Traditionally I have been here

Traditionally I have been here.”Schumacher was adamant the Austrian affair had done nothing to dent his commitment to Formula 1. “How do you say in English?” he asked, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”Barrichello maintains he has nothing to answer for at next month’s hearing. He said: “We will go and answer the questions, but I don’t have much to say anyway.” Barrichello was equally reluctant to say much ahead of Sunday’s race. He offered: “We’ll talk much more about this race before it, but we have a full weekend ahead of us.”The Brazilian, 30 today, preferred to give an insight into his powers of positive thinking, although he is currently shackled by contractual terms that clearly set out his obligations as No 2 to Schumacher.

“I had to follow orders in Austria,” he said, “but what matters is in my mind You can forget yourself when you are with Michael. It’s easy to be down when you are his No 2.”But tomorrow I shall wake up believing I can beat Michael I’m here to race and win I’ve had too many years with bad cars. Now I’m going to use it.”Jacques Villeneuve has rarely missed an opportunity to take a swipe at Schumacher and he duly weighed in yesterday. But the Canadian was exercised by the champion’s actions on the podium rather than on the circuit.Villeneuve, who survived Schumacher’s desperate lunge to win the 1997 title, said: “People shouldn’t be surprised at what Ferrari did. Schumacher would be stupid not to take everything given him, but then he should stick with it. Don’t fake embarrassment and hurt.”You raised your hand at the end, so even if you are embarrassed be a man, step to the top of the podium and take the trophy.” Informed of Villeneuve’s cutting remarks, Schumacher refused to comment.. Steve McCormack has become the predictable casualty of Salford’s poor start to the season, losing his job as coach after 10 months in charge.

“But we had to face up to where we are and where we go from here. In fairness to Steve, he understood that and was part of the decision.”Salford’s director of rugby, Steve Simms, who was brought in to work alongside McCormack at the start of this season, will take over coaching duties as the side prepares for a daunting trip to Hull on Sunday.The club hope, however, to make an appointment quickly. The names of the Leigh coach, Paul Terzis, and the former Salford player and Halifax coach, John Pendlebury, were being linked with the job even before McCormack’s departure.Pendlebury has been out of the game since leaving Halifax two years ago, while Terzis has been told that he will only be kept on at Leigh if they win promotion to Super League at the end of this season.The club’s experienced Australian winger, Michael Hancock, is another who could be considered along with Oldham’s John Harbin and Hull’s assistant Tony Anderson.New South Wales thrashed Queensland 32-4 yesterday in the first State of Origin match in Sydney, inspired by their captain, Andrew Johns. Johns dominated his opposing scrum-half, Allan Langer, in a display that brought him a try, four goals and a drop goal for a tally of 13 points before coming off with a damaged ankle..