Women's international friendly: Wales v Australia

Wales (7) 31

Tries: Bevan, Reardon 2, A Joyce-Butchers, Williams Cons: Bevan 3

Australia (7) 24

Tries: Stewart, Halse, Tuinakauvadra Cons: Moleka, McKenzie 2 Pen: Moleka

Wales scored with the last move of the match to edge a thrilling encounter and register a first victory over Australia in seven attempts.

With the game tied at 24-24, Kate Williams crashed over from close range to give the hosts a famous victory at Rodney Parade.

Maya Stewart and Keira Bevan had exchanged tries in a closely fought first half.

Molly Reardon then crossed either side of a Caitlyn Halse try, while Tabua Tuinakauvadra's late effort looked to have salvaged a draw for the Wallaroos.

But Wales had other ideas and their driving maul once again proved a deadly weapon.

It was a welcome win for Ioan Cunningham's side, who were well beaten by Scotland in their previous friendly.

It will also give them confidence when they meet Australia again in eight days in their WXV2 opener in Cape Town.

In a first meeting on Welsh soil between the two sides, the opening exchange of hits was ferocious, and it was Australia who drew first blood.

Wales were caught narrow in defence and a missed pass freed Maya Stewart who finished well off her wing.

Wales hit straight back after a poor Australia clearance; a rolling maul off line-out ball made good ground before Bevan released Carys Cox, who was brought down just short.

Bevan spotted a gap and sniped over before converting her own score.

Australia looked to have re-taken the lead thanks to a superb solo effort from Ashley Marsters, but her score was chalked off after replays showed she was in front of the ball at the breakdown.

Rallied on by 1,800 supporters, Wales went back on the charge, but a try-scoring chance went begging with Cox slightly overrunning the pass.

Wales were then dealt a blow when Rosie Carr went off injured on her first international start, which could leave them worryingly short of fit hookers heading to South Africa.

Cunningham played down the significance of the score before the match, but Australia clearly came to Newport with no intention of losing to Wales for the first time, having been victorious in the six previous meetings.

The Wallaroos won a penalty straight off the second-half restart and instead of kicking for touch, Faitala Moleka pointed towards the posts and slotted over.

In contrast, when Wales won a penalty deep in Australia territory, they backed their line-out and kicked to touch.

It was a decision that paid off as Bethan Lewis took clean ball before the pack guided Reardon over the whitewash.

Wales continued to pile on the pressure and a poor clearance kick led to Nel Metcalfe running hard on the counter-attack.

Alisha Joyce-Butchers also made good ground as an impact player and deservedly crossed after Wales' showed good patience in attack.

Games against Australia have always been close affairs, and true to script, Australia hit straight back.

Arabella McKenzie spotted some space behind the Welsh defence and put a kick through for Stewart who then passed inside to Halse, who showed great strength to drive over the line.

It not only marked her 18th birthday, but more importantly got Australia back into the game.

Wales were not done though, they again found themselves with line-out ball deep in Australia’s half, and the driving maul once again proved unstoppable as Reardon crossed for her second.

Australia then threw everything back at Wales in the closing minutes and. despite some desperate defending, the hosts could not keep powerful number eight Tuinakauvadra from crashing over from close range.

Wales then had a chance to seal the win as the clock went into the red.

Lleucu George kicked them to within five metres and the line-out crabbed infield, before several pick and goes finally gave Williams the opportunity to dot down and claim victory.

Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham said: "I was really proud in the way we stayed in the fight, credit to Australia, a great team, scored some nice tries, but we never lost faith.

"We stuck to our systems and had that calmness as well, we've shown a bit of maturity in our team coming off the Six Nations to get that win.

"I thought the lineout went well, we got lots of gain line off that. I thought we grew in the game defensively, which is something we've focussed on over the last two weeks, building that red wall.

"And then that composure and patience which we showed in the second-half when we were close to the try line, we did complete those scores, those are pleasing points for us to build on when we play them next week."

Australia head coach Jo Yapp said: "This week we definitely couldn't fault the girls' work rate and energy, they were working really hard for one another and the intent was there.

"I'm really proud from that perspective, but I think we just showed at times we have just got a few things to learn.

"We need to be a bit more rugby smart in certain areas of the game, I think that's where we let ourselves down tonight.

"We showed that when we executed what we wanted to, we made really good yards against them so we need to continue to build on that and cut out some of the errors."

Wales: Jenny Hesketh; Jasmine Joyce, Carys Cox, Kerin Lake, Nel Metcalfe; Lleucu George, Keira Bevan (capt); Gwenllian Pyrs, Rosie Carr, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Abbie Fleming, Georgia Evans, Bryonie King, Kate Williams, Bethan Lewis

Replacements: Molly Reardon, Abbey Constable, Donna Rose, Natalia John, Alisha Butchers, Sian Jones, Kayleigh Powell, Courtney Keight.

Australia: Caitlyn Halse; Maya Stewart, Georgina Friedrichs, Trilleen Pomare, Desiree Miller; Faitala Moleka, Layne Morgan; Bridie O'Gorman; Tania Naden, Eva Karpani, Kaitlan Leaney, Michaela Leonard (capt), Siokapesi Palu, Ashley Marsters, Tabua Tuinakauvadra.

Replacements: Tiarna Molloy, Alapeta Ngauamo, Lydia Kavoa, Atasi Lafai, Lucy Dinnen, Natalie Wright, Arabella McKenzie, Lori Cramer.

Referee: Sara Cox (RFU)

Assistants: Holly Wood (RFU), Chelsea Gillespie (SRU)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)