Ben Earl may be taking his debut World Cup by storm but Maro Itoje insists his England team-mate raised eyebrows when he first arrived at Saracens.

Earl has emerged as one of England’s top performers during their canter into the quarter-finals with a group game to spare and he is competing with Billy Vunipola to start at number eight against Samoa on Saturday week.

The dynamic back row was repeatedly overlooked by Eddie Jones despite being crowned Premiership Player of the season in 2022 and even under Steve Borthwick his 2023 Six Nations was cut short, with instructions to work on aspects of his game.

It was not until the World Cup warm-up fixture against Wales at Twickenham last month that he was finally picked in the starting XV – three-and-a-half years after making his Test debut off the bench.

Now his reputation is soaring through his potent carrying, impact in attack and spirited on-field celebrations – a far cry from the 18-year-old Itoje first encountered in 2016.

“When Ben came to Saracens I thought ‘who the hell is this guy?’ He probably didn’t give the best first impression!” Itoje said.

“He was a young guy from Tonbridge and he had this floppy, public school hair. He was very sure of himself!

“He’s always been a nice guy, but you just thought ‘who the hell’s this guy?’ But he’s been great and he’s worked at his game.

“He hasn’t had a linear path. He’s had bumps, peaks and troughs along the way and he’s grown and grown and grown into the player that he is today.

“Some of the stuff he’s doing for England now we’ve been seeing for a while at Saracens. And he’s only 25, so he’s only going to get better.

“He’s got great physical attributes but he’s also very attentive, he wants to learn and he wants to improve.

“Through his journey you’ve seen the toughness and the ruggedness to his spirit that he’s kept on persevering.

“No doubt he would have been a bit gutted because he would have thought he was playing really well and was deserving of a place, but for whatever reason he wasn’t getting a look-in.

“But he’s stayed consistent with his performances and he’s always had a great mindset and attitude.

“If you’re consistent over a period of time, even when the proverbial tunnel looks dark, there is light there and he’s shown that. We’re only just beginning to see the fruits of his labour.”

The United States failed to win a single match as Europe equalled the biggest day-one lead in the modern format of the Ryder Cup.

Since the Great Britain and Ireland team was expanded to Europe in 1979, a margin of 6 1/2 points to 1 1/2 had only before been achieved in 2004 – and even then, the beaten Americans managed one foursomes win.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how Friday’s success compares and what it could mean.

Europe won all four of the morning foursomes, only their fourth ever session whitewash with the others coming on Friday afternoons in 1987, 1989 and 2018.

Another win followed in the afternoon from Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, 5&3 over Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, with none of the five home wins reaching the 18th hole.

When the other games did get there, though, it was to Europe’s benefit – Viktor Hovland’s dead-weight birdie putt halved the top match, Jon Rahm rattled in his second eagle in three holes and Justin Rose brilliantly closed out another half.

Europe’s previous 4-0 sessions came after a 2-2 share of the Friday morning in 1987 and overturned 3-1 deficits on the other two occasions.

That 6-2 margin in 1987 was matched in 1999, Europe winning 2 1/2 points in the Friday morning foursomes and 3 1/2 in the afternoon fourballs, and by the Americans with a pair of 3-1 wins in 2021.

But the only precedent for a team scoring 6 1/2 points on day one comes from 2004, when Europe won three of the morning fourballs with an additional half-point from Paul McGinley and current captain Luke Donald.

Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas finally got the USA on the board but Europe won the remaining three foursomes on their way to an eventual 18 1/2 9 1/2 win – a European record which was matched two years later.

The USA’s 19-9 win two years ago is the only bigger margin in a Europe-United States contest though after Europe’s 6-2 opening days, they won only 15-13 in 1987 and lost the contest in 1999.

From the American perspective, what is needed is a comeback to top one of the Ryder Cup’s most memorable contests – largely for unwanted reasons.

The 1999 contest in Brookline is chiefly noted for the controversy on the final day, with Justin Leonard’s long putt at the 17th sparking wild American celebrations even as Europe’s Jose Maria Olazabal still had a putt for a half to keep the match alive.

Colin Montgomerie reported that he suffered such abuse that his father left the course, Mark James alleged that a fan spat at his wife and Europe vice-captain Sam Torrance singled out Tom Lehman’s conduct as “disgusting”, with Lehman later apologising for his and his team’s behaviour.

A dramatic contest, though, deserves to be remembered for the golf that was played. Wins for Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie followed by Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik gave Europe the early initiative, with Jeff Maggert and Hal Sutton pulling back a first American win and the other match on Friday morning halved.

A half for Montgomerie and Lawrie and wins for Garcia and Parnevik, Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez and then Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood made it 6-2 and each of Saturday’s sessions were shared 2-2, leaving Europe 10-6 up heading into the singles.

American players won the first seven matches to finish before Padraig Harrington and Lawrie stopped the rot. Jim Furyk beat Garcia, though, to make it 14-12 and Olazabal’s miss after the commotion at the 17th meant an eventual 14 1/2 13 1/2 home win.

Kent maintained their Division One status in the LV= Insurance County Championship after a dramatic final day of the season which saw Middlesex relegated instead.

Kent had to settle for a draw from their game with Lancashire at Canterbury and then faced an agonising 80-minute wait for news from Trent Bridge, where a Middlesex win over Nottinghamshire would have consigned Jack Leaning’s side to Division Two.

There had looked to be only one outcome as Nottinghamshire, having been set a target of 207 in a generous 58 overs by Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones, progressed to 64 without loss and then 106 for one.

But on a dry, turning pitch on a sunny afternoon, spinners Jayant Yadav, Josh De Caires and Sam Robson – who finished with a career-best four for 46 with his leg spin – reduced the home side to 157 for seven and suddenly a great escape looked on.

However, Matt Montgomery (34 not out) held the tail together to drag Nottinghamshire across the line at eight down, with 16 balls to spare, and left Kent celebrating survival despite being frustrated by dogged Lancashire resistance.

Third-placed Hampshire became just the second team to beat Surrey across their back-to-back title-winning campaigns.

Only Lancashire had beaten Surrey in 2022 and 2023 in red-ball cricket, winning once in either campaign.

But Liam Dawson took his season tally to 49 wickets by claiming two of the four scalps needed to secure victory at the Ageas Bowl, with Surrey only scoring 20 of the 73 required to lose by 52 runs before 11am.

Despite the defeat, Surrey were presented with the Division One trophy by England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson.

Warwickshire and Somerset’s rain-hit clash ended in an expected draw.

The Division One contest was officially abandoned just after lunch on the final day when, with the sun shining, the umpires ruled that areas of the field remained unsafe.

Somerset had been 90 for two in the second innings, a lead of 32. The result saw Warwickshire end the campaign in fourth with Somerset seventh.

In Division Two, Shan Masood’s brilliant 123 helped Yorkshire chase down a final-day target of 360 to beat promoted Worcestershire at Headingley and avoid finishing bottom for only the second time in their history.

Yorkshire’s fourth-highest successful run chase was achieved with relative comfort in the end, with six wickets in hand and three overs of the allotted 70 remaining.

With the game meandering ahead of day four, both sides opted to contrive a finish, with Yorkshire risking the draw which would lift them off the bottom of Division Two.

As it was, they were able to achieve that by going for broke as captain Masood hit 15 fours in 131 balls.

Sussex took just 45 minutes to complete a 339-run victory that condemned Gloucestershire to a winless season and bottom spot.

The hosts took only 9.5 overs to achieve a third victory of the campaign after Gloucestershire resumed on 113 for five, needing another 400 runs.

Durham sealed an emphatic victory over Leicestershire by an innings and 141 runs to end their title-winning campaign on a high.

The home side required 10 wickets to secure their seventh victory of the campaign at Seat Unique Riverside and took only 42.5 overs to tear through the Leicestershire batting line-up.

The Durham bowlers shared the wickets around as Vishwa Fernando and Matt Parkinson claimed three apiece, while Matthew Potts, Ben Raine and Jonathan Bushnell also struck.

The hosts took 24 points from the contest, ending the term with a mammoth total of 233.

Leus Du Plooy’s last game for Derbyshire ended in a draw despite another Luis Reece century as their side came up four wickets short after setting Glamorgan a target of 384 to win on the final day in 70 overs.

Derbyshire had eight fielders around the bat in the chase for wickets but eventually called time one over short at 5.37pm as the game petered out into a draw with Glamorgan on 135 for six. Derbyshire finished sixth in the table and Glamorgan fifth.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Celtic have received a major boost after Japan midfielder Reo Hatate signed a new five-year contract.

The 25-year-old has scored 14 goals in 71 appearances since joining in January 2022.

Manager Brendan Rodgers told Celtic’s website he was delighted with Hatate’s decision to extend his stay.

“I have had some great discussions with him in recent weeks, I know he loves the club and our supporters and how ambitious he is to bring more success to the club,” Rodgers added.

“Reo has already shown us what a talent he is, making a great contribution to the team since he has joined Celtic.

“He is a huge talent, an exciting young player with great attributes and someone who can change a game.

“I know he is the type of man and player, though, who doesn’t want to rest. He is hungry to improve every day and achieve more and more to be the very best he can be – and Celtic is a great place for him to do this.

“We go forward now together with real confidence and I really look forward to continuing our work with him and the rest of the squad as we face all our challenges ahead.”

Hatate added: “I have had the best welcome ever since I joined the club and I want to thank all our fans for the great support they continue to give to us all.”

Brooks Koepka accused Jon Rahm of acting like a child after the Spaniard’s stunning afternoon performance at the Ryder Cup in Rome on Friday.

The Spaniard eagled two of the final three holes at Marco Simone as he and Nicolai Hojgaard came from behind to halve their fourballs match against Koepka and Scottie Scheffler.

Rahm, who chipped in three times in his two matches during the day, celebrated exuberantly as Europe took firm command of the contest, leading 6.5-1.5 after day one.

It was not clear, however, what Rahm did in particular to rile the American.

Koepka said in a TV interview: “I think me and Scottie birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and then ‘lost’ (to) two (eagles).

“So yes, I mean I want to hit a board and pout just like Jon Rahm did but, you know, it is what it is. Act like a child. But we’re adults. We move on.”

Koepka alluded to this subject again when asked what the US needed to do on Saturday to get themselves back into the match.

He said: “Honestly, we’ll be fine. We’re all grown-ups, we act like grown-ups. We’ll be just fine. Just got to play and see where it puts you.

“Just keep fighting. You never know what’s going to happen. (We have) still got a long day tomorrow.

“I guess it’s just a matter of momentum, but we’ve got to go out in the first session and play well, that’s for sure.”

Europe captain Luke Donald was asked about Rahm’s comments but did not offer an opinion.

“I certainly didn’t see any of that,” Donald said. “Jon was a big support system for Nicolai today. Jon’s a passionate person, but I didn’t see him acting any other way.”

Relief Rally will miss the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday due to a bad scope.

The William Haggas-trained two-year-old has proven a real money spinner for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, better known for their National Hunt acquisitions.

After scoring at Windsor and Salisbury, Relief Rally went down by just a nose to Crimson Advocate in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot before landing a valuable sales race at Newbury in a convincing manner.

Last time out, she took a step up in trip to six furlongs in her stride when beating Aidan O’Brien’s reopposing Cherry Blossom in the Group Two Lowther Stakes at York.

A crack at Group One glory was next up, but will now have to wait. Munir wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Needless to say we are all very disappointed that Relief Rally scoped badly and is now a non-runner for the Cheveley Park Stakes tomorrow.”

Cherry Blossom has since done the value of the Lowther form no harm by picking up over €240,000 for finishing second of 23 in the Goffs Million at the Curragh, albeit beaten six lengths by One Look.

Soprano has performed consistently well in good company without quite adding to a debut success at this course.

George Boughey’s filly has been placed three times at Group Three level, in the Albany at Royal Ascot, the Sweet Solera on the July course here and the Dick Poole at Salisbury, when having to recover from fluffing her start and getting detached early on.

On the decision to run in this contest rather than Friday’s Rockfel Stakes, Boughey said: “I think staying at six furlongs is right. She is a strong stayer over that trip and she loves the track.

“There can be a speed influence in the Rockfel, but it looked like there are some stouter pedigrees in the Rockfel this year and I didn’t want her getting outstayed over seven furlongs by taking on horses that will stay a mile. We wanted to use her stamina over shorter.

“It was a massive effort for her to finish third at Salisbury given how she started the race. I think if the race was 50 yards longer, she would have nearly been in front. She certainly deserves her place in the line-up on Saturday.”

Jasna’s Secret bids to follow in the footsteps of some illustrious past French victors such as Ma Biche, Ravinella, Special Duty, Natagora and most recently Vorda in 2013.

She was snapped up by the shrewd Wathnan Racing recruitment team after completing a Deauville double in a valuable sales race for Carlos and Yann Lerner last month, when comfortably accounting for two-time winner Zorken.

Albany winner Porta Fortuna returns to the UK for Donnacha O’Brien, having since been placed twice in Group One company at the Curragh.

The daughter of Caravaggio was second to Bucanero Fuerte in the Phoenix Stakes and dead-heated for third behind Fallen Angel in the Moyglare on Irish Champions Festival weekend.

Jon Rahm cemented his status as Spain’s latest Ryder Cup superstar as Europe claimed a record-equalling five-point lead after an extraordinary opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

Captain Luke Donald’s decision to start with foursomes for the first time since 1993, when the United States last won on European soil, paid handsome dividends as his side swept an opening session for the first time ever.

Roared on by a partisan crowd at Marco Simone, the home side never trailed at any point in all four matches and their opponents won just 10 holes all morning.

Zach Johnson’s side threatened to stage a fightback as they led in all but one of the afternoon fourballs on the closing stretch, only for three European pairs to snatch half a point each in incredible fashion.

The five-point lead after the opening day equals the biggest in Ryder Cup history and was last achieved at Oakland Hills in 2004, when Europe went on to win by nine points.

Rahm had led from the front as he partnered Tyrrell Hatton to a 4&3 victory over world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns in the foursomes, but his performance in the afternoon was on another level.

The Masters champion chipped in for an eagle on the 16th to get back on level terms before Scheffler – partnering five-time major winner Brooks Koepka – won the 17th with a birdie after almost holing his tee shot.

Scheffler and Koepka then both had birdie putts from close range on the par-five 18th, only for Rahm to hole from 33 feet for eagle, his ball slamming into the back of the hole and into the air before dropping into the cup.

“There was definitely a bit of Seve magic on that one,” Rahm said in reference to the late Seve Ballesteros, who has a space dedicated to him in the European team’s dressing room.

“He definitely pulled that one towards the hole.”

Viktor Hovland had already holed from 20 feet on the 18th to ensure he and Tyrrell Hatton halved their match with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, the star American duo having been surprisingly left out of the foursomes.

Moments after Rahm’s heroics, Matt Fitzpatrick claimed his first Ryder Cup point after five straight losses, the former US Open champion making four birdies and an eagle in the first six holes to set himself and Rory McIlroy on the way to a 5&3 win over Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele.

Max Homa and US Open champion Wyndham Clark looked set to claim a first win for the visitors when they won the 16th to go two up on Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre, but Rose’s par was enough to win the 17th and the Englishman then birdied the last to cap a stunning finish.

Kylian Mbappe is available for Paris St Germain’s Ligue 1 clash with Clermont on Saturday but could be rested ahead of the Champions League trip to Newcastle.

The France forward was forced off early in last weekend’s 4-0 hammering of Marseille with an ankle injury and boss Luis Enrique must decide whether to risk him in the meeting against the league’s bottom side.

Mbappe trained away from the rest of the squad on Thursday but was back with his team-mates on Friday.

“Kylian Mbappe trained with the squad today, he’s available,” said Enrique on PSG TV. “He has had some treatment and done some specific sessions, but he’s in shape to play.”

The defending champions made a shaky start to the season, drawing with Lorient and Toulouse and losing to Nice, and sit third in the table behind Brest and Nice heading into the weekend.

But the result against big rivals Marseille coupled with a Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund has put a different complexion on things.

“Confidence comes with good results,” said Enrique. “We had some difficult results early in the season but, when you win, everything is great, and confidence builds with victories.

“There’s a lot of things to improve. In a learning process, there is always a phase at the start where you have to learn a lot.

“We’re still in that phase. I’ve been very happy with the players since I took over but we’re still far from the level we want to achieve in attack and defence.”

Clermont have taken only one point from their first six matches, conceding 12 goals in the process, but Enrique believes that belies their quality.

“They don’t deserve to be bottom of the table,” he said. “They play good football, work well, and last season had a very solid base. They’re one of the best teams defensively.

“It’s an important game because it comes a few days before a Champions League away game. We mustn’t drop off and underestimate our opponents. It won’t be an easy game.”

PSG, meanwhile, announced on Friday that left-back Nuno Mendes is expected to be out for a further four months after undergoing surgery on his hamstring in Finland.

The 21-year-old Portugal international suffered the injury in July and an operation has now been deemed the best option in his recovery.

Enrique said: “For Nuno Mendes, we have to be careful with all of that.

“We’ve got enough strength in depth but we have to find solutions because the season is long.”

Jonathan Thomas says that Wales have hit “reset” after four days off as they set about trying to make a memorable Rugby World Cup campaign into something unforgettable.

Wales’ World Cup squad returned to the training pitch on Thursday with a public session watched by more than 1,000 people at Stade de Porchefontaine in Versailles.

Players and coaches were given time off to spend with their families after last weekend’s record 40-6 win against Australia that secured quarter-final status for the fourth successive World Cup campaign.

But minds have now switched to next weekend’s final Pool C appointment with Georgia – then a quarter-final against Argentina or Japan.

“Professional sport can be relentless,” Wales assistant coach Thomas said.

“Winning that Australia game was a huge moment for us in terms of qualifying, and having those days off was good to have that feel-good factor heading into time off.

“Professional sport is about being humble and hitting reset. For me, confidence comes from preparation and the work you do in the week.

“You can’t look back and say we are confident because of that victory. Confidence comes from preparation and the hard work.

“We need to hit reset, as the boys have done today. We’ve got a tough game next week, and we will be completely focused on that.

“The amazing thing I’ve seen with this squad is you have that edge in training, but as soon as they walk off the training field, there’s laughing, joking and they are taking the mick out of each other for what has just happened in the session.

“Getting that balance of a competitive edge and having really close relationships off the field is very difficult to strike.

“That is one of the real highlights of this campaign, going back 14 weeks since we came in for mini-camps. That chemistry is really powerful, and the balance between the edge and the family side of things.”

Thomas, meanwhile, has no doubt that an ability to strike the right balance comes from the top with the example set by head coach Warren Gatland.

“I played under Gats, and I take my hat off to him,” he added.

“He is probably one of the best I have come across in terms of being able to drive the players hard. He is very open and honest with them, with a no-nonsense attitude. The expectations are really clear.

“But he has also got this nurturing, kind side to him which is all about family and if players need to go home or need help.

“It’s quite a remarkable thing to have both abilities in your character. It all starts with him, and everything flows downstream.

“It flows through the coaching staff and the players, and eventually you end up with quite a content playing group. One, because they are fit and they’ve worked hard, but they are also happy because their families are happy.”

Local schoolchildren turned out in their hundreds to watch the Wales squad put through their paces, with players signing autographs and posing for pictures afterwards.

“Our whole experience in Versailles has been awesome,” Thomas said.

“Obviously, it’s a beautiful place, first and foremost, but we are here to train and train hard. The facilities have been great.

“The people have been incredible, really, and none more so than today. We really appreciate it. It has made a massive difference to us, how welcome we’ve been made to feel since being here.”