Former Newport RFC star Simon Raiwalui has named a strong 45-man Fiji training squad as they continue their preparations for the Rugby World Cup in France – including a key clash against Wales.

Sean Bowen has half a dozen more opportunities to put some distance between himself and Brian Hughes at the top of the Jump Jockeys Championship at Ffos Las on Thursday. The Welsh jockey currently leads the way, having ridden 20 winners so far this season, which runs from the start of May to the end of next April.

Cardiff Devils coach Pete Russell believes new signing River Rymsha can help the team flow next season. The Devils have bolstered their roster for the upcoming 2023-24 Elite League season with the addition of defenseman Rymsha.

Sam Northeast admitted Glamorgan deserved to have their T20 momentum halted after they were outplayed by Surrey at Sophia Gardens. A record-breaking batting performance from Laurie Evans and his Surrey teammates set up a 65-run victory in their Vitality Blast match in Cardiff.

Swansea City defender Kyle Naughton has agreed to a fresh one-year contract that will prolong his tenure with the club until the conclusion of June 2024. The 34-year-old’s existing agreement was set to conclude later this month, but he has reached an understanding that guarantees his presence in the Swansea squad for an additional year.

Former Scarlets trio Harri Williams, Griff Evans and Iestyn Rees have all joined English Championship outfit Ampthill. Scrum-half Williams is set to play for Wales U20 at next month’s World Junior Championships in South Africa, while lock Evans and back row man Rees will join him in adding further Welsh flavour to Paul Turner’s Ampthill mob next season.

Tom Lockyer has reflected on his day of “mixed emotions” after being given the all clear following his heart scare during Luton’s Sky Bet Championship play-off final win over Coventry last month. The 28-year-old defender fell to the floor early in the game and was subsequently taken to the Cleveland Clinic in London where he underwent an operation.

The rugby season in Wales wouldn’t be the same without the final curtain coming down with the staging of the Old Penarthians Sevens on Saturday, 10 June. This year’s 72nd edition will take place at their Cwrt-y-vil home in Penarth with 10 teams lined up to take part in the men’s competition, and a further five in the women’s tournament.

Alisha Butchers is back and ready to push for honours with Bristol Bears as the Allianz Premier15s reaches the business end of the season. The 39-times capped flanker, who celebrates her 26th birthday this month, hadn’t played since damaging her knee in the opening game of the World Cup in New Zealand last October.

Cardiff City’s players shouldn’t have any worries about whether or not their new boss Erol Bulut can lead them out of the disaster that was last season. The Turk has already proved how cool, calm and reliable he can be in a crisis, helping out his former players after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and Syria on Monday, 6 February.

Former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay had ex-Swansea City man Yan Dhanda to thank for keeping Stirling County in the Scottish Premier League. Mackay – who took Cardiff into the Premier League in 2013 – admitted it was one of the craziest games of his managerial career.

Captain Kiran Carlson has paid tribute to Chris Cooke and Colin Ingram after Glamorgan made it four wins out of five in their Vitality Blast campaign. The pair were instrumental again as the Welsh county beat Sussex Sharks by 32 runs at the 1st Central County Ground.

Gareth Bale is poised to return to the Wales squad – but as a mentor, rather than a maestro on the field. Wales manager Rob Page has held talks this week with Bale about a formal role that will tap into his vast knowledge and expertise, but will not involve coaching. Bale is living in LA and has been playing a lot of golf since he retired from football in January, but Page has kept in regular contact and views the former captain as an asset on the route to qualification for Euro 2024.

Colin Ingram insists Glamorgan will go into their next Vitality Blast T20 clash against Sussex at Hove on Sunday in confident mood after they moved up to fourth place in the table. Ingram combined with Chris Cooke on Friday night to share a stand of 109 as the Welsh county beat Kent by seven wickets with an impressive display in Cardiff. That win lifted Glamorgan to fourth in the south group as they won for the third time in their opening four games of the tournament.

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has claimed new manager Erol Bulut will enable the club to attract “higher profile players” in the future. The Bluebirds announced on Saturday they have appointed former Fenerbahce boss Bulut as their successor to Sabri Lamouchi, who kept them in the Championship last season but was not retained. Tan’s suggestion that putting Bulut in charge will lead to a “higher profile and standard of player in the coming years” is a remarkable one, given that the club are still operating under a transfer ban and that the Malaysian himself long ago appeared to turn off the financial taps are far as new signings were concerned.

Adam Wedge will bide his time before he bids to nose past Sean Bowen and become the leading all-time jockey at Ffos Las Racecourse. The Vale of Glamorgan-based Wedge was neck-and-neck with Bowen in the race to overtake the legendary AP McCoy, who led the way at the Carmarthenshire track with 69 winners at the venue before his retirement in 2015.

Alun Wyn Jones has confirmed he will not be an Ospreys player next season. The former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain announced his retirement from international rugby last month after making a world-record 170 Test match appearances.

Jasmine Joyce will be joined by Morgan and Tom Williams in competing for Team GB in Rugby Sevens at the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games between 21 June-2 July. Team GB have selected a squad of 178 athletes to compete at the third staging of the event, with Rugby Sevens making its debut. The winners of the men’s and women’s sevens tournaments will qualify for the Paris Olympic Games next year.

It was a chance to relax, to briefly escape the political and economic ills besetting, along with much else in British life, rugby union in Wales. A bright, warm evening completely unlike the last full international at St Helen’s, an atrociously cold and sodden encounter with Tonga in 1997.

Commonwealth champion Rosie Eccles is among three Welsh boxers – and a dozen Welsh athletes in total – who have been named in the Great Britain squad for the European Games this summer. Eccles – who won gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – is joined by Taylor Bevan and Harris Akbar in the GB squad for Krakow in Poland.