D Friday, December 18, 2009 METROSPORT 21 RUGBY heineken cup GAA SPORTDigest Moving on: The pGA Tour must survive without Tiger Woods Golf can cope without Tiger, says PGA chief GOLF: The sport will be able to survive without Tiger Woods, according to the head of the US Tour. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said: We lost Tiger in 2008 for most of the year when he was out with an injury. We move forward. Woods, 33, admitted to infidelity in his marriage to Elin Nordegren last week, and announced he would take an indefinite break from the game. Finchem added: I dont know what that time frame is. People recognise this is an individuals personal life. They will pull for him to deal with these issues, to come back, to win golf tournaments and to go back to stimulating young people and fans. Max hits out at Briatore FORMuLA One: Former FiA president Max Mosley has hit back at comments made by Flavio Briatore. At an appeal hearing in paris last month the ex-Renault boss claimed his lifetime ban from motor racing imposed by the FiA for his role in the crashgate scandal was as a result of Mosleys excessive desire for personal revenge. now Mosley, who left his post in October, has hit back, saying: The suggestion that all this was somehow manufactured for reasons of personal vengeance is a desperate and unsustainable argument. Sauber select Kobayashi FORMULA ONE: Kamui Kobayashi will drive for Sauber next season. The 23-year-old is the first driver to be named for the team, which is back in the hands of founder Peter Sauber after BMW withdrew after the 2009 season. Japans Kobayashi impressed filling in for Toyota for the final two races of 2009, finishing sixth in Abu Dhabi. I am very happy my two races in 2009 have earned me a cockpit place, he said. I am proud to carry on flying the Japanese flag in F1. Bengals star Henry dies NFL: Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry has died after reportedly falling out of a pick-up truck during a domestic dispute. Police were called to Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday and found the 26-year- old in the road with life- threatening injuries. He died yesterday. Henry, who was in his fifth season with the Bengals, was known for his speed and athletic ability, and was believed to have been getting his career back on track after a series of off-field troubles. Gasquet is exonerated Tennis: Richard Gasquet, who tested positive for cocaine earlier this year, has been cleared of any doping offence by the court of Arbitration for sport (cAs). The player has been exonerated from any fault or negligence and the cAs has dismissed the appeals filed by the iTF (international Tennis Federation) and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency), a statement said. cAs said it accepted Gasquets argument that he had been contaminated after kissing a woman in a nightclub. Gasquet (pictured) served a two-month ban after testing positive. The man who tasked Kieran McGeeney with turning around the fortunes of Kildares senior footballers, is backing him to remain as manager beyond 2010 unless the Lilies win the All-Ireland. Syl Merrins was county chairman when he head- hunted Armaghs All-Ireland winning captain and convinced him to take a punt on the Lilywhites at the end of 2007. McGeeney committed himself to a three-year term and that concludes at the end of next years championship. With assistant Paul Grimley having joined Seamus Mcenaney in Monaghan, supporters are concerned that the progress made under the duo will count for nothing if McGeeney heads for pastures new. The Mullaghbawn man is not the type of individual to leave a job when it has not been completed, however, and Merrins is convinced that he will stay on, as he feels it may take another couple of years to reach the promised land of an All-Ireland final. We have made a lot of progress under Kieran McGeeney, said Merrins. Many people have a high expectation for 2010 as a result but it might take a little more time to reach the summit. Kieran is in the last year of a three-year term but my hope is that he will be with us a little while longer yet. Failure is not in Geezers vocabulary so Im confident hell stay with us for a while yet. Kildare keen to keep Kieran progress: McGeeney Ulster will not learn until today whether stade Francais duo Julien Dupuy and David Attoub will be suspended for this weekends Heineken Cup clash in Brussels after yesterdays erC hearing was postponed due to unforeseen travel circumstances. the pair are accused of eye-gouging flanker stephen Ferris during Ulsters 23-13 win at ravenhill last saturday. Ulster coach Brian Mclaughlin knows that win will mean nothing when they tackle the French giants a second time. He said: We all know how good stade are and towards the end of the game last week, when we basically stopped playing, having gained a 23-6 lead, they came back at us. this is something we have to be aware of. But we can also go there with belief, confidence and pride after our overall performance against them. The Ospreys Ireland winger Tommy Bowe has been cleared of spear- tackling Viadana winger Kaine Robertson. Yesterdays hearing in Dublin decided that although the challenge was dangerous, it did not warrant a red card so Bowe is free to play when the sides meet again at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow. Meanwhile, French side Brive will be without second row Arnaud Mela when they visit the RDS on the heineken Cups penultimate weekend in January. Mela was banned for seven weeks, until January 31, for punching London Irish hooker Danie Coetzee last Saturday. however, Melas team-mate Guillaume Ribes will be free to play after the hooker was given a four-week ban for kicking an opponent in the same game. Relief for Ospreys as Bowe is free to play Hearing delayed for Stade Francais pair Available: Bowe Leinster keen to put on a big performance By GAReTh MAkiM stepping up: Gaffney was full of praise for shaun Berne, above, after the Australian stood in for the injured Jonathan sexton last week. i know how skilful a player he is and i think he showed that at the weekend, Gaffney said. Picture: Sportsfile llAnelli scarlets will be the opponents tomorrow when lein- ster host their first Heineken Cup tie since losing their opening Pool six game against london irish in October, and consultant coach Alan Gaffney predicts the rDs faithful will be in for a treat as the defending champions look to put on a show and make up for that exiles defeat. leinster ran out convincing 32-7 winners at Parc y scarlets last saturday, but another victory is crucial tomorrow as the battle to qualify for the knockout stages intensifies. Yeah the boys definitely want to perform, Gaffney said. i know full well they were very disappointed after the irish game, and that goes without saying. We were particularly disappointed with our performance not only the result but our performance. And weve got to put on a per- formance at the weekend, they boys know they do, and that just forms part of the process. We cant think about the result, we cant think about anything be- yond just getting the process right. if we get that right well play the rugby we want to play. it will be conditional obviously upon what llanelli allow us to do but well go out there in a very positive frame of mind and will want to play some good rugby. london irish and leinster sit atop the pool, but scarlets are still in contention just two points back at the groups midway point. And Gaffney knows the Welsh side will come to Dublin full of belief having already won away at london irish and after match- ing leinster for much of last weeks second half. Gaffney said: i think [scarlets] will come into the game with a bit of confidence after that second half. it was fairly close as far as the scoreline was concerned. it will be competitive, they havent had the most successful season yet if you take the Magn- ers league into consideration. But theyve beaten irish away which is no mean feat, not many sides do that at the Madjeski, so were going into this game know- ing were in for a battle. Obvi- ously we cant worry about the result, weve just got the get the process right. if we play well the result will pop out the other end, so thats what weve got to do. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html