26 sport Thursday, February 4, 2010 D Ireland suffer defeat Westwood drives on Hiral Patels unbeaten 88 edged Canada to beat ireland by four runs in their twenty20 international in Colombo. Patel hit nine fours and two sixes in a 61-ball innings which propelled the Canadians to 176 for three in a warm-up match for next weeks iCC World twenty20 qualifiers. andre Botha was the only irish bowler to strike, taking three for 35 from his four overs. Niall OBrien hit 50 in reply and Gary Wilson (26) and Paul stirling (22) also made useful contributions but the irish fell just short. ireland play sri lanka a today. EuropEan no.1 Lee Westwood is looking forward to a problem-free Dubai Desert Classic this week. Westwood missed the cut in abu Dhabi after citing problems with a new set of irons before his title challenge in Qatar last week was halted after cracking the face of his driver during the third round in Doha. But Westwood said: I have been inundated with ping drivers over the last couple of days and I think were gradually getting it sorted. Straight driving is an asset and that is one of my strongest weapons. eaCH of the last three winners of the John smiths Grand National have been entered for the 2010 renewal on april 10. a total of 112 entries were received, the lowest number since 2000, but they include last years hero Mon Mome and runner-up Comply Or Die, who won in 2008, as well as 2007 scorer silver Birch. the 38-strong irish-trained entry includes Vic Venturi, Black apalachi, Notre Pere, War Of attrition and ten from the Willie Mullins stable. Paul Nicholls tricky trickster is the early ante-post favourite at 16-1. 112 in Grand entry CRICKET GOLF RACING Key men out for the Royals MeatH will begin their National league campaign without key players Joe sheridan and anthony Moyle. Forward sheridan limped out of the OByrne Cup win over Dublin last week with a slight strain while veteran Moyles has not played this year. Midfield newcomer Maurice Kennedy is definitely out as well, but defenders seamus Kenny and eoin Harrington, who also picked up knocks in the Dublin game, are expected to line out against armagh in Navan. Sacrifice: Harte happy to give up home advantage Harte set on moving Dubs tie to Croker MICkEy HartE has intriguingly claimed that tyrone would be willing to give up home advantage to play Dublin at Croke park in the last round of the allianz League, writes Paul Keane. the tyrone boss is currently preparing his team for the opening round of their Division 1 campaign against Derry this Saturday night. But he is thinking long-term too and believes that moving their round 7 fixture against Dublin to Croke park would be a great idea something the Dubs would be only too happy to do. the game is scheduled for omagh but Harte says he would gladly sacrifice home advantage for the opportunity to play at Croker, just as the two sides did to launch last years campaign. It would be the perfect Championship preparation for two sides who hope to be playing at headquarters several times during the summer. the Dublin game is a home game [for tyrone] but I wouldnt mind if it was away in Croke park, said Harte. Maybe that can change before the time comes. I would be happy enough to go to Croke park with that game because you are getting towards the summer time. It always generates an atmosphere you cant get anywhere else. So if it was a possibility I for one would be pursuing it. GAA RUGBY SIX NATIONS CONTROVERSIAL centre Mathieu Bastareaud has been recalled for Frances Six Nations opener against Scotland. The Stade Francais player caused a diplomatic stir when he claimed he had been attacked after a night out in Wellington on Frances tour to New Zealand last summer. He was handed a suspended three-month ban when it emerged he actually had a drunken fall in his hotel room. Bastareaud has been forgiven and recalled to the fold by coach Marc Lievremont. France (v Scotland): C Poitrenaud; B Fall, M Bastareaud, Y Jauzion, A Rougerie; F Trinh-Duc, M Parra; T Domingo, W Servat, N Mas, L Nallet, P Pape, T Dusautoir, F Ouedraogo, I Harinordoquy. Bastereaud given Les Bleus recall MARCuS HORAN will continue his comeback when Ireland Wolfhounds, the newly rebranded A team, face Scotland A in Belfast tomorrow. Horan, who also started last Sundays 17-13 defeat by England Saxons, is back in action after spending two months out following minor heart surgery. ulster No.8 Chris Henry leads the side on his home ground of Ravenhill with his provincial colleague Ian Humphreys starting at fly-half. Ireland Wolfhounds (v Scotland A): G Duffy; J Murphy, D Cave, F McFadden, I Dowling; I Humphreys, P Stringer; M Horan, S Cronin (Connacht) T Buckley, R Caldwell, D Toner, D Tuohy, S Jennings, C Henry (capt). Replacements: N Brady, M Ross, E ODonoghue, N Ronan, I Boss, I Keatley, K Matthews. Horan named in Wolfhounds side ALASdAIR dickinson admits he was stunned to break straight back into the Scotland team after being named in the side for Sundays Six Nations opener against France. The Gloucester prop missed the autumn wins over Fiji and Australia through injury, but head coach Andy Robinson axing Edinburgh loosehead Allan Jacobsen in favour of the 26-year-old. Im delighted, said dickinson. I didnt expect it to come so quickly. Ill go out there and give it my all. Scotland (v France): C Paterson; T Evans, M Evans, G Morrison, S Lamont; P Godman, C Cusiter (capt); A Dickinson, R Ford, M Low, N Hines, A Kellock, K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie. Dickinson: I was stunned by recall WALES hope James Hook can finally fulfil his potential at outside centre against England at Twickenham on Saturday. Hook has previously started for Wales at full-back, fly-half and inside centre during a 37-cap career which began in 2006. But with full-back Lee Byrne cleared to play, the gifted 24-year-old will partner with his fellow Lion Jamie Roberts in midfield. Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: You sometimes feel like you just have to find a role for him but we think we may have found his position. Wales (v England): L Byrne; T James, J Hook, J Roberts, S Williams; S Jones, G Cooper; G Jenkins, G Williams, A Jones, A- W Jones, L Charteris, A Powell, M Williams, R Jones (capt). Hook takes over as Wales centre By John Donnelly Italys wounded pride puts Heaslip on alert JaMie HeasliP fears embittered italy will be galvanised by their fail- ure to join the Magners league when they face ireland on saturday. the italian rugby Federation (Fir) are furious after talks over their clubs admission into the com- petition broke down because of an inability to meet the financial demands of the Celtic nations. the addition of two italian teams into the tournament was seen as a crucial step in enabling the azzurri, traditionally the rBs 6 Nations whipping boys, to become more competitive. But the Fir felt they were being deliberately priced out of negotia- tions, leading to doomsday predic- tions over the future of their domes- tic game. smarting from the perceived in- justice, italys first opportunity to exact revenge will be at Croke Park and Heaslip admits that irelands scorned opposition could be even more determined than usual to up- set the odds. italy are a class outfit and they might feel they have something to prove now that italy didnt get the nod for the Magners league, Hea- slip said. Well have to bring our a game anyway because thats the way this championship has gone over the last couple of years. We play against the italian play- ers in the Heineken Cup theyre big and they bash you about. they hit hard, have some skilful players and seriously good finishers. With momentum considered key to any six Nations title challenge, ireland have been provided with the kindest possible opener against a side widely tipped to finish with the wooden spoon. ireland concluded last year un- beaten, toppling world champions south africa in the process, but Heaslip denies there is an extra spring in their step. its been pretty much the same feeling as last season, he said. We had a good year and people are talking about expectations, but thats external. Weve set the bar high for our- selves and were concerned about meeting that standard weve set. No laughing matter: Jamie Heaslip shares a joke with Ireland team-mates Sean OBrien (left) and Leo Cullen (right) but the number eight knows Italy will provide a serious test on Saturday Picture: Sportsfile index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html