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• Record-breaking Gareth Davies enjoying rugby again after reclaiming Wales spot

  Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies says he is enjoying his rugby again during a World Cup campaign that has seen him produce record-breaking form.

  Davies’ early touchdown in the 40-6 rout of Australia set a new World Cup best of eight tries for a scrum-half.

  And it represents an impressive return to international rugby after he missed out on Wales’ South Africa tour last year, the 2022 autumn Tests and Six Nations campaign two months later.

  Wales head coach Warren Gatland’s predecessor Wayne Pivac preferred players like Tomos Williams, Kieran Hardy and Dane Blacker in the scrum-half position.

  And although Gatland was in charge for last season’s Six Nations, Williams, Hardy and Rhys Webb fought for the number nine shirt.

  Crucially, though, a door opened for the 33-year-old when Gatland named Davies in the World Cup training squad, and he has not looked back.

  He starred in the tournament warm-up victory over England and regained the number nine shirt for key Pool C wins against Fiji and Australia

  “I love World Cups,” Davies said. “I love the build-up to them.

  “It is the only time that we really get a full pre-season (with Wales). It has been a tough couple of months, but I have enjoyed it.

  “Physically and mentally, I feel like I am in the best shape of my life. I am really enjoying my rugby again.

  “We are all back to where we want to be under this management. We are fighting for each other, playing for each other and the environment is good, which is the main thing.

  “We are enjoying our time off the pitch as well. We’ve got a good bunch of boys, and it shows.”

  Davies, who made his Wales debut nine years ago and was the team’s starting scrum-half during the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, is once again excelling under Gatland’s direction.

  He scored five tries at the 2015 World Cup, then two more in Japan four years later – including an interception effort in a pool-stage win against Australia.

  “Warren has got his way,” Davies added. “It works for me and it obviously works for everyone else in the squad. It gets us all going.

  “The other coaches as well, Mike (Forshaw) with defence, Kingy (Alex King) in attack and Humphs (Jonathan Humphreys) with the forwards. We’ve had a lot of changes with coaches, and I think that’s made the difference, to be honest.”

  Wales’ crushing success against Australia secured a quarter-final place – the fourth World Cup in a row for them to achieve that under Gatland – and has set up a potential last-eight appointment with Argentina in Marseille on October 14.

  “I thought our win in 2019 against Australia in the World Cup was big, but this is right up there,” Davies said.

  “Momentum is key, especially in World Cups. We had a good week’s training preparing for the game, and I thought it showed on the pitch.

  “We obviously won’t look too far ahead of ourselves. We have got a few days off to recover, and then we will focus on Georgia the following weekend.

  “We have still got a job to do against them first, and then we will start looking at the quarter-final draw.”

• Tom Curry ‘in phenomenal shape’ ahead of England’s final World Cup group game

  Tom Curry has been pushing himself through a punishing training regime to ensure he is ready to face Samoa in England’s final World Cup group match.

  Curry has played less than three minutes of the tournament in France after being sent off in the opener for a dangerous tackle against Argentina, resulting in a two-match suspension.

  It continued his challenging start to the Steve Borthwick era, having missed the entire Six Nations and build-up campaign to the World Cup because of injury.

  Now poised to make his comeback against Samoa on October 7, the squad’s most influential player in defence has been defying the instructions of England’s fitness guru Aled Walters to perfect his conditioning.

  “Tom is a unique player in that I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone so fit, or so willing to work hard and put himself through pain,” scrum coach Tom Harrison said.

  “He just seems to be able to enjoy it and keep going. There was a conditioning session the other day where he finished his reps and Aled Walters was shouting at him, ‘Get out, get out’. And he just carried on running.

  “He just stayed in and carried on running. And when he did finally decide it was time for time for him to get out, he left the drill and Ellis Genge started hammering him for leaving the drill! And you just saw him getting so angry about it!

  “He is in phenomenal shape. He has been brilliant. Unfortunately he was suspended, but he was brilliant by not going, ‘Oh I’m suspended for these two games’. Instead he went, ‘How can I help England win?’.

  “And the work he was doing to help make training hard and difficult for the guys playing, and also the work he was doing with the back rows, to add his experience and his knowledge to our team meetings has been exceptional.”

• Jack Crowley jokes about Disneyland trip as Ireland recover from big win over SA

  Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley joked about spending his well-earned days off in Disneyland following the fairytale of sealing his country’s statement Rugby World Cup win against South Africa.

  Test rookie Crowley capped a thrilling 13-8 victory over the reigning champions by calmly slotting a crucial late penalty after stepping off the bench to replace captain Johnny Sexton at Stade de France.

  The 23-year-old was visiting Paris for the first time and had the chance to remain in the French capital for a brief escape from reality ahead of a turning his attention to a pivotal Pool B finale against Scotland on October 7.

  Crowley, who expects the Scots to be “gunning” for Ireland, could not resist a light-hearted quip at the expense of his diminutive team-mate Craig Casey and some of the senior members of Andy Farrell’s squad, including 38-year-old Sexton, as he humorously imagined a group theme park visit.

  “We have a few days off to recover because it has been a few intense weeks,” he said.

  “(I’m going to) take it easy. Disneyland Paris! We have to get a pass for Craig though. There’s a few old-age pensioners as well. Yeah, maybe Disneyland, we’ll see.

  “We go back in on Wednesday and the preparation begins for Scotland.

  “I suppose they are going to grow throughout the competition, aren’t they?

  “We have come against them in the Six Nations and they have been one the toughest competitors because of the way they play.

  “Our eyes are firmly on them. I’m sure they will be gunning for us.”

  Ireland led South Africa by just two points for the majority of a tense final quarter of Saturday’s epic encounter.

  In front of massive Irish support, Crowley nailed a nerveless 77th-minute kick on the occasion of his eighth cap to alleviate mounting pressure before a heroic defensive effort secured success.

  The Munster player revealed team-mate James Lowe was audibly counting down the seconds on the shot clock ahead of the conversion to eat into the time the Springboks would have to hit back.

  He described the physicality of a bruising contest as “through the walls”, while playing down his “nice easy penalty” on an evening when the opposition’s wayward goal-kicking proved costly.

  Speaking of his key contribution, which came four seconds inside the permitted time, Crowley said: “(It was) pretty special.

  “When you’re sitting on the bench looking up at the clock as the time is dwindling away, you see the magnitude grow larger.

  “It was a proper Test match. The physicality was through the walls.

  “When you’re coming on you’ve got to know the magnitude of the game and the responsibility.

  “I got a nice easy penalty in front of the posts. If I’d missed that I think you’d be saying a different story to me. But that’s the gig.”

  While Ireland have a weekend off, South Africa face Tonga on Sunday with work to do.

  Crowley suggested the world’s top two teams could meet again in the final at the end of next month.

  “They’re a World Cup-winning side because they disrupt team’s plans,” he said.

  “They play rugby the way they want to play and that’s how they won a World Cup just by doing that.

  “We knew since we played them in November last year (a 19-16 win for Ireland) just what a challenge this was going to be.

  “You’ve got to trust your plan and as a coaching staff and players we all bought into it and thankfully in the end we got the result but it’s not easy.

  “And I’m sure we won’t see the last of them in the competition.”