Two more Wales back rowers reminded Gatland of their talents as Dragons pair Shane Lewis-Hughes and Taine Basham impressed in the 33-30 defeat by Sharks.

Lewis-Hughes has been a revelation since his summer move from Cardiff, fourth in the league for turnovers and muscled up against a physical South African pack.

Basham capped a man of the match display with a try in his first game of the season as he recovered from tendonitis issues.

“Taine was all-action, as we know he can be, and that’s just the start from him,” said Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan.

“Shane’s been excellent too. He had a massive impact at the start of that game and has transformed the maul defence with Sam Hobbs as coach.

“It gives confidence to our pack to believe if teams want to go five metres out last minute, we will stop them.”

Sadly they could not hold out in the 85th minute when Sharks denied Dragons a first win over one of South Africa’s big four.

MARIO LEMINA let on Wolves are struggling to understand Gary O’Neil’s tactics.

And captain Lemina conceded if they keep on defending the way they did at Brentford then relegation is inevitable.

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Four first-half goals, including one 75 seconds after kick-off, set up a defeat that has put O’Neil in fear of his job.

O’Neil took responsibility and admitted his instructions were not being carried out.

He said: “The fact the players are making mistakes means there is a disconnect somewhere in what’s being asked or where they need to be.”

Midfielder Lemina, handed the armband in the summer when Max Kilman was sold to West Ham, confirmed that.

He admitted: “We need to work harder to understand the gameplan.
“We can’t concede goals in the first minute.

“In the Premier League that is not possible.

“The way we are playing, the way we are defending right now, is going to get us in relegation and we have to be honest about that.

“We know our issues. If we understand and follow the plan then these kinds of things can never happen.”

Many Wanderers fans have already concluded O’Neil is out of his depth.

His decision at 4-2 down to take off defensive midfielder Andre for attacker Hwang Hee-chan was met with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing”.

Lemina argued that was down to frustration with no wins in seven games, Wolves’ worst Prem start in 20 years.

He said: “If you say Gary O’Neil is the problem then you are liars and cheaters as he has given us a lot of things we didn’t have before.

“I think the fans really love him as well. Now it is a point of view because of the results, which is understandable.”

Wolves were the fourth team in a row to concede an early goal to the Bees.

If you say Gary O’Neil is the problem then you are liars and cheaters as he has given us a lot of things we didn’t have before.

Mario Lemina

Ex-Wolves man Nathan Collins nodded in when he stormed forward but O’Neil’s side responded with Matheus Cunha’s fourth-minute equaliser.

Bryan Mbeumo fired Bees ahead from the spot after the VAR spotted Lemina’s foul on Collins.

Jorgen Strand Larsen levelled again for Wolves, before Christian Norgaard and Ethan Pinnock made it 4-2.

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Sub Fabio Carvalho tapped in a fifth with Rayan Ait-Nouri replying in stoppage time.

Mikkel Damsgaard, who set up the early opener, joked: “The fans were disappointed there was 16 seconds more to wait but it is still very good and crazy to score in the first two minutes of four games straight.

“Now we just have to not let the opponent score straight after we score and keep a clean sheet next time.”

To say Aberdeen have not really been challenged in this run is over-simplistic and downright wrong, but it is true to say they are yet to face either of the Old Firm.

Celtic are flying similarly high domestically and only sit above the Dons on goal difference – a difference of 13 goals, right enough.

Brendan Rodgers’ side will be huge hurdle to clear, but the manner of victory over Hearts should give Aberdeen even more confidence, according to former St Johnstone boss Craig Levein.

“The more it happens, the more you believe,” he said on Sportsound. “Things didn’t go their way, and if there was any self-doubt, they wouldn’t have come back.

“They’re carrying a little bit of good fortune, but they’ve won and come from behind. They can only be talking positively in the dressing room.

“If you score late winners, it makes it even better the next time you take the field because there is more evidence behind you that you can be victorious.”

Aberdeen were second-best for large spells against Hearts but after Jorge Grant’s red card for a second yellow, the tide turned and a buoyant Pittodrie crowd – and some smart substitutions from Thelin – helped earn them victory.

“What made the difference for me was the firepower they brought off the bench,” Levein added. “Their back line is good, their goalkeeper is good and they have attacking options.

“The fans are fully behind this team, you could sense that from the start. Pittodrie was bouncing.

“There’s enough evidence with the results to date to make Jimmy Thelin think he can go to Celtic and have a go.”

Match of the Day 2 pundits Joe Hart, Stephen Warnock and former Brighton manager Graham Potter analyse the Seagulls’ 3-2 victory over Tottenham in the Premier League.

MATCH REPORT: Brighton 3-2 Tottenham

Watch Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer.

Available to UK users only.

JONAS EIDEVALL wants Arsenal to move past the disappointment of their 0-0 draw with Everton, with clashes with Bayern Munich and Chelsea to come.

The Toffees withstood a barrage before thwarting the Gunners’ attempts to claim their first win in the league at the Emirates on Sunday.

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Everton shot stopper Courtney Brosnan put in a player of the match shift as her side found themselves hemmed into their own half for large spells.

The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper made several impressive saves including a close-range injury-time stop of Stina Blackstenius’s attempted tap-in.

The stalemate resulted in Arsenal falling two points behind Manchester City ahead of two of their biggest games of the season in Europe and the WSL.

The Cityzens leapt to top spot following their 2-0 home win against West Ham with moving to Liverpool fifth and one place above Eidevall’s side on goal difference.

The Arsenal boss, whose side will face Bayern in their Champions League group stage opener in Munich on Wednesday, said: “First half we played with too little intent and moved the ball too slow.

“We had quite a bit of control in that half, but here at home at the Emirates we should have much higher demands and standards for ourselves and our attacking game.

“When we don’t move the ball quick enough then it’s really hard to break down a side like Everton.

“They defend with so many players behind the ball and are really dedicated in their defending

“We’re disappointed with the result and the performance.

“But we need to look forward to two really exciting, tough, challenging games.

“With the games coming up, playing away against Munich and at home against Chelsea, we don’t need any more fuel or motivation.

“Those games and those opponents are fuel enough.

“We now need to look forward because no matter how disappointed we are with the draw, we still have a job to do.”

The Gunners’ scoreless draw with the Toffees was the first of three games they will play in the space of seven days.

Eidevall added: “It’s a quick turnaround so we can’t put a foot wrong with recovery and preparation so that needs to be the focus, but no about it we’re disappointed.”

Arsenal were handed a fitness boost with defenders Leah Williamson and Steph Catley making their returns from injury.

Catley came on in the 77^th minute with England skipper Williamson entering the fray 13 minutes earlier having missed Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Man City, and wins against BK Hacken and Leicester with Steph

Of their return to action, Eidevall said: “It’s really important for us. We’ve been playing a lot of minutes with the same players.

“When we look at our back four and given we have five games within 15 days here.

“It would not have been sustainable to keep on piling on the minutes for those players so it’s really important to have them back.”

Arsenal’s Emily Fox almost broke the deadlock with her floated 10^th-minute delivery into the box hitting the crossbar.

At the other end a loose pass from Gunners keeper Daphne van Domselaar, in the 18-yard almost handed a scoring chance to the visitors moments later.

Brosnan made a perfectly-timed diving stop to keep out Mariona Caldentey’s shot from distance before Veatriki Sarri prompted Van Domselaar to tip the ball against the crossbar close to half-time.

The second spell saw Everton and Arsenal shuffle their decks with Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord amongst the subs coming on.

And Foord went close with a half-volleyed 90^th-minute strike before Brosnan denied Blackstenius in injury time. 

The scoreless draw resulted in Everton ending their winless run in the top tier and picking up their first point of the season.

And Brian Sorensen’s side will hope to register their first victory in the league this term when they host West Ham next Sunday (13 October).

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The Toffees boss said: “We were strong defensively and I don’t think they had big, big chances. The plan was good and the girls were even better executing it.

“What pleased me most? The resilience, the togetherness, the willingness to fight for each other, the coolness, the calmness. I’m super proud.

“This result is only going to build our confidence.”

Kevin Holland admits his UFC 307 loss stings – literally and figuratively.

Shortly after his TKO defeat due to injury, Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC) posted a short statement on Instagram with a screenshot of a critical and insulting direct message he received from one viewer of the fight.

“Can’t have a response to everyone but yeah I feel like a total piece of sh*t,” Holland wrote. “My bad to all the one [sic] who put some bread on the line or told they friend I was gonna win. Ima p*ssy.”

Holland suffered what appeared to be a rib injury late in Round 1 while he was grappling in his main card bout vs. Roman Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC). Holland made it to the end of the round but clutched his side as he rose to his feet.

Ultimately, Holland’s coach Bob Perez determined his fighter was not in sufficient enough physical condition to continue and signaled to the referee the fight should be called off.

“We took the L last night,” Perez wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “Rib injury while escaping. Could not continue. I called the fight. It sucks, but was the right thing to do. Thank you for the love.”

The extent of the injury is not publicly known, though Holland still appeared to be in severe pain in a post-fight video of him squashing beef with rival Joaquin Buckley.

Saturday was not the first time Holland was rendered unable to continue during a fight, according to Perez’s assessment. In December 2022, Holland severely broke his hand in a fight vs. Stephen Thompson, which lead Perez to make the same call.

“I’ve had fighters say, ‘Coach, I’ll kill you if you ever stop a fight.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you’re going to have to kill me,’” Perez told MMA Junkie in the days after the Thompson fight in December 2022. “… My point that I’m getting to is I’d rather have Kevin mad at me for a bit, than him hating me for the rest of his life or his family hating me. God forbid something terrible, terrible, terrible were to happen, I wouldn’t want to hate myself.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.