Warren Gatland has revealed he used to try to rattle new Australian coach Joe Schmidt when he was in charge of Ireland. The two Kiwis will resume their coaching rivalry in Sydney on Saturday with Gatland trying to end a run of seven straight defeats with Wales and Schmidt hoping to open his Wallaby account with a much-needed win.

Wales kick off their Australia tour on Saturday when they tackle the Wallabies in Sydney. Warren Gatland’s team face two Tests followed by an appointment with Queensland Reds as they look to rediscover a winning formula that has deserted them since the 2023 World Cup.

Not many senior players wearing the red shirt of Wales have won in Australia. No-one, in fact, in the past 55 years. Which – should he need any – will provide Wales captain Dewi Lake with extra motivation when he leads out his team for the first Test against Australia in Sydney on Saturday.

It’s said time moves faster as you get older and that certainly feels true if you’re a Welsh rugby fan. One minute you’re celebrating a record win over Australia at the World Cup, the next you’re wondering if a victory is possible against the same opponents after seven straight defeats.

Wales prop Cerys Hale has announced her retirement from all rugby following Wales’ recent Test match against Spain. Hale, 31, will bring the curtain down on her international and club career after more than a decade playing first-class rugby in Wales and England.

Cardiff centre Ben Thomas has been named as Wales’ fly-half, and wing Josh Hathaway will earn his first cap in the first Test against Australia in Sydney on Saturday. Thomas, 25, replaces Sam Costelow, marking his first international start in his third Test appearance after two substitute roles in 2021.

Wales defence coach Mike Forshaw knows that the Australians will be a “different animal” to the side they dished out a record beating to at last year’s World Cup in France. The Wallabies have a new coach at the helm in Joe Schmidt and will be looking to make a statement in the former Ireland coach’s first game in charge.

It was probably fitting that the first team drawn out of the hat for the 30th anniversary Investec Champions Cup tournament next season was that of the reigning champions Stade Toulousain – who won the first title in Cardiff in 1996. The French giants will be hot favourites once again to add to their six titles, the first of which was secured at the old National Ground, Cardiff Arms Park when they beat Cardiff after extra-time.

Wales play their second match at the Under-20 World Championship in South Africa on Thursday when they meet Spain after opening their campaign with a thrilling, but ultimately unsuccessful match against New Zealand, which they lost 41-34. Coach and rugby analyst Tomas Marks considers their start to the tournament.

Former Wales defence and forwards coach Leigh Jones has been appointed as the new rugby performance director for the Scarlets. In this role, Jones will once again collaborate with head coach Dwayne Peel. Their professional relationship dates back to when Jones was part of the Wales coaching team under Graham Henry, who awarded Peel his first cap in 2001.

Australia veteran Kurtley Beale has been ruled out of the Test series against Wales with a ruptured Achilles that needs surgery, in a massive blow to the returning playmaker. The 35-year-old, back in the Wallabies squad for the first time in three years, hobbled off during a low-level domestic fixture at the weekend with scans confirming the serious injury.

Former Newport hero and ex-Fiji head coach Simon Raiwalui, who led the team at last year’s World Cup, has been hired by the New South Wales Waratahs to the newly created position of director of performance. The ‘Tahs finished bottom of the Super Rugby table this season, which led to the departure of coach Darren Coleman.

Warren Gatland has been told he needs to start winning but has been backed to stay in his job by the Welsh Rugby Union. Gatland’s Six Nations flops face Australia next week in the first of two summer Tests that could prove critical to his survival chances. The New Zealander is on the ropes after seven straight defeats and that will become nine – equaling his worse sequence in 26 years of coaching – if Wales lose both games to the Wallabies.

Wales coach Ioan Cunningham believes his team deserved their double reward after “keeping their foot on the throat of Spain.” Cunningham watched as Carys Cox helped herself to a hat-trick of tries as Wales comfortably qualified for the Rugby World Cup in England next year and ensured they will be heading to Cape Town to compete in Tier 2 of the WXV tournament later in the year. That good news that came out of a hard-fought 52-20 win over Spain at Cardiff Arms Park.

Wales entertain Spain at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday with two tournaments at stake. Following regional qualifying, the identity of the 18 teams that will compete in the second edition of the fledgling WXV competition this September and October is already known.

Top five in the world . . . that’s the ambitious target the Welsh Rugby Union have set for the men’s and women’s teams in their shiny new strategic plan. Warren Gatland’s team – on the back of seven successive defeats – are currently 10th in the world rankings, while Ioan Cunningham’s side are eighth.

Ryan Woodman returns to captain Wales in their opening match at the U20 World Championship against New Zealand on Saturday. Having missed the Six Nations through injury, the Dragons back row star has been selected by coach Richard Whiffin, to lead a side with two uncapped players named on the bench, Cardiff centre Steffan Emanuel and Scarlets scrum half Lucca Setaro.

A headline strategy for the entirety of Welsh rugby – long on ambition, but short on detail – has been unveiled by the Welsh Rugby Union with stark warnings about the financial obstacles that must be overcome. The Union have outlined five key targets for the next five years: ensuring the men’s and women’s national teams consistently rank in the top five globally, having the regions contend in play-offs, increasing the number of active participants, achieving financial sustainability at all levels, and enhancing the percentage of the Welsh public with a positive view of Welsh rugby.

You don’t have to tell Carys Phillips how difficult Saturday’s opponents Spain are going to be for Wales when the two teams clash at Cardiff Arms Park (kick-off 2.00pm) in a massive WXV play-off match. The Harlequins and Wales hooker was captain the last time the two teams met in a friendly at Madrid University in 2019. It ended with a crushing 22-5 victory for the home side.

Ellis Bevan has become the latest Welsh scrum-half to have been produced by Cardiff Met, following in the footsteps of some of the very best No 9s in the business. Where Clive Rowlands, Gareth Edwards, Clive Shell, Brynmor Williams and Gareth Cooper went before him, three of them going on to become British & Irish Lions, Cardiff scrum-half Bevan took his first tentative steps on the international stage in Wales’ defeat to South Africa at Twickenham.