2012 » ent Simpson over for Wasps third.ddddddddddd

TORONTO -- Four weeks into his time at Toronto FC and Duncan Oughton has yet to witness a victory. But the assistant coach, a friend of Toronto manager and fellow Kiwi Ryan Nelsen, sees good things ahead for the struggling MLS franchise. "Ive known Ryan a long time and I believe in him 100 per cent," Oughton said after practice this week. "I like the way he does things. On the coaching side Ive seen it before as a player, how he ran teams, organized teams especially with the New Zealand team." Oughton believed in Nelsen enough to uproot his life from Columbus, his home for a dozen years since the Crew chose him 10th overall in the first round of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft. Nelsen went fourth overall that same year, to D.C. United. Both men came to California for college. Oughton played for Cal-State Fullerton, while Nelsen went to Stanford. Although he was primarily a holding midfielder, Oughton played a variety of positions in midfield and the backline. His playing career was interrupted by a serious knee injury in the final game of the 2004 season. He would not return until August 2006, after an experimental surgical procedure in which his own cartilage was grown in a lab and then reimplanted in his right knee. The scar is still visible and his right leg doesnt straighten quite as well as the left. He feels the effects of the injury daily. "Even when I came back, I was never the same," Oughton conceded. "But I think I grew upstairs. My brain had to be a little faster because my legs certainly werent." Oughton and Nelsen first played together in 2002, rooming together for part of New Zealands qualifying effort for the 2003 Confederations Cup. Now they scheme together on the sidelines. "Hes definitely got things mapped out, got a plan for how he wants to do things and how the staff want to do things," said Oughton. The Toronto coaching staff discuss the approach and tweak it as needed, but the framework is always there in advance. Oughton, who turns 36 on June 14, arrives with plenty of knowledge of MLS and a winning resume that includes the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2002), MLS Cup (2008) and Supporters Shield (2004, 2008 and 2009). He retired as a player in February 2010 after making 136 appearances for Columbus. On the international scene, he made his debut for the All Whites against Tahiti in 2002 and went on to win 25 caps, scoring twice. His last New Zealand appearance was against South Africa in the 2009 Confederations Cup. Oughton scored goals against Tahiti and the Solomon Islands and has plenty of memories of exotic locales. "You do travel some great places," he recalled. But there were also some nightmare venues. "Steaming hot, bumpy fields. Theyd kick you and the referees dont give you much love down there." After retiring, he watched Nelsen lead New Zealand to three draws at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The All Whites failed to advance but they won their first points at the tournament and finished undefeated, ahead of four-time world champion Italy in their group. "Ryan was obviously the face of that team," said Oughton. "It takes a team to get things done but he was the face, he was the leader. At times, I think he was kind of the organizer/coach of that team." Oughton, who has a cheeky sense of humour, cant resist a shot at his friend, however, calling Nelsen "a B-Grade celebrity down in New Zealand." "I dont want to give him an A. His head might get too big." Nelsen, who was absent in Europe this week scouting and helping his family move, gives as good as he gets. When the two met before a pre-season game in Orlando in February, Nelsen gave Oughton the gears by suggesting he might have put on a few pounds. After retiring, Oughton served briefly in the Columbus front office as assistant to the technical director before becoming an assistant coach. Nelsen brought him on board in early May, adding to the coaching staff of Jim Brennan, Jason Bent and Stewart Kerr that he had inherited when he took over earlier this year. "When (Nelsen) called me, not that long ago now, and said Hey, would you have interest. Of course, I was interested. Its a great organization," Oughton recalled. "I feel like its got so much potential here that he will realize with this team. I was exited to be a part of that. "At the end of the day, although I love Columbus and it was a decision to make, it was a no-brainer really." With Toronto (1-7-5), Oughton has been watching games from on high, going down at halftime to report his findings. While he has yet to look down on a win, he says he sees talent, determination and improvement. "Im excited. I wouldnt have come here if I didnt think the right people were in place," Oughton said. "Theres a lot of good players in that locker-room, a lot of good guys. "Things are definitely looking up." 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Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race.Wasps made an impressive start to their Champions Cup campaign with a twelve try, 82-14 thrashing of Zebre at the Ricoh Arena.The Italians had no answer to the power of the home pack in which Nathan Hughes and Joe Launchbury excelled and this allowed the Wasps backs to run riot and record their highest score in the top tier of European competition.Rob Miller and Joe Simpson scored two each with Frank Halai, Ashley Johnson, Elliot Daly, Jake Cooper-Woolley, Josh Bassett, James Gaskell, Dan Robson and Launchbury one apiece. Danny Cipriani converted six and Jimmy Gopperth five.Federico Ruzza scored two tries for Zebre with Edoardo Padovani converting both. Having picked up a side strain injury, Christian Wade was an absentee for Wasps with Septembers Premiership player of the month, Gopperth, on the replacement bench.Zebre hooker Carlo Festuccia returned to the Ricoh Arena to face his old club but it promised to be a long afternoon for him when Wasps took the lead after only two minutes. Hughes and Kyle Eastmond made big inroads into the visitors defence before Cipriani and Daly combined to present Miller with a simple run-in.Five minutes later, the hosts went further ahead when a Simpson pass sent Cooper-Woolley crashing over, with Cipriani converting both scores for a healthy early advantage. Worse was to follow for Zebre with two further blows in quick succession.First their number eight Dries Van Schalkwyk was sin-binned for an illegal tackle on Wasps skipper Launchbury, before a neat pass ffrom Cipriani sent Simpson over for Wasps third.dddddddddddd The nightmare continued for the hapless Italians when flanker Jacopo Sarto was helped off with a leg injury but his replacement Ruzza did put them on the scoreboard with a try from a driving line-out.Van Schalkwyk returned from the sin-bin in time to see Wasps collect their bonus-point try in the 25th minute when a cross-field kick from Cipriani was seized upon by Halai to present Miller with his second of the match.A fifth try for Wasps soon followed when a long pass from Cipriani sent Halai galloping to the line before Ruzza responded with his second after intercepting a stray pass. Just before the interval, Simpson made the running for Johnson to score with Ciprianis sixth conversion of the half giving Wasps a 42-14 half-time lead.The second half also started badly for Zebre when Daly collected the kick-off to score as the Italians stood and watched, before Eastmond departed for a head assessment with Gopperth coming on in his place. Festuccia was sent to the sin bin before Eastmond returned to take the place of Cipriani in the 52nd minute and Launchbury crashed over from a line-out to take Wasps past 50.Despite Daly and Launchbury leaving the field, Zebre just could not stem the flow with Bassett, Gaskell, Simpson and Robson all scoring tries in the final 25 minutes to crush the demoralised Italians. ' ' '