Boat Race dispute deepens with Olympic champion facing ban after ‘slimy' Oxford tactics
The bitter row to engulf this year's Boat Race has deepened with three more Cambridge rowers – including reigning Olympic champion Tom Ford – unable to take part.
Ford and the Cambridge women's team's 2025 and 2024 presidents, Dr Lucy Havard and Jenna Armstrong, face joining three trainee teachers who have been blocked from entering next month's showdown on the Thames.
What was branded 'a desperate ploy from Oxford to gain an upper hand in the most slimy way' by Olympic champion Imogen Grant follows its defeats in five of the last six men's and all of the last seven women's races.
Telegraph Sport has been told that Ford, who stroked Great Britain to Paris 2024 gold last summer before starting a Masters of Business Administration course at Cambridge, is at the centre of an increasingly-acrimonious dispute between Britain's two oldest universities.
It follows a crackdown on elite-level 'ringers' entering the Boat Race in the wake of double-Olympic champion James Cracknell becoming its oldest winner, at 46, back in 2019, 13 years after his competitive retirement.
The rules of the race, the so-called 'Joint Agreement' between Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) and Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC), were changed in 2021 with the intention of preventing anyone competing more than 12 years after beginning an undergraduate degree course.
Ford, who began a BA in Geography and Town Planning at University almost 14 years ago, is not currently listed on the CUBC men's squad on the Boat Race's official website. But, on March 2, the 32-year-old stroked their 'provisional Blue Boat' (their Boat Race crew) to victory against Olympic silver medalists the Netherlands in two 'preparation' races for next month's event.
Havard – who started a PhD in history at Cambridge in 2022 and is listed among the CUBC's women's squad – embarked upon a medical degree at University College London in 2007. Meanwhile, US-born Armstrong – who is studying for a postgraduate degree in physiology – is known to have taken up rowing in 2011 while an undergraduate.
To add intrigue to the current row, Havard and Armstrong both competed for Cambridge last year, in the reserve and main races, respectively, despite it having been more than 12 years since they began their undergraduate degrees. Telegraph Sport has also been told that there had previously been the prospect of Ford ending up enroling at Oxford instead of Cambridge.
The 12-year rule was agreed by both boat clubs but sources have suggested Cambridge have secured a legal opinion that it could be deemed 'discriminatory', with one questioning whether Oxford would have sought to do the same had Ford been a student there.
All this is said to have led to Oxford successfully challenging the eligibility of three Cambridge Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) students – former men's Under-23 world champion Matt Heywood, and women's squad members Molly Foxell and cox Kate Crowley. That is despite PGCE students having long competed for both Oxford and Cambridge unchallenged under rules governing the race.
Sources have suggested Havard, Armstrong, Foxell and Crowley had become collateral damage in a dispute about Ford and, to a lesser extent, Heywood, amid a years-long debate about whether the Boat Race should be an 'elite' event or a competition between young amateurs.
'This debate didn't start with James Cracknell,' one former Cambridge competitor told Telegraph Sport, pointing out Oxford's men's winning boat in 2013 and 2014 had included Canada's Beijing 2008 champion Malcolm Howard.
'It's really the men's clubs driving it by saying, 'This degree course is bogus', or, 'You've funded this person'.
'Particularly on the women's side, there has been a dialogue. The toxicity of where the men's club is coming from has blasted any of that away.
'It's like, 'Let's win by stopping you being able to row'. That's not good, is it? If you win this race and you stop people rowing, is that going to feel good?'
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Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Footy great posts hilarious video showing how he turned the tables on a scammer who tried to fleece him for $1000
A former footy great has revealed how he has turned the tables an online scammer. Parramatta great Eric Grothe Jnr shared a hilarious interaction he had with an online fraudster on his Instagram, revealing how he had been approached by the scammer, who tried to dupe him for a large sum of cash. Grothe posted three videos on his Instagram showcasing the interaction with the scammer who had asked him to send him money as well as buy him gift cards from Amazon. Gift card scams have become a prevalent way for con artists to obtain money from individuals as they are often hard to trace and give victims little protection to recover their funds. The interaction between Grothe and the scammer began with the individual asking the former rugby league star to send him $200 US before he began toying with the scammer. The fraudster had appeared to drop into the 45-year-old's direct messages on Instagram, with Grothe replying: 'What do you need the money for?' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eric Grothe Jr (@ericgrothejr) 'Medicine,' the individual replied. Appearing cautious at the start, Grothe responded: 'If you really need the money and you're legitimate I'm sure you'd understand that there are so many scams out there that I can't give money without proof. 'Can you please send me a photo of yourself holding a piece of paper with my name on it? If so, I can help you out.' The scammer appeared to have created a false identity by taking pictures of another individual and falsely using them for their display picture. The scammer later replied by sending back a heavily photoshopped image of a woman, holding a piece of paper. The person appeared to have scribbled the name 'Eric Grothe' in poor handwriting that looked like it had been written digitally on a program like Photoshop. 'I will be so happy if you really help me out Eric,' the fraudster added. Grothe replied: 'OK and last one and I will give you the money straight away. With that exact same piece of paper, also hold up four fingers and make sure your face is showing as well. 'Once this is done I will forward the money to you immediately. Thank you.' Grothe enjoyed a distinguished career in rugby league's top flight, making 142 appearances cumulatively for the Eels and the Roosters, while also being capped for the Kangaroos once. The trickster then questioned how they might complete his request before attempting to give the former Eels star a guilt trip. 'I'm feeling really weak I just tried my best to do that so if you're really gonna help me just do it now,' they wrote adding two 'crying face emojis'. The conversation continued, with the fraudster asking Grothe where he lived and whether he used PayPal. According to ScamWatch, the Australian government has reported 72,230 scams in the past six months with losses from fishing, romance and investment frauds costing Australians approximately $118,993,148.20. 'Scams work because they look like the real thing and scammers contact you when you're not expecting it or are busy trying to do many things at once,' ScamWatch wrote. It adds that scammers attempt to 'create believable stories that convince you to give them your money, financial or personal details.' 'Scammers try to use your good nature against you. They tell heartbreaking or tragic stories to convince you to help them and give them money. 'Always be wary of any appeal for money and never give more money than you are willing to lose if you can't independently confirm that the story is true.' Grothe then began to joke with the fraudster, writing: 'A rich grandparent passed away and left my brother and I almost $4.5million each. I really want to share it with trustworthy people.' The scammer pressed him again: 'If you're really going to help me, just do it dear am not feeling so good.' Grothe questioned whether the individual was sick, to which they replied: 'Yes I am having hot temperatures and headaches. So I wanna visit a hospital but am so broke now to do anything cause my work has not been good lately.' Grothe responded: 'OK that's not a good sign. I'm going to have to help you. Tell me, does it also feel like somebody slammed your body down and wound it all around?' 'Yes, my bones feel so weak now,' the scammer said, before asking again whether to send their PayPal details. Grothe hilariously then joked that he was starting to fall 'completely in love' with the scammer. 'Aahh man I can't believe I'm saying this. Do you feel what I feel? You do. I know it,' he wrote, before adding that he was going to send the scammer 'so much money today' before asking how. 'OK darling you might be the right man for me so am not gonna say no,' the scammer replied. But Grothe pushed the joke further: 'My whole family are helping me write this because I'm so emotional.' He hilariously told the fraudster he loved them before adding: 'Whatever is mine is yours.' The fraudster again asked him if he could send the money over so that they could visit the hospital. Grothe, instead, deflected the question again confessing his love for the fraudster adding that he was going to send them half of his inheritance. 'I know we are supposed to be together,' he joked. 'I know I'm coming on a little strong but when you know, you understand and when you understand you finally come to get it and then you work it out and once you've worked it out, it's there for all to see!' The scammer simply replied: 'OK' before again asking him to send them the money on multiple occasions, adding that they would accept $2,000 instead of $2m. The conversation continued as Grothe continued to play the scammer at their own game, joking: 'I'm so lucky to be your man.' Appearing more frustrated as the back and forth continued, the scammer wrote: 'My man must care about my health, it seems you just lie to me about helping me with some money.' Grothe kept up the running joke, replying: 'Baby! We can work it out!' 'Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend. I have always thought that it was a crime. So I will ask you once again. 'Won't you try to see it my way? Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on? 'If you need this money, help me send it to you right now. I'm sick of all this back and forth. I'm an action-taker. If I see action I will take it. A taker of action, if you will.' The exchange continued on in the same fashion, with Grothe seeing through the fraudster's scheme, as they repeatedly asked him if he used PayPal. 'Don't call me Pal,' Grothe hilariously quipped back. In a later video, the former NRL star revealed that the scammer had then asked him to buy them multiple Steam vouchers on Amazon, totalling around $1,000. The conversation even went as far as seeing the scammer explain to the former Eels star how to redeem the vouchers, with Grothe hilariously playing dumb, purposefully wasting the scammer's time. He even went as far as sending them back a video of the fuel dial on his car, when the scammer asked him to click on a link to buy the vouchers. The scammer continued to press him, but Grothe continued to mislead the individual by hilariously joking that his ex had come back. The scammer appeared furious replying: 'You don't seem to have respect for me.' They added: 'You sound so annoying, you talk about your ex every minute I don't want to share my man if you're for me you should be only for me and no one else.' The long exchange culminated in a rather humerous ending with Grothe saying: 'I think I'm done.' The scammer replied: 'OK'. ScamWatch urges caution to individuals before giving money or personal information to those they don't know or are unsure of. They urge members of the public to 'stop' and 'check'. 'Ask yourself: "Could the message or call be fake?"' They urge members of the public to 'act quickly and contact a bank if a scammer gets your money and report scams to ScamWatch.'
Glasgow Times
3 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
'Snobbery' over Scottish talent has left national game at crisis point
'Part of my day job is system development,' said Ferguson, the former East Stirlingshire, Alloa Athletic, Hamilton Academical, Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir defensive midfielder who is now assistant to Gary Naysmith at the third tier Ochilview Park part-timers. 'We're always looking ahead. We're involved in Olympic sports and we look four years, eight years, even 12 years down the line. We look at pathways and what we've got coming through.' Does Ferguson think that this country's leading football clubs have the same forward-thinking attitude? Does he believe their chairmen, managers, owners, chief executives and sporting directors are safeguarding the future of our national game? Is he hopeful that Scotland will flourish as a result of the farsighted groundwork they are laying now? The posts about the number of homegrown and under-21 players who were involved in the Premiership last season which he fired up on the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform last week suggested that he very much does not. Read more: The statistics which he personally collated were highly concerning. But here are two of the most startling. He showed that the overall percentage of Scots to start top flight games during the 2024/25 campaign was just 31.46 per cent. That was down from 45 per cent three years ago. In addition, he highlighted that, on average, just four out of the 132 players who kicked games off in the elite division every weekend were under the age of 21 and originally hailed from these shores. He can foresee major issues arising in the future as a consequence. 'I started doing this back in around 2018 or 2019,' said Ferguson. 'I went back to the 1980s and 1990s and looked at the trend of more non-Scots coming into the Scottish game. I tracked the summer and winter signings and looked at the team sheets every week. It worried me back then, but it's getting worse every year. 'When I started doing this, the number of Scots who were starting every week on average was at about 48 to 49 per cent. Now it is down in the low 30s. I think it is a major problem already. And it is only going to get worse and worse. There needs to be an intervention before it becomes an even bigger problem. 'It's not just the Premiership where it's a problem now, it's feeding down into the lower divisions as well. When you look at a line-up of a Championship team, there are often a lot of non-Scots in there. We are reaching a crisis point. We can be producing far more players than we are.' (Image: SNS Group) So what, if anything, does Ferguson feel can be done to turn things around? The man who has just helped Stenhousemuir to secure a play-off place in their first season up in League One admits that he is puzzled by the Premiership clubs' reliance on overseas players. He has long been convinced they would be better off shopping local. 'I have always felt, going right back to my own playing days, that Scottish players and probably Scottish staff don't get the recognition that they were due when they were playing at a lower level,' he said. 'They were never picked up. 'There have been so many examples of that over the years. But Lawrence Shankland is the one really jumped out to me. I can remember watching him when I was the manager at Stenhousemuir and we played Ayr United. He was the difference in the game. 'I went and spoke to Hearts about him. I got told, 'Yeah, we've had him watched, but we don't think he's quick enough, we don't think he's strong enough'. They had so many reasons for not signing him. 'But they went straight out and signed David Vanecek from a club in the second tier in the Czech Republic. He lasted five or six months and then he was gone. I looked at that and thought, 'Why not look at the best players in the leagues below here?'. Hearts eventually signed Lawrence, but they could have had him years earlier if they had just taken a chance.' Read more: Ferguson is optimistic that Scottish clubs will look at the success which Falkirk have enjoyed under John McGlynn in the past couple of years – they have won League One and the Championship in successive seasons – and realise that promoting promising talent from the lower leagues can yield impressive results. 'Falkirk have been a breath of fresh air for me,' he said. 'They've taken players up from the Lowland League, they've even looked at the East of Scotland League. Those players have made big jumps up. 'Not all of them will be able to step up. But a lot of them have and are progressing. They have had an unbelievable couple of seasons. For me, John should be getting far more recognition for what he has done.' Ferguson continued, 'I just think there's snobbery across the Scottish game. There are a lot of good players in Scotland, but the pathway is not there for them. The opportunities for them to play at the top are so limited it's incredible. 'There has been talk about a Scottish goalkeeping crisis recently. For me, there is a bit of snobbery there too. Nicky Hogarth at Falkirk is a far better goalkeeper than the lad Cieran Slicker at Ipswich Town. Now, that might not be the case in the future. But at this moment in time Hogarth has won back-to-back league titles and is a better player. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'Hogarth has been at Rangers and Nottingham Forest as a young player, Slicker has been at Manchester City and Ipswich Town. So they both have a good grounding. But Slicker, a player who has never played a league game, gets selected for the national squad. For me, that kind of belittles playing for your country. Why not give Hogarth a chance? 'I think there are players there now who could easily make the step up to the Premiership. Not every player is going to make the grade, that's just never going to happen. But there are a lot of players who will get recruited from other countries who will come and go in the blink of an eye. Fans will forget about them in a couple of weeks. 'But I don't think the fanbase helps things ether if I am being honest. People don't get as excited about signing a player or a manager from the Championship as they do about bringing in a foreign player or manager. The media is exactly the same.' Ferguson has also witnessed first hand a reluctance to field the best kids who are coming through the youth ranks at Premiership clubs despite the obvious ability they possess and the success which those who have, often because his manager has had no other choice, been promoted have enjoyed. 'There are also young players within academies who are good enough,' he said. 'I have worked at Rangers and seen players who could step up and play first team football far sooner. There are kids out there who aren't getting anywhere close first team football at the age of 19, 20, 21. I don't understand that. 'If Callum McGregor was a youth coming through at Celtic now I don't think he would be given an opportunity. When he broke through Rangers were in the lower reaches of Scottish football and they could maybe afford to take a risk with him. Would they play him now? 'Scott Brown, who is Celtic's second most successful captain, only got his chance at Hibs when his manager Bobby Williamson was told that he needed to play youngsters. All of a sudden, they brought through a handful and they all went on to have really, really good careers. Would they have flourished if there wasn't a crisis? 'There are lots of those kind of examples. Adam Forrester got thrown in at Hearts when they had a right-back crisis and he has now played 30 odd games. He's not a youngster either, he is 20. James Wilson only got his chance because Lawrence Shankland was injured. They had to throw him in. They had no option. 'Do I think he would be in that team if Hearts had four strikers? No, I don't. Do I think he would be in the Scotland squad? No, I don't. I am delighted he is now in the national set-up. But there are not enough of these kind of players.' Read more: Ferguson continued, 'Another issue is that there are so many players on the bench now. What used to happen when three substitutes were allowed was there would be 14 players stripped, two in the stand and the rest would be playing somewhere else, in a reserve match or whatever. 'Now you've got 19 to 20 players stripped and another three sitting in the stands. Those players are nowhere near playing in a football match because they've got so many players in front of them. Squads are so swollen now. Even if you are a really good young player you need to get in front of four or five senior players to get in. 'It's difficult for any manager to say. 'I really like this 17-year-old, he's going straight in the team'. He needs to put that kid above three, four, five different senior players. Why would you want to have such a big squad and have a youth academy as well? That doesn't allow kids to progress. There are so many things that happen at the top level that don't make sense to me.' The Cooperation System which the SFA rolled out last week – which will see up to three Scotland qualified players at Premiership and Championship clubs move to lower league outfits freely on loan going forward – makes perfect sense to him. 'I love it,' said Ferguson. 'I love the concept of it. I also love that there is a plan there. I've always felt that the loan system, and I understand why this is, is very reactive. What generally happens is a club puts together a squad and then they need to get players in to cover for injuries. 'The Cooperation System is a bit more of a planned approach. It sounds as if loan players will be identified throughout the course of the close season, going into pre-season, when a manager or a recruitment team are building their squad. (Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey) 'I think it's a very, very good piece of work. I don't think managers will build their team around the loan player, it won't be as extreme as that. But I think a player will fit in straight away, They won't be trying to force their way into the team. It is a refreshing concept.' He continued, 'Will a young player who is number 21, 22 or 23 in a first team squad be considered for it? Or will they be kept at their parent club to make up numbers? That would be my concern. Will the guy who is 22 or 23 be allowed to go out and play? If he isn't, he could spend another season not playing. 'Is it best for the club in the long-term to get a player out, to get them experience of playing football, to get their name known, to hopefully have an impact? Massively. It should have a positive impact on the player and of course on the club. 'But a manager might want to hold onto him, just in case. He might have injuries and need to play a kid. That is how Forrester came through and established himself as a Premiership player. But, at the same time, six months could pass and a kid won't play. We will see how it works in practice. 'But we are very much on board with it at Stenhousemuir. We feel as though it's something that could be of value to us. Martin Christie, our head of recruitment, is speaking to clubs at the moment. There are ongoing conversations.' Ferguson is eager to see more Scottish players in the lower leagues getting the chance to show what they can do in the Premiership and more academy kids getting promoted into first teams than is currently the case. He fears the national team will ultimately suffer unless there is a long overdue change in attitudes and the trend he has identified is allowed to continue. 'Generally speaking, the first team manager at a club looks after the first team and that is it,' he said. 'That is the way it should be. But why is he not involved in looking at what the pathway into the first team looks like? 'There is an obvious issue. A coach knows he may not be in a job in four weeks' time if he doesn't get results. So why look four years down the line? The dynamics around football are different to any other sport. That is good and bad at the same time. 'The culture of football, the tribal nature of the sport, the supporters' demand for success in the here and now makes people focus on that. Understandably so. But I do think it is unusual compared to other sports, that failure to develop a strategy which can enable a club to be successful long-term. Don't get me wrong, many clubs will try to do it, but there is a massive disconnect between what they want to achieve and what they actually do.' Ferguson continued, 'We're already seeing a lack of depth when we've got injuries. We have quality players, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Craig Gordon, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney. But quite a few of these players are getting towards the end of their careers, they're in their late 20s or early 30s. 'Could getting five per cent of the Scottish players who are in the Premiership to follow Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay and move on to a bigger league in Europe be a target? If it can be then surely five per cent of 100 is better than five per cent of 30. 'My real worry is the talent pool is getting diluted. That is definitely the trend. It is on a decline, a continuous decline. Unless something changes, Scottish players will be making up just 20 per cent of the teams in a few years.'
Wales Online
3 hours ago
- Wales Online
Today's rugby news as departing Wales coach finds new job and England star hits out at Lions foreign players
Today's rugby news as departing Wales coach finds new job and England star hits out at Lions foreign players The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyond Wales coaches Mike Forshaw (left) has reportedly found a new job (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd ) Here are your rugby evening headlines for Thursday, June 12 Departing Wales coach lands new job Leicester Tigers are reportedly set to appoint Mike Forshaw as their new defence coach, with his current deal with the Welsh Rugby Union expiring at the end of this month. The Wigan-born defence coach had previously pointed to his contract ending this summer, with the existing Wales assistants having been in the dark over their futures since the departure of Warren Gatland mid-tournament. However, the former Great Britain rugby league international was not chosen to tour Japan with Wales this summer, with interim head coach Matt Sherratt choosing to take Gethin Jenkins - who Forshaw had actually replaced in the role in 2023 - instead. Despite the WRU's insistence that no decision would be made on any of Gatland's assistants until a new head coach was appointed, it would appear that Forshaw has taken matters into his own hands. Having been previously linked with Gallagher Premiership finalists Leicester following the appointment of Geoff Parling, RugbyPass report that the 55-year-old will be coaching at Welford Road next season. Foreign-born Lions 'doesn't sit well' with Care Former England scrum-half Danny Care says the selection of the foreign-born players for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia doesn't "sit that well" with him. Article continues below Andy Farrell has picked a number of players in his squad for this summer who were born elsewhere. The likes of Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe and Duhan van der Merwe all qualified for their respective home nations on residency, while some other members of the squad were born in the southern hemisphere, but had family links to qualify - like Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu. 'Whatever I say here, you're going to get stick. You open yourself up to it,' he told the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast. 'It doesn't sit that well with me that some of these… both your starting wingers are going to be lads that never, ever once in their childhood or even their mid-20s ever dreamt of wearing a red Lions jersey. 'It is what it is, it's the rules, and why not. If you're James Lowe or you're Duhan van der Merwe or you're [Jamison] Gibson-Park, you go, 'oh, I'll play for the Lions, yeah.' 'We're not going to change it, but it just doesn't… I think there's a lot of people that feel the same but can't say it.' Wales second-row signs new deal Wales second-row James Ratti had signed a new deal with the Ospreys. Having originally come through the Ospreys' development pathway, he re-joined the club in 2023 after a spell with Cardiff - becoming a mainstay in the team. His first season back at the Ospreys saw him named players' player of the season, while he also earned his first Wales cap against South Africa last June. He has also been included in Wales' squad for the upcoming tour of Japan. 'The last two years have been great for me since I returned to the Ospreys," said Ratti. "There's a great bunch of boys here and we all play for each other, which shines through on a gameday. 'Coming back to my hometown club was an easy decision for me, similarly to signing this new contract, and I'm looking forward to seeing what lies ahead in the future with this team.' Ospreys head coach Mark Jones added: 'Ratti has been incredibly valuable player for us since he made the decision to come back. He's a real Swiss-army knife in both the respects of where he plays and how he plays. 'Ratti is a real workhorse, his ability to carry and commit multiple defenders in contact adds a real dynamism to how we play and we're really happy to have him staying with the club. To succeed in our league, you need players like Ratti, that are relentless and reliable.' Townsend addresses own future Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has addressed his own future, having already claimed that defence coach Steve Tandy wouldn't be taking the Wales head coach job. Townsend insisted that former Ospreys coach Tandy wouldn't be going anywhere, but there are also questions over his own future. The former Scotland fly-half's contract runs out next year, with another Wales target - Franco Smith - having been touted as a potential successor. However, Townsend has spoken about his future and the discussions he says must happen. Article continues below "If you get more into the year, those discussions would have to happen, whether they're initiated by my bosses or by myself," he told BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast. "I think there's obviously a lot of discussions around the Six Nations, the reviews of that, where we believe we need to improve, but also the longer-term future, what are the challenges coming up for Scotland and that ties in with the pathway and the longer-term strategy. "But I feel there's a lot to be optimistic about with the current group we have, the players that are coming through and the experiences the players had this year. Yes, we're disappointed we didn't win more games, but I know the performances that the players are delivering are putting us in positions to beat the best teams in the world and that's a good foundation to have. The next step is making sure we win those games we put that effort into winning."
