Wales head coach Tom Brindle has named his 19-player squad to face England at The Lextan Gnoll on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).
There are just three changes to the Wales squad from their win over Scotland last Sunday, with Cardiff Demons trio, Leanne Burnell, Rhi Parker and Sioned Young coming in, the latter being in line for her first cap. Hannah Jones, who was unused 18th player last week, is also included.
Brindle said: “I thought we put in a good performance against Scotland. We did the things that we wanted to do in the main, and I’m happy with what we put out on there last Sunday.
“The structure and the formation of our squad’s really good. There are a few areas we needed to fix up and there are a few executions that clearly could have been better and would have put some more points on the board.
“We know that England are going to be a lot tougher than last week. They have a side with lot of new faces, but their squad features players who are putting in strong performances in Super League and players who are benefiting from the significant investment and growth over the last decade across England.”
“Our job is to concentrate on us and how we play our best version of our game. If we can do that, then I’ll be happy.”
The big match is the second of a double header at the ground on Saturday, with South Wales Jets U14 girls playing their first ever full match as they take on Oulton Raidettes U14 in the curtain raiser match at 3.30pm.
“It will be good to see potential Wales stars of the future on the pitch in Neath on Saturday in addition to the full Wales side,” Brindle said. “Hopefully, this will be the first of many games as we start to build a youth development structure for Cardiff Demons and the women’s game in Wales.
“It’s also excellent that a couple of our players in Amberley Ruck and Ffion Jenkins have been involved in the coaching.
“Well done to South Wales Jets for leading all of this and organising the game.”
Tickets can be bought by going to https://ticketpass.org/o/324959259/wales-rugby-league/events. All tickets must be bought on the app or website and can be saved to a phone’s Google Wallet or equivalent. No cash or cards will be taken on the gate.
Wales Women’s Squad: Leanne Burnell, Lucia Davies, Jasmine Gibbons, Ffion Jenkins, Hannah Jones, Charlie Mundy, Rhi Parker, Amy Price, Amberley Ruck, Meg Whittaker, Olivia Williams, Sioned Young* (all Cardiff Demons), Gracie Hobbs (Huddersfield Giants), Bethan Dainton (Leeds Rhinos, captain), Kathryn Salter (London Broncos), Georgia Taylor (Sheffield Eagles), Dani McGifford (St Helens), Carys Marsh (Wigan Warriors), Agnes Wood (York Valkyrie).
Picture credit: Tracey Lintern, Penallta Photographics.
