Wales and Scotland record wins ahead of WXV 1 and 2

Both Wales and Scotland recorded wins over the USA and Spain respectively ahead of the inaugural WXV competition which starts on 13th October.

Wales will head to WXV 1 in New Zealand in high spirits after beating the United States (who will play in WXV 2) by 38-18 in Colwyn Bay.

Wales Head coach Ioan Cunningham was able to blood two new caps with back row Alex Callender named player of the match.

Alisha Butchers marked her return to Test rugby with the opening try before Keira Bevan and Lisa Neumann crossed for a 19-3 half-time lead.

The USA came back with two early tries in the second half though Wales responded with a try from Callendar.

The Eagles managed to cross again for a third in the closing stages but there was still time for Sioned Harries to make the scoreline sweeter from a Welsh perspective with a final score on her 75th appearance for her country. Scrum-half Bevan was inpressive from the tee kicking four conversions.

Scotland will also head to WXV 2 in Cape Town off the back of a comfortable win with a 36-5 victory over Spain (who will play in WXV 3) at Hive Stadium, scoring six tries.

Spain struck first scoring from a driving maul as captain Cristina Blanco dotted down for the opening try. However, Scotland responded through Sarah Bonar who forced her way over in the corner.

A fantastic team try then saw Rhona Lloyd on the right wing, who was too fast for the recovering Spanish defence, race over, with Meryl Smith adding an extra score ahead of the interval.

Scotland continued their dominance into the second 40 scoring three additional tries through Francesca McGhie, Emma Orr and Elis Martin as the hosts now look ahead to more international competition in South Africa later this month.