Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson accused his team of lacking “fight and determination” in their 3-2 defeat at home to Stevenage. The hosts had gone 22 matches unbeaten on their own turf before this encounter, with their previous loss dating back to March against Tranmere.

Ben Thomas is in line to be handed the key role of Paris playmaker when Wales begin their Six Nations campaign against France on Friday night. The Cardiff star – whose regular club position is at centre – is poised to be named at outside-half for the tournament opener.

Adam Harcombe says taking up athletics helped him out of the dark he was lost in after sustaining life-changing injuries in a savage and unprovoked attack. The former Ystrad Rhondda rugby player suffered catastrophic brain injuries and was left unable to walk.

They may be queuing up to take his place, but Liam Williams has a message for all the Welsh full back wannabees – ‘I’m not ready to give up my shirt’. The 34-year-old Saracens star is on a mission to reach 100 caps for this country and to carry on being Warren Gatland’s No.1 bomb diffuser at the back. He missed the 2024 Six Nations while he was away playing in Japan but returned to tour Australia in the summer.

Cardiff City boss Omer Riza believes new loan signing Sivert Mannsverk will provoke a rise in standards among his squad. Norwegian midfielder Mannsverk, 22, has become Cardiff’s second capture of the January transfer window after moving from Ajax. The move is a chance for the Norway U21 international to gain some much-needed game time after an injury-plagued first half of the season.

Wales will have at least one representative on the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia this summer – Aled Walters, who has been confirmed as the squad’s head of athletic performance. Whilst the number of Welsh players included may turn out to be modest compared to recent tours, Walters will at least help carry the flag. Currently working with Ireland, Walters – who is from Llangadog in Carmarthenshire – will link up again with Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, who is heading the Lions party.

Adam Jones has thrown his support behind Warren Gatland, confident the Wales head coach can orchestrate a turnaround ahead of their daunting Six Nations opener against France in Paris on Friday. Jones, who earned 95 caps for Wales and played a pivotal role in three Grand Slam triumphs, has joined Gatland’s coaching team as a scrum consultant on secondment from Harlequins.

At last year’s Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships, Sabrina Fortune outlined her ambitions for the coming year. With both the Para Athletics World Championships in May and the Paris Paralympics in September circled on her 2024 calendar, there was plenty to aim for.

Luke Williams has claimed Swansea City’s fans are starting to feel sick of the sight of him. The Swans head coach cut a dejected figure after his side’s disastrous 5-1 defeat at Norwich City, a result that extended their miserable run of form and left their travelling supporters deeply frustrated.

The 2025 Guinness Six Nations championship starts this weekend when Wales meet France in Paris on Friday night. Under the lights, Friday nights have become a regular fixture in the tournament and where better to kick things off than Paris.

Wales great Justin Tipuric says the Ospreys are playing with a smile on their faces as they continue their unbeaten run under new head coach Mark Jones. They recorded a six-try 43-0 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby in Swansea on Friday night – their biggest league win in seven years.

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel has laid down the challenge to his players to remain in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship. Peel’s men have held onto to sixth place – but closed the gap between themselves and fifth-placed Cardiff to just two points – after a gritty, hard-earned 30-24 win over Edinburgh that extended their unbeaten run at home to six games.

Cardiff City manager Omer Riza called the result “exactly what we needed” and praised Callum Robinson after the Bluebirds secured a vital 2-1 victory against fellow Championship relegation battlers Derby County. The result sees Cardiff move up to 18th, four points clear of the relegation zone, now occupied by Derby. And Riza acknowledged how vital the result was to his side. “This was a really important game,” Riza said.

Cardiff City will look to Yousef Salech to help drag the club further away from the relegation zone this weekend. The striker scored a last minute equaliser on his debut in midweek – a goal that not only rescued a point for the Bluebirds, but suggested there will be more to come.

The Football Association of Wales have expressed their “disappointment” at the decision of the English FA to crush plans that Welsh clubs could find a route into Europe through a new Welsh cup competition. Hopes of Welsh Football League clubs to get into Europe were dashed, after the FA blocked attempts to allow clubs playing in the EFL to participate in the Welsh League Cup.

At a time when there has not been much to celebrate – or even give a nod of approval towards in Welsh rugby in recent times – then Cardiff deserve some credit. Without much fanfare, they have risen to third in the United Rugby Championship (URC) table, the tournament which returns this weekend after the break for Europe.

Jeremiah Azu is back in Wales and he announced his return with a bang at the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships. After two years based in Italy, the Olympic 4x100m relay bronze medallist has returned home to Cardiff to be closer to family, friends and coach Helen James.

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson admitted he was left frustrated by his team’s inability to eat into Birmingham City’s five-point lead over the Dragons at the top of League One. Parkinson watched his team go 1-0 up at home to the leaders, but Birmingham struck back to claim a 1-1 draw, which leaves Wrexham back in third place in the table.

Aaron Ramsey turned up for training at Cardiff City for the first time in four months this week as he pushes to get back into action after a lengthy hamstring injury. The Wales skipper has been plagued by injury since returning to his home town club in the summer of 2023 and has only managed four appearances this season.

Antoine Dupont can’t wait to get back into action in the Guinness Six Nations and he will return to captain Les Bleus against Wales on Friday 31 January. The Toulouse scrum half missed the 2024 tournament to concentrate on playing Sevens rugby for France at the Olympic Games.