Chris Gunter is set to make history on Saturday night as he becomes the first male Welsh international to reach 100 caps for his country. Over 14 years since his debut, Gunter will captain Wales in a friendly against Mexico at the Cardiff City Stadium and join three Welsh women – Jess Fishlock, Sophie Ingle and Loren Dykes – in making the century mark. “It’s an achievement that I am proud of.  It means the world to me to be able to represent the country and do what I know so many people would love to do,” said the Charlton Athletic defender.

Wayne Pivac passed on his thanks and gratitude to Scotland coach Gregor Townsend after Wales clinched the Six Nations title. Pivac watched from home as the Scots came from behind to win another thrilling match in Paris, 27-23, with a last-ditch try in the fifth minute of added time through Duhan van der Merwe. France needed to score four tries and win by 21 points to deny Wales the championship crown, but although they crossed three times, they never threatened to shake that far clear of the Scots who enjoyed long spells of dominance.

Wales host Mexico in a friendly on Saturday night, before their second World Cup qualifier at home to the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Then, it’s a friendly against Albania, the finals of the Euros, and more World Cup qualifiers in September. Little wonder, says Jack Hammett, that recent youngsters from the Wales U21 squad could soon start filling the gaps. With the Euros fast approaching and World Cup qualifiers taking place amongst an already packed calendar, the Wales squad needs to be bigger and fresher than it has ever been. Experienced squad members like Gareth Bale, Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey have had issues with fitness and injuries this season, and although the trio is more than likely to feature when fit there may be a need for a few younger faces to assuage the fears about squad depth and fatigue.

The Six Nations title will be decided in Paris tonight, even though most of the judgements on Wales in this tournament have already been made. Harri Morgan says measurements of progress were easy to find, but the important factor now is to keep the forward momentum. I don’t profess to be down with the lingo. But I’m fairly certain French rugby has been living ‘rent free in my head’ for much of the last decade.  It certainly has a low cost timeshare.

Natasha Cockram smashed her own Welsh marathon record but agonisingly just missed out on qualification for the Tokyo Olympics on Friday morning. The Micky Morris Racing Team runner finished second in the British Athletics Olympic trials at Kew Gardens, clocking 2:30.03.

Terry Taylor hopes the influence of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink can help propel his Wales U21 side to victory over the Republic of Ireland in Wexham today. The young Wales midfielder has come under the gaze of the former Chelsea star after Dutchman Hasselbaink returned to manage Burton Albion in January. Hasselbaink signed Taylor from Wolves on a two-and-a-half-year contract in the last transfer window – becoming the seventh player brought in by the one-time Cardiff City striker.

Heather Lewis and Bethan Davies made it a Welsh one-two at the British Athletics Olympic race walking trial in London on Friday morning. Lewis produced a dominant display to win the women’s race in a time of 1:35.44, ahead of Wales and Great Britain international teammate Davies, who clocked 1:37.04. Both athletes were outside the Olympic qualifying time of 1:31.00. But, having claimed the top two British qualification spots in the trial, they will aim to lower their times and try to book their places in Tokyo.

Forget Wayne Pivac, Steve Tandy is the Welshman with most at stake this evening when the destiny of the 2021 Six Nations title will be decided in Paris. Wales head coach Pivac will be chewing his fingernails – much like many supporters – as he watches France try and beat Scotland with enough tries and points to claim the championship trophy and push Wales into second place. But imagine being Tandy, whose countrymen are depending on his organisation of Scotland’s defence so that it’s good enough not to succumb to a 21-point losing margin.

Geraint Thomas moved into the top three overall after another mountain battle at the Volta a Catalunya. The Cardiff-born rider finished third on the stage and is now part of an Ineos Grenadiers dominated top three.

Andy Davies is long past having kittens about running marathons, but puppies for his faithful dog, Scrappy, are another matter. Even so, the former Cymru Premier footballer tells Owen Morgan that anyone who doesn’t recognise just how competitive Welsh marathon running is at present is barking. Floods, Covid and the pregnancy of his canine training partner have failed to put Andy Davies off his stride in the run up to Friday’s Olympic Marathon trials in London. The 41-year-old from mid-Wales says he is in good shape heading to the Kew Gardens event despite a slightly different build up.

The Six Nations will come to a strange conclusion on Friday night when France host Scotland in Paris in an empty stadium, with Wales absent, even though they could be crowned champions. It might be a fitting conclusion to the oddest of tournaments, but some things are still clear to Fraser Watson – like the need to promote Willis Halaholo to a Wales starter. Progress to laud, but lessons to heed. So, a Six Nations campaign for Wales which yielded a record number of tries, unearthed rising stars, and ultimately vindicated Wayne Pivac, was tainted only by a frenzied few minutes in Paris.

Gareth Bale blamed “sloppy mistakes” for Wales’ defeat in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier to Belgium. Wales led through Harry Wilson’s superb 10th-minute opener – the product of a sweeping 17-pass move and Bale’s brilliant through ball – before Belgium fought back to win 3-1 in a manner befitting the world’s number one team. It was a mirror image of the famous scoreline from five years ago when these countries last met, complete with the same scoring sequence of the losers taking the lead.

Joel Makin’s stunning run at the Black Ball Open was ended after another epic battle in the semi-finals in Cairo. The 26-year-old from Haverfordwest was beaten in straight games by No 6 seed Marwan Elshorbagy.

Geraint Thomas showed he is on course to be a serious challenger at the Tour de France as he continued his climb up the standings at Volta a Catalunya.

When Wales face Belgium tonight, it will be the latest chapter in an eventful recent rivalry between the nations. It will also be an opportunity for Swansea City supporters to remind themselves of one manager’s influence on both their club and country, as Jack Hammett outlines. It’s nearly five years since Wales last faced Belgium. If you can’t recall the match, it was the greatest night in Welsh football history. A few weeks later, a familiar face took over the Belgium managerial job – and is now in charge of the number one side in the world.

Kevin De Bruyne insists Wales’ proud record against Belgium belongs to the past and has no bearing on their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier. De Bruyne believes Belgium are a far better side than the one that lost to Wales at Euro 2016 in France, a defeat the Manchester City midfielder says acted as a turning point for the world’s top FIFA-ranked team. Wales stunned star-studded Belgium to win that European Championship quarter-final 3-1, extending the Dragons’ recent unbeaten record against the Red Devils to four games with two wins and two draws.

Gareth Bale insists he is in the best shape possible to lead Wales into their World Cup qualifying campaign against Belgium tonight. The 31-year-old Tottenham forward – who has never played at the finals of the tournament – begins another mission in Leuven, believing his loan move from Real Madrid and then increasing match action has put him into peak fitness. On arriving fresh for international duty, Bale said: “Over the last few years this is probably the most match fitness I’ve had.

Joel Makin produced one of the best wins of his career to reach the semi-finals of the Black Ball Open with victory over world No 2 Mohamed Elshorbagy. The Haverfordwest-born ace saved two match points to win 3-2 (10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 13-11) after a 91 minute thriller in Cairo.

Geraint Thomas surged into the top 10 overall at the Volta a Catalunya after the stage two individual time trial. The 2018 Tour de France champ finished 10th in the race against the clock – 47 seconds down on Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Rohan Dennis over the 18.5km course at Banyoles.

Daniel James always held faith he would become a success at Manchester United, Wales caretaker manager Robert Page has claimed. Wales winger James hit the ground running at United following his £15million move from Swansea City in June 2019, scoring three goals in his first four games. James made 46 appearances last term, but the 23-year-old found himself on the first-team fringes earlier this season and his Old Trafford future looked bleak.