JUDGEMENTS

Winners and losers of the last seven days

WINNERS

Nathan Astle

The New Zealand opening batsman, dropped by Graham Thorpe when he had scored just one, who went on to hit a match-winning 101 against England in the opening World Cup game

Grimsby Town FC

Whose week began badly when their Italian Ivano Bonetti broke a cheekbone in a dressing-room fracas, but improved markedly when they knocked West Ham out of the FA Cup five days later.

Dwight Yorke

Who kept scoring as Aston Villa made further progress towards two Wembley finals.

LOSERS

Tim Rodber

Who was dropped by England's rugby union team against France, returned to play well in a poor team performance against Wales, but was then sacrificed to allow the talisman, Dean Richards, to return against Scotland.

Jennifer Capriati Who was due to make her comeback in Paris after 15 months out of competitive tennis, only to pull out an hour before the match with a hip strain.

Huddersfield Town

Who were seconds away from becoming the first giant-killers of the FA Cup's fifth round (assuming Wimbledon fit the description of "giants") when Efan Ekoku headed a late equaliser.

Peter Clohessy

Who will have six months in which to contemplate the folly of his actions in Paris. A bad day for Irish rugby become worse once TV replays revealed the Irish forward stamping on a Frenchman, an action for which he was swiftly banned.