News about Simon Shaw

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: For many, many years, I had the same picture as my laptop monitorsaver. Andy Nicol and his fellow Scotland players were celebrating beating my then England side to win the Calcutta Cup in 2000. That loss in the Murrayfield rain was the worst moment of my coaching career. Why did I subject myself to seeing it every day? It reminded me not to get too excited. The pictures of Nicol and his jolly coworkers brought back so many painful memories from that weekend. It reminded me that with the smooth, you must deal with the rough. My England team was certainly on the wrong end of things that day, after pre-match gamesmanship, when we fell short of what would have been a Grand Slam in the first Six Nations. I think about it all the time. But in a positive way.

After Eurostar cancelled all of its flights connecting Britain and mainland Europe due to floods, the revellers are owed almost £700 for last-minute one-way flights to Paris. Around 30,000 angry passengers were stranded in London, jeopardizing their New Year's Eve plans as they scrambled to make alternative plans, such as flying to Paris. Many people are planning to ring in 2024 with a romantic night in Paris, watch fireworks from the ski slope, or enjoy a family vacation to Disneyland, with others left in tears at St Pancras International.

The day has been postponed, and Eurostar has cancelled all of its services. Many that wanted to ring in the New Year with loved ones in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands have seen their festive plans put into jeopardy, leaving many people stranded in London in tears. The disruption began last night after water filled tunnels at Ebbsfleet International in Kent, causing chaos on all high-speed railways south of the Thames. Any passengers vowed to try and book flights to try and save their end-of-year plans, but they were faced with soaring fares that were apparently increasing by the minute. Among the crowded crowd of tourists returning home were Dutch and French travelers, but some were unable to grasp the options available to them as they were only offered in English and French.

COMMENT: The shock is seismic. The landscape of English rugby has been drastically changed at a stroke. Wasps are no longer available. Gone. The sport's marquee name has been misspelled. And so much in this season of turbulence and upheaval, it's difficult to comprehend. As the struggling but beloved club went into administration last fall under a mountain of debt, there were soon encouraging signs of a forthcoming revival. Saviours have appeared, or at least it seemed. However, those who wanted to resuscitate Wasps were unable to find a way to do so. They've been looking for a solution for months and months, but the numbers don't add up.