Robert Jones cherishes each one of his 54 Wales and three British and Irish Lions caps. But the proud son of Trebanos says that Swansea’s 1992 triumph over then World Cup holders Australia means more to him than his victories in a red jersey. The scrum-half played 286 times for the Whites between 1983 and 2002, and was wearing the No.9 shirt when the Wallabies paid a visit to St Helen’s on 4 November 1992. The match will be re-lived on S4C’s Clwb Rygbi, at 6.15pm on Saturday 6 June, and will also be available to watch on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer after broadcast.

Elite sport is slowly returning. Some, like professional football, are preparing to resume competition, but for most it’s about small steps to resume training. But while some sports get on to their starting blocks, others are still waiting outside the stadium – and there is also a difference between Wales and England, as Sport Wales CEO Brian Davies tells Graham Thomas. Sport Wales acting chief executive Brian Davies insists the country’s top athletes will not get left behind their rivals in the race to be ready again for major competitions. Welsh elite athletes in all sports are still waiting for a green light to resume training as some of the lockdown restrictions start to ease across other parts of the UK.

Canadian centre Stephen Dixon is Cardiff Devils’ third import signing for the 2020-21 Elite League ice hockey season. Dixon followed captain Joey Martin and Joey Haddad in committing to the Devils again and there will be more player announcements over the next few weeks. “I’ve enjoyed my time in Cardiff,” said the man from Halifax in Nova Scotia. “Devils are a quality organisation from top to bottom. We have a great group of guys and great fans.”

It was the game that rescued the career of Shane Williams – Wales v New Zealand in the pool stages of the 2003 World Cup. Before the tournament, it looked as if the player who would go on to become Wales’ greatest try-scorer might not even make the plane. He did – just – as a utility third scrum-half and back-up wing. Tonight, 17 years on, the game is being replayed and re-assessed on S4C where Williams watches the 53-37 defeat for the first time since that day in Sydney . . .

Lauren Price insists she has no concerns about resuming training as she rebuilds towards an appearance at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Wales’ amateur world champion is among 12 elite boxers who will return to training in Sheffield next week as the sport becomes the latest to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the GB boxing squad have been in lockdown since the abandonment of the Olympic qualifying tournament in London in March when the scale of the health crisis became apparent.

Newport County and other struggling clubs in Leagues One and Two have been told that football must solve their financial crisis – not the government. With the rest of the season already written off and no prospect of any more gate income until August at the earliest, County and other clubs in the lower two divisions have raised the alarm. Calls have been made for a state-backed plan to help English Football League clubs avoid insolvency in the current coronavirus pandemic.

This year should have been the time Aled Davies secured his status as one of the world’s greatest Paralympians. Champion of the world in 2012 and 2016, he was on for the hat-trick of golden triumphs in Tokyo. He’s disappointed, but there are compensations as Graham Thomas reports. Aled Davies insists fatherhood and the joy of seeing his daughter learn to walk will always shine far brighter than any gold medal. The multiple medalist and world champion should be spending this summer preparing for more glory at the Paralympics in Tokyo.

Run 4 Wales chief Matt Newman believes there is a new influx of “lockdown runners” who will help offset the postponement of organised races in Wales. The man behind the hugely successful Cardiff Half Marathon insists the event can still thrive after organisers confirmed it has been postponed for this year. The third biggest running event in the UK – which was scheduled to take place on October 4 – has been put back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and it will now go ahead on March 28.

Cardiff Devils have been drawn against Swedish opposition in the Champions Hockey League. Head coach Andrew Lord and his team will face Farjestad Karlstad in a last 32 knockout tie decided over two legs during October with the winners moving forward to face HC Davos or Vienna Capitals in the next round. The Farjestad BK ice hockey team was founded in 1956 and they play out of the Lofbergs Arena.

Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, Scott Gibbs and Justin Tipuric are the final four doing battle to be declared scorer of Wales’ greatest try. The awesome foursome have made it through to the semi-finals of the Welsh Rugby Union’s online challenge to find the nation’s favourite score. The top 16 have now been whittled down to a quartet of classic tries, with two from the Seventies against a Nineties icon and a recent gem from this season.

Welsh Athletics has published a document outlining how the governing body plans to get athletes back in action as soon and as safely as possible. Interim chief executive James Williams has reassured the nation’s athletes that the governing body is doing all it can to lift the sport’s lockdown appropriately. Williams said: “Although we’re unable to remove the suspension of athletics activity at this time, we wanted to reassure our athletics community in Wales that we are working hard behind the scenes to plan and prepare for a safe return to athletics as soon as we’re able.”

The French Top 14 season has been officially abandoned in a move that is likely to cast more uncertainty over any return of the Guinness Pro 14. With the rugby shutdown in France continuing, the game’s rulers announced on Tuesday that they are ending the season as of now. Organisers, the French rugby league (LNR) said no club would be relegated and no team would be promoted from the Pro D2 (second division).

Rallying could return at a famous Welsh forest complex in August – but with social distancing rules likely to prevent co-drivers from taking part. Scheduled to take place at Sweet Lamb, a popular Wales Rally GB stage situated in the stunning rolling hills on the Ceredigion and Powys border, the driver-only time trial on Sunday 9 August will take place behind locked gates and without spectators. There will also be a strict limit on the number of service vans and mechanics allowed on site.

Cardiff City and Swansea City may be preparing for a June 20 return to action, but some of their Championship rivals have cast doubt on the idea with scathing criticism of the EFL. Barnsley, QPR and Luton are leading the critical voices, claiming the resumption has been poorly planned, badly communicated and rushed through. Barnsley have written to the EFL to sound the alarm over the “potential failure of their enterprise” they get ready to play for the first time since mid-March.

Lennie Lawrence will remain a “very valued friend” to Newport County manager Mike Flynn after the club confirmed their assistant was leaving to join Stevenage. Lawrence, 72, has been at Rodney Parade for three years and forged an immediate bond with Flynn as both worked to pull off the great escape of keeping Newport in the Football League in 2017. But the veteran coach has remained based in the south-east of England and has now chosen to join Stevenage as No.2 to manager Alex Revell – with his start date likely to be the beginning of the 2020-21 season.

Swansea City transfer target Lyle Taylor will refuse to play for Charlton when the Championship season resumes on June 20. The Swans, Cardiff City, Charlton and remainder of the 24 second tier clubs are all stepping up their training in readiness for the season resuming in less than three weeks’ time. But Charlton manager Lee Bowyer has revealed that some of his players who are out of contract at the end of June – including Taylor – have said they will not be taking the field for fear of injury.

Tennis players have launched a petition calling for the sport to be “unlocked” following the urgings of the sport’s governing body towards the Welsh government. The petition to allow outdoor tennis in Wales to restart had been signed by over 2,000 people by midday on Sunday. It comes after Tennis Wales – the governing body for the sport in Wales – wrote to First Minister Mark Drakeford to ask for the current restrictions on playing tennis to be lifted.

By David Williams Cash-starved football clubs beneath the Premier League hoping for some financial help from the top flight have been told: Don’t hold your breath. The bleak warning not to expect much help from the moneyed clubs at the top of the food chain has come from Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. Newport […]

Wales’ leading rugby players are facing more massive pay cuts with plans for funding from the Welsh Rugby Union to the regions to be slashed by £23m. Stars of the Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Dragons have already seen their wages reduced by 25 per cent for the past three months. Now, they are facing more cuts – some will see reductions of £100,000-a-year – as well as redundancies following a devastating update from the WRU on how the current sporting shutdown is going to affect its income in the year ahead.

Cash-starved football clubs beneath the Premier League hoping for some financial help from the top flight have been told: Don’t hold your breath. The bleak warning not to expect much help from the moneyed clubs at the top of the food chain has come from Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. Newport County and other clubs in League Two have been running on empty since the lockdown in March, while even Championship clubs such as Cardiff City and Swansea City have been left contemplating very tough times ahead.