The official responsible for Saturday’s VAR blunder broke his own golden rule when he wrongly ruled out Luis Diaz’s goal for Liverpool at Tottenham, a new book has revealed.
Darren England submitted to a Q&A for ‘The Football School Encyclopedia’ in which, asked ‘What is the hardest part of the job?’ he responds: “Making sure you do not make a mistake that impacts the outcome of the match.
“This is the worst thing for us.”
By a remarkable quirk of timing, the book, which is written by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton and aimed at younger readers, will be published on Thursday and offers insight into one of those responsible for what veteran former referee Keith Hackett described in the Telegraph as an episode of “staggering incompetence”.
England and his VAR assistant Dan Cook have been stood down from future appointments while Professional Game Match Officials Limited chiefs undertake a full review of the “significant human error” that it concedes was made during the game.
In the Q&A, which was conducted prior to the incident, England continues: “I try to prepare the same way for every match, which is to stay calm and relaxed.
“During the match I remain very focused and just take each decision I need to make, one at a time.
“I do not worry about past decisions in the game as it is all about the next decision.”
The Football School Encyclopedia is aimed at younger readers and boasts its appeal to “anyone with a thirst for knowledge, amazing true stories, terrific trivia, brain-busting quizzes, eye-popping colour, laugh-out-loud cartoons on every page – and everything you want to know about football!”
Former high-quality Flat performer Wordsworth made an impressive stable debut over hurdles for new connections at Bangor.
The chestnut, who is by Galileo, was bred and owned by Coolmore previously and trained by Aidan O’Brien to runner-up finishes in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp, plus third place in the Irish Derby.
He then changed hands at the end of his four-year-old season and was briefly campaigned by Josh Halley, picking up second-placed honours on his hurdling bow at Ballinrobe in July.
Subsequently he changed ownership and stables again and settled in with Pipe for long-term Pond House supporter Professor Caroline Tisdale.
The Nightingale House Hospice Maiden Hurdle was his first run in her silks and the horse was sent off the 10-11 favourite under Jack Tudor.
He set out to make the running and hardly saw another horse throughout, jumping with accuracy and confidence to stride to a straightforward 13-length victory.
“He did it very well, he hurdled well. He was obviously a good Flat horse and they don’t always translate it to hurdles,” said Pipe.
“He seemed to have the right attitude and I’m sure he’ll get further in time.
“He’s been very good at home, he attacks them (hurdles) and he enjoys it. We’ve been impressed with his schooling since day one.”
A return to the Flat is now on the agenda as Wordsworth holds an entry for the Cesarewitch at Newmarket on Saturday week, a race particularly favoured by Tisdale.
“He enjoyed it out in front and the plan, all being well, is that he’ll go to the Cesarewitch next Saturday,” Pipe said.
Of Tisdale he added: “She’s a very loyal owner and we’ve had some fantastic days, hopefully there are more to come.
“One of her favourite races is the Cesarewitch and that was one of the reasons for buying the horse.”
Steven Davis is determined to make the most of his chance in the Rangers hotseat as he admitted it came sooner than expected.
The 38-year-old Northern Ireland international, who had two successful spells as a player at Ibrox, was asked by the Gers board on Sunday evening to take the reins until they appoint a new permanent boss following the departure of Michael Beale.
The former Gers midfielder, who had been returning to fitness at the Ibrox club after a serious knee injury despite his contract expiring in the summer, will be assisted by fellow former Rangers players Alex Rae and Steven Smith, as well as coach Brian Gilmour and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart.
Speaking in Cyprus ahead of the Europa League clash with Aris Limassol in Cyprus on Thursday night, Davis spoke about a “whirlwind” few days while addressing his future.
“Obviously it came out of the blue,” said Davis, who revealed Nicolas Raskin and Kemar Roofe have returned from injury.
“Sunday evening, I was just at home. It wasn’t a call that I was expecting.
“Things moved very fast and I came in on Monday morning and I started to work.
“It was James Bisgrove (chief executive) and Craig Robertson (board member) that I received the phonecall from.
“Obviously it was a bit of a whirlwind after that. I went off the phone and I had a few conversations but my decision was made very quickly.
“I was honoured by the fact the board had that conversation and my name came up and they put their trust in me to try and do this job.
“I’m going to give it my all to try and be successful.
“Listen, there’s not been any conversation in terms of a time frame. I all happened very quickly.
“I was asked to come in and take the game tonight. How things play out after that I’m not too sure.
“Regarding my feelings around it, I’ve obviously got ambitions. I did not quite expect it to happen quite as soon.
“I’m just determined really to make the most of the opportunity I’ve been given and we will see what develops from there.
“I’ve got the experience of Alex Rae in beside me and Colin Stewart and Steven Smith and Brian.
“I’ve had a lot of messages from managers I’ve worked under. Unfortunately I’ve not had a chance to respond because it’s been quite intense preparing for this game.
“I appreciate the support I’ve been given but I haven’t had the chance to reach out to anyone or felt the need to just yet.”
Beale departed the club following the 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Ibrox which left the Light Blues seven points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic, albeit they beat Real Betis 1-0 in their first Europa League fixture.
Davis insists it is time for everyone at the club to “step up”.
He said: “‘Listen, there’s a lot of character within the dressing room. There’s a lot of leaders in there as well.
“Everyone knows it’s time to step up. The great thing about football is you get another opportunity to turn things around.
“It’s not a position we want to be in. Everybody is hurting from it.
“The main focus is first and foremost getting a result on Thursday and building on it from there.
“We won our opening group game. We are in a strong position and we want to build on that
“I think for us we just want to give the boys the freedom to go out and play to their strengths really.”
Aidan O’Brien’s Euphoric made a winning start to his career with a narrow success on his debut at Navan.
The Frankel two-year-old is out a Pivotal mare named Blue Waltz and fetched 1,900,000 guineas as a yearling when sold via Tattersalls this time last year.
The NavanRacecourse.ie Maiden was the colt’s first racecourse outing and under Seamie Heffernan he was the 15-8 favourite for the one-mile contest.
Victory did not always look a foregone conclusion as two furlongs from home the bay was in the middle of the field of 12 runners with Ger Lyons’ Rocking Tree leading the way.
The O’Brien youngster was continually gaining ground, however, and in the final strides just edged into the lead to defeat Rocking Tree by a short head on the line.
“He’s babyish, but he’s off to a good start. It’s hard for any of our horses to win first time out. The ones who do usually progress into Group horses so hopefully he will too,” said Heffernan.
“I wanted to get him organised, get him balanced and then get him going and see what was there. I’m happy he won.
“He’s well bred and his heart is in the right place, so hopefully he keeps on improving.”
Chris Armstrong, O’Brien’s stable representative, added: “He was just ready to start and he’s a lovely colt to look forward to.
“He’s still a bit of a baby, it was great to get him out at this time of year and he’s one to look forward to for next year.
“He’ll be a lovely mile-and-a-quarter, middle-distance horse. It’s grand to get him started, one run into him at least at two, and we’ll see how he progresses between now and the end of the year.
“He has still a bit to go mentally and physically.”
Poniros could have an exciting future having rubberstamped a successful reunion between Ralph Beckett and owners Amo Racing with an impressive winning debut at Nottingham.
Horses in the purple silks of Kia Joorabchian’s racing operation were a regular sight under the Kimpton Down handler’s name previously, but trainer and owner split midway through the 2021 season with the horses dispersed to other stables.
Beckett remained absent from Amo Racing’s roster of trainers for the 2022 season, but saddling his first runner in over two years for the owners, he enjoyed a winning return to the ranks with the promising son of Golden Horn, who justified 7-4 favouritism in the Bet With The World On Saturday EBF Maiden Stakes.
Immediately sent forward by Hector Crouch, he displayed a professional attitude in testing conditions at Colwick Park and made all for a taking length-and-three-quarters victory over Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Salamanca.
“He’s a nice colt and has showed up well at home,” said Beckett.
“That will probably be him finished for the year, he is still quite a weak individual, but he is a horse we like and one for the future we think.
“He’s been very straightforward since he arrived with us – he went there knowing his job because he has been so straightforward.
“First-time winners are always nice.”
Prince Alex’s five-race winning-run and Meu Amor’s Listed Eternal Stakes success were the highlights of Beckett’s previous time among the Amo training ranks and the in-form trainer was delighted to kick off his second spell with an exciting winner for the owners.
“I enjoyed training for Kia when it was going well and hopefully this is a nice horse back with us again,” continued Beckett.
“We stayed friends throughout and it’s nice to have a nice horse for him again.”
Poniros’ jockey Hector Crouch was also impressed with the performance of the youngster, as he defied both inexperience and a notorious headwind to get on the scoresheet.
He said: “He’s a lovely horse. I didn’t want to make the running, but he jumped well and no one was there. There’s a fierce headwind so he’s done well under the circumstances to keep going and he showed a really good attitude.
“I’ve only sat on him once at home and we did a piece of work on the grass. He did everything the right way round and is likeable. He hasn’t done too much at home, he’s just a really nice type.
“He has the right attitude to stay and the pedigree as well and he’s a really likeable type.”
Celtic have repeated their request for supporters to stop using pyrotechnics after being hit with another fine from UEFA.
The club said they had been fined 23,400 euros (about £20,260) after fans lit fireworks in the stands ahead of their Champions League group opener against Feyenoord in Rotterdam.
A spokesperson for Celtic said: “Clearly, we are concerned that, despite repeated requests and safety warnings, a small minority continue to use pyrotechnics at Celtic’s matches.
“The use of pyrotechnics represents a serious risk to the safety of our supporters.
“Celtic has been hit with another significant sanction by UEFA due to this behaviour. Again, the club requests that this conduct stops.”
News of the fine came hours before their first home game of the competition against Lazio.
Spain, Portugal and Morocco are set to co-host the 2030 men’s World Cup, with three South American nations staging the opening matches to mark the tournament’s centenary.
Montevideo in Uruguay, the city which hosted the first World Cup finals match in 1930, is poised to stage the opening match in seven years’ time with games in Argentina and Paraguay to follow.
The rest of the 48-team tournament will then move to north Africa and Europe, under a proposal from UEFA, the Confederation of African Football and South American confederation CONMEBOL which was accepted by the FIFA council at a meeting on Wednesday.
The hosting arrangement is now subject to formal approval by FIFA’s congress.
Uruguay’s selection for 2030 is in recognition of their role as hosts and winners of the opening tournament, Argentina’s as runners-up in that tournament and Paraguay’s as the traditional home of CONMEBOL.
Those countries will qualify automatically for the finals and play their opening games on home soil.
The awarding of the 2026 finals to the United States, Canada and Mexico followed by this proposed award means that only bids from the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation will be considered for the 2034 finals.
That appears to give Saudi Arabia, who were initially rumoured to be interested in bidding for 2030, a very strong chance of hosting, although Australia may enter the running too, after they successfully co-hosted the Women’s World Cup alongside New Zealand earlier this year.
The scandal surrounding the conduct of former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales at the final of that tournament has ultimately not prevented Spain being lined up to host its second finals, after it staged its first alone in 1982.
Rubiales remains the subject of ongoing FIFA disciplinary proceedings.
If the 2030 proposal is approved, Morocco would become only the second African nation to host World Cup finals matches, after South Africa in 2010.
Portugal have never hosted a World Cup before, but Euro 2004 was held in that country.
A South American bid had been set to go head to head with the Morocco-Spain-Portugal bid, and a decision had been expected at an extraordinary FIFA congress due to take place in the final quarter of next year.
However, the South American bid would have faced a difficult task to overcome a bid that had backing from UEFA and CAF, and now CONMEBOL has worked with the European and African confederations to come up with this proposal.
Brazil, in 2014, were the last South American nation to host the tournament.
Tom Johnstone could become the first winger to win the prestigious Steve Prescott Man of Steel award in over a decade after the Catalans Dragons player was named on this season’s three-man shortlist.
Johnstone, who sits joint top of this season’s try-scoring charts with 27, is joined by Wigan’s Bevan French and St Helens full-back Jack Welsby.
All three players are preparing for respective play-off semi-finals this weekend prior to the winner being announced next Tuesday.
Johnstone is one of the key reasons why Catalans have surged into the post-season and would become the first winger to win the award since Wigan’s Pat Richards in 2010.
French has excelled in the halves after switching from the wing earlier in the season due to injuries in the Wigan squad, and leads the league for the number of assists.
Welsby, who will face Johnstone in the first semi-final on Friday night, has been integral to Saints’ strong run of form after a relatively sluggish start to their domestic campaign.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants their match against Tottenham to be replayed after a significant VAR error ruled out Luis Diaz’s goal but accepts he is unlikely to get his wish.
With the score at 0-0, Diaz was flagged offside but replays showed he was actually onside although Darren England, the VAR, mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal, leading him to tell referee Simon Hooper the check was complete.
Liverpool’s complaints promoted the publication of the audio between officials which revealed the first person to spot the mistake was the replay operator, who urged the team of officials to stop the game, but the VAR and assistant VAR repeatedly said they could not intervene because play had restarted.
Klopp felt such an unprecendented scenario required a similarly unprecedented solution.
“The audio didn’t change it at all because I was not really interested in why things happened because I knew,” he said.
“I saw the outcome, I saw goal we scored and it didn’t count so I wasn’t now waiting for the audio and sitting there hoping I’d find out how it could happen or whatever.
“Yes, it was an obvious mistake and I think there would have been solutions for it afterwards.
“If not, I can say immediately – and probably some people don’t want me to say it – not as the manager of Liverpool but, much more as a football person, I think the only outcome should be a replay. It probably will not happen.
“The argument against that will probably be if you open that gate then everybody will ask for it. I think the situation is that unprecedented – it didn’t happen before.
“I’m 56 years old and I’m absolutely used to wrong decisions, difficult decisions but something like that as far as I can remember has never happened. That’s why I think the replay would be the right thing.
“The next argument would be if it would happen again, I think a replay would be the right thing to do or the referee has the opportunity to bring both coaches together and say ‘sorry, we made a mistake, but we can sort it, that Liverpool score a goal and we start from there’.”
Asked whether the club had made – or would make – a formal request for the match to be replayed Klopp, after taking advice from his press officer, said: “We are still going through the information that we have.”
The PA news agency understands the Premier League’s stance remains the same as earlier in the week – that a replay would not be considered.
The manager stressed he did not want to single out the individuals involved for the errors made, but wanted to find a solution within the framework of the system which would prevent something similar recurring in futrure.
“What I want to say is it’s really important that as big as football is, and important as it is for us, that we really deal with it in a proper way,” he added.
“I mean that all the people involved – on-field ref, linesman, fourth official and especially now in this case VAR – they didn’t do that on purpose. We shouldn’t forget that.
“I’m not angry with any of them (the officials), not at all. It’s not only the respect, but the only thing for human beings in general is we should not go for them. It’s not allowed to go for them in any way.
“They made a mistake and they felt horrible that night, I’m 100 per cent sure. That’s enough for me. Nobody needs further punishment. We should discuss it on a completely normal basis without emotions.”
Klopp was still unhappy with some other decisions taken in the game, notably the upgrading of Curtis Jones’ yellow card to a red, and also the two yellow cards issued to Diogo Jota.
“The referee got called to the screen and saw for the first three seconds a frozen picture. I would have given immediately a red card for that picture. Then he sees the replay in slow motion and I’d have given a red card for the slow motion. But in reality it’s not a red card.
“The ref’s first decision is yellow. Then the clear and obvious mistake is showing a frozen picture and in slow motion.
“On top of that, Diogo Jota got two yellow cards for not touching a player once. That is unprecedented as well I would say.”
Jota will be available for Thursday’s Europa League visit of Belgian side Union Saint Gilloise but fellow forward Cody Gakpo, who was injured in the Spurs game, is out.
Sean Levey feels it was well worth the connections of Heredia rolling the dice and supplementing her for the Virgin Bet Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.
The Richard Hannon-trained filly won her first four racecourse appearances, culminating with success in the Sandringham at Royal Ascot in 2022.
She lost her next six races, though, three in the second half of last season and three more in the first half of this.
Back to winning ways in Listed company at Haydock in August, she won a Group Three last time out at Sandown and will now have her first run at the highest level.
“There was a moment of disappointment when she hadn’t shown improvement from the Sandringham, but she is back there now, and she deserves to take her chance in the Sun Chariot,” said Levey.
“We were a little bit disappointed she didn’t reach the heights after the Sandringham because we always thought a lot of her, but she has got over that kind of phase where she wasn’t putting her best foot forward.
“Obviously going back up to the mile in her last two starts has helped, but at the same time she has come to form at the right time.
“I would like to think there is definitely a chance she will find improvement, whether it is good enough to beat Inspiral that is yet to be seen, but she deserves to be there taking her chance.”
He went on: “I’m not sure her win at Haydock was so much of a confidence-booster as fillies can be temperamental at the best of times and you never know when they are going to put their best foot forward.
“Normally when they do put their best foot forward you want to keep on their side and that is kind of where we are with Heredia.
“She was dominant at the end of her race at Sandown, but she arrived on the back of a very decisive victory in a Listed race at Haydock.
“She has got a great turn of foot, and you ride her to utilise that and that was what we were able to do at Sandown.
“She was able to travel very strongly on what was the back of a slowly run race, but she was able to pick them up and stay strong to the line.”
Scotland manager Steve Clarke believes he has the depth and flexibility to cope with the loss of Kieran Tierney for next week’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Spain.
Tierney suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Real Sociedad on Saturday and Clarke has added left-back Greg Taylor and centre-back Liam Cooper to his squad.
Scotland will qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany if they get a point in Seville on October 12.
“First and foremost it’s a shame for Kieran,” Clarke said. “He got a really good move on loan to Sociedad, started really well and obviously picked up what looks like quite a significant injury.
“We will miss him but I know Kieran, he will work as hard as he can to get back as quickly as possible, and we will be there to support him, and hopefully we are waiting on the other side for him as well with some good news.
“The squad is strong, I believe I have good options. It’s nice to be able to call on people like Greg Taylor, who has started the season well with Celtic. Liam Cooper has come back to the squad as well, which gives me another option.”
Clarke devised his three-man central defence to fit Tierney inside wing-back Andy Robertson and does not have another central defender who can carry the ball forward like the Arsenal man.
Scotland took seven points from three Nations League games in September 2022 while playing a back four in the absence of the injured Tierney, and Clarke is considering his options.
“What you have to weigh up is whether you have time on the training pitch to change the team, to change the system,” said Clarke, whose team also face France in a friendly in Lille on October 17.
“This one is a little bit more difficult because it’s a Thursday match, so the first match is difficult in terms of changing the system.
“That’s not to say we won’t do it because we have done it before. If I feel it’s the right way to go, then we can change the system.
“We still have games this week and at the weekend. You have to wait and see which squad actually turns up, hopefully no more injuries. Once I’ve got everybody in camp, we will make a decision on how we are going to go.
“Then we will have two quite short training sessions to work on the tactical side of it, and we will make sure we get that right.
“I think we could easily slot back into it because most of the players play with a back four with their club, so it’s not as if you are asking them to do something they can’t do.
“They proved in that September week of the Nations League that they could adapt very quickly to a different system.
“It’s a system that we quite often change to within games, if we have to get after the game and maybe chase it a little bit. So it’s a system we can use.”
Clarke admitted he was “nowhere” with the possibility of Newcastle pair Harvey Barnes and Elliot Anderson being involved.
Whitley Bay-born Anderson last week indicated he wanted more time to consider his international future, having left the last Scotland camp after two days following his first call-up to the full squad.
England cap Barnes was recently reported to be considering a switch of allegiance but was last week ruled out for three months with a foot injury.
Clarke said: “I haven’t spoken to Harvey for a long time, so nothing on that one.
“Similar with Elliot, he left the last camp and I haven’t spoken to him since. I haven’t picked him for this camp and I move on and work with the players we have got.”
Clarke would not rule out picking Anderson again “if he doesn’t choose England” but added: “Listen, Elliot is a young man making his way in the game. He has got a big decision to make, international-wise, so let’s just give the boy a little bit of time and space to make that decision.”
The only other change sees Luton striker Jacob Brown replace Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland.
Clarke said: “I had a chat with Lawrence, no problems. It was just a decision I wanted to make for this camp.
“Obviously Lawrence was in the last camp but didn’t get any minutes on the pitch and I felt there could be a similar scenario this time.
“I also wanted to have a look at Jacob because he has started quite well at Luton, playing week in, week out in the Premier League.”
Chelsea defender Reece James has been fined £90,000 and banned for one game after admitting to abusing a match official after last month’s defeat to Aston Villa.
England wing-back James, 23, who was not in the matchday squad due to injury when Villa secured a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, was reported for his behaviour towards the official in the tunnel after the match.
The FA said on its Spokesperson Twitter account: “Reece James has been given a one-match suspension and £90,000 fine for breaching FA Rule E3 at Chelsea’s Premier League match against Aston Villa on Sunday September 24.
“The defender admitted that he used improper, insulting and/or abusive words and behaviour towards a match official in the tunnel after the final whistle.
“An independent Regulatory Commission imposed these sanctions following a hearing, and its written reasons for them will be published at the earliest opportunity.”
James sustained a hamstring injury in training last month and has not appeared for Mauricio Pochettino’s side since the home draw against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.
Chelsea are hoping James will be fit to return to action in the home Premier League game against Arsenal on October 21.
Gavin Cromwell’s Royal Ascot winner Snellen will bid to return to form in the Staffordstown Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.
The Expert Eye filly was a winner on debut at Limerick in June, taking a seven-furlong maiden by three-quarters of a length in a field of 14.
Subsequently the two-year-old scored at Royal Ascot on her second run when landing the Listed Chesham Stakes at 12-1, coming home half a length ahead of Aidan O’Brien’s Pearls And Rubies.
Her next appearance was a step up to Group Two level in the Debutante Stakes at the Curragh, but she never seemed to be on a going day as she unseated Gary Carroll ahead of the start and then came home last of all.
An obvious cause for the uncharacteristic run never surfaced, but Cromwell has been happy with Snellen since and a return to action at the same track is planned for Saturday’s one-mile Group Three.
“We’re aiming her at the Curragh on Saturday, we’re hoping that not too much rain comes,” the trainer said.
“She seems to be back to herself and we’re hopeful of a nice run.
“She just wasn’t herself at all, she got very agitated and we never really got to the bottom of it but she seems to be back to herself now.”
There has been some encouraging collateral form since Royal Ascot, with Pearls And Rubies subsequently finishing second in the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes, to which Cromwell said: “That was very good to see.”
Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw has emerged as an injury doubt for Saturday’s crucial Rugby World Cup showdown with Scotland in Paris.
The 30-year-old is struggling with a “niggle” and will be assessed ahead of head coach Andy Farrell naming his matchday 23 on Thursday afternoon.
Henshaw suffered a fitness setback at the start of the tournament when he was a late withdrawal from Ireland’s bench for the 82-8 win over Romania.
He subsequently came on as a replacement in the 59-16 success over Tonga and the 13-8 victory against reigning champions South Africa.
Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell said: “Everyone came through training, but Robbie has a bit of a niggle and we’re finding out about that today.
“I’m sure there will be some information on that tomorrow.”
Henshaw has been providing back-up for in-form midfield duo Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose.
Leinster team-mate Jimmy O’Brien, Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey and Munster veteran Keith Earls are among the options to take his place in Farrell’s squad to face the Scots, if he is ruled out.
Ireland will secure a quarter-final spot as Pool B winners with a victory or a draw at Stade de France, while a loss may also be sufficient for progression, depending on the scoreline and bonus points gained.
Farrell’s men are seeking a 17th consecutive success to set up a likely last-eight appointment with either hosts France or three-time champions New Zealand.
Former Ireland captain O’Connell, who represented his country at four World Cups, believes the current crop of players know how to remain in the moment and avoid being inhibited by passion or pressure.
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“Being able to not rely massively on emotions is a big part of it,” he replied when asked about the key to consistently backing up wins.
“It’s always a big strength of ours how much the lads love playing for Ireland, how important the history of the team is.
“But that’s kind of the icing on the cake now rather than the whole cake.
“I think probably in fairness it would have come in under Joe (Schmidt, former head coach) and that ability to focus just on what’s right in front of you and not what’s too far ahead of you.
“They’ve a big appetite around just getting better and improving, both individually and as a group.
“When the focus is all about getting better, you acknowledge the significance of what might happen if you win a game at the weekend for sure, but you’re kind of able to ignore it a little bit then as well.
“The more you understand who you are and what you stand for the easier it is to perform.
“They don’t have to build up how important the game is. We all know it and they all know it.
“They focus on getting better, they focus on the next moment, and that sometimes helps them block out some of the noise around the game.”
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