Wales have 100 days to turn into world beaters
The countdown to what promises to be the biggest ever Women's Rugby World Cup is on, with the tournament kicking off in England in 100 days' time. More than 300,000 tickets have already been sold for games across eight host venues, with this year's showpiece expanded to 16 teams.England go in as hot favourites but defending champions New Zealand have a habit of rising to the occasion having won six of the 10 World Cups.But what hopes are there for Wales, who were quarter-finalists three years ago?They will certainly need to up their game having finished bottom of the Women's Six Nations for the past two years.
Familiar foes
Wales have been drawn in Pool B and while they avoided England and New Zealand, they have landed the second best team in the world in Canada.Despite being amateur and having to fundraise just to come to the tournament, the Canadians are a force and will be many people's outside bet this summer.It is almost 20 years since Wales last tasted victory over Canada, with their most recent meeting coming at WXV1 in 2023. Scotland, a side Wales know very well, are also in Pool B. They are fierce Six Nations rivals, of course, and were also Wales' opening opponents in the 2021 World Cup.While Wales edged that contest courtesy of Keira Bevan's dramatic 79th-minute penalty, Scotland have beaten Wales in recent outings, most recently a in a nail-biting encounter in Edinburgh. Fiji are the group minnows, but they will be extra motivated to beat Wales as they are now managed by former Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham. The top two teams in each pool advance to the knockout stages.
Brutal pre-season incoming
After a disappointing first Six Nations campaign under new head coach Sean Lynn, Wales' players will report back for duty in the first week of June.Lynn has already said Wales lack the fitness to play his style of rugby and players will no doubt be put through their paces.He also said there will be a change in personnel, with some of Wales' pathway players - who play for the nation's under-18 and under-23 sides - being brought into camp to fight for selection.As we saw with Ffion Lewis, Lynn is not sentimental about senior players and some may not have their professional contracts renewed this summer. Wales will head down under for their final World Cup preparations, with a two-Test tour of Australia.They travel to Brisbane to take on the Wallaroos on Friday, 26 July before moving on to Sydney a week later, on what will be the eve of the second British and Irish Lions Test in the same city. Wales will then have a couple of weeks to shake off any jet lag before heading up to Manchester before their World Cup opener against Scotland at Salford Community Stadium on Saturday 23, August.
Progress needed after huge step back
Any hopes of an instant transformation in Wales' fortunes under Lynn were quickly quashed as his side suffered five losses in a Six Nations for the first time in their history.It was a huge step backwards, especially as Wales were as high as sixth in the world rankings a couple of years ago.This year there were left wanting in so many areas.Despite being full-time professionals, players simply did not look fit enough as they struggled to produce an 80-minute performance across the tournament.Wales also lack of strength in depth. The fact is that Lynn is not blessed with the sort of player pool he had at Gloucester-Hartpury.Change is inevitably going to come this summer, but whether 100 days is enough time to transform Wales from a Wooden Spoon side to world beaters remains to be seen.
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