Mark Orlovac (archive)
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 20 Mar 07, 01:45 PM
London - So after five weekends of thrilling action, the dust has settled on another Six Nations campaign.
Before the tournament started, our team of 大象传媒 Six Nations bloggers sat down to select a combined team of the tournament and we did the same three games in.
Now hostilities have come to an end, the votes have been painstakingly counted and we can exclusively reveal what we think is our definitive starting XV.
Triple crown winners Ireland provide six of the team, with champions France and Italy having four players apiece.
Youngster David Strettle is England's only selection while Wales and Wooden Spoonists Scotland miss out altogether.
Six players from the original team have kept their places, and interestingly five of them are in the pack.
Let us know what you think of our selections, what we've got right, what we've got wrong, and let us know how your Six Nations XV would look.
Continue reading "Team of the Tournament"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 10 Mar 07, 09:49 PM
Italy claimed an historic second Six Nations win of the season with a over Wales in Rome.
See what you think of my player ratings.
Continue reading "Italy v Wales player ratings"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 10 Mar 07, 06:57 PM
Ireland have claimed their third Triple Crown in four years with a dogged win over Scotland at Murrayfield.
Have a look to see if you agree with my player ratings.
Continue reading "Scotland v Ireland player ratings"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 1 Mar 07, 05:21 PM
London - England coach Brian Ashton has maintained his tradition of springing surprises by naming to take on France on 11 March.
Andy Farrell, Nick Easter, Olly Morgan and David Strettle have already been blooded in the three Six Nations games so far so this year 鈥 so could Haskell be next?
Continue reading "Haskell on the rise"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 23 Feb 07, 11:30 AM
London - For England fans, Friday has not been a good day so far.
So will miss Saturday's contest at Croke Park and England's bid to claim their first win over Ireland since 2003 has got a whole lot harder.
Continue reading "Robinson KO tests Strettle's mettle"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 21 Feb 07, 04:48 PM
Bath - It鈥檚 international week and England are about to head to Dublin for their historic date with Ireland but seeing the players at their training base on Wednesday 鈥 you never would have guessed.
After a full-on training session - with members of the Bath academy standing in for the Irish - they talked respectfully and sincerely about the emotional backdrop that accompanies this game, using words like "privileged" and "honoured" in describing the prospect of playing at the home of the GAA.
But I could definitely detect a sense of calm as they gathered in one of the vast halls that make up Bath University鈥檚 impressive sporting complex.
I didn't actually see Jason Robinson get injured - most of the reporters had gone back into the complex by then.
Details of the injury were sketchy - and no-one was telling whether it was a tackle from a promising Bath youngster that did the damage!
Continue reading "England cool before Croke Park cauldron"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 13 Feb 07, 04:30 PM
London - To update the earlier discussion, Newcastle have just announced that star fly-half Jonny Wilkinson will in fact be rested for Sunday's crucial Premiership game against Bristol.
The Falcons are the first Premiership club to show their hand and decide to go along with the Rugby Football Union's request that the England starting XV against Ireland should not feature for their clubs this weekend 鈥 especially the ones playing on Sunday.
Continue reading "Wilko rested....who's next?"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 13 Feb 07, 11:18 AM
London - Hands up who would like to be filling John Fletcher鈥檚 shoes this morning?
In case you don鈥檛 know, the Newcastle director of rugby is facing a massive dilemma as he prepares for his side鈥檚 crunch game with high-flying Bristol on Sunday.
Does he pick star fly-half Jonny Wilkinson for the trip to the Memorial Stadium or give in to the request by the Rugby Football Union and leave him out?
It鈥檚 a tough choice.
Continue reading "Clubs facing tough choices"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 11 Feb 07, 09:30 AM
Twickenham - What a difference a week makes.
Last weekend, England fans were celebrating the comfortable win over Scotland and revelling in a much-improved display.
This Saturday, the Twickenham faithful were far more subdued as they made their way home or into the various bars and pubs around the ground.
Continue reading "Back to earth with a bump"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 10 Feb 07, 05:50 PM
Twickenham - I was the website's man at Twickenham on Saturday and after seeing England overcome a stubborn Italy, here are my player ratings.
Let me know what you think.
Continue reading "England player ratings"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 9 Feb 07, 12:29 PM
London - Right, we鈥檙e agonisingly close to the second weekend of the Six Nations and I reckon it鈥檚 prediction time.
We want your thoughts on how your side will fare in what could be crucial weekend and if you are already setting off for London, Edinburgh or Dublin, we would like to hear from you as you travel in the cold.
Who is going to win, what are the scores going to be and what are your selection worries?
Continue reading "Seconds out, round two..."
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 8 Feb 07, 03:11 PM
It must be pretty difficult being an Italian sports fan at the moment.
is again in chaos following the death of a policeman in last weekend (which followed last year鈥檚 massive ) while the rugby team were thumped by France in their opening Six Nations game.
So to judge the Azzurri mood ahead of Saturday鈥檚 clash against England at Twickenham, I spoke to the rugby correspondent of , Andrea Buongiovanni.
Continue reading "Crucial times for the Azzurri"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 6 Feb 07, 12:54 PM
We鈥檝e all seen the headlines - 鈥淛onny B God鈥, 鈥淩eturn of the Hero鈥 and 鈥淜ing of Sporting Comebacks鈥.
Yes, it was an incredible performance by against Scotland on Saturday and rightly he claimed all the plaudits after the victory.
But as the focus now drifts to Italy this weekend, and perhaps more importantly the crunch Croke Park clash with Ireland on 24 February, I would like to look at four other areas that give England reasons to be cheerful.
Continue reading "Move over Wilko"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 28 Jan 07, 12:34 PM
I refused to watch the endless repeats of against last night.
Especially after the presenter announced that the Bristol number eight had dislocated his kneecap, an injury I have suffered five times.
As he lay stricken on the Franklin's Gardens pitch with an oxygen mask, the memories of how painful the injury is came flooding back.
Continue reading "Ward-Smith heartbreak"
- Mark Orlovac - 大象传媒 Sport journalist
- 17 Jan 07, 01:36 PM
I'm one of the team that helps look after the rugby union section on the website and on digital text & Ceefax on TV.
But just in case any of the bosses are looking, I do write other stuff as well...
Despite going to a rugby-dominated school, I never played regularly (to be honest I wasn鈥檛 good enough) but somewhere in my mind I have an image of myself as a dogged, sniping scrum-half 鈥 a bit like Gary Armstrong.
Unfortunately, five knee dislocations led to the premature end of my sporting career in 1997 although I am sure I will be living out my dreams through my two sons 鈥 all I am asking for are Scotland and Lions caps.
I started my journalistic career at a local newspaper in Teddington, covering the likes of Harlequins, London Irish, Richmond, London Scottish and London Welsh, before joining the Beeb in 2000.
Away from work, I am a drummer in a 50s jive band and my claim to fame is that my uncle invented hit 80s quiz show 鈥楤ullseye鈥 (my eldest son is the very proud owner of a bendy Bully and before you ask, I can鈥檛 get you one).
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