Information » majority of Canadians anticipate following the Games in Soc

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The Lions extended their unexpectedly bright start to Super Rugby when they beat the Blues 39-36 for the first time since 2006 in a see-saw battle at Ellis Park on Saturday. Although the hosts were outscored five tries to three by the team from Auckland, Marnitz Boshoff landed four penalties and two dropped goals to give them their third win in five games since returning to the competition. The Lions missed out on Super Rugby in 2013 when they lost their place to the Southern Kings, and were expected to struggle after earning their way back into the tournament through a playoff victory. However Saturdays win put them fourth in the standings, while the Blues were 13th after a third loss in four games. The first half belonged entirely to the Lions, as they bounced into the break with a 17-0 lead. After the game had gone scoreless for the first 30 minutes, Blues prop Charlie Faumuina was yellow carded for collapsing a maul close to his own tryline, and two minutes later scrum-half Francois de Klerk capitalized on the numerical advantage to score the games first try. Boshoff added the conversion and a dropped goal, before Courtnall Skosan went over on the stroke of half-time gave the Lions a significant advantage. Boshoff added a penalty after the break to push the gap to 20 points, and the Blues earned a second yellow card when Tom Donnelly failed to use his arms whilst clearing out a ruck. However when the lock returned, the Blues came roaring back into the match with two tries in three minutes to narrow the deficit to eight points. Coenie van Wyks try with 20 minutes remaining gave the Lions some breathing room, but the Blues kept coming and Frank Halai held off a defender to score under the posts moments later. Boshoffs penalty made it 33-22 with 10 minutes to play, only for centre George Moalas converted try to put the Blues within four points. However a couple of penalties from Boshoff made the game safe, ensuring that Benji Marshalls 80th minute try gave the Blues no more than a losing bonus point. ------ Lions 39 (Francois de Klerk, Courtnall Skosan, Coenie van Wyk tries; Marnitz Boshoff 3 conversions, 4 penalties, 2 dropped goals), Blues 36 (Charles Piutau, Bryn Hall, Frank Halai, George Moala, Benji Marshall tries; Chris Noakes 2 conversions, penalty, Simon Hickey 2 conversions). HT: 17-0 Tienda De Air Max Baratas . The veteran fighter will be squaring off with Henderson in a five-round lightweight bout as part of another network televised card at the United Center on Saturday night. Nike Air Max 95 Hombre Rebajas http://www.tiendasairmaxbaratas.com/zapatillas-air-max-1/max-1-mujer.html . He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. Nike Air Max 90 Baratas España . DArnaud hit one of three doubles for the Mets as they took a 4-0 lead in the first. Then the catchers seventh home run of the season broke the game open in the fifth. The 41-year-old Colon (10-8) retired the first 20 batters in his last outing Wednesday against Seattle, eventually allowing two runs on three hits in 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 win. Nike Air Max 270 Baratas Falsas . -- The Washington Redskins coaching staff distanced itself from other coaches Thursday by siding with ownership -- and not the players -- in the NFLs labour dispute.OTTAWA -- A majority of Canadians equate mens hockey gold with success at next months Sochi Olympics, a new poll suggests. Seventy-three per cent of those surveyed in the Harris-Decima poll, which was provided to The Canadian Press, said Canada winning gold in mens hockey is "important in determining the success of the Games." But even more say they view avoiding security threats as the most important measure of whether the Sochi Olympics are a success. In total, 83 per cent said it was very or somewhat important that there be no security threats. That is a slightly smaller number than the 88 per cent who said in a survey prior to the 2010 Olympics that it was very or somewhat important that there be no security threats in Vancouver. Nationally, 58 per cent of those polled suggested they would follow the Sochi Olympics very or somewhat closely, also down from those polled prior to the Vancouver Games. And just over half those polled suggested theyd be paying less attention to these Games than they did to the Vancouver Olympics. "We saw an amazing degree of national enthusiasm for the Games we hosted in Vancouver and we shouldnt expect Canadians to get quite that engaged for any other Winter Olympics," said Harrris-Decima vice-president Megan Tam.dddddddddddd "That being said, a majority of Canadians anticipate following the Games in Sochi and there is clearly some sense of national competitiveness demonstrated with the attitudes expressed about the importance of winning certain gold medals or even the most overall again." B.C. residents were the most likely to say they would be paying a lot less attention to Sochi. Mens hockey gold wasnt the only big item on the list of those who will be following the Olympics. A gold by the Canadian womens hockey team was also picked by 71 per cent as important in gauging success. And 70 per cent said they felt it was important there be no organizational problems that could give the Olympics a black eye on the world stage. Canadas overall standing was also important with 63 per cent saying its important Canada finish in the top three in the medal count, and 58 per cent suggesting Canada winning more medals than any other would be important in their determination of the success of the Olympics. The telephone survey of 1,015 Canadians was done between Jan. 9 and Jan. 13. The survey is considered accurate to a margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. ' ' '