Can newcomer Sam Moore make the same impact as Nick Williams? The son of former Wales lock Steve Moore certainly has big boots to fill. Moore has been impressing everyone in training at Cardiff Blues since joining from Sale Sharks and turning his attentions away from representing England to playing for the land of his father, uncle and the city where he was born. A knee injury helped to take him off Eddie Jones’ radar and now he will get the chance of a new beginning in a Blues shirt.

Jamie Roberts’ decision to join the Dragons has been taken just weeks after he said he would “struggle” to join any Welsh team other than Cardiff Blues. The former Wales centre – arguably the only current Welsh player who can boast a career to compare with that of Alun Wyn Jones – has left the Blues wondering how his return to the Arms Park somehow escaped them. Roberts, 33, has opted to join the Dragons following a seven-year stint outside of Wales during which he played for French club Racing 92, English giants Harlequins and Bath, before a brief spell in South Africa with the Stormers.

Rhys Carre is happy to be back in familiar surroundings at Cardiff Blues and can’t wait to get back into action for his home town team. But the eight-times capped Welsh international prop isn’t taking anything for granted, despite coming back with a World Cup campaign, a Six Nations camp and six weeks spent at the best club in Europe under his belt. When he left he wasn’t an automatic first choice, but now he hopes to prove to John Mulvihill that he has what it takes to lock down the No 1 jersey at the club. He may only be 22, but he has returned from Saracens a far more mature player.

Aled Brew’s time at Bath may have run out, but the former Wales wing insists he’s not ready to hang up his boots just yet. Brew may be 34 next month, but he tells Peter Jackson he wants two more years – wherever that might take him. It was never meant to be Aled Brew’s last match for Bath, a cruelly brief appearance fully four months before the season’s scheduled close. Leicester at home in late January brought the Welshman’s road at the Rec to a sudden dead-end. When injury put him out of action within the opening quarter, nobody watching his early exit imagined they wouldn’t be seeing him again.

Welsh rugby’s regional players will return from furlough next week as they prepare to re-start their Guinness Pro 14 season. Players from Cardiff Blues, Ospreys, Scarlets and the Dragons will return to organised training for the first time, although in small groups, with strict social distancing and following a Covid-19 testing regime. The routines will be basic, with no close contact, with the hope the sessions can be normalised as the squads head towards the planned resumption of matches on August 22.

Gareth Anscombe has revealed he would love to emulate Dan Carter and be playing rugby past his 38th birthday. But for the time being the Wales fly-half is just enjoying rugby’s return in his New Zealand homeland this weekend as he continues his battle back from injury. Anscombe has not played since injuring his knee in a warm-up match against England before last year’s World Cup, but his spirits have been lifted by the resumption of the sport in the only rugby-playing nation now free of coronavirus.

Wales’ leading rugby players are facing more massive pay cuts with plans for funding from the Welsh Rugby Union to the regions to be slashed by £23m. Stars of the Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Dragons have already seen their wages reduced by 25 per cent for the past three months. Now, they are facing more cuts – some will see reductions of £100,000-a-year – as well as redundancies following a devastating update from the WRU on how the current sporting shutdown is going to affect its income in the year ahead.

Cash-starved football clubs beneath the Premier League hoping for some financial help from the top flight have been told: Don’t hold your breath. The bleak warning not to expect much help from the moneyed clubs at the top of the food chain has come from Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. Newport County and other clubs in League Two have been running on empty since the lockdown in March, while even Championship clubs such as Cardiff City and Swansea City have been left contemplating very tough times ahead.

Former Wales wing Tom James has announced his retirement from rugby at the age of 33. Currently with the Scarlets, James made his name with the Cardiff Blues and went on to earn 12 international caps, in a 14-season career during which he scored 86 tries in 234 appearances for Cardiff RFC, the Blues, Exeter Chiefs, the Scarlets and Wales. James joined the Scarlets at the start of the current season, but made just four regional appearances before the current shutdown.

Ellis Jenkins had a dampener put on his career almost 18 months ago when he badly injured his knee. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the 27-year-old Cardiff Blues and Wales flanker is now forced to start every day with an icy cold shower. It is all part of an experiment being conducted by Robin Sowden-Taylor – head of strength and conditioning at the Blues – to examine the effects of cold submersion on inflammation and healing.

Cardiff are hoping to reward their Indigo Group Premiership players with new contracts – even if they have no trophy and medals at the end of this season. The Arms Park club are in talks with Cardiff Blues over a range of proposals for next season after the current race for the title came to a shuddering halt. They also hope the current shutdown leads to a fundamental re-think over the way the professional game in Wales is both funded and structured.

Cardiff Blues survived a scare from Benetton Rugby as they held on to beat the Italians 34-24 in a thrilling encounter at Cardiff Arms Park. The Blues only got their noses in front in the final 10 minutes as tries for Jason Harries, Garyn Smith, Ryan Edwards, Seb Davies and Lewis Jones finally broke the Italians’ spirit. Benetton earned a try bonus point through scores from Ian Keatley, Irne Herbst, and two for Toa Halafihi, while Jason Tovey kicked a crucial nine points for the home side.