By Estea Rademeyer.
Wales’ women will hand out five senior debuts this evening when they face the Barbarians at Allianz Stadium, in the second half of a double-header with the men’s sides.
Amy Williams and Kelsie Webster start in the backline, with Stella Orrin, Lucy Isaac and Lily Hawkins named among the replacements. Head coach Sean Lynn has used the fixture, which falls in a quieter window before the WXV Global Series, as a chance to look beyond this year’s Six Nations campaign, in which Wales finished bottom for a second straight year.
Kayleigh Powell, who impressed at full-back during the Championship, moves to fly-half for the occasion, with Lleucu George rested along with several other Premiership Women’s Rugby regulars.
Seren Lockwood gets the nod at scrum-half ahead of Keira Bevan, and a returning Nel Metcalfe starts at full-back. Her younger sister, Branwen, lines up in a forward pack featuring the experience of Sisilia Tuipulotu, Alisha Joyce and Bryonie King.
Captaining the side is back-row forward Alex Callender, back after the ankle injury that ruled her out of the Six Nations. Wales’ rising forward Jorja Aiono also starts.
Lynn explained that the squad selection rewards form shown in matches rather than just training performances, with an eye firmly on the autumn programme — Tests against South Africa and the USA in Cardiff in September, followed by two matches in Japan in October.
He pointed to the number of players in the squad under 22 as evidence that Wales is building toward the next World Cup cycle.
There’s no place in the matchday squad for prop Jenni Scoble, who this week announced her retirement from international rugby after the game, citing the difficulty of combining her firefighting career with the demands of the professional game.
Wales go into the match aiming to end a nine-game losing run, with centre Courtney Keight stressing the importance of sticking to their own structure rather than being drawn into the Barbarians’ free-flowing style.
The Barbarians’ side carries its own significance: hooker Carys Phillips follows her father Rowland into the famous black-and-white jersey, making them the first father-daughter pairing to represent the club. New Zealand’s Ruby Tui starts on the wing, in a multinational Barbarians line-up captained by Australia’s Emily Chancellor.