whats happened to him is quite disappointing really. Hed be an asset to any rugby club. He made a mistake, people do make mistakes, but theyve essentially taken away his livelihood which i dont think is a very good thing for anybody. Richards treated harshly, says Ross Backing: Ex-Quins prop Ross SPORT Digest Leinster preparing for onslaught from LlanelliBy gaREth makim Leinster will go into this saturdays Heineken Cup return fixture with Llanelli scarlets at the rDs determined to follow up last weekends win in Wales and move one step closer to a place in the knockout stages, according to prop Mike ross. the defending champions crushed their hosts 32-7 at Parc y scarlets, but ross knows that the previously unbeaten Welsh side will go all out to gain revenge for the defeat in front of their home fans. Leinster sit level with London irish at the top of Pool six on ten points, two ahead of the scarlets, and summer signing ross said: i think theyll be a bit annoyed. We certainly would be if we got turned over on our home patch. Were expecting them to come at us all guns blazing and rightly so. its a big game for both of us. they cant afford to lose ground and we certainly cant. Last weekend was a good performance but that doesnt mean anything if we dont fol- low it up with a good win this weekend. ex-Harlequins man ross, who came off the bench to replace south Africa international CJ van der Linde in Wales, admits he is in a real battle for playing time at Leinster. the 29-year-old said: Like everyone id like a bit more game-time but that will come if you play well. i didnt think it would be an easy task coming over here and nailing down a first team spot. thats how its proved. All i can do is keep playing as well as i can and take any chances i do get. Leinster squad (v Scarlets): L Cullen (capt), J Fogarty, C Healy, J Heaslip, N Hines, B Jackman, S Keogh, K McLaughlin, R McCormack, S OBrien, M OKelly, M Ross, R Ruddock, D Toner, CJ van der Linde, S Wright, S Berne, Gordon DArcy, G Dempsey, S Horgan, C Keane, R Kearney, S Keogh, F McFadden, I Nacewa, P ODonohoe, B ODriscoll, E Reddan Just reward? ODriscoll could cap a marvellous year at the Sports Personality of the year awards on Sunday Picture: Sportsfile RUGBY hEinEkEn cuP LEinStER and ireland star Brian ODriscoll is the overwhelming favourite to be named Rt Sports Personality of the year this Sunday after the shortlist of nine was revealed yesterday. ODriscoll had a superb year, captaining ireland to a first grand Slam in 60years and playing an instrumental role in Leinsters first ever heineken cup triumph, and bookmakers Paddy Power have already starting paying out on an ODriscoll win. the rugby star is joined on the shortlist by kilkenny hurling boss Brian cody, trainer of racing sensation Sea the Stars John Oxx, boxers katie taylor and Bernard Dunne, world athletics silver medallist Olive Loughnane, golfers Rory mcilroy and Shane Lowry and kerry footballer Paul galvin. the ireland and Leinster rugby teams are both also in the running for team of the year, along with all-ireland winners kilkenny, kerry and corks ladies, League of ireland champions Bohemians, irelands victorious a1gP team and the Oxx-led team behind Sea the Stars. ODriscoll favourite for RT award FORMULA ONE Dicks trolly dolly duel riCHArD BrAnson has challenged aviation rival tony Fernandes to a Formula one duel with the loser having to dress up as an airline stewardess. AirAsias Fernandes, who once worked for Branson, owns the new Lotus F1 team and said last week: We have to be ahead of Branson, otherwise i will kill myself. But Branson responded: i like tony a lot so i hope he doesnt kill himself. At the same obviously we would like to beat him. Maybe we can think of another challenge. He has an airline, we have an airline and if we beat him he can come and work as a Virgin stewardess. He might ask us to reciprocate. id be game to do it while totally confident of winning. riCHArD BrAnson has launched his Virgin racing team and plans to make money out of it. While the recession has seen several teams withdraw, while the likes of renault are considering their F1 future, Branson is confident it is still possible to make a profit from a sport he brands a sexy beast. team principal Alex tai said cost-cutting measures and budget caps had changed the Formula one landscape. it is possible to have a Formula one team that actually makes money, he insisted. With this limiting to the budgets, we find ourselves on a level playing field. that is the opportunity for us to actually have a profitable F1 team. Branson added: What i discovered last year is there are a billion people who watch Formula one, and they are mostly fanatical. Formula one is a sexy beast, and we hope we are going to make it a little bit sexier. its fun, exciting, and those attributes apply to the Virgin brand. We love supporting an underdog, but we like that underdog to have some pretty good qualities. Last year it was [ross] Brawn, and this year its nick Wirth [the cars designer and teams technical director]. Branson also confirmed rookie Lucas di Grassi as team-mate to no.1 driver timo Glock. Branson keen to sex up F1 Its time to make Haye, says Vitali BOXing: WBc heavyweight champion Vitali klitschko claims he has reached a preliminary agreement to fight Britains WBa title-holder David haye. klitschko, who easily retained his WBc crown on Saturday by taking an unanimous points decision against american kevin Johnson, told a ukrainian newspaper: in the near future i plan to fight haye and take the [WBa] title. the preliminary agreement has already been reached. haye must first fight mandatory challenger John Ruiz early next year. Sonia given role for 2012 Games Murray opts out of Sunday service RUGBY: The Scottish Rugby Union have confirmed that Euan Murray will sit out Scotlands opening RBS 6 Nations match because of his religious views. Devout Christian Murray has decided he can no longer play on Sundays and will miss Frances visit to Murrayfield on February 7. SRU director of communications Dominic McKay said: Scottish Rugby head coach Andy Robinson has been in discussions with Euan for a number of months and is aware of Euans desire to not play on Sundays. We very much respect Euans wishes and support Euan. Euan continues to be a valuable member of the squad. Murray has played for Scotland on a Sunday before, but the 28-year- old admitted earlier in the year that he had been wrestling with his conscience over the issue. Religious views: Scotland prop murray OLYMPICS: The Olympic Council of Ireland has selected Sonia OSullivan as Chef de Mission of the Irish team for the London Olympic Games in 2012. The former Olympic silver medallist (pictured) recently served as Chef de Mission of the highly successful European Youth Olympic squad. Her appointment was warmly welcomed by Jamie Costin, chairman of the Olympic Athletes Commission, who said: Sonia is a sporting legend and she will ensure that the Irish teams preparations and participation at the London Olympics will be totally athlete focused. This is a superb move by the OCI and will undoubtedly assist our chances of winning medals. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html