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What improvements can we expect to see from Wales in Australia Tests?
By Lucy Lomax
Wales Women open their World Cup warm-up Test series against Australia this Saturday in Brisbane in what is Head Coach Sean Lynn’s sixth game in charge.
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This is Wales‘ second last run out before the World Cup in England and a crucial opportunity for Lynn and his coaching team to look at combinations, tactics and style of play ahead of their opening game in pool B against Scotland on Saturday 23rd August.
Former Wales captain and respected pundit Philippa Tuttiett believes testing themselves against the Wallaroos will provide a good indicator of where the team are after a winless Six Nations campaign.
“Sean Lynn is going to have had that time with them now. He came in four days before they played that first Six Nations game, so we’ll be looking to see a bit more of a cohesive performance and them all on the same script as sometimes they looked a little disconnected during the Six Nations, which is totally forgivable as there’s been a lot of upheaval.
“We’re also looking to see them looking fit and looking sharp, that’s what we’ve seen with his Gloucester-Hartpury team that he’s taken to multiple titles- they are a very physical but a very fit team, and contrast that with Wales in the Six Nations, they actually started quite well in most games but you could see that slipping away in the second half.
“We will also get more of an idea of how Sean Lynn wants to play, as people keep saying it’ll be the Gloucester-Hartpury way but I don’t think that’s giving Lynn the credit he deserves, as he is very good at creating the game plan to suit who he’s got, and who he had at Gloucester-Hartpury is very different to the core group of players he has at Wales.”
Since Lynn came into the international fold with Wales he has added an intensity and a pressure for senior players to step up, as well as shaken up the captaincy by replacing Hannah Jones with two back rows in Alex Callender and Kate Williams.
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“He openly said it doesn’t matter if you’ve got 50 caps or you’re coming here as an uncapped player, I will choose you on form- it’s a subtle way of applying a lot of pressure and there are a few players in that squad that have lacked that pressure, due to a lack of depth which is good to no one.
“Unless you have someone nipping at your heels you are never going to push yourself as hard. Having that time together in that very competitive environment, I really hope will help to bring out the best in those individuals.
“I think it’s (having two co-captains) a really sensible thing to do. There is so much pressure on players nowadays, and we forget back 15 years ago when there wasn’t social media, the captain would do one press conference, maybe a photo shoot appearance and that would be it.
“If Callender has something to say she’s going to say it. I can totally see why he’s done it, I think they’re both great appointments and totally different ends of the captaining spectrum.
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“Williams quietly went about having one of the best campaigns for Wales in the last Six Nations, she was a standout player and scored in three of the games and when you consider they weren’t high scoring games that’s an amazing run- a run a winger would be proud of and so I’ll be looking for her to step up and boss it because she is good enough.”
With Wales sitting at number 10 in the World Rugby rankings and Australia at six, Tuttiett makes an interesting observation about the two teams.
“(This Test series) is very interesting when you consider it was only last year that Wales managed to beat Australia at Rodney Parade- their first win over them, and then sharp contrast going into WXV 2 all of a sudden within a couple of months Australia win it and Wales come fifth, so that’s a reality check of where you can get to.
“Perhaps it was down to head coach Jo Yapp coming in and sorting out a few things behind the scenes, but if you can frame it that way, this is where Australia were and look where they’ve got to and if Wales can take a bit of inspiration from that journey it could be a really competitive game. I think it’s a great choice of opposition for both teams.”
Once the two match series in Australia is over, focus will turn to the World Cup on their doorstep in England. Given there are no easy pools, (Wales will face Scotland, Canada and Fiji) or easy matches, Tuttiett believes Wales have to be realistic about their chances at the tournament.
“It has to be two wins in their pool to qualify for the quarter-finals and Scotland on any day they play, it’s the luck of something at some point which decides it when they face Wales, and I see it being as close again.
“Fijiana when they pull it together they are brilliant and a fantastic team to watch. The other caveat is that Ioan Cunningham (former Wales head coach) is now their (Fiji’s) head coach and he’ll have a lot of insight on players and have done his analysis and he really knows the teams and the players so that could be what brings them forwards.
“In my heart as a Welsh fan, I really want to see Wales progress all the way through to the final, but in reality Wales are coming off a whitewash for the first time in their history in the Six Nations, so I’ve got to be realistic and honestly if they make it to the quarter-finals I personally would see that as a success.
“Anything beyond that would be quite unbelievable, but just getting out of their pool, I don’t want to sound negative, but I don’t want to set these girls, who I know are trying and working really hard, up to fail.
“So we need to add some context to it, where they’ve come from, and I’m absolutely sure they’re going to get to where they should be, but it’s going to take a few years.
“So if they can get out of their pool into a quarter-final, I personally wouldn’t mind if they didn’t progress from there, I would see that as a success and something to build from.”