strength England XV at Twickenham in 1978 and a 24-13 defeat of Australia in 1979.The Welsh Brewers had no doubts: The

Former Newcastle striker Michael Chopra fears manager Rafa Benitez could leave for pastures new if the club are relegated from the Premier League.Newcastle face the prospect of being relegated on Wednesday night if Sunderland beat Everton at the Stadium of Light, live on Sky Sports 1 HD.Chopra, who also had a two-year spell at Sunderland, ending in 2009, is worried Newcastle may struggle in the Championship with the players they have, especially if Benitez departs. Asked if he thought Benitez will leave if Newcastle are relegated, Chopra told Sky Sports News HQ: You would think that because other teams will be looking at him.People forget he was Real Madrid manager this time last year but Id like to see him stay if they get relegated because he is a great manager, and if he did stay I believe they would come straight back up. Chopra played 29 games for Newcastle including a Champions League tie against Barcelona in 2002 But if he goes I think they may struggle in the Championship because they dont have the type of players they had last time they went down in 2009. They dont have Kevin Nolan, the Joey Barton, or Andy Carroll; players that know about the Championship and players that are ready to fight for the football club. Chopra - Newcastle appointed Benitez too late There are too many foreign players where you wonder if theyll want to go to Cardiff on a Tuesday night or Brentford on a Wednesday night when its pouting down with rain. Those sorts of players wont want to do that so if they go down its not looking good for them. Chopra has questioned why fan-favourite Benitez was not brought in sooner Newcastle academy graduate Chopra, who went to the same school as Alan Shearer, is surprised the board did not act quicker to replace Steve McClaren when it became apparent a relegation battle was looming.They did it a few years ago when they appointed Alan Shearer as manager with eight games to go, and they knew they were in a position with probably 15 games to go that they were in a relegation fight, he added. Chopra turned out for the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned Kerala Blaster in the inaugural Indian Super League I dont know why the board and everyone left it so late to appoint Rafa and you look at what hes done, what hes done to the defence and the team and how hes got them playing.The fans love him and its a shame he hasnt had more time to do it because I believe coming into the last few games of the season they would have been firmly out of the relegation battle if he had been appointed earlier. Chopra - Newcastle appointed Benitez too late Chopra played with Jermain Defoe in Englands youth ranks and admits the Sunderland strikers form makes him a candidate to be named in Roy Hodgsons England squad on Thursday.Ive known Jermain since I was 15 years old, said Chopra who counts Cardiff, Ipswich and Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters among his former clubs. Chopra thinks Jermain Defoe must be in contention for Englands Euro 2016 squad I played with him from England U16s right through to the U21s and you knew then that if you give him a chance he will stick it in the back of the net.Newcastle dont have a 10 or 20-goal-a-season goalscorer whereas Sunderland do and that could be the difference between Sunderland staying up and Newcastle going down.I think Roy [Hodgson] has to look at him because he will be looking at players who are in form come the end of the season. Andros Townsend has been unbelievable for Newcastle says Chopra Another player Id like to see go is Andros Townsend. The last few weeks and months hes been unbelievable for Newcastle and if England want to go places theyve got to take in-form players.But Roy knows the game inside-out and he will have his own thinking. Defoe has been in and out of England squads his whole career and like I said before, give him a chance and hell stick it away. If England need him, hell do a job for them.Also See:Benitez rues missed chancesNewcastle on brink after drawAllardyce: Defoe for EnglandBorini aims to seal safety earlyJan Vertonghen Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Marouane Fellaini Belgium Jersey . 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Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later.Rugby lives rarely come longer or more varied than that of Tom Holley, who died in January aged 99.He was one of the unlucky generation which lost its best years to the Second World War. A product of the St Peters club, he had not long broken into the Cardiff XV as a back row when war broke out in 1939, and was over 30 by the time peace-time rugby resumed in September 1946.While he had the rare distinction of playing for Cardiff either side of the war, his first team career amounted to no more than 10 matches. There were, though, a further 62 for Cardiffs renowned second team, the Rags and victories, more than a decade apart, in the Cardiff and District Rugby Unions Mallett Cup.And he did play once for Wales -- or at least for a team of that name against England in a charity match played between servicemen stationed in Palestine in 1942. His dummy created the decisive score for Wales in a 5-3 victory.But he lives on vividly in Cardiffs annals as their trainer and masseur for decades after the war, also serving the national team. The award of an MBE for services to sport in 1985 -- matching the BEM won in 1943 by his father, also Tom, for heroism in the bombing of the Cardiff docks -- reflected that contribution to rugby, service as secretary of the International Baseball Board (governing body for the distinctive code played in Cardiff and Liverpool) and his cool, live-saving response to an on-field incident 40 years ago this week, on October 2 1976.He was on duty as usual at a Cardiff match, though it was hardly a routine contest. Argentina, visiting Wales for the first time, were the opposition at the National Stadium.The match was part of Cardiffs centenary season and came only a week after they had played, and beaten 24-13, an Overseas International XV featuring players from nine countries, the match decided by a 70 yard interception try from their captain, Gerald Davies.On the Wednesday in between they had lost to Waless other centenarians of that season, Aberavon. The Argentinians, meanwhile, had been warning anyone taking notice of their prowess, scoring four tries to one in beating a powerful East Wales team 25-22 at a rain-sodden Rodney Parade. They had dominated the scrums in spite of the presence of the legendary Pontypool front row among the opposition, hooker Bobby Windsor conceding: Lets face it, they took us to the cleaners.Prominent in that powerful scrum, packing down opposite the venerable but feared Charlie Faulkner, was Mario Carluccio, a product of the Deportiva Francesa club in Buenos Aires. True to Argentinian tradition, he could play either side of the scrum and on the Saturday switched across to face the scarcely less formidable Mike Knill.Cardiff were unchanged from the previous Saturday, while Argentina fielded 12 of the team which had triumphed at Newport, the only changes coming in the front row and because of injury to tour captain Arturo Rodriguez Jurado. And on a bright sunny day, the tourists showed themselves equally equipped for those conditions.Former Wales full-back Vivian Jenkins quipped in his match report that some Cardiff forwards played as though they, rather than their club, were 100 years old. Gareth Edwards made one of his few recorded errors, throwing out a wild pass which led to an Argentinian try.Again the Pumas scored four tries, but where three at Newport came from forwards, all of these were touched down by outside backs. Wing Jorge Gauweloose crossed twice, with the others coming from full-back Martin Sansot and wing Daniel Becca Varela, as the tourists ran up a 29-6 lead.Cardiffs response came from their pack. The Welsh Brewers Rugby Annual for Wales reported that props Nelmes and Knill burrowed low under their opponents and destroyed their scrum drive, and Cardiff became tigers in attack. The Pumas did not know which way to turn as the pressure built on their overstretched defence. No.8 Bob Dudley-Jones, also a Glamorgan county cricketer, crossed twice with lock Peter Rawlins claiming a third try as Cardiff fought back to 29-25.Fifteen minutes from time a scrum collapsed, leaving Carluccio motionless..dddddddddddd It was, it is worth remembering, only a few months since Wales captain Mervyn Davies had come close to dying during a match on the ground next door.Summoned from the sidelines, Holley gave the Argentinian the kiss-of-life, reporting later that Marios tongue had relaxed about two inches or more down the back of his throat. He was conscious, but was getting hardly any air.Mervyn Davies would never play again, but Carluccios mishap had a happier ending. Taken to hospital, he later appeared at the after-match dinner suffering only from a bruised jaw. He was well enough to play 10 days later against West Wales at Stradey Park, and against the All Blacks back in Argentina a month later.His international career ended in July 1977 with Argentinas historic 18-18 draw against the touring French. Chosen for the South American championship tournament in October 1977, he was one of a group of players who withdrew when the Argentinian Rugby Union vetoed the choice of Rodriguez Jurado as captain and were suspended as a punishment. His subsequent contribution to the game has included spells of coaching with the Deportiva Francesa club and at the rugby outpost of San Martin de los Andes.Tom Holleys finest hour was also arguably the moment at which British rugby became fully aware of Argentinian rugbys potential. The South Africans had known about them since the 1960s but Britain, in spite of historic links, was slower to catch on. The Pumas 1973 tour to Ireland and Scotland was more remembered for their propensity for dangerous tackling than holding a full-strength Scottish team to 12-11.Victories over powerful Welsh teams -- the Pumas hung on to their 29-25 lead, with Gerald Davies conceding that To an extent they beat themselves -- were harder to dismiss. And any doubts were ended two weeks later back at the National Stadium.Wales were reigning Grand Slam champions, and would not lose to any European opponent other than France between 1975 and 1979. The All Blacks would be the only team to beat them at Cardiff between 1968 and 1982. Nobody came closer to truncating that home run than the Pumas. Facing a full-strength Wales XV, with only Mervyn Davies, lock Allan Martin and centre Steve Fenwick missing from the Grand Slam team, they fought back from a 17-6 deficit to lead 19-17 five minutes into injury time.As Wales pressed desperately, JPR Williams broke in midfield and was confronted by 6ft 4in centre Adolfo Travaglini, described in the Welsh Brewers as a granite-like defender who stretched enormous arms to engulf any who tried to pass him.Travaglini tackled hard and high, JPR went down and Scottish referee Norman Sansom blew for the 40-yard penalty which Waless new captain Phil Bennett landed unerringly to salvage a 20-19 victory.Not many observers, though, could disagree with the view of Pumas manager Carlos Contepomi -- a year later to become the father of famed twin sons -- when he said that: The way we came back in the second half, I thought that we deserved to win.The 1976 tour inaugurated a period in which every year brought a breakthrough for the Pumas. They returned home from Wales to entertain the All Blacks for the first time. The draw with France followed in 1977, then a 13-13 draw with an almost-full-strength England XV at Twickenham in 1978 and a 24-13 defeat of Australia in 1979.The Welsh Brewers had no doubts: The Pumas are no longer an emerging rugby power -- they have ARRIVED.Yet Wales did not award caps for the match, even though its own team and the opposition were of unquestionable international quality. One might also think that such impressive tourists would earn an early return invitation, but not so. The Falklands/Malvinas War of 1982 did not help, but that the Pumas were not invited back to play Wales for a further 22 years -- their World Cup clash of 1991 came from the tournament draw, not a WRU invitation -- shows that there is nothing new in short-sightedness towards the games developing nations. ' ' '