Ryan Jones, the Wales captain, has called the next fortnight "crunch time" in the Ospreys' bid to become the first Welsh winners of the Heineken Cup.
A victory away at Clermont Auvergne today, followed by another against the English champions Leicester at the Liberty Stadium next week would guarantee the Ospreys a home quarter-final in Europe's top club competition.
A run of five successive wins, plus a little bit of local knowledge from Jerry Collins, the former All Blacks loose-forward who arrived in Swansea this year following a spell in France, has filled the squad with confidence ahead of their trip across the English Channel.
Jones said: "We've worked hard to put ourselves in a good position after four rounds of the tournament, but this is where the hard work really starts.
"If we don't hit the right performance levels in the final two fixtures this month, then the results we secured in October and December won't count for anything.
"We go out to Clermont, knowing that we have to be professional out there and do our job properly to ensure that we bring something back with us. If we can do that, it will then set up the Leicester game to be something special."
Saracens' European Challenge Cup credentials were bolstered by victory over Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon side at Vicarage Road on Thursday night.
The Hertfordshire club are also riding high in the English Premiership. According their director of rugby, Brendan Venter, their transformation this term has been brought about by the fine form of the oft-maligned England captain, Steve Borthwick, the Saracens lock.
He said: "We are a good rugby side because of Steve Borthwick. Steve is everything I want in a captain. If you want a Courtney Lawes [the Northampton Saints lock who could displace Borthwick in the England side for the Six Nations] running with the ball, dummying, catching and passing that is something different.Every single game Steve is either the top contributor or second - and from a lock, it is amazing.
"In our last game against Leicester he made nine more contributions than anybody in the team and he only played 70 minutes. I texted him and said 'Amazing'."
@Email:pradley@thenational.ae
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US Industrial Market figures, Q1 2017
Vacancy Rate 5.4%
Markets With Positive Absorption 85.7 per cent
New Supply 55 million sq ft
New Supply to Inventory 0.4 per cent
Under Construction 198.2 million sq ft
(Source: Colliers)
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
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Specs
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ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Pickford (Everton), Pope (Burnley), Henderson (Manchester United)
Defenders Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Chilwell (Chelsea), Coady (Wolves), Dier (Tottenham), Gomez (Liverpool), James (Chelsea), Keane (Everton), Maguire (Manchester United), Maitland-Niles (Arsenal), Mings (Aston Villa), Saka (Arsenal), Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Foden (Manchester City), Henderson (Liverpool), Grealish (Aston Villa), Mount (Chelsea), Rice (West Ham), Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Winks (Tottenham)
Forwards: Abraham (Chelsea), Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Kane (Tottenham), Rashford (Manchester United), Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Sterling (Manchester City)
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Votes
Total votes: 1.8 million
Ashraf Ghani: 923,592 votes
Abdullah Abdullah: 720,841 votes
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
