Index 2015

PREVIOUS INDEXES 2014 2013 2012 2011

POLITICS AND NEWS
General Election Full results
18.03 Osborne serves up pre-election Budget
07.05 Tangled up in news
08.05 Tories take control as Nationalists sweep Scotland
15.06 Preserving the Magna Carta myth
Other events
26.01 The boobs are back - but for how much longer? 
04.03 First Pegida march pisses off peacefully 
12.09 Labour takes a jump to the left with Corbyn landslide 
World War I
25.04 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
08.11 Wearing the poppy

FOOTBALL
Season 2014/15
02.01 FA Cup Third Round: Gateshead end a 60-year wait
30.04 Chelsea close in on title
09.06 Chelsea lead from start to finish 
Season 2015/16
08.08 Preview: Arsenal close in on Chelsea crown 
24.10 Can Newcastle United banish their derby woes?
International football
17.01 Yet another African Cup of Nations
30.05 Another Blatter coronation
13.06 Copa America preview: First title chance for Chile
05.07 Copa America: Champions Chile bury past ghosts
25.07 FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying draws Battle of Britain
12.12 Euro 2016 qualifiers: En route
13.12 Euro 2016 finals draw

CRICKET
World Cup Full results
13.02 Holders India up against it
13.02 Hosts on top Down Under
23.02 England avoid slipping on Scotland banana skin
09.03 Shambolic England dumped out by Bangladesh
17.03 Pakistan end Ireland run
26.03 Co-hosts outlast all-comers
29.03 Australia strike Cricket World Cup gold again
The Ashes
07.07 Preview: Play without fear
12.07 Root key to resurgent England
19.07 Australia demolish abject England
31.07 England demolish abject Aussies
11.08 Broad leads the way as England take back the Ashes
24.08 Consolation for Australia, celebrations for England

RUGBY UNION
World Cup Full results
18.09 Preview: World in Union
20.10 Grim up north, glorious down south
31.10 McCaw and Carter ensure stunning All Blacks make history
Six Nations
06.02 Preview: Injury-hit England eager to ditch "nearly men" tag 
22.03 Ireland eclipse title rivals on epic final day

OTHER SPORT
Cycling
26.07 Tour de France: Froome defeats them all
Formula 1
14.03 Preview: Advantage Hamilton in dominant Mercedes 
Horse racing
11.04 Aspell goes back-to-back on McCoy's Grand National farewell
Snooker
18.04 Selby takes on Crucible Curse 
03.05 Battle-scarred Bingham gets run of the ball at last 
Tennis
27.11 National service for Murray in Davis Cup showdown

MISCELLANEOUS
30.01 11* prime reasons to see the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
23.05 Eurovision 2015: Swing and a miss
10.11 Things haven't gone to plan so far
24.12 Moon lights the way for Santa tonight
31.12 Index 2015

Moon lights the way for Santa tonight

The first full moon on Christmas Eve since 1977

The next such event is not until 2034

MERRY

CHRISTMAS

from The Intrepid Reporter 

Euro 2016 finals draw

GROUP A	GROUP B	GROUP C	GROUP D	GROUP E	GROUP F
FRANCE	ENGLAND	GERMANY	SPAIN	BELGIUM	PORTUGAL
ALBANIA	RUSSIA	UKRAINE	CZECH REP	ITALY	ICELAND
ROMANIA	WALES	POLAND	TURKEY	IRELAND	AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND	SLOVAKIA	NOR IRELAND	CROATIA	SWEDEN	HUNGARY

GROUP A			Venue
Fri 10-Jun	20:00 ITV	FRANCE v ROMANIA	Saint-Denis
Sat 11-Jun	14:00 BBC	ALBANIA v SWITZERLAND	Lens
Wed 15-Jun	17:00 ITV	ROMANIA v SWITZERLAND	Paris
Wed 15-Jun	20:00 ITV	FRANCE v ALBANIA	Marseille
Sun 19-Jun	20:00 BBC	ROMANIA v ALBANIA	Lyon
Sun 19-Jun	20:00 BBC	SWITZERLAND v FRANCE	Lille

GROUP B			Venue
Sat 11-Jun	17:00 BBC	WALES v SLOVAKIA	Bordeaux
Sat 11-Jun	20:00 ITV	ENGLAND v RUSSIA	Marseille
Wed 15-Jun	14:00 BBC	RUSSIA v SLOVAKIA	Lille
Thu 16-Jun	14:00 BBC	ENGLAND v WALES	Lens
Mon 20-Jun	20:00 ITV	RUSSIA v WALES	Toulouse
Mon 20-Jun	20:00 ITV	SLOVAKIA v ENGLAND	Saint-Étienne

GROUP C			Venue
Sun 12-Jun	17:00 BBC	POLAND v NORTHERN IRELAND	Nice
Sun 12-Jun	20:00 BBC	GERMANY v UKRAINE	Lille
Thu 16-Jun	17:00 ITV	UKRAINE v NORTHERN IRELAND	Lyon
Thu 16-Jun	20:00 ITV	GERMANY v POLAND	Saint-Denis
Tue 21-Jun	17:00 BBC	NORTHERN IRELAND v GERMANY	Paris
Tue 21-Jun	17:00 BBC	UKRAINE v POLAND	Marseille

GROUP D			Venue
Sun 12-Jun	14:00 ITV	TURKEY v CROATIA	Paris
Mon 13-Jun	14:00 ITV	SPAIN v CZECH REPUBLIC	Toulouse
Fri 17-Jun	17:00 BBC	CZECH REPUBLIC v CROATIA	Saint-Étienne
Fri 17-Jun	20:00 ITV	SPAIN v TURKEY	Nice
Tue 21-Jun	20:00 ITV	CROATIA v SPAIN	Bordeaux
Tue 21-Jun	20:00 ITV	CZECH REPUBLIC v TURKEY	Lens

GROUP E			Venue
Mon 13-Jun	17:00 BBC	IRELAND v SWEDEN	Saint-Denis
Mon 13-Jun	20:00 BBC	BELGIUM v ITALY	Lyon
Fri 17-Jun	14:00 ITV	ITALY v SWEDEN	Toulouse
Sat 18-Jun	14:00 ITV	BELGIUM v IRELAND	Bordeaux
Wed 22-Jun	20:00 ITV	ITALY v IRELAND	Lille
Wed 22-Jun	20:00 ITV	SWEDEN v BELGIUM	Nice

GROUP F			Venue
Tue 14-Jun	17:00 ITV	AUSTRIA v HUNGARY	Bordeaux
Tue 14-Jun	20:00 BBC	PORTUGAL v ICELAND	Saint-Étienne
Sat 18-Jun	17:00 BBC	ICELAND v HUNGARY	Marseille
Sat 18-Jun	20:00 BBC	PORTUGAL v AUSTRIA	Paris
Wed 22-Jun	17:00 BBC	HUNGARY v PORTUGAL	Lyon
Wed 22-Jun	17:00 BBC	ICELAND v AUSTRIA	Saint-Denis

WHICH BEST THIRD PLACE TEAM?
The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which four third-placed teams qualify for the round of 16. Only the winners of Groups A-D will play a third-placed team.

Third-place teams	Winner A	Winner B	Winner C	Winner D
ABCD	3C	3D	3A	3B
ABCE	3C	3A	3B	3E
ABCF	3C	3A	3B	3F
ABDE	3D	3A	3B	3E
ABDF	3D	3A	3B	3F
ABEF	3E	3A	3B	3F
ACDE	3C	3D	3A	3E
ACDF	3C	3D	3A	3F
ACEF	3C	3A	3F	3E
ADEF	3D	3A	3F	3E
BCDE	3C	3D	3B	3E
BCDF	3C	3D	3B	3F
BCEF	3E	3C	3B	3F
BDEF	3E	3D	3B	3F
CDEF	3C	3D	3F	3E

LAST 16			Venue
(37) Sat 25-Jun	14:00	Runner-up A v Runner-up C	Saint-Étienne
(38) Sat 25-Jun	17:00	Winner B v Third place ACD	Paris
(39) Sat 25-Jun	20:00	Winner D v Third place BEF	Lens
(40) Sun 26-Jun	14:00	Winner A v Third place CDE	Lyon
(41) Sun 26-Jun	17:00	Winner C v Third place ABF	Lille
(42) Sun 26-Jun	20:00	Winner F v Runner-up E	Toulouse
(43) Mon 27-Jun	17:00	Winner E v Runner-up D	Saint-Denis
(44) Mon 27-Jun	20:00	Runner-up B v Runner-up F	Nice

QUARTER FINALS			Venue
(45) Thu 30-Jun	20:00	Winner match 37 v Winner match 39	Marseille
(46) Fri 01-Jul	20:00	Winner match 38 v Winner match 42	Lille
(47) Sat 02-Jul	20:00	Winner match 41 v Winner match 43	Bordeaux
(48) Sun 03-Jul	20:00	Winner match 40 v Winner match 44	Saint-Denis

SEMI FINALS			Venue
Wed 06-Jul	20:00	Winner match 45 v Winner match 46	Lyon
Thu 07-Jul	20:00	Winner match 47 v Winner match 48	Marseille

FINAL

Sun 10-Jul 20:00

Finalist 1 v Finalist 2

Saint-Denis

Euro 2016 qualifiers: En route

THE FINALS draw for UEFA Euro 2016 will take place at the Palais des congrès de Paris from 5.15pm this evening (live on BBC2).

France are hosting the tournament for a third time, having done so previously when the tournament was introduced in 1960, and also in 1984 - when they won the first of two Euro titles.

Joining Les Bleus in the top group of seeds are World Cup holders Germany, European Championship holders Spain, as well as Portugal, England, and FIFA world number one Belgium.

Of course, this European Championship is the first to feature 24 teams, a move which was criticised on this blog for diluting the competition.

But, while that still may yet remain the case in the finals themselves, it actually ended up refreshing the qualification programme.

Grasping the opporunity that had been presented to them, the likes of Austria, who won nine games out of 10, and unbeaten Romania played their best football in years.

There was also still room for a massive upset as Euro 1988 winners the Netherlands failed to make the top three in Group A.

By contrast, Slovakia, Iceland, Albania, Wales and Northern Ireland will all make their Euro finals debuts.

Indeed, it did not go unnoticed that this qualifying campaign featured a phenomenal effort from three of the four Home Nations teams - only Scotland missed out altogether.

Wayne Rooney broke Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing national goalscoring record as England finished with the only 100% record.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland and Wales ended their 30-year and 58-year waits for a major finals appearance respectively.

The next step is waiting to find out who will play who in the finals in the chosen 10 stadiums in the cities of Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Étienne, and Toulouse.

The finals will take place between 10 June and 10 July, featuring six groups of four teams, one from each seeding pot.

Full seeding pots, based on the UEFA national rankings, are shown below:

POT A

FRANCE
FIFA ranking 25
UEFA ranking 8
Head coach Didier Deschamps (since July 2012)
Captain Hugo Lloris
Contested friendlies Against teams in Group I (W7 D2 L1 F18 A6 Pts 23)
07-Sep-14 v Serbia (A) D1-1
11-Oct-14 v Portugal (H) W2-1
14-Oct-14 v Armenia (A) W3-0
14-Nov-14 v Albania (H) D1-1
29-Mar-15 v Denmark (H) W2-0
13-Jun-15 v Albania (A) L0-1
04-Sep-15 v Portugal (A) W1-0
07-Sep-15 v Serbia (H) W2-1
08-Oct-15 v Armenia (H) W4-0
11-Oct-15 v Denmark (A) W2-1
Top scorers Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann (3)
Best performance Winners 1984, 2000

GERMANY
FIFA ranking 4
UEFA ranking 1
Head coach Joachim Löw (since July 2006)
Captain Bastian Schweinsteiger
Qualifying results Winners of Group D (W7 D1 L2 F24 A9 Pts 22)
07-Sep-14 v Scotland (H) W2-1
11-Oct-14 v Poland (A) L0-2
14-Oct-14 v Ireland (H) D1-1
14-Nov-14 v Gibraltar (H) W4-0
29-Mar-15 v Georgia (A) W2-0
13-Jun-15 v Gibraltar (A) W7-0
04-Sep-15 v Poland (H) W3-1
07-Sep-15 v Scotland (A) W3-2
08-Oct-15 v Ireland (A) L0-1
11-Oct-15 v Georgia (H) W2-1
Top scorer Thomas Müller (9)
Best performance Winners 1972, 1980, 1996

SPAIN
FIFA ranking 3
UEFA ranking 2
Head coach Vicente del Bosque (since July 2008)
Captain Iker Casillas
Qualifying results Winners of Group C (W9 D0 L1 F23 A3 Pts 27)
08-Sep-14 v FYR Macedonia (H) W5-1
09-Oct-14 v Slovakia (A) L1-2
12-Oct-14 v Luxembourg (A) W4-0
15-Nov-14 v Belarus (H) W3-0
27-Mar-15 v Ukraine (H) W1-0
14-Jun-15 v Belarus (A) W1-0
05-Sep-15 v Slovakia (H) W2-0
08-Sep-15 v FYR Macedonia (A) W1-0
09-Oct-15 v Luxembourg (H) W4-0
12-Oct-15 v Ukraine (A) W1-0
Top scorer Paco Alcácer (5)
Best performance Winners 1964, 2008, 2012

ENGLAND
FIFA ranking 9
UEFA ranking 3
Head coach Roy Hodgson (since May 2012)
Captain Wayne Rooney
Qualifying results Winners of Group E (W10 D0 L0 F31 A3 Pts 30)
08-Sep-14 v Switzerland (A) W2-0
09-Oct-14 v San Marino (H) W5-0
12-Oct-14 v Estonia (A) W1-0
15-Nov-14 v Slovenia (H) W3-1
27-Mar-15 v Lithuania (H) W4-0
14-Jun-15 v Slovenia (A) W3-2
05-Sep-15 v San Marino (A) W6-0
08-Sep-15 v Switzerland (H) W2-0
09-Oct-15 v Estonia (H) W2-0
12-Oct-15 v Lithuania (A) W3-0
Top scorer Wayne Rooney (7)
Best performance Semi finals 1968, 1996

PORTUGAL
FIFA ranking 7
UEFA ranking 4
Head coach Fernando Santos (since September 2014)
Captain Cristiano Ronaldo
Qualifying results Winners of Group I (W7 D0 L1 F11 A5 Pts 21)
07-Sep-14 v Albania (H) L0-1
14-Oct-14 v Denmark (A) W1-0
14-Nov-14 v Armenia (H) W1-0
29-Mar-15 v Serbia (H) W2-1
13-Jun-15 v Armenia (A) W3-2
07-Sep-15 v Albania (A) W1-0
08-Oct-15 v Denmark (H) W1-0
11-Oct-15 v Serbia (A) W2-1
Top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo (5)
Best performance Runners-up 2004

BELGIUM
FIFA ranking 1
UEFA ranking 5
Head coach Marc Wilmots (since May 2012)
Captain Vincent Kompany
Qualifying results Winners of Group B (W7 D2 L1 F24 A5 Pts 23)
10-Oct-14 v Andorra (H) W6-0
13-Oct-14 v Bosnia-Herzegovina (A) D1-1
16-Nov-14 v Wales (H) D0-0
28-Mar-15 v Cyprus (H) W5-0
31-Mar-15 v Israel (A) W1-0
12-Jun-15 v Wales (A) L0-1
03-Sep-15 v Bosnia-Herzegovina (H) W3-1
06-Sep-15 v Cyprus (A) W1-0
10-Oct-15 v Andorra (A) W4-1
13-Oct-15 v Israel (H) W3-1
Top scorers Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard (5)
Best performance Runners-up 1980

POT B

ITALY
FIFA ranking 15
UEFA ranking 6
Head coach Antonio Conte (since August 2014)
Captain Gianluigi Buffon
Qualifying results Winners of Group H (W7 D3 L0 F16 A7 Pts 24)
09-Sep-14 v Norway (A) W2-0
10-Oct-14 v Azerbaijan (H) W2-1
13-Oct-14 v Malta (A) W1-0
16-Nov-14 v Croatia (H) D1-1
28-Mar-15 v Bulgaria (A) D2-2
12-Jun-15 v Croatia (A) D1-1
03-Sep-15 v Malta (H) W1-0
06-Sep-15 v Bulgaria (H) W1-0
10-Oct-15 v Azerbaijan (A) W3-1
13-Oct-15 v Norway (H) W2-1
Top scorer Graziano Pellè (3)
Best performance Winners 1968

RUSSIA
FIFA ranking 24
UEFA ranking 9
Head coach Leonid Slutsky (since August 2015)
Captain Roman Shirokov
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group G (W6 D2 L2 F21 A5 Pts 20)
08-Sep-14 v Liechtenstein (H) W4-0
09-Oct-14 v Sweden (A) D1-1
12-Oct-14 v Moldova (H) D1-1
15-Nov-14 v Austria (A) L0-1
27-Mar-15 v Montenegro (A) W3-0 (awarded)
14-Jun-15 v Austria (H) L0-1
05-Sep-15 v Sweden (H) W1-0
08-Sep-15 v Liechtenstein (A) W7-0
09-Oct-15 v Moldova (A) W2-1
12-Oct-15 v Montenegro (H) W2-0
Top scorer Artyom Dzyuba (8)
Best performance Winners 1960

SWITZERLAND
FIFA ranking 12
UEFA ranking 10
Head coach Vladimir Petković (since July 2014)
Captain Gökhan Inler
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group E (W7 D0 L3 F24 A8 Pts 21)
08-Sep-14 v England (H) L0-2
09-Oct-14 v Slovenia (A) L0-1
14-Oct-14 v San Marino (A) W4-0
15-Nov-14 v Lithuania (H) W4-0
27-Mar-15 v Estonia (H) W3-0
14-Jun-15 v Lithuania (A) W2-1
05-Sep-15 v Slovenia (H) W3-2
08-Sep-15 v England (A) L0-2
09-Oct-15 v San Marino (H) W7-0
12-Oct-15 v Estonia (A) W1-0
Top scorer Xherdan Shaqiri (4)
Best performance Group stage 1996, 2004, 2008

AUSTRIA
FIFA ranking 10
UEFA ranking 11
Head coach Marcel Koller (since November 2011)
Captain Christian Fuchs
Qualifying results Winners of Group G (W9 D1 L0 F22 A5 Pts 28)
08-Sep-14 v Sweden (H) D1-1
09-Oct-14 v Moldova (A) W2-1
12-Oct-14 v Montenegro (H) W1-0
15-Nov-14 v Russia (H) W1-0
27-Mar-15 v Liechtenstein (A) W5-0
14-Jun-15 v Russia (A) W1-0
05-Sep-15 v Moldova (H) W1-0
08-Sep-15 v Sweden (A) W4-1
09-Oct-15 v Montenegro (A) W3-2
12-Oct-15 v Liechtenstein (H) W3-0
Top scorer Marc Janko (7)
Best performance Group stage 2008

CROATIA
FIFA ranking 18
UEFA ranking 12
Head coach Ante Čačić (since September 2015)
Captain Darijo Srna
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group H (W6 D3 L1 F20 A5 Pts 20*)
09-Sep-14 v Malta (H) W2-0
10-Oct-14 v Bulgaria (A) W1-0
13-Oct-14 v Azerbaijan (H) W6-0
16-Nov-14 v Italy (A) D1-1
28-Mar-15 v Norway (H) W5-1
12-Jun-15 v Italy (H) D1-1
03-Sep-15 v Azerbaijan (A) D0-0
06-Sep-15 v Norway (A) L0-2
10-Oct-15 v Bulgaria (H) W3-0
13-Oct-15 v Malta (A) W1-0
*deducted one point and fined €100,000 for racist behaviour in the crowd against Italy (H)
Top scorer Ivan Perišić (6)
Best performance Quarter finals 1996, 2008

UKRAINE
FIFA ranking 29
UEFA ranking 14
Head coach Mykhaylo Fomenko (since December 2012)
Captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk
Qualifying results Third place in Group C (W6 D1 L3 F14 A4 Pts 19)
08-Sep-14 v Slovakia (H) L0-1
09-Oct-14 v Belarus (A) W2-0
12-Oct-14 v FYR Macedonia (H) W1-0
15-Nov-14 v Luxembourg (A) W3-0
27-Mar-15 v Spain (A) L0-1
14-Jun-15 v Luxembourg (H) W3-0
05-Sep-15 v Belarus (H) W3-1
08-Sep-15 v Slovakia (A) D0-0
09-Oct-15 v FYR Macedonia (A) W2-0
12-Oct-15 v Spain (H) L0-1
Playoffs Won 3-1 on aggregate
14-Nov-15 v Slovenia (H) W2-0
17-Nov-15 v Slovenia (A) D1-1
Top scorer Andriy Yarmolenko (6)
Best performance Group stage 2012

POT C

CZECH REPUBLIC
FIFA ranking 26
UEFA ranking 15
Head coach Pavel Vrba (since January 2014)
Captain Petr Čech
Qualifying results Winners of Group A (W7 D1 L2 F19 A14 Pts 22)
09-Sep-14 v Netherlands (H) W2-1
10-Oct-14 v Turkey (A) W2-1
13-Oct-14 v Kazakhstan (A) W4-2
16-Nov-14 v Iceland (H) W2-1
28-Mar-15 v Latvia (H) D1-1
12-Jun-15 v Iceland (A) L1-2
03-Sep-15 v Kazakhstan (H) W2-1
06-Sep-15 v Latvia (A) W2-1
10-Oct-15 v Turkey (H) L0-2
13-Oct-15 v Netherlands (A) W3-2
Top scorer Bořek Dočkal (4)
Best performance Winners 1976

SWEDEN
FIFA ranking 35
UEFA ranking 16
Head coach Erik Hamrén (since November 2009)
Captain Zlatan Ibrahimović
Qualifying results Third place in Group G (W5 D3 L2 F15 A9 Pts 18)
08-Sep-14 v Austria (A) D1-1
09-Oct-14 v Russia (A) D1-1
12-Oct-14 v Liechtenstein (H) W2-0
15-Nov-14 v Montenegro (H) D1-1
27-Mar-15 v Moldova (A) W2-0
14-Jun-15 v Montenegro (H) W3-1
05-Sep-15 v Russia (A) L0-1
08-Sep-15 v Austria (H) L1-4
09-Oct-15 v Liechtenstein (A) W2-0
12-Oct-15 v Moldova (H) W2-0
Playoffs Won 4-3 on aggregate
14-Nov-15 v Denmark (H) W2-1
17-Nov-15 v Denmark (A) D2-2
Top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimović (11)
Best performance Semi finals 1992

POLAND
FIFA ranking 34
UEFA ranking 17
Head coach Adam Nawałka (since October 2013)
Captain Robert Lewandowski
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group D (W6 D3 L1 F33 A10 Pts 21)
07-Sep-14 v Gibraltar (A) W7-0
11-Oct-14 v Germany (H) W2-0
14-Oct-14 v Scotland (H) D2-2
14-Nov-14 v Georgia (A) W4-0
29-Mar-15 v Ireland (A) D1-1
13-Jun-15 v Georgia (H) W4-0
04-Sep-15 v Germany (A) L1-3
07-Sep-15 v Gibraltar (H) W8-1
08-Oct-15 v Scotland (A) D2-2
11-Oct-15 v Ireland (H) W2-1
Top scorer Robert Lewandowski (13)
Best performance Group stage 2008, 2012
 
ROMANIA
FIFA ranking 16
UEFA ranking 18
Head coach Anghel Iordănescu (since October 2014)
Captain Răzvan Raț
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group F (W5 D5 L0 F11 A2 Pts 20)
07-Sep-14 v Greece (A) W1-0
11-Oct-14 v Hungary (H) D1-1
14-Oct-14 v Finland (A) W2-0
14-Nov-14 v Northern Ireland (H) W2-0
29-Mar-15 v Faroe Islands (H) W1-0
13-Jun-15 v Northern Ireland (A) D0-0
04-Sep-15 v Hungary (A) D0-0
07-Sep-15 v Greece (H) D0-0
08-Oct-15 v Finland (H) D1-1
11-Oct-15 v Faroe Islands (A) W3-0
Top scorers Constantin Budescu, Paul Papp, Bogdan Stancu (2)
Best performance Quarter finals 2000

SLOVAKIA
FIFA ranking 26
UEFA ranking 19
Head coach Ján Kozák (since July 2013)
Captain Martin Škrtel
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group C (W7 D1 L2 F17 A8 Pts 22)
08-Sep-14 v Ukraine (A) W1-0
09-Oct-14 v Spain (H) W2-1
12-Oct-14 v Belarus (A) W3-1
15-Nov-14 v FYR Macedonia (A) W2-0
27-Mar-15 v Luxembourg (H) W3-0
14-Jun-15 v FYR Macedonia (H) W2-1
05-Sep-15 v Spain (A) L0-2
08-Sep-15 v Ukraine (H) D0-0
09-Oct-15 v Belarus (H) L0-1
12-Oct-15 v Luxembourg (A) W4-2
Top scorer Marek Hamšík (5)
Best performance Never previously qualified

HUNGARY
FIFA ranking 20
UEFA ranking 20
Head coach Bernd Storck (since July 2015)
Captain Balázs Dzsudzsák
Qualifying results Third place in Group F (W4 D4 L2 F11 A9 Pts 16)
07-Sep-14 v Northern Ireland (H) L1-2
11-Oct-14 v Romania (A) D0-0
14-Oct-14 v Faroe Islands (A) W1-0
14-Nov-14 v Finland (H) W1-0
29-Mar-15 v Greece (H) D0-0
13-Jun-15 v Finland (A) W1-0
04-Sep-15 v Romania (H) D1-1
07-Sep-15 v Northern Ireland (A) D1-1
08-Oct-15 v Faroe Islands (H) W2-1
11-Oct-15 v Greece (A) L3-4
Playoffs Won 3-1 on aggregate
12-Nov-15 v Norway (A) W1-0
15-Nov-15 v Norway (H) W2-1
Top scorers Dániel Böde, Krisztián Németh, Tamás Priskin (2)
Best performance Semi finals 1964, 1972

POT D

TURKEY
FIFA ranking 21
UEFA ranking 22
Head coach Fatih Terim (since August 2013)
Captain Arda Turan
Qualifying results Third place in Group A (W5 D3 L2 F14 A9 Pts 18)
09-Sep-14 v Iceland (A) L0-3
10-Oct-14 v Czech Republic (H) L1-2
13-Oct-14 v Latvia (A) D1-1
16-Nov-14 v Kazakhstan (H) W3-1
28-Mar-15 v Netherlands (A) D1-1
12-Jun-15 v Kazakhstan (A) W1-0
03-Sep-15 v Latvia (H) D1-1
06-Sep-15 v Netherlands (H) W3-0
10-Oct-15 v Czech Republic (A) W2-0
13-Oct-15 v Iceland (H) W1-0
Top scorer Burak Yilmaz (4)
Best performance Semi finals 2008

IRELAND
FIFA ranking 31
UEFA ranking 23
Head coach Martin O'Neill (since November 2013)
Captain Robbie Keane
Qualifying results Third place in Group D (W5 D3 L2 F19 A7 Pts 18)
07-Sep-14 v Georgia (A) W2-1
11-Oct-14 v Gibraltar (H) W7-0
14-Oct-14 v Germany (A) D1-1
14-Nov-14 v Scotland (A) L0-1
29-Mar-15 v Poland (H) D1-1
13-Jun-15 v Scotland (H) D1-1
04-Sep-15 v Gibraltar (A) W4-0
07-Sep-15 v Georgia (H) W1-0
08-Oct-15 v Germany (H) W1-0
11-Oct-15 v Poland (A) L1-2
Playoff Won 3-1 on aggregate
13-Nov-15 v Bosnia-Herzegovina (A) D1-1
16-Nov-15 v Bosnia-Herzegovina (H) W2-0
Top scorer Robbie Keane, Jonathan Walters (5)
Best performance Group stage 1988, 2012

ICELAND
FIFA ranking 36
UEFA ranking 27
Head coaches Lars Lagerbäck and Heimir Hallgrímsson (since October 2011)
Captain Eiður Guðjohnsen
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group A (W6 D2 L2 F17 A6 Pts 20)
09-Sep-14 v Turkey (H) W3-0
10-Oct-14 v Latvia (A) W3-0
13-Oct-14 v Netherlands (H) W2-0
16-Nov-14 v Czech Republic (A) L1-2
28-Mar-15 v Kazakhstan (A) W3-0
12-Jun-15 v Czech Republic (H) W2-1
03-Sep-15 v Netherlands (A) W1-0
06-Sep-15 v Kazakhstan (H) D0-0
10-Oct-15 v Latvia (H) D2-2
13-Oct-15 v Turkey (A) L0-1
Top scorer Gylfi Sigurðsson (6)
Best performance Never previously qualified

WALES
FIFA ranking 17
UEFA ranking 28
Head coach Chris Coleman (since January 2012)
Captain Ashley Williams
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group B (W6 D3 L1 F11 A4 Pts 21)
09-Sep-14 v Andorra (A) W2-1
10-Oct-14 v Bosnia-Herzegovina (H) D0-0
13-Oct-14 v Cyprus (H) W2-1
16-Nov-14 v Belgium (A) D0-0
28-Mar-15 v Israel (A) W3-0
12-Jun-15 v Belgium (H) W1-0
03-Sep-15 v Cyprus (A) W1-0
06-Sep-15 v Israel (H) D0-0
10-Oct-15 v Bosnia-Herzegovina (A) L0-2
13-Oct-15 v Andorra (H) W2-0
Top scorer Gareth Bale (7)
Best performance Never previously qualified

ALBANIA
FIFA ranking 38
UEFA ranking 31
Head coach Gianni De Biasi (since December 2011)
Captain Lorik Cana
Qualifying results Runners-up of Group I (W4 D2 L2 F10 A5 Pts 14)
07-Sep-14 v Portugal (A) W1-0
11-Oct-14 v Denmark (H) D1-1
14-Oct-14 v Serbia (A) W3-0 (awarded)
29-Mar-15 v Armenia (H) W2-1
04-Sep-15 v Denmark (A) D0-0
07-Sep-15 v Portugal (H) L0-1
08-Oct-15 v Serbia (H) L0-2
11-Oct-15 v Armenia (A) W3-0
Top scorers Bekim Balaj, Berat Djimsiti, Shkëlzen Gashi, Ermir Lenjani, Mërgim Mavraj, Armando Sadiku, own goal (1)
Best performance Never previously qualified

NORTHERN IRELAND
FIFA ranking 30 
UEFA ranking 33
Head coach Michael O'Neill (since December 2011)
Captain Steven Davis
Qualifying results Winners of Group F (W6 D3 L1 F16 A8 Pts 21)
07-Sep-14 v Hungary (A) W2-1
11-Oct-14 v Faroe Islands (H) W2-0
14-Oct-14 v Greece (A) W2-0
14-Nov-14 v Romania (A) L0-2
29-Mar-15 v Finland (H) W2-1
13-Jun-15 v Romania (H) D0-0
04-Sep-15 v Faroe Islands (A) W3-1
07-Sep-15 v Hungary (H) D1-1
08-Oct-15 v Greece (H) W3-1
11-Oct-15 v Finland (A) D1-1
Top scorer Kyle Lafferty (7)
Best performance Never previously qualified

NOTES
- FIFA ranking refers to December 2015 release
- UEFA ranking determined by performance at Euro 2012, World Cup 2014 and qualification for Euro 2016
- Top scorer figures refer to Euro 2016 qualifying games only
- Best performance: Germany includes record of West Germany; Russia includes record of Soviet Union; Czech Republic includes record of Czechoslovakia

National service for Murray in Davis Cup showdown

DAVIS CUP FINAL

Flanders Expo, Ghent (indoor clay)

BEL 1 3 GBR

Friday (12.30 GMT)

David Goffin 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-0 Kyle Edmund

Ruben Bemelmans 3-6 2-6 5-7 Andy Murray

Saturday (14:00 GMT)

David Goffin/Steve Darcis 4-6 6-4 3-6 2-6 Jamie Murray/Andy Murray

Sunday (12:00 GMT)

David Goffin 3-6 5-7 3-6 Andy Murray

ANDY MURRAY will aim to add another landmark title to his collection as he leads Great Britain into its first Davis Cup final for 37 years against Belgium in Ghent this weekend.

The reigning Olympic and two-time Grand Slam champion has insisted the focus in the British camp is on a team effort - but the truth is that, without Murray, Great Britain simply would not be at this event.

Indeed, the Dunblane man has featured in 15 of Britain's last 18 victorious rubbers, either in the singles or the doubles, going back to 2013.

And only Dan Evans' dead rubber win against Mate Pavic of Croatia in 2013, and James Ward's glorious double over United States pair Sam Querrey in 2014 and John Isner in 2015 have not featured Murray.

It would be entirely churlish, though, not to consider in any way the strides which the Great Britain Davis Cup team has made under the captaincy of Leon Smith.

Smith, after all, has not always had Murray to call upon, and he has done an excellent job with Britain, winning 11 out of 13 ties over a period of more than five years.

The first of those victories came in July 2010 against Turkey in a playoff to avoid being relegated to Europe/Africa zone Group III alongside the likes of Albania, Andorra, Malta and San Marino.

Thankfully, Britain won 5-0 - without the help of Murray - before a clean sweep of home wins over Tunisia, Luxembourg and Hungary in 2011 promoted the team to the second tier.

A third successive win in Glasgow, over Slovakia in 2012, gave rise to the hope that Britain might get the chance of a playoff to qualify for the World Group in 2013.

But those hopes were dashed - by Belgium, as it happens - as a Murray-less outfit went down to a 4-1 defeat.

Since then, though, there has only been one further set back, in last year's quarter final defeat against Italy in Naples - and Britain bounced back from that in style in March with their second win in just over a year against the Americans.

Murray inevitably set that tie up, beating Donald Young in four sets 6-1 6-1 4-6 6-2 before Ward's amazing comeback from two sets down to defeat Isner 15-13 in the fifth.

The Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, enjoyed their own dramatic doubles win, 9-7 in the fifth against Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray, to keep the tie alive for the United States.

But older brother Andy wrapped up victory with a straight sets win over Isner featuring two tie-breakers.

The Murrays were vital again in July against France in the quarter finals at Queen's in London.

Andy's straight sets victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and four-set win over Gilles Simon sandwiched the brothers' doubles win over Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut, after Simon had given the French an early lead in the tie against Ward.

Then, finally, in the semi finals in September, Australia were dispatched in a 3-2 success for Britain.

Andy opened proceedings with a straight sets win over Thanasi Kokkinakis before Evans lost to Bernard Tomic in four on the first day.

No fear - the Murray brothers delivered again, beating Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt in another five-setter, before Andy sealed Britain's place in the Final with another straight sets win, this time over Tomic.

Now that they are there, of course, the emphasis must be on victory. After all, it is not as if these opportunities come along too often for British tennis.

This is, in fact, Britain's first appearance in a Davis Cup final since 1978 when a John McEnroe-inspired American team prevailed 4-1 in California.

Furthermore, it is only Britain's second final appearance since the glory days of Fred Perry and Bunny Austin in the 1930s.

It should be noted that this has not been an easy week for the British team who delayed their flight to Ghent for 24 hours over security fears.

The Flemish town lies just 35 miles away from the Belgian capital Brussels which remains on a high state of alert amid the threat of a Paris-style terrorist attack.

Nevertheless, Andy Murray has described the team as "comfortable" ahead of the tie.

The final - to be played on an indoor clay court - begins today at 12.30pm GMT as 20-year-old Kyle Edmund remarkably becomes just the sixth man to make his Davis Cup debut in the showpiece event. The previous five, including Pete Sampras, all lost their first match.

Murray follows later in the afternoon and he will be strong favourite against world number 108, Ruben Bemelmans, before the doubles take place on Saturday.

Andy will feature again alongside Jamie against Belgian pair Kimmer Coppejans and Steve Darcis before the last - and likely decisive - day on Sunday when Andy will take on David Goffin and Edmund faces Bemelmans.

Harsh as it may sound on Edmund, it already looks at this stage as if Britain are gambling on Murray maintaining his form and fitness following another strong year for the world number two.

That would suggest match four between Murray and Goffin is being viewed as the likely finish line for Britain - and so it is worth pointing out that Murray beat his opponent 6-1 6-0 in the Paris Masters semi finals earlier this month.

Of course, in front of a crowd of 13,000 mostly Belgian supporters at the Flanders Expo, it may not be as straightforward.

Undoubtedly, though, Murray must win his matches if Britain is to prevail and he is to make history once again.

BRITAIN'S PREVIOUS DAVIS CUP FINALS 
P17 W9 L8 F48 A35
1900 lost 0-3 v United States
1902 lost 2-3 v United States
1903 won 4-1 v United States
1904 won 5-0 v Belgium
1905 won 5-0 v United States
1906 won 5-0 v United States
1907 lost 2-3 v Australasia
1912 won 3-2 v Australasia
1913 lost 2-3 v United States
1919 lost 1-4 v Australasia
1931 lost 2-3 v France
1933 won 3-2 v France
1934 won 4-1 v United States
1935 won 5-0 v United States
1936 won 3-2 v Australia
1937 lost 1-4 v United States
1978 lost 1-4 v United States

OUT OF THE WILDERNESS
How Britain has progressed from a relegation playoff to Europe/Africa III to the Davis Cup final in five years (bolded W = win featured Andy Murray (in singles or doubles))

2010	Europe/Africa II, r1	Vilnius (LTU)	2-3	v Lithuania	WLWLL
	Europe/Africa II, p/o	Eastbourne (GBR)	5-0	v Turkey	WWWWW
2011	Europe/Africa II, r1	Bolton (GBR)	4-1	v Tunisia	LWWWW
	Europe/Africa II, r2	Glasgow (GBR)	4-1	v Luxembourg	LWWWW
	Europe/Africa II, r3	Glasgow (GBR)	5-0	v Hungary	WWWWW
2012	Europe/Africa I, r1	Glasgow (GBR)	3-2	v Slovakia	WLWLW
	Europe/Africa I, r2	Glasgow (GBR)	1-4	v Belgium	LLWLL
2013	Europe/Africa I, r2	Coventry (GBR)	3-2	v Russia	LLWWW
	World Group, p/o	Umag (CRO)	4-1	v Croatia	WLWWW
2014	World Group, r1	San Diego (USA)	3-1	v United States	WWLW
	World Group, QF	Napoli (ITA)	2-3	v Italy	LWWLL
2015	World Group, r1	Glasgow (GBR)	3-2	v United States	WWLWL
	World Group, QF	London (GBR)	3-1	v France	LWWW
	World Group, SF	Glasgow (GBR)	3-2	v Australia	WLWWL

BELGIUM'S ROUTE TO THE FINAL

2015	World Group, r1	Liege (BEL)	3-2	v Switzerland	LWWLW
	World Group, QF	Middelkerke (BEL)	5-0	v Canada	WWWWW
	World Group, SF	Brussels (BEL)	3-2	v Argentina	WLLWW

Things haven't gone to plan so far

Thing haven't gone to plan so far

Peter Wood ♦ Winlaton, Gateshead ♦ 2015

And all the things I want in life

They seem slowly to drift away from me

Like grains of sand between my fingers

Like embers from a bonfire suffocated by the cool autumn air

It all feels rather hopeless

And some people have their perfect job

And some people are getting married

And some people are having babies

And some people have all of this

And some people have none of this

And yeah I'm jealous

Yet why should I even try any more

I know I'll never be like them

I throw obstacles in my way

And it's hard to be a happy shiny person

When you're constantly hurdling

And falling

So here I find myself again

Three pints under

Or rather I don't find myself

For I already know that there are no answers

At the bottom of the pint glass

However much I squint

However much I hope sometimes

You see, somebody told me that once

Somebody

Somebody needs to help me sometimes

The scariest thing is

That person is always me

Wearing the poppy

Poppies at Woodhorn Colliery museum in Northumberland in 2015
 

I Am Not A Badge Of Honour

Paul Hunter ♦ Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne ♦ 2014

I am not a badge of honour,

I am not a racist smear,

I am not a fashion statement,

To be worn but once a year,

I am not glorification
Of conflict or of war.
I am not a paper ornament
A token,
I am more.

I am a loving memory,
Of a father or a son,
A permanent reminder
Of each and every one.

I'm paper or enamel
I'm old or shining new,
I'm a way of saying thank you,
To every one of you.

I am a simple poppy
A Reminder to you all,
That courage faith and honour,
Will stand where heroes fall.

Royal British Legion Website - Facebook - Twitter

RWC15 Final: McCaw and Carter ensure stunning All Blacks make history

2015 RUGBY WORLD CUP

Preview - Full results - Review - Final

New Zealand 34
T: Milner-Skudder, Nonu, Barrett. P: Carter 4. C: Carter 2. DG: Carter
Australia 17
T: Pocock, Kuridrani. P: Foley. C: Foley 2

New Zealand Ben Smith; Nehe Milner-Skudder, Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu, Julian Savea; Dan Carter, Aaron Smith; Joe Moody, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw (c), Kieran Read.
Replacements Keven Mealamu, Ben Franks, Charlie Faumuina, Victor Vito, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Beauden Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams.
Australia Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore (c), Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Rob Simmons, Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper, David Pocock.
Replacements Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Dean Mumm, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.
Attendance 80,125 at Twickenham Referee Nigel Owens (Wales)
Kick-off 4pm GMT. Live on ITV1.

NEW ZEALAND captain Richie McCaw and legendary fly-half Dan Carter capped their splendid careers as the All Blacks became the first team ever to retain the Rugby World Cup.

Man of the match Carter was sublime, producing a near-perfect display with the boot as the New Zealanders won the William Webb Ellis trophy outside of their own country for the first time.

But, much more than that, the victory over Australia at Twickenham confirmed this All Blacks generation as easily the best team of its era.

Indeed, with little debate, they can be considered one of the greatest sporting outfits of all time.

Of course, for the 33-year-old Carter personally, this Final was one of those truly wonderful moments of sporting redemption after he had cruelly missed nearly all of the 2011 tournament through injury.

Not that this success came in as straightforward a fashion as the final scoreline perhaps suggests.

Yes, the first half at Twickenham was, in fact, a largely cagey affair with Carter striking three penalties in the first 36 minutes to one from his Aussie counterpart Bernard Foley.

It looked then as if the All Blacks would hold a no-more-than-handy 9-3 interval lead - but, as half-time neared, winger Nehe Milner-Skudder had other ideas.

An appropriate scorer in a match which waved goodbye to so many All Blacks legends, the 24-year-old, in many ways, is a representative of the next generation of New Zealand players to come through their awesome system.

If he is indeed the standard-bearer for the new era, then it would be fair to say that New Zealand rugby is clearly in safe hands.

Coincidentally, that is exactly what he showed when collecting a pass from McCaw to complete a fine, flowing move - and, following Carter's conversion, the half-time lead was a much more comfortable looking 16-3.

Early in the second period, it got even better for New Zealand as they extended their advantage to 21-3 following a virtuoso individual effort from another retiree Ma'a Nonu.

Starting from just inside the Australians' half, Nonu burst through the game line before out-sprinting three forlorn tacklers to complete a magnificent moment. What a way for him to finish.

The only question at that stage was whether the game was also finished as a contest - but, thankfully for the sake of the Final as a showpiece, the Wallabies were in no mood for giving up.

Their first proper breakthrough came 10 minutes after Nonu's try when full-back Ben Smith was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle deep inside his own 22.

From the resultant line-out, Australia made their numerical advantage count - and David Pocock, the best forward of the tournament, forced his way over.

Still, Australia needed more if they were going to truly threaten an amazing comeback - but still they would not give up - and, indeed, they made it two tries apiece with just over 15 minutes left.

Tevita Kuridrani was the scorer of the Wallabies' second, receiving a pass inside from Foley after Will Genia had kicked the ball from the back of a ruck down the right hand side.

New Zealand looked completely caught out by the Aussie resurgence - and, with just four points in it, there was a general feeling that somehow the contest was slipping away from them.

The mark of true champions, though, is to react quickly to adversity - and, within five minutes of getting a fright on Hallowe'en, the All Blacks could begin to breathe more easily again.

For, with only 10 minutes left on the clock, Carter executed only his eighth-ever international drop goal - and, as rare as they are, this was nevertheless a gorgeous kick from all of  40 metres out.

Of course, at a difference of seven points, Australia were still very much in the match, requiring only a converted try to tie.

So it was only when Carter knocked over a outstanding straight penalty from the half-way line with five minutes left that New Zealand were home and hosed.

Finally, it seemed they could relax a little - and, better still, they produced one more party trick, one more act to enjoy after the panicked Australians lost the ball in the New Zealand 22.

Ben Smith rushed forward and dinked a neat kick forward into the totally unoccupied opposition territory for Beauden Barrett to run onto.

Barrett himself kicked the ball forward towards the line before a kind bounce allowed him to collect and complete the job.

Notably, that try meant that, at an aggregate of 51 points, this was the highest scoring Rugby World Cup Final in history, a testament to the flowing nature of the second half.

As already pointed out on this blog, the north still has much to learn from the south about how to play this game even if Australia, of course, will take little comfort from that right now.

This was, after all, the All Blacks' day and the All Blacks' tournament - a World Cup for the glorious generation of McCaw, Carter, Nonu, Conrad Smith and others.

It seems only fair, though, to give the final word to match-winner Carter who summed up his emotions brilliantly in his post-tournament comments.

“It is a great way to finish my Test career,” he said. “I am pretty grateful to be where I am considering what happened four years ago. I’m so proud of the team.

"To win back-to-back World Cups is a dream come true. It’s a pretty strong group of guys. We try to do things no other team has done before. It’s a special feeling to be part of such a great team.”
 
RUGBY WORLD CUP HISTORY
New Zealand Champions 1987, 2011, 2015. Runners-up 1995
Australia Champions 1991, 1999. Runners-up 2003, 2015.

1991 SF	Dublin	New Zealand	6-16	Australia
2003 SF	Sydney	New Zealand	10-22	Australia
2011 SF	Auckland	New Zealand	20-6	Australia
2015 F	London	New Zealand	34-17	Australia

OVERALL HEAD TO HEAD
New Zealand 106
Australia 42
Draws 7

Can Newcastle United banish their derby woes?

PREMIER League stragglers Newcastle United and Sunderland face each other tomorrow at noon in the most important and eagerly anticipated Wear-Tyne derby in years.

The bottom-placed Black Cats, on three points, are without a league win all season while Steve McClaren's visiting Magpies are only slightly better off on six points.

Newcastle did get off the mark in some style last weekend, however - beating Norwich City 6-2 at St James Park thanks to four goals from Georginio Wijnaldum. Nevertheless, this derby match will surely be a different sort of game to that open encounter.

Undoubtedly adding further spice to the proceedings is the recent appointment to the hot-seat at the Stadium of Light of Sam Allardyce.

The self-styled Big Sam - who played on Wearside in the 1980-81 season - actually becomes Sunderland's fourth 'permanent' appointment in 30 months.

Previously, of course, Allardyce also managed Newcastle for an eighth-month period in 2007 and 2008.

But he was dismissed from Gallowgate when a run of poor results could no longer absolve his horrendous style of football - so it is fair to say there is plenty of recent history then.

Moreover, Allardyce would love to extend the bizarre sequence in this fixture which has seen Sunderland, despite all their instability, reel off their all-time best run of five wins in a row.

Most recently, the Mackems prevailed on Easter Sunday this year when Jermain Defoe scored the only goal with a fine volley just before half time.

Yes, that victory equalled the all-time record held by Newcastle when the black-and-whites had the fortune of taking on two embarrassingly poor teams from Wearside between 2002 and 2006.

This time, on home turf - and with a potential new manager bounce - bookmakers' favourites Sunderland will strongly favour themselves to break the record.

For there can be no doubt that a new manager has assisted the Black Cats in their recent run of derby success.

Incredibly, Allardyce's predecessors Paulo di Canio, Gus Poyet, and Dick Advocaat all beat Newcastle in only their second respective games in charge of Sunderland - and this will also be Allardyce's second match.

A proud man - though many would say an equally vainglorious one - he would dearly love to be added to that list, and use it as a springboard to guide Sunderland to safety.

After all, he has his own record to protect - that of having never been relegated in more than 20 years of management.

Indeed, he retains a very high opinion of himself, claiming he still envisages himself one day taking charge of England, a position which was denied to him in 2006.

Coincidentally, it was McClaren who got the nod as national team boss instead - though his reign ended in defeat and humiliation, with a failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

Now, McClaren - via Holland, Germany, Nottingham Forest, Holland again, and Derby County - has arrived at Newcastle and prepared for his first Wear-Tyne derby by sending an email to supporters.

"I don't need reminding that we have lost the last five derbies and for everyone associated with the club that is simply unbearable," McClaren wrote. 

"It wasn't so long ago that we won five in row and we are desperately keen and hugely motivated to turn the tide and bring the points back to Tyneside. 

"The atmosphere is always incredible and I think unique to the North East and we have to go there, stand up and be counted. There’s no question that our players understand what it means to win the derby."

Of course, McClaren has been able to approach the build-up to this match from an unfamiliar position of strength following the performance last Sunday.

For, while the three points against the Canaries did not take Newcastle out of the bottom three, the six goals tempered a swirling sense of discontent which a winless run inevitably brings. 

Additionally, McClaren seems to be settling on a more consistent selection, particularly up front where new signing Aleksandr Mitrovic and Spanish whizz-kid Ayoze Perez look a troublesome pairing. 

Indeed, Mitrovic could end up being the most important player on the pitch - but only provided he stays on it, of course. 

Unfortunately, for Newcastle, there can be no guarantee of that especially if the Serbian is as easily wound up in a hostile atmosphere as he was in his first few games in England which included a sending off against Arsenal. 

He has given his assurances, though - and so Sunderland may have to look elsewhere if they are to damage Newcastle 

That will likely mean targeting a shaky defence with Allardyce-style direct play - for, even in the fine win against Norwich, the Magpies' rearguard struggled at times. 

Also, Dutch keeper Tim Krul has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a severe knee injury sustained on international duty leaving Rob Elliott between the sticks. 

But, equally, Sunderland have struggled at the back this term, both teams having conceded 19 times in their nine games so far. 

Goals should be expected then - however, this will surely be a tighter, scrappier affair with the winning team, if there is one, succeeding only by a single goal.

It promises, as ever, to be a tense - though hopefully trouble-free - couple of hours.

ALL-TIME RECORD

Goals		Draws		Goals
224	Sunderland 50	49	53 Newcastle United	222

AT SUNDERLAND

Goals		Draws		Goals
104	Sunderland 25	28	21 Newcastle United	97

FIVE IN A ROW

	SUNDERLAND					NEWCASTLE UNITED
14-Apr-2013	won 3-0 (a) (Sessegnon, Johnson, Vaughan)				24-Feb-2002	won 1-0 (a) (Dabizas)
27-Oct-2013	won 2-1 (h) (Fletcher, Borini)				21-Sep-2002	won 2-0 (h) (Bellamy, Shearer)
01-Feb-2014	won 3-0 (a) (Borini (p), Johnson, Colback)				26-Apr-2003	won 1-0 (a) (Solano (p))
21-Dec-2014	won 1-0 (a) (Johnson)				23-Oct-2005	won 3-2 (h) (Ameobi 2, Emre)
05-Apr-2015	won 1-0 (h) (Defoe)				17-Apr-2006	won 4-1 (a) (Chopra, Shearer (p), N'Zgobia, Luque)

SEASON 2015/2016 SO FAR

	SUNDERLAND P9 W0 D3 L6 F8 A19 Pts 3 Top scorer: Defoe, Fletcher, Lens (2)					NEWCASTLE UNITED P9 W1 D3 L5 F12 A19 Pts 6 Top scorer: Wijnaldum (6)
08-Aug	Leicester City (A)	2-4	19th		09-Aug	Southampton (H)	2-2	7th
15-Aug	Norwich City (H)	1-3	20th		15-Aug	Swansea City (A)	0-2	15th
22-Aug	Swansea City (H)	1-1	20th		22-Aug	Manchester United (A)	0-0	16th
29-Aug	Aston Villa (A)	2-2	20th		29-Aug	Arsenal (H)	0-1	18th
13-Sep	Tottenham Hotspur (H)	0-1	20th		14-Sep	West Ham United (A)	0-2	20th
19-Sep	AFC Bournemouth (A)	0-2	20th		19-Sep	Watford (H)	1-2	19th
26-Sep	Manchester United (A)	0-3	20th		26-Sep	Chelsea (H)	2-2	19th
03-Oct	West Ham United (H)	2-2	19th		03-Oct	Manchester City (A)	1-6	20th
17-Oct	West Bromwich Albion (A)	0-1	20th		18-Oct	Norwich City (H)	6-2	18th

RWC15: Grim up north, glorious down south

2015 RUGBY WORLD CUP

Preview - Full results

QUARTER FINALS

Sat 17-Oct	SOUTH AFRICA	23-19	WALES	Twickenham
4pm	T: du Preez P: Pollard 6		T: G Davies P: Biggar 3 C: Biggar DG: Biggar
Sat 17-Oct	NEW ZEALAND	62-13	FRANCE	Cardiff
8pm	T: Retallick, Milner-Skudder, Savea 3, Kaino, Read, Kerr-Barlow 2 P: Carter C: Carter 7		T: Picamoles P: Spedding, Parra C: Parra
Sun 18-Oct	IRELAND	20-43	ARGENTINA	Cardiff
1pm	T: Fitzgerald, Murphy P: Madigan 2 C: Madigan 2		T: Moroni, Imhoff 2, Tuculet P: Sanchez 5 C: Sanchez 4
Sun 18-Oct	AUSTRALIA	35-34	SCOTLAND	Twickenham
4pm	T: Ashley-Cooper, Mitchell 2, Hooper, Kuridrani P: Foley 2 C: Foley 2		T: Horne, Seymour, Bennett P: Laidlaw 5 C: Laidlaw

SCOTLAND suffered Rugby World Cup heartbreak as a controversial late Australia penalty confirmed an all-southern hemisphere semi final line-up for the first time ever.

Bernard Foley kicked the three points to give the Wallabies a 34-32 victory - but, in a rare move, governing body World Rugby has since admitted South African referee Craig Joubert got his decision wrong.

Originally, Joubert gave the penalty after ruling Scottish prop Jon Welsh was ruled deliberately offside for playing the ball after a knock-on by a team-mate.

Instead, though, Australia should have only had a scrum for the knock-on as their scrum-half Nick Phipps had also touched the ball before Welsh.

Unfortunately, the situation has now got rather messy with Joubert being somewhat hung out to dry despite the rules of the game preventing him from referring the incident to the television match official.

Indeed, it is a shame that such an unexpectedly thrilling close contest will now likely only be truly remembered for a single moment in it.

Elsewhere in the quarter finals, Wales fell similarly just short against South Africa, despite having led 13-12 at half time and 19-18 with five minutes left in a thriller at Twickenham.

But, just as it looked as if the Welsh might hold out against immense pressure from the Springboks, Fourie du Preez's ran off the back of a scrum to score a match-winning try.

Later that evening, France were humiliated by a rampant New Zealand performance featuring nine tries - before, on Sunday afternoon, Argentina shocked an Ireland team ravaged by injuries.

Undoubtedly, that defeat would have still come as a hell of a shock for an Irish outfit which had won the last two Six Nations Championships and were generally considered the north's best chance of deep progress in this competition.

Then again, the Pumas have now won three of their four World Cup matches against Ireland who themselves have never made it beyond the last eight.

By contrast, Sunday will see Argentina play their second World Cup semi final following 37-13 defeat to South Africa in 2007 after which the South Americans applied to join the Six Nations Championship.

The application was flatly rejected and, five years later, the Argentines instead joined up with the big three southern hemisphere giants in what is now called the Rugby Championship.

There, the Pumas have found it tough going at times, winning just twice and finishing bottom in three of the four years in which they have competed.

Nevertheless, the regular exposure to the highest level of rugby in the world certainly seems to have improved their game - as Joe Schmidt's Ireland found to their cost.

Of course, the biggest failure from the north still undoubtedly lies with the hosts England.

Hoping at the very least for a glorious Euro 96-style failure in the semi finals, which nevertheless won the heart of the nation, England instead fell to successive devastating defeats to Wales and Australia.

Consequently, they became the first ever host nation to go out of its own World Cup in the Pool stages.

Somehow, for now, head coach Stuart Lancaster remains in position ahead of an official review which has been requested by Rugby Football Union chief Bill Beaumont.

Already, though, the reputation of the whole of this coaching set-up surely cannot be recovered.

In terms of selection, there has been little consistency with the worst of the confusion in centre pairing as England reverted to conservatism over flair.

On top of this, there was also the decidedly ill-thought-out - and possibly even pig-headed - policy of refusing to pick players currently playing outside of England. It was something which left a world-class player in Steffon Armitage sitting in France.

And, indeed, it was amidst this mess that skipper Chris Robshaw demonstrated totally muddled thinking when he opted to kick to the corner rather than the posts in the dying minutes of the match against Wales.

Unflustered fly-half Owen Farrell had, after all, produced an infallible performance off the tee and those likely three points would have kept England in their own tournament at the expense of the Welsh.

So the only forgivable reasoning behind Robshaw's decision to head for the corner came from a misguided attempt to repeat Japan's thrilling win over South Africa on the opening weekend.

In that match, Japan - trailing by three points - somehow won their first Rugby World Cup game for 24 years after turning down the chance of a draw by kicking for the corner.

Instead, Karne Hesketh crossed the line off the line-out to give the Cherry Blossoms a win - and assure World Cup infamy for this group of Japanese players.

The difference between the two situations was pretty stark, however.

While England were expected to challenge strongly on home turf for a second lift of the William Webb Ellis Cup, Japan were merely expected to put up a respectable showing ahead of their hosting of the next tournament in 2019.

Therefore, even though they were obviously losing on the pitch with seconds left, the Japanese - by pushing the Springboks so close - had already achieved their pre-tournament aim. They were effectively in a no-lose situation.

By contrast, England surely needed to take a purely pragmatic long-term view by not reducing their chances to a death-or-glory match against Australia. Any romanticism could come later, flushed with success.

Ironically then, it was ultimately Japan - and not England - who captured the heart of the host nation - and they were indeed desperately unlucky to be eliminated in the Pool stages.

The victim of rotten scheduling - their match against Scotland came only four days after that momentous win over South Africa - Japan were, in fact, the first ever team to go out at the Pool stage having won three matches.

Undoubtedly, the scheduling in this competition has left a lot to be desired - and the draw, which took place way back in December 2012, was also ridiculously early.

Otherwise, though, the organisers can consider the tournament to be a success with capacity crowds and lively fan parks enjoying games featuring all 20 of the teams.

The competitiveness of the Tier II nations is much improved with every team crossing the try-line and only one complete shut-out by South Africa against United States.

Inevitably, there have still been a few one-sided games but none has threatened to be a repeat of Australia 142-0 Namibia in 2003 or New Zealand 145-17 Japan in 1995. Yes, the Japanese have certainly come along way since then.

Naturally, none of this anaesthetises the pain felt by England, the hurt felt by France or go some way to solving the mystery of why Ireland never perform to their best at a World Cup.

Nor will it shine further light on still utterly unconvincing Tier I status of Italy - or soften the blow for the disappointed Welsh and the dejected Scots.

Instead, the final two weeks of the 2015 Rugby World Cup belong to the stronger south. Now for the biggest games in the rugby union calendar:

SEMI FINALS

Sat 24-Oct	SOUTH AFRICA	18-20	NEW ZEALAND	Twickenham
4pm	P: Pollard 5, Lambie		T: Kaino, Barrett P: Carter C: Carter 2 DG: Carter
Sun 25-Oct	ARGENTINA	15-29	AUSTRALIA	Twickenham
4pm	P: Sanchez 5		T: Simmons, Ashley-Cooper 3 P: Foley C: Foley 3