WALES Women head coach Ioan Cunningham will give Meg Webb her first start in more than two years when the side kicks off its Rugby World Cup campaign against Scotland on Sunday.
Wing Lisa Neumann, who missed the warm-up Test matches because of injury, has also returned to full fitness and form to claim her spot in the starting XV as Wales aim to kick off their campaign on a winning note at the Semenoff Stadium in Whangerai. The side will be led by centre Hannah Jones, who led the side through their summer games against Canada and England.
Webb, whose last start came against France in the 2020 Six Nations, missed last season’s Six Nations campaign due to glandular fever while Georgia Evans, makes her first start since breaking her arm in February and will partner Natalia John in the second row.
Cunningham said, “There have been a lot of selection headaches, not only to get the squad down to 32, but to also name that first 15 and matchday 23.
“Having said that, we are super excited about what lies ahead and we can’t wait to get going.”
The summer Tests against the Canadians in Halifax and then England at Ashton Gate, Bristol, provided Cunningham and his coaching staff with an ideal opportunity to test out various combinations.
Armed with that knowledge and having watched his squad over the past 10 days, whilst training at their initial base in Auckland and now, some 90 miles north, in Whangarei, Cunningham has made his first big selection call.
“It was a tough decision to finalise the side,” he added. “There were a lot of discussions on top of watching them in detail whilst training and how they went against Canada and England.
“But one thing we are clear on, is that it’s about the matchday 23 and not just the 15 who start on Sunday.
“It’s about how we can impact the game in different ways. We feel the starting 15 we have gone with, plus the replacements we have named are more than capable of getting the result that we need.”
“Scotland are a very decent side and it will be a different game now. You can look back at that game in Six Nations but both sides have changed since that game. It is who adapts and reacts best on the day and who reacts to the occasion.
“We hope to hit the ground running and try to capitalize on the chances we make. It’s about taking every chance that comes our way. There are no second chances in what is effectively knock out rugby.”
After Sunday’s game against Scotland, Wales will return to Auckland to play New Zealand before their final pool game, back in Whangarei, against Australia.
Wales team v Scotland (Sunday 9 Oct, 5.45am UK time live on ITV and S4C online, S4C will also broadcast the full match and reaction at 5.15pm).
15 Kayleigh Powell
14 Jasmine Joyce
13 Megan Webb
12 Hannah Jones (capt)
11 Lisa Neumann
10 Elinor Snowsill
9 Ffion Lewis
1 Cara Hope
2 Carys Phillips
3 Donna Rose
4 Natalia John
5 Georgia Evans
6 Alisha Butchers
7 Alex Callender
8 Sioned Harries
Replacements
16 Kelsey Jones
17 Caryl Thomas
18 Cerys Hale
19 Siwan Lillicrap
20 Bethan Lewis
21 Keira Bevan
22 Robyn Wilkins
23 Lowri Norkett
