Castleford’s sensational spell blows Bradford away to kick off birthday celebrations

It is fair to assume neither Castleford Tigers nor Bradford Bulls will be in title contention later this year, not least based on what we saw here from both teams. However, in terms of an appetiser to set the scene for Super League’s 30th anniversary weekend, this West Yorkshire derby was about as entertaining as you could have hoped for if you were a neutral.The beauty of early-season games like these is that narratives that have been formed can be quickly dismantled in the blink of an eye and, given defensive displays they have put in so far, it was hard not to feel that was perhaps the case on this occasion.With three wins from their opening five since promotion, Bradford have rightly been heralded as a major positive of 2026. In contrast, Castleford have won only once and arrived at this game off the back of a 72-6 defeat at Warrington, one of their heaviest in the Super League era

Sinner continues smooth Miami progress with win over Tiafoe as rivals fall

The past nine days at the Miami Open have not been kind to most of the world’s best male tennis players. One by one, so many have fallen, most dumped out with mediocre performances. Even ­Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, was not immune to the string of ­giantkillings in Florida.One man remains completely unbothered. Having broken Novak Djokovic’s 2016 record for most ­consecutive sets won at Masters 1000 events earlier in the ­tournament, ­Jannik Sinner has continued to ­bulldoze through the draw as he tries to follow up his recent Indian Wells title by winning the Sunshine Double

From Laurel Hubbard to sex testing in five years: why the Olympics U-turned on transgender rules | Sean Ingle

The IOC’s shift in position on trans women in elite sports is seismic, but new president Kirsty Coventry is reflecting a changed political climateBy any measure, it amounts to one of the most astonishing U-turns from a governing body in modern times. Four and a half years ago, the International Olympic Committee was lauding the appearance of the first transgender weightlifter, Laurel Hubbard, at an Olympics, and issuing a framework to sports saying that transgender women “should not be deemed to have an unfair or disproportionate competitive advantage” over biological women.Now it has not only ripped up every last morsel of that guidance but also performed a spectacular 180-degree turn.Over 10 tightly worded pages, the IOC now states that the female category must be protected for fairness and safety reasons, and makes it clear that SRY screening – a sex test using saliva or a cheek-swab – will be used to determine biological sex.It is a monumental shift that means transgender women and athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), who were reported as female at birth but have internal testes and have undergone male puberty, are now banned from the female category at all future Olympics

Prem Rugby introduces minimum salary floor of £5.4m for clubs next season

Prem Rugby will introduce a minimum salary floor of £5.4m for each club next season as part of a long-term plan to increase competitiveness. The Rugby Football Union Council voted last month to ringfence the existing 10-team Prem until the 2029-30 season, when it is hoped two clubs will be added provided they meet minimum financial and sporting standards.Explaining the Prem’s growth plans in detail for the first time, its chief executive, Simon Massie-Taylor, revealed they are aiming to open expansion windows every four years, when up to two clubs could join. The first tender process will take place during 2027 and the most impressive applicants could be invited to join Champ Rugby the following season, with a view to moving up to the Prem in 2028-29 as long as they reach the playoffs in the second tier

Tom Brady, 48, says he explored return to NFL but league ‘don’t like that idea very much’

Tom Brady says he explored the idea of making a return to the NFL as a player but the league “don’t like that idea very much”.Brady’s last NFL game came in a defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in January 2023. Since then he has become a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders as well as a television analyst for Fox. A spokesperson for the league said that Brady, who turns 49 in August, would need to divest his stake in the Raiders if he was to return to playing.“I actually have inquired [about a return to playing], and [the NFL] don’t like that idea very much,” Brady told CNBC Sport this week

Transgender women athletes banned from female events at Olympics by IOC

The International Olympic Committee has banned transgender women and DSD athletes from the female category of events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games.Kirsty Coventry, the president of the IOC, said the landmark decision had been taken because “it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category”.The IOC has also confirmed that all athletes wanting to compete in the female category at future Olympics will have to undergo a one-off SRY (sex determining region Y gene) screening to detect their biological sex. Usually that is done via an unintrusive cheek-swab or saliva test.Coventry said the decision, which applies to elite individual and team sports, was based on science and would protect the fairness and safety of women’s sport