Rory McIlroy showed his class once again as he held off the world’s best players to win back-to-back Masters titles, becoming only the fourth man to achieve the feat.

The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland continued his fine form at Augusta National Golf Club, finishing on 12 under par after a final round of 71. He ended one shot ahead of world number one Scottie Scheffler in another thrilling Sunday at The Masters Tournament.

McIlroy had ended an 11-year wait for a major at Augusta last year to complete his career Grand Slam, and he said that victory gave him the belief to achieve even more.

“I can’t believe I waited 17 years to get one Green Jacket and now I get two in a row,” McIlroy said.

“All my perseverance at this golf course over the years has started to pay off.”

The win is his sixth major title, drawing him level with Nick Faldo.

McIlroy also had to hold off a strong challenge from Justin Rose, who was hoping to become the oldest first-time Masters champion. Rose briefly took the lead during the final round but could not maintain his advantage under pressure.

There was plenty of drama in the final round. McIlroy fell behind after a double bogey on the fourth hole and another dropped shot on the sixth. However, he responded well with birdies on the seventh and eighth holes, and again on the 12th and 13th to regain control.

Rose, on the other hand, struggled at key moments, dropping shots at the famous Amen Corner, which allowed McIlroy to move ahead.

The victory places McIlroy alongside legends such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as one of the few players to win consecutive Masters titles.

Reflecting on his performance, McIlroy admitted it was not easy but was pleased with his determination.

“It was a tough weekend but I’m so happy to hang in there and get the job done,” he said.

“I wanted to come back and prove last year wasn’t a fluke.”

His latest triumph confirms his place among golf’s greats and shows that his breakthrough victory last year has truly changed his career.

Cartwright led the Black and Whites to a seventh-placed finish, three points off a play-off place, last season.

He said that they had cancelled last Tuesday’s training session after he told the team about his exit.

“There was a pretty emotional meeting when I addressed the players,” he said.

“The coaches left the room and the players decided to stay. In all honesty it wasn’t the type of atmosphere where a training session would have been of any value so I decided to call the day off.

“They needed to go and chat amongst themselves. I haven’t asked what was said, it’s not my business. I think they had some grievances that they wanted to talk about and I don’t know if they have been addressed either.”

The former Gold Coast Titans head coach said that despite his own situation he would not allow the season to be “wasted”.

“We’ve got to make sure we win as many games as we can,” he said.

“It’s ridiculous to waste a season. We’re sitting two points out of the top six.”

Ninth-placed Hull FC next welcome Challenge Cup semi-finalists St Helens on Thursday.

The Louisville Cardinals are one of the big winners of the offseason, landing coveted big man Flory Bidunga and talented guard Jackson Shelstad in the transfer portal.

The Louisville Courier-Journal covered Bidunga’s decision to transfer to Louisville, and what it means for his simultaneous entry into the NBA draft.

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If Bidunga does decide to stay in school, the Cardinals have a unique opportunity to build a defensive powerhouse overnight. He averaged nearly three blocks per game as a sophomore for Kansas last season.

Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey can also feel comfortable handing the keys to Shelstad, an experienced guard who spent the first three seasons of his college career at Oregon.

Barossa Park will play host to Sunday’s
Round 5 AFL game between GWS Giants and
Richmond Tigers. The game kicks off at 3:15 pm with GWS Giants heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the GWS Giants vs.
Richmond Tigers
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday April 12, 2026 at 3:15 pm

Where: Barossa Park

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

GWS Giants vs Richmond Tigers Odds

GWS Giants vs Richmond Tigers Preview

GWS returns from a timely bye looking to halt a three-game slide, while Richmond enters under pressure following a heavy loss to Port Adelaide. The Giants have been competitive despite recent defeats and will see this as an opportunity to reset. Interestingly, recent meetings between these sides have been tight, with three of the past five decided by a goal or less. Both teams have also struggled with turnovers this season, suggesting momentum could swing quickly. While GWS appears stronger on paper, Richmond’s unpredictability adds intrigue to this clash.

Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani are set to square-off in the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing, with both men seeking to prove their pound-for-pound credentials.

Whilst Inoue has consistently risen up the pound-for-pound ratings and arguably sits in top spot, Nakatani has been working away in the background and is finally beginning to receive the global recognition that he deserves.

Nakatani first claimed world honours as a flyweight back in 2020, before accelerating through the super-flyweight and bantamweight divisions with seven title contests at those weights in two years, becoming the unified 118lb champion during that time.

Back in December, ‘Big Bang’ made the jump up to super-bantamweight, in a first non-title bout since 2022, but was made to work in a points win against Mexico’s Sebastian Hernandez Reyes, who gave him his toughest fight to date.

Now, Nakatani is tasked with his fellow Japanese superstar, Inoue, with the chance to overtake ‘The Monster’ as both the pound-for-pound king and face of Japanese boxing.

In an interview with The Ring, a typically respectful Inoue was full of praise for his upcoming opponent, recognising the speed at which Nakatani is progressing.

“I definitely feel that he has grown rapidly recently and with the new fights he has been having at the pound-for-pound level, I have a lot of respect for him and rate him highly.”

Inoue, who puts his four super-bantamweight belts on the line, has said he expects his countryman to be the toughest test of his career so far. The super fight takes place on Saturday, May 2, in front of a sold out crowd at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

In less than three months’ time, Xander Zayas and Jaron Ennis put their undefeated records on the line against one another, and pound-for-pound superstar Shakur Stevenson has offered his fight prediction.

Ennis was a unified world champion in the welterweight division, but moved up to the super-welterweight scene back in October and knocked out Uisma Lima in the opening round of his 154lb debut. Now, ‘Boots’ is believed by many to be the top player at his new weight, but he currently lacks the belts to back up those plaudits.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico fan-favourite Zayas became boxing’s youngest unified world champion when he decisioned Jorge Garcia Perez and Abass Baraou in consecutive bouts, getting his hands on both the WBO and then WBA world titles.

Against Ennis, Zayas has the chance to prove to the world that he is the best super-welterweight on the planet, despite being just 23-years-old, but with his relative inexperience on the big stage, it is the Philadelphian who will enter the bout as the favourite.

On social media, WBO super-lightweight champion Stevenson agreed with the oddsmakers’ opinion, giving Zayas respect for accepting the fight but siding with his fellow American when predicting the outcome.

“Respect to Xander, hellavu young fighter with the heart of a lion for accepting this fight.

“We need more fighters like him in boxing, win or lose, he like that.

“Boots different tho, he’s the hardest fighter to deal with at that weight IMO.”

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Zayas-Ennis takes place on Saturday, June 27, as both men chase a legacy-defining win that will earn them pound-for-pound recognition.

Rajasthan Royals bowling-first XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (capt), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande

RR bench: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravi Singh, Shubham Dubey, Brijesh Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad batting-first XI: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (capt & wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Praful Hinge

SRH bench: R Smaran, Sakib Hussain, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Harshal Patel

Dominik Szoboszlai feels his flashpoint with Liverpool fans this month was a “misunderstanding” as the Hungarian insisted he is “ready to die on the pitch” against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

Social media footage showed Szoboszlai shrugging, raising his arms and clapping, widely interpreted as sarcasm, towards Reds supporters after a heavy 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Manchester City.

The midfielder was ushered away by team-mate Federico Chiesa amid a chorus of boos at the final whistle but Szoboszlai, regarded as Liverpool’s best player this season, played down the incident.

“Maybe it was a misunderstanding between me and the fans,” he said. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Obviously I know what the fans mean to this club and what the club means to the fans.

“We do everything for the fans as they do for us. If it was a misunderstanding then I apologise.

“I’m not feeling better than them, I feel exactly the same as they do. I am with them, we are with them and hopefully they are with us as well.”

Szoboszlai was speaking ahead of the second leg of Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final against PSG, who hold the halfway advantage after winning 2-0 in the French capital last week.

However, Liverpool have staged a number of extraordinary European comebacks and Szoboszlai insisted he and his team-mates will do everything in their power to battle back against the defending champions.

“We’re going to go all in and give our best,” he added. “I’m ready to die on the pitch tomorrow. I can speak for all of the players because we want it so bad. Anything can happen in one game at Anfield.

“It is going to be a different game from the first leg. We are going to be doing stuff in a different way.

“We need to go all in and give everything possible. If at the end of the game you can say you gave everything then you can keep your chin up and say ‘we tried’. We don’t need any more motivation.”

Emerging as a key stayer this autumn, Mr Monaco retains favouritism to hand Ciaron Maher a fourth Sydney Cup victory despite the challenging wide draw.

A stablemate might yet steal the show, though, with Piggyback and Juja Kibo both boasting compelling cases for the stamina-sapping two-miler.

Since importing from Europe for his current Australian spell, Mr Monaco has exhibited determination and lasting power through victories in his last two efforts, standing out in the Manion Cup (2400m) as he pressed forward wide and ultimately proved too strong.

Jo Gerard-Dubord, foreman for Ciaron Maher in Sydney, views that run positively for the gelding covering 3200m effectively on Saturday, inspired also by Circle Of Fire prevailing in the 2024 Sydney Cup from a parallel barrier.

“When Circle Of Fire won it, he had a similar trip to what Mr Monaco did at Rosehill last start. He was three-wide and working a lot of the way,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“And not dissimilar to Mr Monaco, Circle Of Fire was a genuine stayer. When you get to these races, if you can stay it’s a big advantage because half the field won’t be able to stay the trip.”

Without 3200m form, Gerard-Dubord remains confident in Mr Monaco’s staying prowess after his dominant close last start amid difficulties.

“Last start, even though it was 2400 metres, he was wide, and he probably ran 2600. If anything, he was the strongest of them all through the line so that won’t be an issue,” he said.

The Tancred Stakes (2400m) served as Piggyback’s final tune-up, where she was fifth to Aeliana in weight-for-age company ideal for sharpening her for the Sydney Cup.

Gerard-Dubord highlighted how the mare has improved upon her return and seems primed for the trip, benefiting from 53kg.

“She’s been handicapped at what she was at the start of the prep, and I think she has become a better horse since then. She is very well placed at the weights,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“The Tancred is usually a good lead-up run for the Sydney Cup in terms of timing and the quality of the field, and she was very good in the Tancred.

“The two miles, I think she will stay it, and she’s had the grounding for it, but it is more of a question mark. She is fit, she has a light weight and a good gate, so she will get every chance to run the trip.”

Juja Kibo fills out the Maher entry, carrying multiple placings into the race, as Gerard-Dubord notes the five-year-old thrives on racing to hit top fitness.

“He is a horse who takes a lot of work and a lot of racing,” he said.

“It has been the target from day one, the Sydney Cup, and the plan was to run in the Chairman’s and back up in the Sydney Cup. He backed up well last prep (when third in the Metropolitan).

“The other day, he lacked that killer punch, but I think it was related to fitness, and he’s rock-hard fit now.”

Mr Monaco stays locked in at $5 in betting, ahead of Juja Kibo ($13) and Piggyback ($18).

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