Greetings, greetings my dear friends. What a sporting weekend! Made all the sweeter by England’s winning start to the Six Nations. Actually I think Wales were better and certainly looked more threatening when they had 15 players in the pitch. But the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune favoured Martin Johnson’s men and so it is they who can still dream of the Grand Slam.

But a dream is all it will be. I don’t think anyone will stop Les Bleus this year and having seen the power of Matthieu Bastareaud at Murrayfield, the French cockerel is destined to crow more loudly than ever. Bastareaud is the fellow who caused a diplomatic incident last summer when he claimed to have been beaten up on a tour of New Zealand by a gang of men. But just when the French Prime Minister had got involved to protest on his behalf, he admitted that his facial injuries were sustained when he fell over in his hotel room in a drunken stupour. Ooops a daisy. Humble pie eaten all round and quite a lot of it by Bastareaud, who is the world’s heaviest centre at 17 stone..... not that I am ever going to tell him he looks anything other than lovely......

The opening weekend of the Six Nations dovetailed nicely with the Superbowl and prompted an interesting exchange on BBC Breakfast yesterday. Yours truly was up at the crack of sparrows (4.00am to be precise, oh my God how early is that?), to do the sport and we had a guest (Mike Carlson) on to talk about American Football and why it had never quite taken off here. It was suggested it was the stop start nature of the sport that hampered the American game, but Mike made an excellent point about rugby being very stop start now too. And he’s right.

As soon as a phase of play breaks down, there is a Supermarket Sweep style stampede onto the pitch by a phalanx of trainers and medical personnel. There are sometimes so many of them, it can look a bit farcical. I guess it is a symptom of the changing game. Bigger players, bigger hits, bigger injuries. Gone are the days when you can stagger about with blood all over your shirt like Mickey Skinner, in a manly fashion.

Still some traditions die hard and a pint at Twickenham before a Six Nations match, is and always will be one of my favourite sporting habits. It seems my new best friend Matthieu might raise a glass to that too..... Right am off to get ready for my Strictly Fitness class tonight. Honestly the things I put myself through for you........Happy Monday.

Tags: Matthieu Bastareaud, Les Bleus, Six Nations, Supermarket Sweep, Mickey Skinner, Grand Slam, Superbowl, Mike Carlson,

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