England's Simon Shaw, centre, is wrapped up by Quade Cooper (10) and Luke Burgess.
England's Simon Shaw, centre, is wrapped up by Quade Cooper (10) and Luke Burgess.

Upstarts down England's elders



This was billed as men against boys, and the point was amply proven. However, led by their thrilling 22-year-old fly-half, Quade Cooper, it was the glorious youth of Australia who eventually won out against the English old guard. If experience was to be the barometer for success, as England had hoped, there were mis-matches all over the field, but most markedly in the front row of the scrum. Ahead of the game, the three players in England's front row had played nearly as many Tests - 80 - as their direct counterparts had played minutes in international rugby.

Saia Faingaa, making his debut at hooker for the hosts, had the biggest gulf to bridge in his duel with Steve Thompson, the veteran England No 2. As a marker of the disparity between the two, Thompson has already retired once. He initially hung up his boots in 2007 because of a back injury, before later making a surprise return to the game. A few months earlier, Faingaa had been the captain of the Australian side who won the Under 19 World Cup in Dubai.

Unsurprisingly, England exerted complete dominance at scrum-time, as evidenced by the two penalty tries they were awarded in the second half. However, the touring side were embarrassingly outplayed whenever the ball made it out into the loose. While England's elder statesmen played much of the game as if they were scrabbling around looking for their pension money, Cooper provided a lesson in back-play.

The young Queensland Reds stand-off was missing Will Genia, his regular half-back partner, but struck up an immediate rapport with Luke Burgess. His side were already 7-0 up through a try by the captain, Rocky Elsom, when Cooper went over for his opening score, profiting from a break by the scrum-half, Burgess. England maintained a foothold in the game thanks to their grip on the scrum, but the Wallabies secured the decisive advantage midway through the second-half.

Cooper was both the architect and the finisher. His delicious pass opened space for Digby Ioane on the left touchline for the Wallabies, then the fly-half was on hand to apply the finishing touch himself. "You find out what you're made of when you have so many phases coming at your line like that," the Wallabies captain, Elsom, said in a post-match interview. "There was some great defence out there and the fact they didn't cross our line, at least that they didn't get it down, was a big plus."

Lewis Moody, the England captain who suffered a blow to the head in the second half, admitted his side have plenty to work on if they are to level the series next weekend. "We had some domination," he said. "We stuck at it and got on top but we have to work on some other aspects of our game before next week." * Compiled by Paul Radley

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

Stree

Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

Results

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m, Winner: Zalman, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)

5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hisham Al Khalediah II, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.

6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Qader, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Mujeeb, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Shanaghai City, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly

8pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nayslayer, Bernardo Pinheiro, Jaber Ramadhan

World Test Championship table

1 India 71 per cent

2 New Zealand 70 per cent

3 Australia 69.2 per cent

4 England 64.1 per cent

5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent

6 West Indies 33.3 per cent

7 South Africa 30 per cent

8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent

9 Bangladesh 0

THREE
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The%20specs
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

Ain Issa camp:
  • Established in 2016
  • Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
  • Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
  • Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
  • 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
  • NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
  • One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
SHAITTAN
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RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile

Started: 2016

Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel 

Based: Ramallah, Palestine

Sector: Technology, Security

# of staff: 13

Investment: $745,000

Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors

'O'
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The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
​​​​​​​Princeton

Company%20Profile
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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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