Weekly Round-up (30/01/12)

This weekend saw the fourth round of the FA Cup take place. Naturally there was the odd upset, with League 2 leaders Crawley knocking out Championship side Hull being the most notable. Crawley have now reached the fifth round of the cup for the past two seasons, which is a remarkable achievement for a team so far down the league pyramid. Newcastle United, still missing their talisman Demba Ba, succumbed to a 1-0 away to Brighton in a game they controlled. They wasted several good chances before Will Buckley's 76th minute shot struck Magpie defender Mike Williamson to take it past Tim Krul. However, the biggest result for me in the cup has to be Liverpool's win. What a week for them! Who would have thought that after playing so appallingly at Bolton last week that Liverpool would have knocked out both Manchester sides from the domestic cups in the space of 3 days? The draw for the fifth round of the cup is intriguing as there is only one potential all-Premier League tie, and that relies on Sunderland beating Middlesbrough with the winner hosting Arsenal. Both Crawley and Stevenage have glamour ties against Stoke and Tottenham respectively, ties which will probably be shown on television netting more cash for the two lower league clubs. Some would say the draw has given the remaning top flight teams an easy chance of making the next round, but I am certain there will be one or two shocks.

Elsewhere in sport, Novak Djokovic won his third Australian Open crown to consolidate his position as World No. 1. Many have labelled this Nole's best ever victory as he only had 48 hours to recover from a marathon match with Andy Murray before playing Rafa Nadal in the final. The combined length of both games was 10 hrs 43m, so no wonder The Djoker looked bleary eyed during a press event earlier today.

Looking ahead to this week, the Six Nations starts. England will be looking for some form of redemption under interim coach Stuart Lancaster following the debacle that was their World Cup campaign. However, I for one doubt whether they will find that redemption during this tournament. They are a team in transition, who do not have a permanent coach and are likely to be led by someone who has yet to make it to double figures in international caps. They play Scotland first up, who are also looking to bounce back following a World Cup where they failed to qualify for the knock-out stages for the first time. France and Italy play in the tournaments opening game, and it will be interesting to see how each team copes under a new management. France have bought in former Sale director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre, who should return the gallic flair to the squad which often went missing under Marc Lievremont. Italy have replaced the successful Nick Mallet with former Perpignan coach Jacques Brunel, who helped the Catalans realise their potential by winning the Top 14 in 2009. Maybe he can help Italy do the same. Sunday's game is, for me, a title decider. It may only be the first round, but I can't look past Wales or Ireland to win the tournament. Both are coming of the back of good World Cups and have not had any internal struggles to worry about. Ireland played well in the groups but had an average game against Wales, and the Dragons should have made the final. In my opinion, I think Brian O'Driscoll's injury for Ireland is more a help than a hindrance as it allows the Emerald Isle to find and groom his successor now rather than after he retires.

Finally, the Super Bowl takes place this Sunday with the New York Giants facing the New England Patriots in a repeat of the 2008 final. I can see the Giants winning just as they did 4 years ago because of the run they have been on to get to the grand event. Yes the Patriots may have not lost since week 9, coincidentally against the Giants, but they had qualification for the play-offs tied up a long time ago, meaning they may have lost some focus. They also had the week off when the Giants played in the Wild Cards. Some may see this as handy, allowing the team to recuperate, but many see it as a disadvantage as teams often lose momentum by not playing in the first week of the playoffs. Whatever the outcome, I'm sure we are in for another classic Super Bowl.