Dai Sport

The French Top 14 season has been officially abandoned in a move that is likely to cast more uncertainty over any return of the Guinness Pro 14. With the rugby shutdown in France continuing, the game’s rulers announced on Tuesday that they are ending the season as of now. Organisers, the French rugby league (LNR) said no club would be relegated and no team would be promoted from the Pro D2 (second division).

Rallying could return at a famous Welsh forest complex in August – but with social distancing rules likely to prevent co-drivers from taking part. Scheduled to take place at Sweet Lamb, a popular Wales Rally GB stage situated in the stunning rolling hills on the Ceredigion and Powys border, the driver-only time trial on Sunday 9 August will take place behind locked gates and without spectators. There will also be a strict limit on the number of service vans and mechanics allowed on site.

Cardiff City and Swansea City may be preparing for a June 20 return to action, but some of their Championship rivals have cast doubt on the idea with scathing criticism of the EFL. Barnsley, QPR and Luton are leading the critical voices, claiming the resumption has been poorly planned, badly communicated and rushed through. Barnsley have written to the EFL to sound the alarm over the "potential failure of their enterprise" they get ready to play for the first time since mid-March.

Lennie Lawrence will remain a “very valued friend” to Newport County manager Mike Flynn after the club confirmed their assistant was leaving to join Stevenage. Lawrence, 72, has been at Rodney Parade for three years and forged an immediate bond with Flynn as both worked to pull off the great escape of keeping Newport in the Football League in 2017. But the veteran coach has remained based in the south-east of England and has now chosen to join Stevenage as No.2 to manager Alex Revell – with his start date likely to be the beginning of the 2020-21 season.

Swansea City transfer target Lyle Taylor will refuse to play for Charlton when the Championship season resumes on June 20. The Swans, Cardiff City, Charlton and remainder of the 24 second tier clubs are all stepping up their training in readiness for the season resuming in less than three weeks’ time. But Charlton manager Lee Bowyer has revealed that some of his players who are out of contract at the end of June - including Taylor – have said they will not be taking the field for fear of injury.

Tennis players have launched a petition calling for the sport to be “unlocked” following the urgings of the sport’s governing body towards the Welsh government. The petition to allow outdoor tennis in Wales to restart had been signed by over 2,000 people by midday on Sunday. It comes after Tennis Wales - the governing body for the sport in Wales – wrote to First Minister Mark Drakeford to ask for the current restrictions on playing tennis to be lifted.

Wales’ leading rugby players are facing more massive pay cuts with plans for funding from the Welsh Rugby Union to the regions to be slashed by £23m. Stars of the Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and Dragons have already seen their wages reduced by 25 per cent for the past three months. Now, they are facing more cuts – some will see reductions of £100,000-a-year - as well as redundancies following a devastating update from the WRU on how the current sporting shutdown is going to affect its income in the year ahead.

Cash-starved football clubs beneath the Premier League hoping for some financial help from the top flight have been told: Don’t hold your breath. The bleak warning not to expect much help from the moneyed clubs at the top of the food chain has come from Premier League chief executive Richard Masters. Newport County and other clubs in League Two have been running on empty since the lockdown in March, while even Championship clubs such as Cardiff City and Swansea City have been left contemplating very tough times ahead.

Last week, Connah’s Quay Nomads were crowned new Welsh champions thanks to their performances on the field. Now, argues Matthew Burgess, they are quickly starting to behave like champions, off the field, too. If ever Andy Morrison’s Connah’s Quay side wanted to make a statement of intent following their first ever league title, the signing of Aeron Edwards direct from rivals The New Saints certainly did the trick. Just a week after being awarded the Cymru Premier title, the Nomads declared the off-season open - bolstering their already strong squad whilst simultaneously depleting their closest rivals in the process.