Weakest Link Rugby Special - part 6

And then there were three...

The BBC's charity Rugby Special of the quiz show The Weakest Link is getting down to the cutting edge as the numbers dwindle and the wonderful ending gets nearer.

Nine international players took part, which Anne Robinson of the razor tongue seemed to enjoy.

The players who started off were Will Greenwood, Colin Charvis, Brian Moore, Geordan Murphy, Matt Dawson, Simon Taylor, Thomas Castaignède, Matt Dawson and Martin Bayfield.

Each round the contestants vote off a player dubbed the weakest link. In order those who voted off in the first five rounds were Healey, Dawson, Castaignède, Charvis and Murphy.

That leaves Greenwood of the solemn visage, Moore of the unusual hair arrangements, innocent-visaged Taylor and big, slightly puzzled Bayfield as the four for this round - with one due to go at the end of this round.

There is £5,000 available each round. The team managed to bank that in each of the first two rounds.

QA is Anne Robinson.

QA: Round Six, team - and you're up to £15,200. There are four of you left and another ten seconds coming off your time. We start with the strongest link from the last round. That's Martin. Let's play The Weakest Link. Start the clock.

Martin, in the theatre which musical tells the story of an orphan girl and includes the song Tomorrow?
MB: Annie

QA: Will, in 1964 Martin Luther King was awarded a Nobel Prize in which category?
WG: Politics
QA: Peace

QA: Brian, in home security what is the general name for a mechanism usually operated by a key that secures or fastens a door?
BM: Lock

QA: Simon, in food which European country produces cheese that is particularly known for having holes in it?
ST: Switzerland

QA: Martin, what's the full name shared by a Belfast-born author of the novel The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn and the former ITV football commentator?
MB: Lawrenson.
QA: Brian Moore

QA: Will, in money the net income of a person is defined as the amount earned at what stage - before tax or after tax?
WG: After tax

QA: Brian, in travel London's third international airport is situated in Essex and is known by what name?
BM: Stansted

QA: Simon, in zoology what is the three-letter word for the lair of a wild animal such as a lion?
ST: Den

QA: Martin, in journalism a statement or piece of information given to a reporter on condition that it is not attributed is said to be off the what?
MB: Record

WG: Bank!

QA: Will, at Cambridge University what 'm' is the usual term for the head of a college?
WG: The Master

QA: Brian, in politics in 2001 Jack Straw was appointed to which cabinet post?
BM: Foreign Secretary

QA: Simon, in the US military Apache and Black Hawk are types of which form of transport?
ST: Helicopters

QA: Martin, in geography which country when viewed from space is said to resemble a boot kicking the island of Sicily?
MB: Italy

WG: Bank!

QA: Will, in magic the mystical symbol consisting of a five-pointed star is known by what specific name - a tetragram or a pentagram?
WG: Pentagram

QA: Brian, in films the 1966 Western directed by Serge Leone was entitled The Good, the Bad and the what?
BM: Ugly

QA: Simon, which word for an ice cream cone is also the word for a musical instrument commonly found in a brass band?
ST: Cornet

QA: Martin, in the 2003 Rugby World Cup five members of the Wales squad had what surname?
MB: Williams
QA: Jones

QA: Will, in the Bible what three-letter word represents both the chest...
WG: (interupting as the music crashes down) Job
QA: Time's up. The correct answer was arc.

And in that round you banked £2,500, but you actually had a chain of eleven correct answers. So yet again you could have reached the target. Has Shaggy gone saggy? Is the No.8 thinking straight? It's time to vote off the weakest link.

Ghost voice: Statistically Simon is now the strongest link. In a reversal of fortune Martin has gone from strongest link in the last round to the weakest link in this. Can his previous performance save him from the vote?

QA: Voting over. It's time to reveal who you think is the weakest link.

The players switch on their screens.

WG: Martin
BM: Martin
ST: Martin
MB: Will

QA: Simon, what have you got against Martin?
ST: Nothing at all. You gave him a couple of horrible questions and -
QA: Oh, so it's my fault, is it?
ST: I didn't want to say that, but the buck's got to stop somewhere. But unfortunately he got them wrong.

QA: So, Brian, why Martin?
BM: Well, when we used to play and he used to miss the ball in the line-out, he'd put the blame on me as the thrower.

QA: Big Boy, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.

Martin Bayfield walked across and addressed the television audience.

MB: I think there may have been a bit of tactical voting at the end there, but the more I think about it, they're rugby players and they're not really going to think tactically, are they? I just think they're being nasty - pick on the biggest bloke. If Anne Robinson was involved in rugby, she's probably be a coach - barking out orders, giving the players grief, telling them where they're going wrong. Yes, she's be good at that.

To be continued..............