22 sport Tuesday, February 9, 2010 D SOCCER INTERNATIONAL RUGBY Blamed: Alun-Wyn Jones Lievremont keeps faith with squad FRANCE coach Marc Lievremont has named an unchanged 23-man squad for Saturdays clash against Ireland in Paris, although wings Aurelien Rougerie, Benjamin Fall and prop Luc Ducalcon are slight injury concerns. Lievremont said: The group of 23 players will be retained despite the uncertainties. Its been a while since we have had continuity, given injuries and dips in form. Lievremont will name his starting XV tomorrow morning. Jones set to escape Welsh axe Wales forward alun-Wyn Jones is set to avoid the humiliation of being dropped following his costly Twickenham sin-binning. The British and Irish lions lock was slated by Wales coach Warren Gatland following his teams 30-17 defeat against england. england scored 17 unanswered points, including two converted tries, during Jones absence either side of half-time after he blatantly tripped england hooker Dylan Hartley. But the indications are that Gatland will retain 36 times- capped Jones for next saturdays next RBs 6 Nations appointment with scotland in Cardiff. asked if he thought Jones would be left out of the scotland clash, Wales assistant coach Neil Jenkins said yesterday: I dont think so. Weve all made mistakes, and alun made one on the weekend. He is hurting as much as anyone. Weve had other players in the past who have been sin-binned and we came through it unscathed. On saturday, we didnt we conceded some points. It is one of those things. I think we learn from it and we move on. We all know he is a fantastic rugby player. When you are playing these games you want your 15 players on the park at all times. Giving penalties away to people like [england fly-half] Jonny Wilkinson and most kickers in the world now, you are going to suffer and concede points. Van der Sar pleased to be back at his posts MANChESTER Uniteds Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar admits he is delighted to be back in action after a tough start to the Premier League season. The holland keeper suffered two lengthy absences before being granted compassionate leave just before Christmas when his wife Annemarie suffered a brain haemorrhage. Thankfully, she has recovered sufficiently well for the former Ajax keeper to resume his career at Old Trafford. And Van der Sar, who kept his third clean sheet since his return in the five-goal win over Portsmouth on Saturday, is relishing his role. It feels good to be back playing, he said. It has been a stop-start season for me but it feels great to be back in the swing of things and playing for United again. Meanwhile, former Old Trafford favourite David Beckham insists he will not celebrate should he score for AC Milan when they face United in the knock-out stages of the Champions League. United face the Italians at the San Siro a week today in the first leg. And Beckham said: To me they [United fans] are the best in the world and the support they gave me week in, week out was incredible. Nothing will ever better that. WIgAN manager Roberto Martinez be- lieves Scottish fans reaction to midfield- er James McCarthys decision to pledge his allegiance to the Republic of Ireland will probably persuade the player to stick to his first choice. The glasgow-born 19-year-old, who has a grandfather from Donegal, has won five caps for Irelands Under-21s. New Scotland manager Craig Levein is searching for new talent and McCarthy, having just broken into Wigans first team after his 1.2million move from hamilton, is exactly the sort of player he would welcome. But with his choice of national team having received an adverse reaction from Scottish supporters when he was still playing for the Accies, Martinez thinks that will sway the teenagers viewpoint. I know in Scotland they made a huge meal out of it, they let him know how they felt when he chose the Republic of Ireland and that could have a bearing on his decision, said the Spaniard. Martinez has offered advice to the young midfielder but only to tell him he must make up his own mind. We spoke about it but I said to James he needs to make the decision, he doesnt need to listen to anyone. he needs to lis- ten to his feelings, Martinez added. The moment you allow people to in- fluence your decision you are going to make the wrong decision. At the moment he is playing with Irelands Under-21s so he has a clear idea of what that means. he has played in Scotland for many years so he understands the football feel- ing around that country. James is an im- pressive character and if he listens to his feelings he will make the right decision. Martinez: Scottish anger will see James stay Irish By Kevin Aitken Question of allegiance: Wigan midfielder McCarthys decision to play for Ireland has upset Scottish fans Picture:Getty ROBBIe KeaNes loan move to Celtic will be good for his peace of mind, insists Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni. Many view Keanes move from Tottenham to scotland as a backward step, but Trapattoni just wants his skipper to be playing regularly. at the moment it is better for Robbie to play he must play, the Italian said last night. english football is strong and for him that is important. But I know his philosophy. For Ireland it is important that he plays regularly. Celtic is good for him and good for him psychologically because I know Robbie. Robbie wants to play. I know when he does not play, he suffers. I think in this month it will be good for him and the same for Celtic. ChRIS hUghTON believes the Republic of Ireland can put their World Cup heartache behind them by qualifying for Euro 2012. The ex-Ireland full-back, now Newcastle boss, saw Ireland miss out on the World Cup following Frances notorious handball goal in November. And after giovanni Trapattonis men drew Andorra, Armenia, Macedonia, Slovakia and Russia, he said: Its a tough draw. The things you always look at are the quality of the teams you are going to play against. But you also look at the other aspects, which are the travelling, the accommodation and everything that goes with it, and its certainly a lot of travelling for the squad. But going by the performances in the World Cup campaign, I am quite confident they will do very well. Trap: Celtic loan is a good deal for Keane Hughton sees bright future in Euro draw Game decision: Keane PREMIER LEAGUE index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html