Daryl Clark is under no illusions about the size of the boots he has to fill as he prepares to pull on St Helens’ famous number nine shirt for the first time in Betfred Super League action this week.

The 31-year-old hooker ended his decade-long stay with Warrington at the end of last season to step into the role vacated by James Roby, who retired after 19 trophy-laden years, with 551 appearances to his name.

Having assumed a role on the coaching staff, Roby’s presence continues to loom large at the Totally Wicked Stadium, but Clark is convinced his best route to emulating even a fraction of his predecessor’s success lies in making the position his own.

Clark told the PA news agency: “I knew the challenge when I signed up for it.

“I know I’m not going to be at this club as long and I’m not going to achieve as much as Robes has done at this club, but hopefully I’ll be part of some success and write my own little part of history.

“I have already spoken to Robes and I’m sure he will be there to give me some tips and advice going forward. But it is important that I am judged by my own performances and not against his.”

Clark’s ambition was echoed by Saints head coach Paul Wellens, who ear-marked him as the man to replace Roby as soon as the stalwart confirmed the 2023 season would be his last, but insisted he had never envisaged a like-for-like replacement.

“If Daryl goes out there to be the best version of himself, he will improve our team,” insisted Wellens.

“I need to be clear on this – it would be absolutely ridiculous of Daryl to go out there and try to be James Roby.

“In James Roby, he’s got someone there to have a chat or give guidance and that’s absolutely fine.

“But he’s also an experienced player in his own right, who knows what the game looks like at the highest level, so I told him to ‘just go out there and be you’ and that’s what I think the players and certainly I will respect.”

Having come through the ranks with his home-town club Castleford, Clark experienced five straight final losses – three in the Challenge Cup and twice in Grand Finals – before finally striking it sixth time lucky, ironically against Saints, at Wembley in 2019.

A recipient of the prestigious Super League Man of Steel in his final season Wheldon Road, he is relishing the task of helping Saints reclaim the trophy-winning status they lost to Lancashire rivals Wigan at the end of last season.

“The general feeling is that we’d been champions for so long and to get knocked off last year put us back chasing – and I think that could be a good thing,” he added.

“The main reason I came to Saints at this point in my career is because I wanted to be involved in the big games and win some silverware and that is what I have every intention of doing in the future.”

Three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes has labelled Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid the “best of all time” and said he will be back to attempt a Super Bowl three-peat next year.

Mahomes led his team to a 25-22 victory in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, collecting his third ring, after he threw the match-winning touchdown to Mecole Hardman Jr in overtime.

After the game he thanked his coach who he said “knows when to call those plays at the right time”.

Mahomes said: “He’s one of the best coaches of all time, I believe he is the best coach of all time.

“I know he didn’t have the trophies yet, and I have a lot of respect for some of those great coaches, but the way he is able to navigate every single team he has, continue to have success no matter where he is at.

“For me, he brings out the best in me because he lets me be me. He doesn’t try to make me anyone else, I don’t think I would be the quarterback that I am if I didn’t have coach Reid being my head coach.”

Mahomes said he will celebrate and then “do whatever I can to be back in this game next year”.

“I think Tom (Brady) said it best, once you win that championship and you have those parades and you get those rings, you’re not the champ anymore.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said going back-to-back was “surreal”.

“I got asked so many times it is a dynasty? I don’t know what a dynasty is,” he said.

“But it’s a great win because I know hard it is to do, and then how hard the season was, the ups and downs of the season, and how proud I am of the guys for hanging with each other, staying positive with each other.

“They’re passionate players and I love that.”

San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said the team is “hurting”.

“If I am going to lose with a group of guys, I’d do it with those guys anytime and we’ll take some time, we’ll get over this and come back next year ready to go.

“That was the toughest defence we have been against this year, we knew it going into the game, that is a good group. We had our chances and needed to score a couple of touchdowns and we didn’t but I was happy with (quarterback) Brock (Purdy).”

Jayson Tatum just missed a triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and the Boston Celtics held off a late comeback attempt by the Miami Heat in Sunday's 110-106 victory that extended their winning streak to four games.

Kristaps Porzingis added 25 points and nine rebounds to help Boston defeat Miami for the third time in as many meetings this season. The Heat ousted the Celtics in seven games in last season's Eastern Conference finals.

Miami had a two-game winning streak snapped and was playing without leading scorer Jimmy Butler, who is away from the team due to the death of a family member. The Heat also lost starting guard Terry Rozier to a knee injury in the third quarter.

Porzingis had 16 first-half points as Boston took a 59-50 lead into the break, and the Celtics were up by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and owned a seemingly comfortable 94-82 advantage with 9 1/2 minutes left to play.

The Heat then went on a 10-2 run to get back in it, however, and later cut their deficit to two when Tyler Herro drilled a 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining that trimmed Boston's lead to 106-104.

Miami came up empty on its next two possessions, though, and Porzingis and Tatum combined to go 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the late stages to put the game away.

Herro scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half to lead the Heat, who also received 22 points and 13 rebounds from Bam Adebayo.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams carry Thunder past Kings

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 38 points and Jalen Williams chipped in 32 as the Oklahoma City Thunder got back on track with a 127-113 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Both players had hot shooting performances to help the Thunder bounce back from consecutive road losses to Utah and Dallas and move a half-game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for first place in the Western Conference.  Gilgeous-Alexander finished 15 of 26 from the field while adding seven assists, while Williams was 13 of 20 to go along with nine rebounds.

The duo also recorded 19 first-half points each, with Williams producing eight during a 12-0 run that turned a tied game into a 41-29 Oklahoma City lead four minutes into the second quarter.

Oklahoma City took a 67-57 advantage into half-time before pulling away further in the third quarter, building a lead as large as 24 points.

Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists for his 17th triple-double of the season, two more than Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić for the NBA lead. 

Malik Monk had 26 points off the bench for the Kings, who have now lost three of their last four games. De'Aaron Fox finished with 15 points but was held to 6-of-17 shooting.

J.T. Miller scored the deciding goal with 4.8 seconds remaining in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks stopped a two-game losing streak with Sunday's 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Washington Capitals.

Miller took advantage of a giveaway from Capitals centre Connor McMichael in the Washington zone with time winding down, as the veteran forward fired the resulting loose puck past goaltender Darcy Kuemper to enable the Western Conference leaders to avoid their first three-game skid of the season.

The Canucks twice overcame one-goal deficits to prevail, including a 2-1 hole created when Caps legend Alex Ovechkin's shot deflected off a Vancouver skater and past goaltender Thatcher Demko 7:37 into the second period.

Vancouver answered just over a minute later, however, when Nils Hoglander beat Kuemper on a backhand attempt.

The Canucks also trailed early as Nic Dowd gave Washington a quick 1-0 lead just 1:08 in, though Vancouver's Connor Garland came through with the equaliser with just under nine minutes to go in the first period.

Ovechkin now has a goal in five straight games after recording just eight over his first 40 outings of the season, though the Capitals still lost for the seventh time in eight games as Demko came up with 31 saves.

Kuemper ended with 26 saves for Washington.

Krug's five assists help Blues blow out Canadiens

The St. Louis Blues, meanwhile, continued their strong recent stretch by rolling to a 7-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens behind Torey Krug's five assists and four points from Robert Thomas.

Thomas finished with a goal and three assists and Jordan Kyrou had two goals to help the Blues to their seventh win in eight games. St. Louis also received goals from Alexey Toropchenko, Colton Parayko, Nathan Walker and Jake Neighbours as well as 30 saves from Jordan Binnington.

The Blues led virtually from start to finish, as Toropchenko opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the game. Parayko's blast from near the blue line that got past Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen extended the lead to 2-0 with just 5:05 elapsed, and Kyrou later scored on a power play after Montreal's Nick Suzuki's goal to send St. Louis into the first intermission ahead by a 3-1 score.

Walker's second-period goal and Thomas' power-play conversion increased the margin to 5-1 just 31 seconds into the third period.

Joel Armia got Montreal a bit closer when he redirected teammate David Savard's shot past Binnington 3:06 into the third, but Neighbours scored on a power play just over four minutes later for a 6-2 St. Louis advantage.

Krug's fifth assist came on Kyrou's goal with 4:27 left to play. The defenseman tied a franchise single-game record most recently achieved by Thomas on April 14, 2022.

Allen recorded 29 saves in Montreal's sixth loss in its last eight games, while Suzuki's goal extended his point streak to seven games.

Nick Taylor rode a late surge to secure his fifth PGA Tour title in the second hole of a playoff against Charley Hoffman at the WM Phoenix Open.

The Canadian birdied three of his final four holes on Sunday to force the playoff against America’s Hoffman, who soared to the top of the leaderboard with a fourth-round score of 64.

After each man birdied the first extra hole, Hoffman left his birdie attempt short, leaving the window open for Taylor to sink a birdie putt from 11 feet and clinch the title.

It closed out what had been a frantic final day with Zach Johnson and Billy Horschel earlier exchanging angry words with spectators.

Johnson was filmed remonstrating with fans at TPC Scottsdale and could be heard telling them “I’m sick of it” before demanding they “just shut up”.

It was not apparent from the clip, which was posted on social media, what prompted the former US Ryder Cup captain to lose his temper.

In a separate incident, Horschel was seen remonstrating with a spectator for calling out while one of his playing partners, qualifier Nicolo Galletti, was about to hit a shot.

“Buddy, when he’s over a shot shut the hell up man,” Horschel shouted.

“He’s trying to hit a damn golf shot here – it’s our f****** job.”

The WM Phoenix Open is easily the best attended tournament in golf, but the behaviour of some fans has again attracted more attention than the golf itself.

One man was arrested after jumping over the ropes and diving into a greenside bunker on the par-three 16th, where he proceeded to perform ‘snow angels’ in the sand.

Tournament officials were forced to shut spectator gates earlier than planned after being overwhelmed by the turnout and sales of alcohol were temporarily halted.

Former BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong Hun An took to social media to brand the event a “shit show” which was “totally out of control on every hole”.

He added: “Played here multiple times over the years and it was fine until today.”

Singing sensation Stevie Mulrooney was praised by Andy Farrell following his rousing rendition of Ireland’s Call ahead of Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations match with Italy in Dublin.

Eight-year-old Mulrooney went viral thanks to a passionate performance on the pitch in front of almost 52,000 spectators at a sold-out Aviva Stadium.

The schoolboy from Kilkenny sprang to prominence singing the rugby anthem on RTE’s Late Late Toy Show, before being invited to perform at Ireland’s opening home match of the championship by flanker Josh van der Flier.

He had to wait for his moment in the spotlight as Jennifer Dalton performed the Italian anthem and Amhran na bhFiann before stealing the show to catch the eye of Ireland boss Farrell and thousands of television viewers.

“Oh wow. I tell you, I was actually saying before the game, I was just watching him the whole time,” said Farrell, whose side won 36-0.

“I didn’t know whether he was standing with his mother or not but when I realised the other lady (Dalton) was not his mother and was singing the national anthem for the Italians… his confidence was amazing and I actually thought ‘I wish our lads are going to be like that’.

“He’s got his shoulders back, he was ready.

“He was waving to the crowd, stood there on his own. I thought: ‘this kid’s got it all’.

“He was amazing. He nailed it, didn’t he? It was a great start.”

Zach Johnson and Billy Horschel exchanged angry words with spectators as tempers frayed on the final day of the WM Phoenix Open.

Johnson was filmed remonstrating with fans at TPC Scottsdale and could be heard telling them “I’m sick of it” before demanding they “just shut up”.

It was not apparent from the clip, which was posted on social media, what prompted the former US Ryder Cup captain to lose his temper.

In a separate incident, Horschel was seen remonstrating with a spectator for calling out while one of his playing partners, qualifier Nicolo Galletti, was about to hit a shot.

“Buddy, when he’s over a shot shut the hell up man,” Horschel shouted.

“He’s trying to hit a damn golf shot here – it’s our f****** job.”

The WM Phoenix Open is easily the best attended tournament in golf, but the behaviour of some fans has again attracted more attention than the golf itself.

One man was arrested after jumping over the ropes and diving into a greenside bunker on the par-three 16th, where he proceeded to perform ‘snow angels’ in the sand.

Tournament officials were forced to shut spectator gates earlier than planned after being overwhelmed by the turnout and sales of alcohol were temporarily halted.

Former BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong Hun An took to social media to brand the event a “s***show” which was “totally out of control on every hole”.

He added: “Played here multiple times over the years and it was fine until today.”

Andy Farrell warned Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations title defence “gets tougher from here” after his side swatted aside Italy.

The reigning champions registered a thumping 36-0 bonus-point win to back up last week’s statement success away to pre-tournament favourites France.

Winless Wales visit Dublin on February 24 before Ireland finish their campaign with March appointments against England and Scotland.

Head coach Farrell feels his team have made a “decent start” to the championship as they seek to make history by claiming back-to-back Grand Slams.

“Obviously delighted with two from two and maximum points, 36-0 is a nice scoreline for us,” he said.

“To put in a performance like that where I thought we were clinical at times, I thought our set piece was excellent, top drawer, and then scoring some nice tries on the back of all that type of pressure was very pleasing to get over the line.

“Two from two. It’s a decent start. It gets tougher from here on in.”

Jack Crowley’s first senior try set Ireland on course for victory before Dan Sheehan’s double and scores from Jack Conan, James Lowe and Calvin Nash completed a routine success.

The one-sided result was the first time Ireland had nilled a team in the championship since a 17-0 triumph over England in the 1987 Five Nations.

Stand-in captain Caelan Doris, who deputised for the injured Peter O’Mahony, said: “Keeping them to zero was definitely very pleasing given the quality of their attack.

“It was something we talked about during the week, they’ve a lot of structure in their attack and they’ve got threats throughout.

“I don’t think it’s a mean feat keeping them to zero and we’re happy with that, definitely.”

Farrell made six personnel changes for Sunday afternoon’s contest, which took place in front of a subdued capacity crowd.

The Englishman expects to have sidelined quartet O’Mahony, Tadhg Furlong, Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose back in training before facing Warren Gatland’s men but is waiting to discover the extent of an injury suffered by full-back Hugo Keenan.

“Hugo’s got a bang on his knee so I don’t know,” said Farrell.

“He seems in good spirits but you saw him and he was limping so we’ll see how he turns up tomorrow morning (Monday) whether he needs someone to have a look at that or not.

“I don’t know at this stage.”

Italy arrived at the Aviva Stadium on the back of a positive performance in a three-point defeat to England but rarely entered the hosts’ 22.

Azzurri head coach Gonzalo Quesada said: “They didn’t need to do anything special, just run through their system, their attack.

“When they go those 19 points of difference (in front), it’s like the All Blacks some years ago, they just go through their basics and they had 100 per cent of the lineout, 100 per cent of the scrum, 100 per cent of the high balls.

“And then they just work their rucks in attack and defence with extreme efficiency.

“We expected that level of performance. They did what we know they can do.

“The frustration is more that we couldn’t put a bit more pressure on them like we wanted.”

France, England and Ireland were the winners in round two of the Guinness Six Nations, which failed to produce the excitement seen on the opening weekend.

Here the PA news agency looks at five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

World Rugby recently released an absorbing documentary titled ‘Whistleblowers’ in the hope it will change the conversation around officials by showing the difficulties they face, both personal and professional, in overseeing one of the most complex sports around. But as criticism descended on Nic Berry and James Doleman following controversial calls at Murrayfield and Twickenham respectively, it is clear the odds are stacked against referees because of the laws. The decision not to award Scotland a last-gap try against France and to allow Wales to run down George Ford’s conversion were legitimate according to the rules of the game, but both felt like the wrong call. Clarification shed light on why the right outcomes had been reached, but by that time the online vilification was already underway.

Rugby’s officialdom was at least able to celebrate one notable victory from round two and that was Hollie Davidson’s slice of history at Twickenham. The 31-year-old Scot became the first female member of an officiating team for a men’s Six Nations match as the glass ceiling for women in the sport continues to be broken. Now rugby’s pre-eminent female referee, Davidson has already overseen a men’s international having taken charge of a clash between Portugal and Italy in 2022. A Test between heavyweight nations must be the next goal for the Scottish Rugby Union’s first full-time official.

Even if rugby’s protocols dictate otherwise, Scotland’s stoppage-time try against France should have stood. Scottish dismay was understandable, but this controversial moment aside they can only look inwards when they begin the inquest into why they are not two from two having led for most of the match against opponents nursing a World Cup hangover. A poor spectacle was there for the taking but yet again a group of players regarded as one of the most talented ever to emerge from the country has fallen short. That first Six Nations title appears as elusive as ever.

England are one of two unbeaten sides left in the Six Nations and, while they deserve credit for equalling their victory total for the last three tournaments before the first fallow week, they know their underwhelming wins against Italy and Wales were too close for comfort. Far tougher tests await against Scotland, Ireland and France over the coming weeks and Steve Borthwick’s team must improve significantly if they are to remain in title contention deeper in the tournament. So far they have displayed resilience, a greater appetite to attack and defensive steel, but for now they remain a middling nation.

Only Ireland also remain in Grand Slam contention and, as they swatted aside Italy despite making six changes, it was hard to look beyond another clean sweep for Andy Farrell’s men. No side has managed back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era but such is the depth in Irish rugby and the fluency of their game that it would take a sizeable upset to prevent them writing their name in the history books. Italy, meanwhile, took a step backwards having troubled England in Rome.

Carole’s Pass upheld family honour with a stylish display in the feature Trustatrader You Can Trust Our Traders Mares’ Chase at Exeter.

Trained by Amy Murphy, the six-year-old looked to have plenty to find on the ratings but a bold bit of placing was rewarded in style as she jumped herself into contention at the third last before being ridden out to win in style.

Her dam Carole’s Spirit was a dual Listed winner over hurdles for owner/breeder Paul Murphy, the trainer’s father.

Carole’s Spirit is a half-sister to Carole’s Legacy, second at Grade One level for Nicky Henderson, while she is also related to Mad Max, a Grade Two winner over fences for the Seven Barrows maestro.

Murphy now tends to concentrate more on the Flat but she showed in the early days of her career, with Kalashnikov winning a Betfair Hurdle and the Manifesto Novices’ Chase, that she is just as adept over jumps.

Galia Des Liteaux attempted to make all but was beaten early in the straight and while Malina Girl and Kestrel Valley appeared to be travelling strongly, when Jack Quinlan asked his mount to stride on, Carole’s Pass pulled seven and a half lengths clear.

“First and foremost, I have to say well done to Amy and her father Paul, because I wasn’t so keen on coming down here on the heavy ground but Amy said she’d be grand on it and I’m glad they didn’t listen to the jockey,” Quinlan told Racing TV.

“She’s been wanting the step up to three miles for a while but with breeding in mind, Paul was keen on as much black type as possible and she’s been running over two and a half because that’s what the mares’ Listed races have been over.

“She’s seen that out really well, though – she’s a really nimble, agile jumper and the type you enjoy going around there on.

“I’m delighted she’s got that Listed win under her belt. She was tired in the end but over two and a half, she’d been in top gear and done well sticking on for third in two Listed chases.”

Jack Crowley claimed an overdue first senior try as Ireland continued their Guinness Six Nations title defence with a resounding 36-0 bonus-point win over Italy in Dublin.

The fly-half, who is tasked with filling the void left by retired number 10 Johnny Sexton, has gone 45 appearances for Munster without touching down.

He opened his international account inside seven minutes of his 11th Test to help the reigning champions back up a crushing opening weekend demolition of pre-tournament favourites France.

Dan Sheehan registered two of Ireland’s five further tries to take his tournament tally to three, while Jack Conan, man of the match James Lowe and Calvin Nash were also on the scoresheet for a team captained by Caelan Doris.

Ireland’s display could certainly have been more ruthless but it was more than enough to dispatch the championship’s perennial wooden spoon winners and secure a 17th successive home win.

Andy Farrell’s men remain on course to become the first side to win back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams ahead of hosting Wales on February 24 and March appointments with England and Scotland.

Italy arrived at a sold-out Aviva Stadium as overwhelming underdogs and seeking a first championship success on Irish soil on the back of a positive performance in a three-point defeat to England.

Paolo Garbisi shanked an early penalty to give the Azzurri the lead, before Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey released provincial team-mate Crowley to gleefully register a landmark five points.

The seventh-minute score initially did little to settle the hosts amid a subdued Sunday afternoon atmosphere, which faded fast from eight-year-old Stevie Mulrooney performing a rousing rendition of Ireland’s Call.

Farrell’s starting XV, showing six personnel changes from Marseille, initially looked disjointed as the contest descended into a scrappy affair.

Energetic bursts from Hugo Keenan momentarily lifted the crowd and led to a second score in the 24th minute, with Crowley, Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw ultimately combining to tee up Sheehan.

Blasts of Zombie by the Cranberries – the team’s World Cup anthem – greeted each Ireland try and rang out again three minutes before the break when Conan bulldozed across the line after Joe McCarthy was held up.

Ireland had the bonus point in the bag within five minutes of the restart as hooker Sheehan, who also crossed against Les Bleus, claimed his second try of the afternoon.

Centre Henshaw was perhaps harshly denied a score due to an adjudged double movement before grounding.

But Ireland, who saw full-back Keenan limp off with an apparent leg issue, would not be denied for long.

Impressive Leinster wing Lowe added further gloss to the scoreboard with a powerful 62nd-minute finish, shortly after Italy centre Tommaso Menoncello was sent to the sin bin for illegally stopping him by sticking out a leg.

Following Garbisi’s wayward penalty, outclassed Italy offered little attacking threat and rarely entered the hosts’ 22.

Another fruitless trip to the Irish capital was compounded two minutes from time when Munster wing Nash collected Jamison Gibson-Park’s pass to score for the second week in a row, with replacement 10 Harry Byrne slotting the extras to add to two Crowley conversions.

American Mike came out on top after a good battle with Nick Rockett in the William Hill Ten Up Novice Chase at Navan.

Gordon Elliott’s gelding won on his seasonal debut at the track in November, making a successful start to his chasing career over a lesser trip of two miles and four furlongs.

His next outing was in the Grade One Faugheen Chase, where he came home fourth of five runners when 25 lengths behind Gaelic Warrior at Limerick.

Stepped up to three miles at Navan, the bay was a 7-2 chance under Jack Kennedy and travelled well throughout, jumping soundly on the whole and finding himself in the lead approaching the last.

From there, he seemed to dither slightly and it appeared that Willie Mullins’ Nick Rockett might pass him, but as the two locked horns approaching the line, it was American Mike who eventually pulled away to win by a length and a quarter.

As a result of the victory, he was clipped from 33-1 to 20-1 for the Turners Novices’ Chase with Betfair and from 25-1 to 12-1 for the same race with Coral.

“To be honest, he’s probably one of the horses that makes me scratch my head more than any other. He keeps disappointing me and then he comes back with a good one again,” said Elliott.

“He has obviously got a big engine on his day, when he’s right, but he’s not easy to train. I thought Jack gave him a great ride.

“I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going with him, he’s a horse that baffles me.

“We’ve just tipped away with him steady at home and haven’t over-worked him, as he was very fit going to Christmas but just didn’t get home.

“He’s in a few of the novice chases at Cheltenham and he could go for an Irish National. I don’t know what I’m going to do with him, to be honest.

“We’ll enjoy today, he’s won a graded race for Noel and Valerie (Moran, owners) at their local track, they are big supporters of Navan and the whole game.”

Runner-up Nick Rockett lost nothing in defeat and was trimmed to 5-1 from 6-1 for the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham by Betfair.