The rise and rise of Jake Heyward is certainly setting the pulse racing among Welsh athletics fans and quite rightly so. His latest personal best over 1500 metres of 3.39.84 at the Bislett Games in Oslo – followed by gold at the England Athletics U-20 and U-23 Championships in Bedford on Sunday - not only rocketed him up the British Under 20 all-time rankings, but also underlined his credentials as a potential finalist at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Tampere, Finland next month. The teenager already has European Youth and European Junior gold medals in his collection after two exceptional summers, but the step up in class to a world level in 2018 will probably reveal more about his true potential. The 1500 metres title at the previous 16 championships have been won by African athletes on 15 occasions and the other gold went to Quatar.

Lukasz Fabianski has spoken of his regret at leaving Swansea City after completing his £7m move to West Ham. The goalkeeper was an unused substitute at the World Cup on Tuesday as Poland opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Senegal. Following that match, the Hammers announced on Wednesday morning they have signed Fabianski, who spent four years at the Liberty Stadium following a move from Arsenal.

Ellis Jenkins believes Warren Gatland’s World Cup selection has become a lot more complicated thanks to the impact he and others made in North and South America. The co-captain for the three-Test trip that brought a victory over South Africa and back-to-back successes against Argentina was one of a number of players to make their mark. Now, as the tour party arrive home, the Cardiff Blues flanker is confident his youthful squad has delivered on their mission to improve strength in depth as the countdown to the tournament in Japan approaches the 12-month mark.

Welsh cyclist Stevie Williams has finished fifth in the Under-23 version of one of the grand cycling tours – the Giro d'Italia. Williams, from Capel Dewi in Ceredigion, who had already won the prestigious Ronde de I'Isard stage race in France this season, enjoyed an eventful 10 days during the tour of Italy.

Having not competed since the middle of last year, Cameron Davies has re-launched his rallying career overseas – and has swapped the British Rally Championship for the Peugeot Rally Cup Iberica. The series consists of six rallies in Spain and Portugal, and the 23-year old driver from Llandovery proved on the opening round that he has title winning potential, despite having been out of a rally car for 10 months. Add a few more new things into the mix, like new co-driver Max Freeman and having his car run on-event by PT Racing, instead of his usual team of family and close friends, and his Peugeot Cup debut was nothing short of sensational. After the first three stages of the new series, Davies led the Peugeot Rally Cup on the recent Rally of Portugal – with another fastest stage time extending that advantage to 26 seconds after SS4. In the overall standings, he had climbed up to 38th position and his comparative times would have placed him only 20 seconds off fifth in the Junior World Rally Championship category.

It is becoming a bit of a nerve-wracking experience watching Aberdare’s Stuart Manley play on the European Challenge Tour this summer. The 39-year-old Welshman has made his fans sweat for the past few weekends by reaching a play-off for successive titles. He missed out at the KPMG Trophy in Belgium, but came through to win only his second title at the Hauts de France Golf Open at the Saint-Omer Golf Club at the weekend. Manley took a share of the clubhouse lead with two birdies on his final four holes to card a closing-round, three under par 68. At the time it left him on the six under par mark, two shots behind then leader Tom Murray.

Kody Davies extended his unbeaten run as a professional to five fights as he comfortably beat Eric Mokonzo over four rounds on Fight Night at York Hall. The 23-year-old super middleweight from Pontllanfraith put Mokonzo down with a brutal punch in the second round and was always in command of the contest as he added to his growing reputation in the pro ranks with a 40-37 points win.

Warren Gatland believes Wales and England are at opposite ends of the rugby spectrum as both nations head towards next year’s World Cup. The Wales coach could not help himself from comparing his team’s exploits on tour with the struggles of the old enemy, who suffered a sixth straight defeat when they lost the second Test and the series against South Africa at the weekend. While Red Rose head coach Eddie Jones comes under increasing pressure and scrutiny, all is rosy in the Welsh garden after they sealed a first series victory in Argentina since 1999 and jumped above England in the world rankings.