England skipper Owen Farrell is "still learning to be a good captain" but will improve with every experience, says head coach Eddie Jones.

And Jones says captaincy is a "hard art" which Farrell is still developing.

"We're happy with the way he is going but like any part of our organisation he can improve," he said.

Jones added to BBC Sport: "He can improve in the way he speaks to the referee, he can improve in the way he leads the team. But we are all open to that sort of scrutiny."

Farrell took over the England captaincy from Dylan Hartley halfway through 2018 and has led the side ever since, including to a World Cup final in 2019 and a Six Nations title last year.

But his relationship with officials and the suitability of having a back leading the side has been the subject of much debate, with former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio among those to call for a forward to take on the role.

"Owen is still learning to be a good captain, there is no doubt about that," Jones admitted.

"And it is a hard art and you have got to keep developing. Every experience he has will make him a better captain.

"I've worked with a number of good captains and they have all had their own way of doing it. John Smit at the Springboks was a real people's person, [former Australia captain] George Gregan on the other hand was very much more like Owen, and he suffered the same criticism when we had a bad performance that he didn't speak well enough to the referee."

However Jones feels the scrutiny on Farrell's captaincy has been heightened because of current circumstances, with no fans at international matches for the last six months.

"It is an easy target for the pundits to go at the captain, particularly now where there is a lack of atmosphere at a ground and the conversations are so much under the microscope," Jones explained.

'There is never an equal flow of talent'

Jones says the England set-up is "feeling a bit of pain" given their poor tournament so far, but says constant contact from his players during the fallow week shows they are in the right state of mind to arrest the side's form, with unbeaten France the visitors to Twickenham on Saturday.

"We are fighting hard and the players' honest reflections on making mistakes is an indication that they are in the right mindset to get this team back to where you want to be," he explained.

But when asked why he has struggled to build depth in certain positions, such as number eight, scrum-half, fly-half and full-back, Jones suggested he is somewhat hamstrung by the make-up of the talent pool in England, with better players coming through in some positions compared to others.

"I think Arsene Wenger had that quote, when someone asked him if he would be the England national coach, and he said no because he didn't control the talent coming through," Jones said.

"And as the national coach I don't control the talent coming through. I've just got to try and pick the best talent and luckily enough I get a lot of advice on that.

"There's never an equal flow of talent coming through. You get periods where you get great nines coming through, great tens coming through, great back-rowers, and then for some reason there is a dearth, and no-one seems to know why.

"We've just got to make do with what we have, try and find the best ones and nurture them, and give them the right sort of development so when they do play for England they go and play 50 caps."

Bob Tattersall grew up tough.

Born on July 27, 1924, Tattersall was only seven years old when he saw his younger brother get hit and killed by an automobile; and the Great Depression molded his formative years. Just months out of high school, WWII broke out and he joined the Army.

When Tattersall and a buddy went AWOL for a couple of weeks, they volunteered for the 82nd Airborne, reasoning it’d prevent them from being disciplined. It did, but Tattersall landed in the middle of the war’s fiercest battles.

He parachuted into Normandy, the Ardennes Forest and the Rhineland. He shattered his knee in a jump into Belgium and a local family hid him from the Nazis. Captured another time, he escaped.

Before being discharged, Tattersall had received a Purple Heart, the Bronze and Silver Stars and a Presidential Citation for bravery.

Back in civilian life, Tattersall turned that warrior spirit toward auto racing and rose to icon status.

Starting in stock cars on the short tracks around his Streator, Ill., hometown, he won 27 of 29 features in one stretch and gravitated to the cars that carried him to the Hall of Fame — midgets.

Racing with the United Auto Racing Ass’n at Chicago’s Joliet Stadium, his winning caught the attention of Frank Paverse, who owned a fleet of midgets powered by Ford V-8 60 engines.

Tattersall, in one of Paverse’s cars, proved nearly unstoppable, dominating the dirt tracks that dotted the Midwest. At Daytona, during Speedweeks in 1957, he won three of the four NASCAR midget events.

He was such a “B” circuit force that he gained the nickname, “King of The Outlaws.”

In 1955, Paverse put him up against the intense AAA competition at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track. Tattersall took the checkered flag in his 10-lap heat while second-place Rex Eaton was entering turn three. Tattersall won the feature as well.

He won UARA titles in 1957 and ’59. However, 1958 was Tattersall’s milestone season. That’s when he made his maiden trip to New Zealand and Australia.

He became a star Down Under and was very much the catalyst for dramatically increasing the popularity of midget racing in those countries. They nicknamed him “Two Gun Tattersall” because he showed up in cowboy boots and western clothing.

The press loved him as even the mainstream media covered him extensively.

Empire Speedways director John Sherwood told of taking Tattersall to lunch at the rather stuffy Royal Automobile Club of Australia in downtown Sydney.

“He was dressed in cowboy attire,” recalled Sherwood, “and it didn’t take long for him to become the center of attention as he preached the virtues of midget racing to his awed audience. He was bawdy and profane, but his charisma made him an instant celebrity. That grew the sport tremendously.”

In 13 trips to Australia, Tattersall won an astounding 50 percent of his races. Those trips typically extended into the beginning of the USAC season. Though he often won more features than the USAC champion (he amassed 63 USAC victories), the missed races cost him championships. He finally captured the well-deserved title in 1969.

Like most racers of that era, Indianapolis was on Tattersall’s horizon. He got a shot at the speedway in 1966, driving a car of questionable quality. Predictably, he didn’t qualify.

His prospects for 1967 were better, but after days of intense pain, his buddy, Bobby Grim, hauled him to Methodist Hospital. A cancerous kidney was the problem. Its removal aborted that year’s speedway run and he never returned there.

Tattersall was a fabled partier, generating stories of near-mythical proportion. One year in Australia, he’d severely burned his legs. When he didn’t show for a post-race pool party, everyone assumed he was trying to heal.

Suddenly, on the roof of the motel, he appeared. With a towel for a cape and plastic bags tied to his legs to protect the burns, he plunged into the pool.

The cancer returned, but Tattersall kept racing. He ran his last race at Australia’s Liverpool City Raceway in late April 1971. He died on Oct. 27.

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – One dare was the catalyst for a two-decade-long way of life for Heather Lyne, crew chief for dirt late model veteran Dennis Erb Jr.

It was a push to the closed door of an unknown dream waiting to become reality.

She opened that door in June of 2001 by walking into Erb’s race shop, having never met him, and volunteering herself to join his race team.

Twenty years later, she continues to be his sole crew member and inevitable crew chief on the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model tour.

In that time span, she’s also juggled managing a full-time job as an electrical engineer for a defense contractor with the military – a job she’s held for more than 20 years.

“We put bombs on bad guys and warheads for foreheads, and bring the good guys home,” she said with pride.

Her passion and drive for the full-throttle lifestyle have been instilled in her since she was young.

“I’m the tomboy of the family,” Lyne said. “I climbed trees. I played with mud pies. I played with GI Joe, not Cabbage Patch dolls. I always did the opposite of what my sister did. I didn’t like Barbies. I decapitated her Barbies (said with a chuckle). I’ve always liked and had that tendency to be outdoors and do something with my hands.

“Something about the dirt world that always intrigued me.”

Her passion for racing was ignited by watching NASCAR on the weekends with her father. Eventually, her passion for the sport exceeded his. While most kids are brought to a racetrack by their parents, Lyne was the one who dragged her dad to his first dirt track.

Tired of spending her time at the lake, she looked for a new adventure. She borrowed her parent’s car one day after school and went to the nearest dirt track in town – in Shawano, WI. There, she fell in love. The kind of love you can’t help but want to share as it builds in your heart.

“I was like, ‘Dad, you’ve got to go.’ He’s like, ‘Ahh, dirt…’ I’m like, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’ve got to go,’” she exclaimed.

Once she got him to the track, he shared the same joy that lit her spirit. First, he sponsored a car. Then, their weekends went from watching racing together to working on a car together. He bought his own limited Late Model and Heather was there every race, helping turn the wrenches.

However, after a few years of racing, her mother decided it was time for her father to hang up his helmet – she wanted her weekends back. Lyne wasn’t ready to hang up her wrenches, though.

While talking with her father one night, he proposed a dare. Lyne saw Erb on TV a few times, running his rookie season with the Hav-A-Tampa Late Models, and realized he lived nearby in Carpentersville, IL.

“Just in conversation, I was talking with my dad and he said, ‘You’re not going to be brave enough to go down there to that shop and introduce yourself and say, ‘Hey, if you ever want any help, call me up and let me know,’” she said.

Still dressed in her business clothes, she left work one day soon after and did just that. Then, the journey began.

“I didn’t know her or anything at the time, but she lived in my hometown,” Erb said. “She came down one day and asked if I needed any help. At first, I didn’t know what she was really going to do. She’s definitely been a great help and has worked very hard at it and she is dedicated to it. I can go off and do whatever I want to do and know my stuff is getting done right. That’s a big lift off of me.”

For the majority of Erb’s career, which includes six World of Outlaws victories, three consecutive Summer Nationals championships and a win at The Dream at Eldora Speedway, Lyne has been his sole crew member on the #28 car.

On the day she first walked into his shop, Erb told her he was racing at Pecatonica Raceway during the week and she could show up if she wanted to. She did and didn’t hesitate to jump in, jacking up the car, putting on the battery charger, making sure there was fuel and changing tires. Eventually, her responsibilities grew as she continued to learn and Erb gained trust in her.

“That first race, he handed me a left rear tire to put on the car and I’m like, it’s leaking air somewhere,” she said. “I rolled it back in the trailer and said, ‘This tire has something wrong with it, it can’t go on. It’s got a leak in it somewhere.’ I guess after that he realized I’m not going to just do whatever he tells me. I’m actually going to pay attention and figure things out. I went to the shop every night and started learning things from him.”

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A non-playing member from one of the PSL franchises who tested positive for Covid-19 was allowed to exit the bubble and fly back to Lahore, instead of quarantining until he returned two negative tests, as per official regulations.

The official returned a positive test near the start of this season and he departed Karachi for Lahore on the second day after that test result.

The PSL was postponed indefinitely last week, after a spate of positive tests made continuing the tournament untenable, but since then a number of details have begun to emerge that have poked holes into the PCB's claims that the protocols and its bubble were secure.

The official, who was not part of the playing or coaching staff, joined up with his franchise before the tournament began, entering the bubble alongside the playing staff. He returned two negative tests in the run-up to the tournament's launch. But on February 20, the day the tournament began, he returned a positive test, although he was thought to be asymptomatic. He was put in isolation in the hotel for the following day, but was told to leave the bubble of the hotel the day after, on February 22. The official took another test on his own initiative in Lahore on February 24 - the fifth day after the positive test - and this one was negative.

The decision to allow him to leave appears to have been the result of a communication gap between the medical team and the security team overseeing the tournament. The latter moved to send the official back and replace him because of what is said to be an unspecified violation. The official's positive test was separately communicated to the medical team. Whether the security team was aware of this test result is not clear and the official was told to leave. It is also not clear whether the rest of the franchise isolated - the franchise was informed on February 21 that the official had tested positive.

Scrutiny will inevitably fall on the board's medical panel and specifically its head Dr Sohail Saleem, who was in charge of drafting up the protocols for the bubble. Dr Saleem has already offered his resignation and a wider investigation has been announced, and the prospect of more sackings has not been ruled out.

By this sequence, however, this now becomes the first known positive case in the league - and not Fawad Ahmed of Islamabad United, who tested positive over a week later.

This incident has potentially wider implications, beyond simply the failure to protect the integrity of the bubble, or to protect those within it once a positive test had been detected, or even the failure to make it known that an official had tested positive. Beyond all that is the fact that an official was told to leave the bubble with a positive test, allowing him to travel back to Lahore, potentially exposing up to hundreds of people to a Covid-19 positive person, a violation of public health safety regulations.

On Sunday, the PCB announced that an independent fact-finding panel was appointed to "review the biosecure protocols as well as the bylaws that were put in place" during the sixth season of the PSL. Dr Syed Faisal Mahmood, an associate professor on infectious diseases at the The Aga Khan University, and Dr Salma Muhammad Abbas, an infectious disease consultant with Shaukat Khanum Hospital, are part of the panel.

The PCB did not comment on the matter.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Steve Stricker wore red and black in honor of Tiger Woods on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and said he hopes to have his longtime friend at the Ryder Cup this fall "in one way, shape or form.''

But the U.S. Ryder Cup captain would not go so far as to say this early that Woods would be a vice captain when the United States Ryder Cup team takes on Europe at Whistling Straits in September.

Woods is recovering from multiple serious injuries suffered in a single-vehicle crash in Southern California on Feb. 23.

"I'm not going to go down that road now,'' Stricker said. "Obviously we're all pulling for him. We're thankful that he's alive. I don't know who said it, but that his kids continue to have a father. Something even more tragic could have come from that.

"I'd love to have him around [at the Ryder Cup]. I'm hoping in one way, shape or form. But it's too early to kind of commit to anything.''

Stricker has two vice captain openings after having already named Jim Furyk, Davis Love III and Zach Johnson to those roles.

Stricker was an assistant captain to Woods at the last team competition played in 2019, the Presidents Cup won by the U.S. team in Australia. A year earlier, Stricker assisted Furyk at the 2018 Ryder Cup, where Woods played on the losing side.

And in 2017, when Stricker was the Presidents Cup captain, Woods was an assistant for the U.S. team that won at Liberty National. Woods also assisted Love at the 2016 Ryder Cup, won by the Americans.

Woods missed nearly all of the 2016 and 2017 seasons due to back issues. He was a playing captain at the 2019 Presidents Cup and went 3-0 as a player.

Stricker noted that before the accident, he was hoping Woods would put together the kind of season that would allow him to be part of the team as a player.

During Sunday's final round, Stricker joked that wearing red and black "didn't do me s---; I didn't make a birdie. But obviously he's a friend of mine. I'm trying to keep up on what's going on with him. I haven't heard too much lately.''

There have been no public updates on Woods' condition since March 1.

Stricker, 54, shot 77 on Sunday. He's trying to play as much as possible on the regular PGA Tour to keep in touch with the players who might be on his team. He is an alternate for next week's Players Championship and then plans to play the Honda Classic in two weeks.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Jeremy Jeffress was released by the Washington Nationals on Sunday for what general manager Mike Rizzo called unspecified "personnel reasons," less than two weeks after the reliever agreed to terms on a minor league deal.

The team sent out a six-word tweet announcing the move.

Rizzo released a statement about the right-hander via a team spokesman that did not offer an explanation, saying only: "He was released for personnel reasons."

Jeffress, 33, was expected to add to a back end of a Nationals bullpen that already included Brad Hand, Daniel Hudson, Will Harris and Tanner Rainey.

Jeffress was taken by Milwaukee in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft and has pitched for five teams over 11 years in the majors. He was an All-Star in 2018 for the Brewers.

Last season, Jeffress went 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA and eight saves in 10 chances for the Chicago Cubs.

More than a decade ago, Jeffress was suspended twice for violating the minor league drug treatment and prevention program. He has said he used marijuana to manage severe anxiety and that he was diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy in 2013.

Wilhem Belocian wins sprint hurdles in a European lead of 7.42 as Andy Pozzi is a magnificent second, while Kevin Mayer takes heptathlon gold in Toruń

In one of the best races of the European Indoor Championships in terms of quality and competitiveness, there was an epic sprint hurdles battle between Wilhem Belocian and Andy Pozzi.

This always shaped up as a simple two-way battle between European leader Belocian and world indoor champion Pozzi. The latter ran 7.51 in Madrid and then 7.52 in his heat and 7.53 in his semi.

The Frenchman, who was a world junior champion in 2013 and European junior winner in 2014, had yet to fully make his mark as a senior. However, he ran 7.45 pre-championships and had four other runs at 7.50 or faster, which was superior Pozzi’s results in Europe.

In his heat he ran 7.52 and then a very impressive 7.49 in his semi-final.

On 2021 form, Belocian clearly had to be the favourite on time but Pozzi had the better competitive record.

On reaction times, Belocian (0.129) in lane five, was the best of the field but Pozzi (0.151) in lane six was in touch with the rest of the field. Over the first few hurdles Belocian was hurdling smoothly with Italian Paolo Dal Molin also in the mix initially before fading away under the pressure of the top two.

The Briton, hurdling better that any other time this year, began to edge up to the Frenchman’s shoulder but he could not get past and despite a superb lean – and there only being inches in it – Belocian was fairly sure he had just held on, though those watching from the side were less certain.

The Frenchman went equal fourth all-time among Europeans behind Colin Jackson (7.30), Fran Calzer and Dimitri Bascou (both 7.41).

He said: “I am very happy with my first senior title and to run a PB in a European final. I can’t tell you how the race went, just that I owned it.”

Claiming full ownership when you win by one hundredth of a second is slightly unfair on the second place but he certainly deserved it on the form shown over the whole season.

Pozzi, who equalled his PB, was philosophical but content with his performance, which was the first medal by a British man at these championships, and he said: “I wanted a gold so it’s disappointing but it’s an equal PB.

“I was doing well at the start and just lost a little rhythm in the middle. The best man won and I did all I could. I’m in the best shape of my life and I’m happy where I am at. I really enjoyed the championships.”

There was a chasm behind the top two but Dal Molin was delighted to win his first medal, indoors or out, since the 2013 European Indoor Championships as he ran 7.56 which kept him ahead of Asier Martinez, who set a PB of 7.60 in fourth.

France also won gold in the heptathlon through world decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer.

On day one after his 6.86 60m, 7.47m long jump, 16.32m shot and 2.04m high jump, he held a 33- point lead overnight which he extended with a 7.78 hurdles and a 5.20m pole vault in the morning session.

Again, as in the previous day’s high jump, seemingly to preserve energy he did not bother with his last attempt at 5.30m.

He still went into the 1000m with a 262-point lead over defending champion Jorge Urena and needed a possible but unlikely 2:37.75 in the 1000m of the final event to break his European record.

With early leader and overnight second placer Simon Ehammer doing well in the hurdles but losing any medal chance with no mark in the pole vault, Urena (4.90m) and Pawel Wiesiolek (5.20m) went into the podium places.

The five-lap race was impressively won by Rik Taam. Knowing he needed around 10 seconds on the Pole to win a medal he gave it everything and was through 400m in 62.70 and 800m in 2:04.47 for a time of 2:35.36 which scored him 926 points to make up 87 points but still left him 22 points short.

The Pole just did enough with 2:43.13 to take the bronze on a PB 6133 points with Jorge Urena (2:43.16) doing more than enough to retain second with 6158 points, 60 points down on his Glasgow win.

Mayer (above) eased around in 2:45.72 to give him a final score of a world-leading 6392 points and victory by 234 points.

He said: “It’s a great feeling, not because of the medal but because of my feeling during the two days. Since 2018 I have not won a medal. I didn’t show what I had in me in the sprints but my time will come in the Olympics.”

Young Norwegian endurance runner becomes the only double individual gold medallist in Toruń with a controlled 3000m victory

Despite the likes of Marc Scott withdrawing on the eve of the European Indoor Championships and Marcel Lewandowski pulling out after the 1500m, the quality of the field was shown when Mike Foppen ran 7:49.99 and did not even make the final.

Though Jakob Ingebrigtsen said he was majoring on the 1500m and his indoor PB only ranked him 10th fastest out of the 12 finalists, he was an overwhelming favourite and it seemed impossible he would not defend his title unless he incurred the wrath of the judges as he initially did in the 1500m.

Seemingly playing safe, he went to the front, jogging through the first 400m in 64.69, but giving way at 600m as the leaders kept the same sluggish pace going through 1000m in 2:44.27 and halfway in 4:08.00, pretty much ensuring the race would be more of a 1500m rather than a 3000m. However this suited one man more than any other, although he had now managed to get himself boxed on the inside as he had in the shorter race on Friday night.

Despite this nothing happened up front as Hugo Hay reached 2000m in 5:26.35 but in the final kilometre the Norwegian powered to the front and began making it a proper race.

The next lap took just 28.47 and he kept the pressure up with a 28.89, 29.20 and then even faster on the penultimate lap with a 28.19 and now only three runners were still in contact – European leader Mohamed Katir of Spain, Belgian Isaac Kimeli and former winner Adel Mechaal of Spain.

Ingebrigtsen seemed to hold back along the final backstraight but then finally stretched out and kicked on the last bend as he completed the final lap in 26.39 for a PB 7:48.20, to easily open up a 10-metre gap though it should be noted he has run 20 seconds faster outdoors.

His final kilometre was a staggering 2:21.51 and his last 1500m was 3:39.55.

The winner said: “This means a lot to me. My goal was to improve my performance from two years ago and that meant getting two golds. I ran according to my plan and I am surprised my opponents let me do my own thing without interrupting me.”

Kimeli (7:49.41), who had Covid last year, had his greatest run to date to give the highly successful Belgium team another medal just ahead of Mechaal (7:49.47).

A number of good 3000m runners found themselves down the field as they failed to make it a true test of the distance. You would have to include Andy Butchart, who headed qualifiers on time, amongst those runners.

The Briton ran his last kilometre in a fine 2:25.99 but off a slow pace it made little impression on the better 1500m runners and, with his 7:52.15, he finished seventh just ahead of another endurance-based runner Jimmy Gressier (7:52.43).

In ninth, Butchart’s team-mate Jack Rowe acquitted himself well in his 7:53.47 with a 2:26.52 final kilometre.

Host nation go one-two but Webb runs bravely to take 800m third spot, a position matched by relay team

Before these European Indoor Championships, if you had predicted Jamie Webb would beat three World Championship senior outdoor medallists – in world indoor champion Adam Kszczot, double world medallist Amel Tuka and 2017 world champion Pierre Ambroise-Bosse – you would have expected him to finish up as European Indoor champion.

However, despite running a brilliant race and having clearly improved since winning silver in Glasgow two years ago, Webb had to settle for third as Poles Patryk Dobek and Mateusz Borkowski, with no previous 800m championship pedigree between them, made up for a slightly disappointing championships for the home nation by taking the top two places.

Seeing that no one was showing any inclination to make the pace, the Briton went to the front and led past 100m in 12.49, with Bosse (12.52) and Kszczot his nearest challengers. He powered through 200m in 25.92 just ahead of Bosse (25.92), Tuka (26.25) and Kszczot (26.30) with Borkowski (26.46) and Dobek (26.59) at the back.

Webb slowed the pace drastically on the second lap, reaching 300m in 40.04 (14.12 for that 100m) and 54.27 (14.23) at 400m. At this stage Bosse was still second (54.47), followed by Tuka (54.68), Kszczot (54.71), Borkowski (54.90) and Dobek (54.91).

Webb was still ahead at 500m (68.08) but Dobek, a 48.40 400m hurdles performer, powered past at the bell to lead through 600m in 80.66 with Webb in pursuit in 80.87 (26.40 for that 200m for the Briton) hotly pursued by Bosse (81.09), Kszczot (81.10) and Tuka (81.39) with Borkowski seemingly out of it, isolated from the rest in 81.67.

Through 700m, Dobek (1:33.33) stayed ahead but Webb was fighting and still looking like he had something left (1:33.54) while Kszczot (1:33.54) was putting him under pressure. Borkowski (1:34.23), who had blasted that last 100m in 12.56, was clearly moving faster than anyone but still had a lot to do as he passed a fading Bosse and Tuka.

Webb kept Kszczot at bay on the bend and moved out to see if he could get past Dobek but the hurdler held his form sufficiently to narrowly take gold in 1:46.81, which is surprisingly a PB but he will go much, much faster in the summer. His last 400m was 51.90.

“I decided to stay at the back and then change my rhythm to overtake the others and when they moved to the right I used my speed to take them on the left,” said Dobek. “I’m still planning to compete in the 400m hurdles in the summer but the coach might decide otherwise!”

Less than a metre back was a charging Borkowski in 1:46.90, having run his last 200m in a stunning 25.23 to confirm the form of his semi-final win.

Webb was only a metre away from the gold himself as a very tired Kszczot faded.

“I lost and came to win but I am proud of how I ran and trying to control the race,” said the Briton. “I wanted to make it fast and knew Dobek could be dangerous in a slow race but still thought I could win until the finish. The 1:45.99 semi-final was fast and I was so tired this morning.”

Webb’s 200m splits were 25.92, 28.35, 26.60 and 26.08.

Britain also picked up a bronze in the 4x400m and their task was made slightly easier by Poland having to withdraw because of positive Covid tests to some of their athletes.

With their three 400m finalists, it was no surprise that Netherlands won the gold in 3:06.06 and a Czech team with a fresh and hungry multiple world and European champion Pavel Maslak, who failed to make the final in Poland,  took the silver in 3:06.54 just ahead of Britain’s 3:06.70.

The Dutch led all the way with Jochem Dobber (46.68), Liemarvin Bonevacia (46.64), Ramsey Angela (47.32) and Tony van Diepen (46.25) not winning by the sort of margin that their pre-championship times suggested.

For Britain, Joe Brier led off with a 47.43 in fourth, followed by Owen Smith’s 47.05 which moved the team up to third, a brilliant 46.09 from James Williams actually moved Britain into a share of the lead by the final changeover and a well-judged 46.13 by Lee Thompson, who chased the top two into the final bend, ensured bronze.

Williams, who made the individual semi-finals, is a teacher and actually carried out a Zoom teaching lesson on Friday between his heat and semi-final.

Defending champions Belgium, with a less than fully fit squad, were fourth in 3:06.96 though Kevin Borlee did run the fastest split with a 45.69 anchor.