Wales head coach Sean Lynn is targeting a winning start to the Women’s Rugby World Cup when his side meet Scotland in Salford on Saturday.
It is just under five months since Lynn’s first game in charge – a narrow 24-21 defeat to the Scots in Edinburgh at the start of the Six Nations. Wales went on to finish bottom of the table without a win, but preparation this time has been far more settled.
After a productive summer tour of Australia, where Wales secured their first victory under Lynn, and with co-captain Alex Callender fit again after injury, there is optimism that the team can show significant progress.
Lynn said: “I'm really looking forward to it, because my first international game was against Scotland away. I finished with my club on the Sunday and then I went in on Monday and I'm in Scotland playing against Scotland.
“I've seen the history of the competitiveness and the last World Cup it came down to the wire as well.
“We've had a real good training week the girls are positive they’re buzzing for it and just making sure we can get this performance.”
Scotland have won the last three meetings between the sides, including this year’s Six Nations encounter.
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But Wales came out on top at the 2022 World Cup thanks to Keira Bevan’s last-minute penalty, which sealed their place in the quarter-finals at Scotland’s expense.
With Canada also in Pool A, Saturday’s contest is likely to be decisive in the race to progress.
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Scotland wing Fran McGhie expects another tight battle. She said: “They're always competitive. Wales are a physical team but we've played them enough to know what we're expecting.
“They're under a new coach but the Six Nations was a good place for us as well and we're just going to go out and be really competitive. It's going to be a great game.
“This is probably our most competitive game. It's exciting for it to be against Wales, it's always very close and a couple points in it, so we'll just see who comes out on top.”
Kick-off in Salford is at 2.00pm with both sides knowing victory could prove the difference in reaching the knockout stages.
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