Happy Monday readers! Sportin Wales took advantage of the weather this weekend, taking in as much Welsh sport as possible. In case you missed any, we’ve rounded up the best of the action below:

Wales lose in Melbourne to end series 2-0

Wales came out on the wrong end of a thrilling match in Melbourne on Saturday, losing 36-28 to the Wallabies, despite a spirited comeback from 17-0 down.

A brace of tries from captain Dewi Lake – the Welsh rolling maul proving their biggest weapon – along with tries from Liam Williams and Rio Dyer brought Wales back into the contest, but Australia were much more clinical throughout the 80 minutes, scoring four tries themselves.

The defeat makes it nine loses in a row for Wales now, a run stretching back to the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina. Wales end their summer tour on Friday, with a match against Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

Jess Fishlock equals record in 3-0 win over Croatia

Wales beat Croatia 3-0 in a comfortable game on Friday night.

Jess Fishlock’s opener against Croatia was her 44th in international football, bringing her level with Helen Ward as Wales’ record goal-scorer.

Goals from Sophie Ingle and Kayleigh Barton sealed the result and put Wales back in the box seat for qualification to EURO 2025.

Barring a loss against Kosovo at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow, the Welsh side will top their group, giving them a seeded position in the next round of qualifying.

While qualification will be the main aim against Kosovo, the chance for Fishlock, Wales’ greatest ever player, to become her country’s top goal-scorer will be at the back of her mind.

“I can’t actually believe that I have scored that many goals from midfield, especially as I used to be a holding midfielder,” Fishlock reflected.

“I couldn’t do it without all of these girls, past and present, I can’t score on my own.”

Mimi Xu reaches Wimbledon Junior Girl’s Doubles Final

Mimi Xu and her partner, Mika Stojsavljevic, were beaten by the American duo Tyra Caterina Grant and Iva Jovic in Sunday’s Wimbledon girls’ doubles final.

Xu, who is ranked ninth in the junior world rankings, lost the first set 7-5, but came back to win the second 6-4. However, the British pair lost a tight final set 10-8.

Xu and Stojsavljevic, 15, had reached a first junior Grand Slam final having beaten Julie Pastikova and Julia Stusek 6-4 6-1 in their semi-final.

The 16-year-old from Swansea reached the quarter-finals of the girls’ doubles at this year’s French Open with fellow Brit Hannah Klugman.

Xu also made the singles quarter-finals and the doubles semi-finals at the Australian Open in Melbourne in January.

Wales U20s lose semi-final despite Macs Page hattrick

Wales U20s lost 36-29 to Australia in their Under-20 World Championship fifth-place semi-final despite a hat-trick from centre Macs Page.

With both sides scoring five tries each, the game was separated by kicks to goal, with the Australian fly-half, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, nearly flawless from the tee.

Page, whose hattrick kept Wales in the game until the final moments, has been one of a number of standouts in the competition for Wales, with Morgan Morse, Louie Hennessey, and Isaac Young all impressing throughout the tournament.

Wales take on South Africa in the ‘seventh-place final’ on Friday in Cape Town.

On the women’s side, Wales U20s lost 33-19 against Italy in the Under-20 Summer Series.

Wales looked to have put themselves in a strong position, going 14-0 up and ending the first half 14-5, but Italy rallied to deny the Welsh side a first win in the series.

This was Wales’ third defeat in 10 days, following loses at the hands of England and France.

Price and Clayton cruise in World Matchplay first round

Both Welsh darts players, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton won their first round matches at the 2024 World Matchplay in Blackpool over the weekend.

Price kicked off the whole tournament with an emphatic 10-4 win over Northern Irishman Daryl Gurney. In his first televised match since withdrawing from the World Cup, Price raced into a 4-1 lead before being pegged back to 5-4 by Gurney.

The Welshman, though, rallied and won the next five legs in a row.

Clayton followed Price and beat Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld 10-7 in a nip-and-tuck encounter.

Clayton took a 7-3 lead as Van Barneveld couldn’t take his chances, but the Dutchman found his rhythm after the second interval and got back to 7-6.

‘The Ferret’ re-captured his form at the right time, finishing the job with relative ease.

Price will face Ross Smith in the second round, while Clayton will meet ninth-seed Dimitri Van den Bergh. Both matches will be played on Tuesday 16th.

Crane signs permanently but double defeats puts quarter-finals beyond reach

Glamorgan leggie Mason Crane has made his loan move into a permanent one, signing a three-year deal with the Welsh county.

Crane, 27, is Glamorgan’s leading wicket-taker in both the County Championship (24 at 42.87) and the T20 Blast (17 at 16.94) this season, and said he has “loved every minute” of his time at the club.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to make this move permanent,” Crane said.

“I’m very excited for the next chapter and the years to come.”

On the pitch, Glamorgan saw their chances to qualify for the T20 Blast quarter-finals end with back-to-back defeats against Middlesex and Gloucestershire.

At Sophia Gardens on Friday, the weather went against Glammy, with their total of 88-9 from 10 overs chased with ease by the Middlesex batters.

On Sunday, though, they were thoroughly outplayed, with Gloucestershire putting on 206-5, batting first, before bundling Glamorgan out for just 85.

With their T20 hopes now over, attention will turn to the One-Day Cup – the Welsh county’s last piece of silverware, having won it in 2021.

Ramsey back and Chambers signs for Cardiff

Cardiff City signed former Arsenal, Aston Villa, and England defender Callum Chambers, to strengthen their defence ahead of the 2024/25 season.

It marks their second signing of the summer window after they signed former QPR winger Chris Willock on a free transfer.

There was more good news for Erol Bulut and his side, as they beat Belgian side Kortrijk 3-1 at the Cardiff International Sports Campus on Saturday.

Wales captain Aaron Ramsey played an hour of the match, having not appeared for the Bluebirds since April.

“Aaron didn’t have a summer holiday – I know he trained a lot to be fit for this season,” the Cardiff boss said.

“Right now he is doing everything well. We have to manage his minutes. Sometimes it will be good for him to stay away from the game to protect him for the next game.”

Welsh Teams Win Pre-season Openers

Elsewhere, there were wins for the other three Welsh teams.

Swansea beat Swindon Town 3-1 in a behind-closed-doors friendly. Goals from Liam Cullen, Matt Grimes, and Mykola Kuharevich got their pre-season off to a good start.

That came after the Swans announced their first signing of the window with Portguese midfielder Goncalo Franco joining on an undisclosed fee on Friday.

Wrexham kicked off their pre-season programme with a comfortable 5-1 win against Hanley Town. Jordan Davies scored a brace, with James McClean, Sam Dalby, and Jake Bickerstaff adding to the tally.  The only concern came when Elliott Lee limped off after just 15 minutes, in what manager Phil Parkinson described as ‘the only negative’.

“Elliot’s thigh was a bit tight, the only negative. I don’t think that’s too serious,” he added.

Newport County rounded off a quartet of pre-season victories, beating Undy AFC 4-1. Goals from Michael Spellman, Courtney Baker-Richardson, Kiban Rai and Luke Jephcott secured the win for the Exiles, who play five more friendlies in the coming weeks, before kicking their season off against Cheltenham Town on August 10th.