Wales beat Australia 12-21 in Brisbane, to earn their first victory under head coach Sean Lynn after his appointment this year.

Lynn’s side lost all five of their 2025 Six Nations matches in the spring in what was a baptism of fire for the new head coach.

Ahead of this autumn’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in England, Wales headed out to Australia to test themselves against the Wallaroos.

Lock Annabelle Codey gave the hosts the lead after eight minutes, before 20-year-old fullback Nel Metcalfe responded with two very well taken tries for Wales.

With Lynn looking to imprint his style of rugby that had been so successful at PWR side Gloucester Hartpury, Wales looked much better after a full preseason than they did in the Six Nations. Lynn was announced as the new coach just weeks before that tournament and, with his club commitments, only had six days of training before their first match against Scotland.

Wales’ good work was almost undone before halftime, as number eight Tabua Tuinakauvadra dotted down to reduce Australia’s deficit to just two points.

As the rain fell in the second half, Wales’ forward pack came to the fore. Kelsey Jones marked her 50th cap with a stellar performance, while new captain Alex Callender was immense at number eight.

‘Al Cal’ made 24 tackles, 16 carries, beat three defenders, and turned the ball over three times in a true leader’s performance.

The composure shown by debutants Katherine Beaverstock, Tilly Vucaj, and Seren Lockwood off the bench was pleasing to Lynn, who showed his emotions at the final whistle.

“You’ve just gone into the Aussies’ backyard and you’ve taken a scalp,” he said to the team in the huddle.

“Believe in this, believe in this journey we’re on, it’s gonna be a good one.”

“We are going to enjoy it [victory] but we know we have work on Monday ready for a six-day turnaround,” he added after the match.

“We are not the finished article and still have a lot to work on, but what I wanted from the team and the girls this week, they delivered.

“We’re still going to work hard, I mean it, because we’re taking it to the World Cup.”

Sportin Wales’s coverage of Wales’s World Cup qualifying campaign is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this year for free on S4C and S4C Clic.

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