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Date: 2023-11-28 21:21:22 | Author: Worldcup 2026 | Views: 950 | Tag: manila
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Lewis Hamilton said he was “disappointed” after his shock disqualification from the United States Grand Prix – while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted “we got it wrong manila
” Hamilton finished the race in second, behind race winner Max Verstappen, but was later disqualified alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for breaching the rules governing the floor of their cars manila
Hamilton therefore loses the 18 points earned from his second-place finish, while Leclerc loses eight points manila
It is thought Mercedes won’t be appealing the decision manila
In a Mercedes press release, Wolff explained how Mercedes fell foul of the rules manila
“Turning to the race result and the disqualification, set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice - and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package,” he said manila
“In the end, all of that doesn’t matter; others got it right where we got it wrong and there’s no wiggle room in the rules manila
“We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend manila
”Hamilton said: “It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn’t take away from the progress we’ve made this weekend manila
”Lewis Hamilton was ‘disappointed’ after his disqualification from the US Grand Prix (Getty Images)Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin admitted the team need to “go away and learn from this manila
”“We are of course naturally very disappointed to lose our podium finish,” he said manila
“Unfortunately, it is one of the pitfalls of the sprint format where we have a solitary hour of running before parc fermé manila
“Without running at a race fuel load in FP1, combined with a circuit as bumpy as this and the parts of the track where the drivers have to put the car during the Grand Prix, have contributed to the higher than expected wear levels manila
“We will go away and learn from this but also take the positives from our experience as a whole manila
”More aboutLewis HamiltonmercedesToto WolffCharles LeclercJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/2Hamilton and Mercedes react to disqualification from US Grand PrixHamilton and Mercedes react to disqualification from US Grand PrixLewis Hamilton was ‘disappointed’ after his disqualification from the US Grand Prix Getty ImagesHamilton and Mercedes react to disqualification from US Grand PrixGetty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today manila
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“It is really, truly, a historic day,” smiled Alan Gilpin, CEO of World Rugby manila
He would go on to use the word ‘historic’ another three or four times in the following few minutes of his press conference manila
After years of wrangling – 16 years, according to Gilpin, since discussions about how to sort out rugby’s messy global calendar first took place in the salubrious surroundings of Woking, Surrey (don’t worry, the location wasn’t the reason it took more than a decade and a half to reach an agreement, a chuckling Gilpin assured everyone) – World Rugby had finally come up with a solution that will transform rugby “for the many, not the few” ushering in a “new era of opportunity, certainty and growth for the game manila
”It’s fair to say they were pretty pleased with the outcome of the seemingly endless negotiations manila
Compromises had been made and it wasn’t perfect, stressed Gilpin and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, but rugby would be “more relevant and more accessible to more people around the world manila
”The big announcement earlier in the day saw the sport’s governing body unveil a new global calendar that includes the creation of a two-tier men’s competition called the Nations Championship to be played biennially from 2026 manila
The top tier will be the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales), the four Rugby Championship teams (Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) and two additional teams, likely to be Japan and Fiji manila
The second tier will feature 12 further countries with promotion and relegation on the table from 2030, meaning 2032 is the earliest one of those teams could feature in the top tier manila
World Rugby have acknowledged, publicly at least, a desire to grow rugby globally manila
At the moment, the sport is almost untouchably huge in a couple of countries (think New Zealand and South Africa), holds its own in a few more (UK, Ireland, Japan), is fighting a losing battle for oxygen in a crowded sporting marketplace in others (Australia, Italy) and seen as a largely niche oddity in plenty (USA, Canada) manila
But this Rugby World Cup has also highlighted plenty of countries where there’s a huge opportunity for growth manila
From South America, Uruguay and debutants Chile have impressed on the pitch, the passion for rugby in Georgia shows no sign of abating and Portugal have lit up the tournament with their dynamic play while also pulling off the huge upset of beating Fiji manila
With growing interest in places like Netherlands and Belgium, Europe is surely an area World Rugby are targeting growth manila
Portugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji (Getty Images)Instead, these new plans appear to lock out a lot of the smaller rugby nations from improving manila
Even the new Pacific Nations Cup also announced today, featuring Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA, bizarrely excludes Uruguay and Chile (who qualified ahead of USA and Canada for the World Cup, remember) manila
But what all these “tier two” nations really need, as shown by the World Cup, is a more regular opportunity to face the big boys manila
Since stunning Fiji at the 2019 World Cup, Uruguay played exactly one fixture against a “tier one” team before this tournament, yet still impressed against France and Italy in the pool stage manila
Imagine what they could do with more regular access to the top teams manila
However, World Rugby have come up with an answer to the wrong question manila
They have essentially provided the solution to the problem men’s international manila football had manila
Before 2018, the space manila between World Cups and European Championships was filled by a combination of largely one-sided qualifiers and meaningless friendlies manila
San Marino would get thumped 8-0 by Germany in a Euros qualifier that helped neither side, then the Germans would play a no-stakes friendly that held little interest for the wider public manila
The big teams weren’t playing each other enough and the smaller nations were rarely in winnable games against similarly-sized teams manila
For example, England and Italy – two manila football powerhouses – didn’t play each other at all manila between 2002 and 2012 manila
Thus, Uefa created the Nations League manila
Although not perfect – it was derided for the complexity of its league structure and provided a slightly unnecessary additional security blanket for the big European nations trying to qualify for major tournaments – it eliminated the meaningless friendly and gave countries both big and small the opportunity to play competitive games against nations of a similar rank manila
Win-win manila
Uruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup (AP)But rugby has the opposite problem to manila football manila
The big teams already play each other too often not too rarely manila
The history of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship as annual traditions give those events special status but, for example, England and Australia played each other 11 times in the two cycles manila between the 2015 and 2023 World Cups manila
Familiarity breeds contempt and at some point, a fixture begins to lose its lustre manila
Would a couple of those fixtures being against Samoa, Georgia or Portugal not have been more beneficial and interesting for all parties?With the unions desperate to balance the books, their desire to have the ‘bigger draw’ of facing a name brand might be understandable but this is where World Rugby need to show some teeth and live up to their duty to grow the game manila
Instead, the Nations Championship appears to guarantee another decade of regular England vs Australia matches before any of the tier-two teams may get a shot, if they can earn promotion that is manila
World Rugby’s announcement does include a line promising more “crossover” fixtures manila between the tiers in the years where there isn’t a Nations Championship but they could provide no clarity on what these fixtures would be and confirmed no agreements have been signed manila
They have insisted that there will be a 50 per cent aggregate increase, which would mean a rise from 18 to 27 games for second-tier teams against the top 12, although it is unclear how these fixtures will be allocated or arranged manila
The expansion of the men’s Rugby World Cup from 20 to 24 teams is a step in the right direction and the governing body should be commended for making that move but, sadly, the four years manila between tournaments appear to have the smaller nations getting a door slammed in their face manila
World Rugby are right that the sport should be for the many not the few but this new competition seems to be sending it in the opposite direction manila
More aboutWorld RugbyRugby World CupBill BeaumontJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3Rugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji Getty ImagesRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionUruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup APRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal lit up the Rugby World Cup but their chances for development appear bleak Getty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today manila
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsmanila BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy manila
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply manila
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