The Week in Review

ENGLAND'S triumph last weekend over a team of players from some South Pacific islands went down well with the rugby union fraternity so the sports news was not all black. The 15-9 defeat of New Zealand was a fine way to christen the vast improvements to Twickenham, but there were gripes about the game as a spectacle. Hardly the point.

Wimbledon fans were not likely to complain about quality when their side beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Those clubs met again at Anfield on Wednesday. The match ended in an honourable draw, with honour perhaps more important than the result for the Londoners who have spent another week under the microscope as the aftermath of John Fashanu's damaging collision with Tottenham's Gary Mabbutt rumbled on.

Peter Swales finally had enough of such scrutiny and resigned as Manchester City chairman after 20 years in control. The last straw, he said, was fans bothering his 87- year-old mother in a nursing home.

One person who is unlikely to avoid having his family dragged in at every opportunity is Ronnie O'Sullivan, who on Sunday became the youngest winner of snooker's UK Championship. At least fanatics will have a job getting to his father's bedside, in Gartree high security prison.