Former sprinter Olivia Tsim claimed her first Welsh Cross Country title in Brecon on Saturday. The Pontypridd Roadents AC runner, whose athletics career has been dogged by injuries, was competing at her first cross country race in more than 10 years. However, she dominated the 6.89km race from the start and eventually crossed the line in 23:55 to take the senior women’s title ahead of Lucy Marland, of Les Croupiers Running Club and Martha Owen, of Deeside AAC.

Chepstow-based Sarah Guest believes horse racing can provide a positive future for people working in the industry – at all levels. Guest – who lives just a mile from Chepstow Racecourse – has scooped two awards at the 2023 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, held at York Racecourse. Not only was she named Employee of the Year for her role as yard manager at trainer John O’Shea’s stables in Gloucestershire, but she also won the Leadership Award.

Dewi Griffiths returned to winning ways at the Welsh Cross Country Championships in Brecon on Saturday – clocking up a remarkable eighth senior men’s title. The Swansea Harrier is now just one behind Welsh distance running legend Steve Jones, who has nine national cross country crowns to his name. The Carmarthenshire farmer’s latest triumph was a welcome return to form having not won at the event since 2019 due to a mixture of illness, injury and the rise of new Welsh talent.

Louis Rees-Zammit is backing Wales to get their attack together by the end of the Six Nations. The Gloucester flyer raced half the length of the pitch for a try that edged Wales head of England at the start of the second half at the weekend, but then saw his side slip to a third successive defeat. But the biggest attacking threat in the Welsh back line believes things will progress as the youngsters being introduced into Warren Gatland’s new look squad get a chance to gel.

Warren Gatland admits there is a wooden spoon heading in his direction unless Wales can stop the rot in their Six Nations campaign by winning in Italy. The 20-10 defeat to England at the Principality Stadium offered little evidence of reasons for Wales fans to be optimistic about the trip to Rome in round four. Gatland’s team were obdurate and determined, but not much more than that, whilst Italy have been showing signs of clear all-round improvement despite their three defeats.

Sabri Lamouchi insists his Cardiff City team will “fight to the death” in their bid to avoid relegation after their brief revival perished at Norwich City. The Bluebirds were brought back down to earth by a 2-0 defeat, which ended the momentum gained from back-to-back victories against Birmingham City and Reading. The defeat leaves Cardiff still in 21st place, but with their four-point cushion above the relegation zone intact after all the clubs in the bottom three lost.

After the strike that never was, the shock result that could be. Coach and rugby analyst Tomas Marks looks at the painful lessons from Murrayfield and believes Wales can benefit from the shake-up that followed. After a turbulent week off the pitch it’s all systems go for Wales against England. The performance against Scotland will have been dissected thoroughly and the main learnings from the match were the failure of the attack, inferior tackle success, and continuing ill discipline.

Warren Gatland used to play mind games in the week of a Wales-England Six Nations game, but he’s probably felt there was enough to be done working on his own head space in the past seven days. Is the game going to be on? Or are my players about to go on strike? What kind of mental stage is my captain in after spending a week of brinkmanship with our employers? Or even, why did I sign up again for this mess?

Gareth Thomas insists Wales will go at England with “all guns blazing” on Saturday despite shooting themselves in the foot in an extraordinary build-up to their Six nations clash. The Ospreys prop admits he has never been involved in preparation as badly focused as the lead in to what is always the biggest game in the Welsh calendar. There was only one topic of conversation in the team room, at meal times and with roommates in the hotel and it was not how England’s pack was set-up for a defensive line-out near their own 22.

Welsh stars Melissa Courtney-Bryant, Jeremiah Azu and Joe Brier are heading to next month’s European Indoor Athletics Championships in Turkey. All three have stories to tell behind their selection, with Courtney-Bryant continuing her return to full fitness after lengthy injuries and Brier recently completing his Masters. But it is perhaps Azu who has seen the most radical change to his life over the past few months.

Cardiff-born forward and Sheffield Steelers captain Jonathan Phillips has announced his retirement at the end of the season, after playing an integral role in the rise of Team GB to the elite level of the sport. Former Devils player Phillips has captained the national team since 2012 and holds the all-time appearance record with 111 caps. He is expected to add to that tally at the 2023 IIHF World Championship in Nottingham. While Phillips has played for other teams, including the Devils, Basingstoke Bison, Milton Keynes Lightning, and Passau Black Hawks, Sheffield is his true hockey home.

Ryan Woodman will have a small army of fans cheering him against England on Friday night – most of whom are English. The Wales U20s captain is from purest red rose stock, with his parents and grandparents hailing from the other side of the border. In fact, his father Kirk used to sit and watch Six Nations matches on TV, wearing a white shirt and urging the sweet chariot onwards.

Cardiff City manager Sabri Lamouchi insists there’s no rest for the wicked – or those still threatened by the terror of relegation. The Bluebirds boss may have earned back-to-back victories to ease worries of the drop from the Championship, but he has reminded his players they have to keep winning – starting on Saturday, away at Norwich City. Cardiff are one place and four points above the relegation zone, but Huddersfield – immediately beneath them – also won their last match and have a game in hand.

Wales boss Warren Gatland believes England might have preferred a closed Principality Stadium roof for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations encounter had they “done their homework”. England want the roof open, and while Wales have normally preferred it closed to help keep crowd noise in, Six Nations rules dictate both teams must agree on a closed roof for that to happen. Wales exclusively make the roof call for autumn international fixtures and other games, but not in the Six Nations, so it will be open this weekend.

Wales internationals Lily Woodham and Cerys Hale both insist they have had positive experiences in their sports since coming out – but say more still needs to be done. Reading footballer Woodham and Gloucester-Hartpury rugby player Hale are both full-time, professional athletes who pull on a red shirt for their country and wear it with pride. But they also take pride in another sense – proud of who they are, their openness around their sexual orientation and the roles they can play in making their sports feel fully welcoming to all.

Gerwyn Price hopes to get back on the horse in Dublin on Thursday night after Scotland unseated him just as he was in full flow. The Welsh star will be aiming for more success when the Premier League Darts roadshow hits the 3Arena in the Irish capital. Price was a proud home winner in Cardiff in round two a fortnight ago and said in the aftermath of that triumph, “Absolutely buzzing to win in Cardiff.

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. They say Sunday is the day of rest. Well, after the second bad one in a row, it seems to be the day for DragonBet to take a good kicking! Perhaps it’s time to take up church!

He tried, but Wales captain Ken Owens could barely conceal his anger, frustration and no little contempt for the Welsh Rugby Union as he co-hosted the peace conference outside the Vale Hotel. With a voice that sounded painfully hoarse from too much painful negotiating, Owens joined acting WRU chief executive Nigel Walker in announcing that a deal with the players had been struck so that Saturday’s Six Nations match against England in Cardiff could go ahead.

Wales manager Gemma Grainger insisted she was content with her team’s Pinatar Cup campaign as they finished the tournament in Spain with a 1-1 draw against Scotland. Sophie Howard’s well-executed diving header gave Pedro Martinez Losa’s Scotland team an early advantage, which they fully deserved for their efforts in south-east Spain. However, Wales managed to draw level against the run of play just before half-time, with Ceri Holland concluding an excellent attacking move.

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has admitted his team is playing with anxiety after they slumped to another defeat. The Swans lost for the fourth time in their last five games as they crashed to a 3-1 home defeat to Stoke City, having led 1-0 early on. It leaves them still in 12th place in the Championship, 11 points clear of the relegation zone, but Huddersfield, in 22nd place, has a game in hand.