Dwayne Peel has revealed how the opportunity to coach the Scarlets was too good to turn down and insists he is confident he can get the west Walians firing again. The former Wales scrum-half was recently appointed head coach of the Scarlets, having originally signed a contract to become backs coach at the Cardiff Blues. Peel’s decision to renege on his contract in the Welsh capital was met with outrage in some quarters, but he insists the opportunity to coach his home club was a chance he had to grab with both hands.

Cardiff City manager Mick McCarthy has told striker Isaac Vassell to concentrate on regaining full fitness, rather than worry about scoring goals. Vassell reminded McCarthy – as well as Bluebirds supporters – that he remains a valuable option for the club next season with a goal in the 5-0 pre-season friendly win at Bath City. It was Vassell’s first appearance in a Cardiff first team shirt for almost two years after a string of injury problems since he joined the club from Birmingham City in 2019.

By Tom Prosser Wales and Argentina shared the spoils in an enthralling test match at the Principality Stadium. Wayne Pivac’s men showed plenty of intent throughout but lacked the clinical edge to put away a powerful Pumas outfit.

The Welshman heading the Team GB golf challenge at the Olympic Games is still hopeful the ban on fans in Tokyo might be eased to allow some spectators to watch the men’s and women’s events at the Kasumigaseki Country Club. Nigel Edwards – England Golf performance director – heads to Japan on 21 July to prepare the ground for Tommy Fleetwood, Paul Casey, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Mel Reid, who will be hoping to build on the golden success of Justin Rose in winning the men’s tile in Rio five years ago when golf returned to the Games for the first time in 112 years. “Japan is a golf mad country and they were predicting 25,000 fans for each day of the two events. That obviously won’t happen now, but we are still hoping there might be a chance to get some fans in despite the ban on events in Tokyo,” said Edwards.

Jonathan Davies will lead Wales out against Argentina on Saturday in a game that should have been happening in South America, not Cardiff. But there are many who believe Davies is still in the wrong country and that he should be in South Africa, wearing the red of the Lions, not Wales. Harri Morgan says Davies has a chance to reinforce that view against the Pumas. Just shy of four years to the day since what was one of the iconic plays of the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour, Jonathan Davies set out to reel in an interceptor clad in a black jersey. Again.

Jeremiah Azu cruised to European Under-23 Athletics Championships 100m gold with an imperious display of sprinting in Estonia. The Cardiff athlete left the rest of the field in his wake – even allowing himself a celebration 10 metres from the finishing line on Friday evening in Tallinn.

Wales continue their summer tour – flipped from Toronto and Buenos Aires to halfway down Westgate Street – on Saturday when they meet Argentina at the Principality Stadium. For scrum-half Kieran Hardy it’s another opportunity to press his claims for one of the most competitive spots on the team, as Graham Thomas reports. Kieran Hardy is determined to run the whole race against Argentina this weekend – after pulling up short on the final bend in the biggest match of his life. The last time Wales fans saw Hardy start a game was when he had to limp away from the action during the late stages of the Six Nations victory over England in February.

By Tom Prosser All three Welsh clubs who were in UEFA Conference League action last night have some work to do if they are to keep their European adventures alive. TNS who regularly represent Wales on the European stage came the closest to victory after they got pegged back with just seven minutes to go to draw 1-1 with Northern Ireland’s Glentoran.

By Owen Morgan Last Saturday Joe Brier travelled to the South West of England to watch his girlfriend compete in a National Athletics League fixture at Yate and District Athletics Club. The Swansea Harrier wasn’t competing because he was due to travel to Estonia three days later to compete in the European Under-23 Championships where he was one of the favourites for a medal in the 400m. But a trackside phone call from former Wales and Great Britain sprinter Tim Benjamin turned Brier’s immediate plans on their head. Instead of travelling to Tallinn, the 22-year-old would be heading to Tokyo next Thursday with the GB Olympic team as a travelling reserve.

After a 518 day enforced break caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, rallying will return to the Welsh forests this Saturday with the Nicky Grist Stages – although the event will be held behind closed doors and without spectators.

Jeremiah Azu ran a sensational 10.19 secs at the European U23 Champs in Tallinn to move second on the Welsh all-time list. The Cardiff Sprint ace sliced 0.8 secs off his lifetime best set in 2019 to qualify for the final on Friday in the Estonian capital.

By Tom Prosser Five years ago David Edwards was part of the Wales squad at Euro 2016 but this evening he will start a new European adventure with Bala who are taking part in the first ever UEFA Conference League. Bala are taking on Northern Ireland’s Larne who are featuring in European competition for the first time in their history. The match is taking place at Park Hall, the home of TNS due to UEFA ground requirements. The second leg will then take place in Northern Ireland next Thursday.

Welsh acrobat Dylan Howells wants to use the “incredible experience” of competing at his first World Championships as a springboard for future success. The 20-year-old, who hails from Risca, was part of the Great Britain squad who returned to the competition floor over the weekend – after the best part of 18 months out – at the 2021 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in Geneva, Switzerland.

By Paul Jones Wales U20’s fell to their third successive defeat in the Six Nations with a 45-3 loss to the so far undefeated England who will now have hopes of completing the grand slam at the Arms Park next Tuesday. Wales Captain Alex Mann couldn’t fault his sides effort and is aiming to end the Six Nations campaign with a win over the so far winless Scotland. “It was really tough, I’m disappointed for the boys as I thought we deserved more but now we have got to put things right and learn from our mistakes, particularly with our discipline,” said Mann.

Osian Pryce says that a day’s testing on Thursday and the recce on Friday will provide the perfect uninterrupted confidence-building preparation ahead of Saturday’s Nicky Grist Stages, as he gets in full rally mode for round two of the British Rally Championship (BRC). The 28-year old Machynlleth born driver is relishing the opportunity to drive his Melvyn Evans Motorsport-prepared Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 on the loose for the first time, and getting up to speed with his new-for-2021 Michelin gravel tyres.

Luke Rowe’s Tour de France is over after he finished outside the time cut on stage 11 which features a double climb of Mont Ventoux, the so-called ‘Beast of Provence’. The Ineos Grenadiers rider crossed the line around six minutes outside the time limit which is set by the stage winner.

By Graham Thomas Ireland U20 captain Alex Kendellen will be giving it plenty of hammer when he aims to drive his team back into contention for the Six Nations title. West Ham fan Kendellen found that whatever bubbles he tried to blow against England in the last round did not see his Irish youngsters rise to the top of the age group table. But following that 24-15 defeat – which leaves Ireland in second place in the table with two rounds to go – the back row forward is convinced his team can stay in touch with the leaders by beating Italy at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday.

By Owen Morgan Patrick Swan produced a huge shot put personal best to help launch Swansea Harriers to top spot in their National Athletics League Premier West Fixture at the weekend. The British Athletics Championships silver medallist threw 17.43m to extend his personal best by 38cms – moving him up to fifth in the United Kingdom rankings for 2021. Swan was ably backed up by his Harriers team mates as Swansea topped the table with 359.1 points at the meeting held at Yate and District AC, fellow Welsh club Cardiff Athletics finishing third out of the five competing teams with 320.7 points.

Many of the best young golfers in Wales have now reached the halfway stage of the PING Welsh Junior Tour, with only three events left to see who will reach the final at Mold in September. The third event this year was held in Builth Wells with Iosi Russell of Pyle and Kenfig coming out on top in the U14 category to cement his place at the top of the Order of Merit with three events left to go.

Most English eyes will be focused on Wembley tonight, but for age group rugby fans there’s another significant showdown happening at Cardiff Arms Park – Wales v England. The U20 Six Nations clash sees unbeaten England looking to take a penultimate step towards a Grand Slam and Wales aiming for their first win, nicely chilled thanks to a certain TV show as Tom Prosser reports. Wales U20 star Sam Costelow has been preparing to kick England out of their Grand Slam villa by watching Love Island. The Scarlets youngster has revealed he and the rest of the squad have relaxed ahead of their Six Nations showdown by nightly dates with the ITV show, interspersed with occasional games of table tennis.