Scotland need "big improvements" after being hammered by France in their opening warm-up match for the World Cup, says head coach Gregor Townsend.

Scotland conceded five tries in Nice as France overpowered them to cruise to a 32-3 victory.

The teams meet again at Murrayfield on Saturday, before Scotland play a double-header with Georgia prior to travelling to Japan.

"We need to see big improvements," the Scotland head coach told BBC Scotland.

"We've got 40 in our squad and the majority of them are going to Japan, so we'll be working with them to improve. Some might not get as many opportunities after tonight, but that might have been the case anyway.

"We all know we have to show a better picture of ourselves next week at Murrayfield," he added.

France dominated from kick-off as Fiji-born wing Alivereti Raka crossed within two minutes, with Maxime Medard and Gregory Alldritt adding further scores to put the hosts 20-3 in front by half-time.

Scotland struggled to cope with their physicality, including in the scrum, where France won numerous penalties.

Townsend was concerned with his side's fitness.

"We've worked hard and we know the players are in really good physical shape but they're obviously not match conditioned yet and we'll look at how we can accelerate that over the next week or two," he said.

"We allowed them into the game by not making enough dominant collisions, dominant tackles and when you give a French team space they can cause you damage, so that's very disappointing."

Scotland begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on 22 September.

Fly-half Dan Biggar has hit back at former Wales wing JJ Williams following his man-of-the-match display in Saturday's 13-6 win against England.

Williams said Wales "would not win the World Cup" with Biggar lining up at 10 but the Northampton half-back played a starring role in the win in Cardiff.

"Special thanks to JJ Williams for all his comments this week," Biggar told Channel 4.

"It has been really motivating and support for the team."

Biggar has been left as Wales' first choice World Cup fly-half after a serious knee injury suffered by Gareth Anscombe.

Wales coach Warren Gatland also brushed off criticism from former Wales and British and Irish Lions legend Williams.

"Dan needed to play 10 because he has been coming off the bench and doing a great job when we've had Anscombe," said Gatland.

"I thought he was really good.

"I don't know about that former Welsh player. Was he really old? Played in the 70s probably? Did he play over 50-odd years ago? Probably. That does explain a few things."

Wales have also claimed their official place at the top of the world rankings for the first time as they rose above New Zealand.

Gatland's side had the same chance to claim top spot last week but lost 33-19 at Twickenham last Sunday, their first defeat in 14 matches.

"We probably got a little caught up with that last weekend, with the winning run and the world number one tag," said Biggar.

"We want to keep going about our business. We have worked hard for each other today and ground out a win with a huge defensive effort.

"We are looking to get better. It's nice to be where we are but hopefully we can continue the run.

"We played some good stuff and probably could have been a bit more ahead in the first half.

"It was pleasing to get over the line and dig it out as we have done over the years.

"The forwards were brilliant. England's set-piece is their strength and their driving line-out. To front up as we did and keep a world-class team like England try-less is really special.

"We are looking to get better. It's nice to be where we are but hopefully we can continue the run."

No serious injuries

Gatland said there were no serious injuries after the game despite James Davies (head), Jake Ball (dead leg), Aaron Wainwright (dead leg), Biggar (shoulder and groin) and Gareth Davies (hip) all coming off.

The Wales coach also revealed full-back Liam Williams was a precautionary late withdrawal after suffering a hamstring strain in the warm-up when he was replaced by Leigh Halfpenny.

"I spoke to Liam a few minutes before we finished the warm-up and he was gutted," said Gatland.

"I also spoke to him afterwards and said if this had it been a World Cup final or the last game of the Six Nations, you probably strap it up and take the risk.

"The last thing he needed to do was pull his hamstring properly and be out for five or six weeks.

"It was tough on Leigh Halfpenny because he'd done a really tough training session yesterday and he had one this morning as well!"

Halfpenny admitted he was tired as he made his first Test appearance since November 2018 and the Scarlets full-back kicked a late penalty to help seal victory.

"I'm not going to lie, we had a couple of tough sessions in the last couple of days," said Halfpenny.

"Yesterday we had speed endurance training and basically shuttles. The boys put it in yesterday after the Captain's Run.

"Then this morning I had leg weights followed by a watt bike session in the altitude room.

"The boys were coming out of the room in a pretty bad way. I wasn't walking too well, I'll be honest.

"But you get the call and that adrenaline just kicks in and it's an opportunity to put that jersey on."

England head coach Eddie Jones says Wales are "favourites to win the World Cup" after they secured their rise to the top of the world rankings by beating his side 13-6 in Cardiff.

George North's try helped Wales to a victory that will see them become world number one for the first time.

England won 33-19 against Warren Gatland's side in their first World Cup warm-up, but faltered away from home.

"When you go to number one, you're favourites," said Australian Jones.

"It was a fantastic World Cup prep game for us. We found out a little bit about ourselves.

"We had to work hard to get back into the game. We had a number of difficult situations - some of them we handled really well and some of them we didn't handle well."

New Zealand have been top of the world rankings for 10 years but, despite a 36-0 win against Australia earlier on Saturday, the All Blacks will now drop to second on Monday when the ranking is updated.

But Wales head coach Gatland is remaining calm about the ranking honour.

"It's nice for a day but we won't be shouting from the rooftops about it," the New Zealander said.

"We've got to keep things in perspective. Lots of journalists will be out there saying "this is a joke" - probably Kiwi journalists more than anyone! It's just a number.

"We're not making a big fuss of it. We'll keep it in our pocket and go from week to week."

'We have options we haven't shown yet'

North's try left Jones' side 10-0 down at half-time and it was the first occasion England had not scored a point in the first half of a Test since a World Cup match against France in 2011.

Jones' side came close to scoring in Cardiff, but their driving maul let them down as they struggled to find a way through the Wales defence.

The 59-year-old was unperturbed by that though, saying his team want to keep some moves to themselves before their first World Cup match against Tonga on 22 September.

"We set these games up to deliberately practise things," added Jones. "We've got other options five metres from the line that we haven't shown yet and we won't show for a while.

"We want to get our team going. It's a bit easier to defend our maul when they know it's coming. They did it very well and full credit to Wales."

Jones had several players unavailable for selection due to injury, but said back rows Sam Underhill and Tom Curry could return for the match against Ireland on 24 August.

Wing Ruaridh McConnochie, who is in the 31-man World Cup squad but is still uncapped, has a "seven to 10 day" muscle strain, so could also be back in time for the Ireland game, but centre Henry Slade and wing Jack Nowell will not be ready for the match at Twickenham.

PEORIA, Ill. – Briar Bauman took another big step toward claiming the 2019 AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines championship by winning Saturday’s 73rd Law Tigers Peoria TT presented by Country Saloon.

The victory was Bauman’s fourth triumph of the American Flat Track season. It also happened to be the first time any rider other than Henry Wiles had stood atop the premier-class podium in the Peoria TT going back to 2003.

Wiles, who had assembled a truly remarkable 14-race Peoria TT win streak coming into this year’s event, was forced to watch from the fences after undergoing surgery for an injury suffered less than two weeks ago at the Black Hills Half-Mile.

With Wiles out of the running, the race quickly took shape as a battle of brothers. Briar and younger brother Bronson Bauman appeared to be on a collision course in turn one of the opening lap around the Peoria Motorcycle Club’s five-eighths-mile TT track.

While they both made it through cleanly, that feeling of an imminent collision wouldn’t go away for the next 10 or so laps. The two went back and forth up front, ripping the lead away from one another multiple times before Briar finally muscled his way back into first in turn four on lap nine. Bronson again looked to counter, but Briar strung together a few perfect corners to stretch open a small gap. He’d go on to build that advantage up to just over a second before first encountering lapped traffic on lap 13 of 25.

That padding allowed him to be aggressive as he cut his way forward, eventually lapping all the way up to eighth position and backing down to a 2.967-second margin of victory at the checkered flag.

“I was trying to just be as smooth as possible and not hit any of these holes and get too out of shape,” Bauman said. “It’s a bittersweet win… What could have happened between Henry and I? He owns this place, and I give a lot of respect to him. You don’t do something like that without being the greatest guy to ever race here. Hopefully next year we’re both healthy, and we can give the crowd a show.”

Bronson cruised to second, taking the position with nearly five seconds in hand on third place.

It was a different story for the final spot on the box, however. A titanic final lap showdown ultimately saw J.D. Beach storm past both Robert Pearson and defending champion Jared Mees in a desperate lunge to the stripe.

Beach had spent nearly the entire race looking for a way around Mees for third before Pearson closed in and displaced him to fifth with a lap-and-a-half remaining. Illinois-native Pearson also attempted to get the better of Mees in a final corner attempt at a home-state podium, but Beach was perfectly positioned to take advantage of their clash.

It was a costly double demotion for Mees, who ran in third from the Main Event’s start until the final meters. As a result, he now trails Bauman by 38 points with five races in which to make up the deficit.

In the Roof Systems AFT Singles class, 16-year-old phenomenon Dallas Daniels earned his maiden American Flat Track victory, obliterating a Roof Systems AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys field stacked with TT superstars in Saturday’s 15-lap Main Event.

Daniels got away in fifth but wasted no time in slashing his way through the decorated pack. He drove up the inside of three-time Peoria TT winner Jesse Janisch for third on lap two, providing an early demonstration of just how serious the youngster’s challenge would be on this day.

Pre-race favorite Janisch responded the next time around, but Daniels immediately criss-crossed him and also overhauled offroad legend Ryan Sipes in one epic maneuver to take control of second.

Daniels then proceeded to run down reigning class champion Dan Bromley and dive up the inside of him the next time into turn four to take the lead on lap four.

Daniels raced off into the distance from that point forward, ultimately sealing his first AFT win in the same season he also claimed his first MotoAmerica victory.

“The track was pretty treacherous and slick today, so it was really tough,” Daniels said. “I was just trying to find certain lines, and I think I found a few before the rest of the guys did. My bike was just working so good – it was perfect. I love my team and everything they’ve done for me, and also all the people who have helped get me to this point even before this year. I’ve been dreaming of this my whole life, and to do it so soon… We’re just going to keep going.”

Bromley held on for a solid second, which, when factored in with the sixth-place finish of Dalton Gauthier, sees the two riders sit equal atop the points chase with four races remaining to decide the AFT Singles crown.

Janisch was heading in the wrong direction midway through the Main, being passed by both James Rispoli and Jacob Lehmann.

Despite sitting fifth with just a couple short laps remaining, Janisch dug deep. He fought his way back past 2014 Peoria TT winner Lehmann, and then snuck past Rispoli — who was nursing a flat tire the last two laps — by a scant 0.003 seconds at the checkered to steal away the final spot on the podium.

Rispoli was forced to accept fourth, followed by Lehmann in fifth.

MECHANICSVILLE, Md. – Eli Tomac made short work of the field during the 30th running of the GEICO Motorcycle Budds Creek National to lock up his third-straight Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 450 class championship Saturday afternoon.

Tomac swept both motos aboard his Kawasaki en route to his fifth victory this year and the championship. He is the fourth rider to win three-straight 450 class championships.

In the 250 Class, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Shane McElrath proved to be unstoppable as he swept both motos for his first win of the season.

The first 450 class moto got underway with Justin Bogle emerging with his second holeshot of the season over Tomac and Zach Osborne. Tomac immediately pushed his way to the front as he blasted around Bogle to lead the opening lap. Ken Roczen once again used incredible speed to start the moto and blitzed his way towards the front into second, followed by Bogle.

Tomac dropped the hammer early in an attempt to break away, however, Roczen refused to let his rival go by upping his pace to keep Tomac in sight. With the leaders well out front, Marvin Musquin was on the move, latching onto the rear fender of Bogle and eventually taking control of third on lap five. Tomac’s pace proved to be too much for Roczen to maintain as the race wore on, and the German lost ground in the second half of the 30-minute-plus-two-lap moto.

There was no stopping Tomac as he disappeared to take a commanding win by 13.9 seconds over Roczen. It marked the ninth moto win of the season for the multi-time defending champion. Musquin completed the podium in a distant third.

As the 450 class field exited the first turn to start moto two it was Osborne who narrowly edged out Tomac for the holeshot, just ahead of Roczen and Musquin. The lead for Osborne was short lived as Tomac powered his way to the front before the second turn. When the 40-rider field completed the opening lap it was Tomac, Roczen and Osborne out front.

Similar to the opening moto, Tomac and Roczen set the pace early and moved out to a comfortable gap on the riders that followed them. On lap two, Osborne’s teammate Jason Anderson found his way by for third, while Musquin dropped Osborne another spot to fifth just moments later. Anderson’s march to the front continued as he began slowly closing in on Roczen, eventually taking control of the runner-up position on lap nine. Roczen continued his charge from third.

Based on the running order in the waning minutes of the moto, Tomac had yet to move into a position to clinch the title. Roczen’s hold on third was enough to keep him within 49 points of Tomac in the championship standings, as the reigning champ needed a lead of 50 points to secure the title a round early.

With the racing closing in on the 30-minute mark, Roczen began to drop off of the pace, which allowed Musquin and several other riders to close in. Roczen’s title hopes were in serious jeopardy when Musquin began a challenge for the position on lap 12. The German didn’t put up much of a fight, and Musquin took over third. Roczen proceeded to lose two more positions on the same lap.

Tomac left his rivals well behind to easily take his 10th moto win of the season by 14.9 seconds. Anderson finished runner-up for his fifth moto podium of the season, followed by Musquin in third. Roczen ended the moto seventh.

“This is such a special way to end the weekend, and not something I really anticipated happening with one round to go,” said Tomac. “I honestly didn’t even know I had the championship until the last lap. I thought that I needed one more spot from the guys behind me, so that was a little bit of a surprise. It was good to get the job done today. It’s tough to beat the first championship, but they’re all special and unique in their own ways.”

McElrath matched the performance by Tomac by sweeping both 250 class motos, marking his second and third moto victories. The KTM rider did not win either moto en route to his first victory last season.

“It’s been a true test to my fate this season,” said McElrath. “The results haven’t been what we wanted, but we never gave up and just kept at it and giving it our best. The conditions were brutal today and this feeling is crazy. It feels really good to get it done and walk away with the overall win today.”

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Matt DiBenedetto did everything in his power to take a stunning victory away from Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, but Denny Hamlin was just too strong when it mattered.

With 15-lap fresher tires in his arsenal and a fast car in the final laps, Hamlin drove from fourth to the lead during the closing stages of the Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night Race, ultimately passing DiBenedetto with a power move to the inside on lap 489 and driving off into the Tennessee night.

Hamlin led the final 12 laps around the high-banked, concrete half-mile for his fourth win of the season and second at Bristol. His last win at The Last Great Coliseum before Saturday was in August of 2012.

However, as he celebrated with a smoky burnout on the frontstretch, Hamlin’s focus was as much on the driver who he had just beaten – and who announced going into the weekend he wouldn’t be back with Leavine Family Racing in 2020 – as it was on the triumph he collected for his Joe Gibbs Racing team.

“I’m so sorry to Matt DiBenedetto and Mike Wheeler. I hate it,” said Hamlin of his Toyota teammate and former crew chief. “I know a win would mean a lot to that team. I just had to give it 110 percent for FedEx and my whole team. I’m just sorry (for having to take it away).

“Man, I’m proud of this whole FedEx team for giving me a great car tonight, though,” he added. “This pit crew, my crew chief (Chris Gabehart) … everybody is doing an amazing job right now. They’re just kicking ass and it’s cool to be doing what we’re doing out here.”

Despite starting from the pole, Hamlin actually got pinned a lap down during the first half of the race, when Aric Almirola spun in turn two and brought out the caution flag on lap 190 just moments after the Chesterfield, Va., native ducked to pit road for a loose wheel.

But a wave-around and a free pass later, Hamlin was back on the lead lap, just in time for the second stage break. From there, he carved his way through the field to put himself in contention to strike.

“Between my spotter (Chris Lambert) and crew chief, they just stayed on me to make sure I didn’t get anxious and just took my time,” he noted. “I had plenty of time.”

Hamlin’s patience showed in the closing laps, as he worked both high and low to try and get around DiBenedetto, taking nearly 20 circuits before finally storming past on the bottom and on to victory.

That bottom lane was Hamlin’s ace card, he tipped after the race.

“I just worked him (DiBenedetto) over and worked him over. I knew I didn’t want to show him the bottom until I knew I could make the pass,” Hamlin explained. “I ran the top, ran the top, ran the top, got the position on the bottom and then finished it.

“We had a great car that could move around, came back from a couple laps down … and here we are.”

As for DiBenedetto, the likable Californian charged into the mix on the final restart of the night at lap 388, following the eighth yellow of the night for a five-car accident in turn two.

DiBenedetto surged past Kyle Busch and into second when the green flag waved, then chased down Erik Jones to take the race lead on lap 395, quickly opening up a one-second gap over his nearest pursuers.

He then led the next 93 laps in succession, as a sizable crowd waited with bated breath to see if DiBenedetto could put the rocky events of the last week behind him by taking a statement victory.

However, contact with Ryan Newman inside of 40 laps to go as DiBenedetto was trying to lap Newman’s No. 6 Ford led to front-fender damage that “flipped a switch” on the leader’s race car and allowed Hamlin to close in.

Ultimately, things didn’t pan out as the handling went away on DiBenedetto’s Toyota, but he hung on for a career-best runner-up finish – marking the best result for both himself and Leavine Family Racing.

After climbing out, DiBenedetto couldn’t hold the emotions back and was nearly in tears as he spoke candidly about what his standout performance meant, as well as what he missed out on in the final laps.

“I wanted to win so bad for these guys, for this team, to thank them giving me this opportunity,” DiBenedetto said. “I’m just thankful that they gave me this opportunity. I’m so thankful. But man, I’m sad. We got tight after the deal with Newman when he came up into us.

“Congrats to Denny. He raced hard,” DiBenedetto added. “I’ve been a fan of his since I was a kid. To be racing door‑to‑door with him at Bristol, in front of a great group of fans … man. I’m trying not to get too emotional, but it’s been a tough week. I just want to stick around and keep doing this for a long time to come. I love racing. I love the opportunity.

“I’m not done yet.”

Brad Keselowski crossed the line third, followed by Busch and Chase Elliott.

Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer were sixth and seventh, the last two cars on the lead lap, with Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney completing the top 10.