Today's other stories in brief
Alonso criticises rivals for 'hot-headed' remarks
MOTOR SPORT:Fernando Alonso has accused his Formula One rivals of making "hot-headed comments" given the criticism that followed the season-opener in Bahrain.
The likes of Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber all spoke about the difficulty of overtaking after the race in Sakhir in light of the new regulations for this year.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, however, has suggested there is no need to panic, and that if problems continue, they will likely be addressed following the next races in Australia, Malaysia and China.
Alonso, arguably from a position of strength given the victory on his debut for Ferrari, has waded into the debate.
“I think many of us gave some hot-headed comments immediately after the race in Bahrain,” remarked the double world champion, who led a Ferrari one-two.
“It’s true the race in Sakhir wasn’t especially spectacular, although for us Ferraristi it was great and exciting. But it’s too early to talk about changing the rules. We have to wait and see different races and check the situation, without being emotional.
“Something that confuses the fans is changing the rules all the time.”
Bray beat High School to lift Junior Cup
RUGBY:Presentation Bray became the Leinster Schools (Section B) Fr Godfrey Junior Cup champions at Donnybrook yesterday with a 20-6 victory over High School. Pres got the perfect start when number eight Cormac O'Donoghue powered off the back of a scrum for a try in the fifth minute and never looked back. Diarmuid Masterson converted.
PRES BRAY: D Masterson; D Henderson (T Devlin 38), J Keating, J Curran, D Cassidy; L Maloney, J Treanor (O Hennessy 60); A Stapleton (capt), L Barrett, C Pearse (M Ward 68), C Gleeson, J Hayes (P McClancy 68), O Moran, L O’Flynn-Martin, C O’Donoghue.
HIGH SCHOOL: P McCarthy; B Gregory, A Campbell, E O’Sullivan, D Holder; D Kilroy, P Prendergast; R Beverland, T Harding, M McCann, S Smith, R Keogh, J Hackett, G Power (capt), D Kiernan (I Lim 68).
Referee: N Brannigan, Leinster Branch.
Muller names Ireland squad
HOCKEY:Gene Muller has named his 18-player squad for next month's World Cup Qualifier in Chile, with Santiago now confirmed as the host city for the tournament by the International Hockey Federation after the recent earthquake in the country had cast doubts over its ability to stage the event, writes Mary Hannigan.
Catholic Institute’s Eimear Cregan once again captains the squad.
Top seeds Australia are the firm favourites to take the one qualifying spot from the tournament, with the hosts, Ireland, Scotland, Malaysia and Ukraine completing the line-up.
IRELAND (squad): N Symmons, L Colvin, L Healy, N Small (all Loreto), A O’Flynn, J O’Halloran (both UCC), S McCay, A Speers (both Dragons, Belgium), E Clarke (Leicester), B Cleland (Ballymoney), E Cregan (Catholic Institute, capt), R Flinn (Old Alexandra), M Frazer (University of Maryland), M Goode (Bray), M Harvey (Pegasus), L Jacob (UCD), C Sargent (Cork Harlequins), E Smyth (Railway Union).
Roche sprints in eighth in Spain
CYCLING:Nicolas Roche followed up ninth place on Monday's prologue time trial by sprinting in eighth on yesterday's second day of the Volta a Catalunya in Spain, writes Shane Stokes.
British rider Mark Cavendish (HTC Columbia) was first to the line in Banyoles, showing that he is back on track after disappointment in Milan-San Remo.
He beat Juan José Haedo
(Team Saxo Bank), Aitor Galdos (Euskaltel – Euskadi) plus the rest of the peloton to take his first win of the season.
Roche remains ninth in the general classification, six seconds behind prologue winner Paul Voss (Team Milram). Fellow Irishman Philip Deignan also finished in the main bunch.
The ProTour event continues today with a 185.9 kilometre stage from La Vall d’En Bas to La Seu d’Urgell.
