Experienced winger Jasmine Joyce was full of praise for the next generation ahead of the uncapped Wales vs Barbarians match at Twickenham on June 27th.

Wales face the entertaining club side in a double header with their male equivalents, with head coach Sean Lynn taking the opportunity to experiment with his squad, picking 14 uncapped players in a 33-strong group.

There is a big boost in the form of the returning Alex Callender, who missed the entire Six Nations through injury, while both Alisha and Jasmine Joyce provide further experience to a young group.

Despite the squad’s age, Jasmine Joyce is excited to see what they can do in a showpiece event at Twickenham Stadium.

“The talent coming through is an actual joke,” said Joyce.

“I look at some of the girls and think, ‘Oh my God, can you step like that? Are you that fast?’.

“The energy they bring into camp and into training is exactly what we need.

“The girls coming in just have fight and want, and it’s brilliant to see.”

Despite promising signs, Wales are still winless since an away victory over Australia last summer, and the pressure will be on to put in a good showing in London.

“It was difficult for the group,” said defence coach Tyrone Holmes, who joined Wales as a full-time defence coach before the campaign.

“There were three new coaches, some new faces in the squad, new processes to implement and new ways in which we’re wanting to play.

“On review, we could see a lot of that stuff being implemented and pushing us forward. Unfortunately, it’s not reflected on the scoreboard just yet.”

Despite Wales’ losing streak, Holmes says that he can see evidence of progress in his squad.

“We became the second most effective tackling team in the competition and we created the second slowest ball in the competition,” he added.

“These are two things we went hard after in terms of up-skilling us in the contact area and the numbers showed that.

“Unfortunately, there are still areas where we aren’t good enough. We still miss too many one-on-one tackles and need to become more effective in wider spaces.”

Holmes says fatigue proved a major factor behind many of Wales’ defensive lapses.

“A lot of these missed tackles are coming in the second half,” the defence chief said.

“We’ve got enough in the tank to push teams for 30, 35, 40 minutes. It’s the second 40 we need to develop so we can sustain that pressure.

“When we start to fatigue, we start to make errors on both sides of the ball. That’s where the missed tackles are coming in.”

Wales will have a very different test against the Barbarians, with the club known for off the cuff rugby and unstructured play. They do though have some insight into the team, with long time hooker Carys Phillips a part of the Baabaas squad alongside New Zealand World Cup winner Ruby Tui.

“The Barbarians are legendary for coming up with crazy moves and playing unstructured rugby,” Holmes said.

“For us, being heavily process-driven, it’s important we use this game as a stepping stone into WXV.

“You want to be winning, that’s how everyone views success.

“But we need to start learning to win if we want to start performing in a Six Nations and at a World Cup. This is a great opportunity to start developing those habits.”

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