In part two of Dai Sport’s regional health check ahead of the new rugby season, Geraint Powell puts his stethoscope next to the heart of the Scarlets to determine whether or not they can maintain the healthy beat of last season. If the Ospreys region has been mostly confined to the shadows this summer (http://www.dai-sport.com/ospreys-ready-fly-back-shadows/), the Scarlets region has inevitably been in the limelight as a result of their scintillating romp to the Guinness Pro12 title last season with comfortable play-off wins in Dublin over Leinster (at the RDS) and Munster (at the Aviva). As if that was not enough to secure media attention, to compensate for the loss of Liam Williams to Saracens they then secured the services of the somewhat stranded Leigh Halfpenny as Williams’ replacement on a dual central contract, 60% funded by the Welsh Rugby Union. If any team can rediscover Halfpenny’s early career attacking mojo, it will be the Scarlets.

Continuing our countdown to the new season, Owen Morgan looks across the border to London Welsh – a club that could have been part of an expanded Guinness Pro League. Instead they are so far down the English ladder, you may not have spotted them. It’s not unusual for unwanted material to drop into my email spam folder. But this particular email was unwelcome for different reasons. The communication in question was a London Welsh RFC newsletter. Nothing awful about that, I hear you say. In other circumstances you would be right.

Chaz Davies planned on celebrating with a beer and burger after powering to a World Superbikes double in Germany. The Knighton-born rider followed up his win on Saturday by taking Sunday’s second race at the Lausitzring for his sixth win of the season.

There was little resemblance from The New Saints’ performance against Bala on Saturday afternoon to the one which were soundly beaten 5-2 by Bangor City on the opening weekend of the new season. Scott Ruscoe recorded his first league win as manager and he would’ve enjoyed it as The New Saints convincingly saw off a […]

Osian Pryce lost a second possible Preston MSA British Rally Championship win to a fuel-related problem aboard his Ford Fiesta R5 at the John Mulholland Motors Ulster Rally.
 The Machynlleth-born flier and co-driver Dale Furniss had been in the thick of the action through the Northern Irish lanes.

Robert Croft has led the tributes to Glamorgan legend Don Shepherd, who has died just a week after his 90th birthday. The county’s coach joined numerous others around the cricketing world in expressing their admiration for Shepherd on social media. Croft tweeted: “A light has gone out with the passing of The Great Don Shepherd. Some never meet their heroes, I luckily did and “Shep” was 100 times more x.”

Cardiff Devils 5, Braehead Clan 0 Cardiff Devils have won their first trophy of the 2017-18 ice hockey season – and are now geared up for their biggest test so far. Leading German club Krefeld Penguins play in the top tier DEL, one of the top leagues in Europe, and visit Ice Arena Wales in […]

Wales U18 19, France U18 31 Wales Under 18 saw their dream of a clean-sweep in South Africa turn to dust in a dismal opening that allowed France to build a 21 point lead in 17 minutes in Cape Town. Having beaten South African Schools and England for the first-time in the annual Under 19 International Series, the game against the French was an opportunity to avenge an earlier defeat this year in Lyon.

Paul Clement has admitted he needs to “do some business” in the transfer market after Manchester United did their brand of on-field business at the Liberty Stadium. The Swansea City manager saw his side capitulate to a 4-0 home defeat that underlined the need for recruitment before the end of the transfer window in 11 days’ time. With £45m in his pocket following the club record sale of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton, Clement says he has the backing of the owners in bringing in reinforcements for a team which is weak in too many areas.

Neil Warnock loved Cardiff City’s 2-1 win at Wolves, saying: “What a cracking game!” The Bluebirds manager took a fair bit of stick from home supporters over the 90 minutes and he said: “The crowd were great. You can tell how much the Wolves fans love me and I reveal in that. “It was a […]

Dunstable Town 0, Merthyr Town 6 Merthyr Town fired six goals in their runaway Southern League Premier Division win against Dunstable Town away. Former Cardiff City striker Stuart Fleetwood and winger Corey Jenkins netted two each, while Kyle Copp and Ashley Evans were their other scorers. Merthyr led by two goals at half-time and kept […]

Coventry City 0, Newport County 1 It’s been a magnificent week for Newport County manager Michael Flynn. His wife gave birth to their child and his County team earned a League Two away win at Coventry City. “It’s been an eventful week, certainly, with my wife giving birth” said Flynn. “I’m also delighted with a […]

Wolves 1, Cardiff City 2 Cardiff City cut big-spending Wolves down to size on another astonishing afternoon for manager Neil Warnock’s men. The Bluebirds went into the match top of the Championship, just ahead of Wolves on goal difference, and more than 1,500 fans followed their team from South Wales to Molineux. Cardiff have won their […]

Chaz Davies powered to his fifth victory of the season as World Superbikes returned after the summer break in Germany. The Knighton-born rider triumphed by 1.8secs from reigning two-time champ Jonathan Rea after dominating much of the race at the Lausitzring.

Cardiff Devils can win their first trophy of the new ice hockey season tonight (Saturday) before they take on top flight German team Krefeld Penguins. Head-coach Andrew Lord and his team play back-to-back home fixtures at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay this weekend, their final match preparation before the European Champions League starts next […]

These are special times for Cardiff City. Master magician Neil Warnock, a manager who has built a career on bringing the best out of footballers and teams, has Bluebirds players and fans under a spell. City stand top of the Championship, albeit after three matches, and their team are attracting strong interest from around the […]

Newport County have signed young striker Joe Quigley from Premier League AFC Bournemouth. The big centre-forward has joined the Exiles on loan until January. Quigley, 20, has had previous loan spells at Poole Town, Torquay United, Wrexham, Woking and Gillingham. “He’s strong, gets hold of the ball and did well when he was on loan at […]

Teenage striker Momodou Touray has signed for Southern League Merthyr Town. Touray, who celebrated his 18th birthday last month, goes straight into the Martyrs squad for their Premier Division match against Dunstable Town away on Saturday (3pm). He has joined Merthyr on loan from League Two club Newport County. Touray played for the Exiles in […]

Luke Rowe could miss the entire Classics season next year after shattering his right leg while on a white-water rafting trip. The Team Sky rider is recuperating at home in Cardiff after suffering the injuries while on brother, Matt’s, stag-party in the Czech Republic this month. Rowe jumped onto a rock and has outlined the injuries he suffered while insisting he will be back on his bike sometime next year.

Neil Warnock believes he can bring the best out of new Cardiff City signing Omar Bogle. West Midlands-born Bogle, 24 has signed for the Bluebirds from Wigan Athletic in a £1m-plus transfer and manager Warnock says: “I like his enthusiasm. He’s raw, he’s similar to Mendez-Laing in some respects, and he has desire. “With the […]