Matt Edwards will return to top level competition for the first time since he won the British Rally Championship title for a third time back in 2021 when he contests this year’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. The 39-year old Colwyn Bay driver will contest the series in a C&M Motorsport Ford Fiesta Rally2, prepared by NPL Motorsport.

Adam Beard is favourite to be named Wales’ Six Nations captain on Tuesday lunchtime when coach Warren Gatland reveals his squad for the tournament. Injuries and a new skipper look set to take centre stage when Gatland names his group for the tournament.

Warren Gatland will receive reports on his long list of injured players on Monday before he finalises selection decisions for the Wales Six Nations squad. The head coach is due to announce his group for the tournament on Tuesday lunchtime, but has a raft of players he would like to pick currently unfit.

Dan James is part of a trio of Wales and Leeds United players he believes can achieve a Euro 2024 finals and Premier League double this season. James, Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon were key figures in an utterly dominant display at Cardiff City where the 3-0 victory margin for the visitors could easily have been doubled.

Emma Finucane will return from the Netherlands with three medals gained at the European Track Cycling Championships to add to her world title. The new Welsh cycling sensation capped off an impressive European Championships by picking up her third medal with silver in the women’s keirin.

Former Cardiff coach Danny Wilson was polite and complimentary about his old club but stressed his current Harlequins team can “strangle” any game after Wales’ only representatives in Europe’s top tournament were throttled on their own patch. The Investec Champions Cup tie at the Arms Park could be significant for more than just the 54-15 scoreline and the eight tries scored by Quins. It could well mark the last match in the tournament played in Wales for some time.

Nia Jones has admitted Wales have let an opportunity slip through their fingers after they lost the decider in their three-match series against Uganda. The Welsh Feathers captain insisted, however, the closeness of the series indicated the progress Wales are making under Emily Handyside, the coach appointed a year ago. Feathers lost 59-48 as the She Cranes came from one-nil down to take the three-match series at Cardiff’s House of Sport, 2-1.

Erol Bulut admitted he had to his hold his true feelings in check after Cardiff City fell to a humbling, utterly one-sided defeat to Leeds United. The Bluebirds lost 3-0, but the scoreline could easily have been twice as damaging and Bulut’s recent record at home now shows just four points gathered from seven matches. What appeared to trouble Bulut – who is out of contract at the end of the season – was not so much the gulf in class but his players’ lack of desire to narrow that gap through hard work and determination.

Willis Halaholo has five daughters, aged 15, nine, six, four and ten months respectively. So what’s life like at home for the Cardiff Rugby centre and his wife?

Swansea City aim to restore calm this weekend after a recent period of managerial upheaval before bringing in Luke Williams from Notts County. Williams has guided the Swans safely into the fourth round of the FA Cup in his only match in charge so far, but on Saturday he will get an opportunity to make his mark in the Championship with a visit to Birmingham City.

Ospreys head coach Toby Booth praised his players for wising up and winning a place in the last 16 of the European Challenge Cup. Full-back Iestyn Hopkins’ two tries helped the Ospreys to a 25-3 win over Perpignan to book a place in the knockout stages of the tournament.

Emma Finucane admitted she was shocked after becoming Britain’s first female European sprint champion at the European Track Cycling Championships in the Netherlands. Wales’ 21-year-old world champion breezed through her semi-final against Emma Hinze to set up a repeat of her victorious world championship final against Germany’s Lea Sophie Friedrich.

Theo Cabango is hoping his New Year’s wish comes true and he won’t have any more problems with his shoulders. The 21-year-old Cardiff flyer has had bad luck in his first few seasons in senior rugby and been forced to have surgery on both shoulders.

He’s the Dragons highest try-scorer in Europe and only seven off Aled Brew’s regional record of 43, but Ashton Hewitt won’t be able to add to his tally of 36 tries in 125 games this season. Instead, the fleet-footed wing will have to wait for up to nine months before resuming his quest to become the first player at his region to score 50 tries.

Erol Bulut has admitted he is in a queue to buy Kieffer Moore from Bournemouth – but he doesn’t know who’s ahead of him, or when he’ll get served. A frustrated Bulut still hasn’t landed Moore in the January transfer window and has now learned Calum O’Dowda will be out for another six weeks.

Megan Barker and Jess Roberts both had to settle for silver medals at the European Track Cycling Championships in the Netherlands. While Great Britain claimed gold in the men’s team pursuit, the GB women – including the Welsh duo – had to settle for silver.

Wales coach Emily Handyside believes her team’s first ever home victory over Uganda indicates the progress being made by Welsh Feathers. In a stirring performance at Cardiff’s House of Sport, Wales completed only third victory over the higher world-ranked Ugandans and their first on their own patch.

The first Six Nations after a World Cup often sees a changing of the guard, with new faces emerging as a fresh four-year cycle begins. This season’s tournament is likely to be another example of that, following the retirement of a number of seasoned campaigners and the rise of a host of talented youngsters who have shone in the BKT URC over the past few months.

Andy Farrell is expected to be named British and Irish Lions head coach for the 2025 tour to Australia on Thursday – in succession to Warren Gatland. A month after agreeing a contract to remain in charge of Ireland until the end of the 2027 World Cup, Farrell is set to be confirmed as Gatland’s successor in the Lions role at a lunchtime press conference in central London.

Gemma Grainger has insisted the offer to quit as Wales manager in order to take charge of Norway was just too good to turn down. Grainger has left her role with Wales with immediate effect to become head coach of the Norwegians.