Blaine Hudson believes the way in which The New Saints hit back to beat Haverfordwest County in the JD Cymru Premier League will have knocked the stuffing out of their major title rivals. The Pembrokeshire side headed north looking for another upset following their 1-0 triumph at Bala Town and twice took the lead at Park Hall against an unbeaten TNS team. It took a cruel own goal in injury time to crush their dreams.

Wayne Pivac has admitted Wales will lose to Scotland next week unless they improve on their sloppy display in Paris. The Wales head coach had a simple message after his side’s 38-21 defeat to France that has raised the prospect of a fifth successive defeat next weekend when his side resume their Six Nations campaign. Wales lost against Ireland, France and England in the tournament earlier this year and ahead of their final game, Pivac conceded: “We have to be a lot better next week.”

Newport County manager Michael Flynn is refusing to get carried away despite his club’s best start to a league season. The Exiles returned to the top of the Sky Bet League Two table after a thumping 3-0 victory at Bradford City.

Most eyes were trained towards Paris on Saturday night for their weekend rugby fix, but some hard core types had already enjoyed a Friday night starter where Liam Williams was in action. Well, “enjoyed” might be putting it strongly. Harri Morgan watched the Scarlets win 10-3 at Benetton and learned some life lessons. It was the type of game that would have left fans lodging requests for a refund – had there been any. What? Oh, they’re allowed fans in stadia in Italy. Lucky them. On the home front, as we enter the firebreak – a concept we hope is more a case of lost keys than long term lockdown – a return to live sport doesn’t appear close. Unlucky us.

Wales slumped to their fourth defeat in a row under Wayne Pivac as the pressure already begins to mount on Warren Gatland’s successor. Big things were expected of the New Zealander who vowed to instil a more attacking mindset in this Welsh side. Things haven’t gone to plan up to now but Steffan Thomas outlines […]

Neil Harris has told his Cardiff City players to become ‘streetwise’ after seeing his side drop more crucial home points. Sheyi Ojo salvaged a draw for the Bluebirds with a second-half leveller after they conceded from a set-piece to Neil Warnock’s Middlesbrough.

Steve Cooper gave a scathing assessment of referee Oliver Langford after Swansea City were forced to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw at Bristol City. The Swans head coach was angry over the penalty decision in the 83rd minutethat enabled Nahki Wells to cancel out Jamal Lowe’s opening goal. The Swans were heading towards three points and second place in the Championship when Langford judged that Connor Roberts had pulled down the Robins’ Antoine Semenyo as they went to contest a through ball.

George North has been dealing with pressure ever since he announced his Wales presence with a try double on his debut against South Africa in 2010. Ten years on he will edge closer to joining that elite 100 Club when he wins his 96th cap in Saturday night’s clash against France in Paris.

Swansea City midfielder Korey Smith has been described as an “incredible servant” of Bristol City as he prepares to face his old club today. Smith left the Robins on a free transfer to move to Swansea in the summer after six years at Ashton Gate. He returns with his old club in second place in the Championship, under new manager Dean Holden, who took over from Lee Johnson in the summer.

Cardiff City keeper Alex Smithies admits even he didn’t know how he pulled off one of the saves of the season. The Bluebirds stopper’s stunning effort to deny Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke proved crucial, flinging out a hand to push his point-blank effort onto the bar.

Neil Harris says his predecessor as Cardiff City manager was a tough act to follow as Neil Warnock makes his return on Saturday. The Bluebirds will be looking for their first home win of the season when they face Middlesbrough who won impressively at Bristol City in midweek.

Jacob Draper, Rupert Shipperley and Sarah Jones have been named in the Great Britain squads for next week’s return of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Draper and Shipperley make the men’s squad for the games against The Netherlands (27 and 29 October) and Belgium (31 October and 1 November).

Gethin Jenkins is a “rugby anorak” whose obsession can help Wales counter the influence of Shaun Edwards when they meet France in Paris on Saturday. That’s the upbeat prediction of Gruff Rees, the man who has overseen the coaching development of of Jenkins at Cardiff Blues. Jenkins has replaced Sam Warburton in the Wales management set-up, specialising in defence and the breakdown area, having been drafted in by head coach Wayne Pivac.

The Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally, which was to have hosted the opening rounds of a number of major championships on 20 February, has been postponed until 30 October. With no sign of the arbitrary 30 person maximum gathering rule taking into account the vast open spaces rallying takes place in, the somewhat inevitable news about the Cambrian Rally will raise a very serious question.

A schoolboy dream will come true for Nick Tompkins in Paris on Saturday night when he plays alongside Jonathan Davies in a Wales shirt for the first time. The two players will form the midfield combination against France – a link-up Tompkins could only imagine when he was growing up as a rugby-mad youngster. Tompkins made his first four Test appearances in the Six Nations at the start of the year when Davies was out injured while he recovered from knee surgery.

Dai Sport has helped former Welsh half marathon record holder Steve Jones send his congratulations to Jake Smith – the man who broke his 34-year-old national best We contacted Jones at his home in the USA for his views on Smith’s spectacular performance at the World Half Marathon Championships last week.

Though the streets of Llanberis may be quieter this Saturday than on a usual Snowdonia Marathon weekend, S4C will be holding its own tribute to the event by challenging a host of elite runners to a race along the iconic route. Earlier this year, organisers announced that the 38th edition of the legendary marathon was to be postponed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, as part of a special S4C programme, a selection of north Wales’ top runners, including a host of previous winners, will race in two separate relay teams, with a member of each team running a leg of the marathon simultaneously.

Gareth Bale has admitted he is still short of his best form after making his first start for Tottenham since rejoining the club.The Wales captain played just over an hour of his club’s 3-0 over LASK in the Europa League on Thursday night, before confessing he still has work to do on his fitness. There were occasional touches of class, such as the cross that led to the Austrians conceding an own goal, before Bale revealed he feels he is still at the pre-season stage of his own fitness.

By Steffan Thomas New Wales hooker Sam Parry will thrive at international level, according to former Ospreys coach Allen Clarke. Parry is a latecomer to the international game and will make his Wales debut at the age of 28 having been named on the bench against France this Saturday. And former Ireland hooker Clarke believes […]

Wales moved closer to qualifying for their first major finals with a thumping victory over Faroe islands at Newport’s Rodney Parade. Natasha Harding struck twice, Helen Ward extended her Wales goal scoring record and Lily Woodham bagged her first for her country.