Farrell was also pleased with how his more seasoned Test players stepped up after questions over their form as they supplemented headline-stealing displays from Stuart McCloskey and Rob Baloucoune.

“Caelan [Doris] was back to his best, Joe McCarthy was outstanding,” observed Farrell, who also praised player of the match Jamison Gibson-Park.

“Josh [van der Flier] was immense in that first half, wasn’t he? You know, with his line running and stuff like that.

“They know they’ve a responsibility. We said before the game, big-game players turn up and make big-team performances happen.

“They set great examples, but for the lads that I just mentioned, for Rob Baloucoune to come here and do that, you know you’re on for a good day when he’s got a poach, a turnover ball…just his belief to take people on, and for Stu to dominate at this type of level, it was a joy to see.”

With McCloskey and Baloucoune establishing themselves in the Test arena, experienced players recapturing their form and the likes of Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan and Andrew Porter still to return from injury, Farrell’s squad suddenly seems in good shape 18 months out from the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

“That’s the point. That’s the best part of it,” he said.

“We know that and we have to take a bit of stick along the way. I suppose a win like this gets people a little bit back on board.

“As long as we know where we’re going.”

Ireland host winless Wales on 6 March (20:10 GMT) before finishing the campaign against fellow Triple Crown chasers Scotland in Dublin on 14 March (14:10).

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva could leave the Etihad Stadium when his contract expires this summer.

Pep Guardiola is never short of praise for his Manchester City players. Win, lose or draw, Guardiola is the biggest cheerleader for this squad. However, there is one star who arguably receives more praise than most.

Captain Bernardo Silva moved to City in 2017 and quickly became a fan favourite. Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva may have stolen the midfield headlines but Bernardo’s quality has never been lost on Guardiola. “At the end we were guided by our incredible player, one of the best ever to play or train – our captain Bernardo,” the City head coach said after the Liverpool win.

“We follow him, I follow him too. He puts the team in front of himself. He does things through his own example. Everybody follows him, me the first. He scored the first one from the Erling [Haaland] assist, and made the assist for Matheus [Nunes] for the penalty.”

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Guardiola would love nothing more than for Bernardo to sign a new contract at City. The captain has never been afraid to discuss his future and has looked set to depart on a number of occasions.

Bernardo has been ever-present this season and his versatility is a precious quality for any team. “[It is] so important,” Guardiola replied in 2023 when asked about versatile players. “That helps us to have a bigger and a longer squad.

“We have players like Bernardo and Phil [Foden] who can play in three or four different positions if we need it.”

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Antoine Semenyo was the in-demand forward ahead of this season’s January transfer window and you can see why. The Ghana international can play on the left, right or down the middle if needed.

City won that transfer battle and there are plenty more versatile players in their squad.

Nico O’Reilly graduated from the academy last season. He made nine appearances in the second half of the Premier League season, announcing himself at this level. But this season he has really started to flourish.

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After new signing Rayan Ait-Nouri picked up an injury, O’Reilly took his chance. Despite splashing more than £36m on Ait-Nouri, Guardiola stuck with the youngster.

When Ait-Nouri rediscovered his form, O’Reilly was moved into midfield – arguably the strongest area in the City squad. Has that fazed him? Absolutely not.

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O’Reilly took his brace superbly against Newcastle and he is guaranteed to start at Leeds next weekend. What’s even more impressive is that he only turns 21 next month.

It is also worth remembering he has played just three senior matches in the midfield role, although he did progress through the age groups as a midfielder.

His versatility means he is as impressive at left-back as he is in midfield. Guardiola began his post-Newcastle press conference by praising former City star James Milner after he surpassed the record for the most Premier League appearances of all time. 203 of those matches came for the Blues and while it is far too early to say whether O’Reilly will enjoy similar longevity, his recent form makes the prospect of replacing Bernardo seem a little less daunting than it once did.

O’Reilly will only get better the more matches he plays. Guardiola knows he has a real player on his hands.

Shakur Stevenson and Ryan Garcia could be on a collision course after ‘King Ry’ became world champion on Saturday.

Garcia dropped Barrios on his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory to secure the WBC welterweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Following the bout, Garcia made it clear that he wants to face Stevenson next, the newly crowned WBO super-lightweight champion who claimed his belt with a win over Teofimo Lopez last month.

Stevenson laid out his demands for the bout to take place whilst speaking on DAZN, insisting that it would have to take place at a 144lbs catchweight and that VADA testing would be required.

“Was VADA involved in this fight? I saw him with Rolly he didn’t look like that. If he’s fighting me next, I’m all for the challenge but VADA will be involved.

“We’ll meet in the middle [144lbs]. Two big stars, we don’t need a belt for the fight.

“I think it’s a great fight to make. I’m in this for big fights. Me and Ryan would be an even bigger fight and would be a tremendous fight. I want to fight him and he want to fight me so it should be easy to get done. We’ve just got to make sure he’s on VADA and there’s no cheating involved.”

Garcia failed a drugs test in 2024 after facing Devin Haney, resulting in his win being overturned to a no contest. He returned after a 12-month ban and suffered a loss to Rolly Romero, but looked like a completely different fighter against Barrios tonight in Las Vegas.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry paid tribute to “a new kind of Winter Games’ as she declared the Milan and Cortina edition closed.

A spectacular, opera-themed ceremony at Verona’s 2,000-year old Roman amphitheatre, once used for gladiatorial battles, hailed new heroes of skeleton and mixed team snowboard cross.

Coventry told the Italian organising committee: “You delivered a new kind of Winter Games and set a new standard for the future.”

Gold medallists Charlotte Bankes and Matt Weston carried the Union flag at the ceremony, which drew heavily on the region’s historic reputation for arts and beauty.

In keeping with recent tradition, the gold medals for the men’s and women’s 50km cross-country were also awarded during the ceremony, including the record sixth gold of the Games for Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo.

Coventry’s comment was pertinent given ongoing discussion about the future of the Winter Olympics, and the possibility of including a range of other sports not played on snow and ice.

The unprecedented geographical spread of the Milan and Cortina Games – which enabled many events to be staged amid true alpine settings – have been hailed by many as an alternative blueprint.

The ceremony concluded with the official handover to organisers of the next Winter Games in the French Alps in 2030, which are facing increasing scrutiny around time and money.

Coventry, the successor to previous president Thomas Bach, had a difficult first Games. She presided over the decision to ban Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, insisting his helmet, which honoured colleagues killed in the Russian invasion, broke rules on athlete expression.

Coventry also endured a bizarre interlude in which she publicly blamed her media team for not making her aware of a number of issues, including FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s appearance at a ‘Board of Peace’ meeting wearing a Donald Trump-style baseball cap.

The King issued a message to all the athletes, which read: “As the Winter Games come to a close, my wife and I send our most heartfelt congratulations to all the Olympic medal winners from Team GB, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, on your remarkable successes.

“Whether on the ice or amid Italy’s glorious snowscapes, you have demonstrated not only exceptional skill, but also the grace and camaraderie that embody the Olympic spirit at its finest.”

South Africa’s Marco Jansen celebrates with teammates the wicket of India’s Tilak Varma (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

India endured a nightmare start to their Super 8 campaign in the T20 World Cup as South Africa handed them a crushing 76-run defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday night. Chasing 187/7, the hosts’ batting unit collapsed without offering much resistance, turning what was a crucial fixture into a one-sided contest.The slide began immediately when Ishan Kishan was dismissed for a duck in the opening over. From there, the innings never stabilised. Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar all failed to make meaningful contributions. Dube top-scored with 42 but consumed 37 deliveries, underlining India’s struggle to keep pace with the required rate. It was, by all accounts, a deeply disappointing display.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar criticised the batting approach, pointing to the contrast with how South Africa rebuilt their innings.“Yes, if you look at the way Dewald Brevis and David Miller rebuilt the South African innings, they played a lot more shots in the ‘V’, especially when the short ball was used. They adjusted really well. They realised the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat as quickly as expected — it was holding up slightly in the surface. Having seen how they constructed their innings and built that partnership, that was the kind of approach that was needed, rather than simply throwing the bat at just about everything,” Gavaskar told Star Sports after the match.South Africa themselves had been under pressure at 20/3 before Miller and Brevis steadied the ship. After settling in, the pair shifted gears and targeted the Indian attack. Varun Chakaravarthy (1/47) bore the brunt, while Hardik Pandya (0/45) and Shivam Dube (1/32 in 2 overs) also proved expensive.Proteas great Shaun Pollock echoed Gavaskar’s assessment, stressing India’s inability to adjust to the conditions.“I don’t think there was enough adaptability from India’s perspective. South Africa had already played three matches on this ground, so they had a very good understanding of how the surface behaved. They struggled in the first four or five overs and had to adjust, and it was only once the Brevis–Miller partnership got going that they were able to play their shots more freely,” he said.The heavy defeat has left India’s net run rate at -3.800, significantly complicating their path to the semi-finals. They must now defeat Zimbabwe and the West Indies, and do so convincingly, to revive their chances. Group 1 remains wide open, but the pressure is mounting on Suryakumar Yadav’s side.

Former world champion Tim Bradley has weighed in on a fight between Shakur Stevenson and Ryan Garcia after both starred in dominant world title wins.

Stevenson moved up to super-lightweight to dethrone Teofimo Lopez, becoming a four-weight world champion in the process. Lopez barely won a round on the scorecards, and the same fate befell Mario Barrios against Garcia this weekend in Las Vegas. With that victory, Garcia became the WBC welterweight world champion.

Post-fight, he called out Stevenson and, from ringside, Stevenson said he was all in.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Bradley addressed the proposed fight and can see no route to victory for Garcia, despite him being the naturally bigger man.

“Everybody keeps talking about this Ryan Garcia-Shakur Stevenson fight. Boy, I’m here to let y’all know that this s**t is gonna be easier [for Shakur] than the Teofimo Lopez fight, because it’s about skills inside that damn ring.

“Ryan can have all the speed in the world, Shakur got speed. He can have all the power in the world. Yeah. But when he can’t land, that s**t don’t mean nothing – and he ain’t gonna land on Shakur. It’s not gonna happen. It’s gonna be like taking candy from a damn baby.”

The match-up, despite willingness from both men, has its obstacles, not least the 144lbs catchweight Stevenson is demanding. Garcia may also want to keep his world title, and Stevenson’s relationship with the WBC crashed recently when he was stripped of his own belt for not paying a sanctioning fee. If it doesn’t happen, there’s no doubt that both will be in good fights next anyway, such is the strength of the competition in and around those weight classes.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has criticised Erling Haaland in the past but was full of praise after their game with Newcastle.

Pep Guardiola made sure every Manchester City player knew how good Erling Haaland’s defensive work was against Newcastle. The Norwegian striker could not add to his goal tally on Saturday night but provided an assist for Nico O’Reilly and put in a monster shift in defence, winning more duels (12) than he ever has in a Premier League game.

The effort brought Haaland to the floor by full-time but he was soon mobbed by teammates and Guardiola highlighted the No.9 to the whole squad. While he has been critical of the forward’s workrate in other games this season, there was only praise on Saturday as City took their opportunity to increase the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the table.

“I’m not a big fan to put Erling to defend, but he helped us, and I know after that how the people hug him and celebrate him and say they’re grateful to help us because Newcastle allowed us to do that,” said Guardiola. “I am only sad for him because there are a lot of actions that could make the last pass to him and didn’t find him and it’s difficult for him, run, run, run and fight.

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“They don’t give the balls to [him] to score goals, but sometimes the game is like that, and he’s an incredible, generous player, so today is a performance and I’ll never forget what Erling has done for us. Sometimes I’m a critic to him, but today I said without you it would not be possible. Erling has been outstanding today. Outstanding.”

Haaland was given the extra responsibility of being a captain this season, having signed a long-term extension to his deal at the Etihad. He is also one of the few players left in the group who have won multiple league titles with City, and other players look to him to set the example.

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“We need everyone there to defend, and we need everyone to attack,” said Nico O’Reilly. “And Erling can do that. He’s a very big part of this, too. Erling is world class – he can do it all and it’s so important for us to have someone like this in our team who can do it at one end and can also do it at the other end.”

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