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Wales confirm World Cup squad after 'a few robust discussions'
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham has named his 32-strong squad for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Siwan Lillicrap leads the side as squad captain with Hannah Jones named as vice-captain. Three players – Sioned Harries, Elinor Snowsill and Caryl Thomas – are set to participate in their fourth World Cup while 19 players are making their World Cup debut.
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These include Lowri Norkett, whose sister Elli played for Wales in the 2014 World Cup. Elli tragically passed away in 2017 aged 20. Norkett has also accepted the offer of a full-time contract until the end of the year while Abbie Fleming and Robyn Wilkins move from part-time to full-time contracts in line with all other squad players.
Cunningham said: “We are delighted with the group we have settled on and we are really looking forward to seeing what we can do when we touch down in New Zealand next week. There were a few robust discussions and you are always looking at combinations, scenarios we could face over a long period in New Zealand and importantly, ways you can get the best players on the pitch.
“But overall we are pleased with where we are. We have had two tough warm-up matches which were exactly what we needed and we are just very excited about what is in front of us.
“Siwan is a brilliant captain. She has a great tactical mind and an understanding of what calls to make at what moment. Her communication with referees and her game management skills are second to none. She certainly benefits the team in many ways.
“Having said that, we are growing our leadership group and Hannah has led the team by example against Canada and England this summer. Her work ethic is high and she is going to be a strong leader too. Hannah is learning a lot from Siwan and the two have worked together in recent weeks. The pair complement each other in many aspects.
“As a coach, you are always delighted when someone works really hard and forces their way into a team or squad. Lowri Norkett is one of those. She has come in, trained her socks off and fully deserves her place. We have players experiencing their first World Cup and what an opportunity to do that in New Zealand and we will obviously draw on the experiences of Sioned, Elinor and Caryl during the tournament.”
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It’s an emotional call-up for 38-times capped Kerin Lake, who is fulfilling her long-time dream of making it to a World Cup having missed out on two, the first after giving birth to nine-year-old son Jacob.
She said: “It’s a bit surreal, to be honest. I know the coaches have taken a gamble on me as I’ve been fighting back from injury for most of the summer. Once it sinks in I just want to do everything I can to kick on now and hopefully get on the pitch for the team. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been part of the full-time programme from a rehab point of view.”
Wales World Cup squad
Backs (14):
Keira Bevan (Bristol Bears)
Lleucu George (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Hannah Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Jasmine Joyce (Bristol Bears)
Kerin Lake (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Lisa Neumann (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Ffion Lewis (University of Worcester Warriors)
Lowri Norkett (University of Worcester Warriors)
Kayleigh Powell (Bristol Bears)
Elinor Snowsill (Bristol Bears)
Niamh Terry (University of Worcester Warriors)
Megan Webb (Bristol Bears)
Robyn Wilkins (Exeter Chiefs)
Carys Williams-Morris (Loughborough-Lightning)
Forwards (18):
Alisha Butchers (Bristol Bears)
Alex Callender (University of Worcester Warriors)
Gwen Crabb (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Georgia Evans (Saracens)
Kat Evans (Saracens)
Abbie Fleming (Exeter Chiefs )
Cerys Hale (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Sioned Harries (University of Worcester Warriors)
Cara Hope (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Natalia John (University of Worcester Warriors)
Kelsey Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Bethan Lewis (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Gwenllian Pyrs (Bristol Bears)
Donna Rose (Saracens)
Siwan Lillicrap (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Carys Phillips (University of Worcester Warriors)
Caryl Thomas (University of Worcester Warriors)
Sisilia Tuipulotu (Gloucester-Hartpury)
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Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments