Wales and Australia attempt to change narrative in Newport as WXV looms

Wales and Australia each head to Rodney Parade on Friday night in desperate need of a victory to generate some forward momentum going into WXV 2 in South Africa.

Not least because eight days after their Newport date, the teams will meet again at DHL Stadium in Cape Town to get their second-level campaigns underway.

That this was a WXV 1 fixture just 10 months ago goes some way to detailing how results have gone since that encounter in Auckland.

Both teams lost their only warm-up match to date, Wales 40-14 against Scotland in Edinburgh on September 6th, Australia 36-10 against Ireland in Belfast last weekend and are in the midst of confidence-sapping runs.

Defeat to Scotland was Wales’ eighth in their last 10 matches, dating back to the start of WXV 1 2023, as the positivity that flowed in the wake of their qualification to the top level has quickly ebbed away.

In Newport on Friday, though, the hosts have an opportunity to alter the narrative as they run out at Rodney Parade for the first time in 23 years.

A maiden victory in the fixture would be Ioan Cunningham’s side’s third in four matches and could lift them up as high as eighth in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings depending on the scoreline.

Suddenly, the mood around the squad could switch. “We need to win,” Wales flanker Kate Williams admitted this week.

“We’re a good enough team to win this next game and I think if we win this next game, it will really reflect us as a squad. We’re really tight at the minute and we've still got so much more that we want to showcase.

“It'll give us brilliant momentum into the start of WXV where we play them again, and I think we’ll thrive off it.”

The Wallaroos head into the match with problems of their own. Following a promising WXV 1 campaign last year, during which they beat Wales and France, results have trailed off.

Australia have won only one of head coach Jo Yapp’s first six matches in charge, 64-5 against Fiji in July, and defeat to Ireland dropped them out of the top five of the rankings.

Another loss on Friday could come with a further fall to ninth, but Kaitlan Leaney insisted that while there was a lack of energy and intent against Ireland, there were reasons to be hopeful too.

“We created a lot of opportunities,” she said. “We just couldn’t finish it off.” And the second row is confident that better times are not far away under Yapp.

“It’s been an incredible transition. All the players have a lot of respect and love for Jo,” Leaney added.

“She's a really good coach. She's also someone that cares a lot about you as a person on and off the field. So, she's built a really good and attractive culture here in Australia.

“It’s disappointing that we haven't been able to show the results of how well we've been doing off the field. But hopefully the performances start to come, and everyone can see what a good impact she’s had on us.”

The good news for Australian fans is that this is a fixture they have never lost, winning all six of the matches contested to date, albeit this will be the first played on Welsh soil.

In Auckland last November, the Wallaroos scored three tries to claim a 25-19 victory despite losing Siokapesi Palu to a red card early in the second half and playing with 13 players for 10 minutes after Sera Naiqama was sent to the sin-bin shortly afterwards.

Another victory against Wales on Friday would be enough to lift the Wallaroos above Scotland and back into the top five of the rankings.

“We’ve played Wales a couple of times before, it’s always a bit of a grudge match,” Leaney said.

“They’re very physical, their forwards are very dominant, so we’re keen to get out there and put our best foot forward.”