WXV1: Wales ready to challenge the world's best in New Zealand
- Published
Ioan Cunningham led Wales to a quarter-final finish at last year's Rugby World Cup
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham says World Rugby's new WXV tournament is an opportunity "to challenge ourselves against the best in the world".
The hosts and reigning world champions New Zealand, Canada and Australia all lie in wait for Wales' 30-strong squad as they make their way to Wellington for the opening game of the three-week competition.
"We can't wait. This is where we want to be, we want to challenge ourselves against the best in the world," Cunningham told BBC Sport Wales.
"This is semi-final level of the World Cup, that's what we're entering at."
Wales secured their place in the top tier after finishing third in this year's Women's Six Nations and have since increased their professional ranks to 32 full-time players.
Cunningham's squad has also been boosted by the return of GB Sevens duo Jasmine Joyce and Kayleigh Powell, with new hybrid contracts allowing them to play while also preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The squad have been put through a brutal pre-season and were rewarded with a first Test victory over USA in last month's warm-up match in Colwyn Bay, but they can expect a sterner challenge down under as all three opponents are ranked inside the world's top five.
Wales are currently just outside in sixth, their highest-ever world ranking.
Cunningham added: "It's going to be a great opportunity for us to see how much growth we've had over the last 12 months and against the best.
"It's the next step on our journey towards the 2025 World Cup.
"We learned so much from playing New Zealand in the World Cup [in 2022], hopefully we'll get that this time, but also we want to get there, compete and show what we can do.
"We want to be a team that never stops playing, never goes away, always looks for opportunities and I think we've shown that over the last 12 months."
While Wales have said farewell to international stalwarts such as Elinor Snowsill, Caryl Thomas and Siwan Lillicrap in the past 12 months, they have also blooded exciting new talent.
Carys Cox and Nel Metcalfe were named in the WXV squad just days after making their debuts, while some promising under-20s players also spent time in camp this summer.
Wales captain Hannah Jones (centre) attended Ysgol Brynaman, the same school as Wales men's co-captain Jac Morgan
There are also players such as 20-year-old prop Sisilia Tuipulotu, who exploded onto the international stage this year, as Wales' pack gained a deserved reputation as being up there with the best in the women's game.
"We have definitely grown depth and also exposed some new players," said Cunningham.
"We're capping young players which is exciting. There is no better way of learning than in a pressure environment, in a tournament that we are heading to."
Cunningham said the ultimate aim would be to have a pool of 40-50 players to choose from, with three or four competing for every position.
While Wales are up against it in terms of their opposition, there is no promotion or relegation in the first year of WXV1.
Cunningham says they will go out to win each game, but there are other ways of quantifying what would be a successful venture.
"For us, in our journey as we look to close in that gap to the top four and top three, we want to see where we're at.
"We played Canada last year in Halifax, we showed glimpses in that game that we can trouble them, and we played the Black Ferns twice in the World Cup. We want to see how much we have developed because we do believe we have grown as a group. We played USA two years ago at Parc y Scarlets and lost.
"Yes we want to win, but it's all about that journey and getting through to the next World Cup."
His sentiments were echoed by captain Hannah Jones.
"We're in tier one which is a great challenge for us, we really want to show that we deserve to be there as well," she said.
"Definitely seen an improvement in our fitness, I think you could see that in the 80 minutes against USA.
"I think we're above Scotland, Italy and Ireland, that's how I feel personally, I think we're above those teams, we've got to push for the performances against England and France.
"These teams out in New Zealand are definitely going to push a better performance from us.
"To be the best you've got to play the best."
Wales start their campaign against Canada in Wellington on Saturday, 21 October, before travelling to Dunedin to take on the hosts seven days later and will finish against Australia in Auckland on Friday, 3 November.
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