'This is a statement from us': Reaction from Wales after Wallaroos win

Every country that is preparing for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England in August and September is looking for momentum.

And Wales have certainly given themselves some with their excellent away win over Australia at the weekend, a victory which co-captain Alex Callender called a “statement” triumph.

Wales went into the clash with the sixth in the world Wallaroos in Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane 10th in the rankings and without a victory under head coach Sean Lynn after a winless Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign.

But Lynn’s charges put in an inspired performance to win 21-12 – not even a stoppage to the game for thunder and lightning could put them off – and they will have taken real heart from this showing.

They will now be looking to back it up in Sydney in the second Test this coming Friday evening, but, whatever happens there, Wales seem to be on the rise ahead of the big dance and their opener with old rivals Scotland on August 23rd in Manchester.

Alex Callender, recently named co-captain going forward with Kate Williams, skippered the side from No.8 at the weekend and she said: “I’m so proud. I think we’ve spoken a lot about physicality in recent times and I think one to 23 everyone stood up in this game.

“This is a statement from us and now we have a platform that we need to build from, we need to look forward and not take a step backwards.

“This means a lot to me and all of the girls. After the Six Nations we had some real tough conversations and we’ve worked so hard these past eight weeks or so in the build up to get this result. It really puts us in a good place moving forward.

“We’ll celebrate this result, but we’ll look to back it up again this coming week. We really want to do that to give us a good platform going into the World Cup.”

When the final whistle blew on Saturday there is no doubt that Callender would have been thinking about her late mum.

Earlier in the month when the 24-year-old Harlequin was named co-captain with Gloucester-Hartpury’s Williams she said: “Everybody knows my late mam, Donna, who passed away in 2023, would be so proud to see me lead my country. She has always been my ‘why’ and I know she is looking down on me and know how proud she would be with this news.”

Especially exciting for Wales supporters is that there were a lot of young players in the matchday 23 in Brisbane with Katherine Baverstock, Tilly Vucaj and Seren Lockwood earning debut caps off the bench.

“It’s unbelievable to see the youth coming through now in Wales and the pathways being right to help the younger players get to this level and challenge for places is exactly what we need,” Callender stated.

“They’ve got the gym, they’ve got facilities, they’ve got S&C, they are given help nutrition wise and they have good coaches within the pathway and the age grade teams so it helps them to bridge the gap and make the jump up to this level.

“We have all been buzzing to see how the young players have taken to things in this environment.”

Another person who is buzzing, unsurprisingly, is Sean Lynn. This was a first international triumph by a Welsh team, men’s or women’s, against an Australian team in Australia since 1969.

And post-Brisbane he said: “I asked the girls to set some targets going forward and this win is certainly a great start.

“They’ve worked so hard in the past eight weeks and it was lovely to see the performance that they put in out there.

“That performance showed everything that we want to be and it is something that we were going after. I’m over the moon for the girls and the staff.

“The youngsters stepped up and you could see the hard work from the summer camps paying off, they are all becoming better players and are maturing nicely.

“I thought Alex Callender and Bethan Lewis were outstanding in the back-row and our half-backs [Keira Bevan and Lleucu George] controlled the game. I asked the squad to believe and they showed everyone what they can do.”

On to Sydney, and Wales know they will face a backlash from a wounded Wallaroos outfit who, by their own admission, fell below the standards they set themselves in Brisbane.

“We aren’t the finished article and there is plenty to work on,” Lynn concluded.

“We feel winning this first Test has helped us to put down a marker before the World Cup, but now we have to go and try and back it up against a strong opponent with a six-day turnaround.”