WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: Wales Women will meet Australia in a friendly at Cardiff City Stadium on October 25.

The Matildas are ranked 15th in the world – 17 places higher than Wales – and the game will mark the return to action for Rhian Wilkinson’s side after Euro 2025, the country’s first major women’s tournament.

Wilkinson said: “The match against Australia will be the perfect way to celebrate our history-making players, but also to look ahead to the future.

“As we look to further develop ourselves against some of the top nations in the world, Australia are the perfect opponents for us.”

MEN’S FOOTBALL: West Brom defender Kyle Bartley has retired from professional football due to injury.

Bartley played more than 400 games in a 16-year career at Arsenal, Sheffield United, Rangers, Swansea, Birmingham, Leeds and West Brom, where he made 232 appearances after joining in 2018.

“I am fortunate to have represented some outstanding clubs during my career and Albion holds a particularly special place in my heart,” Bartley, 34, told the club’s official website.

“Unfortunately, a knee injury I picked up during last season has led me to make the difficult decision to hang up my boots, despite my best efforts to rehabilitate from it.”

MEN’S RUGBY UNION: Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney has warned of the “genuine potential disruption” posed by a prospective new breakaway league.

A revolutionary franchise competition – branded R360 and scheduled to launch in 2026 – hopes to attract the sport’s biggest stars and world rugby bosses discussed the proposed league in Australia last month.

Tierney said: “I think it’s a genuine potential disruption and we’ve got to make sure we’re engaged with and aligned to that.

“None of us are thinking this isn’t going to happen. It might not happen but we’re better off planning for it to happen and make sure we do our best to respond to that.”