Wales wary of wounded Wallaroos in final Test
Head coach Sean Lynn says it would be an amazing achievement if Wales could complete a series win against Australia.Wales are playing on Australian soil for the first time in their history and claimed an impressive 21-12 victory in Brisbane last weekend.Both sides have made sweeping changes in what will be their final preparations ahead of the Rugby World Cup which kicks off in three weeks.Lynn says he is wary of the wounded Wallaroos as they prepare for their Sydney showdown."We know Australia are going to come at us, they're a proud nation just like us and we've got to see if we can back up our performance," he said.
Lynn said there were a lot of aspects which impressed him last weekend as he celebrated his first win since taking charge in March."I asked for physicality, to work hard and be a hard team to beat. I gave youngsters opportunities and they looked very promising," he said, having given debuts to Seren Lockwood, Katherine Baverstock and Tilly Vucaj.Lynn has made seven changes to Friday's starting line-up, staying true to his word that the whole touring squad would have game time ahead of World Cup selection."I've been so impressed with the 30 players and their positivity," said Lynn."The girls who weren't involved last week, they were amazing, they helped the starting 15 as much as they could and it's been the same again this week."I keep saying it, we're not the finished article, there's still a lot we need to be looking at, but everything that I spoke about when we first turned up for pre-season, we're making small positive steps."
Lynn will announce his 32-strong World Cup squad once back in Wales, with their tournament opener against Scotland on 23 August fast approaching. "Individuals are fighting for their spaces still," he said, "I've brought 30 players out to Australia and there's two more spaces up for grabs. "There are girls back home who are still training. Ben Flower is doing a lot of collision work with them, Ashley Beck and Catrina Nicholas-McLaughlin are working on their skills"I'm constantly getting feedback off the coaching staff and seeing how they are as well. We'll see how the girls go on Friday night and we'll go from there."If we go away having won two, it would be an amazing achievement, but I'm just making sure that we keep our feet on the ground, the World Cup is what we're going to be going for."
Australia head coach Jo Yapp said they were "disappointed" by last week's performance."We've all had some honest reviews and we are pleased with how the squad has responded at training," said the former England scrum-half.Her side have been boosted by the return of star player Maya Stewart. The all-time Super Rugby Women's try-scorer makes her first start since May after injuring her knee against Fiji.Stewart ran in a try for the Wallaroos at Rodney Parade last September, a game Wales won to claim their first ever victory over Australia.But less than a week later the Wallaroos were convincing winners at WXV2 in South Africa.Wales will be hoping lightning (literally) does not strike twice this weekend.
Line-ups
Australia: Caitlyn Halse; Maya Stewart, Georgina Friedrichs, Trilleen Pomare, Desiree Miller; Faitala Moleka, Samantha Wood; Faliki Pohiva, Katalina Amosa, Bridie O'Gorman, Kaitlan Leaney, Michaela Leonard, Piper Duck, Emily Chancellor (capt), Tabua Tuinakauvadra.Replacements: Tania Naden, Lydia Kavoa, Alapeta Ngauamo, Ashley Fernandez, Ashley Marsters, Layne Morgan, Tia Hinds, Waiaria Ellis.Wales: Nel Metcalfe; Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, Carys Cox, Courtney Keight, Lisa Neumann; Kayleigh Powell, Keira Bevan; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Gwen Crabb, Abbie Fleming, Kate Williams (co-capt), Bethan Lewis, Alex Callender (co-capt).Replacements: Molly Reardon, Maisie Davies, Jenni Scoble, Alaw Pyrs, Georgia Evans, Meg Davies, Lleucu George, Catherine Richards.
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