5 h. ago Northampton’s Fin Smith: ‘We love being written off. We’d back ourselves against anybody’

England and Lions fly-half on run to Champions Cup final, controlling his inner demons and playing junior tennis alongside Jack Draper“I was always angry,” Fin Smith remembers as he explains his transition from a volatile young tennis player into the decisively calm fly-half for Northampton, England and the Lions who is as serene as he is interesting. Smith has had a remarkable year so far but there is an understated lightness about him as he recalls playing in tennis tournaments alongside Jack Draper, the current world No 5.“As an 11-year-old tennis player I was very angry,” he says at Franklin’s Gardens, having just completed Northampton Saints’ final training session before they face Bordeaux on Saturday in the Champions Cup final. “I used to blow up and smash rackets a lot. But getting that out of my system at a young age, while facing set points and match points, can only benefit me when I’m playing rugby under pressure and really taking on an internal battle.” Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago ‘Climate change is going to cull us as a species’: folk hero Peggy Seeger on Bob Dylan, the ultimate love song and touring at 90

The musician and activist answers your questions about her marriage to Ewan MacColl, being the inspiration for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, and her mother’s legacyTouring at 90 is amazing. What was a career highlight? Nicens_boiWhen I was 60 the thought of touring when I was 70 was anathema and the thought of touring at 90 seemed dreadful! The hardest part is sitting in the car. We’re gonna be away six weeks and I’m a walking hospital case. I have meds, a step stool so I can put on compression stockings, and arthritis in both hands. My family treat me like glass, but as soon as I get on stage all these things melt away. I can only tour because I have my crew – my sons Neill and Calum, my daughter-in-law Kerry Harvey-Piper and an excellent sound engineer, Stefan Care. Or rather, they’re not my crew, I’m their singer. I don’t think in terms of career highlights because I could yet muck it up.What’s it like being the subject of one the greatest love songs ever written [The Firs...

Society

2 w. ago Man suspected of ramming Jennifer Aniston’s gates claimed in Facebook posts that they shared a child together and that she was his ‘bride’

Gate-crashing suspect Jimmy Wayne Carwyle appears to have written dozens of Facebook posts professing his love for the actress

Politics

2 w. ago The Extraordinary Miss Flower review – secret life exposed through treasure trove of love letters

Nick Cave and Richard Ayoade are among those reading out the posthumously discovered missives that inspired an album by Emilíana Torrini, who soundtracks this gorgeous filmYou’d be forgiven for not having heard of Geraldine Flower, the subject of A new film from artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, the pair behind the 2014 Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth. (Cave makes an appearance here reading a letter or two.) Flower was not famous in her lifetime and in fact, after watching the film we’re none the wiser about how she spent her later years. But when she died in 2019, a suitcase packed with hundreds of love letters written to her by smitten men in the 60s and 70s was found in her London flat.The letters inspired a 2024 album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini (called Miss Flower) and also this intriguing, gorgeous and creative documentary – a film somewhere between an installation with songs and an extended music promo. It features Torrini and her band perf...

Politics

3 w. ago Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast set for shootout in Champions Cup semi

Fly half hopefuls Smith and Prendergast will battle as Northampton take on a mighty challenge against Leinster

Events

3 w. ago Northampton’s Fin Smith eager to seize final chance to show Lions credentials

The England fly-high will go head to head with Leinster rival Sam Prendergast in Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final.

Politics