Dai Sport

Welsh regions hoping to assemble squads to become competitive with the best in the United Rugby Championship have been given a sobering reminder of the size of that task after Leinster announced the capture of All Blacks star, Jordie Barrett.

Josh Turnbull insists he sees exciting times ahead in Welsh rugby as he begins his new career as a coach. The 36-year-old Cardiff back rower has confirmed he has played his last match and will take up a coaching position within the Cardiff academy set-up.

James Harris admitted Glamorgan were disappointed they were unable to press home a promising position against Derbyshire and had to settle for a draw in their first home County Championship game of the season. The match finished with spoils shared after a superb stand between Luis Reece and Brooke Guest guided the visitors to safety.

Phil Pratt will be at the Paralympics in Paris later this year, but it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine the highlight of his summer could have been playing at Wimbledon. Pratt is the man who captained Great Britain’s wheelchair basketball team to World Championship glory in 2018.

Gerwyn Price believes he let a fifth International Darts Open title slip from his grasp after losing the final of the European tour event. German home favourite Martin Schindler denied Price as he surged to victory in his first European Tour final. The 27-year-old German powered his way to an 8-5 win over the two-time defending champion at the WT Energiesysteme Arena in Riesa to claim his first senior PDC crown.

Erol Bulut has issued an impassioned defence of his record as Cardiff City manager as he seeks to stay in charge this summer. The Bluebirds boss has taken issue with his critics, who he claims have tried to suggest he should take little credit for the club’s improvement on last season.

Century-maker Chris Cooke believes he has set the platform for Glamorgan to achieve a memorable victory over Derbyshire. Cooke helped Glamorgan pull in front on day three of their Vitality County Championship match against after they posted 361 for seven declared to set a target of 401 for the visitors.

Newport County manager Graham Coughlan has given a scathing assessment of his team - and questioned his own future - after they suffered a sixth successive defeat. The County boss said the club’s fans deserved better after their latest setback - a 2-1 loss at home against Tranmere Rovers. That makes it a miserable round half dozen of losses on the bounce for Newport, who only a month ago looked to have a decent outside chance of making the play-offs before their rotten run.

Ioan Cunningham expects scrutiny over his position as head coach after Wales glued themselves to the bottom of the Women’s Six Nations table. Like his counterpart in charge of the men’s team – Warren Gatland – Cunningham is a man under pressure who cannot ease things until he stops losing. The former Scarlets coach, who brought a sharp upturn in the fortunes of the national side in the women’s game two years ago, admits results have put him in the firing line.

Ryan Reynolds has said that he and Rob McElhenney are having the “ride of our lives” following another Wrexham promotion. The Deadpool star, 47, co-owns the club with fellow Hollywood actor McElhenney. They previously secured promotion to League Two last year, and a 6-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers on Saturday means they will play in League One next season, as they cannot now finish below the top three automatic promotion places.