The week after the men’s hockey side finished fourth at the Euro Indoor Championships III in Cyprus, the Welsh Women’s team take centre stage in division two in Brussels this weekend (19-21 January). Head coach Gwyn Williams will blood a number of youngsters for a tournament that will see his side play Scotland, Croatia and host nation Belgium in the pool stages. The winners will then be determined by a play-off, with Austria, England, Lithuania, Sweden playing in the other pool.

Dragons’ 17-year-old scrum-half Dan Babos has been rewarded for his rapid rise this season with a place in the Wales U20 squad. The teenager, who has made four appearances for the region this season, is one of eight Dragons players in coach Jason Strange’s squad for the age group Six Nations. That figure is just one behind the Scarlets who have nine. Another 17-year-old, wing Harri Morgan of the Ospreys is also included as is Tomi Lewis  – one of 16 of last season’s U18 players included and who gained plaudits for his exceptional debut for Wales Sevens in the World Series in Dubai last month.

Aberystwyth Town manager Nev Powell has returned to former club Bangor City to strengthen his side with the signing of centre midfielder Damien Allen – but the Seasiders boss will again be forced into the transfer market after the departure of two key defenders. Allen’s arrival will be seen as an encouraging addition to Powell’s […]

Carlos Carvalhal believes Swansea City are showing positive signs of a revival that can yet help them escape relegation from the Premier League. The Swans manager savoured his team’s 2-1 FA Cup third round replay over Wolves on Wednesday night which came courtesy of Wilfried Bony’s winner after Diogo Jota had equalised in the 66th minute. The immediate reward for the club is a fourth round trip to Notts County, but Carvalhal was eager to point to a bigger picture of just one defeat in the five games in all competitions since he took over from Paul Clement just before Christmas.

Cardiff Devils face one of their biggest Elite League home matches of the season at Ice Arena Wales on Sunday. Fife Flyers and Belfast Giants are currently Devils’ biggest rivals for the title – and Scottish club Flyers visit Cardiff Bay this weekend. Kirkcaldy-based Flyers are playing down their chances, but they know Devils are […]

When manager Kerry Mullins and his Penydarren BGC team say they always give 100 per cent they really mean it. The 2017-18 football season is almost six months old – and the Penydarren lads still boast a perfect winning record in league and cups. Former Merthyr Saints manager Mullins has a close-knit group of players […]

Wales included two new faces in the Six Nations squad announced this week by Warren Gatland. But it’s a new approach, bolder and more adventurous, and Scarlets-based, that Robin Davey is looking for this year. The Scarlets way or the highway. That has to be the Wales mantra as they close in on the Six Nations tournament for which they are rank outsiders. They are rated at 15-1 to be title winners by the bookies, which seems fair after a less than inspiring autumn series compounded by a number of injuries which forced coach Warren Gatland to name an enlarged 39-man squad in order to cover all eventualities.

Cardiff City have beaten a number Championship clubs to the loan signing of Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic. The Serbia U21 international, a product of the Red Star Belgrade academy, will go straight into Neil Warnock’s squad for their visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. The 21-year old has made just eight appearances for Liverpool since becoming Jurgen Klopp’s first signing for £5.1m in January 2016. 

The JD Welsh Premier League have released the fixture schedule for ‘Phase 2’ of the season. With each team having played one another home and away in the first phase, the league now splits into two six-club conferences giving each team a further ten games. The Championship Conference clash between Connah’s Quay and Bala Town […]

Gareth Davies has admitted players have to be “squeaky clean” as his Scarlets side prepare to face a Toulon team likely to be without France star Mathieu Bastareaud. Powerhouse centre Bastareaud faces a lengthy ban when he appears before an ERC disciplinary panel on Wednesday after making a homophobic remark to an opponent during his club’s win over Benetton Treviso last Sunday. If found guilty then the Toulon player is set to miss his club’s European Champions Cup showdown against the Scarlets on Saturday and could be absent for a chunk of the Six Nations.

Coach Rowland Phillips has picked 10 uncapped players in his Wales Women Six Nations squad. Phillips has named the new faces as part of a squad of 36 with potential debutantes among forwards and backs. The new players are Ospreys trio Natalia John, Amy Thomas and Cara Hope, Scarlets’ Beth Lewis and Cardiff Blues’ Awen Prysorin the forwards; Ospreys’ Alecs Donovan, Cardiff Blues’ Hannah Bluck, and Scarlets trio Jade Knight, Lisa Neumann and Angharad De Smet among the backs.  

Carlos Carvalhal will risk FA Cup progress against Wolves on Wednesday night in order to keep his Premier League powder dry for Swansea City’s clash with Liverpool on Monday. The Swans manager is willing to rest players for the third round replay in order to keep certain players fresh for the vital game at home to Jurgen Klopp’s side, The Swans host the Championship leaders following a 0-0 draw at Molineux, but with his side bottom of the Premier League and four points from safety, Carvalhal readily admits he will make changes.

Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club celebrate their 50th anniversary in November this year – and dai-sport are dedicating a series of articles celebrating that first half century. First, we talk to John Lister MBE, a successful competitor and administrator at club, Welsh, UK and European levels for more than 50 years. It was a masterful decision […]

Ystrad Rhondda are setting their sights on following in the footsteps of Penallta in becoming only the second club to win the WRU National Plate twice in their history. The Division 1 East Central table-toppers eased their way into the quarter-finals with a 60-10 home win over Ruthin last weekend and picked up an away trip to Division 1 East side Nelson on 27 January. Penallta, who won the trophy for the second time last season when they pipped Ystalyfera on try count after the game ended in a 16-16 draw, and now Ystrad are looked to emulate that achievement by adding this year’s title to their 2015 crown.

Neil Warnock insist Cardiff City can only win from their FA Cup clash at home to Manchester City – whatever the result. The Bluebirds manager believes his Championship promotion chasers will be facing “probably the best team in the world” after Cardiff beat Mansfield 4-1 in their third round replay on Tuesday night. That has set up a mouth-watering home clash with Manchester City in the round four on Sunday, January 28.

Suzy Drane’s Wales netball side will get the chance to avenge their recent one goal defeat to Northern Ireland when they head to Scotland this weekend for the Netball Europe World Cup qualifiers. With only two teams from the three nation tournament in Perth going through to the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool there is no margin for error. The Irish side triumphed by a single goal over both the Welsh and Scots in Cardiff in the recent Netball Europe Open Championships and will go in as favourites. For Wales it will also be a great warm-up for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April, although the last thing they can afford is to miss out on playing in the biggest competition in the world on their own doorstep next year.

Wales may be 15-1 with the bookies to win the Six Nations, but head coach Warren Gatland believes that is “a great bet”. Gatland’s side kick-off their campaign in Cardiff against Scotland and the British & Irish Lions coach believes it is an ideal way for his side to start – even though the Scots turned over Wales at Murrayfield last season to end a run of nine successive defeats. “They are going to be a massive challenge for us. It is a good game for us to have first up, to get us really focussed for at the start of the Six Nations,” said Gatland.

Exclusive By Paul Evans Elfyn Evans reckons he’s prepared and ready to start the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship on a high, after a very good two-day test ahead of the opening round of the series, the famous Monte Carlo Rally.

A finely contested goalless draw with Llandudno at The Rock in front of a bumper crowd of 539 marked a treble of achievements for surprise-package Cefn Druids. Not only have the side secured themselves their highest league finish in the JD Welsh Premier League, the Ancients have also eliminated any threat of relegation and are […]

Professional squash returns to Cardiff during May when the second men’s Welsh Open championships are played at Rhiwbina SRC. Welsh players Joel Makin, Peter Creed and Emyr Evans could all be eligible to compete in the Professional Squash Association $10,000 World Tour tournament. Rhiwbina launched the Welsh Open a year ago, bringing a PSA event […]