Warren Abrahams has backed his Wales Women’s side to bounce back quickly when they face Ireland on Saturday in their next Six Nations assignment. A new era began for Wales as their first tournament campaign under new head coach Abrahams got underway last weekend. But Wales suffered a heavy 53-0 defeat against a strong French side in Vannes and while it may be exciting to see a new coaching set up, it may take a while to develop a winning mentality.

Wales women’s coach Warren Abrahams believes mixing up his selection is a key strategy to make his team more competitive. Abrahams, who was appointed to his role in November, has made four changes from the side who were dealt a 53-0 hammering in France last weekend. Cara Hope and Cerys Hale replace Caryl Thomas and Donna Rose in the front row respectively. Elsewhere, Natalia John comes in at lock and Courtney Keight starts at 11 as Jasmine Joyce is away on GB sevens duty.

They say the stats don’t lie, so new Wales Women’s head coach Warren Abrahams isn’t going to enjoy reading them after his side’s opening Six Nations defeat to France in Vannes. How about these for starters: 53 points and eight tries conceded, 36 missed tackles, four scrums lost and 14 penalties conceded. Ouch! Then, you have to consider seven bad passes and eight handling errors in the 53-0 thrashing.

Wales Women head coach Warren Abrahams is looking forward to mixing it with hosts New Zealand as well as Australia at the Rugby World Cup 2021 in September. Wales will also play the final qualification winner in a demanding group, with matches starting on September 18. “International rugby doesn’t come much better than that,” said Abrahams, who was appointed as head coach in November.

The Women’s Six Nations has been postponed until “later this spring or early summer”, tournament organisers announced on Wednesday. The Under 20s Six Nations will also be rescheduled, with the governing body saying they expect to announce full details of timings and formats for both competitions by the end of January. Tournament organisers confirmed the men’s edition will take place as scheduled, with Italy hosting France in the opening fixture on February 6, though France’s government is demanding reassurances on safety from England and Ireland before allowing its men’s side to visit those countries next month.

Carys Phillips and Sioned Harries have both been told the door is still open to a Wales return following the arrival of new coaches at the top of the women’s game. Both players have been on the outside of the camp since the departure of Rowland Phillips – father of Carys – as head coach last season, yet both are playing regularly at Worcester Warriors in the Allianz Premier 15s. Neither of them figured when the national team was being run by Geraint Lewis and Chris Horsman in Phillips’ absence.

New Wales Women’s coach Warren Abrahams has echoed the criticism aimed at cricket by claiming that rugby is institutionally racist. The South African became the first black appointment to the senior job with a national team in Welsh or UK rugby last week when he was installed by the Welsh Rugby Union. Abrahams admitted that he has had to clear many obstacles on his way after starting his career in Cape Town, then moving to England and the USA.

Warren Abrahams has been appointed as the new Wales Women head coach – the first black national head coach in both Welsh and UK rugby. The South African will take Wales into next year’s World Cup in New Zealand with 67-times capped Rachel Taylor joining his management team as a full-time national skills coach. Rowland Phillips’ departure from the senior job was confirmed in March after Chris Horsman had held the reins in his absence during 2019/20.

By David Williams Welsh preparations for their re-scheduled Women’s Six Nations clash with Scotland on November 1 have been dashed by a positive test for coronavirus at Bristol bears. There are 11 members of the Wales Squad on the books at Bristol and a number of them are among the 19 players who have been […]

Intermin Lead Coach Darren Edwards is targeting victory over Scotland as Wales Women begin the build-up to next year’s World Cup. The Wales Sevens men’s head coach will be assisted by Chris Horsman, Geraint Lewis and Gareth Wyatt in preparing the squad for the rescheduled Six Nations match against Scotland (weekend of Saturday 31 October).

The Welsh Rugby Union hope to stop the flow of top women players to England by creating two super clubs in Wales. In recent weeks, what was once a trickle of players over the border has become a pipeline with Jasmine Joyce – Wales’ most recognisable star – returning from the Sevens circuit to join Bristol Bears. Back row forward Alisha Butchers also signed for Bristol where she and Joyce will play alongside Test captain and No.8 Siwan Lillicrap, flanker Manon Johnes, prop Caryl Thomas, scrum-half Keira Bevan, fly-half Elinor Snowsill and full-back Lauren Smyth.

Wales Women backs coach Gareth Wyatt insists his team will fix their problems in time for this weekend’s round two Six Nations trip to Ireland. Wales were beaten 19-15 by Italy at Cardiff Arms last weekend, where centre Hannah Jones and hooker Kelsey Jones both scored tries and fly-half Robyn Wilkins kicked a conversion and a penalty. Italy came back to edge the encounter and scored three tries in the process through Melissa Bettoni, Sofia Stefan and Maria Magatti.