Cycling: The Irish team finished the Tour of Hokkaido in style yesterday, with Tommy Evans sprinting home in third place on the final stage and Paddy Moriarty finishing an excellent fourth overall.

It was one of the strongest displays by the Irish team in recent years; Mark Scanlon took two of the seven stages and won the points classification, while Evans finished second in the same competition by virtue of his second and third placings on stages of the world-ranked race.

For their efforts, the Irish quintet return from Japan this evening with a handful of valuable UCI points. More importantly, Scanlon and team-mate David O'Loughlin have gained a good confidence boost and a great workout three weeks before the world under-23 championships in Plouay, France.

Golf: Colin Lyttle strode to victory yesterday in the PGA Irish Assistants' Championship at Kilkeel with three strokes to spare over the chasing pack. The Galgorm Castle assistant had an overnight lead of four shots and finished three ahead.

On Tuesday, the former Ballyclare amateur carded two rounds of level par 72 and yesterday added scores 79 and 72 to collect his first PGA Championship title.

During the competition only three players managed to break par 72 on the tough, three-lined Kilkeel course. Tristan Mulally (Royal Portrush) posted a 71 from the second round while Cathal Barry (Donabate) and Gary Smyth (Headfort) both handed in a 71 yesterday afternoon.

Rugby: Former New Zealand All Black second row Ian Jones stepped down as captain of troubled Gloucester yesterday - just two months after taking on the job at the start of the season. Jones, in his second season with Gloucester, made his decision to quit as skipper at Tuesday's team meeting.

His decision comes as Gloucester struggle to regain last season's form. They have won only two of their six matches so far this season under the legendary Kiwi's leadership. Jones won 79 New Zealand Test caps and his decision to hand over the skipper's armband will shock the sport.