Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham has made four changes to his side's starting line-up to face reigning Women's World Cup champions New Zealand this Sunday (3.15am UK kick-off, live on ITV and S4C online).
The backline is unchanged in the wake of the last-minute win over Scotland in the opening round last weekend, where a successful penalty kick by replacement scrum-half Keira Bevan ensured a narrow 18-15 win. But the Black Ferns, ranked second in the world to Wales' eighth after round one, will pose a completely different challenge at a sold-out Waitakere Stadium in west Auckland, with their strike power a major asset and threat to any opposition.
Wales were dealt a significant blow this week when flanker Alisha Butchers was ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a "significant" knee injury, in part prompting a reshuffle in the pack. Lock Gwen Crabb moves to No. 6, Siwan Lillicrap resumes the captaincy and starts in the second-row alongside Natalia John, with Bethan Lewis claiming the starting No. 7 jersey over Alex Callender and Kelsey Jones coming into the front-row in place of Carys Phillips, who is carrying an ankle knock. Sioned Harries retains her place at the back of the scrum, while Cara Hope and Donna Rose complete the front-row.
In the backline, Hannah Jones is named vice-captain and lines up in midfield alongside Meg Webb, while wings Jasmine Joyce and Lisa Neumann form and full-back Kayleigh Powell form the back-three. Elinor Snowsill and Ffion Lewis are the starting half-backs, with Bevan and Robyn Wilkins on the bench along with midfield cover Kerin Lake, who has recovered from injury to line up for her first-ever World Cup appearance.
"You’ve got to keep some momentum and consistency," Cunningham said of his team selection. "I thought Meg Webb did extremely well on Sunday, she deserves another opportunity as do the rest of the backs.
"We wanted to bring the experience of our captain in at lock. Unfortunately, we have lost Alisha so we wanted to utilise Gwen Crabb’s extra strength at No. 6. Bethan Lewis has been pushing Alex Callender in training and deserves a start. Carys Phillips has picked up a slight ankle injury so it’s a chance for Kelsey to start and for Kat [Evans] to come off the bench. Kerin [Lake], Sisilia [Tuipulotu] and Abbie [Fleming] come on to the bench, it will be good to see them go.
"We started well against Scotland, scored two tries but created more scoring opportunities, we probably left two tries out there. If we can take more of those opportunities, we’ll be in a much better place come Sunday evening."
The former Scarlets forwards coach, whose Wales contract takes in the next Women's World Cup in 2025, is challenging his players to embrace their next test.
"We’re playing New Zealand in their home World Cup, we’re both on the back of wins, so it’s all about this game now. We have nothing to lose but you have to be brave against any New Zealand team, you have to go for it, score tries, we can’t hold back, we have to go for it. Australia showed you can create opportunities and we need to do that too.," he added.
The Black Ferns, coached by the likes of Wayne Smith and Sir Graham Henry, head into this contest on the back of a 41-17 win over Australia in their pool opener. Whether or not they could muscle up up front when it counts was a question mark ahead of the tournament, but assistant coach Wesley Clarke admits they also need to tidy up their set-piece, line speed and aggression in defence after the win over the Wallaroos.
New Zealand have made wholesale changes to the starting line-up, with five players set to make their World Cup debuts.
A new-look front-row sees Awhina Tangen-Wainohu win her first start in the black jersey and Tanya Kalounivale returning from injury, while hooker Georgia Ponsonby is promoted after coming off the bench last weekend. Alana Bremner also makes a return from injury and will be joined by Kendra Reynolds and Charmaine McMenamin to make up the back-row.
Auckland midfielders Theresa Fitzpatrick and Sylvia Brunt combine at centre, while Renee Wickliffe gets a start on the wing in her fourth World Cup, with Ruby Tui donning the full-back jersey for the first time. Krystal Murray will make her Rugby World Cup debut off the bench.
Black Ferns director of rugby Wayne Smith said while the squad is still carrying some injuries, they are happy with the strength of the team.
“We are balancing a desire to keep as much continuity as possible but we want to give players the opportunity to put their form out on the park," he said. "So we are putting in a lot of work around who plays when.
"We need to use this whole occasion to make us better. We’re in our own country, marching behind our flag, it is the greatest time in our life. We need to use that to our advantage."
Wales and the Black Ferns have previously met on four occasions, most recently a 44-12 New Zealand win at the 2017 Rugby World Cup. The sides did play in a friendly last October, too.
Wales: 15. Kayleigh Powell, 14. Jasmine Joyce, 13. Megan Webb, 12. Hannah Jones, 11. Lisa Neumann, 10. Elinor Snowsill, 9. Ffion Lewis, 1. Cara Hope, 2. Kelsey Jones, 3. Donna Rose, 4. Natalia John, 5. Siwan Lillicrap (capt), 6. Gwen Crabb, 7. Bethan Lewis, 8. Sioned Harries.
Replacements: 16. Kat Evans, 17. Caryl Thomas, 18. Sisilia Tuipulotu, 19. Abbie Fleming, 20. Alex Callender, 21. Keira Bevan, 22. Robyn Wilkins, 23. Kerin Lake.
New Zealand: 15. Ruby Tui, 14. Renee Wickliffe, 13. Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu Atai’i (Sylvia) Brunt, 12. Theresa Fitzpatrick, 11. Portia Woodman, 10. Ruahei Demant (capt), 9. Ariana Bayler, 1. Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, 2. Georgia Ponsonby, 3. Tanya Kalounivale, 4. Maiakawanakaulani Roos, 5. Chelsea Bremner, 6. Alana Bremner, 7. Kendra Reynolds, 8. Charmaine McMenamin.
Replacements: 16. Luka Connor, 17. Krystal Murray, 18. Santo Taumata, 19. Joanah Ngan-Woo, 20. Sarah Hirini, 21. Kendra Cocksedge, 22. Amy du Plessis, 23. Hazel Tubic.
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