Sunday Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 94

12 SPORT BACK PAGE SPORT THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 1 MAY 1994 Rugby League Leeds stage second-half comeback to test the holders in classic final but fail to prevent seventh successive triumph Offiah blazes victory trail Wigan sweep to record Cup win WIGAN Michael Crossley reporting Wembley Stadium SII 11 MM I I 1 WIGAN'S glorious reign goes on There was a moment in the second half of this classic Silk Cut Challenge Cup final at Wembley when it seemed that the latest pretenders to the crown Wigan have now carried for an unparalleled seven seasons might just usurp them But this did not account for the great reserves of strength and character of this peerless team and their most potent weapon the spectacular speed and finishing power of their winger Martin Offiah His two memorable tries one in each half deservedly earned him the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match He is only the third player to earn this distinction twice It was a match in which the incidents came thick and fast right from the start Harvey Howard gave away an needless penalty from the kick-off by challenging Gary Connolly from an off-side position FINAL TEAMS LEEDS: Alan Tait Jim Fallon Kevin Iro Craig Innes Francis Cummins: Graham Holroyd Garry Schofield Neil Harmon James Lowes Harvey Howard Richie Eyres Gary Mercer Ellery Hanley Substitutions: Mike O'Neill for Harmon 63: Marcus Vassilaka-poulos for Hanley 70 WIGAN: Gary Connolly Va'aiga Tuigamala Dean Bell Barrie-Jon Mather Martin Offiah Frano Botica Shaun Edwards Kelvin Skerrett Martin Dermott Andy Platt Denis Betts Andrew Farrell Phil Clarke Substitutions: Mick Cassidy for Farrell 52 Sam Panapa for Platt 61 Farrell for Betts 78 Ref: David Campbell (Widnes) SCORES: 0-4 Offiah try 0-8 Farrell try 0-10 Botica con 0-12 Botica penalty 2-12 Holroyd penalty 6-12 Fallon try 10-12 Schofield try 10-14 Botica penalty 10-18 Offiah try 10-20 Botica con 10-24 Panapa try 10-26 Botica con 14-26 Cummins try 16-26 Holroyd con from Off to a flyer Martin Offiah splits the Leeds defence dramatic recovery Holroyd Mather in trying to clear his before sprinting virtually the length of the Wembley pitch to score remarkable opening try Mike King 'Source: TWISTS1 roared down the middle and Botica's lightning pass and Phil Clarke and Denis Betts were both pulled out for fouls the loose forward for a high tackle on Neil Harmon and the latter for use of an elbow on Ellery Hanley It was tit for tat as both sides made good breaks and line was the first to escape in the 11th minute when Harmon managed to slip out a lovely ball from the tackle to Richie Eyres Garry Schofield pushed his way over but could not ground the ball Wigan took the ball from the resulting 10-yard scrum and from this unpromising position in the shadow of their posts stemmed one of the greatest tries ever seen at Wembley Offiah received the ball and leapt past the advancing cover to be in the clear in a twinkling with only Alan Tait between him and the Leeds line The full-back signalled as if he had the situation under control but then as Offiah accelerated realisation dawned that he certainly did not The winger sped serenely past for a touchdown at the corner which brought the house down It was a stunning blow but more disasters were to befall Tait a quarter of an hour later Shaun Edwards hoisted a towering up-and-under from near half-way Tait rose to take it but to his horror the ball bounced off his chest into the hands of the lurking Andrew Farrell who had the formality of trotting the 20 yards to the open line Frano Botica added the simple goal and later an equally easy penalty after Lowes had strayed off-side and Wigan were 12-0 ahead a lead they managed to defend until the interval despite a couple of alarms from a superb run by Tait and then the forward Gary Mercer The start of the second half was the signal for On the pitch union is slowly evolving into league Line-outs rucks and mauls the essential distinguishing features of union are no longer so important Men who have burst through brick walls carrying four of the enemy round their necks are the heroes of both codes Why else would Wigan shell out a reported £400000 for Tuigamala? Very few forwards have made the grade and it is easy to see why The union hitmen would struggle to make as big an impact as these Wigan and Leeds juggernauts The identikit forward is about 6ft tall 3ft wide impervious to pain and with the ability to accelerate from nought to 60 mph in a blink of an eye Kelvin Sker- First fatality in 12 finally sent substitute Sam Panapa over as the ball sped along the line Botica converted both tries and at 26-10 it was all over Leeds at least had some consolation in the final try by their teenage winger Francis Cummins who celebrated the honour of being the youngest Wembley finalist by swooping on a loose ball close to his own line and speeding over 80 yards to the posts with Bell in vain pursuit Holroyd added the goal line lost the ball on the 25 and Fallon whipped it out to the eager Schofield who was too strong for Offiah as he thrust himself at the corner Holroyd could not convert either try from so far out but Leeds at 10-12 were at last in with a chance Wigan though were not going to give up their crown lightly Botica kicked a penalty and then it was the moment for Offiah to strike again Substitute Mike Cassidy Brute force coupled with a moment of magic broke the ice with a penalty his 100th goal of the season after Farrell had fouled James Lowes Then in the 48th minute came the big breakthrough Schofield lofted an up-and-under which Connolly failed to take and the ball went loose for Lowes to hurl it out to Jim Fallon and the former Bath rugby union winger beat the full-back in a thrilling dash for the corner Three minutes later Leeds were over again Barrie-Jon Paul Ackford finds the unfulfilling spectacle rett and Andy Platt fit the bill completely Time and again Platt or Skerrett rattled on to a pop pass and into a gang of defenders The collisions were seismic Players were not so much tackled as mugged The first offender stopped the runner and a split-second later someone else tried to knock his head off The brutality is part of the attraction but it was not all mindless thuggery The highlight of the entire match had nothing to do with brute force Right in the middle of pinnacle to the professional code a rather but decides it was still an excellent day out enough variety The nonstop war of attrition does not hold your attention forever It is like watching a video nasty compelling for 30 minutes or so but ultimately a turn-off After you get used to the colossal commitment and courage of the players there is nothing else on offer Yet rugby union cannot afford to be complacent They are clearly second best when it comes to handling skills and levels of fitness and the professional marketing boys are in a different league Before the match there was Bonnie Tyler dancing girls and a few choruses of Land of Hope and Glory It was entertainment all the way The Challenge Cup final is some dav out years casts a long shadow over this San Marino Grand Prix served the winger near halfway His speed swept him into the clear Schofield seeing the futility of the chase gave up almost immediately but Fallon shadowed him without being able to make any impression before Offiah soared over once more It was Va'aiga Tuigamala having won the ball from Tait close to the Leeds line who set up the position for the next try which took Wigan beyond recall and body in perfect unison and it was worth the entrance money all on its own The other star of the show was Shaun Edwards The little man is dwarfed by his team-mates but they danced to his tune Endless waves of decoy runners tried to drag defenders out of position while Edwards flitted about the pitch scheming for an opening He set the tone of the attack with his pass Sometimes he called a player close asking him to take a flat pass and batter forward The medical and rescue crews arrived as soon as the car stopped Ratzenberger who was lifted on to a stretcher received immediate heart massage and taken to the circuit medical centre and then by helicopter to hospital arriving at 207pm local time His death was confirmed eight minutes later The qualifying session was red-flagged and did not re-start for 48 minutes When it did the Rothmans Williams -Renault Mild Seven Benetton-Ford and Broker Sauber-Mercedes teams pulled out action is out of respect for said the Benetton managing director Flavio Briatore care if I have one place less on the grid Life is more Ratzenberger was a close friend of Benetton drivers Michael Schumacher the championship leader and Lehto the Finn for whom race is his debut with the team after recovering from two damaged vertebrae in a testing crash at Silverstone Neither wished to drive again and nor did Ayrton Senna who will start from Ronald Atkin on the elite standing enjoyed by English amateur golf FI world left shaken by death ONCE upon a time you knew where you stood Rugby union: posh accents public school champagne and smoked salmon in the car park sport as recreation League: working class pigeon fanciers a pie and a pint in the pub money-driven Now the differences are less clearly defined Maybe it was something to do with the warm sunshine but on the road to Wembley yesterday there was not a flat cap or whippet in sight Plenty of beer bellies and broken noses but there will be a few of those at Twickenham next week At least the sponsors still cling to the old images Cut-glass Pilkington chip in for union Silk Cut cough-up for league Motor racing ROLAND Ratzenberger one of the most popular drivers in Formula One died at Imola after crashing during an attempt to qualify for only his second Grand Prix with the new MTV Sim-tek-Ford team The 31-year-old Austrian was a close friend of many of his fellow-competitors Nothing would have pleased him his family or friends more than to have qualified for this San Marino Grand Prix And nothing could be a more sickening blow to them or his team He rose to the top the hard way and his death in the anaesthesia and resuscitation unit at Maggiore Hospital 58 minutes after his crash on the Autodromo Enzo Dino Ferrari came as a savage shock to a sport in which death contrary to popular opinion is a rare visitor though it is accepted as the ultimate risk Ratzenberger tall and humorous had only arrived in Formula One this season after a journeyman career through the lower formulae including years of competition with Damon Hill and five years in Japan where Eddie Irvine established his reputation They were both along with every other person in the paddock deeply shocked Indeed tears ran freely as the second serious accident in 24 hours on one of fastest circuits claimed a life at a Grand Occasionally he threw' the ball to a colleague standing 10 metres behind him so the player could choose his own angle of run The options were endless If his hands were good his feet were better Edwards has exquisite touch He rolled his kicks towards the touchline or into the dead-ball area forcing defenders to turn giving his chasers a fighting chance of getting to the ball There are no hiding places in league no chance of taking a breather on the edge of a maul or when waiting for a line-out to form yet the spectacle is curiously unfulfilling Despite the deft touches of Edwards and the grace and pace of Offiah there is not the record 65th pole position of his career with Schumacher alongside The Brazilian at his own wish was taken in a course car to the scene of the crash before withdrawing Of the major teams only Ferrari and Marlboro McLaren Peugeot continued was the first time that I have found myself shaking after an admitted Berger was sitting in the car I watched it on the monitor and when they started to get him out of the car I could see that it was going to be very bad went out from the car I felt sick Then the difficult situation was coming to say if I was going to drive or not I said to myself: you want to race tomorrow or are you not going to I said I was going to race- But it was very TODAYS 1 A Senna (Brazil Williams Renault) 1m 21548s (avge speed 2224 kph) 2 Schumacher (Germany Benetton Ford) 1-21885 3 Berger (Austria Ferrari) 1-22113 4 Hill (GB Williams Renault) 1-22168 5 JJ Lehto (Finland Benetton Ford) 1-22717: 6 Larini (Italy Ferrari) 1-22841 7 H-H Frentzen (Germany Sauber Mercedes) 1-23119 8 Hakkinen (Finland McLaren Peugeot) 1-23140 9 Ka-tayama (Japan Tyrrell Yamaha) 1-23322 10 Karl Wendlinger (Austria Sauber Mercedes) 1-23347 11 Morbidelli (Italy Footwork Ford) 1-23663 12 Blundell (GB Tyrrell Yamaha) 1-23703 13 Martin Brundle (GB McLaren Peugeot) 1-23858 14 Martini (Italy Minardi Ford) 1-24078 15 Alboreto (Italy Minardi Ford) 1-24276 16 Fittipaldi (Brazil Footwork Ford) 1-24472 17 Bernard (France Ligier Renault) 1-24678: 18 Comas (France Larrousse Ford) 1-24852 19 Panis (France Ligier Renault) 1-24996: 20 Herbert (GB Lotus Mugen Honda) 1-25114 21 A De Cesaris (Italy Jordan Hart) 1-25234 22 Lamy (Portugal Lotus Mugen Honda) 1-25295 23 Beretta (Monaco Larrousse Ford) 1-25991: 24 Brabham (Australia Simtek Ford) 1-26817: 25 Bertrand Gachot (France Pacific llmor) 1-27143 26 Belmondo (France Pacific llmor) 1-27881 the softening up period when thevbig men were knocking lumps out of each other Martin Offiah collected a ball eight metres from his own goal-line He crabbed right on a spec-ulative sortie drifted through a slight gap and then found himself in acres of space with only Alan Tait the Leeds full-back to beat Tait is no slouch but it was no contest Offiah slowed to a lope fixed the full-back and then blasted past It was one of special moments A man in his element mind on a day of tragedy at Imola around Villeneuve curve Instead it ploughed head on sliding slightly to the right into the wall It then careered for fully 200 metres before finally coming to a halt the left side ripped away from the monocoque A gaping hole in the monocoque confirmed how serious this accident had been FACT FILE FI DEATHS IN THE LAST 40 YEARS 1954: Onofre Marimon (Argentina Maserati) in practice at German GP 1958: Peter Collins (GB Ferrari) at German GP Luigi Musso (Italy Ferrari) at French GP Stuart Lewis-Evans (GB Vanwall) at Moroccan GP I960: Chris Bristow (GB Cooper) at Belgian GP Alan Stacey (GB) at Belgian GP 1961: Wolfgang Von Trips (Germany Ferrari) at Italian GP 1964: Care I Godin De Beaufort (Holland Porsche) in practice at Italian GP 1966: John Taylor (GB Brabham) at German GP 1967: Lorenzo Ban-dini (Italy Ferrari) died after crashing at Monte Carlo 1968: Joseph Schlesser (France Honda) at French GP 1969: Gerhard Mitter (Germany) in practice at German GP 1970: Piers Courage (GB De Tomaso) at Dutch GP Joe hen Rindt (Austria Lotus) in practice at Italian GP 1973: Francois Cevert (France Tyrrel) in practice at American GP Roger Williamson (GB March) in Dutch GP 1974: Helmut Koinigg (Austria Surtess) at American GP 1975: Mark Donohue (US March-Penske) in practice for Austrian GP 1977: Tom Pryce (GB Shadow) in African GP 1978: Ronnie Peterson (Sweden Lotus) died after crashing at Italian GP 1982: Ricardo Paletti (Italy Osella) at Canadian GP Gilles Villeneuve (Canada Ferrari) in practice for Belgian GP 1994: Roland Ratzenberger (Austria Simtek-Ford) in practice for San Marino GP Andy Farrell dives over for second try THIS WEEK WEXT WEE bailer Someone like George Best Or even Eric Cantona ELITIST is a word which is positively embraced by a new golf venture called The Player Club (after Gary Player) The South African golfing legend and an ebullient American hotelier called George Brown IV have combined to start what is surely the most exclusive set-up of its kind in the sport For the outlay of a mere £25000 one-off membership and an annual fee fo £1700 members of The Player Club get to stay free and play free at all the participating courses The plan is to have 20 of the finest golf clubs in the scheme by the end of this year each offering 20 suites or cottages to the sort of chap who can cheerfully plonk down all that cash and still raise a smile when he shanks his tee shot on the first WE MAY be only marginally better than duff at international cricket and football but when it comes to amateur golf internationals against France by heck the English are supreme The French are standing by at Nimes this week for their biennial hammering Of 15 matches played England have won 14 The fixture was started in 1934 but when it got to 1962 and they had won only once the French called it a day As the quality of French golf began to look up they resurrected the challenge in 1982 but have again lost all of the contests pretty according to captain Peter McEvoy who reckons his line-up gets stronger every year because of fierce competition for places are only two guys in the team who have he said rest are fulltime golfers Even the two who have jobs play a lot There is a circuit of several hundred full-time amateur golfers usually supported by parents or in France has been traditionally quite said McEvoy though they have built a lot of new courses they are mostly at the championship end What they need are some cheap and cheerful courses to attract the young guy who is a talented foot- Prix race meeting for the first time in 12 years Not since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix when Ricardo Paletti was killed at the start when his Osella rammed headlong into Di-dier stalled Ferrari has a Formula One race meeting seen a fatality Elio de Angelis who died at the Paul Ricard circuit in France in 1986 was testing with Brabham when his car hurtled out of control This fatal accident however will doubtless revive claims that motor racing is a hugely dangerous sport amid speculation that the revised technical regulations introduced in 1994 have deprived the cars of the levels of stability they had last year But this terrible accident was not due to errors or oversights in safety measures nor was it the result of the removal of traction control or active suspension from the cars It was simply an accident which appeared to be caused by the loss of all or part of the front wing of car as he accelerated at about 185 mph from Tamburello towards the Tosa hairpin Timothy Codings reports Jean Alesi the Frenchman who is recovering from damaged vertebrae was a spectator at Tosa and is understood to have told journalists that he saw the front wing fly off If so it accounts for what followed car out of control without the down-force provided by the wing should have veered left Roland Ratzenberger killed in first Fl season.