Double World Cup-winning South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus says he wouldn't coach another international side in the future as he wouldn't know what makes the country "tick".

Erasmus, 51, has established himself as one of the all-time great coaches after leading the Springboks to World Cup glory in 2019 and 2023.

But, while he has worked in club rugby overseas with Munster, he says he couldn't see himself leading another national side.

"If you dont know a culture of a team and their heartbeat, you don't understand why they are playing and how their fans are," he told BBC Sport.

"I did consider it once and I loved my time at Munster as it was very Bloemfontein-like. But I wouldn't know what makes another country tick."

After acting as South Africa director of rugby for the 2023 victory, Erasmus has returned to his head coach role following Jacques Nienaber's departure for Leinster.

In a wide-ranging interview on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, Erasmus said he remains highly motivated by the unique challenge of coaching the Springboks and trying to inspire the nation.

"That pat on the shoulder for winning the World Cup, it's nice and you enjoy that, but it is more the South Africans. If you see the South African people and the gratitude on people's faces..." Erasmus explained.

"People talk about hope and that everyone can become a Springbok that's nonsense. There have only been 900 Springboks in the history of the game.

"But I think it is the working together of South Africans. It doesnt matter what you are - if you are Christian, Muslim, Black, English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu.

"If you use the best of everybody, thats what gives me a kick. It gives me a kick when people see what can be done. And the players are understanding that.

"It comes with a hell of a lot of pressure, but I would rather lose and keep on fixing it and [trying to] evolve."

Manchester United's interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy has admitted he has "mixed emotions" ahead of his first game in charge of the club after the sacking of Erik ten Hag.

Van Nistelrooy, a club legend who scored 150 goals in five seasons under Sir Alex Ferguson during his playing career, will take the reins for the first tome on Wednesday as United host Leicester City in the Carabao Cup round of 16.

"As I am sure everyone can imagine, I am writing these notes with a huge amount of mixed emotions," Van Nistelrooy said in the programme for the cup fixture.

"Erik ten Hag brought me back to Manchester United in the summer and, while I have only been part of the coaching staff here for a few months, I will always be grateful to him for giving me the opportunity, and I am saddened to see him leave.

"Even on an interim basis, it is a great honour to manage the club I love for however long I am asked to do so. I can promise that I will continue to give my all, in whatever capacity, to try to turn around our fortunes.

"Despite our results, I am loving being back at Old Trafford and working with the team and staff every day. We've seen the squad's potential at times this season, but clearly not often enough."

Van Nistelrooy added that he feels United can return to the upper echelons of world football and called for the fans to back his team as a new era begins.

"Now is the time for everyone at the club to work together, give everything and turn this season around while we have time. From my experiences as both a player and a coach here, I can say for sure that when players, staff and supporters pull together, Manchester United can be unstoppable," he said.

How long the Dutch coach will remain in charge is as yet unknown, as United are engaged in talks with Sporting CP over their head coach Rúben Amorim.

The deal moved closer earlier on Tuesday with the Portuguese club informing the country's financial regulator that United had confirmed their willingness to pay Amorim's 10 million ($10.79m) release clause.

Sources have told ESPN that United are determined to seal a deal for the highly rated coach to replace Erik ten Hag before Sunday's Premier League clash against Chelsea.

United are aware of other complicating issues such as a mandatory notice period, sources told ESPN, but remain confident an agreement can be reached.

Information from ESPN's Mark Ogden contributed to this report.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have bought another piece of Wrexham -- its brewery.

Four years after their out-of-the-blue purchase of Wrexham's struggling football team, the Hollywood celebrities have further invested in the city in north Wales by becoming co-owners of Wrexham Lager.

Wrexham Lager, which is one of the team's sponsors, was founded in 1882 and says it is the oldest British lager brewery still in existence.

The presence of Reynolds and McElhenney will boost Wrexham Lager's efforts to expand its international production and distribution.

"As co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC, we have learned a lot," Reynolds and McElhenney said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. "The connection between club and community, the intricacies of the offside rule and the occasional need for beer - especially after finance meetings.

"Wrexham Lager has a 140-year-old recipe and a storied history and we're excited to help write its next chapter."

The brewery didn't disclose financial details but said Reynolds and McElhenney have a majority stake.

Wrexham Lager said the acquisition was made by Red Dragon Ventures, a joint venture formed by Reynolds and McElhenney and the New York-based Allyn family -- which on Wednesday became a minority investor in Wrexham's team.

Since taking charge of the club following a $2.5 million purchase in late 2020, Reynolds and McElhenney have overseen Wrexham's rise up English football. Wrexham has achieved back-to-back promotions and now plays in third-tier League One, where the team is in third place after 13 games.

Wrexham has been further thrust into the global consciousness by Reynolds and McElhenney launching a fly-on-the-wall TV series, "Welcome to Wrexham." It has helped to boost tourism and trade in the city, with Wrexham Lager among the businesses gaining visibility through the show.

Reynolds previously owned a stake in Aviation Gin, which was sold to Diageo in 2020 for a reported $610 million. Diageo said Reynolds retained an "ongoing ownership interest" in the gin.

The Roberts family, which revived Wrexham Lager in 2011 after production stopped in 2000, will remain a co-owner of the brewery alongside Reynolds and McElhenney.

Arsenal operate with a smaller squad than most, and this season has seen manager Mikel Arteta call a number of youth-team players onto his bench as backup. With injuries to stars like Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurriën Timber to worry about, it could be sooner than later that we see some of them called into Premier League action, so what do you need to know?

Ahead of Wednesday's clash with Preston in the Carabao Cup, here is a look at some teenagers who have made the breakthrough into the first-team squad this season -- we have left out talented midfielder Ethan Nwaneri as, even though he is still only 17, he has established himself already.

Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, LB/DM/CM

The first in line for a breakthrough, alongside 21-year-old central midfielder Salah-Eddine Oulad M'Hand, Lewis-Skelly has already seen minutes in three senior competitions for Arsenal this season. Not only was he rewarded with a start in the Carabao Cup against Bolton in September, in which he impressed at left-back, but he also came on late vs. Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Arteta even trusted the youngster in the frenzied last minutes of the Premier League encounter at Manchester City while trying to hold a lead with 10 men -- when he was actually booked before even stepping foot on the pitch.

Whether he is best equipped to play as a No. 6 or No. 8 midfielder, or even as a left-back, is a question still to be answered, but the England under-19 international does appear to be developing most of the tools to succeed in both roles.

As a holding midfielder, Lewis-Skelly takes few risks, shields the ball well with his body and his excellent coordination. Put with fine dribbling skills, that sees him escape pressure and crowded areas with the ball at his feet. When used further up the pitch, he links with his forwards and his decision-making is of a standard usually associated with more senior players.

On early evidence, Lewis-Skelly does look to be a player destined for a bright future in the game for club and country.

Ismeal Kabia, 18, FW

While Kabia might have gone under the radar due to recurring injuries, his impact for the under-21 side this season has been impressive enough to suggest that he could soon see his first Premier League minutes (in addition to his recent cameo in the Carabao Cup and being named among the substitutes in the North London derby.)

Indeed, the 18-year-old -- who just signed his first professional contract -- possesses some rather spectacular attributes. More than anything, his acceleration from a standing position is nothing short of remarkable. Though he could still do with some added upper-body strength to withstand challenges, Kabia's dribbles down the right wing are a sight to behold. Nimble and quick on the turn, he is a tricky customer for opposing left-backs and chances are that Arteta will want to see what impact the Dutchman can make against more seasoned adversaries.

Ayden Heaven, 18, CB/CM

One of Arsenal's academy graduates who drew praise from Arteta during preseason, Heaven mostly played in midfield (as a No. 6 or No. 8) during his early years but his future role is likely to be in defence as the England U19 international seeks regular first-team football.

His upbringing as a midfielder does show; Heaven is comfortable on the ball, doesn't rush in possession, and his left-footed distribution is usually of a fine standard. However, while composure is a great asset for a teenager to possess, he can sometimes appear too casual on the ball and increased faith in his right foot when playing out from the back, paired with a tad more urgency, might be needed if he is to progress.

Maldini Kacurri, 19, CB

Named after legendary former AC Milan and Italy captain Paolo Maldini, Kacurri is a disrupter in more than one sense of the word. There is a trend at elite club academies of churning out cultured defenders, with brilliant passing skills and technique like midfielders. But the Albania U19 international is every bit a throwback centre-back who enjoys the physical aspects of the job and "assertive" may not do justice to his style. He fearlessly goes into challenges with total commitment, be it through an uncompromising tackle or emphatic shoulder charge.

Kacurri is more than just physical though, he's quick too -- especially over longer distances -- and his powerful right foot sees him able to hit impressive long passes. Though the competition for a first-team spot in the heart of defence is ruthless (with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães starring), Kacurri has already reached a couple of important milestones since the start of the season: in September he ticked off his first-team debut with 20 minutes against Bolton in the Carabao Cup and he just received his first call-up for Albania's U21 side.

Josh Nichols, 18, RB

Following a string of promising performances in the UEFA Youth League last season, Nichols was drafted in to the first-team squad for preseason and played the full 90 minutes vs. Bolton in the Carabao Cup in September.

The 18-year-old has spent nearly a decade at Hale End, joining the academy at the age of nine. Though he's made his name at right-back, he started his footballing trajectory as a forward and his skills on the ball are clearly inherited from his formative years. While his attacking inclination and front-foot enthusiasm may generate the most attention, he's also becoming a reliable defender; quick to close down a threat and, by way of his excellent pace, nipping in to pinch the ball in front of an opponent.

Much like fellow right-back Josh Robinson (who made the squad for the PSG game), at this point in his development, Nichols is arguably ripe for a loan move to a Championship side (or even abroad) for even stronger competition than he faces in the U21s.

Jack Porter, 16, GK

With David Raya and new signing Tommy Setford injured, and AFC Bournemouth loanee Neto cup-tied, Porter was thrown in at the deep end to start against Bolton. Indeed, at 16 years and 72 days, he became the youngest-ever starting debutant for Arsenal, which is not bad considering that the Essex-born youngster only made the switch from central midfield to goalkeeper four years ago.

As a result of his early career, Porter is confident with the ball at his feet -- though learning to rely more on his left foot as he plays out from the back will improve his ability to cope better when being closed down. Among his top attributes are his agility, speed coming off his line, and sharp mental focus. The England under-17 international also boasts fine reflexes and the command of his penalty area (catching crosses; navigating spaces) is also remarkable for a player of his age.

Before the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 transformed Manchester City into a European superpower, things were very different for the youngsters growing up with dreams of playing for the first team.

Thomas Krucken is City's youth academy director, but for a year in the early 2000s he was a foundation phase coach -- the term used for those who oversee ages 5-11 -- working with young players including Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kasper Schmeichel and Kieran Trippier. The 47-year-old has one particular memory of how life used to be.

"Jim Cassell [City's former academy director] asked me to do a training session and I wanted to do something special," Krucken tells ESPN. "So I went to a pet shop in the city centre and brought sticks from a bird cage and built this coordination ladder. It's a bit different now."

Krucken spoke to ESPN from his office overlooking the pristine pitches at the City Football Academy (CFA), a short walk from the Etihad Stadium. The days of running sessions at Platt Lane Sports Complex in southeast Manchester are over. City can now offer young footballers state-of-the-art facilities at the CFA and a link-up with local private school St. Bede's College, which would normally cost more than 14,000 a year to attend.

Overall, however, the goal of producing professional footballers remains the same as it was 25 years ago.

"We had nothing," says Krucken. "But we developed players at a Premier League level. The facilities have changed and now we have everything we need to develop top players."

Krucken, back at the club after a spell as VfB Stuttgart's head of youth development, is now in charge of one of Europe's premier talent factories.Everyone knows about Phil Foden, associated with City since the age of four and now English football's reigning player of the year, but the production line doesn't stop there.

City ended the first game of their preseason tour of the U.S. against Celtic with nine academy graduates on the pitch. Four -- Rico Lewis, Nico O'Reilly, James McAtee and Oscar Bobb -- were in manager Pep Guardiola's starting XI for the Community Shield against Manchester United in August.

Guardiola's set to raid the academy again when he selects his team for the Carabao Cup tie at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Guardiola picked O'Reilly, McAtee and 16-year-old Kaden Braithwaite against Watford in the last round, and has already stated his intention to "play the second team" against Spurs. Braithwaite was handed his debut after training with the first team just once, a session that took place the day before the game.

The benefit in Guardiola looking to the academy for new players is that, from an early age, City's young players are taught the basics of what it takes to play in his team and so the transition period can be relatively short.

"Coming through the academy, you learn about how a City player should play," Bobb told ESPN in April. "Things like where you're supposed to move. Obviously, when you get to the first team it's a different level. Pep gets that new players won't know certain things or won't have the mind of a Bernardo Silva. He accepts that and he wants to teach me, so it's really nice.

"The likes of Phil Foden and Rico Lewis have shown it's possible to make it."

Bobb and McAtee impressed so much in the summer that the club decided against signing a replacement for Julián Álvarez, who left for Atlético Madrid in an 81 million deal. Bobb has since suffered a broken leg that will keep him out until the new year, but McAtee is benefitting from Álvarez's departure.

"He's a player who comes from the academy," Guardiola said on McAtee's prospects of playing first team football this season. "He knows all the process and how he moves in the pockets. When you find players in the small spaces that attack the final thirds, have a sense of goal, it is difficult to find these sorts of players. McAtee has that quality and that's why I said to [director of football] Txiki [Begiristain] in the beginning of the season, I don't want to loan him or sell him. I need him."

McAtee, 22, has made 12 senior appearances for City since making his debut as a teenager in 2021, but spent the past two seasons on loan at Sheffield United; one in the Championship and one in the Premier League. He scored his first senior goal in the 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League earlier this month. With Álvarez gone and Bobb injured, he's got the opportunity to establish himself in the first-team squad. At least for now.

The reality for young players at City is that, at any moment, an expensive new player can arrive to fill your spot in the squad. Lewis broke through during the 2022-23 campaign playing at both full-back and in midfield. The following summer City spent a combined 161m on two midfielders (Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes) and a full-back (Josko Gvardiol).

"It's something you have to deal with," said Bobb."It's one of the reasons there was scepticism about me coming here at 16. But it shows that you don't just have to perform well, you have to perform very well to get that chance. I remember some of my closest friends were asking if I was sure and saying it was going to be very tough to even get a sniff of first-team football. But for me, just getting close to it was an opportunity of a lifetime.

"What can be a misconception is that the manager and the staff don't see players differently if they've been brought for a big transfer fee or come through the academy. It's just two players and the one who's better in training or fits the team plays."

While Bobb and McAtee are hopeful of being part of City's present, academy staff are already looking well ahead. Part of Krucken's philosophy is to create "players of the future." In layman's terms, it means anticipating what the game will look like in 10 years and producing players with the right attributes so that a 10-year-old in 2024 will be ready -- in theory, anyway -- to play for City's first team in 2034.

"The speed of the game has increased: if you compare a game with a game 20 years ago, it's very different," says Krucken. "This is our idea of creating the future player because we are sure the speed of the game will keep increasing. We have to adapt to what a player will need in the future. That means thinking now about what an under-10 player will need in 10 years. This is always the challenge for an academy."

Not everyone who passes through City's academy over the next decade will play for the first team. The level required to break through at a club that wants to win the Champions League every year is extremely high and for some it will be out of reach. City, though, have become masters at ensuring that those who don't make the grade earn moves to other clubs, often for big fees.Sources have told ESPN that the club has agreed deals which could total 276m for academy graduates over the last five years alone. This summer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis joined Southampton for 20m while Liam Delap signed for Ipswich Town for 15m. Cole Palmer moved to Chelsea for 42.5m in 2023.

It means that if City do eventually choose to use the transfer market to replace Álvarez, there's money to spend without having to walk the tightrope of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.

"Look at the generation from the academy years ago with Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Brahim Díaz," said Guardiola. "A lot of players that are shining have come from there. That's why we are really pleased with how the academy worked in the past. Hopefully it can continue to do it for the club."

Those players have gone on to make an impact elsewhere. The ones still hoping to be part of City's future will get their next chance to impress against Tottenham this week.

When the NBA schedule comes out each summer, LeBron James has several dates he immediately zeroes in on.

Playing on Christmas Day is a given -- this year he will play in the signature holiday game for the 19th time, already a record. Then there's his birthday, Dec. 30, a day he's played and thrived on dating back to high school. One of the most memorable birthdays was just two years ago in 2022, the day he turned 38, when he scored 47 points in a win against the Atlanta Hawks.

But there are two more dates he circles. The first is Halloween, James' favorite holiday since he was a child. A lifelong fan of scary movies, James has helped make dressing up as an adult cool over the past two decades. His elaborate costumes often go viral and become the centerpieces of lavish parties he throws for teammates and friends.

The other date, since 2010, has been his return home to Cleveland, where he started his NBA career. Ironically, his first game back in northeast Ohio after he left for the Miami Heat -- Dec. 2, 2010, the date is burned in his memory -- was one of the more unpleasant moments of his career.

But that has long been pushed to the side. The visits evolved from vitriol sessions to recruiting trips -- which started happening at the end of his Heat tenure -- to annual lovefests with Cleveland fans appreciating their favorite hometown hero, who brought the Cavaliers their only NBA title in 2016.

That makes this season particularly special as Halloween and James' return to the Cleveland Cavaliers nearly intersect for the first time in the 11 seasons he's played with the Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers' annual visit to Cleveland is Wednesday, Oct. 30 -- one night before Halloween. As James returns to the city he called home for 11 seasons, his son Bronny -- now his Lakers teammate -- will join him, playing in the arena where he once roamed the locker room as a small child.

What James has planned for this Halloween remains unknown. The Lakers are off on Halloween night, but do have a game the next night against the Toronto Raptors. Still, with James getting a chance to celebrate his 22nd NBA Halloween at his first NBA home, here's a look back at how King James became the NBA's King of Halloween with some of his most elaborate (and terrifying) costumes and parties over the years:

2008: 'Grease'

Is LeBron James the King of Halloween?

Check out some of his best costumes through the years in the NBA App!https://t.co/EBz5N8GUIk pic.twitter.com/5LTSp8RSyw

NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2022

Not exactly his most impressive effort, but the leather jackets and 1970s mop were unexpected and he leaned into it. LeBron as John Travolta's Danny Zuko wasn't something the NBA world had on its bingo card.

2010: mouthguard fangs

Just a week into his high-stress tenure with the Heat, James wasn't comfortable yet with Pat Riley's rules about player attire. So he expressed himself with a special mouthguard that certainly took some Orlando Magic players by surprise that night.

2015: Prince

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The Halloween gala James had in 2015 marked the true beginning of his prime costume years. He was fully committed to the Prince look that was weeks in the making and included a "performance" for teammates, who gleefully recorded him.

2016: Jerome from 'Martin'

"Martin" was one of James' favorite TV shows growing up and he dressed as an ode to a beloved character. But the theme of the Cavs' party that year -- which celebrated the Cavs' 3-1 Finals comeback over the Golden State Warriors -- garnered considerably more attention, especially the tombstone-shaped cookies with Warriors players' names on them.

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LeBron James went full savage at his Halloween party. pic.twitter.com/9NZFHxchD3

Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) October 31, 2016

2017: Pennywise

This terrifying costume, based on the Stephen King "It" character, opened a new phase of James leaning into his love of horror movies and his willingness to sit for major makeup transformations. His dance party, in costume with former teammate Isaiah Thomas, who came as Eazy-E, might've been the highlight of their brief time together as teammates.

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2018: Jason Voorhees

The Friday the 13th movies were staples for James as a teen and Jason was his favorite character. His arrival at Staples Center, in his second week as a Laker, in full regalia including an ax, was an indication of things to come in future Halloweens.

.@KingJames was not breaking character as Jason pic.twitter.com/wtdOZwQvw7

ESPN (@espn) November 1, 2018

2019: Edward Scissorhands

Or as James dubbed himself "LeDward Scissorhands." This costume showed off that in his second year living in Los Angeles, he'd discovered the many talented makeup and costume artists available to aid him in his annual Halloween obsession.

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2021: Freddy Krueger

James celebrated the post-pandemic return of the Halloween season with a "Nightmare on Elm Street" theme. It came the same year James showed off his new ink, a tattoo featuring Krueger, Michael Myers and Voorhees.

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2023: Beetlejuice

The preparation for James' costume last year became the opening scenes in Netflix's recently released "Starting 5" documentary. It took hours to perfect the Michael Keaton-style look from the 1980s classic, a movie James has watched an innumerable number of times. The cameras also revealed just how much the rest of his family, especially wife Savannah, has followed him in their love of the holiday.

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ESPN's Brian Windhorst contributed to this story.

NEW YORK -- On Sept. 20, before a game against the Oakland A's, Gerrit Cole approached the lockers of the New York Yankees relief pitchers. In his previous start against Boston, Cole had called for a bases-empty intentional walk to Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers, a move that precipitated a calamitous collapse. Cole had lasted only 4 innings, placing pressure on his bullpen -- at a time of the season when they were all gassed. Cole still felt bad. He promised the Yankees relievers they could rest easy.

"You guys don't have to do anything today," Cole said.

Over the next 2 hours, Cole put on a pitching clinic. He threw nine innings, by far his longest outing of the 2024 season, and allowed just one run on two hits. Even after the game stretched to extra innings and necessitated a one-inning stint for closer Luke Weaver to secure the victory, Cole's point was made. Despite coming off an elbow injury that caused him to miss the first 2 12 months of the season and has shaved a tick or two of velocity off his fastball, greatness still lurks within the Yankees' ace.

He must summon it again Wednesday. The Yankees saved their season with an 11-4 shellacking of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night, and Cole will take the mound at Yankee Stadium in Game 5 with the same burden, trying to send the series back to Los Angeles.

Cole understands win-or-go-home games, having started six in the postseason. And he knows pressure, not just from pitching in New York but for five years carrying the largest contract ever given a pitcher at $324 million. And he wants to be seen more as the guy who turned the most important games of his life into his playground than the one who held up four fingers before Devers stepped to the plate. He wants to be the guy who told the relievers to chill and held up his end of the bargain.

"It was a different feel," Weaver said. "It was like, OK, Gerrit, you want to go do it, we won't be mad about it. Do your thing. And he went out and freaking did it. I thought he maybe had 10 in him.

"When you have a top dog like that and he voices it, that's what it feels like to me for [Game 5]. You feel like they step up in big moments. He's got a different side to him, and when he gets into that killer mode like he did, it's going to be a pretty tough task."

This game -- season on the line, win-or-stay-home -- is exactly the kind of game the Yankees signed him to pitch. It's the sorts of game the Dodgers wanted him to pitch, too, when they recruited him during his free agency before the 2020 season before he ultimately chose New York over his hometown team. With the Houston Astros in 2019, Cole had thrown an eight-inning, two-hit, 10-strikeout gem in a winner-take-all victory in the division series. In 2022, he helped the Yankees bounce Cleveland from the postseason with another division series win.

But in Cole's four other must-win games, his team lost -- twice with the Yankees (2020 and 2021), twice with Pittsburgh (2013, 2015). Still, his New York teammates have faith he will deliver in the biggest spots.

"He's the best pitcher in baseball, hands down," Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes said. "He's done it for a lot of years and only gotten better. We all know he has talent, but he studies every at-bat, he studies every guy that he's going to face. He knows percentages, he knows tendencies. I'm out there trying to compete and throw strikes. He's out there knowing what percentage this 2-1 fastball has to succeed."

With Yankees manager Aaron Boone leaning heavily on his bullpen over the first four games, the imperative for Cole to throw well -- and get deep into the game -- is even more pressing.

Cole has thrown fewer than 90 pitches in each of his previous four starts this postseason. Whether he can match or repeat his six excellent innings of one-run ball in Game 1 -- against a Dodgers lineup that grinds through pitchers -- will depend on his efficiency. After months of questions about the viability of his elbow, Cole is as confident as he has been this season, hitting 99 mph with his fastball in Game 1.

"I feel now like I'm in good shape," Cole said. "I have a reserve while I'm pitching. So if I need to dip into the tank, I can go get it, and then I can go get it again. It's not like a one-time thing. And then familiarity both with myself and my delivery, how I'm moving, how well I'm concentrating the ball in the areas of the strike zone that I want to get -- I'm ... missing east and west very rarely anymore. Things are more defined."

Game 5 will mark just the sixth time Cole has thrown with four days between starts this year. Two of those have come in the postseason: a seven-inning, one-run bravura performance in the division series clincher against Kansas City and a 4.1-inning slog against Cleveland five days later.

Even if Cole delivers another gem, the numbers are against the Yankees now. Never has a team faced a 3-0 deficit in the World Series and even forced a sixth game, let alone come back to win a ring. If they win Game 5, they would have to take two in Los Angeles -- with a taxed bullpen, a star in Aaron Judge who has struggled all October and a lineup that was feckless over the first three games when the Dodgers weren't throwing their back-end arms.

Adding to the degree of difficulty is the fact that Los Angeles will counter with one of its front-end starters. Like Cole, Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty is a Southern California native, a former first-round pick -- and he almost played for the team he will oppose. The Yankees tried to acquire Flaherty from Detroit before the trade deadline. The deal fell apart when New York, wary of his back, requested a different return to the Tigers. The Dodgers swooped in, perfectly content to add Flaherty to their rotation, and he has been brilliant down the stretch, going pitch-for-pitch with Cole in Game 1.

Now they face off again -- a chance to pitch his team to a championship at stake for Flaherty, survival on the mind of Cole. On top of that, the start could be a factor in whether Cole opts out of the remaining four years and $144 million on his contract, a move that can be voided if the Yankees add one year and $36 million to the deal.

Cole won't promise the bullpen a day of rest this time, not with the last complete game in the postseason coming seven years ago. The Yankees don't need that. They simply want to fulfill the expectation posted on a videoboard in their locker room after Game 4. The clubhouse, it said, opens at 2 p.m. Wednesday. And beneath that, in all capital letters, was less a hope than a mandate:

WIN TOMORROW FLY THURSDAY

England prop Joe Marler has deactivated his X account after posting that the haka "needs binning" before Saturday's match against New Zealand.

Marler, 34, will not feature in the Autumn Nations Series opener at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium, but has recovered from a broken foot he sustained during the first Test against the All Blacks in July to make the wider squad.

In rugby union, regulations prevent opposing teams crossing the halfway line while New Zealand are performing the Maori war dance.

"The haka needs binning. It's ridiculous," Marler posted on X.

In 2019, England were fined 2,000 for crossing the halfway line as they lined up in a V formation to face the haka before their Rugby World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand.

Marler has been criticised by cultural advisers for his comment. Mana Epiha said Marler was obviously "a little bit lost", external, while Dr Karaitiana Taiuru said he lacked cultural appreciation.

"Calling for it to be binned with no reasoning shows a lack of appreciation for traditions which is a contradiction for any rugby player - cultural appreciation and lack of open mindedness," Taiuru added.

The rule about not crossing the halfway line does not apply in rugby league, with responses and face-offs more common.

When Samoa's rugby league team performed a traditional war dance, the Siva Tau, before their first Test against England last Sunday, the players became involved in an intense standoff.

"It's only any good when teams actually front it with some sort of reply. Like the league boys did last week," Marler later added, before subsequently deleting his X account.

Marler's comments prompted a mixed response online, with one X user adding: "Have a bit of respect for other cultures."

However, another user said: "I'm a Kiwi and I'm over it. I think they should only do it at home Tests. Yes it should be challenged."