Rugby fans love an official list, a ranking, a team of this year or that year and so on. For that reason, there was no shortage of interest and debate when the World Rugby Team of the Decade, “picked in association with Mastercard” was announced this week. Eyebrows were raised at the bloke on the right wing. They should not have been, says Harri Morgan. Advocates for including Michael Owen in a Premier League team of the Noughties would likely have been subject to a whirlwind of polite disagreement from social media. At the end of the decade, Owen was predominantly collecting splinters at Manchester United, who he had joined on a free transfer following Newcastle’s relegation at the end of the 2008-9 season.

Ioan Lloyd admits he was star struck during his first few weeks in Wales camp but is adamant working with Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams has improved his game tenfold. The teenager is fresh off the back of his first international campaign with Wales and has relished the opportunity. Now, the Bristol Bears playmaker, who is equally at home at outside-half or full-back, is targeting a place in Wales’ Six Nations squad.

Traumatic brain injury expert Dr Willie Stewart believes it was “only a matter of time” before former rugby players with concussion-related issues considered legal action. A group of former internationals, including former Wales No.8 Alix Popham and England World Cup winner Steve Thompson, are planning legal action for negligence against the rugby authorities over brain injuries they have suffered. The ‘test group’ for a potentially much larger action also includes another former England player, Michael Lipman, according to Rylands Law.

Tesni Evans is confident she is getting back to her best after booking her place in the quarter-finals of the CIB Black Ball Open in Cairo. The No 8 seed saw off 12th seed Olivia Clyne of the United States in a five-game battle (13-11, 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, 11-7) that lasted 62 minutes.

By Paul Jones Steve Cooper insisted he will not allow talk of a sub-standard playing surface at the Liberty Stadium to deflect Swansea City from their pursuit of promotion. The Swans were held to a 0-0 draw by Bournemouth on Tuesday night – a result that was good enough to take the visitors to the […]

Neil Harris hailed his Cardiff City battlers after the 2-1 comeback victory….on a miserably wet Tuesday night at Stoke City. The win made it four wins on the trot for the Bluebirds lifting them up to ninth in the table.

Former Wales No.8 Alix Popham is part of a group of former internationals who are planning legal action for negligence against the rugby authorities over brain injuries they have suffered, the law firm leading the case has announced. Popham – who has been diagnosed with early onset dementia – is part of a ‘test group’ for a potentially much larger action along with former England players Steve Thompson and Michael Lipman, according to Rylands Law. The planned action is against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union, for “failure to protect (the claimants) from the risks caused by concussions”.

Welsh athletes heading to next year’s re-scheduled Olympic Games have been told to prepare for flying visits to Tokyo. The likes of Jade Jones, Dewi Griffiths, Melissa Courtney, Owain Doull, Natalie Powell and others can now expect brief in-and-out visits to Japan, either side of their competition date. Athletes will be expected to arrive in the Tokyo 2020 Athletes’ Village five days prior to their competition at Tokyo 2020 and depart a maximum of two days afterwards.

Emily Whitlock came agonisingly close to producing a major shock at the CIB Black Ball Open in Cairo before losing to No 5 seed Sarah-Jane Perry. The 26-year-old, who is now competing for Wales having moved to Colwyn Bay, was beaten 3-2 (4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 9-11) in 55 minutes.

Dwayne Peel has revealed it was always his plan to return to Wales after Cardiff Blues confirmed he would join them next season from Ulster. Former Wales and Scarlets scrum-half Peel will leave the Irish province in the summer to take up a role as senior assistant coach at the Arms Park – a job that would appear designed to prepare him as a natural successor to current head coach John Mulvihill. Where current assistant coach Richie Rees – another Wales scrum-half – fits into any succession plan remains to be seen.

Steve Cooper has warned his Swansea City side they will face the strongest squad in the Championship when they host Bournemouth tonight. Norwich City may be top of the table, but Cooper reckons Bournemouth – a point and one place behind the leaders – present the toughest challenge. But victory for head coach Cooper’s side tonight – what would be their fourth in six games – would take them to the top of the Championship, at least for 24 hours.

Robert Page believes World Cup rivals Belgium will hold “more respect” for Wales after recent meetings between the two nations. Belgium, the world’s top-ranked team, were the eye-catching side drawn alongside Wales, the Czech Republic, Belarus and Estonia in Group E of the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw on Monday. But Belgium have failed to beat Wales in four meetings since October 2013.

Tesni Evans recovered from losing the first game to reach the second round of the Black Ball Open in Cairo. The No 8 seed triumphed 3-1 against England’s Lucy Turmel.

Wales’ major sporting bodies have written to the Welsh Government urging it to allow fans back into stadiums and prevent the “real risk of bankruptcy for our sports”. The letter to Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford asks him to reconsider the stance during the Covid-19 pandemic that supporters will not be allowed to return to sport soon. Some sports fans in England have been allowed to return to stadiums during the last week, with Tier 1 capacities set at a maximum of 4,000 and Tier 2 areas half of that.

Jamie Donaldson has clinched his spot at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai after finishing runner-up at the South African Open. The Welshman will definitely be in the field for the Rolex Series event, which starts on Thursday, after finishing the regular phase of the season sitting in 63d place thanks to his second place at Sun City. It was a return to top form for 45-year-old Donaldson, who who has not won a tournament since 2015, but who has leaped 48 places in the rankings.

Connor Roberts intends to extend his scoring streak to keep Swansea City among the leaders in the Championship promotion race. The Swans’ 2-0 win over Luton at the weekend lifted them back to fourth in the table, two points behind leaders Norwich. The Wales full-back scored his second goal in three games and Andre Ayew grabbed his ninth of the season to lift the Swans back into the play-off spots.

Michael Flynn’s Newport County may be unbeaten at home this season, but they are about to embark on a real test of their title credentials with three successive away games in the space of eight days. Hot on the heels of another last gasp win that kept them a point clear at the top of League Two – a 2-1 triumph over Morecambe – County have to hit the road and must cover 1,200 miles in their pursuit of wins at Grimsby, on Tuesday night, Leyton Orient on Saturday, and Salford City next week. Flynn praised his side’s resilience after Matty Dolan’s 83rd minute penalty earned them a hard-fought victory over Morecambe.

Geraint Thomas suffered a dislocated shoulder while on a training ride on Sunday. Wales’ 2018 Tour de France champ insisted he would be back riding on Monday – on his turbo trainer.

Elfyn Evans vowed to come back stronger next season after seeing his dream of being crowned FIA World Rally Champion end in heartache. The 31-year-old had to settle for a career-best second in the drivers’ standings as Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Sebastien Ogier won his seventh title.

As 2020 draws to a close and the coaching record of Wayne Pivac comes under scrutiny, Peter Jackson examines what’s happened to the Welsh coach – a once thriving breed that now appears an endangered species. There used to be a time when Wales led the world in pioneering coaches, when Carwyn James, Clive Rowlands and Ray Williams changed the mentality of Test rugby. Half a century later, the same country is so far behind the eight-ball in question that Welsh head coaches of any description, let alone of the pioneering variety, are as hard to find as words of praise from Edward Jones over the legality of the Irish scrum.