By Lucy Rees Alisha Butchers has just agreed to a pay cut – and she couldn’t be happier. The Wales rugby international will be heading into the forthcoming Women’s Six Nations tournament as one of the destined dozen, the 12 players who made history by becoming the country’s first group of female full-time professional players. […]

By Lucy Rees Swansea City boss Russell Martin expects more from his team – despite back-to-back victories in the Championship for the first time for almost five months. Following a 3-1 victory at home to Coventry City at the weekend – which gave the Swans their third victory in four games – Martin still believes […]

By Lucy Rees Aidan Heslop used to stack shelves – now he stands on them, peering down into water 90ft below before diving off a cliff. The old shelves belonged to Morrisons supermarket where the 19-year-old used to load potatoes. The new ones are shelves built into rock cliffs from where the best divers in […]

With the Commonwealth Games only five months away, Welsh athletes are getting primed for Birmingham. That means training, resting, competing . . . and eating. So, who makes sure the top Welsh sports stars are cooking up a healthy basis from which to serve up their best? Aled Wheeler has been finding out. We all […]

By Lucy Rees Wales manager, Gemma Grainger has announced a 26-player squad for the 2022 Pinatar Cup – including fit-again Rachel Rowe. Wales are to face Scotland in the opening match of the competition, a tournament they have entered for the first time. Kicking off on Wednesday 16 February, Wales will play three matches in […]

By Lucy Rees Laura Deas has insisted conditions in Beijing are to her liking as she prepares to back up Wales’ first Winter Olympic medal. Bronze medalist in PyeongChang four years ago, Deas is preparing for her second Olympic skeleton competition against a background of complaints from many athletes in China that conditions are not […]

By Lucy Rees The Hundred will return to Cardiff in 2022 – after its off-field success in the inaugural year – with the Welsh Fire teams desperate to improve their finish on the leaderboards. After an encouraging start to their season, Welsh Fire men finished seventh out of eight teams, while the women were rock […]

By Lucy Rees Team GB has named Adele Nicoll amongst the eight bobsledders heading to the Winter Olympics next month in Beijing. After first stepping into a bobsleigh back in 2020, her first World Cup race in 2021, and being selected as a reserve in 2022, it’s fair to say the shot putter has come […]

By Lucy Rees Following the announcement in November last year, the WRU has named the nine women on the brand new retainer contracts for the next 12 months. The announcement follows the 12 full-time contracts given out last week, and the WRU are yet to name up to six more players on retainer contracts. Given […]

It’s the new year, so perhaps it’s time to try a new sport. Padel is the new kid on the block – fast and furious and rapidly growing, it’s already got the backing of some major names as Lucy Rees discovers. Padel. Ever heard of it? Probably not. Well, it’s a sport that you could […]

Laura Deas will go for gold next month when the Welsh Olympian returns to the Games, this time being held in Beijing. She may be a specialist in skeleton – one of the most technically demanding of winter sports – but as she tells Lucy Rees, her foundation as an athlete was built around a […]

By Lucy Rees Max Watters is “really excited” about returning to Cardiff following a spell on loan with Milton Keynes Dons. The 22-year-old – who joined last year for £1 million – was loaned out to MK Dons at the start of the season. “I spoke to the manager and he said that he’d like […]