Liverpool have confirmed that women's first team manager Matt Beard will leave his post with immediate effect.

Beard first joined LFC Women in 2012, winning back-to-back Women's Super League (WSL) titles in 2013 and 2014 before he left in 2015.

He rejoined the club in May 2021 and helped return Liverpool to the top-flight ahead of the 2022-23 season.

After defying expectations to finish fourth in the WSL last season, Liverpool have struggled this term and are seventh in the table after 14 games.

In a statement on Thursday, a club spokesperson said: "On behalf of the LFC Women Board, Mike Gordon, President, Fenway Sports Group; Billy Hogan, Chief Executive Officer, LFC and Susan Black, Communications Director, LFC thank Matt for his significant contribution.

"We have all experienced some fantastic moments with Matt as manager of LFC Women and we express our gratitude for his significant contribution. Our priority was to return this team to where it belongs and we collectively achieved that in 2022 by winning promotion to the WSL.

"We need to build on that momentum and although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for future success on the pitch.

"The search for a new manager of LFC Women is underway with Amber Whiteley stepping into the Interim LFC Women's Manager role with immediate effect."

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insists "nothing is decided yet" in the Premier League title race despite his team moving 13 points clear with a 2-0 win over Newcastle United.

Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister helped Liverpool ease past Eddie Howe's side at Anfield on Wednesday night, with second-place Arsenal drawing away to Nottingham Forest. It was a fifth game in the space of 15 days for Arne Slot's side who are now unbeaten in 24 matches in league.

"I think it was a good performance; offensively, defensively," Van Dijk said after the game. "What I enjoyed the most, and what I like to see, was the last 20 minutes and how we controlled the game in possession and let them run.

"I think we did that well. It is the most difficult thing to keep running behind the ball and trying to win the ball but if you have the ball then you can create the open space and more chances and I think we did that in a good way."

There was a celebratory atmosphere at Anfield as news of Arsenal's result filtered through, with supporters inside the stadium singing: "We're Gonna Win The League." However, Van Dijk is confident that he and his teammates won't be distracted by the outside noise as they bid to secure a record-equalling 20th league title this term.

"They can sing whatever they want," he said. "We have to deal with that. It was a good atmosphere today like always and we have to make sure that definitely the rest of the games here will be an amazing atmosphere and we have to keep going.

"We definitely enjoy the atmosphere. There is no 'almost there.' There are 10 more games to go for us and nothing is decided yet. Until it gets decided we don't get carried away whatsoever."

"I'm going to be the boring guy in that sense because I'm going to say 'Onto the next, keep calm,'" he added.

"You have to enjoy winning games but not for too long as you play almost every three days. Now we have a little gap. That's the only thing we have to do, prepare for the next.

"It was an intense 15 days with a lot of intense games and I think we came out of it pretty well and we have put ourselves in a very good position but it doesn't mean that anything is done, I keep reminding players and also to the outside world that there is no time and space for complacency.

"The message today was we had to show what we are all about because after a very good win against Man City and then drop points or have a bad performance then the performance against City doesn't stand for anything.

"I think we showed a very good reaction, a great game offensively, defensively and a clean sheet again. I think we have also the most clean sheets in this season and that's all down to the hard work of the team and we have to keep that going and see what that brings."

Former Leicester Tigers coach Tom Hudson will take over at Premiership Women's Rugby rivals Sale Sharks at the end of the season.

The 30-year-old will succeed former Wales captain Rachel Taylor, who confirmed in January she would step down as head coach at the end of this campaign.

Hudson's own departure from Leicester was confirmed at a similar time. He has been Tigers head coach for a year, having been promoted from within the ranks.

"I grew up in Heaton Moor, I was part of the DPP and Sale Sharks is my family club so I'm really excited to be coming back to a club, a city and a region that means so much to me," said Hudson.

"This club has so much potential and if we can build on the brilliant work that's gone before, and add to the talented group we've already got, then I know we can create a winning culture and something that young girls in the north aspire to be a part of."

"Tom is one of the brightest young coaches in the game and he has done wonders with the programme at Leicester in his two years there," said former England captain Katy Daley-Mclean, who is now Sale Sharks Women's programme lead .

Sale have also added Charlie Beckett, who played alongside Hudson at Gloucester during the pair's playing days, as defence coach. The 29-year-old has spent the last season as assistant coach at Loughborough Lightning.

Scrum coach Luke Stratford, who worked with Hudson at Leicester, also makes the switch to Sale.

Sale Sharks finished bottom of the PWR table, recording only one win in their 16 matches.

Rowland's initial weight loss came during the Covid lockdown. Unable to dislodge the likes of Yann Thomas and Jake Woolmore in the first team, he had been released by Bristol.

Without access to weights, but with a desire to keep fit, he started running every day.

When restrictions eased and he met up with friends again, Rowland's body shape had changed so dramatically, they thought he was ill.

Rowland felt the opposite.

"The weight just flew off me and I felt so much better," he says. "I had more energy - I did have to sell my whole wardrobe though and buy new clothes!"

In 2021, he moved to a new country as well, taking advantage of the New Zealand passport he has through his mother.

In a different hemisphere, things turned upside-down.

Where once he was piling on pounds any which way he could, now he has to be mindful of passing a weigh-in a couple of hours before matches.

Some players will, like boxers, shed weight in saunas the night before, tip the scales and then wolf down carbohydrate-heavy food in the dressing room.

Cramps can creep up on those who misjudge their pre-match routine.

When the New Zealand under-85kg team play their first match, it won't be an issue though. At least not for Rowland and his Small Blacks team-mates.

Their two matches against the full Sri Lanka national team (ranked 40th in the world) in Kandy and Colombo are being played at a catchweight.

A cap of 105kg (16st 7lb) has been applied to ensure there isn't a dangerous discrepancy between the hosts and tourists.

"It will be interesting to see if we'll be able to kind of hold our own, obviously being a bit lighter than that," says Rowland.

Weight-restricted rugby's potential for growth may be mostly at the grassroots level, retaining players who feel that, while rugby is a game for all sizes, they would prefer a format with more evenly matched physiques.

"There would be definitely a pocket of players who would really kind of enjoy this grade of rugby. I think it's only going to be good for the game, and keep people playing," says Rowland.

"I think it's an idea that would go pretty well in Europe as well."

If it does, there are long-term hopes of staging a weight-restricted World Cup.

Rowland, who watched former team-mate Smith in action at Eden Park against the All Blacks in July, could, in theory, have a black-and-white decision to make; whether to turn out for England or New Zealand.

"Tough, tough question," he smiles.

Probably still not as tough as that sixth meal of the day though.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he hopes to have wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli back from injury when they host Fulham on April 1 after the club's misfiring attack cost them more points in the Premier League title race on Wednesday.

Saka and Martinelli are still recovering from hamstring issues, while injured forwards Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are out for the season.

Arsenal's makeshift attack struggled to make any impact in their shock 1-0 home loss to West Ham on Saturday and they were held to a goalless draw at third-placed Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

Arteta said that even if Saka and Martinelli return for Arsenal's first match after the international break the pair would need to be closely monitored.

"I think so, but again let's see how they evolve in the next few weeks to make the right steps," he told reporters.

"After that, they've been out for a long, long time, so we're going to have to integrate them as well gradually. They are evolving well but they're still a bit far.

"We have a meeting tomorrow to discuss where they are, especially Gabi, who probably has a chance before Bukayo to come in, but how soon that is, we'll have to see how it evolves in the next week or 10 days."

Arsenal remain second after the draw at Forest but have fallen 13 points behind leaders Liverpool.

Arteta will now turn his attention to PSV Eindhoven for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday and must quickly find a solution for their goal-scoring woes.

"We have another day or two now to think before the PSV game, all the options that we have especially against a team that is in a low block," Arteta said.

Great Britain's Jodie Burrage suffered defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic as she was knocked out of the ATX Open in Austin, Texas at the last-16 stage.

The British player, who had beaten Petra Kvitova in the previous round, started strongly before losing 4-6 6-3 6-0 to the Australian.

Burrage, ranked 189, broke Tomljanovic, who is 111 in the world, in the seventh game and that proved to be enough for her to take the opening set.

The 25-year-old's serve in the win against Kvitova was key as she sent down 14 aces and she produced six aces in the first set against Tomljanovic.

However, Burrage was broken in the fourth game of the second set when she served a double fault to go 3-1 down.

She applied plenty of pressure in trying to retrieve the break but Tomljanovic, 31, held her nerve to serve out for the second set.

The decider was a one-sided affair as Burrage cut a frustrated figure as she failed to win a game.