Dai Sport

Hector Pardoe has revealed he will be vaccinated for typhoid and hepatitis A before he gets into the water for the open water swimming at the Paris Olympics this summer. The Welsh swimmer – one of five Swim Wales stars to be selected by Great Britain for the Games – is due to compete in the 10km open water marathon event, where he is expected to be a medal contender.

Wales will break their attendance record for a stand-alone home Test match, when they face Italy in the Women’s Guinness Six Nations on Saturday at the Principality Stadium. Ioan Cunningham’s side may be facing the prospect of a wooden spoon, but the surge in interest in the women’s game shows no signs of slowing.

Wrexham plan to host another promotion party when they welcome League Two champions Stockport County at The Racecourse on Saturday, in their final game of this season. In what could once have been a match where Wrexham might have won the League Two title in front of their own fans, it is now a game where, regardless of the outcome, both teams’ futures are sealed.

Theo Cabango feels he has returned from injury in even better shape than before and that was certainly how things looked on his first start in more than five months. Back from a lengthy lay-off following a shoulder dislocation, the 22-year-old Cardiff wing scored two scintillating tries in last weekend’s dramatic United Rugby Championship clash with Ulster in Belfast. It looked as though he had completed a hat-trick when he raced over two minutes from time, only for the score to be ruled out for an offence in the build-up, enabling Ulster scrum-half John Cooney to land a match-winning penalty.

It doesn’t need a long, hard stare at the United Rugby Championship table to realise it has not been a vintage season for the Scarlets. The most recent Welsh winners of the tournament seven years ago have won just three matches and stand 14th in the 16-team table. On Friday night, the Scarlets are at home to the Sharks, who are also having a season to forget and have won the same meagre number as their hosts.

Mike Harris - chairman of Cymru Premier dominant force, The New Saints - has welcomed the Football Association of Wales’ plans to improve the league. The FAW has promised an investment package worth more than £739,500 in the on-field product. As part of the revamp, the Cymru Premier is to be increased from 12 clubs to 14 or 16, there will be a switch to Friday night games, and VAR will be introduced to help referees.

There will be a very special father and son reunion in the United Rugby Championship this weekend as John and Taine Plumtree find themselves in opposing camps. If things had worked out differently, they could have been together at the Hollywoodbets Sharks as coach John was keen to bring his boy over to Durban from New Zealand. But Taine, who was born in Swansea while his dad was coaching there, opted to go down the Wales route, joining the Scarlets from the Blues Super Rugby side.

When Toby Booth was once asked if he felt pressure as a regional rugby coach in Wales, he responded: “Pressure? Pressure’s for tyres! “What I have is a fantastic opportunity.” These days Booth is fully pumped and primed as the biggest – some might say the only – success story in the Welsh game.

Mark Williams admitted he does not know whether he has played his last World Snooker Championship match after he suffered a dramatic 10-9 defeat to Si Jiahui in the first round. The Welsh three-times champion was knocked out at the opening stage in an epic clash as Si continued his love affair with the Crucible by following up last year’s surprise run to the semi-finals. While Si will face Jak Jones in the second round, Williams confessed he did not know whether a return to the Crucible is on the cards but appeared to rule out immediate retirement.

Neco Williams could be in hot water with the FA after comments he made following Nottingham Forest’s controversial 2-0 defeat to Everton. The Wales defender has been asked by the FA to explain remarks he made after the match on Sunday which appeared to suggest officials were biased in favour of the top clubs.