Dai Sport

The delayed European Championship finals start in 141 days and in 142 Wales play Switzerland. Not long, then, for Gareth Bale to get into some kind of form at Tottenham. Except, argues Fraser Watson, maybe it’s not long enough. Maybe, the whole nation needs to be realistic about the likely impact of the frustrated captain. It was the morning after the night before, and Gareth Bale was getting positive headlines. The minnows of Marine had succumbed to the might of Spurs – despite the inevitable lopsided scoreline being somewhat tempered by a resilient second-half display from the Northern Premier League side.

Glenn Delaney believes his 14-man Scarlets side have learnt well from their defeat to the Cardiff Blues earlier in the month – and can now extract their revenge. The regions met at the start of January at the Cardiff City Stadium, with the capital region running out 29-20 winners. The big talking point was Liam Williams’ red card in the first half after a head-on-head clash with his Wales teammate, the Blues’ Shane Lewis-Hughes.

Gutted Neil Harris admitted "the pressure is on" as he battles to save his job as Cardiff City manager. The Bluebirds boss saw his side crash to a sixth straight defeat - and seventh in the last eight games - as they lost 1-0 at home to QPR.

Wayne Pivac is trying to convince English clubs to allow their Welsh international players to stay in his Six Nations camp for the whole tournament. There are six players – Tomas Francis, Will Rowlands, Taulupe Faletau, Dan Biggar, Callum Sheedy and Louis Ress-Zammit - in Wales’ 36-man squad who are based over the border. Rather than allow them to return to their English clubs during the break weekends in the tournament, Pivac wants the half dozen released for the entirety of the Six Nations, to protect the Wales squad amid continued coronavirus concerns.

Conor Hourihane has agreed to join Swansea City from Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season. A loan fee and other terms were agreed between the two clubs on Tuesday and Hourihane is due to undergo a medical at the Swans’ training ground. A number of Championship clubs were interested in the 29-year-old midfielder, including Bournemouth who are four points behind second-placed Swansea in the table.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Latalia Bevan has confirmed her retirement from elite competition. The 19-year-old women’s artistic gymnast from Merthyr Tydfil has called it a day on the back of a stellar competitive career, capped by a stunning silver she brought home for Team Wales from Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018. But there have been plenty of other highlights for St Tydfils Gymnastics Club’s Wales and Great Britain star, who started out in the sport aged six.

Rhys Webb has been left out of the Wales squad for the Six Nations, but coach Wayne Pivac has given a recall to veteran Dan Lydiate. Pivac has resisted calls to bring back another veteran – Bath’s Cardiff Blues-bound outside-half Rhys Priestland – but there are also returns for fly-half Jarrod Evans, wing Hallam Amos and prop Rhodri Jones. Scrum-half Webb, who returned from France to join the Ospreys and revive his Wales career, has lost out to Scarlets youngster Kieran Hardy, as well as established No.9 rivals Gareth Davies and Tomos Williams.

Newport County goalkeeper Tom King could be about to enter football’s record books after his incredible goal at Cheltenham. King scored directly from a goal-kick in the 1-1 draw at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Tuesday night – an estimated 95-metre yard effort that could smash the current record held by Asmir Begovic. Newport’s 25-year-old Wales squad keeper stunned the home side with his mighty effort that bounced once and then – wind-assisted – flew over the head of opposite number Josh Griffiths.

Neil Harris is happy with the transfer business Cardiff City have done so far this week - but knows he has to start repaying the backing with wins. Right-back Perry Ng from Crewe and Crawley striker Max Watters have added to his options as the Bluebirds face QPR at home on Wednesday.

Dai Young has admitted he was left burnt by 16 years of non-stop coaching, but still believes there is enough fuel left in his tank to ignite Cardiff Blues. The new director of rugby at the Arms Park has only been appointed on an interim basis until the end of the season. But after just a week back in his former seat of power, Young has revealed he plans being around for another long haul if things go according to plan.