By Harry Corish  Gareth Bale insisted he is match fit and refused to be drawn on his absence from ‘El Classico’ amid recent Madrid controversy. He is fit for Wales’ clash with Austria on Thursday and is set for one of his biggest nights in a Welsh shirt.  Whilst he has not featured much for Madrid this season, Bale has been in fine form for Wales, scoring three goals and recording three assists in his last five games for his country.

By Paul Jones Welsh boxing star Lee Selby says he is “hungrier than ever” as he heads to Argentina to face Gustavo Lemos in a world title final eliminator. The 35-year- old from Barry is targeting a world title shot against unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr and he is desperate to gain revenge on the Australian after losing to him via split decision in October 2020.

By Gareth James Wales are part of the UK and Ireland formal bid to host Euro 2028 to UEFA. The five associations confirmed in a joint statement issued on Wednesday morning that an ‘expression of interest’ (EOI) had been filed, which has the support of the governments of the UK, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The […]

Wales Women outside-half Elinor Snowsill is expecting a backlash from Ireland in this Saturday’s TikTok Women’s Six Nations opener but is confident Wales are up to the task. Ioan Cunningham’s side travel to Dublin to face an Ireland side hurting at missing out on World Cup qualification. Snowsill expects a tough challenge but is excited on the eve oof the tournament, which is expected to generate more interest than any previously held.

Neco Williams says it would be a “dream come true” for Wales to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and end their 64-year wait to grace the tournament. Wales host Austria in a World Cup play-off semi-final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday. The winners will play Scotland or Ukraine in June to decide a World Cup place, something Wales have not experienced since reaching the quarter-finals of the competition in Sweden in 1958.

Former international referee Nigel Owens reckons Wales are as low as they have been for a number of years following Saturday’s shock defeat to Italy, and based on current form, they will struggle to reach the knockout stages of next year’s World Cup. Wales ended up finishing fifth in this year’s Six Nations following their 22-21 loss to Italy in Cardiff, and Owens believes they have got a lot of work to do before the 2023 World Cup comes around. “This is as low as Wales have been for a number of years,” Owens told William Hill.

By Tom Prosser Szymon Marciniak of Poland has been appointed to referee Wales’ World Cup play-off semi-final against Austria at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday. Wales will be hoping Marciniak’s appointment is a good omen for them as he previously refereed their crucial 1-0 win away to Cyprus in 2015.

By Gregory Harrand The weekend of the 19th/20th of March saw a welcome return of the Mervyn Hughes memorial Rali Llyn to the rallying calendar, with Arwel Hughes-Jones and Dafydd Sion-Lloyd emerging as winners. Organised by Harlech and district motor club, this popular event, sponsored by Motorsport-tools, saw a 110 mile route on OS map […]

By Gareth James Wales have now dropped outside the top eight teams in the world following their dismal defeat to Italy on Saturday- they currently find themselves closer to Japan and Fiji, rather than the likes of France, Ireland and England. Wayne Pivac’s side have consequently fallen to ninth in the rankings, with Argentina now moving into the top eight.

Emil Barber is looking to take the momentum gained from his performances at the Welsh Artistic Championships into the upcoming British Championships in Liverpool. The 21-year-old Swansea artistic gymnast finished third in the men’s senior all-around event at the Welsh event in Cardiff at the end of last month, as well as retaining his Welsh titles on floor and vault. To cap the weekend, Barber also bagged bronze on parallel bars and the pommel horse. Next up is the M&S Bank Arena, where he won silver on vault in the U18 British event in March 2018 – a month before he travelled to Australia’s Gold Coast with Team Wales as a men’s reserve for the Commonwealth Games.

By Paul Jones Wales manager Robert Page has lavished praise on “wonderful” Brennan Johnson ahead of his side’s World Cup play-off against Austria. The Nottingham Forest star is one of Wales’ emerging talents and qualifies for the Dragons through his Powys born mother who was born and raised in Rhayader. Johnson has emerged as one […]

By Tom Prosser Wales chief Noel Mooney has claimed war-torn Ukraine must play their World Cup play-off ties by June – or else pull out of the tournament. Both Wales and Scotland backed Ukraine’s request to postpone their play-off semi-final against the Scots at Hampden Park following Russia’s invasion of their neighbour. But with the […]

By Adam Cleary The Cardiff Half Marathon returns on Sunday for the first time since October 2019 after a pandemic enforced break. Race director and former marathon olympian, Steve Brace, was delighted that the famous event was making a long awaited return after seeing the 2020 and 2021 races cancelled. “Cardiff Half Marathon is such […]

By Paul Jones Wales are hopeful Gareth Bale will be fit for their World Cup play-off with Austria. Bale was omitted from Real Madrid’s 23-man El Clasico matchday squad against Barcelona on Sunday, with reports in Spain saying the Wales captain was absent due to back pain. But Bale has joined up with the Wales […]

Five Welsh women’s artistic gymnasts and Birmingham 2022 hopefuls will make their senior bows at the British Championships in Liverpool this week. For Jea Maracha and Poppy Stickler, it comes just four months after proudly standing on the all-around podium as juniors at the 2021 Women’s Artistic British Championships. Maracha, 16, placed second in the junior all-around in Guildford back in November, as well as taking gold on uneven bars.

Alun Wyn Jones reckons some Welsh players have been saddled for the final time and are about to be put out to grass – but the old warhorse doesn’t plan to be one of them. Jones may be the oldest player in the squad and injuries over the past two seasons have disrupted his career, but he appears determined to continue. The 36-year-old’s landmark 150th cap for his country turned into a nightmare on Saturday as Italy won in Cardiff for the first time to scratch a seven-year losing itch in the Six Nations.

Swansea City manager Russell Martin expects his side to be a much improved outfit when they take to the Cardiff City Stadium turf for the South Wales derby in two weeks’ time. The Swans are without a fixture until April 2 due to the international break and Martin is confident his side can use the extra days wisely before attempting the first ever South Wales derby double. “We could make people very happy in two weeks’ time,” said Martin, whose team laboured to a 0-0 draw at home to Birmingham City.

Wayne Pivac insists he will get it right again with Wales and is still the man to take them to next year’s World Cup. His defiance came after the head coach suffered his worst day in the job – a shock 22-21 defeat to Italy in Cardiff. It meant Wales finished fifth in the final Six Nations table a year after winning the title as Italy won for the first time in the tournament for seven years.

Wales finish their Six Nations campaign at home to Italy, where a win for Wayne Pivac’s side could lead to a third-placed finish. The Italians have lost 36 consecutive matches in the tournament, but Tomas Marks says the Azzurri have reason to remain hopeful, despite the weight of statistics piling up against them. “Everyone tells them they’re bad and they believe it,” says from Conor O’Shea about Italian rugby. Over the last 36 matches in the Six Nations, Italy – who play Wales in Cardiff on Saturday in the final round of the Six Nations – have allowed too many episodes of self-doubt to affect their performances.

Alun Wyn Jones will win his 150th cap for Wales against Italy on Saturday – a landmark no other player, for any country, has ever reached before. But the selection was not without controversy since it is four months since cap No.149 and as Harri Morgan considers, others on his position were developing strongly. Belting out all of the ‘gwlads’ for a 150th time, surrounded by supporters in a packed Principality Stadium. Relieved that a week of awkward limelight deflection is behind him.