Sam Ricketts and his Wrexham AFC team are attracting big attendances at their Racecourse home. Crowds for their last two homes fixtures topped the 10,000 mark and the Dragons are pushing hard for success in Vanarama National League football. “The fans are right behind us,” said defender Jake Lawlor, who made his debut for Wrexham […]

Who would have thought it? Leinster start their Guinness Pro 14 campaign by leaving out some of their best Irish players? Well, Robin Davey, for one, who argues that the league is compromised even if does look after its Test players far better than its rival across the border. The new rugby season is barely a week old yet already the Guinness Pro 14 is under attack – especially from the other side of Offah’s Dyke. The debate was provoked after Leinster – on the very first day of the season – decided to field an almost completely reserve side against Cardiff Blues, including just two of their Champions Cup winning team.

Wales will prepare for the World Cup by playing England three times inside six months. In a move that could eventually prove a forerunner to an expanded home and away Six Nations tournament, the Welsh Rugby Union have confirmed back-to-back fixtures against both England and Ireland next summer. It means Wales will play England in February in the Six Nations in Cardiff and then twice in August before heading for the World Cup in Japan.

Kathleen Thomas was 21 years old when she dipped her toe into Welsh sporting history. The year was 1927 and it was a chilly early autumn morning when she slipped into the water at 4.15am on September 5. No man or woman had ever managed to swim the Bristol Channel, which although only 11 miles across from Penarth to Weston-super-Mare could prove twice as far if the treacherous tides and currents were flowing in the wrong direction.

It’s international week and Alan Kennedy is ready to make a shock England comeback – at Jenner Park, the home of Barry Town United. The Liverpool great admits he cannot wait until Saturday when the national walking football over 60s side face their Welsh counterparts.

Ospreys head coach Allen Clarke hasn’t ruled out recruiting another outside-half to help plug the gap left by Luke Price’s broken leg that will keep him out until the New Year. Having caused considerable furore by giving the 22-year-old former Wales Under 20 player first shot at filling Dan Biggar’s No. 10 jersey ahead of the more experienced and established Sam Davies, Clarke now risks alienating one of the region’s home grown assets with talk of looking for emergency cover. Davies came off the bench to help steer the Ospreys to an opening 17-13 win over Edinburgh at the Liberty Stadium and will presumably start in this weekend’s home clash with the Cheetahs.

Jefferson Montero says the power of love has restored his match-winning abilities at Swansea City. The Ecuadorian looked to be on his way out of the club last season when former managers Paul Clement and Carlos Carvalhal decided they could do without the winger in their Premier League squad. Montero – who shone so brightly for the Swans when he first arrived at the club four years ago – spent the first half of last season on loan with Getafe before joining Mexican side Emelec on a sub-loan.

Scott Davies moved into a top 10 place overall on the OVO Energy Tour of Britain as he retained his King of the Mountains jersey. The Carmarthenshire rider moved up one place to 10th after finishing 27th on stage three in Bristol in the same time as stage winner Julian Alaphilippe.

Wrexham striker Mike Fondop-Talom is gunning for his old mates at the Racecourse in North Wales this evening (Tuesday, 7.45pm). The Dragons are leaders in Vanarama National League football and are at home to a team they knocked off the top. Fondop-Talom played for Halifax last season, but switched to Wrexham on a two-year contract […]

Swansea City fans will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Supporters’ Trust’s ongoing talks with the club over their potential sale of shares. The meeting of Supporters Trust members comes following publication of a carefully managed interview by the club’s American owners in which they claimed they wanted to meet Trust officials – “without lawyers” – to discuss buying half of the Trust’s 21 per cent share. Those purchase plans – which could raise funds – have been put on hold for the past seven months since initial talks stalled.

  Creative midfield player Laurence Wootton was man of the match for Cardiff City in their 2-1 Professional Under-23 Development League defeat against Leeds United at Cardiff International Sports Campus. Wootton, signed from Stoke City’s Academy two years ago, is highly rated by Bluebirds’ staff and under-23 coach Jarred Harvey said: “Laurence was excellent. In […]

Lacking motivation? Finding it hard to achieve a positive outlook? Then, listen to Ed Jackson for an immediate uplift. The former Dragons rugby player tells Alex Bywater how he has moved on from a career-ending and life-changing accident to discover, skills, personal attributes and a depth of emotional happiness he admits he never knew existed. When Ed Jackson dived into a swimming pool in April 2017 and broke his neck, he was told there would be a very real chance he might never be able to walk again. The accident ended the former Dragons forward’s career and left him with an immediate series of giant obstacles to overcome. 

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Alys Thomas heads an all-star cast of 11 swimmers included in the Swim Wales National Senior Elite Squad for the 2018/19 season. National Performance Director Ross Nicholas has named 114 swimmers and para-swimmers in seven talent groups as part of the Swim Wales National Squad Pathway.

Penarth Hockey Club’s senior side continued to ramp up preparations for their first season in the highest echelon of the Verde Recreo regional league with a whirlwind trip across the channel to enjoy the hospitality of nouveaux amis Wattignies HC.

Scott Davies was rewarded for a brave ride on the second stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain as he took the King of the Mountains jersey. The Carmarthenshire rider was part of a five man breakaway from which he made a solo bid for the stage win when it was reduced to three riders.

Chaz Davies will not require surgery after refracturing his right collarbone in a training accident at Aragon and expects to be fit for the next round of World Superbikes in Portugal. The Knighton-born rider suffered a near-identical injury at the start of the lengthy summer break forcing him to miss his Aruba it racing Ducati team’s ‘Race of Champions’ at Misano in Italy.

Teenager Lewis Webb stepped up for Merthyr Town and made a huge contribution to their 3-1 Southern League Premier win at Walton Casuals in Surrey. The Martyrs were without injured goalkeeper Joe Perry for the away match and called up Webb from their development squad. Perry’s hamstring injury, sustained during a 3-1 home defeat against […]

Wrexham stand top of the Vanarama National League and welcome title rivals Halifax to the Racecourse on Tuesday evening. Halifax are fourth in the table, one point behind the Dragons, and Wrexham manager Sam Ricketts says: “They are a good team, they work hard and are really well organised. “It will be a real good […]

Michael Flynn is building something special at Newport County. The Exiles may be short on cash to splash, but they have a group of players all focused on the same goal. Their 2-1 win at Port Vale was hailed by manager Flynn as ‘most important victory of the season’ and County will go into successive […]

Cardiff City are unified on and off the pitch in their quest to find a way to stay in Premier League football. Bluebirds’ fans in pubs around the city centre were unanimous, saying: “We’ll support this team to the end. “They give 100 per cent, they entertain and they showed against Arsenal they can score […]