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Welsh fans will be able to join Warren Gatland and his squad in running the rule over next week’s opening opponents in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series when Fiji kick-off their tour with a clash with Scotland at Murrayfield this weekend. The side is drawn exclusively from their Super Rugby Pacifica team the Drua because the game falls outside the Test window.

Wales skipper Aaron Ramsey will miss his side’s push for promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League after being ruled out of their final two fixtures in Group B this month. The Cardiff City midfielder has already missed the last two games after picking up a hamstring injury after coming on as a replacement in the final 10 minutes of the 2-1 win in Montenegro in the second round match in Niksic on 9 September.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has acknowledged it “needs to apologise” for threatening to pull the women’s team from competition, though the organisation denies any sexist intent behind its actions. According to a report by The Telegraph, the WRU allegedly warned the women’s team they could be withdrawn from the upcoming Rugby World Cup if they did not agree to new contract terms.

Tommy Reffell insists he will have no problem if Warren Gatland gives out the hairdryer treatment in the Wales dressing room this autumn. Reffell was one of the Leicester players who took a full blast of hot air from Tigers coach Michael Cheika recently.

When football managers – and rugby coaches – talk about training sessions having “an edge” about them, it normally only means one thing. There’s been a fight. It may not have been full-on, fists swinging, bare-knuckle bruising. But someone, somewhere has over-stepped the mark and tempers have boiled over. Nine times out of 10, managers love this kind of thing. It proves their players are more like thin, hungry dogs, than fat, sleepy cats and they look forward to unleashing the hounds on Saturday afternoon.

Has there ever been a more reliable Welsh footballer than Jess Fishlock? It’s a question worth considering after her country’s heroine once again came to Wales’ rescue late on Tuesday night.

Steve Cooper is facing a touchline ban for Leicester City’s Premier League fixture against Ipswich, having received his third yellow card of the season during the Foxes’ defeat to Manchester United. The Welsh manager’s protests over a potential offside in the lead-up to United’s second goal in their 5-2 Carabao Cup win led referee Andrew Madley to show him a yellow card, a move Cooper later claimed the official “enjoyed” giving.

Lock Ben Carter has been released from Wales’ Autumn Nations Series squad after suffering a knee injury and replaced by Cardiff’s Teddy Williams. Dragons skipper Carter was hurt during training, the Welsh Rugby Union said.

It may be the “Land of his Mother” but new Wales squad member Blair Murray will be doing all he can to learn the words of “Land of my Fathers” ahead of his potential first Wales cap next week. The 23-year-old Scarlets wing has made such an impact since arriving in Wales in June that he found himself being chosen by Warren Gatland as one of two uncapped players in his 35-man squad for the November clashes with Fiji, Australia and South Africa.

Phil Salt is optimistic Brendon McCullum can get the best out of him when the England Test head coach also assumes control of the white-ball sides. The parallels between them as ultra-aggressive opening batter-wicketkeepers were remarked upon during Welsh star Salt’s stint this year with Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League franchise McCullum previously played for and coached.