Dai Sport

A new fund of up to £4m has been launched by Sport Wales to help grassroots sports clubs and community organisations get back on their feet. The new ‘Be Active Wales Fund’ will provide a major source of support to protect community clubs and organisations that have been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and help them prepare to re-start activities safely. The grant funding has been made possible thanks to Welsh Government and repurposed money from the National Lottery, which continues to be one of Welsh sport’s biggest supporters.

The highest profile woman in Welsh rugby could soon be leaving after only seven months in her role. Amanda Blanc – the independent chair of Welsh rugby's Professional Rugby Board – is likely to step down after only being appointed in December. Blanc has been made chief executive of insurance giants Aviva - parachuted into the top position in the company after former chief executive Maurice Tulloch left "for family health reasons". He also retired from his position on the Aviva plc Board and his successor took over the reins immediately.

Neil Harris insists worldly-wise wisdom can guide Cardiff City past Blackburn Rovers tonight and move them one step nearer towards clinching their place in the Championship play-offs. The Bluebirds manager believes the experience of players like Sean Morrison, Joe Ralls, Junior Hoilett and Sol Bamba – who all won promotion with the club two years ago – can provide the foundation for another successful mission in reaching the Premier League again. Cardiff welcome Rovers, holding a three-point lead over Derby County in seventh and a four point advantage over Swansea City with just five games left.

As the Cardiff Devils continue their search for a new head coach to replace Andrew Lord, managing director Todd Kelman has admitted he has a big job on his hands. The most successful coach in Devils' history after seven years in charge – who left to join Greenville Swamp Rabbits in South Carolina – is casting a long shadow across the ice, says Matthew Burgess. Sometimes in sport, people pass through teams as part of their journey to great things. It’s been two weeks since his tearful departure was announced, but Andrew Lord passing through the Cardiff Devils feels quite like one of those times.

Details of the newly formed West Wales Premier League have been confirmed as part of the ongoing restructure of the Welsh domestic football system. The new league will sit in the fourth tier of the Welsh system, bridging local football leagues at Tier 5 level and the newly-created Tier 3 leagues, which are yet to be officially confirmed. The West Wales Premier League originally sought to include participants from the Carmarthenshire League, Swansea League, Neath League and Pembrokeshire League, but with no entries forthcoming from the Pembrokeshire League, the inaugural West Wales Premier League will operate with 12 clubs.

Aled Brew’s time at Bath may have run out, but the former Wales wing insists he’s not ready to hang up his boots just yet. Brew may be 34 next month, but he tells Peter Jackson he wants two more years - wherever that might take him. It was never meant to be Aled Brew’s last match for Bath, a cruelly brief appearance fully four months before the season’s scheduled close. Leicester at home in late January brought the Welshman’s road at the Rec to a sudden dead-end. When injury put him out of action within the opening quarter, nobody watching his early exit imagined they wouldn’t be seeing him again.

Steve Cooper says Rhian Brewster is loving life at Swansea City and believes his goals can help fuel a surge into the play-offs. Brewster scored the opener in the Swans’ 2-1 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday to make it three goals in four matches for the Liverpool loanee, plus the shot that forced a goalkeeper’s own goal at Millwall. The young striker has looked hungry and purposeful since the season resumed and although he went off with a shoulder injury before the end, it is not considered serious and he should be fit to play at Birmingham City on Wednesday.

Jake Bidwell still believes Swansea City can launch a late surge into the play-offs to give their fans something to bask in after a miserable summer. The Swans defender insists today’s (Sun) home game with Sheffield Wednesday can prove a launch pad to repeat their early season form in which they won five and drew one of their first half dozen matches. That, says Bidwell, would lift the mood after figures showed Wales has suffered the highest rise in business collapses in the UK since March.

Super-sub Danny Ward earned Cardiff City an invaluable 1-0 SkyBet Championship victory in the Severnside derby against Bristol City at Ashton Gate to underline why manager Neil Harris wants to keep the striker at the club. Ward - who is out of contract when this season ends - scored the crucial only goal of the game to keep the Bluebirds in pole position to stay in sixth place and make the promotion play-offs. Manager Neil Harris is showing a remarkable ability to make the most of substitutions with Ward scoring with a left foot shot six minutes after being sent on for Callum Paterson. 

Former Wales U20 captain Tommy Reffell has revealed he was prepared to take a 25 per cent pay cut because he believes Leicester Tigers will one day lead him to greater riches. Reffell – who upped sticks from the family home in Pencoed to join the Tigers six years ago when he was still only 15 – agreed to have his wages slashed along with the majority of the rest of the squad. The measures were imposed by the English club in order to ease the financial burden placed on all sporting clubs due to the coronavirus crisis.