Super League side Celtic Crusaders are in talks with a potential investor that may see the club up stakes and move to Wrexham FC’s Racecourse Ground in north Wales. Currently Crusaders play their home games at the Brewery Field in Brigend.

While the club had planned to move to Newport’s Rodney Parade, but as of yet there are no confirmed fixtures for that location. The only home game with a confirmed venue is the opening game against champions Leeds Rhinos, and that is to be played in Wrexham.

Currently the club are in talks with several new financiers, including an interested party in North Wales, and it is hoped that a decision regarding the club’s future will be made within the next two weeks. The Rugby Football League is keen to see a conclusion to the proceedings, as are club staff and supporters, who will be wanting to buy season tickets. 

With the 2010 campaign starting in 8 weeks time, it is clear that Crusaders need to be decisive, as the upheaval could have undesirable consequences on the pitch. This would follow hot on the tail of Crusaders losing some key players due to deportation.

A decision on moving to North Wales could also impact on the Crusaders status as a Super League team. They were granted a license until 2011, mainly because they were situated in South Wales, but Wrexham’s ground is less than 40 miles from Widnes, a team who missed out on a Super League license late time.

Suffice to say that interesting times lie ahead for the Celtic Crusaders!

In the wake of the World Cup draw in South Africa, Paddy Power have released their odds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Skybet have also gotten in on the action, offering a money back guarantee on all outright winner bets should England lift the Trophy. It’s a win/win situation for all, bet on Brazil and should England win outright, Skybet will return your Brazil stake!

Paddy Power Odds

World Cup Winner
4/1        Spain (from 9/2)
9/2        Brazil
11/2      England (from 6/1)
9/1        Argentina (from 10/1)
12/1      Italy (from 14/1)
12/1      France (from 16/1)
14/1      Germany (from 12/1)
14/1      Holland
25/1      Portugal (from 18/1)
25/1      Ivory Coast
40/1      Paraguay
50/1      Chile
50/1      Mexico
66/1      Serbia
66/1      USA
75/1      Ghana
80/1      South Africa
80/1      Denmark
80/1      Uruguay
100/1    Nigeria
100/1    Cameroon
125/1    Australia
125/1    Greece
175/1    Switzerland
175/1    Slovenia
200/1    Japan
200/1    Slovakia
250/1    South Korea
400/1    Honduras
500/1    Algeria
750/1    New Zealand
1000/1  North Korea

England Betting
•    England 11/2 to win the World Cup
•    England 2/5 to win Group C
•    England 11/8 to win all their Group C matches
•    Last 16 shortest price at 11/4 for England stage of elimination
•    England 8/15 to defeat USA
•    Beckham 14/1 to score v USA

England Group C Betting
2/5        England
10/3      USA
15/2      Slovenia
16/1      Algeria

England Stage of Elimination
6/1        Group Stage
11/4      Last 16
4/1        Quarter Final
3/1        Semis
6/1        Runner-up
11/2      Winners

England Match Betting

England v USA
8/15      England
13/5      Draw
11/2      USA

England v Slovenia
1/3        England
10/3      Draw
9/1        Slovenia

England v Algeria
1/4        England
4/1        Draw
11/1      Algeria

Get Betting NOW!

Following the Autumn internationals and the woefully inept displays by most of the northern hemisphere teams against the Tri Nation teams, Paddy Power bookmakers have released some tantalising bets for the upcoming Six Nations Championship.

They have also included a cheeky bet on who will start at fly half for Ireland’s first game. Personally I think it will be O’ Gara, but Jonathan Sexton is the man of the moment in Ireland.

Which fly half will start the 1st 6 Nations game?        
 1/3     Sexton    
 2/1     O’Gara    

Six Nations Championship
13/8   France
5/2     Ireland (3/1)
10/3   Wales
4/1     England
20/1   Scotland
250/1 Italy

Grand Slam
4/6    No Grand Slam
4/1    France
6/1    Ireland
9/1    Wales
10/1  England
80/1  Scotland
1000/1    Italy

Triple Crown
7/4    Ireland
7/4    No Triple Crown
7/2    England
5/1    Wales
25/1  Scotland

Bet now with Paddy Power!

Betinternet.com are the title sponsor at the ‘Tingle Creek’ meeting to be held at Sandown Park racecourse on Friday 4
and Saturday 5 December 2009. Four races on each day will carry the betinternet.com brand, including ‘The Best Odds Guaranteed at betinternet.com

Handicap Hurdle’, a listed race over 2 miles and ½ furlong and the second running of ‘The betinternet.com
London National Steeple Chase’, a handicap over 3 miles and 5½ furlongs. Three of the races on Saturday will be shown live on Channel 4 in the UK, with all eight races being shown live on the Racing UK channel.

Ireland 15 (6)

Pens: Sexton (5)

South Africa     10 (10)

Tries: Burger     Conversions: Steyn       Drop-Goals: Steyn

The Irish got things underway at Croke Park against World Champions South Africa. The Springboks scored the only try of the game in a largely uneventful game where the visibility was the main talking point. South Africa led 10 – 6 at the interval, but a rejuvenated Ireland came out in the second half determined to counter the South Africans. Sexton scored five out of seven kicks, continuing his impressive form from last week to ensure Ireland finished the year unbeaten.

Scotland           6 (6)

Pens: Goodman (2)

Argentina          9 (0)

Pens: Rodriguez (2)      Drop-Goals: Rodriguez                        

Argentina ended Scotland’s 100% record under coach Andy Robinson, extending their unbeaten record at Murrayfield to 19 years. The Scots went into this game on the back of a great win against Australia and confidence flowed in a Scotland dominated first half. Their dominance didn’t transfer to points as they took a six point advantage into the half time break. Argentina had levelled by the 59^th minute and completed the win with a drop goal in the 77^th minute to leave the Scottish disappointed.

Wales               12 (12)

Pens: Halfpenny, S Jones (3)

Australia           33 (23)

Tries: Ioane, Horwill, Pocock, Polota-Nau        Cons: Giteau (2)           Pens: Giteau (3)

The Wallabies, sporting some dodgy moustaches, finished their northern Hemisphere tour win a crushing win against Wales. While the Welsh enjoyed some good possession at times, their attack was too slow and cumbersome to really threaten Australia. Quick ball from the breakdowns and a strong scrum allowed the Aussies to dominate their opponents, who have to go back to the drawing board before their next game; a six nations encounter with England.

Irish bookmakers Paddy Power are returning an astonishing €250,000 worth of bets following the ‘le hand of frog’ incident in Ireland’s playoff with France.

After Ireland were cheated out of a place in the 2010 World Cup Finals thanks to a blatant hand ball in the Irish box by French football thief Thierry Henry, Ireland’s biggest bookie Paddy Power are refunding over €110,000 to punters who backed Ireland to qualify for next years Finals.

Paddy Power are refunding a further €140,000 on the game after they pledged to refund all losing first/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast bets placed on the match if Ireland won the game in 90-minutes.

Paddy Power said, “Luck of the Irish me arse!  Not only did FIFA change the rules to protect the big teams, but then we drew France and that dirty little thief Henry cheats us out of a place in the World Cup. After all that we’re only too happy to put our hand in our pocket and hopefully ease some of the pain for our patriotic punters”

On top of that, they’re also offering a range of novelty bets to commemorate the moment, and here they are:

Thierry Henry Specials
8/11      To admit in his autobiography that the handball was intentional 8/11
80/1      Henry to be sent off for deliberate handball at the World Cup
125/1    Henry to score with his hand at the World Cup
500/1    Henry to score direct with his hand against England in the World Cup
100/1    Henry to miss the World Cup with a broken hand
7/2        Henry to say sorry to the Irish people
40/1      Henry to personally apologies to Taoiseach in Dublin
300/1    Henry to buy an NBA franchise
200/1    Henry signs for a Gaelic football team
2000/1  Henry to be GAA Gaelic football player of the year
2000/1  Henry to be GAA handball player of the year
2000/1  Thierry & Diego to form a professional handball team
100/1    Henry to sign as a hand model for Nivea hand cream

Other Specials
250/1    French to be knocked out by a hand ball at the World Cup
5/1        TV referee to be implemented for World Cup Finals
33/1      Match to be replayed
28/1      Michel Platini to publicly praise Henry
100/1    French world cup song to be a re-make of Ottawan’s “Hands up, Baby Hands Up”
80/1      McDonalds to rename French Fries as Freedom Fries in Ireland
25/1      Irish to boycott Gillette

7/4        Ireland to beat France in the Six Nations rugby

Will Trapattoni manage Ireland’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign?
2/9        Yes
3/1        No

                                            Fancy a flutter?

On Saturday night Manny Pacquiao created Boxing history by becoming the first man to win seven world titles at seven different weight catagories. In front of an expecting Las Vegas crowd, the Filipino fought an amazing fight to stop Miguel Cotto in the twelfth round.

The 30 year old put Cotto down in the third and fourth rounds, with his speed and movement too much for his opponent to handle. Cotto went into the fight believing that with his superior strength he would have too much power for his lighter opponent. This proved to be his undoing as Pacquiao reigned punch after punch down upon him, until referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight 55 seconds into the last round.

A cut, bloody, swollen faced Cotto spent some time in hospital after the fight, but not before he paid tribute to Pacquaio’s speed and ability, who many now regard as the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

A money-spinning bout with Floyd Mayweather may now be in the pipeline as both camps discuss how to make this mouth-watering clash happen

England   16 – 46   Australia

England 16 (10)

Tries: Burgess (2), Fox   Goals: Sinfield (2)

Australia 46 (14)

Tries: Morris (2), Inglis, Slater (3), Smith, Hayne  

Goals: Thurston (7)

The stage was set at Elland Road for England to upset the odds and topple Australia in the final of the Four Nations competition. While England went into the game on the back of some impressive displays, Australia proved that England still have some work to do to reach the level needed to win this competition.

England took an early lead through Burgess, but Australia soon equalisied, before Fox put England ahead once more. It was Australia who led at half time however, and one would have thought that England would come out in the second half with all guns blazing.

It started out that way as Burgess touched down for his second try, which Sinfield duly converted to give the English a 16-14 led. As before, Australia responded with another try to once more restore their lead. As the hour mark approached Australia started to turn the screw and put England to the sword. The rampant Aussies scored six tries in the last 27 minutes to leave the English scratching their heads and wondering how exactly they can beat their antipodean rivals.

England   16 – 9   Argentina

England (9) 16

Tries: Banahan   Conv: Wilkinson  

Pens: Wilkinson (2)   Drop Goals: Wilkinson

Argentina (9) 9

Pens: Rodriguez (3) 

Following on from last week’s loss to Australia, England needed a 69th minute Banahan try to overcome a dogged Argentina display. While it was not the performance that Martin Johnson was hoping for, it was England’s first win of the Autumn series.

In an error strewn, sloppy display, England showed little invention and could be considered lucky to have won the game against a team ranked two places above them in the world rankings. Were it not for the trusty boot of Jonny Wilkinson, England could have found themselves with two consectutive defeats on their hands.

The 78,743 fans who found themselves in miserable, wet November conditions must surely have wished that they stayed at home as it was clear from the off that both teams were intent on kicking away possession. Gone is the England of old, where quick ball-to-hand reigned supreme. Argentina faired little better in that aspect. As things stand, New Zealand must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of facing England at Twickenham next week.

If todays performance is anything to go by, England are facing a massive uphill task in trying to contain the All Blacks and Martin Johnson will be facing an uphill task in holding on to his job as England manager.

Despite a strong second half fightback, which included three tries, England suffered defeat at the hands of Australia. A miserable first half by England saw Australia cruise into a 26 point lead at halftime. Tries by Lockyer, Inglis, Morris and two by Slater helped to give the Kangaroos their well deserved lead at the break.

Although England fought valiantly in the second have, it was not enough to undo the damage caused by a disastrous first half performance. Burgess, Ellis and Smith crossed for three tries for England, while Sinfield and Smith scored a conversion each.

France 12 – New Zealand 62 

Meanwhile, an injury hit France suffered a truly miserable defeat to World Champions New Zealand. Sam Perrett scored a hat-trick as New Zealand racked up 62 points to France’s 12. Hohaia and Waerea-Hargreaves added a brace each, along with tries from Marshall, Nuuausala and Sau. Goodwin completed the rout with nine kicked goals. Sebastien Martins and James Wynne scored France’s tries and Thomas Bosc kicked two goals.

England meet New Zealand next Saturday at Huddersfield in what promises to be a cracking contest with both teams still going strong in this years Four Nations Tournament