Rugby Sevens: London Irish assistant coach Clark Laidlaw has been appointed head coach of New Zealand’s rugby sevens team following Gordon Tietjens’ resignation, New Zealand Rugby said yesterday. Laidlaw, who played sevens for Scotland between 2004-07 and was also assistant coach at Super Rugby side Wellington Hurricanes, returns for another stint in sevens after previously being New Zealand’s skills coach and video analyst. Laidlaw will take up the role next June and will be charged with guiding New Zealand to a men’s gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Golf: Henrik Stenson has been made an honorary life member of the European Tour in recognition of winning the British Open at Troon earlier this year. The Swede, who is the Race to Dubai leader, also won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics. “It is a great honour to join the exclusive club of people who have been awarded honorary life membership of the European Tour,” he said. “That’s definitely a special thing and something I will dearly cherish.”

Cricket: Rod Marsh has resigned as Australia’s chairman of selectors in the wake of the test team’s 2-0 series loss to South Africa, having been roundly criticised for some of the panel’s decisions in recent months. The former test wicketkeeper announced a month ago that he would step down in mid-2017 but said he would vacate the role immediately as the fall-out from Australia’s fifth successive test defeat continued. “This is my own decision and no-one within Cricket Australia has pressured me,” Marsh said.