08/02/2014 Saturday Sportsday

the BBC sports centre. Stay with us. Over the next 15 minutes, we have

the sports stories to come. This is Saturday Sportsday.

Lots to pack in to the show. We are live at the Winter Olympics in

Sochi, shortly. In what has been a disappointing morning for Team GB in

the Men's Snowboard Slopest. We build up to another exciting weekend

of Six Nations action. We are at Murrayfield in Scotland. England are

the visitors there for the Calcutta Cup Match. And the Super League

season is on us. We assess the teams in the running in 2014 for the Super

League crown. Now let's have a look at the stairs making the day's

headlines. Snowboard slopestyle delivered the

first medals of the games, Sage Kotsenburg taking the Gold Medal at

the Winter Olympics. A third construction worker died while

working on the stadium in Brazil. The Arena De Amazonia is running

several months behind schedule. And league leaders Arsenal are the

visitors to Anfield to face Liverpool in the lunchtime kick-off.

A win would move the gunners five points clear at the top of the

table. But first let's take you Live to Sochi, in what's been a

disappointing morning for Team GB. Brits Jamie Nicholls and Billy

Morgan both made the snowboard men's slopestyle final, a new event to

these games in which competitors have to negotiate a downhill course

combining rails, huge jumps, all whilst pulling off a series of

tricks. It's not for the feint hearted that's for sure. Let's cross

to Andy Swiss who's live in the Olympic Park now. And Andy, It was

all looking good for our slopestylers at one stage? It looked

like they were on course for a medal? Yes, it was. Two British men

into the fines but no medals the Billy Morgan crashed on the run and

finish in tenth place, but impressive for Jamie Nicholls. A

terrific first run. He is 20 years old. He was in the silver medal

position at the halfway stage, but in the second run he made a mistake

at the start, never really recovered and ended up finishing in sixth

place. It could have been better for him but despite that, Jamie Nicholls

was far from disappointed. I am really happy. I can't believe

it. I am happy that both of us made it to the finals and we both got a

top ten. I can't be more happy than that. If we had the facilities

there, maybe even the foam pits in the UK, more opportunities to learn

more tricks like that, maybe we we can see British snowboarders on the

podium in future events. No medal in the slopestyle. What

else do Team GB have a chance of medalling in? There are real hopes

in the skeleton, the curling and the bobsleigh. Yesterday Craig Pickering

had to pull from the bobsleigh team with injury, but they are confident

of winning medals. The men and the women's crews are headed by John

Jackson and Paula Walker, they are a couple, but for them getting to the

Olympics has been far from straightforward. Nick Hope has this

report. A fuelled action of adrenaline and athletes living life

on the limit. It means that bobsleigh is a major spectator

sport. Jackson and Walker got together in

2006. We got into the sport. It was the

first year as such. It was love at first sight from that point on.

John, you are a romantic. Is he a romantic? No! A fairly conclusive

answer there but banter is what is needed in this sport. There are

highs and lows. Jackson crashed out of the Games four years ago and

there was heartache with injuries and Jackson's ruptured Achilles heel

could have cost him the Games. It was an unexpected injury. Paula

was a great help to drive me here and there to go training. It was 12

weeks training. I could hear him going into the fridge when he was on

crutches. I would be like, on the ground -- oi, get out.

I am not renowned for patience but I think have I done a good job. We

have good results. Jackson got back and last month his

four-man team claimed a first European medal.

To have a couple of silver medals is great, but it does not counterpart,

the Olympics is separate. I will not say I will be a defendant medal -- a

definite medal hope but the Winter Olympics is such a specialty event.

We will do our best. If we get the medal, we do, if we don't, we don't,

but we will give Team GB our best performance that we can do.

Good luck to the bobsleigh team. Lots of interest today. The figure

skaters in the teem event and Lee Jackson is in the men's biathlon.

Back to you, John. Thank you very much from Andy Swiss.

And to let you know how it is going in the football, Liverpool are

leading 1-0 against Arsenal. And coverage from Sochi continues on

BBC Two from 2:30pm this afternoon. At the same time over on BBC One the

Six Nations will be kicking off. Wales continue in their bid to win

an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title, as they take on

Dublin in Ireland today. England are hoping to avenge their opening day

defeat to France, with victory over Scotland at Murrayfield. With a look

ahead to today's action here's Patrick Gearey. The old classic

taking place here later is in one sense a battle of the losers, but

both responded to defeat in different ways. England have an

unchanged team, Scotland have dropped Kelly Brown after the defeat

to Ireland. They found success difficult to come by, so I have

spent the week asking if the Flower of Scotland has wilted slightly.

Gavin Hastings kicking through. It could be there... In an HD age, the

pictures are beginning to look dated. The colour is faded slightly,

no wonder. This is 1990, it's the last time Scotland won a Grand Slam

by beating England. They have won the title once since, 15 years ago.

In the focus of 2014, Scottish rugby is not shown in a flattering light.

Defeat to Ireland last week, bringing a blow to morale.

Scotland has two professional clubs, the Warriors based in Glasgow and

Edinburgh. Both have to compete with football for interest and recruits.

So should the expectation levels be lower? Not if you are the Scottish

rugby union. They published a plan in which they targeted Scotland

reaching sixth in the IR B world rankings and a sixth nakes's title

in the same year but before that, victory in the World Cup. Can they

justify such ambition. We review the targets all of the

time. Of course we do. We are excited about the World Cup coming

up, we are excited by the Six Nations but we have a rablt to

inspire the nation, that means making sure that the teams win as

oft en they can on a regular basis across the period. So working hard

with the coaches to deliver success. There is promise, a growth in the

number of people playing the sport, and some exciting upcoming talent

such as Stuart Hogg, the youngest man on the Lion's Tour and Johnny

Grey. Peter Wright a former Scotland prop has been involved with the S

ruchlt, coaching some of the next generation of players. He says that

the problem is not the talent but the opportunity.

The numbers are small but it is the players coming through. It is giving

them an opportunity. There are two pro teams, where do they go? If

there were four we could put the young guys in one of them. The

pro-coaches are not keen on playing young guys without the experience.

Change in Scottish rugby is not likely in the short-term. If there

is gloom surrounding the game in Scotland now, then victory over

England has had a way of things looking suddenly brighter.

COMMENTATOR: The scenes here, well, just look at them! The words of the

late Bill McLaren. They have been dealing with a pitch invasion of

different kinds recently, an fesation of worms. They claim to

have the better of it. There will be a synthetic pitch soon.

Confirmation then you can catch see both of those matches here on BBC1

later. Ireland face Wales at 2:30pm, and Scotland face England at

Murrayfield, Kick Off is at 5:00pm. Now, Kevin Pietersen will continue

to dominate the headlines over the next week with the Indian Premier

League auction taking place on Wednesday. England's record-scoring

batsman could be bought for as much as ?3 million according to the

commissioner of the world's richest Twenty20 league, Lalit Modi.

Pietersen's sacking from England's national side hasn't been explained,

with the ECB only saying they want to rebuild the team ethic and

philosophy without him. His first county cricket captain Jason Gallian

famously threw KP's bat over the balcony after growing frustrated

with his attitude. Gallian is now a schoolteacher, but he feels KP's

character-of-old stayed with him until his international end. At that

time when obviously we had our incident, I was very happy to keep

him. I knew he was a match winner. Whether I could manage him was

another situation. It was well-documented, that was me

throwing his bat from the balcony. He would speak his mind. I don't

think it has changed. That has gotten him into trouble in the past.

Maybe also here. It is hard to say. All I can talk about is how it was

when I was in charge of hip. Cricket is an individual sport. As a

batsman, a bowler, you are there as an individual. To take wickets,

score runs. Kevin could win games. Everyone supporting him would like

him to win more games, to win games each time he goes to bat, but I

suppose it is the way he gets out, that is part of the enigma of him.

People will pay money to see him play wherever that is. You never

know what could go on in the future if he is scoring heavily. If he is

hungry enough to play. For Kevin, it is probably never say never.

And that was KP's former captain, Jason Gallian. Now the Super League

season got underway last night. Wigan Warriors lost to Huddersfield.

Between them these two teams won all the domestic trophies up for grabs

last season. Wigan winning the Superleague Crown and the Challenge

Cup, whilst the League Leaders' Shield winners Huddersfield came out

on top at the DW last night, 24-8. Rugby League reporter George Riley

joins me now. George what have we learnt from Wigan's defeat to

Huddersfield last night? Huddersfield will be strong. Wigan

are flying to Auckland. To be there for two weeks. They had the captain

missing. The top try scorer too. They will get better. They will

improve. I would not read a lot into Wigan

but Huddersfield will be good again. It is a season with spice, as after

seven years there is relegation to bring the league back from 14 to 12

teams. So changes in the structure of the

league. So, Brett Seymour, formerly of Hull, he has joined Castleford.

Tell us about that. He is a fascinating story. He is a

brilliant character, but had problems. There were problems in

Australia. Alcohol-related incidents. Hull FC gave him a

chance, but he was depressed of after a bad game he took some pills

and alcohol and failed to commit suicide by driving off a bridge. The

night that happened I don't remember too much of it with all that

happened, but I have been put on to people at Sporting Chance. They have

been tremendous. Without them I would not be here.

More on that interview in Saturday Sportsday next week. For the moment,

though, from myself, John Watson and the rest of the team, goodbye.