Renato Sanches must have truly felt on top of the world after Portugal lifted the Euro 2016 trophy. But an assent to the lofty heights of the game can often be followed by a plummet to the bottom.

Our scout is a top football expert who attends matches each week searching for the next star. This week they bring you the lowdown and verdict on Swansea's Joe Rodon.

Warren Gatland questioned whether England might have played their World Cup final a game early as Welsh interest in the Webb Ellis Trophy ended in Yokohama.

WILL KELLEHER IN TOKYO: The Boks might be boring, but their boss Rassie Erasmus does not care. South Africa have faced criticism for their limited, combative style at the World Cup.

WILL KELLEHER IN TOKYO: Tom Curry is England's only representative on the World Rugby Player of the Year shortlist - as Maro Itoje and George Ford were snubbed.

Wales ensured they kept their distance from the haka in the build-up to their Rugby World third-place play off against New Zealand.

WILL KELLEHER: The Welsh Rugby Union have been leading an investigation into the former attack coach's conduct since he was jettisoned from Japan on September 17.

The BBC unveiled their six-strong shortlist for this year's Sports Personality of the Year on Monday. The public will vote on December 15 with the winner crowned in Aberdeen that night.

Ben Stokes is the bookies' favourite for the top gong but Fury feels aggrieved by his omission before taking to Twitter to list why he should be up for the public vote.

OLIVER HOLT: Ben Stokes stopped the sporting world last year with two magical moments. There are six credible SPOTY candidates, but Stokes would get my vote.

Dan Biggar has always been up for the fight. When the Wales fly-half signed for Northampton Saints in the autumn of 2017, the East Midlands club were spiralling down the Premiership.

MARCUS TOWNEND AT CHEPSTOW: Davies is currently sidelined having undergone knee surgery after being injured while playing Fiji in the World Cup.

CHRIS FOY'S WORLD OF RUGBY: At the end of a World Cup season, players will try to muster some energy for matches in the Southern Hemisphere at a time when they should be lying on a beach.

CHRIS FOY AT THE RICHOH ARENA: Northampton's lucky 13 stunned Wasps on Sunday as Dan Biggar and the man they call 'Big T' propelled the title-chasing Saints to victory.

Teen star Rees-Zammit can have an instant impact for Wales in the Six Nations according to new coach Wayne Pivac, who included the 18-year-old as one of five uncapped players in his squad.

If last week was hellish, Northampton were far more saintly in Lyon on Saturday - winning with a bonus-point to do all they could to make the Champions Cup quarter-finals.

SPECIAL REPORT: On the Welsh beat Wayne Pivac, the ex-Auckland copper on the streets in the 1980s, is unlikely to feel the pressure his old day-job brought against Italy.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY CHRIS FOY: It turns out that balancing on a rock perched above the waves of the Mediterranean, is not Shaun Edwards' natural habitat.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY WILL KELLEHER: Leigh Halfpenny is a nervy interviewee at the best of times. After the 18 months he has endured, it is understandable that his self-assurance is low.

Louis Rees-Zammit can be the new George North for Wales in the Six Nations, according to his more senior team-mates. The 18-year-old Gloucester winger could make his Test debut on Saturday.

With post-World Cup fallouts always bringing about change, there are plenty of new faces set to burst onto the scene. Here, Sportsmail runs through 10 uncapped stars to watch...

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: The 2020 Six Nations campaign, which gets underway this weekend, promises to be a closely-fought affair with several teams eyeing the title.

With England firing bombs at their Championship rivals each week, and Scotland responding with talk of 'hate', Wales coach Wayne Pivac is finding the pre-match mudslinging all a bit unnecessary.

ALEX BYWATER AT THE AVIVA STADIUM: Ireland produced a statement 24-14 win over Wales in Dublin to make it back-to-back wins in the Six Nations. Sportsmail rated both sets of players.

Leigh Halfpenny reckons Wales can roll back the clock and repeat their feats of 2013 this year by winning the Six Nations title, despite losing to Ireland in their last encounter.

EXCLUSIVE: When it comes to Shaun Edwards and rugby, emotion usually drives everything. But Saturday's Wales clash is strictly business. He does not do teary-eyed returns.

The last two Tests between Wales and France have been edge-of-the-seat thrillers. Both were won by wily Wales just when all looked lost:

Shaun Edwards stood in the bowels of the Principality Stadium wearing the quiet contented look of a man who had just transformed a team that for years had an attitude problem.

Wales wing Hallam Amos will miss the rest of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations due to a knee injury. Amos sustained the injury during the Cardiff Blues' Guinness PRO14 victory over Benetton.

Manu Tuilagi is England's master of destruction on the pitch - and he is building an equally fierce reputation on the chess board.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: There are some things much more important than sport, and when something like the coronavirus comes along rugby has to step into line.

Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones and his team-mates set out to antagonise Sinckler at the Principality Stadium and the England prop was replaced soon after losing his composure in last year's meeting.

DYLAN HARTLEY: You might remember Alun Wyn Jones getting under Kyle Sinckler's skin last year after Warren Gatland accused the England man of being a timebomb.

Watkins, who won 18 caps for Wales between 2003 and 2006, retired in 2011 and was diagnosed with a rare form of pelvic cancer in 2013. He leaves his wife Stacey and sons Siôr and Tal.

All around him, others were losing their heads, but this time Kyle Sinckler did not. The pantomime villain of last year's England defeat in Cardiff proved on Saturday how much he has changed.

INTERVIEW BY STEFFAN THOMAS: Jamie Roberts is far from your average rugby player and the former Wales centre is more qualified than most in sport to articulate his fears over coronavirus.

Eddie Jones has urged Joe Marler not to quit rugby and has scheduled a meeting with the prop once the lockdown is over. Marler was handed a 10-week ban for grabbing Alun Wyn Jones' genitals.

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has revealed that 'two or three' of his squad have tested positive for coronavirus. The pandemic saw the Six Nations brought to a halt before it could finish.

If you're ever going to slip into the red, it will usually be over Christmas. The average household is expected to blow around £500 at this time of year, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Many investors will be cheered no end by last week's overwhelming Conservative victory. The 'Boris bounce' has already boosted a £100,000 nest-egg invested in the FTSE 100 by some £5,400.

From the bank that sent flowers to a recently bereaved widower to the ferry company that waived its strict no-refund policy on pre-paid tickets after a customer went into hospital.

When the 123 account was launched amid enormous fanfare in 2012 it paid customers up to 3 per cent interest on balances up to £20,000, and up to 3 per cent cashback on bills.

It has been nearly 14 years since we launched our 'Fair Play on Charges' campaign. We have exposed how banks rake in billions from customers who accidentally slip into the red, time and again.

Time and again we have exposed how copycat scammers use the search engine to trick users into paying more for holiday visas, passports - you name it. Our City Editor was even caught out.

Panic over coronavirus has badly shaken the world's financial markets, culminating, on Monday, in the FTSE 100 suffering its sharpest one-day fall since the height of the 2008 crash.

The bad news began yesterday morning when the Bank of England revealed it was cutting the base rate by two-thirds to just 0.25 per cent, writes VICTORIA BISCHOFF.

Thousands of employees will have woken up yesterday terrified they are about to lose their jobs. Businesses all over Britain are already cutting workers' hours and pay in a bid to protect jobs.

In 2008 the world economy appeared on the brink of meltdown. Banks' pursuit of profits fired by a culture of greed and management hubris led to the failure of some and the defenestration of many.

Our mailbag is overflowing with emails from bitterly disappointed holidaymakers whose travel plans are now in ruins. Many had spent thousands of pounds on once-in-a-lifetime trips.

My partner Chris and I live in a first-floor flat, so when our neighbour sent us a message out of the blue insisting we use her front garden to enjoy the sunshine on Sunday, I could have kissed her.