Jonathan Humphreys insists the pressure is not off Wales after a thrilling victory over Fiji increased hopes of a fourth successive Rugby World Cup quarter-final appearance. Wales’ 32-26 success came after they repelled a ferocious Fiji fightback that saw them score two tries during the last seven minutes.

Warren Gatland reflected on a “pretty significant” victory for his team after Wales brought the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals within sight by beating Fiji 32-26 at Stade de Bordeaux. Wales held their nerve in a frantic and pulsating Pool C clash. It was tense throughout, especially when Fiji scored twice in the last seven minutes and centre Semi Radradra knocked on close to the line in the game’s last play.

Jac Morgan will captain Wales on his World Cup debut against Fiji on Sunday – and looks certain to continue the comparisons being made with Sam Warburton. Like Warburton in 2011, Morgan is a player in his early 20s leading his country into a tournament where few fancy them to do all that well.

Neath will host their first Indigo Premiership match at The Gnoll for four years when they welcome Carmarthen Quins on Saturday. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Welsh All Blacks were the most feared team in Wales, but they slipped into the third tier – the WRU Championship – in 2019.

There is plenty of doom and gloom in Welsh rugby ahead of the Rugby World Cup kicking off in France. But why? This campaign could easily equal Wales’s best ever finish!

Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau has been passed fit to play as coach Warren Gatland named an experienced side to face Fiji in their Rugby World Cup Pool C opener in Bordeaux on Sunday. Faletau, who did not feature in any warm-up fixtures, forms the back row with captain Jac Morgan and Aaron Wainwright.

When it comes to the Rugby World Cup, nobody knows it better than Warren Gatland. The Wales head coach has plenty to look forward to next month, with his 60th birthday to celebrate as well as a fifth trip to rugby’s showpiece event.

Wales’ first World Cup opponents Fiji have suffered a major blow ahead of their clash on Sunday – the loss of fly-half Caleb Muntz for the entire tournament. Muntz has been ruled out of Rugby World Cup 2023 after sustaining a knee injury during the team’s training run on Monday.

Taulupe Faletau has bridged a big fitness gap to put himself in contention for Wales’ World Cup opener, according to coach Warren Gatland. “He (Faletau) has been taking a full part in training for the past three weeks,” said Gatland ahead of the crunch tie against Fiji in Bordeaux on Sunday..

Wales centre Mason Grady has a tough family act to follow at his first Rugby World Cup. To gain selection for rugby union’s global spectacular just five months after your 21st birthday is no mean feat.

David Watkins has been the subject of glowing tributes throughout Welsh rugby after the death of one of rugby’s cross-code greats at the age of 81. Blaina-born Watkins, known affectionately as “Dai”, played rugby union for Newport and was part of the team which famously beat the touring All Blacks in 1963.

Martyn Williams insists his infamous flatlining failure against Fiji 16 years ago will not be repeated when Wales begin their World Cup campaign. It will be the same opponents in the same nation when Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake’s co-captained squad start their Pool C campaign next week in Bordeaux. But Williams – now Wales’ team manager – is confident there will be a different outcome to the shock 38-34 defeat of 2007 that literally left him not knowing if he was coming or going.

The clouds finally parted over Port Talbot yesterday as fans arrived back at the Talbot Athletic Ground for this season’s opening round of the Indigo Premiership. And while it was a long-awaited derby showdown between Aberavon and Neath, and two clubs with a colourful history, it was the Wizards’ Frankie Jones who stole the show. The winger put in a versatile performance, finishing off the game at outside centre and making some important defensive efforts, having scored two tries earlier in the game.

Ospreys back row powerhouse Morgan Morris got an early season boost when he picked up his award as the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year for the 2022-23 campaign. The 25-year-old already has 76 appearances for his home region under his belt and is hoping to add a senior Wales cap to the ones he has already earned at U16, U18 and U20 levels.

Australia are unlikely to copy South Africa’s forward-based game plan at the Rugby World Cup when they face Wales. But Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says the Springboks’ “bold and courageous” use of their bench should be viewed as innovation and not a threat to the game.

Llandovery will kick-off the defence of their Indigo Premiership title at the home of arch-rivals Carmarthen Quins as the tournament launches with a series of local derbies. While the Drovers head to Carmarthen Park on Saturday, Cardiff head up the A470 to face Pontypridd at Sardis Road, Swansea will host Bridgend and Aberavon will welcome Neath to the Talbot Athletic Ground.

Wales will take on opponents who have moved three places clear of Warren Gatland’s men in the world rankings when Fiji take the field in France in their World Cup opener on September 10. The flying Fijians’ stunning victory over England at Twickenham last weekend has seen the South Seas Islanders move up to seventh in the World Rugby listings.

Scarlets scrum half Gareth Davies has revealed he came close to giving up on his international career before Warren Gatland’s return as head coach. The 33-year-old will head to France this weekend for his third World Cup, but only after overcoming an 18-month period in which he lost form and confidence due to a breakdown in his relationship with Wayne Pivac.

Dan Biggar has announced that he will retire from international rugby after the upcoming Rugby World Cup – in order not to become an absent dad. The 33-year-old is due to compete in his third tournament after his selection was confirmed in Warren Gatland’s final 33-player squad ahead of the tournament in France. But Biggar has confirmed he plans to call time on his stellar international career, having made 109 appearances since his Wales debut in 2008.

Corey Domachowski readily admits that any suggestion of playing prop as a schoolboy would fill him with dread. A former centre and goalkicker at his local rugby club, a future in the front-row could not have been further from his mind.