He’s so relaxed and self-assured; certainly, he’s put up his hand in a big way in terms of staking a permanent claim on the shirt. He’s enjoying his rugby and it shows.”During the comfortable Welsh victory over Italy 11 days ago, there were clear signs that Howley was also revelling in a new-found sense of freedom; not as a result of having responsibility bestowed upon him, like Dawson, but as a result of having been relieved of it. When Graham Henry, the national coach, transferred the captaincy to the Cardiff prop David Young (it seemed comically appropriate that a leader who looked the spitting image of Stan Laurel should be replaced by a colleague built along the lines of Oliver Hardy), it cut Howley to the quick. Happily, the sense of loss is beginning to fade.”The captaincy is Welsh rugby’s version of the crown jewels, isn’t it? When we played France in the opening Six Nations match – my first since Graham’s decision to ask David to lead the side – I found the whole occasion difficult to handle and was glad to get it out of the way.

But I feel much better about it now; I’m really quite easy with the situation I think the issue has probably gone away for good Over and done with Certainly, David has my total support. He’s a decent bloke and I’m with him 100 per cent of the way.”Have I benefited as a player through forfeiting the captaincy? I think it’s too early to tell, and anyway, you’d have to ask Graham. He’s the only one who can say whether I’ve reacted in the right way and regained some of the things he thought I might be losing from my game. I’d like to think the signs are positive, but it’s a long-term thing. It’s something I’m going to have to get used to, because I really can’t see the circumstances in which I’d be asked to do the job again.”Of course, foot-soldier status does not necessarily mean that the Howley tonsils will enjoy an afternoon’s rest on Saturday; Trappists are fairly thin on the ground among the scrum-half fraternity and Howley will have every bit as much to say for himself as his top-brass opponent from Northampton as he coaxes the last beads of sweat and ounces of effort from his forwards. “It will be down to the respective tight fives, this one,” he predicted. “There are big personal battles all over the pitch -Scott Quinnell and Dallaglio, Bateman and Tindall, myself and Dawson – but the big boys up front will shape it.”England are really very strong.

I’m not building them up for the sake of it; facts are facts and there’s no getting away from the plain truth that the old stodgy, stagnant England have disappeared into history. Clive Woodward has changed the tempo at which they play, made one or two subtle changes and, as a result, they’ve finally turned the corner.”They know they’re firmly in the top echelon, one of the best four sides in the world; seven or eight of their players are the finest in their positions in Europe. They have a fluidity about them which, when you combine it with their big defence and set-piece security, is extremely dangerous.”But there are ways of beating them; if there weren’t, we’d stay here in Wales and let them play on their own, wouldn’t we? We had a bit of luck when we beat them at Wembley last season, but we also scrummaged strongly and put serious ball-carriers like Dallaglio on the back foot We also scored an awesome try late in the game to win it. At this level, it’s the little things that make the difference: the little knock-ons, the funny little decisions from the referee that some people in the crowd never really notice.

If we play to our potential and get our share of the breaks, who knows?”Who knows indeed? Dawson, as annoying to play against as he is inspiring to play alongside, may well have another of his golden afternoons, when the referee tolerates his Beckham-esque appealing for every offside and forward pass and sanctions his crafty tap-penalty antics, malevolently designed to take 10 valuable metres out of the opposition and put Jonny Wilkinson in three-point range. But then again, Howley may re-scale the heights he last visited during his cruelly curtailed Lions campaign three years ago and re-establish himself as the most complete scrum-half in the northern hemisphere Forget the front fives for an afternoon These two have the winning of the match between them.. Wedding bells apparently are no distraction to Anna Kournikova. Wedding bells apparently are no distraction to Anna Kournikova.
The 18-year-old Russian needed only 45 minutes to dispatch Alina Jidkova 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday night in the first round of the State Farm Women’s Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona.While Kournikova wouldn’t confirm her engagement to 28-year-old hockey star Pavel Bure, she did say that she did not intend to allow the situation to affect her play.”Hopefully it won’t be and hopefully it isn’t,” she said. “I’m trying to block everything out because I’m concentrating on my tennis right now That’s why I’m here I wouldn’t be coming here if I wasn’t ready. I’m here to play.”Kournikova did offer a tantalising hint that a formal announcement was forthcoming.”I do not have any details right now for you,” she said.

“As soon as I will be ready, I will let you know everything.”The best match of the day brought the tournament’s first upset when Nathalie Dechy of France defeated No 5 seed Conchita Martinez 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a 2 1/2-hour match that featured long baseline rallies. In the ninth game of the final set, Martinez could not hold serve even though she led 40-0 and had it to game point four times.Dechy, who made it to the final last weeks in the IGA Superthrift Tennis Classic in Oklahoma City before losing to Monica Seles, is ranked 26th. Martinez is No 7.Kournikova dominated Jidkova in all phases of the match.”I knew her from way before,” Kournikova said “We grew up together in Russia. But I have never played against her professionally.”Ranked 10th in the world and seeded sixth in the tournament, Kournikova said her goal is to reach the top five.