Dai Sport

As Cardiff kick-off their new season on Friday night, head coach Matt Sherratt insists he will be calling the shots at the Arms Park – not Warren Gatland. With a host of youngsters having been fast-tracked into the Wales squad over the past 12 months, it might be tempting to believe Sherratt is under pressure to accommodate all requests.

Erol Bulut has taken a swipe at his critics by labelling some of their criticism “stupid” and suggested genuine Cardiff City fans would offer support instead of complaints. Bulut may be under huge pressure after his team's winless start to the season, but if he does go down this weekend, he seems intent on going down fighting.

Aaron Ramsey will miss Wales’ next two Nations League matches - as well as around a dozen games for Cardiff City - after being ruled out with yet another hamstring injury. The Wales captain picked up the injury during his 15-minute cameo appearance at the end of the 2-1 win in Montenegro earlier this month.

The Welsh regions emerge, bleary-eyed, back into the autumn sunshine this weekend but it would be wrong to think they have been in hibernation. According to Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan, it was far more dramatic than that.

Brennan Johnson and his Tottenham teammates earned the praise of manager Ange Postecoglou after the Wales striker struck with a 93rd minute winner to avoid an embarrassing Carabao Cup exit at Coventry City. The Wales striker delivered just a day after his manager had defended him in the wake of social media abuse over recent performances.

Colin Ingram’s innings of 82 made him the highest run-scorer in County Championship cricket so far this season - but that failed to satisfy the Glamorgan captain after his team lost the initiative in their match at home to Yorkshire. The visitors took a significant step towards a return to Division One by taking control of Glamorgan’s penultimate Division Two fixture, despite a late fightback from the home tail in saving the follow-on.

For Matt Sherratt, there’s the sense of a new beginning as he embarks on his second season as Cardiff’s head coach. It’s been a summer of major change at the Arms Park both on and off the field and he is hoping that will now extend to his team’s results as they look to turn those narrow defeats into victories - starting with Friday night’s BKT URC opener at home to Zebre Parma.

Leighton Jones has stood down as head coach at Super Rygbi Cymru club Pontypool after just one game of the new season. Tom Hancock has been installed as the interim head coach for this weekend’s game against Bridgend at the Brewery Field. Pooler lost on the opening night of the season when they were beaten at home by reigning Premiership champions Llandovery, 21-18.

Abergavenny’s Alicia Kelly became the first girl to win the Gareth Bale Championship at Celtic Manor, dominating the field to earn a seven-shot victory. Beating the boys in such a prestigious competition is a boost for girl’s golf with less than a year to go before hosting the biggest female sporting event ever held in Wales when the AIG Women’s Open takes place in Royal Porthcawl next summer.

Former Scarlets coach and captain Simon Easterby will take over as interim Ireland head coach during Andy Farrell's time in charge of the British and Irish Lions. Farrell is set to oversee autumn Tests against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia in Dublin before temporarily departing his role to lead next year's Lions tour against the Wallabies.