Cardiff City have been handed the toughest of Championship openers for the new 2023-24 season with a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United. The new fixture list has sent the Bluebirds to Leeds on Sunday August 6, to face one of the clubs relegated from the Premier League last season.

Malcolm and Rhys Jones were comfortable winners of the third round of the J D Tyres Welsh Tarmacadam Rally Championship. The pair finished over two minutes ahead of the next car – a result which sees Jones move up to second in the drivers’ standings.

Michael Duff has vowed to “evolve” Swansea City’s style of football after the club announced his appointment as head coach in succession to Russell Martin. Duff has been named Swansea’s new boss on a three-year contract, the Championship club have announced.

Elinor Barker is hoping to get two for the price of one when Scotland hosts the first ever combined cycling world championships in August. An Olympic and five-time world champion on the track, Barker has been focusing more on the road this season and said the opportunity to compete in both disciplines on home turf this summer would be unique

Teenager Josh Tarling blew away the rest of the field to become the British men’s time trial champion as Lizzie Holden claimed the women’s crown at the Croft Circuit near Darlington. Tarling is just 19 but the 6ft 4in tall Welshman towered over his rivals in more ways than one, putting more than a minute into them over the course of 41.1 kilometres as he won in a time of 48 minutes 50 seconds in windy conditions in north Yorkshire.

Russell Martin has been confirmed as Southampton’s new head coach. The former Scotland international joins on a three-year deal after leaving Swansea City. Martin verbally agreed to take over at St Mary’s last month, while the clubs remained in discussions over compensation.

Swansea City are on the verge of appointing Michael Duff, the former Northern Ireland international defender, as their new manager. The Swans have been in search of a replacement for Russell Martin for the past month, as he is poised to join Southampton. To secure Duff’s services, Swansea reportedly need to activate a £500,000 release clause in his current contract with Barnsley.

Chris Mepham insists the Wales squad are “100 per cent” behind embattled manager Rob Page. Wales’ terrible run of results has piled the pressure on Page just nine months after he signed a four-year contract as national team manager. Page has taken Wales to two major tournaments – the delayed Euro 2020 finals and the 2022 World Cup – but a run of one win in 12 games has left serious question marks over whether he is the man to lead the country in the post Gareth Bale-era.

Joe Westwood is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Keith, by facing New Zealand when Wales U20 kick-off their World Rugby U20 Championships in South Africa against the Baby Blacks this weekend. Keith Westwood played for the Combined Abertillery & Ebbw Vale side that faced Wilson Whineray’s 1963 All Blacks at Abertillery Park in a game the tourists won 13-0. A fine player for Ebbw Vale and Newbridge, he went on to become a legendary coach at Newbridge. 

Wales international hooker Scott Baldwin has announced his retirement from playing and will take up a coaching role at Gallagher Premiership club Newcastle. Baldwin, 34, made more than 180 appearances for the Ospreys, in addition to spells in the Premiership with Harlequins and Worcester. He also won 37 Test caps, and featured three times as a replacement during Wales’ Guinness Six Nations campaign last season.

Brendan Rodgers declared his return to Celtic “a very simple decision” but he faced an instant reminder of the work needed to appease some fans who were unhappy with the manner of his exit. Celtic confirmed former Swansea City boss Rodgers had signed a three-year contract to replace Ange Postecoglou as manager, four years and four months after his sudden departure to Leicester after winning seven out of seven domestic trophies with the Hoops.

Just a few hundred yards from where an Armenian 19-year-old caused chaos for the senior team on Friday night, Wales’ own footballing teenagers had an opportunity to show their promise on Sunday afternoon.

Global brewing giants Heineken are to step down as title sponsors of rugby’s Champions Cup, leaving tournament organisers with a big financial gap to fill before their two tournaments kick off in December.

Defiant Rob Page insists Wales can still automatically qualify for Euro 2024 next summer, despite suffering a second successive group defeat in Turkey. Wales suffered a 2-0 loss in Samsun on the back of Friday’s horror show against Armenia, when opponents ranked 97th in the world claimed a 4-2 victory in Cardiff.

After almost an hour and a half of flat-out competition, Osian Pryce finished just 32.1 seconds away from a top 10 finish on the Tet Rally Liepāja, in only his second FIA European Rally Championship event in a Škoda Fabia Rally2.

Melissa Courtney-Bryant overtook the great Kirsty Wade to move into second place on the Welsh all-time 1500 mete rankings as she clocked a lifetime best of 4 min, 00.45 sec in winning at the Stanislas Meeting in Nancy, France on Sunday.

The Ice Man, Gerwyn Price, paid tribute to The Ferret, Jonny Clayton, for playing the lead role in Wales becoming world champions in darts once more. Price and Clayton sealed a second World Cup of Darts trophy for Wales with a clinical performance in their 10-2 victory over Scotland’s Gary Anderson and Peter Wright in Frankfurt.

Rob Page has defended Wales’ dismal record over the past 12 months by insisting his side are a team in transition. Page signed a four-year contract in September but has come under increasing pressure after a dreadful run of one win in 11 games since qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

The Welsh Rugby Union was responsible for a “serious failure of governance” and missed opportunities to act on concerning behaviour within the organisation, a report has found. A committee of Senedd (Welsh Parliament) members noted “systemic failures in the culture” of the WRU following allegations of racism, misogyny, sexism and homophobia.

Welsh tumbler Megan Surman has announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics. The 24-year-old, originally from Swansea, bows out as a multiple major championship medallist.