Justin Tipuric insists he would like to return to coaching after his playing days are over – even though he reckons Wayne Pivac lives his life in a goldfish bowl Wales captain Tipuric famously combined playing with coaching at his village club Trebanos in his younger days. This weekend the Ospreys flanker will captain his country for the fourth time when he leads them into action against Argentina at the Principality Stadium in a match that will be shown in extended highlights form on Saturday evening on S4C.

Nico Matawalu has played in some bone-shuddering derbies – Fiji v Tonga, Fiji v Samoa, Glasgow v Edinburgh, and Montauban v Colomiers in France. But he’ll have a new version to add to his list by Saturday night when the Fijian international plays for his current club, Pontypridd, at home to Merthyr. It might not have the sunshine of his South Seas battles, or the media attention claimed by the big city Scottish clash, but the Valleys dust-up in the Indigo Premiership on Saturday is unlikely to leave Matawalu with fewer bruises – provided Merthyr can catch him, that is.

It’s been a big week for Rhondda boys and Ystrad Rhondda head coach Dylan Jones hopes the spotlight will stay on the Valley’s sporting pride. In midweek, the world’s media descended on Tylorstown Welfare Hall to hear local boy Rob Page name his Wales squad for football’s World Cup. In rugby, the focus this weekend will be on the return of the Admiral Welsh Championship after a week off as Ystrad Rhondda aim to kickstart their season by winning at Tata Steel.

Wayne Pivac has insisted the party is not over for Alun Wyn Jones after denying him the chance to win a 167th Test cap. The Wales had coach has played down the absence of world record cap-holder Jones from Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series clash with Argentina. The 37-year-old lock and former Wales skipper has not been included by Pivac in the matchday 23.

By David Williams Louis Rees-Zammit will start at full-back in Wales’ Autumn Nations Series clash with Argentina on Saturday. He switches from the wing to fill a problem position for Wales, with Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny both injured. Rees-Zammit made his Test debut after going on as a second-half substitute for Halfpenny against France […]

Taulupe Faletau will celebrate his 32nd birthday this weekend and he’d love a win over the Pumas to make it an extra-special day.  Looking further forward, erasing the bitter memory of the injuries that forced him to miss the 2019 World Cup by going to France next year would be another item high on his birthday wish list. Health permitting, that looks likely, although after an injury ravaged six years at Bath, he isn’t taking anything for granted.

George North played is front of his son Jac for the first  time, but other than that it was business as usual for Wales against the All Blacks. Jac is two-and-ahalf years old, but he would have to be over 70 by this time next year to remember when Wales last beat New Zealand. His father, now 30, the go-to Ospreys man, a two-times Lions tourist, has played 106 times for Wales – beaten England, Ireland, France, South Africa and Australia – but never the men in black.

Bad defeats to New Zealand are nothing new for Wales, but there were times when this one reminded older watchers of the night Muhammad Ali outclassed brave but doomed British heavyweight Richard Dunn. That was back in 1976 when Ali – perhaps like the All Blacks – was already long past his best. But he still had far too much for the limited and ponderous Dunn. After Ali knocked him down for the final time, he began winding up his arm in great circular motions designed to mock his opponent’s readiness to walk onto the next punch.

It’s 69 years – and counting – since Wales last beat the All Blacks but there’s one New Zealander who reckons it’s time to wipe the slate clean. Wayne Pivac – born and bred in Auckland – admits 1953 is simply too long ago and eight years living over here has only reinforced that opinion. The Wales coach has a chance to write his name into the history books on Saturday when the teams meet in Cardiff and is determined to take it.

James Hook will be holding his final testimonial event on Beaujolais Day at the Towers Hotel near Swansea – with help from a number of old Wales teammates. The event will take place on Thursday, November 17 from 12pm. There will be a drinks reception, a three-course meal, a sporting auction, and live entertainment.  The evening will also feature a question and answer session with Hook, and former Wales stars Shane Williams, Mike Phillips and Paul James.

James Hook has told Wales they must keep Beauden Barrett out of the limelight if they are to have any chance of ending a dark 69-year history of failure against the All Blacks on Saturday. Hook – who reckons Barrett is still the best blend of runner and creator in the world – believes the New Zealander will conjure enough opportunities to take the game out of Welsh hands, if he’s allowed to thrive. A year ago, Barrett scored two tries and helped the Kiwis score seven in total as Wales were ripped apart, 54-16, in celebration of the two-time world player of the year’s 100th cap.

By David Williams Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has handed Dragons wing Rio Dyer a Test debut in Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series clash against New Zealand. The 22-year-old starts, with Josh Adams, who had been nursing a hand injury, not in the matchday 23. Elsewhere, Leigh Halfpenny will make his Wales return after a 16-month absence from Test rugby. The Scarlets full-back […]

By Tomas Marks In 1953 it was the year that Wales last beat New Zealand and also the year that New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, and sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest. If Wales are going to conquer the All Blacks after 32 consecutive losses, they will need the extraordinary skill and […]

Ken Owens has revealed he was determined to recover from a back injury in order to resume a normal life rather than play rugby again for Wales. The Scarlets hooker is set to play his first international match for 15 months when Wales face New Zealand at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. The 35-year-old is four matches into his comeback but could well be asked to start against the All Blacks as coach Wayne Pivac seeks the platform of a solid set-piece.

Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit will carry blistering form into the Autumn Nations Series and an opener against New Zealand that he “cannot wait” for. Rees-Zammit has never previously faced the All Blacks, while Wales last beat New Zealand in 1953. That run of 32 successive defeats underlines the huge task facing Wayne Pivac’s team when they kick off an autumn schedule on Saturday that also features Cardiff appointments with Argentina, Georgia and Australia.

By David Williams Head coach John Kear remained proud of Wales’ efforts at the Rugby League World Cup despite a third straight defeat at the hands of Papua New Guinea in Doncaster which ended the Dragons’ interest in the tournament. The impressive Kumuls had too much for Kear’s side, particularly in the first 40 where […]

The All Blacks have arrived in Wales to prepare for Saturday’s opening clash in the Autumn Nations Series against Wales at Principality Stadium and will get a reminder today (Monday) of what it means to beat them. Memories of the ‘day the pubs ran dry’ in Llanelli have been creeping out of the woodwork for some time now and will be celebrated exactly 50 years on. They have preserved the scoreboard at Parc Y Scarlets that registered one of the most famous club victories over New Zealand and 9-3 was instantly immortalised by Max Boyce’s emotive poem about the final score.

Ioan Cunningham insists Wales can consider their World Cup campaign a success, despite their painful 55-3 quarter-final exit at the hands of New Zealand. The squad travelling home from Auckland should feel they are at the start of their broader mission, rather than the end of their participation in this single tournament, according to their head coach. This was the first World Cup Wales have attended with a group of full-time professional players, a switch in structure that took place earlier this year.

Angus O’Brien has backed his Dragons teammate Rio Dyer to make a huge impact in Test rugby following the wing’s call-up to the Wales squad. O’Brien – who returned to Rodney Parade from the Scarlets this summer – first spotted the talent of Dyer when the then teenager was in the Dragons academy. Four years on and the 22-year-old underlined the potential Wayne Pivac sees in him by scorching over for two tries against the Ospreys last weekend.

  By Harry Corish  Cardiff are going into the Indigo Premiership game of the weekend without half their team, but head coach Steve Law insists that this is the price you pay for a properly organised set up. He also believes this is how it should be. The Rags, who currently sit second in the […]