There had been a lot of talk about Max in karting. The first time I saw him was in his opening Formula Three race at Silverstone in 2014.
I remember raising it to Helmut Marko – Red Bull’s motorsport consultant – that this kid looks the real deal. Helmut watched him at the Norisring in Germany and he was convinced.
There was interest from Niki Lauda and Mercedes, but Red Bull could take him to Formula One immediately. So, he came to us a very young age. He was 16. And I remember in his very first outing for us – a demonstration run in Rotterdam – he took the front wing off the car! But you could tell in the seat fitting the confidence he had for a young guy was exceptional.
All of the drivers that came through the junior categories learned their trade out of the spotlight, but Max became the youngest driver in Formula One ever. He was only 17. Every move and every mistake he made was scrutinised.
Jean Todt, who was the FIA president at the time, changed the regulations to ensure someone as young and inexperienced as Max could not enter F1. There will never be a driver that moves so rapidly from karting to F1 again. But the way he dealt with it mentally made him a standout character.
It was obvious in his first full F1 season when he drove for Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso, that he was an emerging talent, and at the beginning of 2016 he was performing beyond the capability of the car.
Daniil Kvyat was struggling, and there was a lot of interest in Max. We made the decision to move him to Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Mercedes did their thing when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other on the first lap and Max, who started fourth which was already stunning, made the one-stop strategy work to win in his first Grand Prix with the team. He became the sport’s youngest ever winner, aged 18. It was a fairytale. Max had arrived.
He won races in 2017 and 2018, and in 2019 he became the team leader following Daniel Ricciardo’s departure to Renault. He grew up, and it was a transformative year for him.
In 2021 we had a car and an engine that could take the fight to Mercedes, and that season will go down as one of the most competitive sporting duels the sport has ever had.
From the first race in Bahrain through to Abu Dhabi, Max and Lewis were like two heavyweights going up against each other. Max was a dog with a bone. He wouldn’t let it go. And you couldn’t script that they would head to the final race tied on points.
Max was very cool. He put the car on pole, and we took our opportunity under the final safety car. Max had one lap to get the job done. I don’t think Lewis expected Max to attack in the corner that he did, and people overlook that he still had to beat Lewis. He still had to win the race. It wasn’t about two unlapped backmarkers. It was about Max reacting to the circumstances and getting the job done. And under the most intense pressure he did just that. He sent it down the inside and the whole place went bananas.
To see him and his father, Jos, celebrate was a very special moment because it was the culmination of all the effort that his father had put into him at a very young age. Max achieved his goal, and anything after that was the icing on the cake, because for him, it was all about becoming a world champion.
Max has still got all the tenacity he had when he got in the car as a 17-year-old, but he now marries that with experience. Outside of the car, he is a normal guy, too. He has his feet on the ground and he hasn’t had his head turned by fame and fortune. He still loves racing, and he has got good, grounded principals.
He is competitive and wears his heart on his sleeve. He is very honest. He will give you everything, but he expects everything in return.
He can go on to achieve so much more. We are riding a wave at the moment, and we want to continue riding that wave for as long as we can.
Will Max be in Formula One for a long, long time? I don’t think so. He has ambitions beyond F1 and beyond racing. And at 26, 36 seems a long way away.
We have a long-term agreement with him until 2028, and he has always said he will be happy to start and end his career here, but motivation will be a crucial factor.
Brendan Rodgers believes Luis Palma is gradually becoming more accustomed to the demands of playing for Celtic.
The Honduran scored his team’s second goal in the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock in what was his first Premiership start since arriving from Aris Thessaloniki in August.
Rodgers felt it was unrealistic to expect new signings to be “perfect right away” and revealed he was looking only for incremental improvement.
The Celtic manager said: “The players at the top end of the pitch have to create and score goals, that’s their contribution.
“But Luis is settling in very well. These guys are coming from different climates and cultures.
“People feel the need for them to be perfect right away. I don’t, it’s all about adaptability.
“If they feed into the club’s winning mentality, they’ll improve here.
“You see with Palma, he’s getting better game by game. He was excellent today and scored a very good goal.
“He was dangerous. He played his part in a very good collective performance.”
Kilmarnock got a goal back through David Watson with the score at 2-0, but Rodgers believed a foul should have been awarded in the build-up.
He added: “We had the ball on the edge of the box, Greg Taylor was manhandled by their guy to the ground and we didn’t get a foul.
“The VAR only started when the play went forward. They scored from the position Greg would have been in.
“I don’t like talking about referees, but we’ve now got a whole team of people looking at it. The ref doesn’t see it, he had his back to the play. By the time he turned around, the foul was committed.
“But a guy on the line can see it, like me. On top of that, there’s a VAR team watching it with a cup of tea and no drama. They still didn’t see it.”
Celtic had a penalty award overturned by the VAR following a coming-together between Reo Hatate and Watson.
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes – who would not address speculation linking him with the Rangers managerial vacancy – felt the Japanese midfielder had embellished any contact.
He said: “My first thought was that Hatate has gone down far too easily. For me, he’s waiting for contact. But I don’t think there was any contact. If I’m wrong then I’ll apologise.
“But for me, it’s trying to buy a penalty and the referee has bought it as I thought he would. I thought, ‘he’s going to give a penalty here’ and he did.
“My heart sank and then VAR overturned it. But that’s far too easy to go down, far too easy from Hatate. That’s poor.”
Sione Tuipulotu was despondent as he faced up to the realisation that he and his Scotland team-mates are flying home after suffering pool-stage elimination from the World Cup.
The Scots arrived in France at the start of September with high expectations after climbing to fifth in the world on the back of a string of impressive results and performances.
However, they were ultimately unable to overcome the challenge of being grouped alongside defending champions South Africa and the world’s top-ranked side, Ireland, in a top-heavy Pool B.
After bouncing back from their 18-3 defeat to the Boks with heavy wins over Tonga and Romania, the Scots’ bid to reach the quarter-final was killed off by a 36-14 blitzing from the rampant Irish in Paris on Saturday night.
“I’m very disappointed,” said centre Tuipulotu. “We’re out of the tournament now and it feels like all our hard work and stuff like that has come to an end.
“I know there’s more rugby to be played after this World Cup but you’re in a World Cup to win it and now we’re out of it. I’m really gutted. We had a big travelling support, so apologies to them.
“We wanted to do better in the tournament but we ran into two pretty good teams in our pool and ultimately just got beaten by better teams.”
As he tried to process the disappointment of his first World Cup coming to an end, Tuipuloto, 26, admitted it was difficult to think about the future.
“I’m very upset and I don’t really know how to deal with it,” he said. “We’ve got a good team with good blokes in our changing room. But it’s just frustrating to be saying the same type of messages after tournaments like these.
“I suppose there’s another tournament and another tournament after that and maybe the right thing to say now is ‘we’ll be better in the next tournament’ but right now I’m just feeling gutted.”
Rory Darge admitted Ireland – who scored after 63 seconds and were 26-0 up at half-time – showed Scotland why they are the top-ranked side on the planet at Stade de France.
The Irish stopped the Scots getting any reward for the sustained pressure they exerted in the first quarter of the match and then took most of the chances that came their way at the other end.
“They are the number one team in the world and they showed it,” said flanker Darge. “We could have been better in a lot of things, taken our chances when we had a lot of ball in their 22 at the start of the game.
“Once they get in behind with some of those carries, they are very, very good. They withheld a lot of what we threw at them in that first 20.
“Obviously the scoreline is what it is and that’s off the back of them being brutally clinical and we weren’t.”
Tottenham defenders Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie hailed “leader” Cristian Romero after they combined to extend Ange Postecoglou’s unbeaten start at the club with a 1-0 win at Luton.
Spurs created a plethora of chances early on at Kenilworth Road, but Yves Bissouma received two yellow cards in quick succession in the first half to alter the course of Saturday’s game.
While Van de Ven put Tottenham ahead in the 52nd-minute, Luton made the most of their numerical advantage to pile the pressure on, but vice-captain Romero in particular shone with 12 clearances and five aerial duals won during a colossal display over the 90 minutes.
“Amazing player, unbelievable player,” centre-back Van de Ven said of Romero to SpursPlay.
“Defensively so strong, with the ball so strong, keeps talking, for me an amazing player.
“We had to concentrate for the full 90 minutes. We had to keep pushing, keep commanding and holding a strong line. We help each other and have each others back.
“Everyone keeps talking the whole time and most of the time no one is losing concentration, but everyone is keeping each other awake and you saw we defended really well to keep the clean sheet.”
Left-back Udogie echoed those sentiments, saying: “I think Cuti (Romero) is a real leader.
“You can’t feel more safe (than) with Cuti and he shows this every day in training, in the game and he helps us a lot.
“As you saw it was really tough and with a man less it was more tough but this is the spirit of our squad. We keep working hard for each other and the result come.”
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On his maiden Italy call-up, Udogie added: “It is a big dream for me you know. As a young kid I was always dreaming for this moment.
“Now it has come and I have to just stay focused, enjoy the time, work hard for the team and give my best.”
Spurs have won six of their eight Premier League matches under Postecoglou, which makes this the club’s best start to a top-flight season since the 1960-61 double-winning campaign.
The goals have flowed, but the Australian has added a steel to a previously frail defensive unit and this shut-out was Tottenham’s third with new first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Postecoglou said: “They’ve been great all year, both the centre-backs, the whole back four and Vic.
“I think a big part of that is Romero because when you look at it, it’s Destiny’s first year in the Premier League, Micky’s first year, Vic’s first year and (Pedro) Porro is just beginning his Premier League career, but they’ve got a World Cup winner beside them.
“I think Cuti makes them feel like they belong. They feel really comfortable having him beside them and you can see them flourish.
“He is someone you definitely want in your team. Yes he does have that physicality about him, but he’s a good player as well.
“His passing range, ability to really position himself well, to stay calm and then just ridiculous bravery to always put his body in there. He’s just an outstanding defender.”
Lionel Messi recently labelled Argentina team-mate Romero as the best defender in the world.
“He’s a good judge,” Postecoglou smiled.
Meanwhile, newly-promoted Luton were left to rue missed chances after suffering a sixth defeat, but could soon call upon the services of free agent Andros Townsend after he played for their under-21s on Friday.
“We will see,” Hatters boss Rob Edwards said. “It has to be right for him. We will have a look and see how it goes.
“He played on Friday night the full game.”
Johanna Konta became the first British woman to break into the world’s top 10 in 32 years after beating Madison Keys on this day in 2016 to reach the final of the China Open.
Konta, then 25, beat American world number nine Madison Keys 7-6 (1) 4-6 6-4 in the last four and was the first British player since Jo Durie in 1984 to enter the WTA’s top 10.
Despite losing to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in the final in Beijing, Konta ended the year as number 10 in the rankings.
Konta’s rapid rise coincided with her decision to team up with coach Esteban Carril in northern Spain 17 months earlier, when she was ranked 146th in the world.
She had reached the fourth round of the US Open to end 2015 inside the top 50 and earlier in 2016 reached the Australian Open semi-finals and won her first WTA title at Stanford.
Konta’s victory over Keys at the China Open was her seventh over a top-10 player in 2016.
She won her second WTA title in Sydney in early 2017, reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and triumphed at the Miami Open by beating former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the final.
That success saw Konta rise to world number seven and she climbed to a career-high position of fourth in 2017 after becoming the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon singles semi-finals since Virginia Wade in 1978.
Konta lost to Venus Williams in the last four and after injury setbacks and loss of form in 2018, reached the French Open semi-finals and the US Open quarter-finals in 2019.
After further struggles with form and fitness – she was dogged by a right knee injury – Konta announced her retirement in December 2021.
Gabriel Moreno highlighted a six-run first against Clayton Kershaw with a three-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks rolled to a stunning 11-2 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.
Tommy Pham had four hits with a homer and Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas also went deep for Arizona, which is 3-0 in these playoffs – all on the road.
Arizona wasted no time jumping on Kershaw, who gave up a leadoff double to Ketel Marte and an RBI single to Carroll before Christian Walker’s double made it 2-0.
Moreno followed with a blast over the wall in left field to extend the lead to 5-0 and after a groundout and Thomas’ walk, Evan Longoria doubled home another run.
Kershaw – a three-time Cy Young Award winner - was relieved by Emmet Sheehan after he was tagged for six runs and six hits while recording just one out.
He had never made a start where he pitched less than one inning.
Carroll led off the second with a home run and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added an RBI double before Longoria’s sacrifice fly upped the advantage to 9-0.
Merrill Kelly didn’t need all the offensive support, as he allowed three hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings for his first win against the Dodgers.
He entered 0-11 with a 5.49 ERA in 16 starts against them.
Thomas homered in the seventh and Pham’s blast in the eighth made it 11-0.
Will Smith had a two-run triple in the eighth to get Los Angeles on the board.
Harper homers, Phillies shut out Braves
Bryce Harper’s home run backed a stellar pitching performance, and the Philadelphia Phillies stifled the MLB-best Atlanta Braves 3-0 in Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Saturday night.
Wild-card series hero Bryson Stott broke a scoreless tie with a run-scoring single off Spencer Strider in the fourth.
Harper took Strider deep in the sixth to make it 2-0 and the Phillies tacked on another run in the eighth when catcher’s interference was called against Sean Murphy.
After the call was reviewed and upheld, there was a brief delay when a handful of fans threw rubbish on the field.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead over the Braves in the NLDS for the second consecutive season after they upset Atlanta 3-1 on an improbable run to the 2022 World Series.
Ranger Suarez limited the 104-win Braves to one hit in 3 2/3 innings and Jeff Hoffman escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth.
Seranthony Dominguez struck out the side in the fifth and Jose Alvarado, rookie Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Craig Kimbrel shut down Atlanta the rest of the way.
Strider, the majors’ only 20-game winner this season, allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Alvarez hits 2 home runs as Astros beat Twins
Yordan Alvarez homered twice, and Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings to lead the defending World Series champion Houston Astros to a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins in an AL Division Series opener.
Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the first with a home run and Alvarez finished with three RBIs to help Houston win its 10th straight in Game 1 of a Division Series.
The 40-year-old Verlander allowed four hits with three walks and six strikeouts for his 17th career playoff win, most among active pitchers.
Minnesota rallied against Hector Neris in the seventh, with Jorge Polanco providing the big hit with a three-run homer. Two pitches later, Royce Lewis belted his third home run in three playoff games to get the Twins within 5-4.
Alvarez connected off Caleb Thielbar in the bottom half to extend Houston’s lead.
The Houston slugger took starter Bailey Ober deep in the third for a two-run shot for a 3-0 advantage.
Rangers’ bullpen holds off Orioles
Five Texas relievers kept the Baltimore Orioles in check and the Rangers held on for a 3-2 victory in their AL Division Series opener.
Third baseman Josh Jung homered and came up with a key defensive play as the Rangers improved to 3-0 in these playoffs – all on the road.
After Dane Dunning gave up Anthony Santander’s solo home run in the sixth to cut Texas’ lead to 3-2, Will Smith, Josh Sborz, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Leclerc combined for the final 10 outs.
Chapman walked the first two batters in the eighth before Jung ranged to his left and snagged Santander’s bouncer on a short hop to start a 5-4-3 double play.
Chapman then struck out Ryan Mountcastle with a runner on third to end the inning.
Richard Azan’s Perfect Brew produced one of his most polished performances in recent times to topple rivals in a three-year-old and upward Open Allowance contest for the I’m satisfied Trophy over six furlongs (1,200m) at Caymanas Park on Saturday.
With Jason DaCosta’s ante-post favorite Is That A Fact scratched from the event, Azan’s four-year-old bay gelding, partnered with Tevin Foster, proved too good in the $1.4 million feature, registering an eighth career win, and third of the season.
Though well backed at odds of 5-2, Perfect Brew was expected to have a difficult task of getting back to his more fleet-footed competitors Rojorn Di Pilot (Omar Walker), Lure of Lucy (Jerome Innis), Jordon Reign’s (Dane Dawkins) and I’ve Got Magic (Bebeto Harvey) in the dash.
The predictions seemed likely to play out when Perfect Brew, drawn post position four, broke behind rivals and was quickly switched to the inside rails by Foster.
This, as Rojorn Di Pilot assumed pole ahead of Lure of Lucy (Jerome Innis), I’ve Got Magic (Bebeto Harvey), and God of Love (Anthony Allen), before Jordon Reign's swept by all to dictate terms in the early exchanges.
As the frontrunners continued to jostle for the headlines to try and steal a march on the field, Perfect Brew and Foster soon got into stride and moved within striking distance by the time they flashed past the half-mile mark.
Though still under a fairly tight hold by Foster, Perfect Brew was full of running which he unleashed in the stretch run. While Jordon Reign's and I've Got Magic engaged in a bumping duel on the inside rail, Foster took the Bern Identity-Moonlight Brew progeny three wide.
And with quick change of his hold, followed by a show of the left-hand whip, the in-form jockey and Perfect Brew briskly swept by their rivals and powered away at the furlong pole to complete a four-and-a-half length victory.
They stopped the clock in 1:12.1, behind splits of 23.0 and 46.1 seconds.
I’ve Got Magic, Jordon Reign’s and Rojorn Di Pilot, completed the frame.
Meanwhile, DaCosta, along with jockeys Phillip Parchment and Dane Dawkins secured two winners each on the 10-race card.
Dawkins won the seventh and 10th events for the Princess Popstar and Reggae Roots Rocking Trophies, aboard DaCosta’s Digital One, and Errol Burke’s Nakamura.
DaCosta’s other winner was Parchment-partnered Phenomenal One in the eighth, ran for the Reggae Legend Trophy. Parchment earlier won the sixth event aboard Andrew McDonald’s War Horse, copping the Reggae Skanking Trophy.
Racing continues on Sunday.
Leigh Wood toasted the “best win” of his career after retaining his WBA featherweight title by battling back from a sustained beating to stop British rival Josh Warrington.
At a frenzied Sheffield Arena, Warrington was well on the way to becoming a three-time champion at the weight as his relentless bursts of aggression and occasional roughhouse tactics left Wood reeling.
But Wood kept his composure in a cauldron-like atmosphere and seized his moment in emphatic fashion as he followed up a stiff right hook with pinpoint combination punching that put Warrington on his back.
Warrington rose gamely but unsteadily returned to his corner and as he did not turn round, referee Michael Alexander waved off the contest at the end of the seventh round to the Leeds fighter’s chagrin.
“It wasn’t my best performance,” Wood said. “I did feel a bit groggy making the weight but no excuses.
“That’s my best win, Josh is a two-time world champion, he has massive scalps on his record and I’m the only Brit to be beat him.
“He’s a great fighter – definitely my best scalp. If we do it again then we do it again and if not, we’ll have a new challenge. We’ll see.”
Less than two years on from stopping Michael Conlan in the last round when trailing on the cards in a high-profile bout, Wood insisted he can never be discounted after racking up a 28th win from 31 fights.
“I don’t know what it is about me – I haven’t got any quit in me,” he said. “It’s never say die.
“It’s the same as my career – I didn’t make the best start, I turned it around and got there, it was the same as the Conlan fight.
“Write me off all you want, I’m just going to be there to the end and if I can do anything to win, I’ll do it.”
A fight at the City Ground, home of his beloved Nottingham Forest, could be next for Wood, who could move up to super-featherweight after admitting boiling down to 126lb was becoming increasingly tough.
While three years younger than his conqueror, Warrington’s future is less certain after slumping to his third defeat in 35 bouts, including back-to-back losses in world title fights in just under a year.
He immediately protested Alexander’s decision to call a halt to proceedings after belatedly turning round before slumping his head on the referee’s shoulder as he accepted there was no way back.
Warrington said afterwards: “I just feel a bit hard done by, it was the end of round, get to my feet, look at my dad with a smile on my face, turn round at (the count of) eight and it’s being waved off.”
This fight took place on neutral territory – halfway between Wood’s home city of Nottingham and Warrington’s Leeds – but any return bout will be on the champion’s patch.
With Wood insistent a fight at the City Ground is next, promoter Eddie Hearn suggested a rematch against Warrington is a highly tempting option.
“It’s going to take a big fight for Leigh Wood at the City Ground,” Hearn said. “I want to see the fight back.
“If Josh would have turned round, they would have 100 per cent let the fight carry on. If the ref did call it off at eight, it was too early because he should have given him the opportunity to turn around.
“The ref said to me ‘he wouldn’t turn round and if he doesn’t turn round I can’t let him continue’.
“When you look at frontrunners for sizes of fights at the City Ground, I think the rematch is probably the biggest one.”
Andy Farrell insists a World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand is “as tough as it gets” after “little old Ireland” topped Pool B thanks to a six-try demolition of Scotland.
The rampant Six Nations champions emphatically underlined their status as Test rugby’s top-ranked side by banishing any lingering doubts of an early exit with a crushing 36-14 success which eliminated the Scots.
Ireland will return to Paris next Saturday for a showdown with the All Blacks seeking to make history by progressing beyond the last eight of the tournament for the first time.
Head coach Farrell led his side to a landmark series success in New Zealand last summer and is braced for another major test following statement Stade de France victories over reigning champions South Africa and Scotland.
“New Zealand are a fantastic side, and for little old Ireland to be talked about in the same bracket as the All Blacks shows how far we’ve come as a rugby-playing nation,” he said.
“The respect we’ve got for New Zealand is through the roof.
“The form they’ve got at this moment in time is top drawer and I’m sure that they will be relishing this fixture to try and put a few things right. It’s tough, it’s as tough as it gets.
“Two weeks ago (against South Africa), it was a tough game and this one was knock-out type rugby so it gets a whole lot tougher next week against the All Blacks and hopefully they will need to be at their best to beat us as well.”
James Lowe’s early try settled any Irish nerves in Saint-Denis before Hugo Keenan crossed either side of a score from the recalled Iain Henderson to quickly take the game away from shell-shocked Scotland.
Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose added to the opposition’s embarrassment, prior to consolation tries from Scottish pair Ewan Ashman and Ali Price.
Farrell must wait to discover the true cost of a feisty affair in the French capital, with wings Mack Hansen and Lowe and replacement lock James Ryan each sustaining injuries.
“Obviously, we’ll see how they pull up in the morning but Mack went off with a HIA (head injury assessment) and when he came back on he felt his calf straight away, so we got him off,” said Farrell.
“James Ryan has a bit of a knock on his wrist that we have to assess more, so we’ll see how he is now.
“James Lowe got a bang in the eye, his eye shut and he couldn’t really see much. His vision was coming back towards the end of the game, which is good.
“Then, a few more bangs and bruises that we’ll need to assess tomorrow.”
Ireland once again performed a celebratory lap of honour in front of tens of thousands of jubilant Irish supporters.
Farrell savoured another special occasion, while wishing he could simultaneously enjoy the “bonkers” scenes back home.
“My wife and me two girls were there, that’s why I was singing to them,” he said.
“I think it’s amazing, the songs at the end of the game, I love all that.
“We got a bit of stick, didn’t we, for walking around against South Africa, but we walk round and thank the fans after every game.
“It’s the least we can do when they turn up in their thousands like they’ve done.
“We play for them, we talk about it every week. I talked about it before the game today in the dressing room, it means more than what people think, 100 per cent.
“I know that France is buzzing with Irish people, but I believe it’s bonkers back home. We’re torn a bit, enjoying it with the fans back home or stay here? We’ll stay here for now!”
Gregor Townsend admitted Ireland were simply too good for his Scotland team to handle as their World Cup dream ended with a chastening 36-14 defeat by the world’s top-ranked side in Paris on Saturday night.
After losing their opening match to South Africa, the Scots had to win with a bonus point or by denying the Irish a losing bonus in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Their hopes were dented by the concession of a try after just over a minute and the game was effectively over by half-time as the Irish ran in another three scores before the break to lead 26-0.
Scotland rallied slightly to win the second half 14-10, but there was a sense of dejection at full-time as they departed the tournament at the first hurdle at a time when they are ranked fifth in the world.
“It’s a very disappointing result, we have gone out of the World Cup against the highest-ranked side in the world, and they were well ahead at half-time,” rued head coach Townsend.
“We played the number two side in the world in the opening game and it was a close game.
“In isolation, this is a really disappointing defeat against a very good side and one we believed we had the ability to beat.
“They were the better team tonight, they were excellent and it’s probably the best I have seen them play.
“It’s probably where we and they are in terms of the rankings and why now they are the favourites for the World Cup.”
Townsend did not feel James Lowe’s early try set the tone as Scotland went on to enjoy a spell of pressure thereafter, albeit without reward, before Ireland turned the screw in the lead-up to half-time.
“The early try wasn’t a factor as we managed in that first 20 minutes to put some good rugby together, but we didn’t put any points on the board,” said Townsend.
“The tries before half-time we could have defended better, but I have to give credit to Ireland as they executed very well and the game went away from us.
“In the second half, I was really proud of the effort and the intent to not allow the score to become a bigger one. We came back and showed who we were in attack.
“The game had gotten away from us, so we focused on winning back respect. To get two tries against such a top team, we’ll take a little bit out of that.
“We’re very disappointed with the result and the first-half performance, but credit to Ireland, who were very, very good.”
While the fact they were placed in a group alongside the world’s top-ranked side and the defending world champions counts as some mitigation for Scotland’s early exit, Townsend acknowledged his team were not at their best over the course of the tournament.
“We certainly have to do better, and the responsibility is mine,” he said. “We believed we could get out of this pool, and we still believed that after losing to South Africa with the response the players showed in training and the games they played (against Tonga and Romania), gave us an opportunity tonight, which we didn’t take.
“Ireland are a better team than us on tonight’s performance, and they’ve won 17 games in a row so they’ve clearly been the better team over the last couple of years. Now, if we can get on the journey they have been on the last few years then great – but it is easy saying that, it is another thing doing it.
“You become a better team through defeats as well as victories, and we’ve got to make sure that this defeat makes us a better team for the Six Nations coming up and the next World Cup, although at this point the Six Nations is much more relevant.”
Leigh Wood retained his world featherweight title after weathering a ferocious onslaught from Josh Warrington to stop his British rival in a pulsating showdown at the Utilita Arena Sheffield.
In the first defence of his second reign as WBA champion, Wood absorbed some punishing blows over several rounds and remained upright despite being clearly troubled by Warrington’s relentless flurries.
Wood, though, kept his composure amid a cacophony of noise and unloaded with precise combination punching, finishing with a right to the temple and then a left when Warrington was on the way down.
Warrington, seeking to become a three-time champion at 126lbs, rose gamely but was on wobbly legs, prompting referee Michael Alexander to wave off the contest right at the end of the seventh round.
Warrington protested the decision before slumping his head on the referee’s shoulder in grim defeat as Wood celebrated his latest comeback victory to improve his record to 28 wins and three defeats.
A fight at the City Ground, home of his beloved Nottingham Forest, could be next for Wood, who could move up to super-featherweight after admitting boiling down to 126lbs was becoming increasingly tough.
While three years younger than his conqueror, Warrington’s future is less certain after slumping to his third defeat in 35 bouts, including back-to-back losses world title fights in just under a year.
Jude Bellingham’s goalscoring hot streak continued with a brace as LaLiga leaders Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 at the Bernabeu.
The England midfielder opened the scoring with a ninth-minute finish and added another effort nine minutes into the second half to take him to 10 goals in as many games for Real since joining them from Borussia Dortmund over the summer.
Further finishes followed from Vincius Junior and Joselu, who then saw a penalty saved by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
Girona leapfrogged Barcelona – who play at Granada on Sunday – into second, two points behind Real, with a 1-0 win at 10-man Cadiz.
After the hosts had Darwin Machis sent off in the 10th minute, Aleix Garcia netted a 59th-minute winner.
Valencia drew 1-1 at Mallorca thanks to Diego Lopez’s headed equaliser in first-half stoppage time after Daniel Rodriguez’s opener, while Sevilla fought back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw at home against Rayo Vallecano, with Youssef En-Nesyri scoring a stoppage-time leveller.
Oscar Valentin and Alvaro Garcia put Rayo in control inside 26 minutes before Djibril Sow halved the deficit and En-Nesyri’s last-gasp equaliser.
AC Milan moved to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Genoa that saw Christian Pulisic score late on before both sides had their goalkeepers sent off in stoppage time.
After Pulisic broke the deadlock by firing home in the 87th minute, the Rossoneri were then reduced to 10 men in the eighth minute of time added on when Mike Maignan was shown a red card.
Pulisic’s fellow substitute Olivier Giroud took over from Maignan in goal, and saw the Milan crossbar get rattled moments later – before the drama continued with Genoa keeper Josep Martinez being shown a second yellow card.
With Giroud then making a save in the final few moments, Milan saw out the victory to take top spot, going two points clear of Inter Milan, who were held 2-2 at home by Bologna earlier in the day.
Inter looked well in control after early goals from Francesco Acerbi and Lautaro Martínez, but Bologna hit back with a Riccardo Orsolini penalty in the 19th minute, and Joshua Zirkzee then equalised seven minutes into the second half.
Juventus moved above champions Napoli into third with a 2-0 win at home against derby rivals Torino, Federico Gatti and Arkadiusz Milik getting on the scoresheet. Napoli play Fiorentina at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday evening.
Monaco lead Ligue 1 by a point after winning 3-1 at Reims – Ismail Jakobs, Folarin Balogun and Wissam Ben Yedder netting for the visitors before Teddy Teuma replied with a penalty.
The result took Monaco back above Nice, who had earlier moved to the top following a 1-0 win at Metz, with Hichem Boudaoui scoring the only goal in the 14th minute.
Stuttgart are the current table-toppers in the Bundesliga following their 3-1 come-from-behind win over Wolfsburg.
Replying to Yannick Gerhardt’s opener, Serhou Guirassy registered a second-half hat-trick, the first goal a penalty, to take him to 13 goals for the season in just seven games.
A point behind them are Borussia Dortmund, who beat Union Berlin 4-2 at Signal Iduna Park.
The hosts were behind at the break after Niclas Fullkrug’s opener was cancelled out by Robin Gosens and Leonardo Bonucci scored a penalty, before a second-half turnaround saw Nico Schlotterbeck, Julian Brandt and Julian Ryerson net for Dortmund.
RB Leipzig had a penalty saved in each half as they were held 0-0 at home by Bochum, Manuel Riemann denying Xavi Simons and then Emil Forsberg.
Hoffenheim moved into the top four with a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen sealed by Marius Bulter in the second minute of stoppage time – a minute after Jens Stage had equalised for the hosts.
Maximilian Beier’s early goal put Hoffenheim ahead in the eighth minute, but Romano Schmid equalised nine minutes later only for Grischa Promel to regain the first-half lead for the visitors.
Darmstadt won 2-1 at Augsburg thanks to goals from Tim Skarke and a Tobias Kempe penalty before Ermedin Demirovic netted a late consolation for the hosts.
England boss Gareth Southgate says it is “not a stupid question” to ask whether Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is the best player in the world right now.
Having impressed at Birmingham and flourished at Borussia Dortmund, the 20-year-old midfielder has gone up another level since his big-money switch to Spain.
Bellingham has immediately established himself as one of Madrid’s main men and has scored 10 goals in 10 matches since moving to the Bernabeu for an initial £88.5million fee.
The midfielder scored a brace in Saturday’s 4-0 win against Osasuna, which will only increase talk of the midfielder being the world’s top player at the moment.
Asked if Bellingham was the best in the world right now, Southgate – speaking before the Real star’s two-goal showing on Saturday – said: “I wondered if you might say that!
“No, it’s not a stupid question. I haven’t seen everybody and studied everybody playing.
“All I can say is he’s at one of the biggest clubs in the world, arguably the biggest, and he’s playing exceptionally well and he’s currently the match-winner for them so he’s in a brilliant place.”
Bellingham has quickly established himself as a fan favourite at the Bernabeu, where he has added more goals to his game playing in a more advanced position.
The 20-year-old scored a solo stunner in Tuesday’s 3-2 Champions League win at Napoli, with Spanish media comparing him to Diego Maradona and Alfredo Di Stefano.
“He’s playing higher,” Southgate said. “We played him higher against Scotland, he had that freedom in the Ukraine game as well, we didn’t use the game well enough in the final third.
“But he’s always looked dangerous and had an impact around the opposing box with Dortmund and with us, without looking quite as calm as he has this season in front of goal.
“It’s brilliant to have people who can win games.
“He’s been the match-winner for Real Madrid and the start for him has been absolutely phenomenal. I’m chuffed to bits for him.”
Asked if Bellingham is a number 10 who could play up top on his own without a number nine, the England boss said: “Well, there are lots of different number 10s, aren’t there?
“The 10s I played against, (Dennis) Bergkamp, (Gianfranco) Zola probably were forwards that dropped deeper rather than the other way round.
“Jude is a more powerful player than those, slightly different. More of a midfield player, who’s going to make midfield runs. That doesn’t mean he’s any less effective, as we’ve seen.
“Their team have found a nice balance with the athletic midfield they have behind and, having lost (Karim) Benzema as they did and lost Vinicius (to injury) as they did, they have been adapting.
“He’s been defending on the left wing in a couple of games and I can just imagine the reaction from all and sundry if I asked him to do that!
“So, look, he’s doing brilliantly well and that’s the beauty of some of the options we’ve got. We can play players in different positions. They’re good players so they can adapt.”
Bellingham will now join up with England for a Wembley double-header, with Friday’s friendly against Australia followed by a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy.
Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested with his selection for October’s fixtures, meaning vice-captain Jordan Henderson kept his place after his controversial move to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia.
“His physical data is fine,” Southgate said of the former Liverpool skipper. “The games are not at the same intensity as the games here. The heat is part of that.
“There are two or three drinks breaks per game, which is an indication of the climate, and that his having an impact on how teams play.
“It is a situation that we are tracking closely. I will go out and watch games. But we get all his games the same way we get everybody else’s.
“That’s a longer trip and in these first couple of months we’ve felt it more important to see as many games live as we can, as quickly as possible, by getting around our country more.
“But as time moves on, we’ll get to more of the Milans, the Madrids and the Bayern Munichs, as well as out to see Hendo.”
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has encouraged home-grown midfielder Sean Longstaff to set his sights on an England call-up after shining on the European stage.
The 25-year-old’s career, which looked to have stalled under Steve Bruce, has been resurrected since Howe took over in November 2021 and he played a key role in Wednesday night’s 4-1 Champions League victory over Paris St Germain with a tireless display capped with the third goal.
Longstaff has been a key figure in the side which has gone six games undefeated and conceded just a single goal ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to West Ham, and while the Magpies’ head coach studiously avoids trying to pick Gareth Southgate’s squad for him, he insists the Academy graduate has what it takes to play international football.
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Howe said: “I haven’t spoken with Sean in any great detail about the England squad or his dreams and aims, but I’d encourage it for him because I think he is good enough.
“I think he’s got everything depending on what system you want to play but for us, he perfectly fits the number eight role that we’re using him in.
“I’d love to see him score more goals and get in more goalscoring positions because I think he is a very good finisher – you saw the other night with a really good goal – so hopefully there’s more to come from him.
“But he’s certainly done very well at the start of this season.”
North Shields-born Longstaff’s re-emergence has ensured a Geordie presence in Howe’s increasingly-cosmopolitan starting XI and he is not alone with Blyth native Dan Burn having made the left-back spot his own since his £13million arrival from Brighton in January last year.
At 6ft 6in, the 31-year-old – who also scored against PSG – does not fit the usual profile for a full-back, but having played the role earlier in his career, has adapted admirably to what he has been asked to do.
Howe said: “He’s been magnificent. He’s unusual. There are not many Dan Burn-type players playing football.
“He’s done so well to adapt to the position, but it’s a position he’s played before, so it’s not new to him. It’s just new to him for us, but technically he’s been very good.
“Defensively, he’s got a brilliant mindset to defending. He enjoys defending, he wants to defend.
“You can see in the last two games, the amount of good decisions he’s made against very good opponents, whether that’s a fast tricky winger or someone who is good positionally.
“He finds a way to react really well in-game to make adjustments to deal with his opponent.”
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