Former British and Commonwealth champion Willie Limond has died at the age of 45, the St Andrew’s Sporting Club has announced.

Limond fell ill last week amid preparations for a fight.

A statement from the Scot’s boxing club read: “Everyone at St Andrew’s Sporting Club are shocked and deeply saddened at the loss of our friend, Willie Limond.

“Willie was not only a legend of the sport, but an infectious character who will be greatly missed by us all.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jake, Drew, Macy and the rest of the Limond family at this time.”

Former opponent Curtis Woodhouse was among those to pay tribute to Limond.

Limond beat Woodhouse to retain his Commonwealth light-welterweight title at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena in 2014.

Woodhouse posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Absolutely devastated to hear the news of the passing of Willie Limond, a great fighter and a great man.

“We stayed in touch after our fight and always had a laugh together. Absolutely gutted. Rest In Peace champ.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan has called for the World Snooker Championship to be moved from the Crucible, naming Saudi Arabia and China as possible alternatives.

The Sheffield venue has hosted every edition of the tournament since 1977 but the seven-time champion believes the time has come for change.

The 48-year-old will seek to win a record eighth title when the championship begins on April 20, having recently competed in the Saudi capital Riyadh and the Chinese city of Yushan.

“I don’t like the Crucible,” he told the Sun. “I don’t think you can get in and out of it. I think definitely it’s a wise decision to take it away from Sheffield.

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“Still have a tournament there. Why not? But just not the world championship over 17 days. It’s a massive circus and you need a massive space to accommodate it.

“I think Saudi Arabia would be great. They’ve got the resources and would do it great. If you’re going to take it to China, you’d have to take it to Shanghai. Or another major city like Shenzhen or Guangzhou.

“It’d be done properly. Courtesy cars will be laid on. Food will be there. Hotels will be great. Everything would be paid for. Prize money would be astronomical.

“The snooker becomes secondary. What are the facilities like? What’s it like for the fans? What’s the access like? You don’t need a 10 out of 10 venue. But everything else has to be right.”

Football and cricket’s transgender inclusion policies are set to come under Government scrutiny at a meeting on Monday afternoon.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has convened a gathering of national sports governing bodies to discuss developments related to this hugely controversial topic.

The Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s policies are under review, but do currently permit transgender women to compete in female competitions subject to certain conditions.

Frazer told Sky News last month: “I think it’s very important that women are able to compete against women and there’s an inherent unfairness, that if you’re not biologically a woman, you have a competitive advantage.

“And I think a number of sports have looked at this very carefully and come to the decision that it’s not appropriate to have women competing against people who are not biologically women.

“We’ve seen that in rowing. We’ve seen that in swimming. And I would encourage other sporting bodies to look at that very carefully.”

Transgender women can play in adult female competitions governed by the FA provided their testosterone levels are within the natal female range for an appropriate period of time.

The ECB’s current transgender policy allows a trans woman to play in any female-only competition governed by the ECB and states that those individuals “should be accepted in the gender with which they identify”.  The same principle applies at professional and England pathway level, subject to the trans woman being given written clearance to participate.

The ECB also has a separate disparity policy which can be applied when safety concerns are raised around differences in strength, stamina and physique, for example.

The policy covers safety matters for all players regardless of gender, but where safety concerns arise as a result of a trans woman participating in a female-only competition in the recreational game, the practices, principles and procedures set out in the policy could be applied.

Transgender women were banned from female cricket at international level last year after a change in policy by the sport’s global governing body, the International Cricket Council.

It joined a number of other international federations, such as athletics, swimming and cycling, in stating that anyone who has been through any part of male puberty would no longer be eligible to play in international women’s cricket.

Following the ICC announcement, the ECB said in a statement: “We are currently consulting on our own transgender participation policy for the professional game in England and Wales and expect to reach a conclusion on this shortly.”

A recent BBC survey found more than 100 elite sportswomen were uncomfortable with transgender women competing in female categories in their sport.

A paper published last month in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports also said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was wrong on current evidence to say in its framework on transgender inclusion there could be no presumed advantage to transgender women.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is seeking to challenge World Aquatics rules introduced in 2022 which prohibit her from competing in the female category.

The rules are set to be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by Thomas’ legal team on the grounds that they are discriminatory and that such discrimination “cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective”.

Long-serving presenter Garry Richardson will step down from BBC Radio Four’s Today programme this autumn, the corporation has announced.

Richardson will present the sports news on the early morning programme for the final time on September 9, marking precisely 50 years since his first day as a junior researcher for the broadcaster in 1974.

He has been working on the Today programme since 1981, and was also the host of the agenda-setting Sportsweek programme on Sunday mornings on BBC Radio 5 Live for 20 years until its final edition in September 2019.

“I have had the most wonderful time working for the BBC alongside my heroes from sport and showbusiness,” Richardson said.

“I’ll still be broadcasting from time to time, the only difference will be I won’t be setting my alarm for 2.45am and that’s a lovely thought.”

The BBC’s director-general Tim Davie described Richardson as a “legendary presenter” and added: “So many of us have woken up to him bringing the latest sporting news for over four decades.

“He has brought wisdom, insight and a smile to every broadcast. On behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank Garry for everything he has done, fifty years at the BBC is an incredible milestone.”

The news about Richardson comes just two days after it was confirmed Jonathan Agnew would stand down as the corporation’s chief cricket correspondent at the end of the summer.

Agnew will continue to commentate on the BBC’s Test Match Special broadcasts for four more years.

Oxford coxswain Will Denegri refused to blame illness for why the favourites suffered a disappointing loss in the 169th edition of the men’s Boat Race.

Cambridge, whose women secured a seventh successive trophy, were seen as underdogs despite doing the double last season but took the honours on a sunny Easter weekend where the pleasant conditions were in contrast to the discovery, earlier this week, that high levels of E. coli had been found along the course.

E. coli can cause a range of serious infections and other side-effects and rowers were told ahead of the race not to enter the Thames.

As a result, neither winning crew elected to partake in the tradition of throwing their cox into the river, and while Oxford’s seven seat Leonard Jenkins had earlier revealed to the BBC that he and several crewmates had been plagued by what he branded an E. coli-related illness, his cox was more reluctant to directly blame the bacteria.

Denegri said: “This week we’ve had three people who have had to miss sessions because they’ve had stomach bugs, essentially. Whether that’s related to E. coli in the river I don’t know, but it’s certainly not helped our campaign, and it’s a poor excuse.

“It’s not an excuse, but it definitely hasn’t helped our preparation. We obviously had a bit of a messy start, not the start we wanted. We had a great warm-up, nothing went wrong in the warm-up, so maybe that was not something we were expecting.

“It felt like we never quite got on the rhythm we were hoping to go onto, but at the same time it wasn’t terrible. We were doing a decent job. Cambridge I think today were just a quicker group, and that’s hard to take.”

Earlier, Jenkins had told the BBC:  “It would have been ideal not to have had so much poo in the water. But that’s not to take away from Cambridge.”

Cambridge triumphed by three and a half boat lengths in a time of 18 minutes and 56 seconds.

They have now won five of the last six editions and had taken a substantial lead by the final push to the finish, Oxford’s only glimmer of hope coming when winning stroke Matt Edge had visibly been pushed to his limit.

The dark blue boat drew closer, but by then Cambridge had rallied behind their ailing team-mate and their earlier advantage proved too much for their rivals to overcome.

Denegri was more willing to acknowledge the role flooding at their Wallingford base played in Oxford’s preparation, which forced them on several occasions to make the trip to the much-further Caversham Lake.

He said: “It’s obviously affected us a lot, especially through February. Caversham Lake is an hour and 10 minutes’ drive from Oxford, so spending two and a half hours on the bus every day has definitely interrupted our training.”

Cambridge, who train at Ely, faced no such challenges nor, as chief coach Rob Baker later confirmed, did they have any illness concerns ahead of Saturday’s showdown.

Following guidance issued to competitors, Baker did insist Ed Bracey – who initially said he might be willing – did not get dunked in the Thames, arranging instead for a bucket of clean water to be dumped on his cox’s head.

Bracey said of the victory: “It was very noisy through the middle of the race and very quiet those last few minutes there, but we got it done. We got it over the line in the end.

“[The pollution news] didn’t really change the way we handled anything to be honest. The stuff we were being advised to do is what we normally do, so it was business as usual.”

Baker, who was not aware of the illness plaguing Oxford, agreed Cambridge’s flood-free Ely HQ – “the best place to train in the country” –  was an advantage, and confirmed Edge, who was attended to by medical staff,  needed some fuel and warmth after the race but thought his stroke would be “fine”.

Asked about the E. coli controversy that had marred an another otherwise brilliant weekend for Cambridge, he added: “It’s obviously not a great situation. We’d like cleaner waterways and not have such a risk for our athletes.”

Cambridge extended their dominant run in the Boat Race with victory in both the men’s and women’s showdowns.

The men claimed a fifth trophy in six years, while the women cruised to a seventh straight triumph.

Crews were blessed with sunny conditions, with temperatures reaching the mid-teens and just a light breeze blowing ahead of launch time for the women’s race at 2:46pm.

Those pleasant conditions were in contrast to the news earlier this week that high levels of E. coli, which can cause a range of serious infections and other side-effects, had been found along the championship course.

All crews were issued safety guidance on a range of preventative measures, from covering up scrapes with waterproof plasters to ensuring rowers avoided swallowing any water that splashed up from the Thames.

Oxford won both coin tosses but opted for different starting points, with the women choosing Middlesex on the Fulham/Chiswick side of the course and the men beginning their quest at Surrey station on the Putney/Barnes side.

Both dark blue Oxford boats were seen as favourites for the 78th women’s and 169th men’s races.

The latter, umpired by Matthew Pinsent – himself a two-time Boat Race champion with Oxford – saw Cambridge take an early lead before Oxford quickly drew level as the four-time Olympic champion dished out early warnings as the boats drew close.

Cambridge took a narrow lead, which saw them ahead by half a length and 1.52 seconds at Hammersmith Bridge, but settled into a smooth rhythm that left Oxford even further behind.

Oxford, with just one returning crew member from last year’s loss, had fallen behind by more than 10 seconds by the time the crews reached the Chiswick steps, but it was not completely smooth sailing for the eventual victors.

Stroke Matt Edge was clearly flailing, his oar only just dipping in the water, but Cambridge’s lead proved too big an ask for Oxford as Edge’s crew rallied around their tiring team-mate to claim another victory.

Annie Sharp is only half-joking when she predicts she will be the only rower as excited about starting the Boat Race in close proximity to the Thames’ new ‘super sewer’ as she is about the chance to snap a six-year winless stretch for Oxford’s women.

The 24-year-old’s enthusiasm for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a £4.5 billion, 25km-long sewage structure which saw its final piece lifted into place this week, makes more sense when you learn that Sharp is a MSc water science, policy & management student at St Antony’s College.

Oxford last won the women’s Boat Race in 2016, the same year work began on the sewer, but might not be able to partake in the traditional celebratory dip should they win the 78th women’s edition this Saturday after high levels of E. coli were found along the Championship Course.

Speaking before the findings were announced, Sharp, who will occupy the six seat, told the PA news agency: “We are working with water and unfortunately against it sometimes with the flooding that we’ve had at Wallingford this year.

“I’m a massive water advocate, and (for) the energy that we can also get back from renewable energy.

“British Rowing released their environment and sustainability programme (this month), some of the athletes are leading programmes and pushing for athletes to be more involved.

“I think absolutely, as role models they are massive for people trying to learn how to row and progress, so them using that platform I think is super important. Ultimately we all need to do our bit, but you do need the top-down approaches that really lead those decisions.”

Rowers have been issued safety guidance, including tips around covering cuts with waterproof dressings, taking care not to swallow river water, wearing suitable footwear and cleaning all equipment thoroughly.

Tideway, the company building the super sewer, has now completed the full 25km, 7.2m-wide main tunnel, a 4.5km connection tunnel in south-east London, and a 1.1km tunnel in south-west London. 

It claims that, once fully opened in 2025, it should “almost completely” reduce “tens of millions of tonnes of storm sewage” that makes its way into the Thames annually.

British Rowing, meanwhile, launched a new sustainability policy on the same day Sharp and the 35 other athletes taking seats in the Blue Boats this Saturday were announced.

The national governing body cited the latest State of Our Rivers report from The Rivers Trust which revealed that not a single river in England or Northern Ireland was considered ‘in good overall health’. 

As part of its new initiative, a partnership with River Action, The Rivers Trust and Aquascope, British Rowing will be announcing a funding programme which will enable clubs – over 30 of which sit along the Boat Race course – to test their water, clean up litter and tackle the increasing problem of invasive species.

Olympian Imogen Grant, a two-time Boat Race winner with Cambridge who came up 0.01 seconds short of lightweight double skulls bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Games and will try again this summer in Paris, has long advocated for sustainability within her sport and beyond.

Grant, one of four athletes comprising British Rowing’s sustainability working group at Caversham, told PA: “We spend three or four hours out on the water every single day. I’ve been rowing for nine years now and I’ve seen the impact of the climate on the rivers during that time. There’s been more flooding, races are cancelled due to strong winds, bad weather, things that would have been unforeseeable a decade ago.

“Something like the climate crisis can feel so overwhelming, but rowers, we know water, we know wind, we know that space, so starting with change there is a really great way to empower people.

“We’re so well placed as sports people to do this. It’s what we do every day. We love to root for an underdog. We love to choose a goal and work towards it, and that’s exactly what we need to do with our rivers’ health.”

Frazer Clarke is ready to have the last laugh when he takes on Fabio Wardley for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles on Sunday in what will be the biggest night of his professional career.

Olympic bronze medallist Clarke has been forced to bide his time for a shot at domestic rival Wardley after their prospective bout last year collapsed.

Clarke’s own team of 258 Management and promotion company Boxxer made the decision to withdraw the 32-year-old on the day of purse bids, which resulted in their fighter being at the centre of a social media storm.

After Clarke took criticism and ridicule from all directions “on the chin”, he regrouped to get the better of veteran Mariusz Wach on points last summer before he comprehensively dismantled Dave Allen in September to finally set up an eagerly-anticipated clash with Wardley at London’s O2 Arena on Easter Sunday.

“It wasn’t pleasant. Definitely wasn’t pleasant,” Clarke told the PA news agency about the purse bid episode.

“To go through that at that stage of my career, it felt unfair but I am a firm believer in dealing with things as they come to you.

“I just had to get on with it. I did that and didn’t really complain too much. I got a lot of stick from a lot of people but took it on the chin. Got on with things. I had a couple of bad weeks but after that I was fine and we moved on.”

Clarke (8-0, 6KOs) conceded facing 48-fight veteran Wach at York Hall months after he was in line to compete for the British title proved to be the “biggest anti-climax ever”, while even Allen failed to “get the juices flowing” for the Stoke-on-Trent boxer.

However, motivation will be no problem when the 32-year-old steps in with Wardley, 29, after several social media exchanges between the duo who have been on a collision course since the latter beat one of Clarke’s old Olympic programme team-mates.

“I was at the Nathan Gorman fight. I watched that with keen interest and the second he became British champion, I thought one day I will end up fighting him,” Clarke said.

“I would say a rivalry is the right word. I wouldn’t say it’s a grudge because I have got no issue with Fabio.

“We’ve had a bit of back and forth, but that’s just the nature of the beast. It is all part and parcel of the game.

“The rivalry is definitely there. I would say it is a competitive rivalry rather than anything else.”

A subplot to this domestic dust-up is the pair’s upbringing, with Clarke steeped in boxing tradition after he progressed through the British Olympic programme, while Wardley’s first venture into the sport was through white-collar fights.

Nevertheless, Clarke acknowledged he is the underdog against an opponent who has won all 17 of his professional fights, but is ready to lean on his amateur pedigree and silence the critics after a “brutal” fight camp.

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He added: “Physically, emotionally, it’s been hard, draining but I feel like I’m coming out the other end.

“As a professional, this is definitely by far the biggest night of my life and everything will go into this.

“I’m motivated, I’m up for it and I’m really enjoying this underdog mentality.

“Having people against me, having people expecting me to get flattened, it will be sweet to prove people wrong.”

Fallon Sherrock wrapped up a successful two days at the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan with victory in the Event Four final on Sunday.

Sherrock, already victorious in Event One on Saturday, overpowered Beau Greaves 5-1 to claim her second triumph of the weekend.

Mikuru Suzuki also tasted success at the Robin Park Tennis Centre as she beat Deta Hedman 5-4 in the Event Three final earlier in the day.

Sherrock’s win came after a repeat of the Event One final, but was won far more convincingly than Saturday’s last-leg decider.

She had also powered through the earlier rounds as she disposed of Kirsi Viinikainen and Desiree Geel 5-0 and 5-1 respectively.

Suzuki edged out Sherrock 5-4 in the semi-finals of Event Three before going to beat Hedman in a deciding leg.

Judd Trump defended his World Open crown with a comprehensive 10-4 victory over Ding Junhui to claim the 28th ranking title of his career and move level with fourth-placed Steve Davis on the all-time list.

Trump dominated a scrappy first session in Yushan with a string of half-century breaks to open up an ominous 7-2 lead over home favourite Ding, who was let down by his safety play.

A stunning break of 130 by Trump after the interval managed to light up the final before he closed out the match with another century to clinch his fifth ranking title of the season.

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A 6-2 semi-final win over Jackson Page had kept Trump on course to defend the tournament he won in 2019 with this year the first time it has been staged again following the coronavirus pandemic.

China’s Ding stood in Trump’s way and the opening frame set the tone for a cagey encounter.

Ding was left to rue a missed pink after a break of 39 with Trump able to eventually move one up after a succession of snookers from the duo.

Trump was not in full flow but an 88-break established a 3-0 lead before Ding responded with 59 to reduce the deficit before the mid-session interval.

World number two Trump upped his level in the second half of the first session and produced breaks of 59, 79 and 78 to take control despite the interruption of several mobile phones.

Hopes of a spectacular comeback were raised when Ding produced a sparking 106 break to close out the first session.

Trump had other ideas and replied with his own first century of the match after a stunning clearance of 130.

Another three-figure break followed after the Englishman showed off his full repertoire of shots, in between Ding’s 11th-frame 84, to move on the verge of victory.

Ding ensured another interval would occur when he edged a tight next frame, but Trump would not be denied.

An intriguing 14th frame eventually clinched more World Open success for Trump, although only after he missed the red on four occasions after a brilliant snooker by Ding.

Trump’s 58 break still had him in control and despite more fine safety play by Ding, a superb pink secured the frame and the final by a 10-4 score.

It represented the 28th ranking title of Trump’s career to draw him level with Davis, while only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins have won more than the Bristol potter.

England manager Gareth Southgate joined other members of the sporting world in sending a message of support to the Princess of Wales following her cancer diagnosis.

Kate revealed she was undergoing treatment for the disease in an emotional video message shared on Friday evening.

“Clearly we’ve just heard about the Princess of Wales and we just wanted to send our thoughts and best wishes to her and all her family,” said Southgate, speaking ahead of Saturday’s friendly with Brazil.

“Remarkably dignified statement she gave and we have a close relationship with family so upset by the news but hope everything goes well for her.”

The Football Association, of which the Prince of Wales is president, earlier posted on X: “Our thoughts are with the Princess of Wales, the Prince of Wales and their family.

“We send our very best wishes to the Princess for a full recovery.”

Former tennis player Billie Jean King – who sat alongside the Princess at Wimbledon last year – and ex-England striker Gary Lineker were among the well wishers on social media.

“Sending our love, support, and best wishes for a full and complete recovery to Catherine, The Princess of Wales,” wrote King.

Match of the Day host Lineker, also using X, posted: “Awful news. Wishing The Princess of Wales a full recovery.”

Kate, 42, is patron of the Rugby Football Union and attended some of England’s matches at last year’s World Cup in France.

A message from England Rugby read: “Everyone at England Rugby is wishing our Patron HRH The Princess of Wales a full and speedy recovery.”

The International Olympic Committee is wrong, on current evidence, to say there can be no presumed advantage to transgender women competing in female categories, a new study states.

The IOC has been urged to review the framework for transgender inclusion it published in 2021 in a new paper published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.

Scientists say there is a mountain of evidence in existing studies highlighting the differences in physical performance between men and women but also “limited but existing evidence” that significant advantages remain even after a trans woman who has been through male puberty has undergone treatment to lower testosterone.

Alun Williams, Professor of Sport and Exercise Genomics at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport and co-author of the paper, said: “The IOC’s framework says there is no ‘presumption of advantage’, but the data shows there is physical development that takes place during adolescence in males that gives clear athletic advantages.

“Male development during puberty results in large performance advantages in athletic sports, such as larger muscle mass, heart size, lung capacity, bones, strength, and circulating haemoglobin, which are integral to sports performance.

“It is this exposure to testosterone during adolescent development, not the level of testosterone present in adults, that underpins the difference between the male and female categories, and there is currently no evidence that testosterone suppression in transgender women can reverse male development and negate these advantages.”

The new research uses data to demonstrate the difference between male and female physiology, showing, for example, up to 50 per cent greater upper body muscle mass and 40 per cent greater lower body muscle mass in males, in addition to skeletal differences such as nine per cent greater height and 14 per cent greater shoulder width.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is seeking to challenge World Aquatics rules introduced in 2022 which prohibit her from competing in the female category.

The rules are set to be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by Thomas’ legal team on the grounds that they are discriminatory and that such discrimination “cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective”.

Speaking generally rather than specifically on the Thomas case, Professor Williams said proportionality was always a difficult issue to interpret.

“To some, a proportionate response to even a one per cent retained advantage is ineligibility,” he said.

“Some people have asked, is there a meaningful advantage or meaningful difference that still exists (even after testosterone treatment)?”

Asked whether there was a meaningful advantage, Professor Williams replied: “That is what the evidence shows. Whatever the initial (performance) difference is, typically less than half of that difference seems to be removed (by the lowering of testosterone) in the scientific studies examined.

“At least half (the advantage) in most of the things that we’re talking about –  muscle mass and strength and endurance and so on – seems to remain.”

The IOC has been contacted for a response.

James Bell is the first to admit he rode his luck to reach the top of the rugby league world, and that makes the in-form St Helens forward all the more determined to make the most of his time in the spotlight.

The 29-year-old New Zealander has been one of the stand-out performers in the first month of the new Betfred Super League season, emerging off the bench to help wrestle games against the likes of Leigh and Leeds back in Saints’ favour.

Bell’s battle to become an intregral part of Paul Wellens’ new-look Saints squad is the latest triumph on an improbable career path, which began when he seized an unlikely chance with his beloved Auckland Warriors a decade ago.

“I remember sitting on the sidelines at a Warriors game telling my dad that one day that’s what I want to do, but the journey wasn’t easy and it only happened by luck and coincidence,” Bell told the PA news agency.

“I went to watch my mate play in a trial for the junior Warriors but the team they were playing didn’t have enough numbers so they went round the pitch asking for anyone who had their boots and was under the age of 20.

“I was 19 years old and I’d never even made a representative team in my life. Initially I said no, but my friend told me to jump on the field and I scored a couple of tries and had the best game of my career.

“At the end of the game, New Zealand legend Stacey Jones came up to me and said ‘what’s your name and where the hell have you been this whole time?’ I went from nothing to training with the Warriors the next Monday.”

Bell, the fourth oldest of six brothers and one sister who grew up in the Auckland suburb of Papakura – “probably the biggest games I’ve played were in my back yard against my brothers” – went on to make his NRL debut for the Warriors in 2017.

But while his friend at the trial match, Jazz Tevaga, went on make over 100 appearances for the club, Bell was deemed surplus to requirements after just two games, and when his contract expired in 2019 he looked to Europe for the chance to extend his career.

A Scotland international by virtue of his paternal grandfather, Bell first landed at Toulouse after impressing head coach Sylvain Houles in a 2018 international, then moved on to make his Super League debut with Leigh in 2021.

“When I was coming off my contract with the Warriors I was almost begging them to find me something,” added Bell. “There have been a lot of stages in my career where I’ve felt at a standstill with no opportunity.

“But I always knew I loved the game and that I wanted to stick around and keep chipping away and finding opportunities to test my limits. So much of it has been down to chance, that being where I am today feels a bit surreal.”

Bell moved on to Saints later in 2021, initially struggling to force his way into a competitive first-team structure.

But Bell’s persistence, allied with what Wellens calls his “infectious” enthusiasm for the game, saw his opportunities increase, culminating in being part of Saints’ heroic 2023 World Club Challenge win over NRL champions Penrith.

“I’ve had the best pre-season since I came to the club and I think that’s stood me in good stead,” said Bell, who will next feature in Saints’ return trip to Headingley on Friday in the last 16 of the Betfred Challenge Cup.

“I’ve come into an environment where I’m feeling valued, and I think I’ve probably proven to myself now that I am good enough to be here and I do deserve it. It’s given me a vision of where I want to go, and I won’t need to be so reliant on luck.”

Castleford head coach Craig Lingard will take the Super League strugglers to his old club Batley in the sixth round of the Betfred Challenge Cup.

Lingard, who lamented his side’s “embarrassing” display in Friday’s 50-8 home mauling by Huddersfield, left the Championship outfit to take over at Wheldon Road last year.

And he will be all too aware of the potential to be on the wrong end of another night to forget on the famous sloping pitch at Mount Pleasant.

Elsewhere, Wigan host Sheffield Eagles in a repeat of the 1998 final which saw the Eagles record one of the tournament’s biggest upsets with a 17-8 win.

Super League giants Leeds and St Helens will clash at Headingley, while holders Leigh start their defence against Championship Featherstone.

Last year’s losing finalists Hull KR play Salford, Warrington meet London Broncos, Huddersfield take on Hull FC and the fourth surviving second-tier side, Halifax, are at home to Catalans Dragons.

Kelly Gallagher and guide Charlotte Evans won Great Britain’s first-ever gold medal at the Winter Paralympics on this day in 2014 with victory in the women’s visually impaired Super-G in Sochi.

The duo had experienced disappointment days earlier in the downhill event where they were five seconds off the pace and finished last.

Yet visually impaired Gallagher and guide Evans turned around their fortunes, with a time of one minute and 28.72 seconds enough to secure the Super-G title ahead of Russian world champion Aleksandra Frantceva.

Evans had been emotional after a sixth-placed finish in the downhill, but vowed they would “come back fighting” and proved true to her word.

The first of the six pairs to take on the course, Gallagher and Evans navigated the track impressively to set what would prove a winning time.

Russia’s Frantceva and guide Pavel Zabotin clocked one minute and 28.94 seconds, but it was not enough to deny Gallagher and Evans gold and they were joined on the podium by compatriots Jade Etherington and guide Caroline Powell, who claimed third (1:29.76) to follow their silver in the downhill.

“It was really hard work coming from downhill into Super-G because they are similar speed events. We were told by our sports psychologist to put it away, it’s one result. It’s so easy to say, so hard to do,” Gallagher explained.

“I lost all of my faith in myself, in Charlotte, in our processes, in what we were doing and I was like, ‘I only have a couple of hours to put this together, because we’re going to be back on snow and we’ve got to race’.

“We wouldn’t have got here if it wasn’t for Charlotte. When I haven’t believed in myself, she has believed in us and believed in herself.”