The new rugby campaign is still some weeks away here in Wales, but like Amazon and Netflix, the global season never sleeps. So, just as you may have been digesting the Sevens tournament at the Olympics in Paris, off the back of Wales’ summer tour to Australia, the kitchen doors are swung off their hinges and in come the waiters, ready to serve up the Rugby Championship.

Wales Under 18s head coach Richie Pugh has named his squad to take part in a Men’s U18 Development week involving teams from Italy, Scotland and hosts Ireland this week in Clongowes Wood College and the IRFU High Performance Centre. “It’s the start of our programme, it’s a repeat of last year when we hosted Ireland, Italy and Scotland, but this time it’s in Ireland for what is our first touch point with the boys,” said Pugh.

The former Wales international Alun Carter, who became one of the most influential people in the establishment of performance analysis in rugby in Wales, has died while out on a walk at the age of 59. The captain of the 1983 Welsh Schools Grand Slam winning team, he went on to enjoy a 15 year senior career of more than 300 first class games that ended in April 1999. In that time he played for Pontypool, SO Millau, Newport and South Glamorgan Institute / UWIC.

In the same week in which she became an Olympian, Kayleigh Powell has secured a new deal for next season in the 15-a-side game by signing for Harlequins. She will play for Quins – whose men’s squad this week recruited Leigh Halfpenny – in the 2024-25 Premiership Women’s Rugby campaign.

Leigh Halfpenny has always gone about his business quietly and with minimum fanfare, so it was entirely in keeping that his decision to join Harlequins was low key. No big unveiling, no leaked stories in the previous 48 hours to build the suspense.

Jasmine Joyce admitted to feeling “numb” after suffering another Olympic heartbreak in a Great Britain shirt. The Wales star, and her country’s best-known female rugby player, saw her quest for a medal crushed by a physical USA in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games women’s Rugby Sevens at Stade de France.

Leigh Halfpenny will bring 17 years of wisdom and leadership to Harlequins next season, according to their coach, Danny Wilson. The former Wales and Lions full-back – now 35 – has joined the London club ahead of the new season, along with former Wales prop Wyn Jones.

The former Llanelli, Wales and British & Irish Lions utility back Peter Morgan, who went on to become chair of Pembrokeshire County Council, has died at the age of 65 after battling a brain tumor. A multi-talented player, he won the first of his four Welsh caps as a replacement centre against Scotland in Cardiff in 1980 at the age of 21. He started at outside-half against Ireland two weeks later.

If you were to pick two players from the past 20 years who have done more than anyone to personify and showcase Welsh rugby to the wider world, then Shane Williams might be one. The other would probably be Jasmine Joyce.

Welsh Rugby Union chairman Richard Collier-Keywood insists Warren Gatland has his “full support”. The head coach is under significant pressure following a run of nine consecutive international defeats, including all five matches at the 2024 Six Nations.

Head coach Liza Burgess has named her Wales Women U20s side to take on Canada at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday in the Transatlantic Quad Series (KO 8pm). Both teams enter the match on the back of encouraging wins from the last round

The Wales U20 squad arrived home from their South African trip a frustrated group after falling to a 47-31 defeat to host nation South Africa at the World Junior Rugby Championship. It meant Ryan Woodman’s side ended eight overall with just one win, against Spain, from their five matches. It was a drop of two places on their 2023 finish, but performances and results in all games were closer than before.

Wales’ campaign in the World Rugby U20 Championship finished in disappointing fashion with a 47-31 defeat to hosts South Africa in the 7th place final at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town. The Junior Springboks were determined to finish the championship on a winning note after suffering two defeats to Argentina.

Warren Gatland has admitted it was a terrible idea to make Cory Hill a Wales captain. The Wales coach said he regretted the decision to give the honour to Hill for the final game of the tour to Australia, what proved to be a one-point victory over Queensland Reds.

Morgan Morse will become the most-capped player for Wales U20 when he plays against the Junior Springboks in the final game at the 2024 World Rugby Junior Championship. It will be his 24th appearance, taking him past the 23 won by former Scarlets wing Ryan Conbeer, but he could go on to win 10 more next season.

No-one is exactly sure why, but Wales play Queensland Reds on Friday. It’s something to do with a planned Test against Samoa not materialising, other international opponents being touted, and the final conclusion that a game against provincial opponents might still swell the coffers, anyway, so what the heck.

Former Wales star Alix Popham has called for more to be done to protect rugby players after a new study showed players who suffered multiple concussions have biological differences that may make them more prone to developing motor neurone disease (MND) and other conditions. Popham – who has been diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy and early onset dementia – is co-founder of charity, Head For Change.

Wales Women have announced two major Test matches against Scotland and Australia ahead of their WXV2 campaign in South Africa during September. Ioan Cunningham, the Wales head coach, guided his side to an eight-try 52-20 win over Spain to secure World Cup qualification for England 2025 and WXV2 in Cape Town.

Every cloud needs a silver lining, so what shouldn’t Regan Grace provide it in the “Sunshine State” of Queensland? There have been a few bright individual moments during Wales’ tour of Australia – Dewi Lake, Archie Griffin and Taine Plumtree come to mind – but in the main it’s been a continuation of the long dark cloud Warren Gatland has been under for almost 10 months.

Warren Gatland insists he still has the hunger to coach Wales despite overseeing nine straight defeats in a row. The New Zealander says he remains excited by what the future holds for his young team, even though the pressure is building after what will soon extend to a whole year without winning a game. Wales are winless since the pool stages of last year’s World Cup after the retirement of a host of big name players and with others out injured.