Sticking to his promise to give every player a run out in the first three games, the Lions coach Ian McGeechan has fashioned a team of enormous forwards and pint-sized backs to face the Free State Cheetahs today. This is the last chance to make an impression before the real sifting begins for the first Test on June 20.
First, the large Lions: Donncha O'Callaghan has his first game, alongside tour captain Paul O'Connell, behind Euan Murray and Andrew Sheridan, giving the props and second rows a combined weight of 456 kilos. As Scottish hooker Ross Ford, also making his first start and hardly a lightweight, put it: "We did have a quiet word in training about our size of this pack. We could really make things move."
Andy Powell, Stephen Ferris and Joe Worsley complete the compilation of beef. The smaller backs include wings Leigh Halfpenny at 1.78m, Shane Williams, 1.70m and outside centre Keith Earls, 1.78m. Halfpenny, aged 20, makes his debut after staying behind in Cardiff for treatment on his injured thigh, while the left wing Williams needs a big game to stay ahead of Ugo Monye, who was excellent against the Golden Lions in the 74-10 win on Wednesday, and Earls has a chance to make amends after a shaky first half in the opening game against the Highveld XV last Saturday.
McGeechan said that Earl's response both to dropping the ball several times and to a shoulder injury had been, "absolutely first-class". And on the matter of size: "They're all international players. Pound for pound they are extremely powerful." He stressed that internal pressure was perfect: "We have never been looking at preordained Test selections. On Wednesday a marker was laid down and now it's up to this latest selection to raise the bar again."
This notion of inner competition is important, since the Lions may not be sorely tested in these warm-up games, despite the Cheetahs coach, former Springbok hooker Naka Drotske, pledging to give the tourists "the hurry-up" in today's encounter. His team will be without their international squad players, wing Jongi Nokwe and flanker Juan Smith, although a lot of attention will be on another flanker, Heinrich Brussow, generally considered unlucky not to make the Springbok cut for this series.
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Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
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Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: Automatic
Power: 530bhp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh535,000
On sale: Now
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Iceland 0 England 1 (Sterling pen 90 1)
Man of the match Kari Arnason (Iceland)
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
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How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
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How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
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If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
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Bangladesh tour of Pakistan
January 24 – First T20, Lahore
January 25 – Second T20, Lahore
January 27 – Third T20, Lahore
February 7-11 – First Test, Rawalpindi
April 3 – One-off ODI, Karachi
April 5-9 – Second Test, Karachi
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67 - Dustin Johnson (USA), Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez (ESP), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Francesco Laporta (ITA), Joost Luiten (NED), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
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THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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Long Shot
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan
Four stars
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Manchester United 1
Mata 11'
Chelsea 1
Alonso 43'
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5