Wales returned winless after suffering defeats at the hands of England, Canada and USA in a tournament staged in Canada. But head coach Kylie Wilson is determined to put those losses behind her and has selected a squad which includes a number of fresh faces in the outfit.
The matches, to be played at Brunel University, will provide an excellent opportunity for the players to gain some big-game experience and they will be fully aware that they can put themselves in the shop window for selection for next year’s World Cup being staged in August 2010 with some accomplished performances.
Wilson explained that a widened squad of 30 players came together seven weeks ago to undergo fitness testing and skills assessments and she’s been pleased with the results.
“Each player was set individual targets and were reassessed last week. Every player selected in the Nations Cup squad has shown an improvement in a majority of their fitness scores and showed commitment and attitude in their position and game specific skills,” she said.
“It is the qualities of commitment and attitude that the management hope will see this squad put performances together and get the results we so all desire.
“We have seven new players in the squad from our fixture against England earlier this year and it is exciting to see these young players, who have earned their right to come into the squad, integrate with more established members of the team and create more competition for places.
“We face USA first who we have not played at this age group since 2006, but we anticipate they will be hugely physical and really challenge us in the contact area. We are confident that as a team we can dominant them tactically and have some impressive finishers in our squad who will be keen cross the try line and get us off to a winning start.
“I am excited to see what this group of players can do over the tournament. I believe we have a good balance in the squad and have some players who can really make an impression.
“Our captain, Elinor Snowsill, has a great rugby brain and controls the team well at 10. Other key players for us will be our hooker, Amy Lawrence, who has one of the best sidesteps in women’s rugby; Kerin Lake, who cuts great lines from fullback and Vicky Owens who carries the ball with determination whenever she gets the opportunity. However, with so many games in such a short time, we will need all 26 players to contribute to any success we earn.”
Wales Women Under 20s squad
Katie Bevan (Pontyclun)
Lorna Compton (Newport)
Levi Hallett (Pontyclun)
Lowri Harries (UWIC)
Sioned Harries (UWIC
Rosie Hutton (Whitland)
Kathryn Joseph (Neath)
Kerin Lake (Neath)
Amy Lawrence (Neath)
Yasmin Leung (Caernarfon)
Sophie Mangano (Carmarthan)
Jess McAuley (North Wales)
Kirsty Morgan (Neath)
Rhianydd Morgan (Neath)
Charlotte Murray (Neath)
Paris Nicholas (Cardiff Quins)
Vicky Owens (UWIC)
Shona Powell-Hughes (Neath)
Elinor Snowsill (Cardiff Quins)
Alex Stokes (Neath)
Adi Taviner (Neath)
Carys Thomas (Pontyclun)
Natalie Watkins (Neath)
Naomi Whybrow (Pontyclun)
Sian Williams (N) (Caernarfon)
Sian Williams (S) (Neath).
Schedule
Thurs 9th July- 17:00 Wales v USA/ 19:00 Canada v England
Sun 12th July- 13:30 Canada v Wales/ 15.30 England v USA
Wed 15th July- 17:00 Canada v USA/ 19:00 England v Wales
Sat 18th July- 13:30 Consolation Final/ 15.30 Final
