Warren Gatland has warned that Wales’ top teams – including the national side – need to become more successful or else more players will follow Joe Hawkins out of Test rugby. The Wales coach believes the three regions and Wales all need to improve, otherwise young players like Hawkins could decide to put club before country.

Sabri Lamouchi has insisted the ball is in Cardiff City’s court over whether or not he remains at the club next season. Lamouchi’s final home game in charge ended with Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield, but with the Bluebirds already having secured their Championship status before the match because of other results, thoughts are now turning to next season.

The New Saints manager Craig Harrison watched his team win the JD Welsh Cup Final with a 6-0 thrashing of Bala Town but insisted it was not a performance that impressed him. Declan McManus notched his 32nd goal in as many matches this season to launch an emphatic victory – the biggest win in the Welsh Cup final since Wrexham blasted seven goals past Shrewsbury Town at The Racecourse in 1931 in their 7-0 victory.

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel has called on his players to use their semi-final defeat in the Challenge Cup as motivation to grow and improve for next season. The Llanelli region were beaten 35-17 by Glasgow Warriors at a packed Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

Russell Martin has urged his Swansea City players to finish the season strongly after their thin hopes of making the play-offs perished at Hull City. The Swans cannot make the top six after they claimed just a point in a 1-1 draw at the MKM Stadium.

Caryl Thomas bid farewell to rugby following her side’s 36-10 win against Italy in the final round of the 2023 TikTok Women’s Six Nations. Thomas re-joined her team just two weeks after her wife gave birth to their daughter and helped secure Wales’ best place finish in the Championship in 14 years.

Wales prop Wyn Jones has spoken of his admiration for Dwayne Peel in guiding the Scarlets to the threshold of a European final. Jones – who will pack down in the front row when Glasgow visit Parc y Scarlets on Saturday – admits he can’t quite believe how his head coach has dealt with so many obstacles in a campaign like no other.

The sun in Parma may have made everyone feel good in the Wales camp, but the only thing the players want this weekend is the result that will keep them in third place in the TikTok Six Nations. A third win in the championship is the goal that has been set for Hannah Jones’ side and after Italy were turned over in Scotland last weekend it is a result that appears to be within range.

Wales and Nottingham Forest defender Neco Williams says he is ‘gutted’ that he will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a fractured jaw in his side’s 3-1 win over Brighton. Attention will now turn to Wales’ medial staff in hoping to ensure the 22-year-old is fit and available for Wales’ European Championship qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey in June.

Following the second round of the 2023 JD Tyres Welsh Tarmacadam Championship, the SMC Stages, Darrian crews dominate the standing, filling the top three places. Multiple Welsh champions Richard Merriman/Kath Curzon found the stages at the Anglesey Racing Circuit to be challenging, with grip levels varying as the track was just damp in places, but wet elsewhere.

The season could well end for the Welsh regions on Saturday, if the Scarlets are unable to beat Glasgow in their European Challenge Cup semi-final. For many, there would be a sigh of relief. But within the trauma and turmoil, Daniel Parker claims there can be some reason for optimism – youth will have its fling.

Sabri Lamouchi feels his mission to keep Cardiff City in the Championship is almost complete following their dramatic late win at fellow strugglers Rotherham. Cedric Kipre struck with just two minutes left to seal a 2-1 win that all-but guarantee the Bluebirds’ survival and keeps Rotherham firmly in trouble.

Jak Jones admitted he was dismayed with his own performance as he let a semi-final place at snooker’s World Championship slip through his grasp. The cueman from Cwmbran bowed out at the quarter-final stage in Sheffield after losing 13-10 to Mark Allen in a match both players felt did not show the best of their talents.

Cardiff hooker Kristian Dacey has announced his retirement at the age of 33. Dacey made over 200 appearances for Cardiff after joining them from Pontypridd in 2010 and won eight caps for Wales between 2015 and 2017. He was also called up as cover for the British and Irish Lions’ tour of New Zealand in 2017.

Wales international Dafydd Jenkins will miss Exeter’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against La Rochelle after receiving a three-week ban. The second-row forward, who has won six caps, was sent off for a dangerous tackle during Chiefs’ Gallagher Premiership victory over Bristol.

Sabri Lamouchi insists he and his Cardiff City players would have signed for this. The Bluebirds have three matches to play – starting with their re-arranged fixture at Rotherham on Thursday night – and are two places and three points above the relegation zone.

DragonBet on-course bookmaker James Lovell gives the inside track on Welsh sport – what’s hot, what’s not, and who’s the talk of the betting ring. Bookmaking is a strange business and sometimes you’re happy when you lose. We’ve all heard the saying, “You never see a bookie on a bike.”

Steve Cooper insists Nottingham Forest still have work to do after they moved out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Brighton. The Welsh manager has boosted his hopes of retaining Forest’s status in the top flight with a huge three points.

Jonny Bairstow proved he is on track for a return to Cardiff with Welsh Fire this summer as well as Ashes duty for England. The Yorkshire batsman fell three short of a dashing century on his first outing in almost eight months, picking up where he left off last summer as he hit the comeback trail with Yorkshire’s second team.

Steve Cooper is not surprised Nottingham Forest are fighting for Premier League survival but he insisted there is a belief they can avoid relegation despite a dismal run of form. The only Welsh manager in the Premier League, Cooper led Forest to the top flight for the first time in 23 years last season, where the Midlands side spent 46 of the first 52 days in the Championship drop zone but gained promotion via the play-offs.