New Zealand boss Ian Foster has warned his players “not to get softened” by the acclaim which followed their thrilling World Cup win over Ireland ahead of a semi-final showdown with Argentina.

The All Blacks booked a last-four spot by upsetting Andy Farrell’s men with a pulsating 28-24 victory in Paris.

New Zealand return to Stade de France on Friday evening and are red-hot favourites to progress to a final against either England or reigning champions South Africa.

Head coach Foster feels “being patted on the back” following a statement last-eight victory over the Irish derailed the Kiwis in the 2019 tournament and is eager to avoid history repeating itself.

“The best way to recover is to refocus really quickly on what the next challenge is and not to listen too much to any praise you’re given as a group for a performance,” said Foster, who was assistant to Steve Hansen four years ago when New Zealand lost to England in the semi-finals.

“Not to go down that path, not to get softened because everyone’s patting you on the back saying you played well.

“That’s not a good place to be as a team.

“I love the way the team has buckled down, we’ve redefined the challenge for us as a group, we’re not satisfied with where we are now and when you’re clear about your goal for the week the recovery comes along pretty quickly.

“You know that if we’re not right on Friday night at Stade de France, it’s going to be a sad old night and we don’t want it to be like that.

“You get people talking to you about tomorrow and trying to take your eyes off today.

“In 2019 we probably didn’t stop being patted on the back after the quarter-final, hence some of my language today and we’re just trying to dial this back, keep things simple and let’s just worry about Friday.”

New Zealand’s starting XV shows two changes, with wing Mark Telea and lock Sam Whitelock in for Leicester Fainga’anuku and Brodie Retallick.

Telea was dropped for last weekend’s clash with Ireland due to a breach of team protocols.

Foster says the 26-year-old, who has scored three tries in the tournament, has served his punishment.

“That’s the team we think is best for this week,” he said.

“Mark’s done his time. He made a mistake, he accepted what was happening.

“But you don’t linger in that space. He’s been our form winger through this tournament and we really have a lot of faith in him and believe he’s in a good place to play this game.

“It’s a chance for us to get Mark back on the park and I know he’s excited.”

Underdogs Argentina have won two of the past seven meetings between the nations, including a landmark first success on New Zealand soil – 25-18 in Christchurch – in last year’s Rugby Championship.

Foster is braced for a “heck of a game”.

“You’ve never heard us say we’re favourites,” he said. “We know that these games are do-or-die.

“It’s the best team on the night that wins it. We know Argentina has done that to us. We’re not buying into anything about favouritism or underdogs.

“They are perhaps an underrated team worldwide that has got a really rich history of perhaps overachieving at World Cups.

“They have done a fantastic job to get here at the same level as we are. It’s going to be a heck of a game.”

Dual Champion Chase hero Energumene is likely to be out for the season, trainer Willie Mullins has revealed.

The nine-year-old, who has won 10 of his 12 appearances over fences, first tasted success at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 and defended his Champion Chase title in imperious style earlier this year, registering a 10-length victory in the two-mile chasing feature.

He followed that up by also winning Punchestown’s version of the Champion Chase for the second year running and was widely expected to dominate the two-mile division once again over the winter.

However, Energumene – who is owned by Brighton and Hove Albion supremo Tony Bloom – is set for a spell on the sidelines having suffered an injury setback and is unlikely to get the chance to make it a hat-trick of Cheltenham Festival victories in the spring.

“Unfortunately Energumene has a hind leg injury and he will probably be out of action for the season,” Mullins told the Sporting Life.

Energumene’s absence opens up a vacancy at the top of the two-mile chasing division with Closutton stablemate and Arkle hero El Fabiolo installed as Paddy Power’s new even-money favourite for the Champion Chase next March.

Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon, second to El Fabiolo at Prestbury Park in the Arkle earlier in the year before winning at both Aintree and Sandown’s Celebration Chase, is next best at 5-1.

Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels feels it is “pretty likely” the races scheduled to be run on the round course at Ascot on Champions Day will take place on the inner track.

With Storm Babet set to batter the country in the coming days, the going is expected to turn testing.

Contingency plans are in place that allow officials to move the Long Distance Cup, Filly & Mares Stakes and the Champion Stakes to the inner hurdles track when situations like this arise, with switch last made in 2019.

“I walked it this afternoon with John Gosden at about 3pm when it had only just started raining and the current description is good to soft on the straight track and soft in places on the round course. We are describing the inner track as good, good to firm in places,” Stickels told Racing TV.

“If we have heavy ground on any part of the round course, we can move the round course races to the inner track and we have to decide that before 8am on Saturday.

“Looking at the forecast for Friday, I would say that is quite likely (for the races to move). I think the rain we will get overnight will turn us back to soft on the round course and maybe even if we get the top end, some heavy places on the round course.

“Thursday we might only get three to four millimetres, it is mainly a windy day but the forecast for Friday is a similar amount of rain as that we are due tonight again, so if we are not heavy in places by then, it would be highly likely to be by Friday.

“I think it would be pretty likely that we will end up on that inner track. If we can make a decision on that before 8am on Saturday that would be favourable, we’d like to make it Friday but we don’t want to be hasty and suggest that now before we have much rain.

“There is no ability to run the two races scheduled to be run over a mile and the sprint on the round course. There are no start positions and it isn’t wide enough to accommodate the scheduled 20 runners.

“It’s a shame we are a week later in the calendar this year and even today, John Gosden said if we were racing today the ground would have been perfect.”

Valvano followed in some illustrious hoofprints as he made an impressive start to his career in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes at Nottingham.

The top-class King Of Steel made a successful debut in a division of the the extended one-mile contest 12 months ago, while his St Leger-winning stablemate Eldar Eldarov was in the winner’s circle in 2021.

And while Valvano has a long way to go to scale those heights, the son of Night Of Thunder looks certain to go on to better things judged on this facile success in the hands of Hector Crouch.

Plenty was expected of the Ralph Beckett-trained youngster as an 8-11 favourite, but those who took the cramped odds will have had few concerns as after moving to the lead entering the final furlong, Valvano fairly sprinted clear in the testing conditions to pull six lengths clear of his toiling rivals.

Beckett, who won a division of the race with subsequent Derby participant Artistic Star last year, said of his latest victor: “He’s a nice horse who loved the ground and it was a good effort.”

On whether he could run again this season, the trainer added: “We’ll see what happens next, he could.”

Crouch was clearly impressed by the performance, telling Racing TV: “He’s very raw. He made it look straightforward because he’s got a lot of natural ability, but he took a bit of managing and organising and he’s keen to get on with things.

“He ran a little bit green, but once we straightened up he’s very talented. Amongst all the greenness he’s very responsive and he’s keen to learn.

“I think he’s got a bit of a fiery streak in him and is not short of speed, so I wouldn’t be in a rush to step him up to a mile and a quarter in his immediate future, but I’m sure he will stay that far.”

Beckett completed a quickfire double with another newcomer in the following EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes, with Treasure carrying the King and Queen’s colours to a clear-cut win under Ben Curtis.

“She was immaculately behaved and has a great mind. She was a little bit behind the bridle, it’s tough going out there, but she learnt as we went around,” said the jockey.

“She loved the ground and the further she went, the better she went.”

George Boughey’s Mr Alan (3-1 joint-favourite) landed the Watch Irish Racing On Racing TV Handicap for the second year in succession, pipping Belhaven by a nose under William Buick.

Hollie Doyle enjoyed a double on the card, booting home William Stone’s Tipsy Tiger (15-2) in the Join Racing TV Now Nursery and the Jack Channon-trained Desperate Hero in the Watch On Racing TV Handicap.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay confirmed Wednesday that rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson will undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.

Irsay told ESPN earlier this week that the team was leaning in that direction with the 2023 No. 4 overall pick, who suffered a Grade 3 sprain of his AC joint in Indianapolis' 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 8.

"After consultation with our medical staff, Anthony, and those close to him, it has been determined that he will undergo surgery to repair his injured shoulder, which will end his season," Irsay wrote on the social media platform X. "Anthony is a competitor, and we know how difficult and disappointing this is for him and our team."

Richardson had been placed on injured reserve last week, and the Colts were mulling whether to have him rehab the shoulder without surgery for a chance to return within four-to-eight weeks.

"We collected several medical opinions and we felt this was the best course of action for his long-term health," Irsay said. "We anticipate a full recovery and there is no doubt Anthony has a promising future.

"In the meantime, I love the fight of this team and I'm excited for the opportunity we have ahead of us."

Veteran Gardner Minshew will start at quarterback for the remainder of the season for Indianapolis, which currently sits one game back of the first-place Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South with a 3-3 record.

Minshew led the Colts to a 22-19 overtime win at Baltimore in Week 3 with Richardson then sidelined with a concussion, but threw three interceptions in last week's 37-20 loss to the Jaguars.

The fifth-year pro has completed 65.2 per cent of his passes for 882 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions this season.

Richardson went 2-2 in his first four NFL starts while flashing the promise the Colts envisioned for the 21-year-old. He threw for 577 yards with three touchdowns and just one interception while adding another dimension to the offence with his scrambling ability. Richardson rushed for four touchdowns in his first three games and compiled 136 yards on 25 total attempts.

The former University of Florida standout has also had a proclivity for injuries during his brief time in the NFL, however.

Richardson bruised his knee near the end of his NFL debut and was forced out of the Colts' Week 2 win over the Houston Texans after being concussed on a scrambling play. After missing one game while in the league protocol, he injured his shoulder in his second game back when tackled on a short run late in the first half against Tennessee. 

Hollie Doyle’s appeal against a seven-day suspension will be heard by a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel next week and is set to determine if she can ride at the Breeders’ Cup.

Doyle incurred the ban aboard the Jonathan Portman-trained Rose Light in the Unibet More Boosts In More Races Fillies’ Handicap at Kempton on Monday evening, with the rider found to have cut across a number of rivals in the early stages of the 11-furlong contest.

The stewards report on the night read: “Doyle was suspended for seven days for careless riding as she allowed her mount to shift right-handed when insufficiently clear of Flying Circus on her inside, causing (Neil) Callan to take a significant check to avoid clipping heels which resulted in Sindri, Page Three and Typical Woman to all be tightened for room and lose their respective racing positions on the inside.”

Doyle’s ban is currently due to run from October 30 to November 4, plus November 6 as there is no Flat racing in Britain on November 5.

If she is successful in having the punishment reduced to five days or less, she would then be free to ride Bradsell in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on November 4.

Connections of Bay Bridge are unconcerned about conditions at Ascot ahead of the defence of his Qipco Champion Stakes crown on Saturday.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the five-year-old produced a career best to end the unbeaten run of Baaeed in the Group One feature last season and returns to British Champions Day looking for a repeat of that half-length victory which came in the hands of Richard Kingscote.

That success came on ground described as good to soft, but having also finished second at Royal Ascot on good to firm ground last year, Bay Bridge appears to have few going concerns ahead of a race which may be switched to the Berkshire venue’s inner track if forecast rain turns conditions heavy on the round course.

“If he can go back and defend his crown, that would be wonderful,” said John O’Connor of Ballylinch Stud, who own the horse in partnership with James Wigan.

“At the moment the intention is to run as far as I know, but all of those final decisions will come down to Sir Michael Stoute. All I know is he was happy with him when I last spoke to him and the intention is to go to Ascot on Saturday.

“He has good form on varying ground at Ascot. He’s run well there on summer ground as well and he was maybe a little bit unlucky when touched off in the Prince of Wales’s last year.

“I don’t know myself which track they will race on, but we will just turn up on whatever track we’re told to turn up on I guess.”

A proven performer at the highest level, Bay Bridge has been a regular in some of the hottest 10-furlong contests but made a brief foray up to a mile and a half for a crack at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The son of New Bay finished a creditable sixth behind Ace Impact in Europe’s richest middle-distance contest, with an urge to hold an early position taking its toll in the closing stages of that contest.

However, he is reported to have returned from the French capital in fine shape and now returns to his optimum distance for this Champions Day appearance.

“He appears to have come out of the Arc well and he ran very well there. For the moment we’re heading directly to Ascot, hopefully still in good form,” added O’Connor.

“In terms of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he probably did a little too much too early. You obviously need to hold your position in a race with that many runners, but he probably did a little bit too much and it probably cost him a little bit in the straight. Nonetheless he ran a really good race.”

On returning to 10 furlongs, O’Connor said: “It looks like that (is his best distance) and his highest ratings are at that trip, so hopefully dropping him back will be beneficial to him.”

Warren Gatland is to remain as Wales head coach and lead them to the 2027 World Cup.

Gatland placed his future in the hands of the Welsh Rugby Union following his side’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina on Saturday.

The 60-year-old New Zealander, pointing to a break-up clause in his contract, said: “If the union want to get rid of me, that’s up to them.”

But asked at a press conference on Wednesday whether he will stay through to the next World Cup in Australia, Gatland said: “Absolutely. That’s the plan.

“I had a joke with Nigel (Walker, interim WRU chief executive) before and said ‘You can’t get rid of me’.

“I think my contract said if we didn’t get out of the pool they had a clause that said they could get rid of me. I said: ‘If you do want to pay me off that’s up to you’. But I’m excited what we can do as a group.”

Gatland was joined at the press conference by Walker, the former Wales wing who has stood in as WRU interim CEO since the end of January and will become the executive director of rugby at the start of next year.

Walker said: “To be successful in international sport you have to have good coaches and good players.

“To be a good coach you need experience, miles on the clock, understand your craft, get your message across to players, and players have to trust you.

“You’ve seen the growth in the squad in a relatively small period of time and, like Warren, I’m really excited what the next four years can bring.

“We’ve got something to build on and we know we can grow the standard of the squad to an even greater level we saw over the last four or five weeks.”

Wales were written off by many before the World Cup after a difficult 12 months, which saw them suffer an embarrassing defeat to Georgia and head coach Wayne Pivac sacked in December.

Gatland, who coached Wales between 2007 and 2019, returned to oversee a Six Nations campaign that produced only one victory after the players had threatened to take strike action over contractual issues.

Ken Owens, captain in that campaign, described Wales as the “laughing stock” of world rugby, but Gatland believes Wales will move forward after topping their World Cup pool with wins over Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal.

“We’ve got an opportunity to bring some youngsters in and build on the cycle to 2027 with players having 50, 60, 70 caps behind them,” said Gatland, who became the first coach in France to lead a team to four World Cup quarter-finals.

“There’s also an opportunity for us to build some closer relationships with the regions and some of the changes with coaches and personnel there, and that hasn’t always been the case in the past.

“Often those relationships have been quite fractured because of things that were going on between the regions and the unions, and we got dragged into it.”

Wales play the Barbarians in Cardiff on November 4 as a tribute to their former captain Alun Wyn Jones, who retired from international rugby in May.

Players based in France and England will not be selected as the game falls outside the international window.

Gatland confirmed five players – Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies, Josh Adams, Liam Williams and Louis Rees-Zammit – are injured and would have missed out on a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand this Friday had they beaten Argentina.

Biggar has retired from international rugby and played his last game for Wales, while Taulupe Faletau’s future will become clearer next year.

The 32-year-old British and Irish Lions number eight broke his arm against Georgia and missed the Argentina defeat.

Gatland said: “I spoke to Taulupe before he left France and said ‘get that arm fixed’. We’ll sit down then and talk about what he wants to do over the next few years in terms of playing.”

Daniel Ricciardo is “ready to go” as he prepares to return from injury for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old Australian has missed the past five races after he broke his left hand in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.

Ricciardo, who took part in a Red Bull demonstration run in Nashville last weekend, will be back in his AlphaTauri cockpit for practice at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas on Friday.

New Zealander Liam Lawson, who has impressed as Ricciardo’s stand-in, will make way.

He said: “It’s good to be back! My hand is much better and the simulator was a useful way of assessing it.

“I tried it out in the week before Qatar, but I didn’t feel it was at full potential, so I spent the rest of that week in the UK, spending more time in the sim, and got to a point where I felt ready to go.

“My overall fitness is fine as I kept training as much as I could, although I obviously couldn’t do much with my left hand or arm for a while.

“It was definitely frustrating watching the past few races, especially as I’d gotten myself to a place where I was so ready to go again and race, and then I did two events and had to hit pause again, but actually, the time without racing went quite quickly.”

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Ricciardo was due to take part in only his third comeback race when he crashed in Zandvoort. He was immediately taken to the medical centre before he was transported to a nearby hospital with his left arm in a sling.

A subsequent X-ray confirmed Ricciardo had sustained a break to the metacarpal on his left hand.

Ricciardo was ruled out of the race in Holland and the following rounds in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Qatar.

Ricciardo was handed a second chance by Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri following his dismissal by McLaren at the end of last season.

Despite his injury, AlphaTauri announced last month that they have retained the eight-time grand prix winner winner for 2024 alongside Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.

Migration will aim to land his second major handicap of the season off top weight when he runs in the Balmoral at Ascot on Champions Day.

Trained by David Menuisier, the seven-year-old won the Lincoln at Doncaster on the opening weekend of the season and is aiming to bookend his campaign in fine style.

He has only run once since, when failing to get involved in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown, but Menuisier hopes the return to testing ground and, more importantly, a big field will see him recapture his best.

“We gave him a break in the summer to try to run him in this race. We know he loves the big fields and it looks like he will have his ground, so we are looking forward to it,” said Menuisier.

“We know he can carry big weights and the hustle and bustle of the big handicaps suit him, so we’ve aimed at it.

“Look, off his weight I’m not saying he’s going to go and win, but I know he’ll give his best and we’ll see where he ends up. I’m not a statistician but I assume winning handicaps off 113 has not been done very often. Hopefully class rises to the top.”

It could be a big weekend for Menuisier who is sending Champagne Stakes second Sunway to France for a Group One, though whether he runs in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud over 10 furlongs or the Criterium International over a mile is not quite decided.

He said: “The plan is for Sunway to run I’m just not sure which race yet. I’ve left him in both races to have a look but sadly it looks as if all the other trainers did the same!

“It’s pretty much the same horses in both races. I think our preference is to run him over a mile but I have little doubt he would stay 10 furlongs.

“I’ll have a chat with the owner but at this stage we’re favouring the mile. His Doncaster run was good and the form, with Rosallion winning the Lagardere and Mountain Bear winning a black type race in Ireland, has worked out.”

A decision on whether Matilda Picotte will race on next season or be sold next month has yet to be made, her trainer Kieran Cotter has revealed.

Third behind Mawj and Tahiyra in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in the spring, the three-year-old made a successful return to the Rowley Mile in last week’s Group Two Challenge Stakes.

Given she has also won a Listed race and a Group Three, the daughter of Sioux Nation is clearly a valuable broodmare prospect and she holds an entry in next month’s Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale at Kildare Paddocks.

However, Cotter has not given up hope of seeing her return to training as a four-year-old next term, when he believes she is capable of striking gold at Group One level.

“She’s come out of Newmarket super, as she always does. She goes and gets the job done and comes home and relaxes – she’s a a super horse,” he said.

“She’s definitely finished for this year and the owners are still mulling it over. She is in the Goffs Breeding Stock Sale, so do they keep or do they sell her?

“I suppose where the lads are coming from, there’s 10 of them involved with her and by the time you’ve paid commissions and split it down 10 ways, it’s not going to be a life-changing amount of money.

“They know they’re not going to find another one like her – she’s brought them to places they couldn’t dream of going, so there is that to be factored in as well.”

While Matilda Picotte’s back-to-back Pattern race wins have been achieved over seven furlongs, Cotter is confident his stable star would be capable of contesting top-level sprints in 2024.

He added: “There’ll be a lot of options open to her next year as a four-year-old. If she is here, I’d say we’d look at dropping her back to six furlongs as there aren’t many seven-furlong races open to her at Group One level.

“She showed a lot of pace on Friday – her second and third furlongs were sub 11 seconds, so that’s very, very fast over that trip.

“We’ll keep minding her anyway and see what happens. We’ll enjoy her while she’s here.”

Dermot Weld looks set to make a late call on the participation of his star filly Tahiyra in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

The daughter of Siyouni has won five of her six starts to date, her only defeat coming at the hands of Mawj when beaten by half a length in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May.

Tahiyra has since impressed in winning the Irish Guineas, the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown and Weld is keen to pitch her in against the colts on Qipco Champions Day – but admits the prospect of running on testing conditions is a worry.

“It’s pretty clear the filly herself has progressed from each of her Group Ones wins, I’m delighted with her and we want to run – but I do have to put in the caveat that she’s shown excellent speed on fast ground,” the trainer told Sky Sports Racing.

“She’s also won on soft ground and she’s a very adaptable filly, but I do have to advise that if the ground came up very heavy, she’s not a big filly and it would cause concern.

“She’s a brilliant filly and she will handle soft ground well, but I’m concerned about the weather forecast for that part of England, especially Friday night into Saturday.

“She will definitely travel over, (but) she is racing against some of the best colts in Europe and that (ground) is a concern.”

Weld has trained a host of top-class fillies during the course of his long and illustrious career and believes Tahiyra matches up to any that have gone before her.

He added: “She’s right up there. Homeless Songs was a brilliant filly the year before when she won the Irish Guineas and Tahiyra’s half-sister Tarnawa won at the Breeders’ Cup for us.

“I don’t like comparing horses from year to year. On this year Tahiyra is a very brilliant filly.”

Should Tahiyra sidestep Ascot, she would have the option of travelling to America for the Breeders’ Cup, although Weld is refusing to look beyond the weekend at this stage.

He said: “We haven’t even discussed that because it would be wrong to do so. Let’s concentrate on Saturday and let’s hope to be there.

“Champions Day has always been a very good day for me. Fascinating Rock won the Champion Stakes, we won the fillies’ and mares’ race with Sapphire and the Long Distance Cup I’ve won a couple of times with Forgotten Rules and Rite Of Passage.

“Ascot itself as a track has been very good to me. I think I’ve trained 19 Group winners at the Royal meeting and my horses always run extremely well at Ascot.

“Tahiyra is in great form, I couldn’t be happier with the filly, her final piece of work was excellent and her graph has gone the right direction throughout the year.

“I’m just very positive of a big run for Saturday.”