• October 12 down the years

A deadly dozen from England

Will Greenwood was one of 10 tryscoring players for England © Getty Images

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2003
England's rugby union boys began their all-conquering World Cup campaign with an 84-6 win over Georgia that wasn't as easy as it looked. The Georgian pack was one of the hardest in world rugby, and England captain Martin Johnson knew his forwards had been in a contest: 'They were big physical guys and they flew into the tackles with relish...It took us a couple of days to get over the stiffness and soreness.' But of course England were a class apart, and their 12 tries were shared by ten different players. Big wing Ben Cohen snapped up two of them - amazingly, the only ones he scored in the entire tournament - while Jonny Wilkinson and Paul Grayson kicked nine conversions. One of Georgia's two penalty goals was kicked by Makho Urjukashvili, who'd won his first cap on the same day in 1997 when he'd just turned 17.

Meanwhile, over in Japan, Michael Schumacher was winning the Formula 1 world title for the sixth time, breaking the record he shared with Juan Manuel Fangio (August 4, 1957). He had to go to the wire to do it. Before today's last race of the season, he led Kimi Räikkönen by nine points, but he qualified way down in 14th place and broke a front wing in a collision during the race itself. Luckily for him, Räikkönen was only 8th on the grid, while Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello started on pole and went on to win, holding off the McLarens of Räikkönen and David Coulthard. Schumacher fought his way up into 8th place, enough to take the title by two points. He retained it the following year (October 10), while Räikkönen had to wait until Lewis Hamilton handed it to him (October 21, 2007).

On the same day in 1991, Wales crashed out of another rugby union World Cup. It had been almost inevitable since their opening defeat by Western Samoa (October 6), and now one of their weakest packs in years took on one of Australia's best ever teams. Wales were at home in Cardiff, but that was never going to make any difference. Wales won only two lineouts all afternoon, while Australia won 16 in the first half alone. And the scoreline might have been even more embarrassing than 38-3 if Michael Lynagh hadn't missed four out of six penalties early on. Wales conceded three tries in the five minutes before half-time and another three in the second half. All six were scored by Australia's talented backs: Lynagh, David Campese, Tim Horan, Marty Roebuck, who scored two - and scrum-half Peter Slattery, a very effective replacement for the injured Nick Farr-Jones. Wales lock Kevin Moseley, who'd had to face John Eales in the lineout, wasn't capped again, while Australia moved on to a thrilling quarter-final against Ireland (October 20)...

...who were left with that unenviable prospect after losing their group decider at Murrayfield. As always in this tournament, the Irish relied on the kicking of fly-half Ralph Keyes, and his drop goal and four penalties gave them a 12-9 lead at half-time. But Scotland had more firepower in the backs. Tries by rugged scrum-half Gary Armstrong and substitute Graham Shiel were backed up by Gavin Hastings' place kicking, which provided 13 points in their 24-15 win. Scotland were through to a quarter-final against the Samoans which was easier on paper but not on Scottish bodies (October 19).

1964
The closest any British swimmer has ever come to winning the blue riband event at the Olympic Games. If they win golds at all, the men usually do it at breaststroke. David Wilkie in 1976 (July 24), Duncan Goodhew in 1980 (July 22), Adrian Moorhouse in 1988 (September 19). Freestyle's more problematic. The 100 metres freestyle above all. British male swimmers have won only one Olympic medal in the event: today's silver in Tokyo. The gold was expected to be contested by European champion and world record holder Alain Gottvalles of France; Gary Ilman, who swam the fastest time in qualifying; and Bobby McGregor, a superbly built Scot who was one of the fastest of his generation. But Gottvalles finished only fifth, Ilman fourth after hitting a wave coming out of the turn, and McGregor didn't win many important events. He was second in two Commonwealth Games and again here - though today he was brave and a little unlucky. Worried about his recent lack of conditioning, he gambled on blowing the field away - and nearly succeeded. He led with 20 metres to go before being passed by someone with more endurance. Ilman's US team-mate Don Schollander was the best 200-metre swimmer of his generation, setting nine world records from 1963 to 1968. There was no 200 freestyle at these Olympics, so Schollander entered the 100 and 400. Because he breathed only to his right, he couldn't see McGregor in lane two - so when he thought he was ahead with ten yards to go, he was still in second place. But McGregor was tired by then, while Schollander was pouring it on: 'He was decelerating and I was accelerating, and I touched him out - just.' Schollander later won gold in the 400 metres and two relays. McGregor won the 100 metres at the 1966 European Championships, but Olympic gold stayed out of reach: he was fourth in 1968 (October 19).

Here in Tokyo, the women's 200 metres breaststroke was won by a big name. Just about the biggest. Fifteen-year-old Galina Prozumenshchikova came through to win by more than a second and set a Games record. She won bronze in the event at each of the next two Olympics.

1985
Pat Cowdell's second attempt at a world title didn't last as long as the first. Four years earlier, he'd gone to Texas to take on Mexico's Salvador Sánchez for the WBC featherweight title - which was about as tough as it gets. A Mexican in front of a crowd of Mexicans, and one of the great Mexicans at that. Sánchez was good enough to keep the title by stopping the great Wilfredo Gómez, and after the Cowdell fight he beat the dangerous Ghanaian Azumah Nelson. That was Sánchez's last fight before he died in a car crash. His fight with Nelson ended in the last round, as did the one with Cowdell, who was ahead on one of the judges' cards when Sánchez knocked him down in the 15th. Now Pat got his second chance, which was as tough as the first. He faced Nelson, who'd taken the WBC title from Gómez and was a savage puncher. Still, the fight was at the NEC in Birmingham, Cowdell's home town. And he seemed to have the ringcraft to outscore Nelson while staying out of harm's way. Um, not quite. Cowdell started busily, throwing left hands to Nelson's body, but the difference in physique looked ominous: Cowdell long and bony, Nelson compact and strong. The fight didn't last the first round. Nelson threw a kind of left hook cum uppercut which knocked Cowdell out cold, unconscious for several minutes while a doctor worked on him. He recovered to win the British super-featherweight title, retiring when he lost it. Nelson went on winning world title fight - lots of 'em - until 1996.

Barriers came down in the Marathon today.

In 1925, Albert Michelsen of the USA became the first runner to cover the classic distance in under 2½ hours. At Port Chester in New York State, he clocked 2 hours 29 minutes 01.8 seconds to finish more than two minutes clear of Clarence DeMar, who won the Boston Marathon a record seven times as well as bronze at the 1924 Olympics. Both of them ran faster than the previous world best set by the great Hannes Kolehmainen at the 1920 Games (August 22), and Michelsen's time wasn't beaten until March 1935. Women started breaking 2½ hours in 1979.

In 1975, another American runner became the first woman to break 2 hours 40 minutes. At Eugene in Oregon, Jacky Hansen finished 11th in a race which included men. Her time of 2 hours 38 minutes 19 seconds broke the world record by nearly two minutes.

1929
In baseball, the Chicago Cubs lost a game after leading 8-0. The Philadelphia Athletics scored 10 points in a single inning on the way to winning the World Series 4-1. The Cubs had won the title on the same day in 1907 after a shock defeat the previous year (October 14).

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