NO STONE: The Redmen will miss the services of flyer Ben Stone due to representative commitments. Debrah Novak
JUST because the Grafton Redmen are short on cattle does not mean Casino will have an easy Beef Week match today.
The Redmen travel north in search of their third win of the season, against a team that is yet to post a solitary victory.
That statistic has not lulled coach Don Darke into a false sense of security, however, saying his team expected a tough match.
“We have a few high-profile losses with Ben Robinson and Ben Stone unavailable,” Darke said.
“There aren’t too many other changes to the team we had against Byron Bay last week.
“The basis of the squad is still there, though, so I’m not expecting us to play too differently.”
Stone’s absence comes about due to his selection in the Australian Emergency Services team to tour Hong Kong.
Speaking from Coffs Harbour airport yesterday, he said it could be up to a month before he gets to don the blood and bandages of the Redmen again.
“There’s a few byes after I get back so it could be a while,” the outside back said.
“I’ve got three games over in Hong Kong, which should keep me occupied. There’s been a bit of a build-up with this trip so I’m keen.”
While the loss of two valuable strike weapons could unsettle most coaches, Darke said he was unfazed by the change.
Reporter: “What do you gain from Adam Crawley replacing Ben Stone?”
Darke: “His shiny forehead for one.”
Darke was more concerned about his players sticking to the game plan, and continuing to build on their increasingly better performances.
“It’s only a matter of time before they put in a full 80minutes,” Darke said.
“For the last weeks we’ve been in the game until the final few minutes when a few calls went against us.
“It has been a slow process but their performances are getting better with every week.”
Young half Josh Wrigley finds himself starting at scrumhalf again, after a solid performance against Byron Bay last week.
“Josh is someone we’ll be looking to a lot more over the rest of the season,” Darke said.
“He filled Barney’s (Paul Graham) shoes while he’s been injured and has done a very good job of it.”
The match will also mark Benjamin Thomas’s final game for the Redmen before heading home to the US, where it’s believed he wants to open a meat pie shop.
Grafton Redmen
1. Luke Deleiuen 2. Sean Austin 3. Beau Brotherson 4. Benjamin Thomas 5. Beau Deleiuen 6. Jacob Page 7. Tony Baldwin 8. Tom Tanner 9. Josh Wrigley10. Paul Cameron 11. Riley Durrington 12. Scott Lloyd 13. Jake Macrae 14. Adam Crawley 15. Kyle Hancock
Quins say Robshaw failed a late fitness test. He has not played since suffering an ankle injury during the league victory over Worcester three weeks ago. England skipper Robshaw was arguably the highest-profile omission from a 37-man British and Irish Lions squad announced 10 days ago to tour Hong Kong and Australia this summer.
“I can’t think any person could have done more,” Quins rugby director Conor O’Shea said, reflecting on Robshaw’s Lions heartache. “I think he has been very hard done-by.”
He added: “Maybe sometimes you pay for being under the microscope, whereas some players can fly under the radar in non-event games.
“I told him selection is opinion. I think it’s very easy to focus on what people can’t do or what people do better, rather than focus on what they can do. All I see is a player who has captained England in adversity and to a record win against the All Blacks. He was magnificent in the autumn internationals. He won two out of four man-of-the match awards.”
Despite finishing third in the league and missing out on play-off home advantage, title holders Quins will arrive at Welford Road following three successive wins against Leicester, including last season’s Premiership final when they triumphed 30-23 and Robshaw scored a try.
Leicester, though, boast an imperious play-off record and they are bidding to book a ninth successive Premiership final appearance. They have won their last 12 semi-finals in all competitions.
“We’ve played a lot of rugby in a long season, but now it is just about getting the detail right and bringing your best game to the occasion,” Tigers rugby director Richard Cockerill said. “We’ve been in good form and had some good momentum in the run-in, and we need to maintain that high level against a very good Quins side.”
Saracens host Northampton in Sunday’s play-off action, with Saracens unbeaten on six previous appearances as their new Allianz Park home. Saints, meanwhile, have featured in five previous Premiership semi-finals, but lost the lot.
“Under Jim Mallinder and Dorian West, Northampton have been a very consistent side in recent seasons,” Saracens rugby director Mark McCall said. “Like us, they have regularly made the semi-finals of this competition and we have met many times along the way, both in league and knockout rugby. Both teams know each other well, but both teams also have players who can turn a match in an instant from any part of the pitch and in any position.”
JAMIE ROBERTS has warned the British and Irish Lions they will face the hostility of a nation when they travel to Australia for the “ultimate challenge”.
A clash with the Barbarians in Hong Kong opens the tour on June 1 before the 37-man squad heads Down Under for the remaining nine fixtures that will climax in a three-Test series against the Wallabies.
Roberts, one of four centres selected by head coach Warren Gatland, insists the Lions must be prepared for an environment made unsettling by hosts who are desperate to win.
“In a foreign country like Australia it can be quite intimidating. It will be a daunting atmosphere,” the 26-year-old said.
“The sporting prowess of Australia means that whenever it comes to the big occasion they always raise their game.
“Whether it’s union, league, cricket or athletics, they pride themselves enormously on sport.
“They will raise their game against the Lions and the whole country will go berserk. That’s when it becomes intimidating.
“There’s 37 players, plus staff, against a nation. It’s back to the walls stuff from minute one, like it is on every Lions tour. It’s the ultimate challenge in rugby.”
Roberts was voted player of the series in South Africa four years ago in a tour that was notable for the unity within the squad. The 2009 Lions were deemed a success, even if the Springboks did prevail 2-1.
That experience has taught Roberts the value of players from the four unions buying into the Lions ethos immediately, stressing the role socialising can have in bringing rivals from the RBS 6 Nations together.
“A Lions tour is very unique. There are lots of players you’ve played against in your career but never with,” he said.
“The aim of the tour is to get to know those guys, bond and be singing from the same hymn sheet on the pitch as quickly as possible.
“A team-bonding session over a few beers is pretty important in my eyes. In rugby you always like to share a beer with the other guys.
“Picking good people is also important, guys who will contribute and get on well with each other. I went in 2009 and it’s the best tour I’ve ever been on. Hopefully this series will top that.”
Roberts will be competing with Brian O’Driscoll, Jonathan Davies and Manu Tuilagi for a place in the Lions’ Test team when the series opens in Brisbane on June 22.
“Brian is the epitome of the modern centre. His skill set is superb. To go on a fourth Lions tour is special,” Roberts said.
“Jon and Manu have been the form centres in the UK this season. They’re very destructive runners.
“If you get the ball in their hands and in space they can be very dangerous runners. Manu’s quite a specimen and a hard man to stop in his tracks. He’s very strong.
“If we can get him running full tilt into gaps, he’s a pretty special attacking weapon.”
In 2009 Roberts, who has agreed to join Racing Metro for next season, forged a blockbusting partnership with O’Driscoll.
“You get that exposure together, you play a couple of games together and it goes well and all of a sudden you’re in the Test team. It happens very quickly,” he said.
LEIGH HALFPENNY could be excused if he felt in a hurry to make up for lost time on next month’s British and Irish Lions tour.
Wales star Halfpenny will arrive in Hong Kong, and then move on to Australia, as one of European rugby’s hottest properties.
The Cardiff Blues full-back was named Six Nations player of the tournament this season after performing starring roles throughout a campaign that ended with Wales landing a fourth title in nine years.
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He was a model of consistency, both with his goalkicking and general play, and would unquestionably have been among the first names inked into a 37-man squad by Lions head coach Warren Gatland.
It will be 24-year-old Halfpenny’s second Lions tour, but he can only hope for better fortune than on the previous one in South Africa.
Selected for the 2009 mission to Springbok country, Halfpenny was allowed to join it late while he continued his recovery from a thigh problem.
But after one appearance – against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein – an injury recurrence ended his tour before it had barely started.
“It was hugely disappointing,” said Halfpenny, after reporting for Lions duty this week.
“I was part of a Lions squad and having the time of my life playing with a hugely-talented group, and I was gutted to be leaving.
“I was 20 years of age away with the Lions, and I would have stayed on that training pitch every hour of the day, but I learnt that I should listen to my body.
“I am a lot more experienced now, and I think the more chances I’ve had to play the more I’ve learnt and had time to work on areas I have wanted to be better at.
“For me, it is just about working hard every single day and making the most out of every time I step on the training pitch.
“What is hugely important as a Lions squad is to get things right off the pitch to make sure we are successful on the pitch. It is about getting to know each other and all coming together as one.”
Halfpenny is currently on familiar territory, preparing with his Lions colleagues at Wales’ Vale of Glamorgan training base.
And if any of the Lions squad need reminding of how tough an opponent Australia will be, then Halfpenny can oblige, having lost four out of four against them during the past 11 months.
Wales lost a Test series 3-0 Down Under last summer, albeit by a combined total of 11 points, then the Wallabies triumphed at the Millennium Stadium earlier this season, scoring their winning try while Halfpenny was receiving medical attention for a neck injury that required an overnight hospital stay.
“Obviously, we were hugely disappointed to come away with a 3-0 series loss,” he added.
“There is probably frustration there, but we also have to take confidence from it.
“Now, it is about making sure we cross that finish line and being able to win the games.
“It is a very fast game down there, very intense. We found in the summer that the intensity is really high, and it just felt like it was end to end rugby.”
While most pundits believe Halfpenny is nailed-on for the Lions’ Test number 15 shirt, he is fully aware of the challenge posed by fellow tourists Rob Kearney and Stuart Hogg.
Ireland full-back Kearney was a consistent high-class operator during the 2009 Tests in South Africa, while Scottish prospect Hogg proved arguably the discovery of this season’s Six Nations.
“I would wear the number one jersey if it meant I could play for the Lions,” Halfpenny said.
“The competition for the 15 jersey is huge – Stuart Hogg and Rob Kearney are both fantastic players.
“Competition brings the best out of players, and that can only be good for us as players and for the Lions.
“With regards to the wing, I’ve played out there and I am happy to play there. I have said before I would rather play 15, but if I am required to do a job for the Lions on the wing I would be more than happy to do that.”
<!–enpproperty 2013-05-02 05:01:26.0Zhang KunKunqu Opera’s great survivorKunqu Opera’s great survivor1161357Life2@cndy/enpproperty–>
Yue Meiti (top), 72, plays a young male role in a Kunqu Opera performance. Provided to China Daily
At age 72, Yue Meiti still takes to the stage to perform young male roles in an art form she has studied since she was a teenager. Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.
At first glance Yue Meiti seems to be an ordinary middle-aged woman. She looks much younger than her 72 years, and people who meet her in the streets of Shanghai may simply address her as “auntie Yue”.
But when she takes to the stage Yue becomes ancient China’s version of Prince Charming: A young scholar in love with a nun who is exhilarated to discover she feels the same way about him; or a poor oil vendor using his life savings to meet a courtesan he loves and finally winning her love.
Yue is China’s number one female performer of xiaosheng in Kunqu Opera. Xiaosheng refers to young male roles in the traditional theatrical art. She has won many awards over the decades, including China’s top prize for traditional opera art, and has toured extensively at home and abroad.
On April 14, Gu Haohao, director of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, told a gathering at the Ruyizhai club of Shanghai Institute of Language and Culture that Madame Yue is a national treasure. Yue illustrated, through singing and acting, the styles and aesthetics of Kunqu Opera.
Kunqu is the most graceful folk opera in China, with a history that stretches back 600 years. It was traditionally performed by an all-male cast, and the actors who played beautiful women were so admired and pursued from the late 1800s, that the opera was often mired in scandal. After 1949, China’s new cultural administration demanded that men perform male roles and female roles be played by women, in order to “eradicate the corrupt social customs and change the twisted aesthetics in the entertainment scene”.
Yue studied Kunqu in the early 1950s. It was by accident that the school’s president and maestro Kunqu artist Yu Zhenfei (1902-93) discovered Yue was suited to playing young male roles.
Yue was 16, and at first she didn’t like the idea of playing male roles. Maestro Yu praised her talent and advantages and told inspiring stories of successful women opera singers. Finally he promised to “take full responsibility” for her transfer to male roles.
Yue’s voice is mellower than most male singers’, and deeper and broader than most women’s, making her naturally suited to singing young men’s roles.
“Her acting is characterized by elegance and a scholarly touch, which makes her roles more convincing and vivid,” says Gu, the director.
“I observe closely and think hard about acting,” Yue says of performing male roles. Men have natural masculinity to their advantage, but might not have the fine craftsmanship she has acquired through years of practice.
As the middle child of five, Yue chose to study Kunqu because the school provided free lodging and meals. It was the early 1950s and public middle schools only took a small number of students. “I enjoyed singing but didn’t know anything about opera,” Yue recalls. “I took the audition to try my luck.”
She was lucky, but the training was hard. Every day after dinner, Yue and her classmates would lean one leg on a tree to practice doing the splits for hours. “A classmate used to sleep at night with one leg tied to her head,” she says.
Teachers at the school were China’s best Kunqu artists, and they taught from decades of stage experience, Yue recalls. She says it is a pity that today’s students no longer have such outstanding teachers. “Good actors love the stage and audiences love them there,” she says, “but is there a way for actors to share more with young students?”
Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe was dismissed during the “cultural revolution” (1966-76). For four years Yue worked in a factory as a quality inspector of syringes. Opera singers spend years training their eye movements, but the factory work badly damaged her eyesight.
The dark cloud did have a silver lining. It was during her time in the factory that she got to know an engineer and fell in love. They later married and still live happily together. Their only daughter now lives in the United States, but shares her mother’s passionate love for Kunqu.
When the Chinese economy started to open to the world, the cultural sectors were temporarily left behind. Nobody paid any attention to Kunqu or other traditional arts. Some of the most outstanding singers, such as Shaoxing Opera artist Zhao Zhigang, turned to business, opening restaurants and clothing factories.
“We were lonely and confused for a long time. We could not see any opportunities or the road ahead,” Yue recalls.
Some brave young artists at the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe went out of their way to make their performances accessible. Zhang Jun, who joined the company in 1994, led a small team and performed in schools and shopping malls under a simple banner.
With all their efforts, together with the cultural administration’s recognition of the importance of creativity and traditional art, Kunqu Opera gradually won more public attention, especially from younger audiences.
Yue and her colleagues at Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe performed a series of successful concerts at Shanghai Oriental Art Center in March. They plan to tour Hong Kong in June.
Yue and her peers “experienced the golden age of Kunqu, as well as the hard times when there were fewer audience members sitting in the theater than actors on the stage”, wrote Pan Yu in Oriental Morning Post about the concerts.
“They are like giant pandas, a most rare and precious treasure of the nation. Now Kunqu art is gradually coming back into the limelight.”
Besides regular theater performances and tours, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe now gives frequent lectures and workshops helping new audiences to learn about the intangible cultural heritage of China, says Gu. The troupe has a fan club of almost 10,000 members in Shanghai.
Harlequins’ captain Chris Robshaw looks dejected. Photo: Tim Ireland/PA
Friday, May 10, 2013 2:02 PM
Nick Easter will lead Harlequins into the Aviva Premiership play-offs after captain Chris Robshaw was ruled out of tomorrow’s clash against Leicester at Welford Road.
The reigning champions say Robshaw failed a late fitness test. He has not played since suffering an ankle injury during the league victory over Worcester three weeks ago.
England skipper Robshaw was arguably the highest-profile omission from a 37-man British and Irish Lions squad announced 10 days ago to tour Hong Kong and Australia this summer.
Quins rugby director Conor O’Shea believes Robshaw has been “very hard done-by,” but he has lost an opportunity to show Lions head coach Warren Gatland what he might miss Down Under. Robshaw has already been rested for England’s two-Test Argentina tour next month.
“I can’t think any person could have done more,” O’Shea said, reflecting on Robshaw’s Lions heartache. “I think he has been very hard done-by.
“Maybe sometimes you pay for being under the microscope, whereas some players can fly under the radar in non-event games.
“I told him selection is opinion. I think it’s very easy to focus on what people can’t do or what people do better, rather than focus on what they can do.
“All I see is a player who has captained England in adversity and to a record win against the All Blacks. He was magnificent in the autumn internationals. He won two out of four man-of-the match awards.”
Quins, though, must now cope without him, with Luke Wallace and Maurie Fa’asavalu packing down in the back-row alongside number eight Easter.
Despite finishing third in the league and missing out on play-off home advantage, title holders Quins will arrive at Welford Road following three successive wins against Leicester, including last season’s Premiership final when they triumphed 30-23 and Robshaw scored a try.
Leicester, though, boast an imperious play-off record and they are bidding to book a ninth successive Premiership final appearance. They have won their last 12 semi-finals in all competitions.
Quins bounced back from their Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat to Munster last month by winning three successive league games, and O’Shea added: “Each week has been an improvement after Munster.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges this year as a group, and I am really proud of how we’ve faced them.
“We could have let the season drift after Munster, but each week we’ve seen the team become stronger and stronger, both mentally and in terms of desire. Sometimes you need something like Munster to happen.
“We are going to go up there and play. It’s effectively a final. There is no tomorrow.”
Full-back Mathew Tait and prop Dan Cole return to the Leicester line-up for Quins’ visit, with fly-half Toby Flood continuing as captain.
Harlequins line-up v Leicester: 15. Mike Brown, 14. Tom Williams, 13. George Lowe, 12. Tom Casson, 11. Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9. Danny Care; 1. Joe Marler, 2. Joe Gray, 3. James Johnston, 4. Olly Kohn, 5. George Robson, 6. Maurie Fa’asavalu, 7. Luke Wallace, 8. Nick Easter (C), 16. Rob Buchanan, 17. Mark Lambert, 18. Will Collier, 19. Charlie Matthews, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Karl Dickson, 22. Ben Botica, 23. Ross Chisholm
CNBLUE is the first Korean band to hold a world tour. With that said, they have sold out of both their concerts in Hong Kong.
Today, CNBLUE commented, “Our Hong Kong concert at the Asia world expo arena sold out in 5 minutes. Since there were so many fans that were not able to buy a ticket, we decided to add an additional date in Hong Kong.”
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With 2 sold out dates, they will be meeting with 14,000 fans for a 2 hour and 30 minute show. They plan to heat up the stadium with great music.
Earlier, they had performed in Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand and had successful performances. With their upcoming Hong Kong concert, they are excited to perform as they are both sold out concerts. They also held a press conference in Hong Kong with local media as well.
Their agency official stated, “CNBLUE has gained even more attention after their new song hit the number 1 spot on the U.S. Billboard World Albums chart. They will perform many songs from their new album including their title song, ‘I’m Sorry’.”
They will also sing their old hit songs as well for their fans in Hong Kong.
CNBLUE is a 4 member band that is under FNC Entertainment. They are popular in both Korea and Japan and is now slowly becoming well known around the world as well.
The group is skilled in producing songs and has all self-composed songs in their new album.
The group is also known as the ‘acting idols’ as all 4 members have played major and minor roles in popular dramas.
We will look forward to see what 2013 has in store for them.
Thammanoon’s title hopes were dented by bogeys on the 16th and 18th in a final round of one-over 73, while Lee signed off with a strong 69 for his best Asian Tour finish.
Trailing Thammanoon going into the 17th, Taiwan’s Lin hit his tee shot into the woods but he managed to punch the ball out and then sink his second birdie of the day.
Lin’s second shot on the 18th also found the trees but he somehow worked the ball onto the green from there and holed a 15-foot par putt for the win.
The manner of victory revived memories of Lin’s 2008 Hong Kong Open victory when he had to hit over the trees to stay alive in a playoff with Rory McIlroy.
“I felt like I was at the Hong Kong Open once again,” Lin said after winning the inaugural $300,000 Asian Tour event with an overall three-under 285 at Manila’s Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.
“I think lady luck was really on my side to let me win this tournament. I told myself to stay focused and not think about anything else,” said the 39-year-old, who had lost his Asian Tour card last season.
Five-times Asian Tour winner Thammanoon got an unlucky break on the final hole when he needed to hit his third shot onto the green from an awkward position.
“I was very unlucky because I hit quite a good second shot but it landed on the edge of the slightly elevated green,” said the Thai.
“My legs were inside the bunker but my ball was on the edge of the green. It wasn’t easy to chip it out,” rued the 43-year-old.
Korean Wang Jeung-hun (69) finished a stroke further back while Elmer Salvador (74) was the best placed Filipino in fifth at level-par 288.
British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has revealed that Jonny Wilkinson declined his invitation to tour Hong Kong and Australia, but refused to rule out his participation at a later date in the event of injury.
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Impressed by Wilkinson’s masterclass in Toulon’s Heineken Cup semi-final victory over Saracens, Gatland rang the 33-year-old former England fly-half yesterday to offer him a place in the squad.
While grateful to have received the call, Wilkinson responded that his club commitments in France and the deteriorating state of his fitness prevented him from accepting.
“I asked Jonny if he could tour and he said he wasn’t available. I wouldn’t have made the phone call if it wasn’t to offer him a place on the tour,” Gatland said.
“I told him that we wanted everyone on the tour to be on the plane to Hong Kong and he couldn’t make that commitment because he’s committed to Toulon.
“He appreciated the call, but he said he’s struggling with his body and managing himself week to week. I think physically he would struggle to do a tour.
“He was honest about himself and said ‘I’m hanging on with my fingernails here at the moment and I probably need another operation’.”
Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell of England are the recognised fly-halves among the 37, but an injury to one of them could result in Wilkinson joining the tour at a later date.
“We asked him about what happens if there is an injury later in the tour and he said ‘we can have that conversation later if that crops up’,” Gatland told Sky Sports News.
“Having someone potentially of that experience if we have an injury….he might be available.”
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