Steven MacLean insists St Johnstone’s 2-0 win over Livingston was the fitting ending for departing chairman Steve Brown and club legend Murray Davidson.

Drey Wright opened the scoring after 17 minutes when he capitalised on some poor defending from the visitors to rifle home from close range, before Chris Kane climbed off the bench to bag his first goal in 16 months after being sidelined with a long-term injury.

MacLean, who was handed the manager’s job on a permanent basis on Saturday after a successful spell as caretaker, admits plans are already in place for next season and is aiming to take the McDiarmid Park side to the next level.

He said: “It was excellent. Before the game you’re a bit apprehensive as there is nothing on the game but with the chairman leaving and it being Murray’s (Davidson) last game, I’m just absolutely delighted for everyone concerned with the football club that we managed to send them off with a win.

“I am always planning and trying to get better as a coach and manager. We set standards every day and I’m very proud of the players as they’ve given me absolutely everything, but we will be looking to improve.

“I won’t be resting on three wins and two draws, I want to keep pushing on and win every game going forward. I want to play attacking, front-foot football and want to enjoy football.

“I’ve already sat down with the new board already, so we have got plans in place ready to go and also have ideas as you’ve always got to look to improve. There’s players in contract and also out of contract so there’s a lot of work to be done and it’s going to be busy but I’m looking forward to it.

“I’ll speak to players who are in and out of contract. There will be tough decisions to make but they will be ones that I feel are right to try and make the football club better.”

Livingston boss David Martindale said: “Our away form, I am not going to sugar-coat it, has been wretched.

“Our away form has been absolutely horrible.

“I have tried different formations and different personnel. There were a lot of personnel missing today but it was an opportunity for others to go in and show they can come in and play for me.

“There are a few leaving but the budget still needs to be cut.

“I have found ways to cut that, but something will need to come off the squad budget.

“I am probably looking at another four or five players that I feel can come and play with me every week. Three or four probably need to move on.

“They have been told who they are, and their game time is going to be limited next season. They probably won’t be in training with the group, and it is best for them and the group if they move on. I will be looking at four or potentially five, but finances play a huge part in that.”

Point Lonsdale will head for the Dahlbury Coronation Cup on Friday, as Aidan O’Brien finalises his squad for Epsom’s two-day Derby meeting.

The Australia colt is unbeaten in two starts this season having followed up his reappearance success in the Alleged Stakes by adding the Huxley Stakes at Chester, to prove he still possesses all the high-class ability he showed when motoring to multiple victories as a juvenile.

He is one of three in the mix for O’Brien in the Group One contest alongside Dubai Gold Cup scorer Broome and last year’s Derby fifth Changingoftheguard.

However, it appears Point Lonsdale is Ballydoyle’s main hope for the race, trying a mile and a half for the first time.

“The plan is to go for the Coronation Cup with Point Lonsdale,” said O’Brien. “It looked the last day like a mile and a half might suit him.”

O’Brien also holds a strong hand in both of the Classics set to be run on the Surrey Downs with Savethelastdance the overwhelming favourite for the Betfred Oaks and Auguste Rodin high-up on ante-post lists for the Betfred Derby despite disappointing in the 2000 Guineas.

“Epsom is all about Auguste Rodin at the moment and everything has gone well since the Guineas. We have others in and it’s possible that something else will run with him,” said O’Brien when assessing his contenders.

“Covent Garden might run in the Derby as well along with Adelaide River.

“Gooloogong will go for the mile and six race, the (Queen’s) Vase, at Ascot.

“Savethelastdance has done well since Chester. Be Happy was second in Lingfield and may run as well.”

Jackson Wray believes new Gallagher Premiership champions Saracens deserve more respect for emerging from one of the bleakest episodes in the league’s history as a title-winning force once more.

Sale were defeated 35-25 in a gripping final at Twickenham on Saturday as Saracens claimed their sixth domestic crown with captain Owen Farrell producing a masterclass at fly-half.

It provided an element of redemption after they were shaded 15-12 by Leicester in last year’s showpiece, which they reached in their first season back in the Premiership having been relegated in 2020 for repeated salary cap breaches.

As part of their punishment they were fined £5.4million and while some players departed, the bulk of them – including their core of England stars – remained for the campaign spent in the Championship.

The loyalty shown has enabled Saracens to return to the summit of the English game and Wray, who is retiring after 13 years as a professional at his only club, has sounded a note of defiance.

“I don’t think people talk about this enough. It was the biggest fine in sporting history in a game where you lose money every year. Let’s just put that in perspective for a moment,” Wray said.

“And we have got through it. That says a lot more about the owners. They said, ‘we made a mistake and we will stay and put it right’.

“Together we have done it. We have done our bit as players – stayed and fought and gone against everyone.

“Even in this final. Everyone was with Sale. Every club in the land was with Sale. Do you know what? That’s how we like it. That is how we have always liked it. No one wants us to win and we don’t care.

“We want to do well for each other and well for the club because this club has given us everything. It has given me everything for 17 years and the least I can do is pull on this shirt with pride every week.”

Saracens’ celebrations spill over into Sunday, with the squad holding a retro sports shirt fancy dress event in London.

For Maro Itoje victory over Sale has placed the sight of Freddie Burns landing a last-gasp drop goal to clinch the title for Leicester 12 months earlier firmly in the rear-view mirror.

“I’m just happy. Last year we fell short, we got close, a drop goal was a painful way to lose,” Itoje said.

“I was tired of seeing that Freddie Burns drop goal every five minutes on BT Sport! Thank God I don’t have to go through another year of that. All in all, super happy!

“You can’t really hold on to the past too much but going through the pain of last year, I think it is fair to say we have been fairly consistent all throughout the season.

“Even when the internationals were away, the guys again stepped up. And obviously we have a few internationals, so those guys have been fantastic.”

Mark Cavendish won the final stage of his last Giro d’Italia to spark scenes of huge emotion in Rome as Primoz Roglic confirmed his overall victory.

Cavendish, who announced on the second rest day of this race that this season would be his last, made it look easy as he opened up several bike lengths over Alex Kirsch and Fernando Gaviria even before a crash on the final approach split the bunch.

It was a 17th career Giro stage win for the 38-year-old Manxman, who kept alive his record of winning at least one stage every time he had taken part in the Italian Grand Tour.

It was also Cavendish’s first win of the season and first with the Astana-Qazaqstan team, a timely confidence boost as he now turns his attentions to the Tour de France and his bid to take the stage win record there outright.

Astana may not have the greatest sprint pedigree or a lead-out train for Cavendish, but that hardly mattered when he had Geraint Thomas – who lost the pink jersey to Roglic on Saturday’s time trial – lending a hand, the Ineos Grenadiers rider offering a lead-out going into the final two kilometres.

The oldest ever stage winner in Giro history was a hugely popular one as Roglic and Thomas were quick to offer their congratulations.

Roglic takes the overall win by 14 seconds from Thomas, the fourth smallest margin of victory in Giro history.

Above The Curve made all the running under Maxime Guyon to land the Group Two Prix Corrida with an easy two-length success at Saint-Cloud on Sunday.

The Joseph O’Brien-trained four-year-old had been touched off when finishing third in the Prix de l’Opera over 10 furlongs in October before a lacklustre run in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

A daughter of American Pharoah, she had a bit to find after finishing last on her seasonal return in the Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh earlier this month.

Guyon, riding Above The Curve for the first time, kept things simple, setting a steady gallop before winding things up approaching three furlongs out.

Dual Group One winner Nashwa, making her first start since finishing fourth to Tuesday as favourite in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf having been one place in front of Above The Curve on Arc day, tracked the winner throughout.

However, Hollie Doyle was hard at work turning in and on ground quicker than she would have ideally liked, the John and Thady-Gosden-trained mare faded to fourth, with Mqse Se Servigne coming from last to briefly challenge the winner, with the keen-going India pipping Nashwa for third.

Thady Gosden was far from unhappy with Nashwa’s performance.

He said: “I don’t think we can be too disappointed. All the other fillies had one or two runs already this year and it has been a long time since her last run at the Breeders’ Cup in Keeneland.

“It was just the lack of a run and she’ll come on plenty for that. We’ll see how she comes out of the race and see how she travels back before making any hard and fast plans for her.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a scare against Jiri Vesely in his opening match at the French Open.

The 2021 finalist seemed to have the contest well under control after a slow start when he moved two sets ahead of his Czech opponent but Vesely took the third and had three set points at 6-3 in the fourth-set tie-break to force a decider.

Fifth seed Tsitsipas saved all of them, though, before clinching a 7-5 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7) victory and roaring with relief.

The Greek knows he will need to play better going forward, saying: “It was a great comeback from me on that tie-breaker. I didn’t really play the way I wanted to play.

“I started just going more to the ball, being much more aggressive on my shot-making, and I kind of dictated a little bit better. The match was very inconsistent from my side. I felt like I haven’t played a match with so much inconsistency in a very long time.

“There weren’t a lot of rallies in play. He was serving big, so I had to find ways to change that. At times I felt like my footwork was lousy.

“But otherwise I’m happy with how things turned around, and my fighting spirit went on full display in those last few points of the tie-breaker. It was a great way to end it by just being patient and waiting for that chance to pop up.”

Tsitsipas has had an up-and-down season so far and struggled with injury after reaching his second grand slam final at the Australian Open but the clay-court swing has seen him find more consistency.

The 24-year-old revealed he is trying to play with a smile on his face having been influenced by Carlos Alcaraz’s positive attitude.

“I had a practice session with Carlitos the other day and did throw in a ‘thank you’ just randomly, and I don’t know if he understood that or not,” said Tsitsipas.

“I owe a lot to Carlitos because he’s such a breath of fresh air. He’s so competitive and he’s always with a smile on his face, and so much charisma to him and so much positive energy that he distributes.

“I think that’s contributed a lot to his growth as a tennis player and his consistency, too. I admire him for who he is. I have that capacity of being that person. I truly believe that.”

Eleventh seed Karen Khachanov, who has reached the semi-finals at the last two grand slams, had to fight back from two sets down to beat Constant Lestienne, and the vocal French crowd, 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-3.

Hubert Hurkacz also survived a five-setter against David Goffin while 24th seed Sebastian Korda saw off fellow American Mackenzie McDonald 6-4 7-5 6-4.

World XV coach Steve Hansen insisted Israel Folau should be able to move on from the anti-gay views that resulted in Rugby Australia terminating his contract.

Folau scored a try but was booed throughout Sunday’s 48-42 loss to the Barbarians by a group of around 100 banner-waving LGBTQ+ protesters, while the Rugby Football Union raised the pride flag on the roof of Twickenham.

The devout Christian was sacked by RA in 2019 for publishing a series of discriminatory posts on social media, including one telling “homosexuals” that “hell awaits you”.

He has switched national allegiance to Tonga ahead of this autumn’s World Cup and Hansen, who was wearing a pride wristband, said a line should be drawn under the episode.

“Everyone is allowed an opinion. We don’t necessarily have to agree with each other on our opinions but you are entitled to have one,” Hansen said.

“You can’t be punished for the rest of your life for having an opinion that most of us disagree with.

“I’ve always been a great believer that you can’t help somebody change by leaving them on the outside.”

A 32,597 crowd enjoyed a 14-try thriller as stars such as Charles Piutau, Semi Radradra and Sbu Nkosi caught the eye in glorious conditions.

It provided Barbarians coach Eddie Jones with a triumphant return in his first appearance at Twickenham since being sacked by England in December.

In previous years he coached against the Barbarians and he urged the RFU to be careful over how its traditional annual fixture against the Red Rose is marketed in the future.

“I can speak as a former England coach. I don’t think England should play the Barbarians, unless it’s a younger England team,” Jones said.

“At this time of the season you can never pick the England team, so it shouldn’t be called England. It should be called England President’s XV or something like that.

“Playing against the Barbarians is a great idea but to try and sell it as England is not honest. It’s not honest.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Drumroll was the beneficiary of a stewards’ inquiry at the Curragh on Sunday as he claimed the Heider Family Stables Gallinule Stakes.

The son of Deep Impact is a full-brother to Ballydoyle’s former 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior and was upped to 10 furlongs in this Group Three contest having chased home Saturday’s Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Paddington on his previous start.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, he was tracking the pace set by Jim Bolger’s Cork scorer Young Ireland and first past the post Teutates in the early stages, and it was Donnacha O’Brien’s charge and the 4-5 favourite who emerged as the main players as the race entered the business end.

Having found top gear, Drumroll began to wear down his chief rival but was met with still opposition as Teutates refused to lie down in the hands of Gavin Ryan.

But the head-on viewing showed that Drumroll was bumped not once but twice in the closing stages and although Teutates prevailed by a short head, the 22-1 outsider of the field was demoted to second following an inquiry, with Drumroll awarded top spot.

Drumroll could now find himself on O’Brien’s Irish Derby teamsheet.

O’Brien said: “He’s progressing and a mile and a quarter looks a good trip for him. The Irish Derby is a possibility.

“He’s still a bit of a baby and ran a bit green.”

Meanwhile the younger O’Brien was proud of Teutates efforts and will now look at a Royal Ascot handicap for his Churchill colt.

He said: “He’s run a cracker. We always thought he was a stakes horse and works like that at home. To be honest I ran him in this to get him into one of the handicaps in Ascot as he had to go up a few pounds.

“As you can see there he can run around a little bit so he’s a hard horse to win with. I thought it would be easier to get him up in the weights by running in a stakes race rather than winning a handicap with him.

“He’s better on that kind of surface.”

Pablo Larrazabal hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez after winning the KLM Open by two shots just two weeks into his forties.

Larrazabal celebrated the milestone by winning his ninth DP World Tour title and second in just four weeks after producing a big finish at Bernardus Golf on Sunday.

Having seen his overnight lead evaporate in the early stages of the fourth round, Larrazabal recovered with a series of birdies to sit in a five-way tie at the top after 12 holes.

And he finished with a flourish, birdieing the 15th, 17th and 18th to sign for a closing 69 and finish the tournament on 13 under par.

Larrazabal, who came into the week fresh from playing four rounds at last week’s US PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, now has two victories in 2023, having won the Korea Championship Presented by Genesis in April.

Fellow Spaniard Adrian Otaegui finished alone in second on 11 under after closing his final-round 70 with a birdie.

Rasmus Hojgaard and Deon Germishuys were then in a tie for third, one stroke further back.

Scotland’s Grant Forrest and Ewen Ferguson finished in a share of eighth on seven under.

Winning so soon after his recent birthday, Larrazabal set his sights on replicating Jimenez, who clinched 13 DP World Tour titles in his forties – although he joked he would settle for a fraction of his success.

He said: “Hopefully I do 20 per cent of what Miguel did in his forties. This is the first win of 40.”

Reflecting on the final round, Larrazabal added: “It doesn’t matter how fast you run at the beginning, you have to run fast at the end to win the race.

“And that’s what I did. What a putt on the last. I tried to make two putts from 20 feet and suddenly I made it.

“I’m so proud of myself and so proud of my team. We struggled big time through Covid but here we are – four wins in the last 15 months. It means too much to me.”

Anmaat seeks to break his Group One duck at the first time of asking when he takes on six rivals in the Group One Prix d’Ispahan at ParisLongchamp on Monday.

The Owen Burrows-trained five-year-old was unbeaten in three runs last term and having stepped out of handicap company, won the Group Three Rose of Lancaster at Haydock and followed up with Group Two success in the 10-furlong Prix Dollar on Arc weekend.

The Shadwell-owned Awtaad gelding drops back half a furlong for his return to the same Paris track, having chased home former Derby winner Adayar on his seasonal bow in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket.

Burrows – on a high after stable star Hukum got the better of Derby hero Desert Crown at Sandown on Thursday evening – felt the Prix d’Ispahan was a slightly easier option than Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh for Jim Crowley’s mount.

He said: “He obviously has a progressive profile and I thought it was a solid enough run first time up at Newmarket. He had it to do with that 5lb penalty and stayed on well enough. I didn’t want to go and stick him straight into a Group One on his first run of the year, where he might have just started coming forward for a run.

“He seems to be in good form. There is no such thing as an easy Group One.

“He was in the race in Ireland, but with Vadeni getting supplemented, and Bay Bridge and Luxembourg in there, we felt if ever there was an easier Group One, this was it.

“He won at Longchamp last year and he goes there with a good chance.”

David Simcock’s Light Infantry, third in the bet365 Mile on his return, before a close-up seventh to Modern Games in the Lockinge, tackles this trip for the first time and provides further British interest.

Buckaroo made a winning start to his four-year-old campaign on first start since finishing sixth in last season’s Irish 2,000 Guineas, when taking a heavy-ground Listed race over a mile at Leopardstown last month.

His trainer, Joseph O’Brien, hopes a step back up in trip will provide further improvement.

“It looked a suitable spot for him slightly stepping up in trip from his first run of the year,” he said.

“It was a lovely comeback run after a layoff and hopefully he will have come forward from then. I think the trip should be fine for him hopefully he can run a good race.”

There is a strong challenge for the home guard with Prix Dollar runner-up Junko representing Andre Fabre and Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Erevann being saddled by Jean-Claude Rouget.

Onesto, who won the Grand Prix de Paris in July last year and was subsequently beaten half a length by Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Luxembourg in the Irish Champion Stakes in September, makes his return for Francois Chappet.

The four-year-old Frankel colt has not run since November when a creditable seventh of 18 in the Japan Cup.

“The horse is well,” said Chappet. “He was supposed to run three weeks ago in the Prix Ganay, but the ground was definitely a bit disgusting so we decided to wait.

“I’m happy and the horse is working well. This is his first time out since November and he is the only one in the race who hasn’t run yet this season. It isn’t the main target for this this year, but he will run well.”

Group Three winner Facteur Cheval completes the line-up.

Dan Evans branded his French Open defeat by Thanasi Kokkinakis “shocking” and hit out at officials for foot-faulting him at a key point in the first-round contest.

Evans finally won his first match at Roland Garros last year but could not achieve the same result here, going down 6-4 6-4 6-4 to big-hitting Kokkinakis – the player beaten by Andy Murray in an early morning Australian Open epic this year.

The British number two appeared to have turned the match around in the second set when he led 4-1 but, at 30-0 in the seventh game, he was foot-faulted for the unusual offence of his back foot crossing the centre line on serve by the line judge at the far end of the court.

Evans promptly lost four points in a row, slamming his water bottle to the ground in annoyance and earning a code violation, and he did not win another game in the set as the match slipped away.

The 33-year-old was clearly taken aback by the call, which he later said had never happened to him before.

“Disruptive, wrong, a few other things you could say about it,” said Evans. “It’s the game. But, once again, the players are held responsible, but the umpires and line judges are not held responsible. I’ll be getting fined, obviously, for breaking the water bottle.

“I obviously knew it was a rule but I tend to know where my feet are. It just totally threw me where I was then serving from. It was difficult from then on. I lost all trust in where my feet were. It’s a very minor thing, but it became a pretty big thing in my head.

“If they’re going to call that foot fault, it shouldn’t be from 35 metres away, from fence to fence through a net. That’s not the reason I lost, but I was right in the match at that point.”

Evans remains close to his highest ranking at 25 and has had some decent results this season, notably reaching the semi-finals on clay in Barcelona last month, but he has also lost his opening match at tournaments eight times and is currently on a four-match losing streak.

He will hope to turn things around on grass, where he has traditionally been strong, but he made no attempt to sugar-coat things.

“I’ve been very poor in the big tournaments this year,” he said. “Incredibly kind draw in Australia and I came through a few matches, but I’ve been poor in the Masters, one good tournament this year.

“I said the other day there’s some soul-searching. There will be plenty of that tonight.

“I’ve got to get on and try and get my game in a good spot. It’s shocking right now how I played today. The frustrating thing is I’m playing well in practice and then not putting it on the court.

“It’s a hard sport. That’s the bottom line. I’ve never missed a shot from inside the living room, and I’m guessing no one missed at home today. It’s just incredibly frustrating. I’ll keep going, trying, and get back practising.”

The defeat means Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper are the only British players left in the main singles draws, and Evans launched his latest broadside against the Lawn Tennis Association in his pre-tournament press conference on Friday, criticising the way young players are funded.

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Davis Cup captain Leon Smith and LTA performance director Michael Bourne were both in the stands watching Evans, and he said: “The problem with it all is everybody takes it personally.

“It’s not anything personal. If you’re taking it personally, then maybe you’re guilty of what I’m saying. They were supporting me fine today.

“I voice my opinions because I want working-class kids to get the support they deserve. In any other sport, when people voice their opinions about a system, it goes forward, but, in tennis, because we’re so elitist in England, it doesn’t get put forward. I’m doing it for working-class people like I was.”

Tahiyra went one place better than her Newmarket second to scoop Classic glory with a dominant display in the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas.

Unbeaten at two, Dermot Weld’s daughter of Siyouni was sent off the 6-4 favourite when coming up just short behind Mawj on the Rowley Mile earlier this month, but proved she is a filly of enormous quality to gain compensation on home soil.

She was even more popular with backers this time as the 2-5 favourite in the hands of regular partner Chris Hayes for the Curragh’s one-mile feature.

And there would have been a few nervous moments for supporters, as although Tahiyra was travelling smoothly throughout, she was penned in on the rail from her draw in stall one as the Aidan O’Brien pair of Breeders’ Cup heroine Meditate and Dower House dictated the pace.

Hayes masterfully angled out his filly with two furlongs left to run and soon set about accounting for old rival Meditate and having soon asserted her superiority once again over the Ballydoyle representative, she showed plenty of courage in the closing stages to match her undoubted talent as she was driven out for a one-and-a-half-length success.

It gave her handler and jockey back-to-back victories in the fillies’ Classic after Homeless Songs’ triumph 12 months ago and she could now head for Royal Ascot and a rematch with her Newmarket conqueror, with Paddy Power and Betfair making her a 7-4 chance for the Coronation Stakes.

Israel Folau was met with jeers from LGBTQ+ protesters as Eddie Jones’ Barbarians triumphed 48-42 on a rollercoaster afternoon at Twickenham.

Folau scored one try for the World XV and initiated a second with a dynamic run from deep, but his every involvement was the subject of boos from small pockets of fans.

The 34-year-old, a Christian fundamentalist, was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 because of a series of anti-gay social media posts, including one telling “homosexuals” that “hell awaits you”.

The Rugby Football Union reacted to his selection by World XV coach Steven Hansen by flying the pride flag on Twickenham’s roof and there were several rainbow flags evident in the 32,597 crowd.

Folau has switched national allegiance from Australia to Tonga and there is the expectation that the former rugby league star will face a similar reception during this autumn’s World Cup.

World XV backs Charles Piutau, Semi Radradra and Sbu Nkosi lit up the afternoon with their swashbuckling skills, but the Barbarians’ greater cohesion and influence of generals Quade Cooper and Gareth Anscombe.

Wales great Alun Wyn Jones, who announced his retirement from international rugby 10 days ago, led the Barbarians and while he completed the game he was off-target with two late conversions.

It was a successful return for Jones who was making his first appearance at Twickenham since being sacked by England in December.