Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/472423
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 MARCH 2015 Sport 23 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Partly cloudy VISIBILITY: Good WIND: Northwest force 3 to 4 backing Southwest force 3 to 4 SEA: Moderate becoming slight to moderate SWELL: Low Northwest becoming negligible SEA TEMP: 15 °C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. PARTLY CLOUDY 20 º C / 13 º C UV INDEX: 2 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits RUGBY Across 1. Act as a servant (5) 3. Auctions (5) 6. Traded (4) 7. Coiffure (6) 9. Strange and mysterious (5) 10. Speech defect (4) 11. Falsehood (3) 13. Cease (4) 15. Pacific country (5) 18. Weights (6) 19. Charts (4) 20. Foot-wear (5) 21. Unit of capacity (5) Down 1. Former county in SE England (6) 2. Sovereign (5) 3. Having no seams (8) 4. Songbirds (5) 5. Retail store (4) 8. Powerless (8) 12. Bother (6) 14. Latin-American dance (5) 16. Intended (5) 17. Canines (4) Nd4+ Kc7 Qf7+ Kc8 Bxd6 Kd8 (or c4) Rb8 mate Pascal Pape loses appeal Pascal Pape's RBS 6 Nations career has ended in acrimony after the France lock lost his appeal against a 10-week ban for kneeing Ireland's Jamie Heaslip in the back PAPE had claimed the 10-week sanction was "excessive and disproportionate", but a Six Na- tions disciplinary committee threw out his case at a hearing in London. The 34-year-old is set to re- tire from Test rugby after the autumn's World Cup: now his last meaningful Six Nations contribution has become the challenge that left Heaslip with three cracked vertebrae in his back. "The appeal committee, hav- ing considered submissions on behalf of the player and on behalf of the Six Nations dis- ciplinary officer, dismissed the appeal with the result that the original sanction of a 10-week suspension stands," read a Six Nations statement. Stade Francais lock Pape was sin-binned by referee Wayne Barnes for kneeing Heaslip in Ireland 's 18-11 victory in Dub- lin on February 14. The former Bourgoin second- row was later cited for the chal- lenge, before being hit with his 10-week ban at a disciplinary hearing in London. Pape was found to have struck Leinster star Heaslip deliber- ately in the original Six Nations hearing. After losing his ban he will now be forced to sit out of ac- tion until May 18. France boss Philippe Saint- Andre defended Pape in the wake of the challenge, claiming the contact with Heaslip's back was an accident. Pape himself later apologised to Heaslip via Twitter, with the British and Irish Lions loose- forward fully accepting the so- cial media sentiments. Heaslip accepted Pape's apol- ogy, by tweeting: "@pascalpape thanks for your message. It's a physical game that we play and these things happen. I fully ac- cept your apology." France star Pape had claimed his actions were unintentional, but that did not find any merit with Six Nations bosses. Pascal Pape