MAN CITY..3 SOUTHAMPTON..1
KYLE SINCKLER is fighting to be fit for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final.
Sinckler limped off with a calf injury after 46 minutes of the semi-final win over New
from ALEX SPINK in Tokyo Zealand. Defence coach John Mitchell said the Harlequins star was still “a little bit tight”. Sinckler did
MANCHESTER CITY piled the misery on sorry Southampton in the Carabao Cup last night.
After conceding nine goals against Leicester, Saints bowed out 3-1 in the fourth round against the holders.
Sergio Aguero was recalled and repaid boss Pep Guardiola with two goals, after Nicolas Otamendi headed the opener.
The bad news for Saints is they face City again in the Premier League on Saturday.
City will be joined in the quarter-finals by giant-killers Colchester, who won the battle of the League Two clubs by winning 3-1 at Crawley.
Second-half strikes from Mason Holgate and Richarlison eased the pressure on Everton boss Marco Silva as they beat Watford 2-0.
not take a full part in training yesterday.
If he’s ruled out, Dan Cole will start at No.3 with Joe Marler, usually loosehead prop, covering both positions on the bench. Despite the scare, Billy Vunipola has warned South Africa that England will meet the Springbok juggernaut head on.
The monster Springboks are promising to launch a massive forward assault. But Vunipola is in no mood to be pushed around. “They are very big people but then again we have a few big blokes on our team,” said the England
No.8. “They have already come out and said they want to fight fire with fire and I guess we return it by saying, ‘Bring it on’.
“We have to back up what we did last week. It can’t just be a fluke.
“The challenge is going to be up front so we are going to have to be there, both mentally and physically.”
While the Boks are bigger than the All Blacks, Vunipola is out to flatten them too.
“We are going to try,” he said. “We try to be brutal and fly into whatever needs to be flown into.”
South Africa have no injury problems, with wing Cheslin Kolbe fit again after missing their semi-final win over Wales.