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Why rugby-code hopper Goldthorp has the world at her feet
With England hosting next year's rugby union World Cup, her latest code change created immediate intrigue.
She only added to it by scoring a try in her first game back for Loughborough, with England attack coach Lou Meadows telling the Rugbypass website, external that she would be on the Red Roses selection radar.
Goldthrop says playing in the rugby league World Cup in 2022 - where England reached the semi-final - was the "biggest thing" she has done in her career so far, and says going on to do something similar in the 15-player game would feel the same.
But she insists "it is no driving force" behind why she returned to rugby union.
"You always chase those moments, they are the games that you want to play in, they are the experiences that you will probably look back on in your career," she said.
"If that happens, it happens. I've been brought up as a very grounded person and if those opportunities come about, then you take it and relish the experience.
"I just want to try and be the best athlete I can be. I dont think I have reached my potential yet. I still have lot of learning and growing to do.
"I just want to play consistent rugby at a high level and see where that takes me."
With rugby league's next World Cup taking place in the southern hemisphere in 2026, Goldthorp has plenty to play for across both codes on both sides of the globe.
The British and Irish Lions have unveiled their shirt for the 2025 tour of Australia, revealing they will wear a darker shade of red.
The shirt also features a pattern woven into the fabric, symbolising the union of four nations, and an old-fashioned 'grandad' collar.
Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said the change in colour was intended to create a shirt that was "more wearable for the fans" away from matches.
The Lions depart for Australia in June, aiming to win a series for the first time since their last visit to the country in 2013.
"Excitement is really starting to build for next year and this jersey launch is only going to add to it," said Lions head coach Andy Farrell.
"That goes for me, all rugby fans, and all those who are playing for places on that touring squad."
Guardiola on challenge facing Man City: I love it
Manchester City's 4-1 Champions League defeat at Sporting on Tuesday saw them lose three matches in a row for the first time since 2018 but manager Pep Guardiola said he is looking forward to the challenge of getting them back on track.
The defeat in Europe's elite club competition came after they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham and had a 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League ended by Bournemouth.
Injury-hit City were without Rodri, Jack Grealish, Rúben Dias and John Stones and gave a first start to 19-year-old defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey in the match.
"It is a tough challenge, but I am here. It will be a tough season -- we knew that from the start. But this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players and try it," Guardiola told reporters.
"I have to try and find an explanation. Sometimes it is just football. We have to accept it. Life is that, sport is that."
City, second in the Premier League behind Liverpool, travel to face eighth-placed Brighton on Saturday.
"We are coming back to Manchester to prepare the game against Brighton. I am not giving up. Maybe people are waiting but I am not giving up," Guardiola said.
Kusal Perera, Mohamed Shiraz return for New Zealand ODIs
The core of Sri Lanka's batting group remains unchanged, the likes of Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, and Asalanka himself likely to be part of the top five. In T20Is, Sri Lanka have a middle-order hitter in Bhanuka Rajapaksa. In ODIs, they have more of an accumulating batter in Janith Liyanage, who can also contribute with his seam bowling.
The spin contingent also consist of the regulars, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana, with Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage also making both squads.
There are differences on the seam-bowling front, however. Slingers Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara are only in the T20I squad, as is Binura Fernando. Left-armer Dilshan Madushanka and Shiraz are ODI bowlers who don't make the T20 outfit. Asitha Fernando is in both.
Four of the matches - three T20Is and one ODI - will be played in Dambulla. The other two ODIs will be in Pallekele. The series begins on November 9.
T20I squad: Charith Asalanka (capt.), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando, Asitha Fernando
ODI squad: Charith Asalanka (capt.), Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Nishan Madushka, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Mohamed Shiraz
Afghanistan bat first, hand ODI debut to Sediqullah Atal
Afghanistan opt to bat vs Bangladesh
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss against Bangladesh in the first ODI in Sharjah, and opted to bat first.
Fazalhaq Farooqi was their only frontline quick, with Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib to provide support.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are without Shakib Al Hasan, who has reportedly opted out of the series; Litton Das, who is down with a fever; and Tanzim Hasan, who is out with a shoulder injury. Nasum Ahmed and Nahid Rana were unavailable for the game, as they were awaiting their UAE visa in the lead-up to the match. They have gone in with three frontline pacers in Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam and two spinners in Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rishad Hossain.
Afghanistan enter the series on the back of a 2-1 win against South Africa in September, even as Bangladesh are playing their first ODI in eight months. This is also Bangladesh's first ODI in Sharjah in 29 years.
Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Sediqullah Atal, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Nangeyalia Kharote, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan Tamim, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam
Ireland 'blown away' by visit from Andes crash survivor
As Joe Marler alluded to while announcing his retirement last week, international rugby can be something of a "dream bubble".
But towards the end of last month, as the Ireland squad gathered in Portugal and began to look towards Friday's mouthwatering rematch with the All Blacks, they were served a powerful dose of reality.
The Irish squad have had several guests in recent years, from Bono to Shane Lowry. Hearing from personalities outside of the Test rugby grind can be illuminating and light-hearted, a welcome break from training and meetings.
But perhaps no visit stirred their souls quite like Nando Parrado's.
Parrado was once a rugby player, but he is more widely known as a central figure in a story at once inspirational and harrowing, one that exemplifies the strength of human spirit in the face of the greatest adversity.
In October 1972, a plane carrying members and family from Uruguayan club Old Christians Club crashed in the Andes on its way to Chile.
It was a horrible tragedy. Twenty-nine of the 45 people onboard - including Parrado's mother and sister - lost their lives. Those who survived were forced to eat those who had been killed in the crash.
Harvey, Drew tons, Johnson haul spark SA to bonus point win over Victoria
The victory at Karen Rolton Oval completed a wonderful week for South Australia after they earlier completed their first Sheffield Shield win over the Victoria in nine years.
Harvey's unbeaten 134 off 110 balls, his first in the format, was complemented by skipper Alex Carey initially in an 80-run opening stand before Drew (108 not out off 86) made an equally impressive ton to chase down Victoria's 286 for 7 in the 38th over to claim a vital bonus point.
Harvey, 24, gave the run chase a real kick along when he took 16 off Sam Elliott's first over. It was a masterclass by the stylish left-hander who grafted for his runs early before accelerating and dominating his former team to earn player-of-the-match honours.
Harvey, the nephew of former Australia allrounder Ian Harvey, easily surpassed his previous highest domestic one-day score of 61.
Drew, 28, was just as impressive and lifted the tempo to ensure his team claimed the win inside 40 overs to get what could be a crucial extra competition point.
Earlier, Johnson took 4 for 46 in a fast and furious spell that set up the win after Carey had won the toss. Johnson removed big-hitting Josh Brown when his former Brisbane Heat teammate was brilliantly caught by a diving Drew at mid-off.
His second wicket was a tribute to the left-armer's searing pace and attacking mindset. Johnson let rip with a straight short ball that had Campbell Kellaway rushing his pull shot and gloving through to Carey.
Handscomb came in with Victoria reeling at 42 for 3 and showed aggression and patience depending on what was required. After lashing a suite of boundaries and two imperious sixes, Handscomb accumulated 15 singles in a row.
Avs' Makar doesn't return after 2nd-period injury
DENVER -- Colorado star defenseman Cale Makar left the Avalanche's 6-3 victory over Seattle in the middle of the second period with an undisclosed injury and returned for less that 30 seconds in the final period on Tuesday night.
During his postgame news conference, coach Jared Bednar did not immediately address the nature of Makar's injury.
"He tweaked something late in the second. He wasn't able to continue," Bednar said.
Makar, a former Norris Trophy winner, had a pair of assists before he left the game. He stretched his season opening point streak to 13 games, tying his career long point streak set from Feb. 13-22, 2022.
Entering the night, Makar was tied for the league lead with 21 points.
Anti-establishment Republican and former NBA player Royce White lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday after falling to incumbent Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota's top election matchup.
White had acknowledged he was as surprised as anyone when the state Republican Party endorsed him in May, but the self-described populist went on to get a plurality in the August primary against a more conventional Republican, Navy veteran Joe Fraser.
White was a first-round pick by the Houston Rockets in 2012 but never played for the team after disclosing mental health issues and saying he did not want to fly to road games with the team. He signed multiple 10-day contacts with the Sacramento Kings in 2013, playing in three games, but was eventually let go before playing overseas for several years.
The 33-year-old White, who was an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness in sports, also considered a future in mixed martial arts but lost his only professional fight in 2021.
White has made a number of social media comments that have been denounced as derogatory. White, who ran and lost in the GOP primary for a U.S. House seat in 2022, argued that, as a Black candidate, he could broaden the party's base by appealing to voters of color in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and others disillusioned with establishment politics.
He entered the race as a decided underdog to Klobuchar, whose victory of a fourth term sets Minnesota's record for the most consecutive wins by a Democratic senator since the state began directly electing senators in 1918, according to Eric Ostermeier, curator of the Minnesota Historical Election Archive at the University of Minnesota.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
LOS ANGELES -- Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey was defeated by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff on Tuesday in the race for the California U.S. Senate seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Garvey had tried to parlay his sports celebrity into a political upset of the Los Angeles-area congressman, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.
In a year when control of the Senate is in play, Democrats were favored to easily hold the seat in the liberal-leaning state where a Republican candidate hasn't won a Senate race since 1988, when President Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Schiff held an edge for months in campaign financing and polling over Garvey.
Garvey, a former MVP and perennial All-Star who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, called himself a "conservative moderate" who shouldn't be buttonholed into conventional political labels, an obvious pitch to independent and soft Democratic voters in a state where registered Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats nearly 2-to-1.
Schiff shaped his campaign around national issues including abortion rights while continuing to play a foil to Trump, calling the former president a threat to democracy. He also contrasted his years of experience in Congress -- Schiff was first elected to the House in 2000 -- against Garvey, a first-time candidate who positioned himself as an outsider with fresh a perspective to deal with California's long-running homelessness crisis, inflation and housing costs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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