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Vickery all set for Stevens challenge

England captain Phil Vickery heads into the 2008 Six Nations Championship knowing that, unlike many of his rival skippers, he is not guaranteed his place in the team.

Although Vickery led an unfancied England side to the World Cup final in Paris in October, where they were beaten by South Africa, he was banned for two matches earlier in the event for tripping United States centre Paul Emerick.

His place for the pool matches against South Africa and Samoa was taken by Matt Stevens who then retained the tighthead prop position for the game against Tonga as well.

Stevens, who at 25 is six years younger than Vickery, has been in fine form for Bath this season and there were many shrewd judges who thought England coach Brian Ashton was taking loyalty a step too far when he announced the Wasps forward had retained the captaincy of the national side.

Vickery, who insisted "I'm not here to make up the numbers" at the media launch of the Six Nations here Wednesday, is keenly aware of the threat posed to his place by his South African-born rival.

"Matt Stevens is playing fantastically well and he is a great player. However, I always back myself and I'm not that bad a player," said the 60-cap front-row.

"I would be bitterly disappointed if any player was just happy to be in the squad. I want extreme pressure from Matt and I have no doubt that if I am not playing well enough Brian Ashton will bring somebody else in," Vickery added.

"We are under no illusions about how hard the Six Nations is going to be and I love doing what I do. That is why I am going to continue to make a nuisance of myself for a bit longer."

England have struggled to impose themselves on Europe's leading international rugby union tournament since a Six Nations Grand Slam five years ago paved the way for their 2003 World Cup triumph. The past four years have seen them finish third, fourth, fourth and third - a poor return for a nation that considers itself to be one of the major forces in the world game.

"We are fully aware our record has not been good," said Vickery, a World Cup winner in 2003. "We've been beaten by some good teams, but also produced some poor performances. We are under no illusions about how tough it is going to be this season."

England's Six Nations opener against Wales at Twickenham on February 2 has been given added spice by the fact that Shaun Edwards, deputy to Wasps supremo Ian McGeechan, will be a member of the visitors' coaching staff.

The former Great Britain rugby league international has joined forces again, in a part-time post, with Wales's new Kiwi coach Warren Gatland, who led Wasps to European Cup glory during his time with the London club.

Bad blood flows between LeRoy and Nouzaret

It's fair to say Ghana coach Claude LeRoy and his Guinea counterpart Robert Nouzaret won't be sitting down to dinner any time soon.

That became evident after the two Frenchmen's contretemps when their sides met in the African Nations Cup curtain raiser, won by LeRoy's Ghana 2-1, on Sunday.
 

After Portsmouth's Sulley Muntari scored the winning goal LeRoy was seen to make a gesture with his index finger at Nouzaret, an action that incensed the Guinea manager. "Fortunately I didn't hear what Le Roy said to me when they scored, but my staff heard him, and he was on film," Nouzaret told AFP.

"I don't want to repeat what he said, but it was obnoxious. And before the game he ignored me and didn't say hello.

"That's an attitude that doesn't correspond with my vision of fair play."

Le Roy defended his actions and claimed Nouzaret was a bad loser.

"All I said to him was 'that (the winning goal) will stop you talking', that's all.

"I'm amazed Nouzaret says I ignored him on the pitch, I don't know what he's talking about. I don't have any reply to that, he's a bad loser.

"Before kick-off no one from Guinea came to greet me, that's the first time that's happened in my career."

The animosity between the two men runs deep, according to Le Roy, back to 1999 when Le Roy took over from Pierre Mankovski at struggling French First Division side Strasbourg.

"He accused me of being 'a traitor' because I took the job of my friend.

"But I took over after discussing the situation with Pierre, and he told me to take the job.

"We were second from bottom in the league and for my first match in charge we beat Saint Etienne (managed then by Nouzaret)."

Le Roy added: "Perhaps Nouzaret didn't appreciate me saying that Guinea was better organised under Patrice Neveu in 2006 than thhey are today, but I've always only ever had good things to say about this present Guinea side."

Davis sees light at end of tunnel

Australian cyclist Allan Davis said Thursday there was light at the end of the tunnel as he fights to clear his name of doping allegations.

The 27-year-old is one of the best sprint cyclists in the world, but is without a professional contract after he was caught up in the Spanish Operation Puerto doping investigation. Davis, from Bundaberg in central Queensland, believes he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Operation Puerto targeted the Liberty Seguros cycling team.
 

While investigators found proof of doping within the Spanish team, there has never been any evidence put forward that Davis was guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs.

International cycling body UCI asked the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) to investigate Davis, which found he had no case to answer.

But after Davis's most recent team, Discovery Channel, was disbanded last year, he was left without a contract.

UCI vice president Ray Godkin, an Australian, claimed this week that team managers were refusing to sign Davis without official clearance from the body.

"There is nothing really to link him with anything, yet he's just not able to get anything to say he's free to negotiate a contract with a ProTour team," Godkin told Australian media. Davis said winning Thursday's third stage of the Tour Down Under had lifted a great weight from his shoulders.

"It's a big relief personally," he said. "This is amazing for me, for my wife and two kids. "We've been through a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the last 18 months, and anyone who's doubted me or said things about me behind doors, you can stick this right up you."

Davis said the bid to clear his name was gathering momentum and he was optimistic about his future. "It's going really well. In my power I've done everything I can do to clear the whole situation up," he said. "I've offered DNA, I've offered whatever it takes."

He added: "The talks I've had here with the high rollers in the game, you know I think a lot of people are very embarrassed and feel for me personally," he said.

"Hopefully the tide's changing and I can get back on track pretty quick."

Burley unveiled as Scotland boss

George Burley was on Thursday named as the new manager of Scotland's national football team with the goal of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Burley, who was previously with English Championship club Southampton, beat off competition for the post from Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, Celtic assistant coach Tommy Burns and former Rangers and Liverpool boss Graeme Souness.

The position has been vacant since Alex McLeish resigned in late November to take over at English Premier League side Birmingham City having led Scotland to the brink of the Euro 2008 finals in a qualifying group that included both France and Italy.

The next target for the Scots is to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, 12 years after their last appearance in football's top event. Burley's first match in charge will be a friendly against Croatia on March 26 with his first competitive fixture a trip to Macedonia in September.

Burley is a former Scotland defender who spent much of his playing career in England with Ipswich, where he made over 500 appearances. He also played for Sunderland, Gillingham, Motherwell and Falkirk before beginning his his coaching career as a player-manager with Ayr in 1991.

He moved on to Colchester in 1994 before becoming boss at Ipswich, Derby, Hearts and Southampton respectively. As a manager, he has acquired a reputation for being good at getting the best out of individual players and getting his teams to play a passing game -- something which Scotland captain Barry Ferguson welcomed.

The Rangers midfielder was impressed by the way Burley led Hearts to the top of the Scottish Premier League in 2005 before a disagreement with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov led to his shock departure.

"I've only ever heard good things about George, although I have never really spoken to him," Ferguson said.