Cardiff City often appear a strange club and the sacking of Steve Morison only seems logical when viewed through a lens adjusted for all those peculiarities. Why now? What now? Who now? Where now? It’s a club where there always appears to be more questions than answers. Get a new man in less than a year ago, brief him to completely revamp the squad and sign 17 new players, and then dismiss him 10 games into the season.

The 2023 Six Nations is still 20 weeks away, but we know already it will be very different this season. Eddie Butler won’t be there. That voice, so sturdy, comfortable and familiar, won’t be around to guide and reassure. That ability to add to and embellish the picture, without ever obscuring it, will be missing.

By Matthew Burgess Cardiff Devils must quickly recover from their first defeat of the season ahead of this afternoon’s Challenge Cup game against in-form Coventry Blaze (5.30). The Devils were outsmarted by the Guildford Flames on Saturday night with Jake Coughler getting the solitary goal in a 3-1 loss. Flames were backstopped by an impressive […]

Will Rowlands has insisted the four Welsh teams have to improve in the United Rugby Championship – or else the “depressing” outcomes of recent seasons will undermine the national team. On the eve of a new campaign for the regions, the Wales and Dragons second row believes there is a collective responsibility to make a real impact.  Last season, none of the four Welsh sides managed to reach the URC knockout stages and the highest ranked among them – the Ospreys – were presented with the Welsh Shield for finishing ninth. 

Goaltender Taran Kozun could be handed his first start of the season as the Cardiff Devils switch their focus to the Challenge Cup this weekend. The Devils have been runners-up in the competition for the last two seasons and will be keen to make a strong start to this season’s campaign when they host Guildford […]

It may be that other events have overshadowed its build-up, or that last season’s Welsh contribution was extremely modest, but the United Rugby Championship is back this weekend. The summer break has sometimes appeared long and disjointed, but Daniel Parker has tied it all together in one very helpful preview. Thanks, Dan. After what feels like a long and disjointed summer break, the United Rugby Championship returns this weekend. The pick of the opening round matches is the Loughor Bridge derby between the Ospreys and the Scarlets – a tie which should set the early tone of the new campaign for Wales’ two best-performing regions last term

Matty Jones has been announced as the new Wales U21 head coach. The former Wales midfielder, who has worked with the FAW at U18 level and with manager Gemma Grainger and the women’s national side, will take up the role immediately and be in charge for a friendly against Austria later this month. Jones is a is a UEFA pro licence holder who has also worked for Swansea City as their U23 academy team manager.

Captain Hannah Jones insists Wales are a better team than the one which suffered the second worst defeat in their history on Wednesday night. In their final match before the women’s World Cup in New Zealand next month, Wales were hammered 73-7 by England at Ashton Gate in Bristol. There is no shame in conceding 11 tries to the world champions as England dish out that kind of treatment to almost every opposition they meet, but there was still frustration within the Welsh ranks that they had only managed a single try themselves in response.

Russell Martin admits Swansea City’s injury time weakness is costing them any chance of climbing the Championship table. For the fifth time already this season, the Swans conceded a goal beyond the 90th minute as they went down to a 1-0 home defeat to Sheffield United on Tuesday night. The 94th minute winner scored by Reda Khadra – conceded within seconds of a Swans’ attack breaking down near the Blades’ goalmouth – leaves Martin’s side in 21st place, just one spot above the relegation zone.

Steve Morison insists Cardiff City took just rewards with their victory at Middlesbrough, claiming the first away win of the season was build on solid form. The Bluebirds repelled Middlesbrough’s second-half comeback to claim a 3-2 victory at the Riverside. Morison’s side looked to be strolling to all three points as they claimed a three-goal lead at the interval thanks to strikes from Callum O’Dowda, Mark Harris and Perry Ng.

Luke Harris has been told the door is open for him to cap an incredible rise by going to the World Cup with Wales The 17-year-old Fulham star has been named in manager Robert Page’s squad for the first time for the upcoming Nations League games against Belgium and Poland next week. But such is the precocious talent of the teenage midfielder – who has only one senior Carabao Cup appearance to his name – that Page reckons the youngster could yet force his way into the squad for the tournament in Qatar in November.

Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham believes his team’s game against England at Ashton Gate on Wednesday night is a vital building stage towards the World Cup. The match is the last run-out for the squad ahead of the forthcoming tournament in New Zealand. Cunningham will announce his squad for the competition next week and believes this is the perfect chance for some players to book a place on the plane.

Wales manager Rob Page plans to recruit Michael Sheen to his World Cup campaign after the Hollywood actor’s rousing team talk went viral on social media. Page has revealed he intends to invite Sheen into camp after being urged to do so by his players, who were among the 13 million viewers of the clip. The star of football movie The Damned United gave a thunderous motivational speech at the weekend on the Sky TV sport quiz panel show, a League Of Their Own.

Cardiff City are preparing for a week from hell with more than 1,000 miles and 18 hours of travelling in a bus to take in games at Middlesbrough and Huddersfield in the space of five days. Steve Morison’s men may have had a few unexpected days off due to the death of The Queen last weekend, but they face their two biggest journeys of the season back-to-back as they seek to climb out of the Championship relegation zone. There was a time when the club’s finances ran to chartering flights to head that far north, but those days are now long gone.

Robert Page has pinpointed qualification for the 2024 Euros and 2026 World Cup as his targets after being confirmed as the long-term manager of Wales. The man who took over from Ryan Giggs has signed a new four-year contract to continue in the job, two months before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when Wales will make just their second appearance at the finals. The new deal means Page will be in charge for Wales’ 2024 European Championship and 2026 World Cup qualifying campaigns.

Ben Llewellin celebrated a double medal haul at the European Shotgun Championships in Cyprus. The Welsh clay shooter and four-times British champion, helped Great Britain secure a fourth gold medal of the Championships in Larnaca in a mixed skeet team victory alongside Amber Hill. The pair triumphed against Rio 2016 individual gold medallist Diana Bacosi and her Italian compatriot Tammaro Cassandro, a two-time world gold medallist.

Jonathan Davies insists his priority now is to help the Scarlets achieve a super-charged start to the season and that any Wales ambitions must flow from that. The 34-year-old was left out of Wayne Pivac’s squad that toured South Africa this summer, but that does not mean he has accepted his international days are over. But what has changed for a player who has been as integral as anyone to the national cause for over a decade is the pecking order of his personal focus.

By Matthew Burgess Head coach Brodie Dupont says a strong team ethos was the key factor as the Cardiff Devils claimed maximum points from the opening weekend of the Elite League season. In an ominous early warning to the rest of the EIHL, the Devils coach believes his new-look team not only have the skill […]

Michael Obafemi is set to be left out again by Swansea City head coach Russell Martin for Tuesday night’s home game against Sheffield United. The Republic of Ireland striker – who was hopeful of a deadline day move to Burnley – is described as “getting there, slowly” by Martin, when asked if Obafemi was ready to return. The former Southampton player – who was hopeful of a £10m move – was not in the match day squad for the club’s 1-0 win over QPR which followed the closing of the transfer window after his head coach claimed the forward was not in the right frame of mind to play.

By Matthew Burgess Team GB winger Sam Duggan lit up the opening night of the Cardiff Devils season, scoring twice to lift his team to a 3-1 victory over Sheffield Steelers. Duggan had a hand in all three goals as the Devils ground out a hard-fought win that was aided by a 29-save performance from […]