Ian Godney took maximum J D Tyres Welsh Tarmacadam Championship points on the Mewla Rally, after a great run over the Epynt military range in his Suzuki Swift Maxi 2000. With series leader Chris Simmons not competing on the event, Godney (co-driven by Stewart Powell) seized the opportunity to close the gap at the head of the series.

David Watkins has been the subject of glowing tributes throughout Welsh rugby after the death of one of rugby’s cross-code greats at the age of 81. Blaina-born Watkins, known affectionately as “Dai”, played rugby union for Newport and was part of the team which famously beat the touring All Blacks in 1963.

Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut has called for more aggression after his team surrendered a two-goal lead to drop to 19th place in the early season Championship table. The Bluebirds boss accused some players of going missing as Ipswich Town recovered from 2-0 down in front of their own fans to win 3-2. Cardiff have picked up just one victory from their opening five matches, but that is one more than rivals Swansea City.

Martyn Williams insists his infamous flatlining failure against Fiji 16 years ago will not be repeated when Wales begin their World Cup campaign. It will be the same opponents in the same nation when Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake’s co-captained squad start their Pool C campaign next week in Bordeaux. But Williams – now Wales’ team manager – is confident there will be a different outcome to the shock 38-34 defeat of 2007 that literally left him not knowing if he was coming or going.

The clouds finally parted over Port Talbot yesterday as fans arrived back at the Talbot Athletic Ground for this season’s opening round of the Indigo Premiership. And while it was a long-awaited derby showdown between Aberavon and Neath, and two clubs with a colourful history, it was the Wizards’ Frankie Jones who stole the show. The winger put in a versatile performance, finishing off the game at outside centre and making some important defensive efforts, having scored two tries earlier in the game.

Michael Duff has told his Swansea City team they need to speed up and break out of the walking pace that has dragged them into the Championship relegation zone. It’s early days as far the table goes, but the warning signs of a campaign of struggle are evident after the Swans lost 2-1 at home to Bristol City. Duff is still looking for a first league win as head coach after five games and his team sit in 22nd spot, two points adrift of the safety zone.

Michael Duff has tipped Nathan Wood for a future with England after Swansea City fought off fierce transfer interest from Southampton for the defender. Wood joined the Swans from Middlesbrough for £400,000 in the summer of 2022 and impressed throughout last season under Russell Martin – who was keen to take the 21-year-old from Wales to St Mary’s Stadium.

Osian Pryce will lead a star-studded field away at the start of this weekend’s JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion (2-3 September) as the reigning British rally champion contests the event in a Melvyn Evans Motorsport-prepared Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Pryce won the event in 2019 (when it ran for the first time as Wales’ first ever closed road stage rally) driving a Hyundai i20 R5 and finished second (to Hayden Paddon/Jared Hudson) last year in a Polo – and starts this year’s event as number one seed.

Brennan Johnson has completed his move to Tottenham from Nottingham Forest in a deal worth £47.5million. Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou made the Wales international his number one target following the departure of Harry Kane last month and secured the services of the young attacker late on transfer deadline day.

Ospreys back row powerhouse Morgan Morris got an early season boost when he picked up his award as the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year for the 2022-23 campaign. The 25-year-old already has 76 appearances for his home region under his belt and is hoping to add a senior Wales cap to the ones he has already earned at U16, U18 and U20 levels.

Wales striker Brennan Johnson could still be heading towards Tottenham from Nottingham Forest as the biggest Welsh deadline day deal. Forest’s Welsh manager Steve Cooper has admitted Johnson’s future at the club could go down to the wire as talks continue over a deal that could be worth £50m.

Australia are unlikely to copy South Africa’s forward-based game plan at the Rugby World Cup when they face Wales. But Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says the Springboks’ “bold and courageous” use of their bench should be viewed as innovation and not a threat to the game.

As the world’s leading players eye Paralympic gold, the battle for supremacy in one para table tennis class could come down to a clash of two Welsh friends. Wheelchair athletes Rob Davies and Tom Matthews are both training partners and rivals and, as two of the best in the game, have their sights set on the same top prize.

Llandovery will kick-off the defence of their Indigo Premiership title at the home of arch-rivals Carmarthen Quins as the tournament launches with a series of local derbies. While the Drovers head to Carmarthen Park on Saturday, Cardiff head up the A470 to face Pontypridd at Sardis Road, Swansea will host Bridgend and Aberavon will welcome Neath to the Talbot Athletic Ground.

Brennan Johnson can fill the Harry Kane-sized hole at Tottenham, according to Wales manager Rob Page. But the Nottingham Forest striker would do it his own way, insists the national team boss, if a £50m deal can be agreed between the clubs.

Michael Jenkins rounded off the “most intense” season of his burgeoning career at the Welsh Athletics Under-20 International match in Cardiff last weekend. The brilliant 19-year-old burst onto the global stage in July by winning an F38 shot put silver medal on his World Para Athletics Championships debut in Paris.

Michael Duff revealed Swansea City are in talks with Stoke City defender Josh Tymon after watching his team bow out of the Carabao Cup. The Swans went down 3-2 at home to Bournemouth in a game where the strength in depth of the Premier League club was the telling factor.

Wales’ dominance of women’s race walking within the UK looks set to continue for the foreseeable future in the shape of Pembrokeshire Harrier Gracie Griffiths. The 17-year-old is quite literally following in the footsteps of her coach Heather Warner and Bethan Davies – Britain’s outstanding race walkers of recent years.

Wales will take on opponents who have moved three places clear of Warren Gatland’s men in the world rankings when Fiji take the field in France in their World Cup opener on September 10. The flying Fijians’ stunning victory over England at Twickenham last weekend has seen the South Seas Islanders move up to seventh in the World Rugby listings.

Four-time European champion Rob Davies and Commonwealth champion Joshua Stacey are the Welsh pair heading an 18-strong British squad for the ITTF European Para Table Tennis Championships, which start next week.