Phil Godman kicked a last-minute drop-goal for Edinburgh to clinch victory over Racing Métro and keep them at the top of Pool 2 in the Heineken Cup. In a delicately poised group Edinburgh grabbed their second victory on the road to keep the pressure on Cardiff Blues as they hunt for their first quarter-final spot in eight years. Blues travel to London Irish on Saturday and will now need a victory to stay in touch with the Scots at the top. The back-row trio of Ross Rennie, Netani Talei and David Denton all crossed as the visitors led for the majority of the game. But Racing respond

Ben Morgan will find himself having to choose between England and Wales for a second time by the end of the year. It is a decision that will take more soul-searching than the one this month, when the Bristolian opted to commit his international future to the red rose rather than the red dragon and promptly found himself named in England's elite squad. Morgan, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday the week after the opening two rounds of the Six Nations next month, is in his third season with the Scarlets. He arrived in Llanelli via Dursley – the Gloucestershire club he represented for

Rory Lamont has apologised after being reprimanded for calling Barack Obama a "whore" on Twitter. The Scotland and Glasgow Warriors full-back wrote on 4 January: "The rise of [Republican presidential hopeful] Ron Paul in the US has to be the most inspiring story in western politics. He doesn't work for wall street like that whore Obama." Lamont, who has yet to delete the message, said on Friday: "If I have ever caused any offence from the language used in my tweets I do apologise." The 29-year-old, who is set to start for the Warriors in Sunday's Heineken Cup match with Leinster, made the

Harlequins v Gloucester Saturday 14 January, 6pm, The Stoop, Sky Sports 1 Harlequins' stirring triumph in Toulouse has helped blow Pool Six wide open and Conor O'Shea's side have been boosted by the return of Nick Evans to the No10 shirt this afternoon. Gloucester, beaten 28-9 by Quins at Kingsholm, have little hope of making the quarter-finals with a visit from Toulouse to come and they are handicapped by the loss of Olly Morgan, who is replaced at full-back by Jonny May. London Irish v Cardiff Blues Saturday 14 January, 3.40pm, Madejski Stadium London Irish, who have to win to stand a c

The Englishman Robert Rock beat the weather to take the lead at the Joburg Open on Friday. The 34-year-old from Staffordshire, chasing a second career win, shot a second-round 67 to hit the front just moments before a thunderstorm forced play to be abandoned for the day. Rock, who played the West course at Royal Joburg, is 11 under par after posting an eagle and four birdies on Friday, with bogies on the 8th and 12th holes. He is a shot clear of Jbe' Kruger and Branden Grace, who both went round the West in 66. Two more South Africans, Michiel Bothma and George Coetzee, are a shot further b

I wonder what more a track like Warwick has to do to attract a decent crowd after Saturday's excellent card failed to spark a stampede to the course. OK, it might have been better to have more than just one burger van (which attracted a constant queue from before the first until after the last) and a sweetie stall to feed those in the stands, while the 'entertainment' between races (for those who need such things) consisted of a good-looking young lad playing a few decent tunes on his guitar opposite the winning post. But it was an interesting day's action on a clear, dry afternoon, featuri

Johnston uses his nous over Rous Trainer Mark Johnston has long enjoyed great success at the big summer meetings such as Glorious Goodwood and in his stable's newsletter, the Kingsley Klarion, he reveals one of the secrets of his success. Agreeing with a column penned in the Racing Post Weekender by Nick Mordin, Johnston says he feels that the weight-for-age scale introduced by Admiral Rous more than 150 years ago and still used in racing has considerable anomalies and is ripe for re-examination. "For almost as long as I have been training, I have recognised that three-year-olds have a dist

The disquiet over the new whip rules remains an encumbrance to racing, with a day of fascinating clues both here and at Kempton as to the destination of future prizes at the Cheltenham Festival overshadowed by the seven-day ban given to the winning jockey after one of Saturday's biggest races. Will Kennedy, whose season has already been marked with notable ups and downs, endured another chequered day after he conjured a remarkable rally from heavily backed favourite Swincombe Flame to take Kempton's Lanzarote Hurdle. The stewards found he had used his whip 10 times on the winner and banned

Articulate, eccentric and a very, very good trainer: Nick Williams has not quite reached Sir Henry Cecil-like status but punters following his small stable have been counting the profits for several seasons and Swincombe Rock (2.50) can give the yard another high-profile winner in the William Hill Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton today. She is unbeaten in two starts in bumpers, her second victory coming in a competitive Listed-grade contest at Sandown, and the selection has built on the promise of her first start over hurdles to win her next two starts; on neither occasion was she asked to find

Robert Winston said on Friday that he will appeal against a 22-day ban imposed by the stewards at Southwell on Thursday for misuse of the whip, even though he does not believe he stands much chance of success. Winston's penalty was aggravated because it was his second offence under the British Horseracing Authority's strict new whip regulations. He was found to have used his whip excessively, and down the shoulder in the forehand position, when finishing second on Zenarinda in a handicap. Winston argues that he used his whip several times to stop Zenarinda hanging into an opponent, which c