• Eighth win in row for Cambridge after women’s restart
• Men’s crew take third successive victory over Oxford

The Cambridge men’s coach, Rob Baker, said his athletes “100%” used the recent eligibility row as ­motivation after the light-blue crews sealed dominant victories at the Boat Race on Sunday.

The women’s boat claimed an eighth consecutive win in dramatic circumstances while the men, ­having been pushed by the Oxford crew early on, pulled away to secure a third successive victory in ­crushing fashion.

• Northern Irishman shoots 66 to take two-shot lead
• Bryson DeChambeau sets up final-day showdown

It is now or never. Surely it is now or never.

Rory McIlroy will take a lead into the closing round of the Masters for the first time since 2011. That sentence barely does justice to a Saturday of high drama at Augusta National where McIlroy created history then threatened to feature in his own Shakespearean tragedy once more before re-establishing daylight between himself and the field. That sentence barely does justice, either, to what McIlroy is on the verge of. We are now in the position of fearing what on earth the impact will be on him should he not prevail.

• Boulter and Burrage beat Dutch pair in decisive rubber
• Sonay Kartal defeats Eva Vedder in singles in The Hague

With Great Britain’s presence at the Billie Jean King Cup this year hanging in the balance, their pivotal contest with the Netherlands tied at 1-1, Anne Keothavong made a dramatic call. Instead of the doubles specialist, Olivia Nicholls, present in The Hague precisely for these matches and with Harriet Dart positioned as the first-choice doubles team, the British captain chose to rely on the pure firepower provided by her singles players.

It turned out to be a stroke of genius. Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage, both ranked outside the top 250 in doubles and with minimal experience together, produced an inspired performance to lead their team to victory with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Suzan Lamens and Demi Schuurs.

• England score six tries after break in 49-5 victory
• ‘The girls are really good at resolving issues’

John Mitchell says his side “put themselves through the washing machine” in a difficult first half against Ireland in the Women’s Six Nations on Saturday. England were held scoreless until the 34th minute and only held a slender 7-5 lead at half-time. In 2024 the Red Roses led Ireland 38-3 at the break.

In the second half in Cork England shifted through the gears and they blew their opposition away to extend their winning run in the Six Nations to 32 games.

The last time we were here, on Tuesday night, Arsenal enjoyed surely the finest occasion in Emirates Stadium history. The 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final will live forever; the return is eagerly awaited on Wednesday.

It was always likely to be lower-key here, Mikel Arteta making five changes to his team and watching them labour. The blood and thunder of the Madrid tie was missing; the do-or-die imperatives. It was a slog for Arsenal and as the hour mark approached, Arteta knew he had to do something. He readied three stellar substitutes – Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka.

• 47-year-old had been feeling unwell ‘for a number of days’
• Howe admitted on Friday and is receiving expert care

Eddie Howe will miss Newcastle’s match with Manchester United on Sunday after being admitted to hospital for tests late on Friday night.

The 47-year-old has been told he will not be discharged until Sunday at the earliest as medical staff assess an unspecified condition that kept him at home in bed during the latter part of last week. He was understood to still have been undergoing tests on Saturday afternoon.

• Northern Irishman roars into tie for third with sublime 66
• Rose leads on -8 with Bryson Dechambeau one shot back

Rory’s revenge. Rory McIlroy had opted to keep his thoughts to himself after the wounding end to his first round at the 89th Masters. An inspired follow up by the Northern Irishman made it easy to assume he had taken things personally. Did you think the two double bogeys in four closing holes ended his latest attempt at claiming the career grand slam? Think again. Courtesy of spellbinding, stunning golf, McIlroy blasted his way through the Georgia pines and back into contention.

Statistical gurus had insisted glory was already beyond him. Craig Stadler was the last man to triumph here with more than one double bogey on his card. That happened in 1982. What the numerati failed to acknowledge was that McIlroy had 54 holes to recover. With 36 remaining, he sits two from Justin Rose. Buckle up.

On the face of it the Egyptian’s new contract has no downside – but this is not entirely a free ride for Arne Slot and the club

Well, that’s good then. Things fall apart. But sometime they also don’t. And the centre does actually hold.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Mohamed Salah’s contract extension at Liverpool is the fact this is a rare crossover story, a signing that steps outside its own tribal margins. There will of course be localised delight. Liverpool fans can look forward to their own lost weekend in the sun, a sense that the good times will now continue to roll, that the time bar has shifted. Return to your seats. This is a lock-in.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have a chance to dominate in the desert as Max Verstappen scrambles to stay in touch

Three races into the new Formula One season and this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix represents something of a litmus test as to what may follow for the title protagonists. Everything points to a chance for McLaren to dominate at the Sakhir circuit but there may also be some indication if Red Bull are making real steps forward with their car.

For McLaren, Bahrain is a chance to throw off their hoodoo at the track where they have never won and at which, in recent years, they have struggled for form. This season in testing at the circuit they gave their first evidence that they had a much-improved package; one swiftly reinforced with dominant victories for Lando Norris in Australia and then his teammate, Oscar Piastri, in China.

Back-row forward believes her side can shock favourites in Cork and shake up this year’s Women’s Six Nations

“Ireland want to shake England up a bit,” is the message from the back-row Aoife Wafer before the two teams clash in the Women’s Six Nations on Saturday. Wafer lays down the gauntlet to the defending champions on a video call, which she joins fresh from training in full kit, with her leg still strapped with tape.

Belief and confidence emanate through the laptop screen as she speaks about the possibility of ending England’s 31-game dominance in the tournament in Cork. “We want to show them that Ireland are not just there to sit down, we want to put it up to them,” the 22-year-old says. “We will have parts of our game we really want to go after and we think will work and maybe shock the English a little bit. We are all raring to go.”