Maro Itoje had said the British & Irish Lions wanted a complete performance as the signature to a perfect tour of Australia. Instead, their copy was blotted by a miserable final day where everything that could go wrong more or less did.
As one of three touring players who fell foul of head injuries in quick succession, the captain himself had to watch from the bench as their hopes of a series clean sweep were lanced by a dogged Australia.
Nic White, playing his 73rd and last Test, was the architect. The Wallabies scrum half was the stick in the spokes that brought the Lions machine crashing to a halt in Sydney.
White was given a curtain call with plenty of the game still to run. As he was substituted, he put his thumbs up to the crowd, who in turn showed their appreciation, and his teammates finished the job, closing out a 22-12 win.
It was a sorry end to an otherwise triumphant tour for the Lions. Even the elements conspired against them.
They had travelled 17,000kms – as well as a circuitous round-trip around Australia once they got there – only to end up with the sort of rain they would be used to in Dublin, or London, or the Valleys, or the Borders.
Despite it being classic Six Nations weather, it was the home team who coped better. So heavy was the rain in the first half, it was difficult to see the ball, let alone handle it.
Somehow, the hosts managed. By half time, they were 8-0 up, via a Dylan Pietsch try. That advantage was far smaller than the Lions had overhauled the previous week in sealing the series in Melbourne, but the visitors were being dominated.
At the start of the second half, the match was suspended as an electrical storm had set in. At least it gave the touring side a chance to count the bodies they had left.
Immediately before the decision was made to suspend play for 30 minutes because of a lightning strike in the Sydney area, James Ryan had been knocked out.
His second row partner, Itoje, had failed a head injury assessment, as did the Lions wing Tommy Freeman.
While the coaching staff had a look round to see who was still available when play resumed, the players themselves looked for ways to keep themselves entertained during the unforeseen break.
Finn Russell went on his mobile phone. Tadgh Furlong, Jamison Gibson-Park and Bundee Aki had a chill back on some beanbags.
In the opposition dressing room, assistant coach Geoff Parling was on his laptop, seemingly running a couple of players through some tactics.
Maybe the former England lock was recapping the Wallabies players the crucial impact he had for the opposition in the series 12 years ago.
Stung by going 2-0 down, the home players had clearly wanted to leave a mark in the final Test. They did, both on bodies as well as the scoreboard.
In the 22nd minute, there was a fracas after Will Skelton had been riling his former Saracens club mate Itoje. White joined in, starting a rare up with Dan Sheehan, the Lions hooker.
As the whistle was blowing for half time, it was announced Itoje was off for good, with Freeman suffering the same fate.
Two minutes after the break, Ryan became the third player concussed. The Irish second row was sparked out when he received a knee to the temple while trying to tackle Skelton.
Then there was the extended suspension in play. The gap in play was as long as either half lasted. If Lions fans thought it might revive their side, they were to be sorely disappointed.
As soon as they restarted, the Australians were back in the ascendancy. They scored tries through Max Jorgenson and Tate McDermott, either side of one for Jac Morgan, the Lions replacement.
The Lions were at least afforded a reminder that they had actually won the series as they scored with the last play, through the replacement, Will Stuart. Not that victory tasted so sweet for them by then.
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600
Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
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Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
