Wales will face England for the first time in a C international on March 20th at Jenner Park, Barry.  The FAW has appointed Mark Jones as Manager of the Wales team. He has formally successfully managed Carmarthen Town, Port Talbot Town and Maesteg Park Athletic.

WRU head of rugby performance Geraint John believes standards in the Principality Premiership will rise this season thanks to some high profile new coaches. Namibia head coach and former Scarlets supremo Phil Davies has returned to home club Llanelli, adding to the number of coaches with regional and international experience working beneath regional level. The Premiership begins this Saturday in a new format with east and west leagues for the first half of the campaign.

Pontypridd coach Rob Sidoli admitted his team were deservedly beaten as RGC 1404 won the WRU National Cup for the first time. The North Walians denied their opponents a seventh Cup triumph in a hard-fought and tightly-contested 15-11 victory at the Principality Stadium on Sunday. “It was a good performance by the boys, we showed a lot of heart out there and gave it all we had,” said Sidoli.

Mark Jones is back in coaching and hoping to keep RGC on an upward curve in the Welsh Premiership this season. The former Wales wing has taken change of the North Wales club, following an unhappy short spell at Rotherham Titans which ended in February after 10 straight defeats.