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General Sports News

Reds deal leaves Rafa happy

Author: Rose Young
Date: 19/03/2009

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez insists he never had any plans to leave Anfield after finally penning a new long-term contract with the club.

The former Valencia coach has signed a deal that will keep him at Merseyside until the end of the 2013-14 campaign, silencing online betting pundits who were predicting his departure.

Elsewhere, Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz could miss Paraguay's World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Ecuador because of his troublesome knee injury.

The 27-year-old former Bayern Munich star has been sidelined for the last fortnight with the problem and believes he will not be able to return to action until next month.

The Football Association has fined Phil Brown and warned the Hull City manager as to his future conduct.

The Tigers boss admitted a charge of improper conduct after becoming involved in a touchline confrontation with Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear during an FA Cup match at St James' Park on 14 January.

The FA's Regulatory Commission fined Brown £2,500, while a personal hearing date for Kinnear has yet to be scheduled.

In cricket, Andrew Strauss has been passed fit to play in England's opening one-day match against the West Indies.

The captain will be able to open the batting in Guyana on Friday even though he appeared to sustain a hamstring strain in the Twenty20 defeat on Sunday.

In rugby union, Nick Mallett's winless Italy side will remain the same for their final Six Nations match of 2009 against France in Rome.

The decision comes after an improved performance at home to Wales last weekend, when the underdogs almost caused a shock before eventually succumbing 20-15.

It was Italy's best showing of what has been a largely disappointing tournament and, with France looking out-of-sorts against England on Sunday, the Italians sense a potential upset.

Scrum-half Paul Griffin was the only injury worry after the Wales match, but his rib problem is not thought to be serious enough to prevent him facing the French.

Meanwhile, Guinness Premiership club Saracens have been forced to make an embarrassing U-turn on their decision to sack 15 players.

The Watford-based outfit have installed Stormers defence coach Brendan Venter as head coach and, as part of his plans, 15 players were told they would be laid off.

However, the club have now been informed that the cost of severance pay would have to be taken from the club's salary cap, leaving them with little cash to spend on players' wages for next season.

Finally, it has been revealed that the Oxford crew for this year's University Boat Race is the heaviest in the event's 180-year history.

The crew - containing five Olympians - weighed just over 15st 9lb on average, beating the previous record, which was set in 2005 by Oxford, by three pounds.

Sunday's race will also see the heaviest ever Cambridge crew as they average just over 15st 1lb each.

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