Louis Rees-Zammit is firmly in the frame to emulate his Wales colleague Josh Adams as top try-scorer at a Rugby World Cup.

But Gloucester wing Rees-Zammit says that team success is the “end goal” as Wales build towards a World Cup quarter-final against Argentina in Marseille next Saturday.

Rees-Zammit’s hat-trick during the 43-19 Pool C victory over Georgia took him to five in the tournament, one behind France star Damian Penaud.

Adams, meanwhile, led the way in Japan four years ago, claiming seven tries and finishing one short of equalling the record for most touchdowns during one World Cup that is jointly held by Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Julian Savea.

Rees-Zammit became the seventh Welshman to score three tries in a World Cup game after Adams, Glen Webbe, Ieuan Evans, Gareth Thomas, Scott Williams and Cory Allen.

It was another exhibition of the 22-year-old’s dazzling finishing skills and why he is among the biggest box-office attractions in world rugby.

“It (World Cup leading try-scorer) is something that is in the back of my head, but getting the wins is all that matters,” he said.

“I would love to be top try-scorer. As long as we win all the matches, that is the end goal. I am buzzing with the result – we are building nice momentum going into the quarter-finals.

“I am definitely a quicker player now. I am a lot fitter as well, which means I can repeat these things.

“I know Gats (Wales head coach Warren Gatland) has spoken about my training schedule.

“I haven’t missed training for a couple of months now, which is great. I am buzzing with the way I am playing at the minute – I am trying to do everything I can to help the team.”

Wales assistant coach and attack specialist Alex King fully acknowledges Rees-Zammit’s value ahead of a fourth successive World Cup quarter-final appearance.

Rees-Zammit was the only Wales back to start all four group games and he scored tries in three of those against Fiji, Portugal and Georgia.

King said: “We are lucky to have a player like Louis. It’s great for rugby to have these kind of stars with finishing power like that.

“He is a fantastic athlete, he is quick and his game has really come on in the last 12 months.

“It’s his mindset, his attitude, his professionalism, everything you need to be a top player.

“He is still very young, he has got 30-odd caps for Wales, he has been on a British and Irish Lions tour and he just wants to get better and better.

“We want to get the ball to Louis, but it is not as simple as just giving him the ball. Defences are very good.

“His attitude has been first class. He wants to get better and better every day he turns up to work. He was great (against Georgia) and I am looking forward to Marseille next week.”

Jurgen Klopp praised the work of Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi after watching his Liverpool side play out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Amex Stadium.

The Reds looked on course for the win when Mohamed Salah scored the second of two goals in the final moments of the first half, converting from the penalty spot after Dominik Szoboszlai had been hauled down by Pascal Gross.

Minutes earlier Salah had pulled his side level when he slotted beyond Bart Verbruggen having been put through on goal by Harvey Elliott’s pass.

Brighton had started the brighter and led after 20 minutes, a careless pass by Alisson in the Liverpool goal putting Alexis Mac Allister under pressure and letting in Simon Adingra to score with a clever early shot.

And De Zerbi’s side had the final word when Lewis Dunk turned in Solly March’s free-kick to salvage a point.

The Brighton boss was booked during the second half for remonstrating with the fourth official when he believed his side should have had a penalty for handball against Virgil van Dijk, with Klopp intervening on the touchline to try to placate the Italian.

Despite failing to see out the win, Liverpool’s manager talked up the impact that his counterpart has had since arriving on the south coast a little more than a year ago.

“I have to say I could not respect more what he is doing,” said Klopp. “I’m a real supporter of it, I’m a football lover and if someone comes in with the impact he has on football, that shouldn’t be underestimated.

“In the moment when he got outraged, I used my age and tried to calm him down. I had no clue what they (De Zerbi and the fourth official) were talking about, I just saw them. If I am in a moment like this, there’s a moment of no going back that appears and I think he was close to that. I tried to calm him down.

“I’m not sure if he needed it or not. He told me something about a penalty but I had no clue what he was talking about. I think he wanted a penalty.”

The manager added he believed the outcome was fair after both sides wasted chances to win it, Liverpool when Ryan Gravenberch struck the crossbar at 2-1 before Joao Pedro blazed over from 10 yards for Brighton in the final minutes.

“I think unfortunately yes (the result was fair),” said Klopp. “1-0, (the goal was) served on a plate. Then a similar situation, we forced them to make similar mistakes around our goals. 2-1 up is a good result for half-time here, it’s a really good team and it’s difficult to defend them.

“We wanted to do high pressing, it was the right thing to do. But in the same moment it caused the issue that they play out from time to time, we don’t win the ball and then the pitch is really big. They do that well.

“The second half we should have scored for 3-1, one or two really good opportunities. But because we don’t score there, we keep the game open.

“It was intense for both teams. I think it’s the right result in the end.”

De Zerbi reflected on a match he believed his team deserved to win but reiterated concerns about the ease with which Brighton have conceded goals this season.

“It’s a good point. I think we played better than Liverpool, especially the first half. We close the first half losing 2-1 but we conceded two goals in a very bad way. We didn’t understand how we were losing in that moment.

“In the second half they could have closed the game. In general I think it was a good game, both teams played well. At the moment I’m sorry because we’re conceding too many goals.

“We’re working a lot but maybe its not enough. Or maybe in football it can happen that you have a period where you conceded too many goals when you don’t deserve to.”

It was another weekend of intrigue in the cinch Premiership.

Saturday saw a thrilling Edinburgh derby with wins for Celtic and Livingston while Steven Davis got his first win as interim Rangers boss on Sunday, as St Johnstone and Aberdeen fought out a stalemate.

Here are five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

Rangers fans demonstrate their despair again

Rangers players have become used to the sound of boos from their own supporters this season and the embarrassing 2-1 Europa League defeat against Aris Limassol in Cyprus on Thursday night was a low point. Early in the cinch Premiership match at St Mirren on Sunday, some Gers fans unravelled banners which read ‘heartless, passionless, leaderless; not fit to wear our colours’ which left no one in doubt as to their frustration. Skipper James Tavernier scored from the spot in the 29th minute after Saints’ Ryan Strain was handed a red card by referee Nick Walsh for handball. Further goals from attacker Abdallah Sima and Tavernier gave Rangers a 3-0 win and took them into second place, seven points behind leaders Celtic going into the international break where a new boss is likely to be appointed.

St Johnstone scrap for point at Aberdeen

It has not been a good season so far for Steven MacLean and his St Johnstone side. Sitting bottom of the table, a trip to Aberdeen might have been a daunting prospect. However the Perth side fought hard to keep a clean sheet and were well worth a point. Despite remaining bottom and still waiting for their first league win, MacLean was happy with the point and will hope a radical change in fortune is on its way

Luis Palma is finding his groove

The Honduran winger arrived at Celtic Park from Greek side Aris just ahead of the deadline and has made major strides over the past two weeks. The 23-year-old whipped in a late goal against Motherwell, was denied another late effort by VAR against Lazio and on Saturday smashed home a brilliant strike in Celtic’s 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock.

Nick Montgomery’s Hibernian side have resilience

The head coach stretched his unbeaten start to five matches in unlikely fashion following a poor first-half display at Tynecastle. “Hibs, Hibs are falling apart, again,” sang the home fans after Christian Doidge’s own goal put their side two up but Elie Youan soon scored twice in 83 seconds to seal a 2-2 draw. The winger had been handed an ultimatum to improve or be taken off at half-time and Montgomery was still making demands of his side to get forward in stoppage-time rather than settle for a point.

Motherwell in hot water?

New Livingston owner John McIlvogue set up a deal for every fan to get a free hot drink for braving the wet weather and they would have needed it to keep them warm amid an uneventful first 45 minutes. The game changed in stoppage-time though when Lennon Miller was sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and Livingston capitalised on their man advantage as goals from Bruce Anderson and Sean Kelly earned a 2-0 win. Livingston have now lost just once in 12 home games while Motherwell have lost four games in succession, although there will be no panic at Fir Park considering the difficulty of the tasks and nature of defeats.

David Moyes was frustrated by some of the decisions made by referee Peter Bankes in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle.

Mohammed Kudus climbed off the bench to score his first Premier League goal a minute from full-time as the Hammers snatched a point.

But Moyes was fuming with Bankes for awarding a free-kick for Lucas Paqueta’s challenge on Sandro Tonali which led to Alexander Isak’s first goal.

The Hammers boss also felt Bruno Guimaraes could have been shown a second yellow card, having been booked moments earlier, when he tripped James Ward-Prowse.

“It might have got away from us a wee bit but I wouldn’t blame them with the referee’s decisions,” said Moyes.

“That came from the free-kick that got the first goal back. I think on another day it wouldn’t have been given.

“I thought that was pretty harsh on us, as was the decision early on which could have been a second yellow card. I’m not going to say something to get me into trouble. I just think it was a really close call.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe defended his Brazilian midfielder.

He said: “It’s one of those where he’s made two challenges in quick succession which probably makes them look worse than they are. I think it would’ve been incredibly harsh.”

Tomas Soucek fired West Ham into the lead after eight minutes but Isak’s quickfire second-half double put Newcastle in control.

Isak also hit a post from a tight angle before Ghana winger Kudus lashed in an equaliser from 20 yards.

West Ham almost won it when Jarrod Bowen, on the day he signed a new long-term contract, fizzed the ball across goal and wide.

“I’m pleased with a point,” added Moyes. “We played well in the first half against a top team, one of the best teams in Europe the way they’ve been playing.

“It was tough, they played really well. We had difficult moments but we stuck at it. We could have gone 3-1 down but we could have won it 3-2. The game was very close,”

Howe admitted Isak’s late miss after rounding Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola proved costly.

“He’s played really well today, he’s gone round the keeper and done everything right, but the angle got too tight in the end. But when you’ve drawn that’s maybe a moment you’d like to replay again.

“It was a really tough first half, we weren’t ourselves and probably deserved to be 1-0 down. It was totally different in the second half, we deserved to lead so it’s disappointing not to get over the line.”

Gregor Townsend is hopeful no Scotland players will decide to call time on their international careers in the wake of their demoralising World Cup pool-stage exit.

The Scots bowed out of the tournament on Saturday evening after a 36-14 thrashing at the hands of Ireland in Paris.

Former national team captains Stuart McInally and Stuart Hogg both announced earlier this year that they planned to retire after the World Cup to pursue other interests, although neither player ended up making an appearance at the showpiece in France.

Forwards WP Nel, 37, and Richie Gray, 34, are among those in the age range who may naturally be considering their futures, but Townsend would prefer to keep as many options in the fold as possible.

“I hope there are no retirements after this World Cup,” said the head coach as he reflected on the tournament on Sunday. “I think some of the older players in our squad have been some of our best performers.

“WP Nel is physically in the best shape of his life, he’s started more games for us this year than he ever has and he’s played really well.

“I thought Richie Gray was one our best players, if not the best, on the field on Saturday night. His physical ability is excellent, but also his desire to keep going at the opposition was great to see.

“So they are two of our older players and we obviously hope they are still available for the next couple of seasons.

“Whether it’s people retiring, or injury, or people not being selected because of form, we’ve got to have other players ready to go and we’ve seen that with our 33-man squad who have performed really well throughout the summer Tests and for some of them, against Romania and Tonga.”

As many supporters had feared when the draw was made back in 2020, Scotland’s tournament ultimately ended as a result of their inability to cope with defending champions South Africa and Ireland, who have been the world’s top-ranked side for the past year.

Nonetheless, Townsend feels his fifth-ranked team – who have competed well against France on three occasions this year – could have done better in both matches against the two heavyweights in their section.

“Have we reached the standards we have set for ourselves? No, we haven’t,” he said. “We played the number one and two teams in the world, and we do understand that that was always going to be difficult.

“We’ve lost to three teams over the last 14 games and those are the three teams ranked in the top three in the world. We would obviously have wanted to do better, not just making it closer but winning the games.

“We didn’t do that, so we look at ourselves and what we could have done differently. Could we have mixed up our game more? Could we and should we have finished off when we had those possessions? How could we have defended Ireland’s attacks better?

“We’ve lost to the top three teams in the world this year and they’re our only defeats. We know we have to do better and Ireland’s margin of victory was much bigger than France managed against us in the two games we lost against them.

“We know that, and it’s disappointing, and that’s the reality we have to work towards improving.”

Scotland have been the biggest victim so far of a draw that put the top five teams in the current world rankings in the same half of the tournament.

Another two of Ireland, France, South Africa and New Zealand will bite the dust in the quarter-finals next weekend.

“The last draw was based on the rankings after the previous World Cup so I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen next time,” said Townsend.

“That was something we knew going into the World Cup, that we were going to play two top teams.

“Now the top four teams in the world are playing against each other in the quarter-finals and it probably isn’t great from a World Cup point of view that two of those teams are not going to be in the semi-finals.

“For me, they have been the four best teams by a long way in this tournament.”

Aberdeen were held to a goalless draw by bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone in a Premiership contest which will not live long in the memory.

The Dons were chasing a third straight league win, which would have propelled them into the top half of the standings for the first time this season.

But they did not trouble Dimitar Mitov enough to merit maximum points as winless Saints picked up a deserved point at a wet, miserable Pittodrie.

Aberdeen made two changes from the side that drew 1-1 with HJK Helsinki in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, Connor Barron and Jonny Hayes coming in for Leighton Clarkson and Jack MacKenzie.

St Johnstone were able to select skipper Liam Gordon after his red card against Livingston last weekend was downgraded to a yellow on appeal.

But Gordon and his fellow defenders did not have much to do in an uninspiring first half, which produced next to nothing in the way of chances.

Other than a Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes free-kick from distance, which Mitov fumbled before gathering at the second attempt, there was not an effort on target at either end,

However, Aberdeen thought they had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time when their former stalwart Andrew Considine headed into his own net when trying to deal with Barron’s cross.

But with Duk marginally offside and deemed to be interfering with play, the goal was chalked off following a VAR review – much to the annoyance of the home support.

An inventive free-kick almost paid off for the Dons early in the second half as Hayes fed Barron to create a better crossing angle, but his delivery just evaded Richard Jensen.

Reds boss Barry Robson made a double switch in the 56th minute in a bid to energise his midfield, with captain Graeme Shinnie and Jamie McGrath making way for Clarkson and Dante Polvara.

The visitors were still comfortable, although Luke Robinson nearly put his team in trouble with a stray pass in a dangerous area, which Aberdeen should have made more of.

Down the other end, Gordon unleashed a powerful 25-yard shot, which deflected narrowly wide for a corner as Saints sensed they could break their winless duck at the eighth attempt.

It was the hosts who looked likeliest, though, as they upped the pressure in the closing stages.

Bojan Miovski spurned their best opportunity in the 71st minute when he collected Barron’s pass and cut across the box to work a shooting chance on to his favoured left foot, only to blaze his shot harmlessly over from 12 yards.

The North Macedonia international then flashed a stoppage-time header wide from a Hayes free-kick as the match ended in stalemate.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil defused any tension after Unai Emery left without a handshake.

The Aston Villa manager walked down the tunnel after Sunday’s 1-1 draw while O’Neil spoke to the fourth official at full time.

Pau Torres had quickly cancelled out Hwang Hee-Chan’s second-half opener as Villa missed the chance to move into the Premier League’s top four.

Ollie Watkins hit the post with the last touch of the game after Mario Lemina was dismissed in stoppage time for a second caution.

They remain fifth after a scrappy derby at Molineux while Wolves built on their 2-1 victory at Manchester City last week and O’Neil dismissed any issue with Emery.

He said: “It was a lot of nothing, I was moaning at the fourth about playing 114 minutes and Unai didn’t want to wait for the handshake so he went to walk down the tunnel. I just said: ‘No problem, go down the tunnel’.

“I’ve waited ages for people (managers in the past), I understand that they want to talk with the fourth official.

“My conversation with the fourth official was about eight seconds long so he wouldn’t have had to wait very long. But I understand if he doesn’t want to, no problem. I’ve got no problem with Unai at all.

“I thought we edged it 11 v 11, apart from the start but a point is fairish I’d suggest. We looked comfortable, there wasn’t a huge gap between the sides.

“Eight points is not a bad return, we’re managing to score goals and trying to improve.”

Rayan Ait-Nouri steered Wolves’ best first-half chance wide and Jose Sa needed to be alert to divert Watkins’ effort over soon after the break.

But Wolves struck first after 53 minutes when Neto’s pace took him past Torres to cross for Hwang to net his sixth goal of the season.

The lead lasted just two minutes as Torres netted his first Villa goal when he turned in Watkins’ cross at the far post after Wolves were unable to clear Douglas Luiz’s free kick.

With 12 minutes left Neto should have settled the game when Sasa Kalajdzic’s excellent cross found Wolves’ star man only for him to blaze over from 10 yards.

Wolves then had to navigate eight of the 12 minutes of stoppage time with 10 men after Lemina was dismissed, earning a second yellow card for a tug on Nicolo Zaniolo.

And Villa nearly cashed in with the last touch of the game when Watkins thumped the base of the post.

Victory would have lifted Villa into the Champions League spots, after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Brighton.

“It’s a derby and we felt it on the pitch. There are a lot of supporters with us, they are pushing, it was a great atmosphere,” said Emery, who also called leaving without a handshake ‘nothing’.

“We tried to focus on the match. We reacted to the goal very quickly, it was key, and in 11 v 11 we created more chances but they had some very good transitions and chances.

“When they had a red card it was the moment where we tried to get the advantage.

“We are ambitious and very demanding. The first half we started very well but we lost a bit of control. We weren’t controlling the game and at that moment I was frustrated and upset.”

There was a sad postscript to Chasing Fire’s successful chasing debut at Uttoxeter as top-class hurdler I Like To Move It suffered a fatal injury.

A small but select field of three runners went to post for the Andy’s Man Club Novices’ Chase, with last season’s Greatwood Hurdle hero I Like To Move It the 4-5 favourite.

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained six-year-old, who finished sixth and fifth behind Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle and Aintree Hurdle respectively last season, attempted to make every yard of the running under the trainer’s son Sam.

He made a few jumping errors along the way, but was still in with every chance when suffering an injury on landing after jumping the final fence and he was swiftly pulled up by his rider.

Chasing Fire was an 18-5 shot for Olly Murphy and Sean Bowen, having won his first three races over obstacles last term before finishing down the field in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Making his first appearance since finishing third at Prestbury Park in April, the six-year-old jumped to the lead at the last and saw off the challenge of Pembroke by a length.

Chasing Fire was completing a double on the card for Bowen, Murphy and owner Diana Whateley following the earlier success of Booster Bob in the second division of the maiden hurdle.

Bowen told Sky Sports Racing: “Unfortunately Sam came down in the end, but I was outjumping the whole way and that was the only thing that was keeping me in the race. Sam would gain five lengths on the flat and every time I jumped I’d be gaining it again.

“He’s one to look forward to. At the last he was very, very long and he was good to come up from me there and he was good and hardy from the back of the last.”

Bloodstock agent Aiden Murphy, the trainer’s father, said: “He’d been schooling immaculately at home, so that was the hope today. It’s just a shame with the Twiston-Davies horse as that does put a dampener on the race, but Chasing Fire is a nice horse.

“They were three nice horses, I think Dan (Skelton, trainer of Pembroke) thinks plenty of his, so hopefully the form will work out.”

David Moyes has confirmed Jarrod Bowen has signed a new contract at West Ham.

Bowen, recalled to the England squad last week for the matches against Australia and Italy, has committed his future to the club for the long-term.

The 26-year-old winger has scored 45 goals in 166 appearances for the Hammers since joining from Hull for £18million in 2020.

“Jarrod has signed a new deal, which is great news for us here at West Ham,” said Hammers boss Moyes. “He’s done amazing since he’s been here. He continues to improve.

“If you think of his own development as an individual, he started off at Hereford, moved to Hull and now in the Premier League and getting a chance to be in the England squad. I think he’ll get better as well.”

All roads lead to the Qipco 2000 Guineas for Rosallion after Richard Hannon’s high-class juvenile reignited Classic dreams when roaring back to form at ParisLongchamp.

Held in the highest regard from the earliest point in his career, the Everleigh handler describes the talented son of Blue Point as “right up there with the best we’ve ever had” having taken his tally to three wins from four starts.

Despite suffering an odds-on defeat in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, Hannon’s confidence never waned and his charge backed up his trainer’s lofty opinion to immediately bounce back in the French capital, claiming the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in real style.

Hannon said: “We were absolutely delighted and he showed us what he could do only 15 days after his flop in the Champagne Stakes.

“There were several reasons why (he got beat), he got a smack over the head with a whip and just didn’t operate in that ground at all.

“He had been working great before the Champagne and again before the Lagardere. He never looked like getting beat in the Lagardere, he travelled supremely all the way through, picked up lovely and it’s just nice to be right.”

Rosallion did have the option of racing again this year in either Newmarket’s Dewhurst Stakes or Stateside in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, but connections are keen to keep the Guineas dream alive for as long as possible and the two-year-old will now head into winter quarters with thoughts firmly pointed in the direction of Newmarket in early May.

Currently 10-1 in the ante-post lists for the opening Classic of 2024, it is still to be decided if the strapping bay will tune up for his big-race assignment in one of the traditional trials.

However, Hannon did stress Rosallion is unlikely to be seen in testing conditions again following his disappointment on slow ground at Doncaster in September.

He added: “I think the plan we’ve discussed with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid is we will leave him and keep the dream intact for the Guineas.

“We will let him hopefully do well over the winter and give him every chance.

“Whether we go for a trial or not we will see, but he’s obviously not going to go anywhere where there is soft ground – and if it was soft ground for the Guineas, then that would include that as well.”

Hannon knows all about training leading operators at a mile and produced Night Of Thunder to win the 2000 Guineas in 2014, with Billesdon Brook claiming the fillies’ equivalent four years later.

Added to this, his father Richard Hannon Snr saddled eight Classic winners in Britain and Ireland during his time in the training ranks and also oversaw the career of the top-class miler Canford Cliffs from the family’s Wiltshire base.

And Hannon believes Rosallion has the potential to be the best of them all when he moves up to the mile distance next term.

Hannon added: “He will have no problem getting a mile and he’s right up there with the best we’ve ever had. He’s shown that since the first bit of work he has ever done.

“He’s certainly got as much promise as anything we’ve ever had. A horse like him makes the winter a lot shorter.”

Dan Skelton plans to have his stable star Protektorat “properly ready” for his defence of the Betfair Chase at Haydock next month.

The eight-year-old ran out an impressive winner of the Merseyside Grade One last season and was last seen finishing fifth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, having placed third in the blue riband in 2022.

And while Skelton is not ruling out a third bid for Gold Cup glory in March, his main focus at this stage is ensuring Protektorat is fully tuned up for his comeback run on November 25.

He said: “We will be going to Haydock fresh and ready for the Betfair Chase. From what I’ve seen, he has not gone backwards in any way. The way we will have him ready for that race is that we will have him properly ready. I think it will take a good one on the day to beat him.

“He will have an entry in the King George at Kempton and we will look at that. We will have to look sensibly at the Gold Cup as we have had two goes at it and it hasn’t happened yet, but we will worry about the spring when we get to it.

“Anything is possible at this point and what happens before March will dictate whether he should be there or not.

“If all of a sudden he found 10lb of improvement then you would have to have another go at the Gold Cup, but if the opposition have perfect seasons you might think you are better doing something else. We will do what is right for the horse.”

My Drogo has not been seen in competitive action bolting up in a novice chase at Cheltenham in December 2021, having missed the entirety of last season through injury.

However, the eight-year-old is on the comeback trail, with Skelton eyeing up some major prizes.

“He is back now and I’m delighted with how he looks,” said the trainer.

“I’d like to try and start him off in the Old Roan (at Aintree). That would be the perfect scenario. It was a shame he missed last season as you don’t want to be missing one of your stars.

“Every time he has stood up over obstacles he is unbeaten. He was improving until his problems, and we would like to pick up from where he left off. If we can go to the Old Roan on really nice ground that will give him the opportunity to step forward.

“He will have an entry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup (at Cheltenham) and Richard and Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes who own him are mad keen to get him to the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day, so we are trying to work him towards that.

“He looks fantastic and is behaving beautifully. He has as much ability as any horse I’ve had, and you have to take that seriously.”

Skelton confirmed Nube Negra is likely to make his return in next month’s Shloer Chase at Cheltenham, which he won last season.

Scarlets scrum-half Kieran Hardy has been called into Wales’ World Cup squad.

Number eight Taulupe Faletau was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after suffering a broken arm during Wales’ 43-19 victory over Georgia on Saturday.

But Wales feel they have enough existing back-row options to cover Faletau’s absence and Hardy, who will join the squad in Versailles on Sunday night, will increase scrum-half resources alongside Gareth Davies and Tomos Williams.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: “We feel we have a number of options in the back row at the moment, so we’ve decided to call up Kieran to give us extra cover at scrum-half and to take some pressure off from a training perspective.”

Hardy was left out of Wales’ initial World Cup squad after Gatland opted to select only two scrum-halves in Davies and Williams.

Wales assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys admits Wales’ mood after topping their World Cup group with an unbeaten record has been tempered by injuries to Faletau and Gareth Anscombe.

Fly-half Anscombe withdrew 45 minutes before kick-off against Georgia in Nantes due to a groin injury.

In terms of replacing Faletau against quarter-final opponents Argentina next Saturday, Aaron Wainwright is likely to switch across the back-row from blindside flanker.

Full-back Liam Williams was on crutches after the Georgia game following a blow to his knee but, while he could miss training in the early part of this week, Wales are hopeful about his quarter-final prospects.

“It is a big loss, he is a true world-class player,” Wales forwards specialist Humphreys said of Faletau.

“He is great around the place, but in a tournament these things happen and we have been very lucky in terms of the amount of injuries that we’ve had.

“But it still doesn’t detract from the loss of him. We will have a look over the next 24-48 hours (about a replacement) and make a decision then.

“You can’t replace what Toby (Faletau) gives, in terms of his intelligence and what he does, how he always turns up at the right place and makes the right decision at the right time.

“There is a huge onus now on everybody else to bring more.

“We are delighted that we topped the group, but then when you have close members of the squad who have been injured you are clearly down about that. It affects the mood.

“It is a tough one for Toby, but hopefully Gareth won’t be too long. He felt something in the warm-up and (we) made the decision not to play him. We will know over the next 36 hours what his chances are.”

If Wainwright moves positions, the vacancy at blindside flanker could mean a recall for seasoned campaigner Dan Lydiate, while Exeter’s Christ Tshiunza is also an option, along with switching captain Jac Morgan from openside and handing Tommy Reffell the number seven shirt.

Humphreys added: “We are blessed with the options that we have, but it still doesn’t detract from fact that Toby has been a massive player for us. Whoever steps in I am sure will step up to the plate.

“I think Aaron has been exceptional and I and he know there is more in him.”

Anscombe’s injury meant a late call to the starting line-up for Sam Costelow, while Dan Biggar is continuing his recovery from a pectoral muscle strain and should feature in Marseille.

“There is no thinking, you just have to do what you’ve got to do for the best of the team,” Costelow said, following his sudden elevation from the bench.

“Those senior boys talking to me, just telling me to do my job and to relax, that was massive for me, especially as a young 10. I am just glad we got the job done.

“You can never switch off, especially in this pressured environment. You have got to be ready at all stages. I did my homework, I knew the role and luckily it went well.”

Aston Villa missed the chance to climb into the Premier League’s top four after a 1-1 draw at Wolves.

Pau Torres’ equaliser, just two minutes after Hwang-Hee Chan’s opener, saw them come from behind at Molineux.

Mario Lemina was sent off in stoppage time for a second booking and Ollie Watkins hit the post with the final touch of the match.

Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Brighton opened the door for Villa to move into the Champions League spots but they never did enough for victory.

Wolves earned another solid point following last week’s swashbuckling 2-1 win over Manchester City to continue their progress under Gary O’Neil.

The manager would have been encouraged by another gritty performance and with better finishing from Pedro Neto it would have been another victory.

It was Villa, though, who started the brighter as Torres miscued a header and Jose Sa turned Matty Cash’s angled effort behind before John McGinn twice fired off target.

It preceded a good spell for Wolves, the hosts attempting to stamp their authority on the game without ever testing Emi Martinez.

Their final ball continued to elude them until Hwang crossed for Rayan Ait-Nouri to steer wide after 33 minutes.

Yet it was the hosts’ one decent chance of the half and they needed Lemina to rush out and block Douglas Luiz’s shot just before the break.

Villa’s start to the season, which had lifted them to fifth, was their second best in the Premier League but there were signs of tiredness and the visitors’ decision to resort to gamesmanship early belied the quality they have.

They emerged for the second half sharper, though, and Jose Sa turned over when Watkins directed McGinn’s pass goalwards.

It was a brief spark from Villa but there was little surprise when Wolves grabbed the lead after 53 minutes.

Douglas Luiz was caught by Hwang with the ball worked wide to Neto who ran at Torres. He engineered enough space to cross low for Hwang to poke in his fifth league goal of the season from close range.

But the celebrations were cut short just two minutes later when Villa hit back. The hosts failed to clear from Douglas Luiz’s free kick and Watkins’ cute cross was turned in by Torres.

It raised hopes the scrappy and, sometimes, ill-tempered game would take a step up in quality but neither side were able to ram home an advantage.

Wolves wanted a penalty when Neto tumbled under pressure from Boubacar Kamara while Villa failed to threaten Sa again.

With 12 minutes left, Neto should have settled the game when Sasa Kalajdzic’s excellent cross found Wolves’ star man, only for him to blaze over from 10 yards.

The hosts then had to see out eight of the 12 minutes of stoppage time – during which Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Nicolo Zaniolo went close – with 10 men when Lemina was dismissed for a second yellow card, after tugging back the Italian forward.

Watkins almost snatched it with the final touch of the game when his header smacked the base of the post.