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Don't write us off - Siwan Lillicrap believes Wales can progress in World Cup
By PA
Siwan Lillicrap warned against dismissing Wales’ World Cup chances despite a 56-12 defeat by hosts New Zealand.
The Black Ferns put 10 tries past Wales in Auckland, in another show of the strength from the host nation.
Wales skipper Lillicrap insisted her side can still battle for a place in the knockout stages however, with a decisive match against Australia still to come.
Beat Australia and Wales will guarantee themselves a quarter-final berth.
“Don’t write us off, we are fighting for those quarter-final spaces it’s a huge game next week (against Australia) and we will recover quickly and we will move forward to that game quickly,” said Lillicrap.
“We are seeing glimpses of what this side is capable of, we haven’t seen a rounded performance yet. We are new in the journey, we are new to professional rugby, we have been working hard and I think you can see that.”
Lillicrap insisted Wales put in a performance boasting strength up front, but lacking in killer instinct.
“Our set-piece was really dominant today. Our pack did exceptionally well in that area,” said the Wales captain.
“Lineouts, driving mauls, scrums there was a lot of penalties there. We didn’t capitalise on the opportunities in that area and didn’t front up physically enough in that area. Credit to the Black Ferns they put everything at us.
“They scored a couple of quick tries again in that first half, and in the same second half we let them score two tries which isn’t the way we wanted to start.
“They pounced on our mistakes, they have deadly wingers that can create stuff from nothing.
“They have deadly players all around the park, with great attacking ability.”
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Latest Comments
This France team is as good as they were when they went into the World Cup as favorites. Have gone through a rebuild of confidence and rediscovered that form.
Neither England nor Ireland will trouble this team in the 6N. That’s my prediction.
And I guess about time too. Considering that France has won but one 6N title in 6 seasons despite being the best French team for generations thriving off the platform which is the Top 14.
They must just beware of peaking too soon and going to Australia over confident.
Which is also why I thinks it’s absolutely bonkers that France isn’t sending there best players to New Zealand next year. Yes, it isn’t Australia, but getting some SH travel experience makes more sense than not.
Go to commentsI'm not meaning to criticise the players, it's a professional game, this is their livelihood so all power to them. I am aiming criticism at the selectors. Italy is the perfect opportunity to give players of the future a game such as Lakai, Love etc. There is a finite number of tests until the next world cup to develop the team, we are wasting one today.
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