Wales (Women’s) coach Ioan Cunningham has named a strong team to face Canada in the inaugural WXV1 tournament, which begins this weekend. The match will take place on Saturday 21 October at Sky Stadium in Wellington. (CO: 4am UK time).

Hannah Jones will captain the team and will win her 50th cap eight years after making her debut aged 16 against Scotland in 2015.

Center Jones will partner Caryn Lake in midfield for Wales, while Cunningham will pick the same starting line-up that saw them win their opening match against the United States in September.

The experienced Carys Williams-Morris comes off the bench against Canada, who are fourth in the world rankings and two places above Wales in the world rankings.

Wales enter WXV1 on the back of a convincing 38-18 win over the United States at Stadiwm CSM in Colwyn Bay before traveling to New Zealand.

Wales manager Cunningham said: “We rewarded the starting team who performed so well to secure a historic first win over the USA at Colwyn Bay in September.

“Caris Williams-Morris comes to the team and will bring his experience and we are sure he will have a big impact on the bench. We are looking forward to the first match of WXV1 and are really looking forward to seeing where we stand against the best teams in the world.

“Canada came close to England in the recent Test match and we know they are a physical team, but we have worked hard in our preparation for this tournament and we are looking forward to the challenge at the ‘Cake Tin’ on Saturday.

“Hannah Jones will captain the team and win her 50th cap for her country and we all know this is a special occasion for her, her family and the entire team. “She made her Wales debut aged 16 and her quality leadership on and off the field is the reason she is so respected throughout the game.”

Wales (women) v Canada

15. Jasmine Joyce, 14. Lisa Neumann, 13. Hannah Jones (Captain), 12. Caryn Lake, 11. Carys Cox, 10. Robin Wilkins, 9. Kyra Bevan; 1. Gwenlian Pearce, 2. Carys Phillips, 3. Cecilia Tuipulotu, 4. Abby Fleming, 5. Georgia Evans, 6. Alisha Butchers, 7. Alex Callender, 8. Bethan Lewis (VC)

Substitutes: 16. Kelsey Jones, 17. Abby Constable, 18. Donna Rose, 19. Kate Williams, 20. Sion Harris, 21. Meg Davies, 22. Luke George, 23. Carys Williams-Morris

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