Marcus Smith could be retained at full-back as England progress deeper into the World Cup after excelling in his first start in the position against Chile.

Smith overcame an edgy opening to help orchestrate an 11-try rout at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, offering the team a new dimension with the ball in hand, which he underscored with a personal two-try haul – albeit against opponents ranked 22 in the world.

England must now decide whether to give him another chance to adapt to 15 in their final group match against Samoa on October 7 or revert to the ultra-dependable Freddie Steward, their first choice in the position for over two years.

Richard Wigglesworth has been a central figure in Smith’s transition from fly-half and the attack coach has seen enough to know the 24-year-old is ready for the bigger tests that lie ahead.

“Marcus has given us food for thought at full-back throughout pre-season because that’s the standard he operates at,” Wigglesworth said.

“It was a bigger talking point than we felt it was because we just see a great rugby player there. We were really impressed by him against Chile.

“We all thought it was coming before the game and were really confident that he was going to produce that sort of performance. He looked great, didn’t he?

“He’s definitely a viable option (to start) because he’s a top, top international, so when you have that level of ability like he’s got, executing the way he is, then he’s always a viable option.”

Whether Smith faces Samoa, reprises the bench role that worked well over the four Tests before Chile were overwhelmed or England perform a positional sleight of hand by squeezing him and Steward into the same back line, one of the game’s most exciting talents has a role to play at the World Cup.

With Owen Farrell and George Ford blocking the path at 10, the Harlequins magician has adjusted quickly after defence coach Kevin Sinfield first raised the prospect of him switching positions during the summer.

“Marcus is a fly-half who can play full-back and what’s so impressive about him is that he has just ripped into that role,” Wigglesworth said.

“He gets training time at both, but he’s ripped into this like, ‘I want to get a shot, I want to have an impact at a World Cup’. And what an attitude for someone to have.

“There hasn’t been a hint of, ‘Oh, this isn’t quite my preferred position or the one that I’ve played and played very successfully for my whole career’.

“He’s not done that, he has just gone, ‘Let me make an impact on this team, on the players around me’. And he has been first class.”

England, who are on the brink of reaching the quarter-finals, have resolved to let Smith forge his own identity in the role.

“We’ve let Marcus do it the Marcus way because, from the first moment he has done it, he has looked pretty comfortable there,” Wigglesworth said.

“He’s done extra high-ball work and understanding the back-field roles in that, and he’s really grabbed that.

“He’s a smart, smart rugby player, so he retains that information and then commands other people around him straight away.

“He’s grabbed it himself and we want Marcus Smith to look like Marcus Smith at full-back, no one else.”

Diogo Dalot described the recent external scrutiny and criticism of Manchester United as a “killing machine” after Erik ten Hag’s side secured a return to winning ways at Burnley.

The Red Devils have been under the microscope off the field as well as on it at the start of the campaign, having lost four of their opening six matches in all competitions for the first time since 1986.

The heat was on as absentee-hit United headed to promoted Burnley on Saturday evening, when Bruno Fernandes’ fantastic volley on the stroke of half-time secured a much-needed 1-0 victory.

“We are playing for Man United,” right-back Dalot said. “We have to be consistent in every game because they will kill you in every direction that they can if you don’t win games.

“And you could see this last couple of weeks, it was another normal killing machine against us, but we fought hard.

“When we get into Carrington (training ground), the noise stays outside and we work hard.

“And I think we were rewarded with these three points, but we want to keep going.”

United were not entirely convincing against the winless Clarets, but it was a solid showing underpinned by clear togetherness and focus.

“I think this was massively important,” Dalot told MUTV. “Apart from the three points, I think the clean sheet brings us a little bit of extra confidence to go to the next games.

“We needed it after these last couple of games when we conceded a lot of goals and this has to build a foundation now for the next game.

“I think today we showed a proper compact team, aggressively defending the box, everybody (supporting) each other.

“Collectively we were very good. Everybody was speaking with each other, communication, aggressive on the front foot.

“And I think that brings you confidence when you look to your mate and he’s giving everything for you.

“You want to give everything for him as well. Today we came out to the pitch with that mentality.

“I think this is the standard that we need to have for the rest of the season.”

As for Burnley, their wait for a first win since returning to the Premier League continues.

Vincent Kompany’s outfit showed flashes of quality during the narrow home loss and summer signing Aaron Ramsey is keen to build on that display.

“We didn’t come out with three points, but I think that everyone can see a lot of positives that we can take from that, that we can take into the next game,” the 20-year-old said after making his Premier League start.

“Hopefully the three points come soon but in the changing room all of us are taking as many positives as we can from it – and there’s quite a few.

“It’s Manchester United and I think that we more than competed and hopefully next time we get the three points, but like I said loads and loads of positives from the game, and we can just build from that.”

Christian Horner knew Max Verstappen was ready to return to winning ways from his aggression in a game of padel tennis as the Dutchman moved to the brink of a third world title with victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Verstappen was imperious around the high-speed corner circuit at Suzuka, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by over 19 seconds as Red Bull sealed the constructors’ championship with a record six races to spare.

The 25-year-old’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season was ended in Singapore a week ago, but he hit back in style.

Verstappen is now within touching distance of a hat-trick of world titles, extending his lead over team-mate Sergio Perez to 177 points, and could even win it in the Saturday Qatar sprint race in two weeks’ time.

“I played padel tennis with Max on Wednesday and he was properly fired up and made it clear ‘I want to win the race by 20 seconds’ and in fairness he came within 0.7 of a second of achieving that,” team principal Horner said.

“You could tell from the very first lap in practice one that he was totally focused on this event.

“It is a circuit that he loves and enjoys. It was an outstanding performance. His laps in qualifying yesterday, particularly that final lap has to be up there with one of the best laps of all-time in qualifying.

“Max is absolutely at the top of his game, he is the best driver in F1 at this point in time.

“He’s just got this inner hunger, determination and huge ability. He doesn’t get distracted by the trappings of F1. He is an out-and-out racer. If he is not racing in the real world he is racing in the virtual world.

“He’s a winner and he loves winning. You’ve seen that competitive spirit at its utmost this weekend.”

Red Bull are the first team in Formula One history to win the team championship with six races to spare as Verstappen’s victory moved the Milton Keynes-based team 318 points clear of second-placed Mercedes in the standings. It is Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ title since their debut season in F1 in 2005.

They clinched it at the track owned by their engine supplier Honda, with Horner paying tribute to the entire team.

“To achieve this sixth constructors’ championship is beyond our wildest dreams. Coming into the season I don’t think we could have ever dreamt of having a year like this,” Horner added.

“Last year was a very strong year for us but to have kept that momentum rolling through the year that we have had is testimony to all the men and women in the team that have worked tirelessly.

“To repeat a season like this, to do better than we are doing is impossible. We are riding a wave and we want to ride that wave as long as we can.

“It is very fitting that we have won the championship here on the 75th anniversary of Honda at their circuit at Suzuka.”

While Verstappen coasted to the win, it was a tough day for Perez, who broke two front wings and was handed two penalties before retiring on lap 15.

He then came back into the race briefly on lap 40 before retiring again, with the team keen for him to serve his outstanding penalty rather than suffer in Qatar.

“It was just a disastrous weekend,” Perez said.

McLaren showed further signs of their progress by comfortably beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seal second and third – with Oscar Piastri picking up his first F1 podium.

“Another amazing day for us. A P2 and P3, so we couldn’t have asked for anymore,” Norris said.

“We are pushing, we are getting there. The progress we’ve made is pretty outstanding.”

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is determined to stay fit after revealing his frustration at his latest injury setback.

The England striker returned from a fractured cheekbone to score Everton’s third goal in their 3-1 win at Brentford.

“It’s difficult when you keep getting sidelined and you’re doing everything to stay on the pitch, but I think everyone knows I’m doing everything I possibly can,” Calvert-Lewin told the club website.

“I’m in a good place now, feeling physically fit, strong, fast. I’m buzzing to get the goal and long may it continue.

“We knew we needed a result and most importantly a win but we have to continue the work we’ve been doing, keep the momentum and take that into next week.”

James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener.

Calvert-Lewin then secured Everton’s first win of the season and condemned the Bees to a first home defeat.

“I think that Everton deserved to win,” said Bees boss Thomas Frank. “The first five games we played this season, we performed very well – this was a bad performance. We need to learn from that, move forward and bounce back.

“What this group of fantastic players have done very well over all the years I’ve been in charge here is that, after a bad performance, they’ve bounced back.

“Everything that Everton came with didn’t surprise us. We expected everything, we just handled it poorly. We just didn’t deal very well with it.

“There are two things, besides the bad performance, that we need to look into: one is defensive set-pieces, obviously we conceded two goals and we weren’t on top of them.

“Secondly, is our quality and decision-making on the ball, especially in the first half. We were throwing the ball away way, way too easy with touches, passes and decisions.”

Lewis Hamilton criticised Mercedes’ tactics and suggested he and George Russell needed to “work as a team” after on-track battles throughout the Japanese Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion finished fifth at Suzuka, two places ahead of Russell in a race where the pair scrapped repeatedly and aired frustration over the team radio.

After an early coming together where Russell surged past Hamilton before swiftly losing the place again, the 38-year-old pushed his team-mate off track in a second scrap and they then disagreed over how to defend their places against Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Russell was struggling on his tyres having attempted a one-stop strategy, while others around him deployed a two-stop, and Hamilton urged his team to let him through.

The 25-year-old resisted on the radio before being told “this is an instruction, George” and allowing Hamilton to pass.

Hamilton was then told to stay within DRS range to help his team-mate defend against Sainz, as the Spaniard had done to thwart Russell a week ago in Singapore.

“We should have swapped around earlier and I should have got as far ahead as possible to get the gap as big as we could to the Ferrari,” Hamilton said.

“Because he (Russell) was trying to fight me he was damaging his tyres and I think it just made it all complicated.

“The fact is we are not fighting each other in the team championship. As drivers it is not important where we are.

“What is important is that one of us finishes ahead of the Ferrari and to keep the position. Today we really needed to work as a team.”

Hamilton also disagreed with the team’s DRS strategy.

“I don’t think that was a good idea at all,” he said. “When they suggested it to me I knew that they obviously thought of it from the last race but it made no sense.

“I needed to get as far clear as possible. I was on my way, around two seconds ahead and they asked me to give George DRS and I had to come off the gas down the straight.

“Then he got overtaken by Sainz. He then got past George and he was right on my tail which was not ideal.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was absent for this race due to knee surgery, with his role divided among numerous other staff while the Austrian was on the intercom.

The team’s lead to Ferrari was cut in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship – which Red Bull clinched at Suzuka with a record six races remaining.

Max Verstappen stormed to victory, with McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the podium ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Russell, who lost sixth to Sainz at the death, said he had no hard feelings over the battle with Hamilton.

“The main goal is to finish P2 in the constructors’ championship,” Russell said. “The drivers’ championship is out of the window for me totally. Lewis is in a good place to fight for a good position.

“The goal is to finish ahead of Ferrari this season and keep on working for next year. No issues on my side.

“I viewed it as good, hard racing. Of course we lost a bit of overall time fighting each other. You are a bit frustrated on the radio but that is just part of racing.

“We are not even going to discuss it, there is nothing to discuss. We have bigger fish to fry which is how do we make the car go quicker.”

Johnny Sexton says beating defending champions South Africa is among Ireland’s best Rugby World Cup wins but insists his team must push on and “make it count”.

Andy Farrell’s men put one foot in the quarter-finals of the tournament by edging a classic Paris encounter 13-8 to register a 16th straight victory.

The world’s top-ranked team have a two-week break before returning to Stade de France to complete their Pool B fixtures against Scotland.

“I think we’ve had some big wins in pool stages before, that’s right up there,” said captain Sexton.

“When you play against the reigning world champions, it’s always going to be incredibly tough and it was.

“They didn’t let us down in terms of the physicality of the game but I thought we fronted up and gave some good stuff ourselves in that regard.

“Yeah, it’s right up there but we’ve got to make it count now.

“We’ve got some time off this week with the bye week, then we regroup and we’ve got to back it up against Scotland and make sure we do the business to get out of the pool.”

Mack Hansen’s first-half try, plus five points from the boot of Sexton and a late Jack Crowley penalty moved the Six Nations champions within touching distance of the knockout stages.

South Africa remained in contention until the final whistle through Cheslin Kolbe’s score and a Manie Libbok penalty but paid a heavy price for some wayward goal kicking.

Ireland were roared home by an estimated 30,000 Irish fans on an unforgettable evening in the French capital.

Veteran fly-half Sexton felt the “insane” support was a vital factor in securing a statement victory.

“We’ve had some big days before in terms of results in the pools but I’ve never ever seen a crowd like that,” said the 38-year-old.

“Someone said there was 30,000 fans but there was no way it was 30,000.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if there was 60,000 and they were insane throughout. They gave us the lift that we needed.

“Honestly, it’s not lost on us. We talk about it a lot, about inspiring those people that put their hand in their pocket week after week.

“They probably saved for four years to come here and it’s something we refer to all the time and I mean that.

“We play for them and they gave us the edge, fair play to them.”

Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi urged his side not to dwell on the disappointing result as they seek to bounce back in a crucial clash with Tonga.

“The intensity of the game was exactly what we needed for a lot of players that have never played at such intensity,” said the flanker.

“The whole atmosphere was amazing on the field but we know exactly what we need to do as a group.

“We’ve got to lift our heads, we’ve got a big game coming and if we dwell too much on what happened, we will forget to perform next week.

“We need to get through that one and then we can start thinking about afterwards. Tonga is an important game.”

Phil Foden admits Manchester City have a big hole to fill after influential midfielder Rodri picked up a three-game ban in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.

The Spain international was sent off early in the second half of City’s 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium for raising his hands towards the neck of Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

The treble winners now face being without Rodri for their midweek Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle, next Saturday’s game at Wolves and – most crucially – the encounter at Arsenal on October 8.

Foden said: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss, but we have players to step up now and we are going to need them.”

Rodri’s dismissal dramatically changed the mood of a game City had been cruising to victory in following goals from Foden and Erling Haaland in the first 14 minutes.

A tame affair became fractious and City lost some of their composure before switching to a defensive mindset.

Attacking players Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez were sacrificed for Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake as manager Pep Guardiola took a pragmatic approach to secure three points.

“I thought we showed a different side to the team,” Foden said.

“It was not ideal with Rodri getting a red card so early in the second half, but I thought we showed heart and desire – a different side to the team that we sometimes need to show.

“I am really happy with the performance. We dug deep.”

Despite making their latest victory unnecessarily complicated, the champions’ 100 per cent start to the season remains intact.

In an ominous warning for the rest of the competition, Foden believes there is plenty more to come.

The 23-year-old said: “I would say it is a perfect start, but there are still a couple of gears for us to go. We are happy with the start, but we still know we can get better.”

Forest manager Steve Cooper was pleased with his side’s response in the second half and felt they should have got more from playing against 10-man City.

He said: “When you play a game and you get presented an opportunity, you really want to recognise that you have to take that.

“I’m not angry with the players. I’m not disappointed in any way, shape or form, and I’ve told them that.

“But I’ve just challenged them, like, ‘Come on boys, really back yourselves, because I do’.

“Hopefully we’ll reflect on the game and be motivated that we can play in these really tough games and do some good things.”

Conor Benn hailed his unanimous points victory over Rodolfo Orozco in Florida as the perfect response after “going through hell” outside of the ring.

The 26-year-old returned to the ring for the first time since April 2022 after his provisional doping suspension was lifted.

Benn, who had been out of the ring for 525 days, extended his undefeated run to 22 fights after the judges scored 99-91, 99-91 and 96-94 all in favour of the Englishman.

Benn did not show any signs of early ring rust on his return and dropped the Mexican in the third round before getting other rounds under his belt and a seemingly easy beat down over Orozco.

‘The Destroyer’ was happy to get valuable time in the ring after such a long lay-off and targeted a home fight next time out.

After the fight, he said: “We didn’t want a walk in the park. I needed the rounds after 18 months out.

“He’s a true Mexican, my first Mexican I’ve fought, and we knew he was durable. Credit to him, he’s never been stopped before and he’s one tough man and I hope he progresses.

“They are stronger and take shots more. I don’t think there was ring rust, I was going through the gears after going through hell.

“Britain is my home and it’s only right I fight back there, sooner rather than later.”

Max Verstappen moved to within range of a hat-trick of world titles by returning to winning ways at the Japanese Grand Prix as Red Bull clinched the constructors’ championship.

The Dutchman backed up his searing pace in qualifying by easing to victory by a massive 19.387 seconds a week on from seeing his record 10-race winning run ended in Singapore.

Lando Norris finished second ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and George Russell seventh for Mercedes.

Verstappen has won 13 of 16 rounds this season, extending his lead to 177 points over team-mate Sergio Perez – who endured a miserable afternoon – and he will have the chance to wrap up his third title at the Qatar Grand Prix in two weeks, potentially even in the Saturday sprint by outscoring Perez by three points or more.

While it was serene at the front, the race behind was thrilling as Perez was involved in two early collisions before retiring – only to briefly return – and Mercedes team-mates Hamilton and Russell scrapped with each other.

Red Bull are the first team in Formula One history to win the team championship with six races to spare as Verstappen’s victory moved the Milton Keynes-based team 318 clear of second-placed Mercedes in the standings. It is Red Bull’s sixth constructors’ title since their debut season in F1 in 2005.

Norris predicted after qualifying that if Verstappen led after the 277-metre dash down to turn one, there would be nothing the rest of the field could do.

The McLarens put up a strong fight, sandwiching Verstappen as Norris surged around the outside to go second, but the pole-sitter emerged from the first corner ahead.

Perez was overtaken by Ferrari’s Singapore winner Carlos Sainz and drifted into Hamilton, forcing the seven-time world champion onto the grass.

The safety car was deployed before the end of the first lap due to debris on the track after heavy contact between Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon.

Perez pitted under the safety car on lap three to replace a damaged front wing and fit the hard tyres but re-joined 17th.

The race resumed on lap five and Verstappen blasted clear of Norris.

Perez’s miserable start continued as he was handed a five-second penalty for overtaking under the safety car as he entered the pits.

It soon went from bad to worse as he suffered more front-wing damage in a collision with Kevin Magnussen, forcing him to pit again on lap 13, and was given another five-second penalty for causing the contact.

The Mexican was put out of his misery on lap 15 as Red Bull retired the car. Remarkably he was briefly sent back onto the track on lap 40, with the team keen for him to serve his outstanding penalty.

Elsewhere it was a story of battling team-mates.

Hamilton was soon engaged in a thrilling scrap with Russell, who slid up the inside at the final corner but Hamilton blasted back ahead down the pit straight.

The battle soon resumed as Hamilton ran wide and had to defend fiercely against Russell, forcing the 25-year-old off the track at the Spoon Curve.

“Who do we want to fight here, each other or the others?” Russell asked his team.

Hamilton’s defence was investigated but cleared by the stewards as he pitted first.

Meanwhile, Piastri had gained an advantage by pitting just as a virtual safety car was called, leapfrogging Norris after his pit stop.

Norris was soon on his team-mate’s gearbox, urging McLaren to act.

“The longer I stay behind the worse you are going to make the race for me,” Norris said, adding “What’s he doing?” before McLaren allowed him through.

Russell rolled the dice by attempting a one-stop strategy on an afternoon where tyre degradation was an issue for all the teams at a baking hot Suzuka.

But he was swallowed up by both McLarens, Charles Leclerc and team-mate Hamilton – with Russell urging his team to get Hamilton to give him DRS to defend from Sainz, as the Spaniard did a week ago to thwart Russell.

But Sainz moved past to take sixth as Ferrari gained the edge on Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors’ standings.

Sir Bradley Wiggins won gold in the men’s time trial at the Road World Championships in Spain on this day in 2014.

Wiggins clocked 56 minutes 25.52 seconds for the 47.1-kilometre route in Ponferrada to win by an emphatic margin of 26.23secs.

Germany’s Tony Martin, seeking a fourth straight world title, had to settle for silver, while Tom Dumoulin of Holland took bronze.

It was Britain’s first gold in the event in 20 years, since Chris Boardman won the inaugural edition of the road time trial.

Wiggins said: “I paced it perfectly. I still had gas in the final. Even on the last descent, I knew I was ahead, but I was pushing all the way.

“I don’t know what to say. I knew coming into it that I had the legs.

“Once I saw the course I knew if I was ever going to beat Tony it would be here.”

Wiggins – Olympic time-trial champion as well as Tour de France champion in 2012 – added a first road world title to multiple golds he had achieved at World Championships on the track.

The Pittsburgh Pirates erased a nine-run deficit for the first time in their 133-season history in a wild 13-12 victory over the playoff-hopeful Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

The Reds built a 9-0 lead with three runs in the first, five in the second and one in the third before the Pirates scored the next 13 runs.

Cincinnati rallied to get within one but stranded the potential tying run at third in the ninth.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Reds, who dropped 2 ½ games behind the final NL wild-card spot with six games remaining.

Cincinnati squandered a nine-run lead for the first time since a 10-9 loss at Milwaukee on April 28, 2004.

Pittsburgh’s Alfonso Rivas tied a career high with five RBIs, including a three-run double in the seventh that tied the score at 9.

The Pirates scored four runs in the eighth against closer Alexis Diaz when Jack Suwinski and Rivas hit run-scoring singles and Ji Hwan Bae followed with a two-run double.

Christian Encanacion-Strand, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl homered off Pirates starter Bailey Falter, who allowed eight runs and nine hits in two innings.

Montgomery pitches Rangers past Mariners

Jordan Montgomery pitched seven scoreless innings for the second time in three starts and Jonah Heim drove in another run to lead the Texas Rangers to their fourth straight win, 2-0 over the Seattle Mariners.

Montgomery scattered five hits, struck out six and walked two to improve to 4-2 in 10 starts since joining Texas in a trade with St. Louis.

The Rangers extended their AL West lead to 1 ½ games over Houston, which lost to Kansas City.

Mitch Garver had an RBI single in the second inning and Heim singled home a run in the fourth.

Heim has seven RBIs in his last four games and 15 in his past 11.

Seattle remained a half-game behind the Astros in the West and in the wild-card race.

Rays rally late again, beat Blue Jays

Josh Lowe hit a three-run homer and a walk-off single to cap a two-run ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays got past the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6.

Toronto entered the bottom of the ninth with a 6-5 lead but Yandy Diaz had a leadoff double, took thirde on Harold Ramirez’s single and scored on Curtis Mead’s hit.

After Isaac Paredes struck out, Junior Caminero – in his big league debut - grounded into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play.

But the call was reversed in a video review and Lowe ended it with an opposite-field single down the left-field line.

The Rays remained 1 ½ games behind AL East-leading Baltimore, while Toronto, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit, holds the second wild card, one game ahead of Houston.