Hughes believes physical battle key to Scotland clash

South Wales Argus

09-07-2025

The opening round of games at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly, saw both sides lose in closely fought physical encounters.
Wales slipped to a 22-10 defeat against their Ireland Under-20 counterparts while Scotland were downed 31-17 by England.
The tournament hosts looked strong early on against Ireland, pinning their opponents inside their own 22 for much of the opening 10 minutes.
But despite ultimately failing to get the win, Wales showed determination throughout, reducing Ireland's advantage to 10-5 and 15-10 during the match through scores from Savannah Picton-Powell and Seren Singleton.
And Hughes, who is currently at Hartpury University, is ready for the challenge that awaits them in Round 2.
Wales will be looking to get their first win of the competition over Scotland on Friday (Image: 6Nations Rugby official photo)
'We've looked at writing some of the wrongs from the Ireland game,' the 20-year-old said.
'We know what Scotland can bring. We've had a look at their game against England, and we also had an opportunity to have a training game against them too, so we have a fair idea of what they're about.
'It's going to be a race to win the physical battle and to see who puts in the first big hit to set the tone.
'Us and Scotland are on an even playing field. We both didn't have great games last week, so we're both looking to get our first win.
'Scotland have some really good ball carriers, and we have to be ready to try and counter that.'
Hughes, who plays for Gwalia Lightning in the Celtic Challenge, admitted the team has been looking at 'righting a few wrongs' from their performance against Ireland in training, and said their defence 'wasn't quite where [Wales] wanted it to be'.
But the Pembrokeshire-native was upbeat about her side's prospects after a positive week and said that being clinical in Scotland's 22 was going to be crucial if they are to take the spoils.
'[The team] decided that what didn't go right [against Ireland] are actually easy fixes,' she continued.
'We created a lot of opportunities, so we are doing something right. We moved the ball into the right areas, but the final execution is so important.
'The positive thing is we have got the right intentions; we just need to work on that execution in the 22 to finish our moves off. That'll bring confidence to the team.
'As soon as we let a few points get behind us, I think we mentally dropped a little bit.
'So, getting that head start will be huge. Getting points on the board and allowing the team to have confidence in themselves as a collective is really important.'
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