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…

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 Swallow dives were superseded by donkey-work.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…

Sometimes life imitates comedy. Earlier this week I was at a showing of the new BBC sitcom "Twenty Twelve" - the first episode of which is about the unveiling of a London 2012 icon.

Then last night I was at St Pancras Station where London's first giant Olympic rings were being unveiled by Boris Johnson and Seb Coe.

One of the gags in the sitcom is about the launch of 2012's countdown clock; and, sure enough, we can expect the real countdown clock to make an appearance…

When UK Sport conducted its annual review of sports it funds last December, only one summer Olympic sport received a cut in funding: badminton.

The departure of the team's head coach in acrimonious circumstances followed a summer dogged by in-fighting between top British players. At the Commonwealth Games, with many…

Abu Dhabi

I've just flirted with Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic (not sure she noticed), quizzed actor Morgan Freeman on the rules of rugby (he hasn't a clue) and watched actor Kevin Spacey do a surprisingly funny version of Black Eyed…

It is a simple fact that most careers in sport end in failure. Losing your place in the team, a defeat in a final or an unsuccessful attempt to recover from injury, even the greatest of champions rarely get out when the going's still good.

Lance Armstrong was one who did, though. In keeping with his remarkable comeback from cancer, he defied the usual script to leave the stage unbowed when he retired after his…

Open up Microsoft Word...

The focus now is on England. Scotland haven't won away at Twickenham since 1983, which is the year that seat-belt use became mandatory in the UK, the first mobile phones were put to market by Motorola, and Microsoft Word was first released.

I played in the game, had my first McDonald's the following (hung-over) morning, and I've wanted this particular away record put to bed ever since.

Could Scotland beat England this year, 28 years…

These continue to be boom times for football.

Fifa's latest financial figures for the four years to the end of 2010 show the organisation earned more than $4bn. That's an increase of 59% over the previous four year stretch which included the World Cup in Germany.

Its broadcast rights and marketing which are leading the boom of course, and Fifa is riding the wave…

The Manchester City defender Kolo Toure faces a ban of up to two years following his suspension from playing yesterday after testing positive for a banned substance. Here are the key questions facing the 29-year-old defender.

Q: Is there ever an excuse for failing a drugs test?

The principle of strict…

Sydney, New South Wales

Well well. England, in a fashion that few of their supporters would have dared believe, retained the Ashes with a stunning 3-1 series win. Australia, in a way that their fans found increasingly awful to watch, suffered their worst Ashes defeat in just over 25 years.

Who deserves the plaudits, and who the brickbats? I'll start the debate, and then you pile…

I don't think anyone expected the decision on the future of the Olympic Stadium to be quite so noisy and divisive.

The main point of this post is to give you a chance to express your views here - which you can do at greater leisure now the decision has been postponed - on whether it's West Ham or Spurs taking over the site in Stratford. But first, on the day we heard about the delay, some quick thoughts from me on what the brouhaha…

You can't etch your name into Olympic history if you haven't earned the right to compete and 2011 is the year where qualification hots up, which makes it an electrifying year in which to be watching the action.

In sports where the British have recently excelled, like cycling, rowing, swimming and athletics, the field is so packed with potential that only the best performances in the world will stand out.

There is, however, a…

Go on then, what is your favourite Five/Six Nations memory? And, deep down, do the results matter?

Glasgow resembles foggy London as depicted in an old Sherlock Holmes film, but the mornings are slightly brighter, and the evenings too, and it can mean but one thing: it's just over a week until the start of the Six Nations.

If you are like me then this will make you smile more than impending spring, daffodils,…

Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are preparing to deliver into the hands of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC)the final details of their rival offers to take over the Olympic stadium after 2012.

Much of what the two Premier League clubs are proposing has been kept confidential, including the potentially pivotal details of the financial dividend for the public purse should they be chosen as…

British athletics officials were due to present a bid to the IAAF, the world…

West Ham could still finance a move into the 2012 Olympic Stadium if the club were relegated from the Premier League.

I understand that the east London club, who are struggling at the bottom of the table, has told the Olympic Park Legacy…