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• Naparima and San Juan North win five on the trot in SSFL action in T&T

  Naparima and San Juan North maintained their 100 per cent win records in Trinidad and Tobago’s Secondary Schools Football League Premiership Division on Wednesday. However, Fatima College lost their perfect record after they were held to a goalless draw by St Benedict’s College.

  Naparima maintained their exemplary goal-scoring form when they blanked Malick Secondary 3-0. Those three goals took their tally in five matches this season to an impressive 32 goals while conceding only two.

  The win took them to 15 points and sees them leading on goal-difference over San Juan North, who edged Arima North Secondary 1-0.

  Meanwhile, Fatima College lost their perfect record when they were held to a 0-0 draw, a result that sees them fall two points behind Naparima and San Juan North.

  St Anthony’s College picked up three valuable points following their 10-1 drubbing of Chaguanas North Secondary. They now have nine points and are fourth in the table, one point ahead of fifth-placed Presentation College, who were held at a 1-1 draw with Speyside High School, who are sixth on seven points.

  Elsewhere, Trinity College East, who are next to bottom in the league table played to a 2-2 draw with bottom-placed Pleasantville Secondary. The schools have two and one point, respectively.

  St Mary’s College earned their second win of the season after outscoring East Mucurapo Secondary 3-2 while Bishop’s High School had their first win after edging Queens Royal College 1-0.

   

• Celtic’s defensive injury crisis easing as Nat Phillips returns

  Celtic’s injury problems in central defence are easing as Nat Phillips and Cameron Carter-Vickers step up their comebacks.

  Phillips has missed two games after rolling his ankle on his debut against Dundee but the on-loan Liverpool defender could return in Saturday’s cinch Premiership meeting with Motherwell at Fir Park.

  The centre-back’s return is a welcome boost for manager Brendan Rodgers as Gustaf Lagerbielke’s European suspension would otherwise leave Liam Scales as the only fit central defender for next Wednesday’s Champions League visit of Lazio.

  Rodgers said: “Nat Phillips we are keeping an eye on, he has rejoined the group but we just have to make sure with his ankle. But that looks much better. Hopefully (he will be back) for the weekend.

  “No-one else who has been out injured will be back.”

  Carter-Vickers is also stepping up his return from a hamstring injury while fellow centre-backs Stephen Welsh and Maik Nawrocki are further behind.

  “Cam is coming back in to rejoin the training group but he is not going to be ready until after the international break, I would suspect,” Rodgers said.

  The Celtic manager will make a decision over who replaces the suspended Joe Hart at Fir Park.

  Scott Bain came off the bench and kept a clean sheet after Hart was sent off in the first half of Celtic’s 3-0 win at Livingston on Saturday but Benjamin Siegrist is another option.

  Rodgers said: “We will look at it between Scott and Benji. Both of the guys work really hard every day so we will finalise the team on Friday.”

• Manu Tuilagi warned special treatment may await him when England tackle Samoa

  Billy Vunipola insists England will rally around Manu Tuilagi in expectation of the Samoan onslaught he will face when the rivals meet in their Rugby World Cup clash.

  Vunipola, the Saracens number eight of Tongan heritage, has first hand experience from Japan 2019 of what it is like to be targeted by Polynesian opposition with a point to prove.

  It is a scenario that Tuilagi will encounter in Lille on Saturday week when Samoa are England’s final Pool D assignment before the quarter-finals.

  Now 32-years-old, Tuilagi moved to the UK from the Pacific island when he was 13 and even though he remains proud of his origins, Vunipola expects him to have a target on his back at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

  “I know for a fact that the Samoan boys, as much as they respect and hold Manu in high regard for what he has done for exposure in his heritage, they will want to go after him,” Vunipola said.

  “Everyone knows Manu can look after himself but we will be right next him trying to help as much as we can because they will be ready and waiting.

  “It happened to me at the last World Cup against Tonga when I remember getting put on my backside. I looked up and everyone was cheering on the side of the pitch like they won the game.

  “I am on the other side of it but if I were to put myself in a Tongan shirt I would think ‘let’s go get this Tongan kid or who thinks he’s a Tongan kid even if he is on the other side’.

  “That’s how I would think if I was in the Tonga team but I am not. I still remember the image of them cheering on the bench and it made me laugh. You just have to accept it and move on.”

  England face the prospect of colliding with Pacific island opposition on successive weekends given they are likely to face Fiji in the quarter-finals on October 15.

  The teams last met at Twickenham in August when the dangerous Fijians prevailed 30-22, securing a historic first victory in the fixture. It was an important moment for Islander rugby, but Vunipola felt only deflation.

  “You obviously have that link to what you have in common with them but at the end of the day I am representing England and I want to win,” the back row said.

  “As soon as I cross the white line against any Polynesian team, it’s like ‘right, how do we get the result?’

  “Watching the Fiji game in August there was no part of me that was thinking ‘oh great win Fiji, I am happy for you’.

  “I was gutted for the boys and was disappointed that we lost. It does not matter about history or they are Polynesian, it is just about the result.”