Given that they have precious little money to lose, and that Woodward had indicated his intention of leaving England’s most senior operators at home, they decided to press ahead with the Pac-Lions venture.Baron described the situation as “a monumental mess”, yet it might be considerably less messy if the IRB simply ordered the islanders to fulfil their obligations. The board has been quick enough to fine the RFU over perceived misdemeanours, none of which was remotely as serious as scrapping tour agreements in favour of galloping around the southern hemisphere playing unsanctioned matches in pursuit of a fast buck.With England restricted to dates between 22 June and 6 July, the chance of fitting in two Tests against the Pumas in Argentina are rated no higher than 50-50: the South Americans have a match in South Africa and a home Test with France already scheduled for that period. Baron said he might consider a one-off Test with the All Blacks in New Zealand, but the last time Woodward took a second-string side to that neck of the woods, England leaked 104 points in 160 minutes of rugby.Meanwhile, the 50 per cent of the Premiership embroiled in an increasingly neurotic scrap against relegation are unlikely to have their nerves soothed by any early decision on Rotherham’s promotion credentials. Independent auditors will visit the National League One leaders next week to check whether Premiership criteria on ground facilities and staffing arrangements have been satisfied.Rotherham are currently discussing a possible ground-share with the local football club, who play at Millmoor. Any deal signed by Sunday’s deadline would allow the rugby club to play there as tenants and virtually guarantee them a Premiership place. However, a second deadline of the end of April is also available to the Yorkshiremen, although they would then require primacy of tenure at their chosen venue..

It seems an age since Pete Sampras turned up at the black-tie Wimbledon Champions’ dinner wearing a blazer over his tennis outfit, having rushed to the Savoy from the All England Club after defeating Pat Rafter in a rain-delayed men’s singles final It was July 2000 Sampras has not lifted a trophy since. Sampras has not lifted a trophy since.
The 30-year-old American has nothing to prove. No man in the history of the sport has won as many Grand Slam singles titles – 13 – or has ended the year as the world No 1 six times in a row. And his seven Wimbledon singles championships are testimony to the expertise and elegance of his serve-volley style, a dying art.On Monday night, however, after a defeat by Fernandez Gonzalez, a Chilean qualifier, 7-6, 6-1, in the third round of the Nasdaq-100 Open, had extended his run of tournaments without a victory to 24, Sampras dropped a hint that his career may be winding down.”The years I was No 1,” Sampras said, “I was probably a little bit too consumed with the sport It is hard to say how really happy I was I was happy winning tournaments. I have lost enough hair over the years with all the worries and all the stress that I put on myself.”Sampras seemed pleased that the diversion of the United States’ Davis Cup quarter-final against Spain in Houston next week at least gives him an opportunity to play on a grass court for the first time in America.

“It is nice to play on grass in the States, so people can see how I do it,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t embarrass myself.”Jan-Michael Gambill, a 24-year-old American who believes his best days are ahead of him, would also like to show what he can do on the Houston grass. But Patrick McEnroe, the United States captain, has not selected him. “Patrick obviously feels there are better players than me to play this tie,” Gambill said.Gambill’s mood was not improved when he lost a thrilling third-round match against Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian world No 1, on Monday night, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. “It was a shitty way to end the match,” Gambill said, having been broken to love in the concluding game “The match was high-quality from both of us I felt I had the advantage the whole time. I felt I had the ability to win the points, whereas he was struggling a little bit. But he played two good points to get me down 0-30 in the last game.” That is what Hewitt does.The fifth seed Tim Henman overcame a stiff neck and out-smarted the Spaniard, Felix Mantilla, 7-5, 6-4, in the third round.