Trainer Ed Bethell was left fighting back the tears after Regional provided him with a first Group One success in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock.
It is less than three years since the Middleham Moor handler took over the licence from his father James, who trained for over four decades before handing over the reins.
Regional has proved a real flagbearer since being bought for the bargain basement price of 3,5000 guineas in the summer of 2021, rewarding his connections with three previous wins, two of which have been achieved at Haydock.
Having landed the Listed Achilles Stakes at the Merseyside venue in June, the five-year-old got his first crack at Group One glory in the Nunthorpe at York last month and was not disgraced in finishing fifth, encouraging Bethell to give it another go over an extra furlong.
A 10-1 shot in the hands of Callum Rodriguez, Regional was never too far off the speed and dug deep as the post loomed to see off 50-1 outsider Shouldvebeenaring by a neck.
“I’m just over the moon. I’m in an incredibly fortunate position, to take over from my father, and my parents have been big supporters of mine,” said a clearly emotional Bethell.
“I never thought it would happen (winning a Group One). A huge ‘thank you’ has to go to Barbara Jones, who rides this horse every day – she doesn’t go on holiday because she wants to make sure he’s in tip-top form. She’s the important one here, along with the rest of my team at home. I’m just the lucky one to have my name on the ticket.
“We bought this horse just to win a race and he’s taken these guys (owners) on a tremendous ride. This meteoric rise is down to the team at home and we’ve just been incredibly fortunate.”
Bethell felt the step up in trip was key to Regional’s performance, adding: “He was able to travel in his comfort zone, which he wasn’t in the Nunthorpe. The whole complexion of the race changed at York with Live In The Dream going so quick and fair play to him, but we were rushed off our feet.
“Today we were so much more comfortable at this trip at this level. I thought maybe he’d gone too quick and he’d get swallowed up, but he was one of the last to come off the bridle. I can’t believe it really.”
The trainer is keen to let the dust settle before firming up plans for his stable star.
He said: “I’ll enjoy today and tonight and get back to it tomorrow morning.
“I don’t know where we’ll go next, the owners might want to go to America, but I’ll just see how the horse is first and make a decision.
“Genuinely, I don’t think words can describe how I’m feeling. I told myself if we finish in the first five we’ve done well.
“When we won a handicap over six furlongs here two years ago I couldn’t believe it. I thought ‘I’ve done my job now, he’s won a race, maybe the owners will stick with me’.
“Did I ever think he could go and do this? No. These sort of days I hope will go a long way to helping the yard achieve what I want it to.”
Rodriguez – also winning his first Group One – said: “It was an amazing performance by the horse and what a story it’s been with him this year, being picked up for 3,500 guineas. The journey he has taken his syndicate on is just amazing. It was very smooth as he hit the gates very well and was in a good rhythm all the way and every time I asked him he responded.”
The disappointment of the race was undoubtedly Julie Camacho’s Shaquille, who was the 11-10 favourite to complete a top-level hat-trick following wins in the Commonwealth Cup and the July Cup.
But while the three-year-old – who got upset beforehand – was much quicker away from the starting stalls than had been the case at Royal Ascot and Newmarket, he was a spent force with a couple of furlongs to run and ended up trailing home last of 16 runners.
“Everything was fine, he had a bit of a wobbler before the gates opened (but) it didn’t affect his start and he jumped very clean,” said jockey James Doyle.
“He travelled super, but between the three and the two I had no power and I was beat very quick.
“As we know that’s not him as one thing he does do is get through the line, so we’ll see. They’re not machines, are they?
“The season is not over yet, we’ve got Champions Day to come and other races and we’ll see what comes to light. We’ll just regroup at this stage.”
Johnny Sexton marked his long-awaited comeback with two of 12 tries as Ireland launched their Rugby World Cup campaign by blitzing Romania in the baking heat of Bordeaux.
Captain Sexton, playing his first competitive match in almost six months following injury and suspension, added to first-half scores from Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, Tahdg Beirne and Bundee Aki.
Peter O’Mahony’s double and further second-half finishes from Rob Herring, the returning skipper, Joe McCarthy, Aki and Beirne sealed a resounding 82-8 victory in a one-sided Pool B opener staged in temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius.
Andy Farrell’s men were given a jolt by Romania scrum-half Gabriel Rupanu crossing early on but emphatically avoided a major upset ahead of far stiffer tests against Tonga, South Africa and Scotland.
Fly-half Sexton also slotted seven of eight conversions before being withdrawn 16 minutes from time to a standing ovation and now sits just nine points shy of Ronan O’Gara’s national record tally of 1,083.
The 38-year-old was back from his lengthy absence to lead his country into his fourth World Cup, while Mack Hansen replaced Robbie Henshaw on the bench in a late change following his surprise initial omission from the matchday 23.
An expectant sea of green flooded the stands of Stade de Bordeaux in sweltering south-west France.
But it was Romania who made the blistering start.
Sexton’s poor grubber kick was pounced upon by Hinckley Vaovasa and he raced forward to give half-back partner Rupanu a simple third-minute finish.
Ireland swiftly recovered from the sloppy opening moments to assert their authority.
Gibson-Park benefited from slick interplay involving Sexton, Aki and Garry Ringrose to dive over before Keenan crossed under the posts and flanker Beirne touched down wide on the left.
Rupanu reduced the deficit with a penalty ahead of the first drinks break, but the fourth World Cup meeting between the nations rarely threatened to be truly competitive, epitomised by an early Mexican wave.
Ireland had won all of the past clashes – nine in total – and had the bonus point in the bag in the 34th minute when the rampaging Aki claimed a fine solo score shortly after Romania full-back Marius Simionescu was sin-binned for obstruction.
Sexton got in on the act in the final moments of the half, crossing under the posts before overcoming a bang suffered in the process to slot the extras and make it 33-8 at the interval.
Ireland players had spoken all week of wanting to begin with a bang by producing a statement victory.
Undeterred by the stifling conditions, the Six Nations Grand Slam champions stretched their advantage courtesy of hooker Herring and flanker O’Mahony dotting down amid prolonged pressure.
Sexton’s 17th Test try added further gloss to the scoreline before a first for 22-year-old lock McCarthy and a second of the afternoon for O’Mahony enhanced Romania’s punishment.
Aki, who was sent off against Samoa in his last World Cup outing, and Beirne became the third and fourth men in green to claim a brace.
Replacement number 10 Crowley successfully added the extras from his four conversions as Ireland ruthlessly dispatched the team ranked 19th in the world to stretch their record winning run to 14 matches and satisfy the bulk of the 41,170 crowd.
William Haggas heaped praise on stable jockey Tom Marquand after the pair combined to win both of the major handicaps on Betfair Sprint Cup day at Haydock.
The Newmarket handler is a rare visitor to the Merseyside venue, so the fact he decided to make the journey north for the biggest day of the track’s Flat season was noteworthy.
His representative in the first of two £100,000 contests on the card was the impeccably-bred Naqeeb (5-2), who produced a battling display in the Get Daily Rewards With Betfair Handicap.
The son of Nathaniel is a half-brother to the trainer’s former stable star Baaeed and the top-class middle-distance performer Hukum, last seen winning the King George at Ascot in July.
Naqeeb will have to go some to scale those heights, but having opened his account with a wide-margin novice win at Kempton last month, he dug deep on his first start over a mile and three-quarters to score by a length and a quarter from Blindedbythelights.
“I thought a mark of 100 was steep for him, but I think he’s improved a bit for going up in trip and I think he’ll be a good stayer next year,” said Haggas.
“He took a while to win. He got mugged by Middle Earth I thought at Newmarket and now look at Middle Earth, who looks to have a likely chance in the St Leger.
“He’s not as quick as Baaeed – I think he wants another mile! How far he’ll go I don’t know, but he’s a big, raw horse whose still got lots to learn and if he can can end up half as good as those two (Baaeed and Hukum) that’ll do me.”
Haggas and Marquand were soon on the mark again, with Post Impressionist (10-1) coming from the clouds to lift the Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup.
Caius Chorister looked home for all money after moving smoothly to the lead, but Post Impressionist – who had hinted at a return to form when not beaten far in the Ebor at York last month – flew home from the rear to land the spoils.
Haggas added: “Tom said he didn’t want to go early and I was hoping if that was the case they’d go fast and they seemed to do just that. It’s a long way up the straight when they go hard and thankfully he managed to pick them off.
“The first race of any description he’s run properly this year was in the Ebor last time. There was just a glimpse there and we’re delighted he’s come good today.”
Of Marquand, he said: “I’m really sick of saying it, but he’s a top-class rider and a great fellow. He is really hungry, really keen and really strong.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t have six favourites a day like (William) Buick and (Oisin) Murphy have, but Tom will get there eventually – he’s a young guy.
“He rode his 1,000th winner (in Britain) the other day and all I can guarantee you is it won’t take him that long to ride another 1,000.”
The high-class Chindit (5-2) dominated his rivals in the Group Three Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Superior Mile.
Runner-up to Modern Games in the Lockinge at Newbury, Richard Hannon’s charge was upstaged by stablemate The Witch Hunter when favourite for last month’s Hungerford Stakes but showed his true colours this time, passing the post just over two lengths ahead of Light Infantry.
“He didn’t run his race last time at Newbury and he was a bit disappointing, but he was right back to his best and he looked like the Group One horse that I think he is,” said Hannon.
“Mr Poonawalla purchased him to see his mares once he retires from racing and he has now won a Group race at two, three, four and five. He looks right back to his very best form.
“We will certainly look at some nice pots abroad now where there is fast ground. There are a couple of races in Australia and races around two bends over a mile in America and he might even be the sort of horse that gets an invite to Hong Kong.”
William Haggas heaped praise on stable jockey Tom Marquand after the pair combined to win both of the major handicaps on Betfair Sprint Cup day at Haydock.
The Newmarket handler is a rare visitor to the Merseyside venue, so the fact he decided to make the journey north for the biggest day of the track’s Flat season was noteworthy.
His representative in the first of two £100,000 contests on the card was the impeccably-bred Naqeeb (5-2), who produced a battling display in the Get Daily Rewards With Betfair Handicap.
The son of Nathaniel is a half-brother to the trainer’s former stable star Baaeed and the top-class middle-distance performer Hukum, last seen winning the King George at Ascot in July.
Naqeeb will have to go some to scale those heights, but having opened his account with a wide-margin novice win at Kempton last month, he dug deep on his first start over a mile and three-quarters to score by a length and a quarter from Blindedbythelights.
“I thought a mark of 100 was steep for him, but I think he’s improved a bit for going up in trip and I think he’ll be a good stayer next year,” said Haggas.
“He took a while to win. He got mugged by Middle Earth I thought at Newmarket and now look at Middle Earth, who looks to have a likely chance in the St Leger.
“He’s not as quick as Baaeed – I think he wants another mile! How far he’ll go I don’t know, but he’s a big, raw horse whose still got lots to learn and if he can can end up half as good as those two (Baaeed and Hukum) that’ll do me.”
Haggas and Marquand were soon on the mark again, with Post Impressionist (10-1) coming from the clouds to lift the Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup.
Caius Chorister looked home for all money after moving smoothly to the lead, but Post Impressionist – who had hinted at a return to form when not beaten far in the Ebor at York last month – flew home from the rear to land the spoils.
Haggas added: “Tom said he didn’t want to go early and I was hoping if that was the case they’d go fast and they seemed to do just that. It’s a long way up the straight when they go hard and thankfully he managed to pick them off.
“The first race of any description he’s run properly this year was in the Ebor last time. There was just a glimpse there and we’re delighted he’s come good today.”
Of Marquand, he said: “I’m really sick of saying it, but he’s a top-class rider and a great fellow. He is really hungry, really keen and really strong.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t have six favourites a day like (William) Buick and (Oisin) Murphy have, but Tom will get there eventually – he’s a young guy.
“He rode his 1,000th winner (in Britain) the other day and all I can guarantee you is it won’t take him that long to ride another 1,000.”
The high-class Chindit (5-2) dominated his rivals in the Group Three Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Superior Mile.
Runner-up to Modern Games in the Lockinge at Newbury, Richard Hannon’s charge was upstaged by stablemate The Witch Hunter when favourite for last month’s Hungerford Stakes but showed his true colours this time, passing the post just over two lengths ahead of Light Infantry.
“He didn’t run his race last time at Newbury and he was a bit disappointing, but he was right back to his best and he looked like the Group One horse that I think he is,” said Hannon.
“Mr Poonawalla purchased him to see his mares once he retires from racing and he has now won a Group race at two, three, four and five. He looks right back to his very best form.
“We will certainly look at some nice pots abroad now where there is fast ground. There are a couple of races in Australia and races around two bends over a mile in America and he might even be the sort of horse that gets an invite to Hong Kong.”
Regional provided trainer Ed Bethell and jockey Callum Rodriguez with the first Group One success of their careers in the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock, in which hot favourite Shaquille finished last.
Shaquille had missed the break in both the Commonwealth Cup and July Cup before storming home to win, did not look happy before the race.
He had tried to unship James Doyle on the way to the start and then did not want to go in the stalls until Doyle jumped off.
He did break on terms on this occasion and soon found himself in front, at which point connections would have been delighted, but with two furlongs to run Shaquille had no more to give and Doyle looked after him.
Regional (10-1), who had been making his name over five furlongs and needed to prove he could beat the best over six, faced a strong challenge from 50-1 outsider Shouldvebeenaring but held on by a neck, with the supplemented Believing back in third.
Augustus Rodin rose from the canvass once again to hold off Luxembourg and Nashwa and win the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.
Despite being a dual Derby winner, Aidan O’Brien’s Deep Impact colt had run two inexplicably bad races this season.
Having disappointed badly in the 2000 Guineas, O’Brien worked his magic to get him back in top form to win at Epsom. He was then workmanlike in winning the Irish Derby, before being virtually pulled up in the King George at Ascot.
But it is folly to write off O’Brien and his horses, and dropped back down to 10 furlongs Auguste Rodin was sent off the 11-4 favourite.
Up against Derby runner-up King Of Steel, last year’s winner Luxembourg and multiple Group One scorer Nashwa, punters kept the faith.
With three Ballydoyle runners at the head of affairs they had the run of the race, while Hollie Doyle only had Jim Crowley and Alflaila for company at the rear of the field.
Auguste Rodin quickened by Luxembourg as Point Lonsdale weakened, with Doyle making relentless progress on John and Thady Gosden’s Nashwa.
Ryan Moore was asking for everything on the favourite, and in the last 50 yards Nashwa’s run flattened out and it was Luxembourg who had one last lunge on the rails, going down by half a length with Nashwa a short head away.
England got off to a dominant start in the first Metro Bank ODI as they thumped Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Chester-le-Street.
It was a morning to remember for debutants Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer as both bowlers took three wickets each, along with Sarah Glenn, while Alice Capsey picked up the other as the visitors were all out for 106.
On their return to the one-day squad, Tammy Beaumont and Emma Lamb put on a 61-run opening partnership before another debutant Maia Bouchier hit the winning runs with a mammoth 32 overs to spare.
The victory was the perfect response after England lost the T20 leg of the series on Thursday, with the next ODI taking place at Northampton on Tuesday.
Gaur got her ODI career off to a flying start by claiming her first wicket when she struck the top of Chamari Athapaththu’s off-stump in the fifth over to dismiss the influential captain before shortly sending Anushka Sanjeewani’s middle stump flying.
Sri Lanka’s troubles deepened when Glenn came into the attack in the 11th over and made an instant impact to pin Vishmi Gunaratne lbw.
Filer then struck when Hasini Perera feathered the ball through to Amy Jones behind the stumps and her debut got even better with two wickets in the 20th over to spark Sri Lanka’s collapse.
The 22-year-old had Kavisha Dilhari caught behind, with Jones making a fine grab to her right, and then dismissed Nilakshi de Silva the very next ball in a similar fashion.
Harshitha Samarawickrama looked to get Sri Lanka up to a competitive total, but she fell for 35 off Capsey after a review showed the ball just brushing her bat on the way through to Jones.
And, just after Sri Lanka had brought up their 100, Glenn had her second victim, with another thinly-edged ball well taken by Jones before bowling Achini Kulasuriya.
Gaur wrapped up the innings by getting one through the gate to bowl Udeshika Prabodhani and set England a 107-run target.
Beaumont and Lamb returned to open for England and, after a gentle start, Lamb thrashed two successive fours as the hosts began to put their foot on the gas.
Beaumont also began to pick out the boundary and took advantage when Udeshika Prabodhani came into the attack for Sri Lanka, smashing a glorious four on the off-side before firing one straight down the ground.
Lamb also found the boundary in an expensive over for Prabodhani, which brought up England’s 50 before Beaumont hit towards cover again off captain Athapaththu.
Inoka Ranaweera found the breakthrough with her first ball of the afternoon in the 11th over as Beaumont fell for 32 following a fine catch from Perera at first slip and captain Heather Knight came in, hitting a great cover drive to earn her first boundary.
Lamb fell for 27 after scooping the ball into the air for mid-off De Silva to comfortably take and Bouchier earned a promotion up the order to help England chase down the target, opening her ODI account with a boundary.
Needing eight runs to win, Dilhairi took Knight’s wicket as the England captain edged behind to Sanjeewani before Bouchier hit the winning runs with a four to seal victory.
Aidan O’Brien holds an incredibly strong hand in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, with high-class colts City Of Troy and Henry Longfellow poised to take each on at the Curragh on Sunday.
The Ballydoyle handler’s youngsters arrive at the Kildare track with a course and distance victory and Group Two success to their name, but while one will further enhance their growing reputation by adding a first top-tier victory, the other will lose their unbeaten record.
The duo are both riding high at the top of the ante-post markets for next year’s Classics, and O’Brien, who is quickly bearing down on 4,000 winners, could get a big indication of who is Ballydoyle’s number one as he attempts to end a six-year drought in the Group One contest.
“At the moment it’s the plan (to run both). We’re happy with both at the moment,” he said on Saturday afternoon.
City Of Troy and Henry Longfellow will face the sternest examination of their career when they come up against Adrian Murray’s Bucanero Fuerte – who has already proven himself on the big stage.
Since finishing third to River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes, the son of Wootton Bassett has twice thrived over six furlongs at this track, following up a battling victory in the Railway Stakes with a dominant display in the Phoenix Stakes.
The latter of those two triumphs gave owners Amo Racing a first Group One and his handler is riding a crest of a wave with his stable star.
“It’s a dream to be involved with a horse like him and I never could have imagined it could have happened to me – it’s just what dreams are made of,” said Murray.
“He seems to be getting better and better. He won at the Curragh the first day and then went to Royal Ascot for us to finish third and that for us was as good as having a winner. He then came home and won the Railway and then won the Phoenix – it’s hard to believe.
“He looks like a horse that’s going to train on, he’s a big, long scopey horse and a beautiful mind. He’s thriving with racing and hopefully he keeps it going.”
Bucanero Fuerte has never raced beyond six furlongs, but the strength he has shown at the finish over that distance has connections excited to now tackle and extra furlong.
Murray, who also saddles the outsider Cuban Thunder, added: “He’s always struck me as a horse that needed a step up in trip and I can’t wait to see him running over seven furlongs and a mile. You’d be expect him to keep improving as we step him up.
“He worked very well at the Curragh last week and I could not be happier with him.”
Givemethebeatboys was a place behind Bucanero Fuerte in fourth at Royal Ascot but now has five and a half lengths to make up judged on Phoenix Stakes form, while Joseph O’Brien has won this race in two of the last three seasons and is this time represented by Futurity Stakes runner-up Islandsinthestream.
Tahiyra stamped her class on the Coolmore America “Justify” Matron Stakes at Leopardstown with a fourth Group One victory for Dermot Weld and Chris Hayes.
Off the track on a mid-season break since impressing in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, Weld had brought the Aga Khan-owned three-year-old along steadily for her autumn targets.
Hayes had her in the perfect spot throughout and having entered the turn for home in fourth position, she arrived on the quarters of Zarinsk still on the bridle with only Just Beautiful to catch.
She soon quickened past Paddy Twomey’s runner and Hayes was able to enjoy the final half a furlong, saluting the crowd as she crossed the line.
Tom Clover’s Rogue Millennium outran her 12-1 odds, closing into second, narrowly catching Just Beautiful, but neither were a match for the 5-6 favourite as she won by an eased-down length and a quarter.
Diego Velazquez maintained his unbeaten record in the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown, although he was made to work reasonably hard by stablemate Capulet as Irish Champions Festival weekend got under way.
Bought for 2,400,000 guineas from the Tattersalls Book One sale in October, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Frankel colt had impressed on his debut at the Curragh, winning by almost five lengths.
Sent off the 8-15 favourite under Ryan Moore to enhance his reputation, he looked to be in the perfect position to strike three furlongs from home in the Group Two affair.
However, Moore soon had to get more serious, with Seamie Heffernan appearing to have more up his sleeve in front on Capulet.
But showing a good attitude when asked, Diego Velazquez began to hit top gear and by the line had half a length in hand over Capulet, in a race won last year by Auguste Rodin.
Coral go 8-1 about Diego Velazquez emulating Auguste Rodin in next year’s Derby, and 16-1 for the Guineas.
Fully-fit Darcy Graham declared that he and Duhan van der Merwe are intent on filling their boots at the World Cup as they chase down Scotland’s all-time try record.
The free-scoring Edinburgh pair have developed into two of the most dangerous wings in world rugby and are aiming to showcase their finishing ability on the biggest stage of all in France, with the formidable South Africans first up in Marseille on Sunday evening.
The recently-retired Stuart Hogg currently holds the Scottish record with 27 but Van Der Merwe has got himself up to joint-fifth with Tommy Seymour after scoring three in his last two matches to take his tally to 20, while Graham is sixth with 19 after scoring seven tries in his last four international outings.
“Yes, definitely,” said Graham when asked if he sees the World Cup as a good chance to get closer to top spot. “Obviously Hoggy’s got it and me and Duhan are hunting him down.
“We’re both pretty confident we’re going to break it, it’s just about who’s going to do it first. We’re having a wee competition between ourselves.
“I’ve played with Duhan for a while now and when he scores I’m chuffed to bits for him but we’re hunting the record down.”
The Scots have one of the most rampant attacks in the world at present, and the talismanic Graham believes his impressive scoring record – and that of his fellow backs – is down to the way the team have been functioning.
“We’ve improved massively over the last two years as a Scotland team and everybody knows their jobs,” said the wing, speaking at a press conference in Aix-en-Provence, just north of Marseille, on the eve of the Springboks showdown.
“You look at me, Kyle (Steyn, who has three tries in his last two games) and Duhan, we’re all scoring. We’ve scored tries every game this season.
“But that’s our jobs, we’ve got to take our chances. We might only get a couple against South Africa and we’ve got to take them.
“That’s what we’re there to do, to finish off those tries out wide and I think there will be a huge opportunity tomorrow for us to do that.”
Graham missed the entire Six Nations earlier this year with a knee injury sustained in December and there was mild concern about his fitness for the South Africa game when he withdrew from the team to face Georgia in the last warm-up match two weeks ago.
However, any fears were eased when the 26-year-old – who has played for Scotland only twice since November – came through the first two training sessions in Nice this week and was named in the starting XV on Thursday.
“I’m ready just to get stuck in and get going,” said Graham. “I got over that niggle reasonably quick. I think I could probably have played that Georgia game but it was better saving myself.
“With the bigger picture, I was happy to sit that one out and get myself ready for this game.
“We’ve had a good training week this week and the boys are excited to get out on the pitch.
“You don’t get any bigger stage than the World Cup and especially playing against the world champions, it doesn’t get any more special.
“We’ve been ready for the last couple of days. All the work’s done. It’s all about turning up on the day and performing.”
Wales have been put on alert to expect “lightning bolts” in their Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji on Sunday.
It is the fifth-successive tournament for Wales and Fiji to meet, with Warren Gatland’s team on a run of three-consecutive wins.
Fiji, though, dumped Wales out of the 2007 World Cup following a thrilling clash in Nantes, while four years ago they led by 10 points before Wales recovered to prevail 29-17.
Fiji have improved their set-piece play considerably under head coach Simon Raiwalui, a dazzling running and off-loading game remains central to their outlook.
They are currently above Wales in the world rankings and fresh from beating England at Twickenham, with players like Semi Radradra, captain Waisea Nayacalevu and number eight Viliame Mata posing major threats.
“I think we have got to expect lightning bolts from this team – line-breaks, off-loads, how they pick through the breakdown,” Wales assistant coach and defence specialist Mike Forshaw said.
“We have got to be really alert and alive around our defence in every area.
“We are expecting that kind of arm-wrestle. We have just got to stay in the game physically and mentally.
“We are going to take lightning bolts at some point, but it is about really focusing on ourselves.
“We’ve got to be physical, we’ve got to take some bruises tomorrow and hopefully dish them out if we can.
“Everyone is talking about this Fiji team and rightly so because I was at Twickenham a couple of weeks ago and they were mightily impressive.
“I think tomorrow we have got to see the best of us against this team, I really believe that.
“Physicality is an easy word to say, but we have got to lead with our actions tomorrow, as I am sure Fiji will.”
Gatland has arrived at a fourth World Cup and his record of two fourth-placed finishes and a quarter-final exit in 2015 is impressive.
And victory on Sunday would give Wales a flying start in terms of their quest to reach the knockout phase from a group that also features Australia, Georgia and Portugal.
“I think from a coaching perspective, the ultimate pinnacle is the World Cup ,” Gatland said.
“It’s the one time in international windows that you get full preparation. It feels like you are working with a club side in having a pre-season.
“We’ve been able to work on a lot of things in the last few months in terms of the detail and putting together a strategy, but also making sure we have not done just the hard work but worked hard on other aspects of the game.
“For us, we’ve spoken about discipline and keeping them (Fiji) out of our 22. They tend to come alive in opposition 22s.
“We’ve prepared well, particularly the last few weeks. We are in a good place for the challenge, physically and mentally.”
Kyprios makes his long-awaited return to action in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger at the Curragh on Sunday.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained chestnut asserted himself as the new star of the staying division last season, enjoying a superb Group One winning streak that included the Gold Cup, the Goodwood Cup, the Irish St Leger and the Prix du Cadran.
A setback then stalled his career and he has not been seen since the latter victory, leaving the long-distance races he would have contested open in his absence.
The five-year-old has been limbering up for a comeback and day two of the Irish Champions Festival will be the scene as he looks to retain the title he won 12 months ago.
Fiona Craig of owners Moyglare Stud said: “I’m not sure he’s quite there yet, but I think he’s ready to run. I know he had a racecourse gallop at the Curragh a good few weeks ago, so we’ll see.
“He’s just a bigger horse than he was before and I think they’ve gone steadily with him because of the injury, but I don’t think Aidan would be running him if he didn’t think he was going to run well.
“It will just be great to see him back at the races because he’s a very popular horse, there’s more people ask me about Kyprios than anything else we own!
“He’s the horse that wherever you are in the world, people ask you about the big chestnut horse.”
Taking him on is last year’s English St Leger winner, the Roger Varian-trained Eldar Eldarov.
The four-year-old is yet to come home in front this term but has run with credit in the top contests at the distance, finishing second in the Yorkshire Cup, seventh in the Gold Cup and fourth in the Goodwood Cup.
He was an intended runner in the Irish St Leger Trial at the Curragh last month, but he became unsettled on the journey over and was withdrawn after the decision was made to bring him home.
“He’s been knocking on the door at this level this season,” said Chris Wall, racing manager to owners KHK Racing.
“Obviously we’ve got to take on Kyprios and Emily Dickinson, they look to be the main dangers over in Ireland.
“He’s in good form and we’re hoping for a good run from him.
“Obviously a Kyprios in tip-top condition would be a difficult task for him, but he’s coming off a considerable lay-off so we might have an advantage there.
“We were only narrowly behind Emily Dickinson at Goodwood last time and I would have thought it would have been pretty close between those two again.
“We go there chance, hopefully he can get his first victory of the year in this race.”
O’Brien has a second runner in Emily Dickinson, winner of the Curragh Cup and second in the Goodwood Cup when last seen, with Joseph O’Brien’s Dawn Rising and Jessica Harrington’s Yashin completing the field of five.
England got off to a dominant start in the first Metro Bank ODI as they bowled Sri Lanka out for 106 at Chester-le-Street.
It was a morning to remember for debutants Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer as both bowlers took three wickets each along with Sarah Glenn, while Alice Capsey picked up the other.
Gaur claimed her first ODI wicket when she took the top of Chamari Athapaththu’s off-stump in the fifth over to dismiss the influential captain before shortly sending Anushka Sanjeewani’s middle stump flying.
Sri Lanka’s troubles further deepened when Glenn came into the attack in the 11th over and made an instant impact to pin Vishmi Gunaratne lbw.
Filer then struck when Hasini Perera feathered the ball to Amy Jones behind the stumps and her debut got even better with two wickets in the 20th over to spark Sri Lanka’s collapse.
The 22-year-old had Kavisha Dilhari caught behind with Jones making a fine grab to her right and then dismissed Nilakshi de Silva the following ball in a similar fashion.
Harshitha Samarawickrama looked to get Sri Lanka up to a competitive total, but she fell for 35 off Alice Capsey after a review showed the ball just brushing her bat on the way through to Jones.
And just after Sri Lanka brought up their 100, Glenn earned her second with another thinly-edged ball well taken by Jones before bowling Achini Kulasuriya.
Gaur wrapped the innings get one through the gate to bowl Udeshika Prabodhani and set England a 107-run target.
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