By David Beniuk
April 12th 2008 @ 4:00am
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O’Neill confident north is softening on ELVs
Australian rugby supremo John O’Neill believes northern hemisphere opposition to rugby’s experimental laws is softening despite criticism in the English press claiming they threaten the game’s identity.
Rugby’s controversial experimental law variations (ELVs) – being partially trialed in the Super 14 competition – are back on the agenda at the International Rugby Board’s May 1 meeting.
The [...]
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![The spate of Twenty20 internationals has got me thinking about the upcoming World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. Well, more accurately, it has got me thinking about who to have a bet on, because frankly, that’s all the tournament is good for.
I’m sure it will provide something of a spectacle and it’ll be a [...] Alec Swann: Black Caps to win World Twenty20 tournament](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/new-zealand-cricket-th.jpg)
![To catch the atmosphere before the opening ball of the 2009 Ashes series, I turned to the Fox Sports coverage. The studio team of Mark Waugh and Damien Fleming were incisive and fluent.
Waugh made the point that he didn’t rate Nathan Hauritiz as a spinner, but as he was in the squad, he had [...] Spiro Zavos: The best way to watch The Ashes is on radio](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/best-way-watch-ashes-simon-kaitch-th.jpg)
![While globalistation is now considered an antiquated and accepted concept of the twentieth century, it seems its effects are hitting the biggest domestic sporting leagues.
With the NBA and NFL having staged sell out matches in London, and the EPL floating the 39th game idea, sport is set to face one its biggest shake ups. [...] Adrian Musolino: Why sports should never abandon their heartland](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/never-abandon-heartland-barrichello-th.jpg)
![Those in positions of power at AFL House are criticised heavily when they do something wrong, so it is only fair we acknowledge them when they do something right. Finally, the league is going to come down on a group of players no one likes – the stagers.
This season will see players fined for faking, [...] Luke D'Anello: AFL to finally rid the game of stagers](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/is-mandatory-helmet-th.jpg)
![It has now been confirmed that Michael Clarke left the tour of New Zealand to return home and comfort his fiancée, Lara Bingle, who is involved in the nude photo scandal engulfing the press. But the question must be asked: was this an appropriate decision from a player earmarked as the next Test captain?
Yes, Bingle [...] Adrian Musolino: Clarke shows why he is anything but captain material](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/michael-clarke-th.jpg)
![Bear with me here, readers, for I’m about to break one of Sheek’s golden rules of citizen sports writing on The Roar: I’m broaching the topic of politics. And by “politics”, I mean “ridiculously stupid political decisions.”
Last week, ACT Sports Minister Andrew Barr declared that Canberra might withdraw its support for a united Australian World [...] Brett McKay: ACT Government shoots itself in the foot](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ACT-government-shoots-viduka-th.jpg)
![It’s an issue that never seems to be far away, and never fails to polarise public opinion. Our country’s multicultural past has played a huge part in the state of football in Australia today, and players claiming different nationalities through ancestry has been a direct by-product.
But while it has allowed Australian players to more readily [...] Paddy Higgs: Dual nationality can be a double-edged sword](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dual-nationality-vince-grella-th.jpg)
![Finally, the real stuff is next up. The NAB Cup undoubtedly provides important preparation for AFL teams and allows the chance for the game to reach community centres, but it deprives us of a better and fairer season.
Without a NAB Cup, and with the expansion of the season on the horizon as the competition expands [...] Adrian Musolino: Get rid of NAB Cup, and give us a longer, fairer draw](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/barry-hall-bulldogs-th.jpg)
![Last week, Cricket Australia issued a brief statement confirming that the chairman of the selection panel for Australia’s national cricket teams, Andrew Hilditch, has been re-appointed for two more years.
This means that Hilditch will preside over the selection policies and processes involved in trying to regain the Ashes in 2010/2011 after a series this year [...] Spiro Zavos: Two more years for chairman Hilditch? Amazing!](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Two-more-years-for-Hilditch.jpg)
![After almost 20,000 fans packed out Christchurch’s AMI Stadium for last weekend’s Wellington-Adelaide clash, many pundits have been asking whether the South Island’s largest city should be a site for future A-League expansion.
Last Saturday’s brilliant crowd turn-out definitely suggests there is an appetite for football in Christchurch, and with a population of just under 400,000 [...] Ben Somerford: Can NZ accommodate a second A-League team?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/wellington-phoenix-tim-brown-th.jpg)
![Pohang’s 6-0 thrashing of Newcastle Jets last week may have ended Australian interest in the Asian Champions League, but the competition itself rumbles on towards the final.
All the talk this week has surrounded Luiz Felipe Scolari’s sensational decision to sign on as coach at Uzbek club Bunyodkor, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed elsewhere that [...] Mike Tuckerman: Asian Champions League battling for respect](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/asian-champions-league-masato-yamakazi-th.jpg)



