Dai Sport

The Wales coaches and players arrived in camp ahead of the three-match Autumn Nations Series this week, all with the same blunt message in mind - "we've got to start winning matches". Warren Gatland's men may have wound-up their summer tour to Australia with a 36-35 win over Queensland, but the hard facts show they have lost their last nine internationals and haven't tasted victory in a meaningful match since beating Georgia 43-19 at last year's World Cup on 7 October.

Dwayne Peel says he’s delighted to see so many of his Scarlets receive “the greatest honour” of being selected by their country. Eight of his players have been named in the Wales squad for the autumn internationals, with the uncapped Blair Murray joined by fellow wing Tom Rogers, centre Eddie James, fly-half Sam Costelow, back rower Taine Plumtree, hooker Ryan Elias and props Kemsley Mathias and Henry Thomas.

Jess Fishlock insists Wales can make it to the Euro 2025 play-off final if they keep cool heads and clear minds when they take on Slovakia on Tuesday night. The Wales star - her country’s best player and inspiration for over a decade - is the potential saviour Wales will look to as they seek to overcome a 2-1 deficit from the first leg.

Llandovery head coach Euros Evans has praised his side for finding a way to win after their 33-26 weekend triumph at Aberavon in Super Rygbi Cymru took them up to fifth place. The Drovers held firm and eventually went on to seal a third straight victory following up on their win at Newport and the six-point home success against Swansea. The hat-trick of wins followed three defeats on the spin before that.

Omer Riza is forwarding all queries over the Cardiff City manager’s position to the club’s hierarchy. The Bluebirds interim manager is now unbeaten in five matches after a gritty performance eked out a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Two games, two clean sheets and four points – it wasn’t a bad week for Newport County, despite the frustration of missing a penalty in their goalless draw with Fleetwood at Rodney Parade at the weekend. Bryn Morris stepped up in the 25th minute only to see Fleetwood keeper David Harrington, who had moments earlier picked up a yellow card for conceding the spot kick after hauling down Aaron Wildig, save his shot with his legs.

Luke Williams has admitted he has yet to find a solution to Swansea City’s 525 minutes of football without scoring. The Swans head coach watched his team slump to a 1-0 home defeat to Millwall, meaning not only are they without a win in six matches, but they are without a goal in their last five

Welsh rugby enjoyed its most successful weekend in the league for more than three years amid a hat-trick of victories for the Scarlets, Ospreys and Cardiff. It’s the best return since all four regions won in March 2021. There have been three wins since then, but not all against teams from other countries. To hear Hymns and Arias echoing around Welsh grounds over the weekend was an indication of just how much the victories meant after some tough times.

One of the more eye-catching sights in Welsh football at present is Kyle Hudlin on the hoof. It’s not just that Newport County’s striker is the tallest outfield player in UK professional football at 6ft 9in.

Dwayne Peel declared himself satisfied as his Scarlets team secured a third successive win in the United Rugby Championship by beating Zebre Parma 30-8 in Llanelli. Tries from Tom Rogers, Macs Page, Blair Murray and captain Josh Macleod helped Scarlets recover from Ben Cambriani’s early score for the Italians to earn the bonus point.