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Wales hopeful Seren Lockwood: Embracing every opportunity
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Throughout Seren Lockwood’s fledgling rugby career to date she has continuously embraced stepping up to the next level and has always enjoyed being involved in new environments.
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The tenacious 18-year-old scrum-half has never had to make a step quite as big as the most recent one after she was one of a number of uncapped players called up to the 45-strong Wales extended training squad that is preparing for the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
However, rather than being daunted by now training with players that she has been used to watching on the television in the past, she is grabbing the opportunity with both hands and giving it her best shot to impress head coach Sean Lynn.
“When I got the call from Sean to tell me that I was in the extended squad I couldn’t really believe it to be honest,” the former Whitchurch High School pupil who came through the ranks in her early teens at Cardiff Quins, said.
“It really was a ‘wow’ moment for me. Once I had taken in the news, after I got of the phone the first thing I did was pick it up again and call my parents because they have been my biggest supporters over the years and they were just as excited as me about the news.
“Coming into camp I already knew a few of the girls from the Welsh environment…so that was good, but it still felt a bit strange and a bit like the first day of a new school term.
“But once things got going, I settled in pretty quickly. I have always enjoyed challenging myself and I feel the experiences I have had over the last couple of years have helped me to feel ready to be here and I am just trying to give my best in every training session and see where it takes me.”
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Lockwood mentions the last couple of years and they have certainly been busy for her rugby-wise.
In 2023 she was part of the Wales squad that went to the Commonwealth Youth Games sevens event in Trinbago and that was quite the experience.
“To be over in Trinidad and Tobago representing Wales was amazing, it was a once in a lifetime trip,” she stated.
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“The conditions and heat were like nothing I had experienced before while I had not played a lot of sevens at that level before the trip, but I learnt a lot from it.
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“That same year, I moved to Hartpury College to study and to play my rugby and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
“In terms of rugby it just allowed me to train and play at a higher level more regularly and really learn about the scrum-half position and all of the things you need to think about when you are playing nine.
“Being at Hartpury has exposed me to BUCS Super Rugby and that is a high level of competition.
“I also played for Gwalia Lightning in the Celtic Challenge in the season just gone while I played for Wales in the under-18 Women’s Six Nations Festival on home turf in 2024 and in the same event for 2025 at Wellington College in England recently.
“It has been a busy time, but a good one and I enjoying everything that is coming my way just now.”
Along with a batch of other under-18 caps, Lockwood got her first taste of being around the full Welsh squad in the lead up to March and April’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
They were not officially part of the squad at that point, but joined the wider group as ‘players of national interest’ and it is clear that Sean Lynn is keen to bring through young talent when he can as his rebuild of the national team gathers pace.
And for the player who will be starting to study at Hartpury University alongside her rugby after the summer, June has been crazy.
At the start of the month, Lockwood was named in the Wales extended training squad for the World Cup.
Then, having been involved with their pathway system while at Hartpury College over the last couple of years, she put pen to paper on a new deal with PWR champions Gloucester-Hartpury which should see her exposed more to first team activities in 2025/26.
A lot to take in, but she seems to have taken it all in her stride and the next two big things on the horizon are Wales’ trip to Australia in July and early August for two warm-up Tests and then the World Cup itself in England in August and September.
It remains to be seen whether Lockwood can force her way into the slimmed down squads for either of those, but what is certain is that she has a very bright future whether a full Wales cap comes this year or further down the line.
“My goal is to play for Wales, that is my dream and is something I am working hard to try and achieve,” she concluded.
“If I can reach that at some point it would be a highlight of my career, in fact a highlight of my life.”
