The Gardeners' World Blog

Apologies to any Irish readers who probably haven't enjoyed this footballing week too much, but the rest of us return to following our clubs this weekend buoyed by some fine international results.

Wales won't qualify for Euro 2008, but a thumping win in Slovakia suggested better times ahead. England performed well twice at Wembley and may just have hit upon a winning formula through injury and suspension. Those of us old enough to remember the 1986 World Cup, and the enforced changes which eventually produced a balanced side, have been busy drawing parallels. Some older hands have even been suggesting that Wayne Rooney may be the Jimmy Greaves of 2008 - any opportunity to drag '66 into everything it seems! And, in any case, qualifying is still going to be difficult enough without debating team selection for next summer just yet.

It was kind of inevitable following the excitement of the 2006 MotoGP season where the championship went down to the very last race that 2007 might not live up to the same billing. Nobody, however, expected Casey Stoner to display such total dominance this year and stand on the brink of his first world title with five races still to go.

Without doubt the new tyre rules have played their part but the teams have also struggled to compete with the outstanding Ducati package. Honda failed to mount a defence of Nicky Hayden’s title and Yamaha have not been able to deliver Rossi the speed he needed to keep up with Casey.

It could all be decided on Sunday but the Ducati rider still needs Rossi to finish 15 points behind him and I’m not sure the season is over yet.