An easy one to start with, who is the reigning World Champion?
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Stuart Bingham
Neil Robertson
Mark Selby
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How many world finals has Jimmy White lost?
5
6
7
8
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Which of these players did NOT have to go through the qualifiers to get in this year's main draw?
Ding Junhui
Graeme Dott
Peter Ebdon
Martin Gould
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The Crucible Curse refers to what?
the world number one has never won the world championships at the venue
a first-time winner has never retained his title here
No snooker player that has stayed in the nearby Crucible Hotel has ever won the world title
A Mayo man can't win a world title at The Crucible until their Gaelic footballers win an All-Ireland
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Ken Doherty won the world championships in 1997, beating Stephen Hendry in the final. Who did the Dubliner overcome in the semis?
James Wattana
Alain Robidoux
John Higgins
Alan McManus
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What is the prizemoney for this year's winner?
£300,000
£310,000
£320,000
£330,000
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Who was the last player to score a 147 at The Crucible?
Stephen Hendry
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Neil Robertson
Shaun Murphy
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In what year did The Crucible begin hosting the World Snooker Championship?
1957
1967
1977
1987
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Who is the only player to have scored a century in his first frame at The Crucible?
Mark Allen
Joe Swail
Michael Judge
Fergal O'Brien
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Aussie Eddie Charlton was on the receiving end of a 10-0 drubbing in a first-round match, the only whitewash in the modern era of the World Championship. Who was he playing?
Terry Griffiths
Steve Davis
John Parrott
John Virgo
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You scored out of !
Stephen Hendry
You're still the king around these parts. Seven titles is the most in the modern era.
You scored out of !
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Sitting pretty on five titles and still counting. Already a great of the game, you could get to the top one day.
You scored out of !
Ken Doherty
You have some fond memories around these parts but are well behind the greats of the modern era.
You scored out of !
Jimmy White
You're a likeable guy and a big fan favourite but your record here makes for upsetting reading.
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Excellent analysis of all the pieces of the jigsaw of moves leading to great tries
Great analysis as always. What an atmosphere yesterday. Delighted for Sexton and Healy!!! What a Six Nations send off
@Kenneth O Connor: Healy not getting a run was disappointing and strange
@Noel Lynn: He did… only about 4 minutes but he did play.
Yesterday(and last week) should put to bed any doubt about Conan’s value. Every bit as effective as Doris imo.
@Gary Donlan: doris level ahead
@Gary Donlan: I’m a big, big fan of Conan – he’s an outstanding player – but I’d have to acknowledge that Doris is at the very top of the global tree. And he has so much more to grow, being so young. Arguably a future World Player of the Year nominee, if not winner.
I see lots of people saying how England really used line speed yesterday to get in Irelands face, that’s not what happened at all. England played a soft drift defence, not putting too much pressure on the first carrier / passer, and not committing too many men to the breakdown, opting to be more disruptive and messy rather than look for turnovers. It was an interesting tactic and one that threw a lot of the Irish players off, particularly Furlong who takes the first pivot option quite often. Ireland will need to learn how to adapt to it by World Cup, I can’t imagine South Africa or France would try it, they would trust their line speed, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Scotland or even New Zealand thought about using it.
Great analysis there. It shows really how intelligent this group are. Dorris, JVF,, Aki, Sexton, Hansen running subplots and dummies lines and how they build a try 3 phases out. To have so many on the same page is extraordinary and as Farrell said, they will get a lot better over the next few months with more time collectively in camp.
Roll on the WC
It was squeaky bum time for much of the game. England gave it everything. Ireland found a way to win. Work done with decoy runners is magnificent. Enjoy, upwards and onwards to France
That was some offload by Conan for sheehans try.
Sheehan is a pure speed merchant
@Gary Galligan: He’s a 4×4 at full speed.
On the strike plays which Ireland use we have seen a few of these in this 6 nations I believe they have only used a small number of these in this 6 nations and there are many more which they had no need to use and they are been reserved for the later stages of the world Cup.
I would imagine when Farrell and his team review this game they will be a little concerned. Obviously the short term gain here, winning a grand slam, is brilliant. But there was a lot of pressure going into the game and we did not handle it well. Ultimately a red card may have won it for Ireland and whether you agree or disagree with the card the nature of it shows it can how easily happen under current rules. (There was at least 1 red card possibility for us that was missed by the ref and TMO). This team will ultimately be judged on how it performs in the World Cup. When they meet Scotland on the 7th of October it will more than likely be a knock out game. The pressure on them will easily be as intense as yesterday, probably more so. They will need to be a lot better. If we don’t make it out of the group, this Grand Slam will lose a lot of it’s shine. Of course hopefully by the time we meet Scotland SA will have 2 losses so it won’t matter :)
@Pud: OTOH, the experience of yesterday, a real pressure cooker, will stand to them. Plus, those guys played a lot of intense rugby over a short period of time. Some were definitely not at their best, following injuries (Furlong, for example, looked rusty; Henshaw wasn’t fully up to speed; Ringrose in and out). Farrell took some risks, playing guys like Porter, VDF, Keenan, Hansen and others to their limits (Keenan looked tired yesterday, as did others). The player management plan for the RWC needs to cater for the interactive effects of physical endurance and how it affects mental/emotional resilience. I’m pretty confident they’re on top of that. And again, all the players will be better for the experience of this 6N.
@Pud: South Africa then Scotland…followed by France or New Zealand…three massive banana skins….I don’t think if we are stopped before semi final, yesterday’s outstanding achievement will be diminished….cruel world cup draw.
Herring sealed victory over the All Blacks with a similar try in the third test .. hooker is definitely a position we don’t need to worry about… bench again made the difference yesterday
Murray Kinsella, single handedly helping other teams work out Ireland!!