ICON IN THE MAKING

50 SPORT MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2015
RUGBY UNION
McCaw shelves
retirement talk
to avoid frenzy
ROSS MCLEAN
NEW Zealand captain Richie McCaw
insists he is determined to prevent talk
of his retirement from overshadowing
the All Blacks’ bid to to become the
first nation in history to defend their
Rugby World Cup crown.
The 34-year-old flanker, who has
made 142 appearances for his country,
was given an emotional send off last
month as New Zealand beat Australia
41-13 in Auckland – a match billed as
his last home international.
“I haven’t made a final decision yet
although I’ve given a reasonably strong
hint,” said McCaw.
“Whether I play much more past this
year is pretty debatable, but the reason
I haven’t made any announcement is I
really wanted to play this year, and this
tournament, like you would any other
year, as if you were going to play on.
“With the door still being open, that
decision is going to be made later. I
want to make sure that when I turn up
for training, I train to be better than I
was the week before.”
McCaw captained New Zealand to victory
at the 2011 World Cup and his side
start the forthcoming tournament,
which gets underway on Friday when
England play Fiji at Twickenham, as
favourites.
“That type of expectation is what has
driven the All Blacks to keep training
hard and to give their best,” added
McCaw, who is set to lead New Zealand
in their opening fixture against Argentina
at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
“It can be rough at times but that is
just part of being an All Black. I’d hate
for that to change. That’s what you
want. You want to go out and win
every game. You want to do everything
right so that you can give yourself a
chance.”
GREAT NORTH RUN
Olympic champion Farah posted the fastest half-marathon time by a British athlete
Farah sets sights on Great North
Run hat-trick after retaining title
ROSS MCLEAN
BRITAIN’S Mo Farah immediately targeted
sealing a third Great North Run
title after seeing off Kenya’s Stanley
Biwott in a thrilling finish to retain
his north-east crown yesterday.
Double Olympic and world champion
Farah’s time of 59 minutes and
43 seconds was the fastest halfmarathon
time ever posted by a
British athlete, while the 32-year-old is
only the second Briton after Mike
McLeod to win the race twice.
“I want to come back and see if I can
do a hat-trick,” said Farah, who produced
a trademark sprint finish to
take the lead in the final 400m.
Kenya’s Mary Keitany won the
women’s race in 1:07.32, three-and-ahalf
minutes ahead of British runnerup
Gemma Steel, while six-time
Paralympic gold medallist David Weir
was victorious in the men’s wheelchair
race for a record-equalling sixth
time. Fellow Briton Shelley Woods
claimed her seventh wheelchair title
in the women’s event.
IN BRIEF
CITYAM.COM
CAVENDISH A DOUBT FOR
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
£ CYCLING: Britain’s Mark
Cavendish is a doubt for the UCI
Road World Championships later
this month as a result of the
shoulder injury which forced his
withdrawal from the Tour of Britain
on Friday, according to Great
Britain coach Rod Ellingworth.
Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen
won the Tour of Britain yesterday,
despite Team Sky’s Elia Viviani
sprinting to victory on stage eight
in central London. Italy’s Fabio Aru,
meanwhile, was crowned Vuelta a
Espana champion.
OWEN-TRAINED BROWN
PANTHER PUT DOWN
£ HORSE RACING: Former
England footballer Michael Owen’s
classic-winning horse Brown
Panther was put down yesterday.
The seven-year old was pulled up
by jockey Richard Kingscote during
the Irish St Leger at The Curragh.
“The toughest, most honest, most
brilliant horse I will ever set eyes on
passed away today doing the thing
he loved most,” said Owen. “It’s the
saddest day of my life.”
SLATTERY BOGEY HANDS
PIETERS KLM OPEN TITLE
£ GOLF: Belgium’s Thomas
Pieters claimed a second
successive European Tour title by
winning the KLM Open in Holland
yesterday after England’s Lee
Slattery bogeyed the final hole.
Russian Open winner Slattery tied
for second after failing to force a
play-off and match Pieters’s 19-
under-par score.