The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour could be the toughest test of Warren Gatland’s coaching career according to three-time Lions tourist Dai Young. It’s not that Gatland won’t have the talent to face down the world champion Springboks, but Young believes his biggest challenge will be in keeping his players mentally fresh off the field when they are confined to their strict COVID bubble. “There is nobody more experienced than Warren Gatland and he knows how to get the best out of teams. But this is a different kettle of fish for any coach,” said Young.

Wales U20 head coach Ioan Cunningham has told his players to win, but with style, when they launch their Six Nations campaign next week. The former Scarlets forwards coach – who was recently confirmed in his new role – has named a squad of 32 for the delayed tournament which kicks off next Saturday at Cardiff Arms Park against Italy. “Overall, it is a fairly young squad, there are only six players carrying over from last year’s group so it’s an induction of fresh new talent to the group which is exciting,” said Cunningham, who has taken over from Gareth Williams.

Wales maintained their hold on the wheelchair Celtic Cup, raising the trophy for the fifth consecutive time since the competition’s inception in 2016. They impressively accounted for Ireland and Scotland at the Oriam Performance Sport Centre at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, racking up 198 points and conceding only 34.

Euros Evans may not have had much competitive rugby to enjoy over the past year, but he has still been able to enjoy the fruits of his labour as director of rugby at Coleg Sir Gar. As the figurehead at one of Wales and the UK’s leading rugby colleges, not to mention head coach at Welsh Premiership club Llandovery, Evans knows what it takes to develop players and push them up through the system. That’s why he was delighted to see two Sir Gar old boys, Javan Sebastian and Harri Doel, finally make their mark.

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac believes young Dragons lock Ben Carter has the raw potential to step into the shoes of the great Alun Wyn Jones after he was handed his first senior international call. Carter, 20, has captained Wales at Under-18 and Under-19 level and has also played for the Under-20 side but only made a full Dragons debut against Munster in November last year. This has been his first full season of professional rugby, but the young tyro has impressed sufficiently to become one of five uncapped players in Wales’ 34-man summer Test squad.

Cardiff Blues ended their era as regional originals with Dai Young admitting to the same feeling their fans have often suffered in the past 18 years – frustration. Their last match of the season was also their final one under the identifiable banner as the Blues, a name they have worn with varying degrees of comfort since 2013. From next season, the Blues will be no more and the team in the capital will be rebranded as Cardiff Rugby – name that is as much a wistful look back to the past as it is a bold stride into the future.

Former Wales Under 20s Grand Slam winner Joe Thomas is hoping his American adventure can earn him a second crack of the whip in Welsh rugby. The 25-year-old has become the first Welshman to play in the MLR where he plies his trade for Houston SaberCats in Texas. And the Morriston RFC product has found a new lease of life in the States, where he believes rugby will develop into a major sport.

Cardiff Blues head coach Dai Young has named a strong team for their final match of the season against Zebre on Saturday – with a hint at the wealth of options he has at his disposal for the future. The Blues’ final match in the Rainbow Cup sees Tomos Williams on the bench after the Wales scrum-half put pen to paper on a new contract, but fellow current internationals Willis Halaholo, Jarrod Evans Cory Hill and James Botham are all set to start. Young is still without many of their star performers – most notably, seasoned internationals, Josh Navidi, Ellis Jenkins and Hallam Amos.

Josh Turnbull has revealed he turned down what would have been a lucrative deal to move to English club rugby in favour of trying to win more caps with Wales. The offer to join a side Turnbull refuses to name came when the 33-year-old forward swapped home region Scarlets for current side Cardiff Blues seven years ago. Turnbull doesn’t regret the decision and he is hopeful his stunning domestic form this season for Cardiff will earn him selection with Wales this summer.

By Steffan Thomas Louis Rees-Zammit has been backed to keep pace with South African superstar Cheslin Kolbe when they meet on the Lions tour this summer. Rees-Zammit enjoyed a sensational season with Wales that climaxed with the Gloucester wing earning a place in the British and Irish Lions squad to face the Springboks in three […]

The Dragons play their final home game of the season on Saturday night – in Cardiff. The laying of a new pitch at Rodney Parade means the match against Glasgow is at Cardiff City Stadium. For Richard Hibbard it means the end of another season’s rugby in Wales, his 18th as a professional player, during which time he has learned one invaluable lesson  – it’s not all about rugby, as he tells Graham Thomas. Richard Hibbard has warned that young players who devote all their time to rugby and nothing else risk ending up hating the sport. The Dragons hooker has recently agreed a new one-year contract with the region which will see him pass his 38th birthday midway through next season.

The historic name of Cardiff Demons has been resurrected for a return to rugby league, after the general public voted for this to be the name of the new Betfred Women’s Super League franchise that is being run by Wales Rugby League, and based in the Welsh capital.

Wales Rugby League have named a 24-strong Women’s squad out of which they’ll select their 17 for the test match against England in Warrington on Friday June 25 (kick-off 6pm). Eleven players remain from the first ever squad in 2019 who went on to beat England Lions, with a further 11 of the 13 potential new caps coming from the elite athlete ID days that were held by WRL in both the north and south of Wales in April.

Michael Collins is confident the Ospreys can challenge for silverware over the next couple of seasons and believes he’s the man to unleash their potent back division. The 27-year-old centre currently plies his trade for the Highlanders in Super Rugby and will join the Ospreys next season, having enjoyed a brief stint at the Scarlets in 2016. Wales coach Wayne Pivac is a big fan of the Welsh-qualified utility back, but Collins insists his full focus is on performing for the Ospreys.

Rob Howley believes Welsh rugby must sort out its player pathway if its teams are ever to compete again for Europe’s top prizes. The former Wales coach – who is back home on a break from his current job as assistant coach with Canada – has called for changes in the structure of the game he used to work in. With the two European finals having taken place this weekend, and the four Welsh regions as far away from success as ever, Howley insists only a shake-up of the current structure for younger players can solve the problem.

Hadleigh Parkes’ first season in Japan has seen him win the Six Nations bragging rights with team-mate George Kruis and move to within one game of a first Top League title. Now, only the ‘Golden One’ – his former Hurricanes colleague Beauden Barrett – stands between the ex-Wales centre and more silverware in the Far East. Parkes, now 33, won 29 caps for Wales but left the Scarlets and Welsh rugby last summer for a move to Japan with Panasonic Wild Knights where he plays alongside England’s Kruis.

It’s cup final week for two Welsh rugby players at different ends of their career spectrum and in two different hemispheres. On Friday night, the former Wales U18 and U20 captain Tommy Reffell hopes to help Leicester Tigers win the European Challenge Cup at Twickenham, while two days later the 2019 Grand Slam centre Hadleigh Parkes will aim to become the first Welsh player to win the Top League title in Japan. The 22-year-old Reffell has featured in three of the Tigers games in Europe this season and was a starter in the back row last weekend in the Premiership when they overcame Harlequins at Welford Road.

Cardiff Blues have become embroiled in a row over their ambition to retain a strong link with Welsh Premiership side, Cardiff RFC. The Blues are turning back the clock this summer by ditching their appendage and re-branding themselves as simply, Cardiff Rugby. In a further attempt to emphasise their historical roots, they also plan to refer to the current club side as the “Rags” – indicating they want to run them as their official reserve side.

Ospreys hooker Scott Otten has retired from professional rugby on medical advice. The 26-year-old Swansea-born forward – who has been with the Ospreys for a decade – suffered a serious neck injury against the Dragons in January. “For me, retirement from rugby has come way too early,” said Otten.

Dragons wing Rio Dyer says speed tips from former Olympic sprinter Darren Campbell is the reason behind his stunning end-of-season finish. The former Wales Under-20 back has been in scintillating form for the men from Rodney Parade in the last two weeks with his remarkable pace standing out. Dyer has now revealed the secret behind his speed.