Wales youngsters Joe Hawkins and Mason Grady have been backed to come through the jeers and taunts of a Roman amphitheatre on Saturday – even if they don’t win. The centres – both 20-years-old and with a combined tally of just five caps – will form the raw midfield defensive shield as Warren Gatland’s side bid to keep out Italy in round four of the Six Nations, a match that is live on S4C. Former Wales centre Tom Shanklin went down that Roman road four times and lost twice – in 2003 and 2007 – but believes whatever the outcome at the Stadio Olimpico, Hawkins and Grady will eventually prosper.

Cardiff City manager Sabri Lamouchi insists he wants to stay at Cardiff City – but only after he has steered the club to safety in the Championship. The Bluebirds boss has a deal that runs to the end of the campaign after becoming the third manager of a chaotic season. The Lamouchi effect took a while to work, but if Cardiff can win at Preston North End on Saturday, then it would be their fourth in five matches.

“We don’t talk about Bruno!” is a famous song from Disney’s film Encanto, but very little has been mentioned about the Italian winger Pierre Bruno. Strange, really, as he has emerged from the shadows of former powerhouse Monty Ioane to become a tour de force on the Italian wing. Bruno has 10 Italian caps, five international tries and in round three of the Six Nations he made a staggering 155 metres in attack from his 15 carries against the Irish.

Byron Hayward insists the gloom and doom around Welsh rugby at present is overstated and the game will recover quickly from its current malaise. No-one has a closer focus of the depth of young talent in the country – or otherwise – than Hayward, the current Wales U20s coach. Like the seniors, the youngsters have found it tough going in their version of the Six Nations this season with three defeats in as many games.

Chris Gunter insists the future is still bright for Welsh international football – despite his decision to further underline how last year’s World Cup was the end of an era. Gunter became the third Wales player in recent weeks to announce his retirement from the international game following the departures of record goalscorer Gareth Bale and midfielder Joe Allen. The trio’s departure means the end of an era and the withdrawal of huge combined experience for manager Rob Page ahead of Wales’ Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, which starts later this month.

Warren Gatland has revealed that a threat of possible player strike action before Wales’s Six Nations game against England caused “quite a significant split” and “tension” within his squad. Wales head to Rome for a Six Nations appointment with Italy on Saturday after losing their opening three games. Another defeat could mean a first Six Nations wooden spoon for 20 years, given that Wales’ final fixture is against France in Paris.

Wales hockey coach Kevin Johnson has backed new senior women’s captain Beth Bingham to build on the success of Leah Wilkinson. Bingham, 28, has been chosen as the team’s new skipper after Wilkinson announced her international retirement earlier this week. It will mean a new era for Wales, but one with a good deal of continuity, says Johnson, with Bingham – who has won 105 caps – a mainstay in the side under Wilkinson.

Former Ospreys coach Steve Tandy lauded “special” Stuart Hogg ahead of the fullback’s 100th game for Scotland. Hogg made his debut against Wales in the 2012 Six Nations and has gone on to represent his country with aplomb, finishing player of the tournament in Rugby’s Greatest Championship in 2016 and 2017. The star captained his country from 2020 until 2022 before being replaced by Jamie Ritchie this year. In 2021 Hogg scored his 25th try for Scotland becoming the all-time try scorer.

Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham has named six uncapped players in the squad for this season’s Women’s Six Nations and described as “outstanding” his captain Hannah Jones, who has retained the armband. Cunningham has included centres Catherine Richards and Jenna De Vera, prop Abbey Constable, lock Charlie Mundy, plus flankers Bryonie King and Kate Williams in the 36-strong group. Swansea-born Williams, who was raised in Auckland, trained with Wales during last year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

Rhys Webb is set to make his first Test start for three years as part of another big shake-up by Wales coach Warren Gatland. The Ospreys scrum-half – who has not been selected to begin a Test since 2020 – is poised to come in to face Italy in the Six Nations at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. Gatland is expected to make changes to the starting lineup, with as many as seven potential alterations from the team that faced England.

Wales star Taulupe Faletau says it is “hard to give your all” against the crushing contractual and financial backdrop that has engulfed Welsh regional rugby. All four Welsh professional regions – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – face major funding cuts, leading to vastly-reduced contract offers for many players whose deals expire at the end of this season, and a player exodus appears inevitable.

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. If last week was about recovery, this week was about getting prepped for attack! I was pleased – although you may not be – that we managed to win a few quid on the site. Nothing ground-shaking and that penthouse villa in Barbados is still a very, very long way off, sadly. But as the saying goes, little acorns make big trees.

Young Welsh sailors might glide across the water without too much bother, but now they should be finding life on the road a bit easier, too. Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Cymru have just taken possession of eight vehicle trailers that will allow them to ferry young sailors – and their dinghies – around the country far more smoothly. It should make transport far easier for parents, with the youngsters now able to travel as a small group, and also allow much more regional and even national activity rather than limiting promising young sailors to their local clubs.

By Owen Morgan Adele Nicoll is already an international athlete in two sports, but it would seem a reasonable bet to place on her one day making it a hat-trick. Adele said hello to bobsleigh after first emerging as a talented track and field athlete and she finds trying new sports just as satisfying as […]

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson hailed his team’s emphatic victory at Dagenham and Redbridge as their best away display of the season as they moved four points clear of Notts County at the top of the National League. “I thought it was a strong all-round performance from us,” said Parkinson. “We had to respond from the weekend and we’ve done that. Four points from two potentially tricky away games is a good return.”

Gemma Grainger’s Wales team will face Portugal in a friendly on Tuesday 11 April (KO 17:30) in Guimarães. Portugal, who are ranked 22nd in the world rankings, booked their place in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup last month after beating Cameroon in the intercontinental play-off final. The fixture will take place at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques and will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2018, when they played out a goalless draw in a friendly in Almada.

Football’s lawmakers have been accused of losing “further credibility” by a leading brain injury charity after a trial of temporary concussion substitutes was not approved last week. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) confirmed the decision to reject a trial in the Premier League, France’s Ligue 1 and Major League Soccer in the United States at its annual general meeting in London on Saturday. The Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association spoke out against the decision and now charity Headway says the IFAB and football’s governing body FIFA have lacked leadership on the matter.

Welsh gymnast Jemima Taylor has been selected to represent Great Britain at the upcoming Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships in Turkey. Taylor, from Bassaleg, aged 13, will be accompanied to Antalya as part of the travelling British delegation by Welsh head national women’s artistic coach Tracey Skirton-Davies. The event takes place from 29th March to 2nd April.

Wales Women’s senior team have appointed Shaun Connor as their new full-time attack and kicking coach ahead of the forthcoming TikTok Six Nations campaign. The former Dragons and Russia coach has moved from his role with the Dragons Rugby Academy and Wales U20s to join Ioan Cunningham’s coaching team. A former Dragons and Ospreys fly-half, Connor brings a wealth of experience as a professional player and coach to his new role and will continue with the Wales U20s until the end of their current Six Nations campaign.

Tom Shanklin has got the Six Nations set with Wales – two Grand Slam titles, two Triple Crowns and the one that few people mention, a single Wooden Spoon. That last unwanted award was earned 20 years ago, the last time Wales were whitewashed in the 23-year history of the expanded tournament and, in fact, the only time. The 2003 campaign included a loss for Shanklin and Wales against Italy in Rome, where two decades on, Warren Gatland’s team will try and avoid a similar fate on Saturday.