Mauricio Pochettino has no problem with Chelsea’s owners visiting the dressing room after matches, but points out it is not their job to come in and “give some speech”.
Co-owner Behdad Eghbali went into the changing room following Sunday’s defeat to Aston Villa, with other members of the club’s senior hierarchy, including Todd Boehly and co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, having done similarly after home Premier League games this season.
The Argentinian insists it is “good” that the quartet spend time around the players on matchdays, provided his authority is respected.
“I like when the owners come,” he said. “In all my career as a coach, at Espanyol then Southampton, Tottenham and Paris St Germain also, before and after.
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“I think it’s good that the owners came to the dressing room. It’s in the way that they approach the players that is the most important. If they are in a good way, I think they’re very welcome.
“After my press conference on Sunday against Aston Villa they came and shared with us like normal.
“Against Liverpool, first game, then Luton and Nottingham Forest, they came with Paul and Laurence and Behdad, and sometimes with Todd also. They share some comment and we talk about the game, always after my (press) duties.
“I don’t see it in a bad way. For me it’s good always if they share with us, then they can say hello to the players. The difference is if they come for some speech. That is different.
“But in the way they came they are very welcome. They own the club, they can do whatever they want.
“I think they are in a very good way and we are glad that they came and shared with us – even like happened on Sunday when we didn’t win and we are suffering.”
Boehly entered the dressing room and spoke to the team on a number of occasions last season, most notably after the 2-1 defeat to Brighton in April when he told the squad their season had been “embarrassing”.
Chelsea face the same opposition at Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday in arguably a worse position than the last time Roberto De Zerbi’s team visited.
Defeat to the Seagulls came in a run that saw the team win just one of their final 12 league games of the season en route to finishing 12th under caretaker boss Frank Lampard.
This season has begun in similarly poor form with one win and three defeats from Pochettino’s first six Premier League games.
Pochettino said he waited until Monday to address his players following the loss to Villa, which came after the visitors took advantage of defender Malo Gusto’s second-half red card to win it with a breakaway Ollie Watkins goal.
“Not really (I didn’t give a speech after the game),” he said. “We talked on Monday and Tuesday with the players. But it’s my duty, if I need to do it, it’s my decision (to make) some speech. Only me, or the captain.
“It’s not a job of the owner to come to the dressing room and give some speech after the game, whether you win or you lose. But they know very well how they need to behave.”
Defeat on Sunday made this Chelsea’s worst start to a league season for 45 years, with the team still struggling to convert possession and chances into goals – a feature that has carried over from last term.
The team’s performances have arguably been better than results, with Pochettino’s side having looked far the likelier to take three points up until Gusto was dismissed for a dangerous tackle on Villa’s Lucas Digne on 58 minutes.
The situation has been made worse by an injury crisis that left the boss without 12 first-team players for the recent goalless draw against Bournemouth.
“If you go back to the Liverpool game (on the opening weekend), I think no-one expected this situation,” Pochettino said.
“The circumstances are (something) that sometimes you cannot manage, a little bit of bad luck. We can’t talk about excuses, but that is the circumstances and the reality.”
Napoli boss Rudi Garcia did not carry out his pre-match press conference duties on Tuesday as the pressure continued to grow on his position following another fractious weekend in Serie A.
The Partenopei welcome Udinese to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with criticism mounting over their faltering start to the defence of the title they won last season and frustration within the camp threatening to boil over.
They are without a win in three league games after Sunday’s goalless draw at Bologna, where striker Victor Osimhen made no secret of his displeasure at Garcia’s decision to substitute him late on after seeing him miss a penalty.
After the match, Garcia told reporters: “Even the greatest players in the history of football miss penalties. As for when he went off, we talked about that, what I say to my players remains in the locker room.”
Reports from Italy – where it has been claimed Garcia has four matches in which to save his job – have suggested Osimhen has since apologised to the manager in front of his team-mates, but with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia having been similarly unimpressed with his withdrawal during the 2-2 draw at Genoa eight days earlier, the optics are far from good.
The champions are already seven points adrift of leaders Inter Milan – who have a 100 per cent record – after five games, although Udinese boss Andrea Sottil had dismissed talk of a crisis.
Sottil told a press conference: “The newspapers say that Napoli are in crisis, but I absolutely don’t think so.
“It’s not my priority to understand if their locker room is working, I’m interested in creating a strategy for the match by working on my players.”
Napoli will have high hopes of a return to winning ways against a side who have drawn three, but won none of their league fixtures to date and currently lie inside the bottom three.
However under-pressure Garcia, who replaced Scudetto-winning boss Luciano Spalletti this summer, will be without defender Juan Jesus, who has been ruled out for several weeks with a grade-one hamstring injury.
Cagliari coach Claudio Ranieri has called for his side to be calm when they take on AC Milan looking to kickstart their Serie A campaign.
Defeat at Atalanta on Sunday was a third in five league games for Ranieri’s side, who sit second bottom of the table.
Cagliari, promoted last season, have scored just one goal in September and have only two points on the board.
Ranieri, though, is confident results will follow if his side can produce the right mindset.
“The boys are working well, we must move forward with confidence, without fear of making mistakes and doing what we prepare,” Ranieri told reporters.
“We expected a tough start, the schedule is clear, we have two points and it could be more but also less, now on to Milan who are very strong and want to become champions of Italy again.
“It will be a good battle, we need some optimism also from the last matches, that goal, the victory that can unblock you and give you more calmness.”
Milan coach Stefano Pioli did not give a press conference ahead of the trip to the Unipol Domus.
Pioli, though, had hinted he would probably make changes on Wednesday night as he aims to keep his squad fresh to build on a 1-0 win over Verona after a goalless draw in their opening Champions League game followed a heavy defeat to derby rivals Inter.
The Rossoneri are without midfielder Rade Krunic for the first time this season.
The Bosnian had been an ever present before a muscle problem forced him off during the second half against Verona.
Yacine Adli and Tijjani Reijnders are potential replacements to come into the side as cover.
Ben Duckett’s dashing maiden ODI century after an astonishing early blitz from Phil Salt was negated by the elements as England’s summer ended in soggy fashion against Ireland at Bristol.
Salt caused carnage with a buccaneering 61 off 28 balls as England brought up 100 after seven overs, laying the foundations for Duckett, a contender for a non-travelling reserve spot at the World Cup.
Duckett struggled for fluency initially but moved superbly through the gears and brought up his hundred off 72 balls, reaching 107 not out in England’s 280 for four off just 31 overs before rain intervened.
The downpour was brief but a deluge saturated the outfield, where several puddles formed almost immediately, while the ground staff struggled to get the covers on promptly, hindered also by wind.
Barely half an hour after the players came off at 2.48pm, hands were being shaken between the sides on the dressing room balconies at 3.21pm, as England settled for a 1-0 win in the Metro Bank series.
Christopher Head’s Big Rock will head to British shores for the first time to contest the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot.
The colt racked up a four-race winning streak earlier in the year that carried him from an all-weather handicap to victory in the Group Three Prix de Guiche.
That run then paved the way to the Group One Prix du Jockey Club, where he was beaten three and half lengths behind the well-fancied Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe contender Ace Impact.
Two more second-placed runs followed as Big Rock dropped back to a mile, finishing behind Inspiral in the Prix Jacques le Marois and Sauterne in the Prix du Moulin.
Now Big Rock could make his first start outside of France in the Group One QEII on October 21.
“He’s doing fine, he came out of the Prix du Moulin very well and he’s aiming for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes,” Head said.
“He has done some very nice work and everything’s all right, he’s a horse that has needed a bit of time between races and I’m very happy to have had that kind of break between the Moulin at Longchamp and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
“We have him back fresh and everything, so I think he will be more than interesting for his next race.
“Heavy ground is not a problem, whatever the ground does, it is not a problem for him.”
One horse from the Head stable that will not be seen again this term is Ramatuelle, a two-year-old filly by Justify who has enjoyed a highly successful juvenile campaign.
The chestnut has won three of her five runs this season and was the runner-up both times when beaten, with her successes including the Group Three Prix du Bois and the Group Two Prix Robert Papin.
Most recently she was defeated in the Prix Morny, a Group One in which she went down by just a short neck to the highly-regarded Vandeek.
That run was the last of the year for Ramatuelle, who will return for her three-year-old campaign in 2024.
“The owners have decided that she has had a very nice two-year-old season and they want to have a 100 per cent chance with her at three,” Head explained.
“They have decided not to run her again this season, she will be back next year in spring.”
Uncapped Glasgow front-rower Johnny Matthews revealed he was stunned to get a call out of the blue on Saturday asking him to fly to France to join Scotland’s World Cup squad.
The 30-year-old was enjoying a day out in the Fife coastal town of Elie when assistant coach John Dalziel phoned to tell him his services were required after Stuart McInally suffered a neck injury and had to withdraw just over a week after the 33-year-old Edinburgh forward got his own late call-up to replace the concussed Dave Cherry.
Matthews – effectively the Scots’ sixth-choice hooker – rushed back to Glasgow to get himself organised and caught a flight to Nice on Sunday morning before being officially added to the squad.
“I’m buzzing to be here,” he said, speaking from the Scots’ training base in the south of France on Tuesday afternoon.
“I was very shocked to get the call but I’m obviously delighted and just looking to throw my hat into the ring to try to get some games while I’m here.
“I was in Elie with my wife and some good friends when I got the call from John. We were taking the dogs for a walk and when I saw John’s number pop up I knew he wasn’t phoning for a catch-up.
“He said ‘how quickly can you get to Nice?’ and now I’m here. It didn’t really feel real until I got here. It was a whirlwind 24 hours, trying to get packed, find my gumshield, get my boots and all the other stuff I needed.
“My boots were at (Glasgow’s home ground) Scotstoun, so I had to shoot there and get them to keep the place open. I then quickly packed and got on a 6am flight on Sunday morning.
“Once I finally got here and got the (Scotland World Cup) kit, that’s when it felt real. My wife flew out with me so she is loving it too.”
Liverpool-born Matthews – who qualifies for Scotland through his Blantyre-born mother – enjoyed an impressive season for Glasgow.
However, he knew it would be a tall order to make the initial squad, with George Turner, Ewan Ashman, Cherry, McInally and Fraser Brown all more established in the international fold.
Ultimately the misfortune of Cherry and McInally over the past few weeks, allied to an ACL injury sustained by Brown in May, paved the way for Matthews to land an unlikely crack at the biggest tournament in the game.
“My aim is to play for Glasgow, and if you do that, you’re always in contention for the Scotland squad I suppose,” he said when asked if the possibility of World Cup involvement had featured prominently in his thoughts.
“The more I played for Glasgow, the more my hopes got a little bit higher, but it’s a very hotly-contested position. There are five or six brilliant hookers in Scotland so I’m just happy to be here.
“I was hoping I had an outside chance of making it into the original training squad, but it’s a pretty settled group and there have been the same three, four or five hookers in the last x-amount of squads so I knew I’d have to do pretty well to get in.
“I was disappointed but it wasn’t a shock that I didn’t get in.”
With Matthews’ only international appearance to date coming for Scotland A against Chile in June 2022, he now has the chance to win his first full cap at a World Cup, with must-win pool games against Romania and Ireland to come over the next two weekends.
Asked if he ever thought his opportunity of playing for Scotland had passed him by, Matthews – a prolific try-scorer at club level – said: “You never say never – you just keep playing well for Glasgow, keep scoring and you’ve always got a chance I suppose.
“It’s a hotly-contested position but I’ll do all I can over the next few days and hopefully I can get in the (match-day) squad. Rugby is a pretty brutal and physical contact sport and hookers are at the coalface.
“I’m gutted for the boys who have missed out on the opportunity (due to injury) but at the same time you’ve got to look out for yourself and take the opportunity when it presents itself.”
Although he has not had the same intensive pre-season build-up that the rest of the Scotland players were subjected to, Matthews – who has thrived under Glasgow head coach Franco Smith – feels he is in good condition.
“I tried to keep myself in a shape that wasn’t round over the summer,” he smiled.
“I didn’t want to come into Franco’s pre-season unfit anyway. Anyone who has done one of them will tell you you can’t be unfit going into that.”
Duncan Ferguson never stopped to consider the significance of his return to Scottish football when he seized the chance to take over as Inverness manager.
The former Dundee United and Rangers striker is back in his homeland 29 years after leaving Ibrox for Everton.
The 51-year-old had a swift return to Glasgow in 1995, a year after his move to Merseyside, when he spent 44 days in Barlinnie Prison following a failed appeal against his conviction for assault against John McStay during a game against Raith Rovers at Ibrox.
He never played in Scotland again as he ended his international career in 1997 amid lingering resentment over the Scottish Football Association’s attempts to impose a 12-match suspension – both before his initial court case and after his jail term. The protracted dispute was ultimately resolved in the player’s favour after another court case.
When asked how he was feeling about his return to Scottish football, the former Newcastle striker told MFR Radio: “I’m feeling good, I’m feeling great. I suppose I never thought about that really.
“Fitba’s fitba, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter where it is, it can be in England, it can be in Scotland.
“Obviously it’s nice to come back up to Scotland, my home, but that’s not the reason why I took the job. The reason I took the job is because I think this club can move in the right direction.
“But it is great to be back. I obviously come and visit, so I have not been totally down south forever. I have got family up here. But it is lovely to be back.”
The job is Ferguson’s second in management after a brief spell at Forest Green last season. Rovers won only one of the 18 games he took charge of and were relegated from Sky Bet League One.
Stirling-born Ferguson, who has signed a three-year contract, said: “It’s a great opportunity for myself. It’s great to be back being a manager, the thing that I love, coaching, managing, and really excited about the project ahead.
“The club have got a really big ambition to go back to the Premiership. Unfortunately that’s not the case at the moment but they have certainly got a lot of good ideas of how to get there.
“The main reason I came was the ambition of the club and the ambition of myself, and it’s a great opportunity.”
Ferguson spent 14 years as a coach at Everton, most of them working with the first team, and believes he can get Caley Thistle off the foot of the cinch Championship and up the table.
Previous manager Billy Dodds was sacked months after leading the club to the Scottish Cup final, and Caley Thistle sit bottom with one point from six matches.
Ferguson, whose first game will be against Dick Campbell’s Arbroath at Gayfield on Saturday, said: “We need to get some goals, we need to start creating some chances, we need to make sure we are in the opposition box.
“There’s not a lot of points on the board so we need to make sure we change that and change that quickly.”
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti shrugged off any criticism from Sunday’s derby defeat as his “upset and angry” team look for an immediate response against Las Palmas.
Los Blancos lost 3-1 to city rivals Atletico on Sunday after opening the season with six straight wins in all competitions.
That was only the second time in 15 LaLiga clashes that Real had been beaten by Atletico and they host Las Palmas on Wednesday having dropped to third in the table, trailing Barcelona and Girona by a point.
“It’s normal when you’re the Real Madrid coach to receive criticism if things don’t go well. It doesn’t affect me,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“I have to assess what we did well, which is a lot, as well as the things we didn’t do so well against Atletico, which are few. The evaluation I make is different to everyone else’s.
“The players and I are aware of what we have to do better, considering that up until now we have done well, and we must carry on doing well by improving what we didn’t get right against Atletico.
“I could have done better, maybe. That’s quite clear. When the team doesn’t do the right thing it’s my responsibility. But I’ve got broad shoulders, it’s not a problem.
“We’d only conceded three goals in six games and in 45 minutes we’ve conceded three goals. We were weak. It’s fair to say that. It wasn’t a good night.
“Every system has its weaknesses. There’s no perfect system. We’ve got experienced and very reliable players.
“It’s a setback that could provide us with an opportunity to do things better. We’re upset and angry, as we always are when we lose. But we’ve done very well so far and we’ll continue to do well.”
Las Palmas sit 15th in the table having lost all of their three away games this term but Ancelotti remains cautious
“Every team has its strengths and features. Las Palmas play good football and like to control the ball,” said the former Chelsea manager. “As for us, we want to get back to winning ways and bounce back quickly after Sunday’s defeat.
“We have to go into games with a different mindset, given that we’ve been hurt a number of times in the opening minutes.”
Dani Carvajal, Vinicius Jr and Arda Guler are available again for Ancelotti after missing the derby but the boss remains unsure how much of a part they will play.
He added: “They’re all available and that’s very good news. I have to assess whether to give them minutes from the start or throughout the game.”
Kalvin Phillips will make a rare start for Manchester City in their Carabao Cup clash against Newcastle, with Pep Guardiola admitting he is concerned about sustaining more injuries.
Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic are available but City are without John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, while Rodri is suspended for three games following his sending off against Nottingham Forest.
Wednesday’s trip to St James’ Park is the first of four successive away matches in less than two weeks, with City also visiting Wolves, Leipzig and Arsenal.
Guardiola said: “We used it, when we won a few times this competition, at the beginning of the season there are four, five, six players that maybe don’t play regularly and it’s perfect because it’s better than training sessions to play a game.
“But everyone was fit and we made a strong side. But now is an exceptional situation.
“We have a lot of players injured and a lot of players with a lot of minutes – with national team, with the team – and they have to rest because tomorrow is important but Wolves, Leipzig and Arsenal are much more important.
“The guys who didn’t play much are going to play and see what happens with the rest to try to make a good starting XI and travel there to win the game.
“There’s no doubt about that but I have to take a consideration that a lot of effort we have in this period, with many players, a lot of minutes, and we have to avoid for them to get injured again otherwise we’ll be in trouble.”
It will be only a fifth start for Phillips since his move from Leeds last summer, although he did play nearly all of the second half against Forest on Saturday following Rodri’s red card.
Guardiola said his side are only able to train for five to 10 minutes because of the need for recovery.
“We are used to it,” he said. “Previous seasons were the same. Yes you have maybe two or three more games for the (Club) World Cup but the rest is the same.
“The problem is a lack of rest, mentally especially. The seasons come with two or three weeks off, and this is nothing. In the future, with the Champions League longer and more teams, that is what it is. I complain a little bit on my side here and then after that forget it and go to the competitions.”
City won the Carabao Cup for four straight years from 2018 to 2021 but last season it proved their only disappointment, with Guardiola’s side suffering a shock defeat against Southampton in the quarter-finals.
Phil Foden has already talked about going for the quadruple as the only way to top last year, but Guardiola said with a smile: “Phil is so young, you understand with time.
“It’s nice to have that ambition but, as I said to the players, the ambition is the next game. Maybe in April, May, if you are still in all competitions you can start to think about it but, right now in the end of September, to think about the title is a big mistake.
“But if he believes that I will not be the guy to let him think the opposite.”
George Boughey is readying his Classic heroine Cachet for a tilt at the Prix de la Foret at ParisLongchamp this weekend following a pleasing workout on the Rowley Mile on Tuesday morning.
Last season’s 1000 Guineas heroine did not run between Royal Ascot last summer and this year’s St Leger Festival at Doncaster, an absence totalling exactly 15 months.
The Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-owned filly could finish only fourth in the Group Three Sceptre Stakes on Town Moor, but Boughey was far from discouraged given the length of her absence and the fact underfoot conditions were more testing than ideal.
In the immediate aftermath of that effort the Newmarket handler was in favour of sending Cachet back to the scene of her Guineas triumph for the Sun Chariot Stakes on Saturday week, but the likelihood of a sound surface in Paris this weekend has prompted a change of plan.
“I was pleased with Cachet this morning and she is a lot tighter than she was on her seasonal debut. Mathematically she is a lot fitter on the scales,” said Boughey.
“The ground looks like it will be decent in France and that is where we are leaning towards at the moment, plus there is a stronger favourite in the Sun Chariot (Inspiral) than in the Foret.
“The ground was too soft for her at Doncaster, but it should be a lot better in France at the weekend. It could end up raining in Newmarket and I don’t want to miss a chance like this.
“She will like the seven furlongs around the bend at Longchamp and we will make plenty of use of her. She is in good form and should run well.”
Another Boughey-trained filly to be put through her paces on the Rowley Mile on Tuesday was Soprano, who will be stepped up to Group One level in Saturday’s Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes.
Although winless since making an impressive start to her career at Newmarket in May, the daughter of Starspangledbanner has since been placed in the Albany at Royal Ascot, the Star Stakes at Sandown, the Sweet Solera at Newmarket and the Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes at Salisbury.
With regular work rider Charles Eddery in the saddle, Soprano looked the part in her morning gallop and Boughey feels she merits a place in the Cheveley Park field.
He said: “I’m delighted with her. She worked with a decent four-year-old that is a five-furlong horse rated in the 90s and she showed plenty of pace.
“Charles Eddery, who rides her regularly, was delighted with her so it is all systems go to the Cheveley Park. She looks better than ever.
“She is a very balanced filly, which is so key at Newmarket, and she won on her debut at the track. I think she has got to have a lively chance.”
Feed The Flame will bid to give veteran trainer Pascal Bary a long-awaited victory in Sunday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp.
Bary has handled a host of top-class runners during his lengthy career, sending out Classic winners in France, Britain and Ireland as well as saddling three Breeders’ Cup winners.
However, he has yet to taste success in the crown jewel of French racing, with Sulamani coming closest when finishing a three-quarter-length second to Marienbard in 2002 after Croco Rouge finished third behind Montjeu in 1999.
The Chantilly-based handler has plenty of faith in his challenger this year though, with Feed The Flame having made huge strides since his racecourse bow in April, finishing fourth to the reopposing Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club before going on to land the Grand Prix de Paris over the Arc course and distance in July.
While he had to settle for second place behind Fantastic Moon in his Prix Niel trial earlier this month, Bary believes the Kingman colt might find conditions more to his liking on Sunday.
He said: “He’s a very good horse, he has a very good temperament and he gets the mile and a half really, really well. I think on the day of the Arc, the ground will be slightly different and he will be more comfortable on that ground.
“Anything a bit softer than the ground he encountered in the Jockey Club, Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel would be appreciated.”
Feed The Flame was beaten two and a half lengths by Fantastic Moon – who could yet be supplemented for Sunday’s race – and Bary felt the decision to field King Of Records as a pacemaker perhaps played into the winner’s hands.
He explained: “I think I made a mistake by running a pacemaker because he worked much more for the German horse than he did for us. It’s not an easy race to run in because to bring a horse on from July 14 to the beginning of September, there’s not a lot of time.
“Christophe (Soumillon) sort of asked him when he came down into the false straight but at that point on that good ground, the German horse had taken off and Christophe was intelligent enough to just let the horse finish his race because he actually was probably missing a bit of work before he went into the race.
“The aim was not to have a race that was going to be too hard, but at the moment he was so far behind in the final straight, Christophe actually judged it was too late to ask him for a massive effort to bring him closer to the leader.”
Waiting tactics are usually employed on Feed The Flame and Bary does not anticipate any change to the plan in the Arc, even though he is likely to encounter the biggest field of his career to date, with 14 currently in contention after Sprewell dropped out at Tuesday’s second forfeit stage.
Bary said: “He’s a horse that knows how to accelerate and you have to ride him to his strengths. We have to adapt to the horse, he’s not going to adapt to us. In a race with a lot of pace and runners, this should not be an issue.
“If he is to the back of the field, there’s enough time to come forward. When he ran in the Jockey Club, Ace Impact was behind him and came through so he’s obviously the horse to beat. I don’t know much about the opposition but if Ace Impact can come forward, Feed The Flame is capable of accelerating.”
Feed The Flame is owned by Jean-Louis Bouchard and Bary is delighted to have a live contender for a long-standing ally.
He added: “It’s amazing that we have such a good horse towards the end of my career. Jean-Louis is very positive, we go to the race together and it’s a great opportunity.
“If he doesn’t win this year, he will win next year!”
Phil Jones is working towards his coaching badges and has started a sporting director course as the former Manchester United defender begins a “new journey”.
The 31-year-old joined the Red Devils from Blackburn in 2011, making 229 appearances and scoring six goals before leaving at the end of his contract in the summer.
Jones had endured an injury-hit few seasons, with his last competitive United appearance coming in the victory against Brentford in May 2022.
The PA news agency understands the 27-cap England international has not called time on his playing career and will keep that option open as long as possible, but he is looking towards the future.
“Start of a new journey,” Jones posted on social media.
“Great to begin the global football sport directorship course with the PFA business school, learning new things about the game, whilst also continuing to push ahead with my A licence and badges at the club that gave me so much. Excited to get started.”
Jones has been observing the younger age groups at United as part of his coaching development as he weighs up his next steps.
First-choice Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is raring to go for the remainder of the Rugby World Cup after declaring his body is in “perfect” condition.
Question marks initially surrounded Sheehan’s participation in the tournament after he limped off with a foot issue during his country’s warm-up win over England on August 19.
The 25-year-old sat out bonus-point wins over Romania and Tonga before making his World Cup debut as a second-half replacement during Saturday evening’s memorable Pool B triumph over South Africa in Paris.
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Fit-again Sheehan is targeting further action when Ireland return to Stade de France on October 7 seeking to secure progression to the knockout stages in a “massive” clash with Scotland.
“For a first experience of a World Cup game, it doesn’t get much better, I don’t think, especially in a crowd like that,” he said, after his side were backed by tens of thousands of Irish fans against the Springboks.
“It’s definitely the best atmosphere I’ve played in. We fed off that a good bit.
“My body’s perfect now. I had a few weeks there where the medical staff did a great job to get me back in this time but I’ve no complaints at all now so I’ll be looking to get back into the squad.”
Victory over South Africa put Ireland in control of Pool B and propelled them to the cusp of the quarter-finals.
Yet Andy Farrell’s men, who are due to reconvene on Wednesday following a few days off, still have work to do to prevent a pool-stage exit.
Asked how much pressure beating the reigning champions takes off the Scotland match, Sheehan replied: “None. The job’s not done.
“We have a bit of luxury now that we have two weeks to lead up into the Scotland game but we can’t afford to take the foot off the gas at all.
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“The Scotland game is going to be massive. That’s obviously a massive win for us but nothing’s guaranteed at all so all eyes on Scotland now.”
The world’s number one team have won 16 matches in a row and suffered just two defeats in their last 30 outings.
Sheehan believes the remarkable run of results have helped enhance the unity in Ireland’s camp but insists Farrell’s squad must remain grounded.
“I think all of these big games bring you closer,” said the Leinster player, who is competing with provincial team-mate Ronan Kelleher and Ulster’s Rob Herring for a starting spot. “They add to the trust within the group.
“It definitely brings you tighter but you need to make sure you don’t get ahead of yourself and there’s a job to be done now against Scotland.
“We’ve huge confidence in our game plan and our approach to the games is really good. Our week’s prep has been on point for every game that we’ve won.
“We just double down on what we’re good at. We’re in a good place now and we just need to keep going.”
Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies says he is enjoying his rugby again during a World Cup campaign that has seen him produce record-breaking form.
Davies’ early touchdown in the 40-6 rout of Australia set a new World Cup best of eight tries for a scrum-half.
And it represents an impressive return to international rugby after he missed out on Wales’ South Africa tour last year, the 2022 autumn Tests and Six Nations campaign two months later.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland’s predecessor Wayne Pivac preferred players like Tomos Williams, Kieran Hardy and Dane Blacker in the scrum-half position.
And although Gatland was in charge for last season’s Six Nations, Williams, Hardy and Rhys Webb fought for the number nine shirt.
Crucially, though, a door opened for the 33-year-old when Gatland named Davies in the World Cup training squad, and he has not looked back.
He starred in the tournament warm-up victory over England and regained the number nine shirt for key Pool C wins against Fiji and Australia
“I love World Cups,” Davies said. “I love the build-up to them.
“It is the only time that we really get a full pre-season (with Wales). It has been a tough couple of months, but I have enjoyed it.
“Physically and mentally, I feel like I am in the best shape of my life. I am really enjoying my rugby again.
“We are all back to where we want to be under this management. We are fighting for each other, playing for each other and the environment is good, which is the main thing.
“We are enjoying our time off the pitch as well. We’ve got a good bunch of boys, and it shows.”
Davies, who made his Wales debut nine years ago and was the team’s starting scrum-half during the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, is once again excelling under Gatland’s direction.
He scored five tries at the 2015 World Cup, then two more in Japan four years later – including an interception effort in a pool-stage win against Australia.
“Warren has got his way,” Davies added. “It works for me and it obviously works for everyone else in the squad. It gets us all going.
“The other coaches as well, Mike (Forshaw) with defence, Kingy (Alex King) in attack and Humphs (Jonathan Humphreys) with the forwards. We’ve had a lot of changes with coaches, and I think that’s made the difference, to be honest.”
Wales’ crushing success against Australia secured a quarter-final place – the fourth World Cup in a row for them to achieve that under Gatland – and has set up a potential last-eight appointment with Argentina in Marseille on October 14.
“I thought our win in 2019 against Australia in the World Cup was big, but this is right up there,” Davies said.
“Momentum is key, especially in World Cups. We had a good week’s training preparing for the game, and I thought it showed on the pitch.
“We obviously won’t look too far ahead of ourselves. We have got a few days off to recover, and then we will focus on Georgia the following weekend.
“We have still got a job to do against them first, and then we will start looking at the quarter-final draw.”
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