Or the Scots and Irish, who have undergone radical surgery for their Murrayfield meeting tomorrow.Or the French, who may at last have settled on the right selection for tomorrow's game but did so only by changing half the team who lost to Argentina. Dickie Bird was a charming companion to his friends and colleagues who will miss his grace and light, unfailing humour and the wit and alertness which informed everything he undertook. That surprising result is reported by J Velazquez-Moctezuma in his paper REM Sleep deprivation in pregnant rats induce sexual behaviour impairments in offspring (Journal of Sleep Research, Vol 1, 1992, Helsinki supplement). 'If a firm decided to open a new specialist department, for instance, it would probably want to discuss it with the group. At the moment we have neither, and our political malaise starts there. On the one hand, we have a party of authority, the Conservatives, that has, from long years in office, lapsed into a state of torpid complacency about the condition of democracy. Even the big symbol suspended over the stage, which on last year's tour throbbed and glowed and made like a spaceship, sits still this time and contents itself with winking occasionally. Not that the show was entirely without grandstand moments.

Jessups said it would make a loss for the 16 months to the end of last year despite a strong performance over the previous 12 months. Life companies will be put on a level playing field with other forms of saving. It is a feeling that you can't win against this guy.'If it was any consolation, Andre Agassi was treated similarly, taking only seven games off Courier in the semi- finals. But, on publication, they are neither in the report nor the annexe. They are waiting to hear from me as we rush towards them at just over 120mph.