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‘Sometimes a W is all it needs’: Wales aim to end on a high
By Martyn Thomas at Sandy Park, Exeter
Wales head into their final Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 game chasing a victory they hope will kickstart Sean Lynn’s reign.
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Defeats to Scotland and Canada mean Wales cannot qualify for the quarter-finals regardless of their result against Fiji in Exeter. However, Saturday’s game at Sandy Park could have consequences far beyond this showpiece tournament.
Lynn, the hugely successful former Gloucester-Hartpury coach, has attempted to implement off-field change but has won only one of his eight matches in charge on it.
Backs coach Shaun Connor admitted the opening weekend defeat to Scotland “derailed” Wales’ World Cup campaign before it had begun. And he did not shy away from the importance of Saturday’s Pool B finale in Exeter.
“It’s massive for us that we finish on a positive,” Connor told reporters on Friday. “We won’t come together for a while now and to go away suffering three defeats will be hard for us to take.
“We need to get a result really to send us into our training camps and next year’s Six Nations in a positive frame of mind.
“We know we’ll still have things to work on but just sometimes a W is all it needs to kickstart a bit of confidence.”
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Sandy Park is a stadium that holds happy memories for Lynn and five of members of Saturday’s matchday squad.
It was here that Gloucester-Hartpury clinched the second of their three successive PWR titles, coming from behind to beat Bristol 36-24 in June 2024.
“It’s a familiar ground for many of our players and Sean,” Connor added.
“But Sean is always keen to emphasise that it’s four white lines. No matter where you play, it’s easy to say, but it’s generally the same pitch, the same four white lines.
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“It should give us confidence that a lot of our girls have played here and won here. Hopefully that will come through tomorrow and we can get a result.”
It is not only the Wales players who are playing for pride, however. Fiji back Kolora Lomani outlined what the match means to her teammates.
“We are playing for our country, our village, our families that are back at home and the girls that weren’t able to be here with us,” she said.
“We know we have put in our best efforts in the last two games, and coming into this last game I think we just have to let it all out and show what we can do as Fijiana.”
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