Paris, France
If spring was in the Parisian air this weekend, there was also a bounce in British steps as the squad returned to colder climes on the other side of La Manche.
Fourth place on the medal table at the European Indoors and a final tally of two golds, five silvers and a bronze represents the country's best return on foreign soil in these championships in 22 years. Ordinarily, this would be the cause of unrestrained celebration.
But these are not ordinary times. With the London Olympics just 16 months away, there is a heightened intensity and scrutiny to everything British sporting squads do or don't achieve.
Are the country's athletes on track? Who might step up or struggle when the summer sun and outdoor season replaces cold nights and claustrophobic indoor action? How much can really be read into the results here at the Palais Omnisports?
Read the rest of this entry
Twickenham
After the flair, the fight.
If the thrashing of Italy a fortnight ago was a party full of Ash Splash and dash, England's tight, tense win over France was something very different - a brutal, relentless shift on the shop floor.
Hard graft replaced soft hands. Swallow dives were superseded by donkey-work. If anything, the effect was more impressive.
Read the rest of this entry
When we analyse the improvement of rugby teams, there are plenty of incontrovertible statistics to explain and underline performances - basics, like tries scored and scrums won; percentages, of possession and tackles made and missed; tallies, of errors, offloads and line-breaks.
Most of the time they come together to form an equation that clearly explains victories and defeats. Most of the time, but not always.
Team sports can't always be reduced to mathematics or columns on a spreadsheet. Whilst England's stats give every indication of the side's progression over the past 12 months (they have already scored almost as many points from their two games so far this year as they managed in all five Six Nations matches in 2010, and almost double the number of tries) there may be other, less easily quantified forces at work.
Read the rest of this entry
I'm Tom Fordyce and I cover cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics and - well, most sports except monkey-tennis.
© MMXI