- Written by Siri Coleman Phillips
- BBC Sport Wales in Wellington
Image source, Huw Evans Photo Agency
Local school children participated in a traditional puiri at Te Papa, Wellington
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place: Sky Stadium, Wellington date: Saturday 21 October Starting: 04:00 GMT |
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coverage: Live on S4C, live text updates and match reports on the BBC Sport website and app. |
World Rugby’s leading women’s teams have been officially welcomed to New Zealand’s new WXV1 tournament.
Players and coaches from Wales, England, France, Canada and Australia joined the hosts for a traditional Maori ceremony in Wellington on Tuesday.
“The welcome was fantastic,” Wales coach Ewan Cunningham said. “It definitely got us excited for what lies ahead.”
Wales’ opening match against Canada will be held at Sky Stadium on Saturday.
England and Australia begin their weekend clashes on Friday, with New Zealand taking on France in the second of two matches on Saturday.
Rivalries were put aside on Tuesday as team captains were presented with traditional gifts before the official WXV photo op.
But their natural competitiveness came to the fore when they were invited to participate in a demonstration with local school children.
Hannah Jones from Wales and Marley Packer from England laughed as they struggled to master the art of twirling, while Australia’s Michaela Leonard took center stage.
Cunningham himself got involved, admitting it was “very difficult”.
“It’s definitely something we can do as a warm-up as a group because it develops your skills,” he joked.
Image source, Huw Evans Photo Agency
Michaela Leonard (left), Hannah-Jones (center) and Marlee Packer (right) put their skills to the test
Poi aside, Jones said she and her team are raring to get going after overcoming jet lag in their first week in the New Zealand capital.
“It was very exciting, after today with the warm welcome from everyone, we are really looking forward to the week and playing against Canada,” she said.
“We’ve had a tough pre-season and a good batch of training, so I want to see what happens on the pitch now.”
Wales’ preparations included a friendly match against the United States last month and a training match against France after the ceremony on Tuesday.
They also rubbed shoulders with All Blacks legend TJ Perenara in their gym earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, Cunningham has confirmed he has a full squad of 30 players to choose from, with the squad set to be announced on Thursday.
Wales played Canada in a friendly last summer, and Cunningham knows what to expect.
“They are big, physical, good athletes, strong. It will be a challenge for us, but this is the level we want to be at,” he said.
“It’s about being smart and technically good.
“We want to test ourselves against teams in the top three and top four in the world. We are confident that if we can keep the ball for long periods we will cause teams problems.”
After Saturday’s match against Canada, Wales play New Zealand the following weekend before their final match against Australia on Friday, November 3.
