Ryder Cup Ballesteros – had been guilty of excessive celebration and gamesmanship as far back as the 1985 Ryder Cup Matches, without attracting the same criticism from the European media. There was still considerable bad blood after the match, with some of the European players complaining about the behavior of the American galleries throughout the match. Sam Torrance branded it "disgusting", while European captain Mark James referred to it as a "bear pit" in a book recounting the event. There were also reports that a spectator spat at James' wife. Payne Stewart had conceded his singles match to Colin Montgomerie with both
2009 European Cup Coach: Andy Kelly Coach: Carlo Napolitano 2009 European Cup The 2009 European Cup, known as the rugbyleague.com European Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league football tournament. The revamped European Cup 2009 involved six teams competing in two groups of three. Participating teams were: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Serbia, Lebanon and Italy. Russia were scheduled to take part in the competition, but were forced to pull out due to board restructuring within the Russian Rugby League Federation. They were replaced by the RLEF European Shield winners, Italy. Coach: John Elias Coach: Iestyn Harris (Crusaders Rugby League) Coach: Gerard Stokes (Whitehaven)