Wales head coach Liza Burgess has selected a 32-strong squad comprising 18 forwards and 14 backs for the inaugural Six Nations Women’s U21 Series.
The U20 Women’s Summer Series has now evolved into the Six Nations Women’s U21 Series, where Wales will play home games at Cardiff Arms Park and Ystrad Mynach against France and Ireland respectively with a trip to Piacenza sandwiched in between to play Italy.
Evolving the Summer Series format, where all teams would compete in a week-long festival format, in 2026 and 2027 teams will now take part in two home fixtures and one away, or vice versa. The format change is designed to echo the training week and travel element of the elite tournament, to better prepare players for the rhythm of the Women’s Six Nations.
To align the elite and pathway competitions even further, Round One of the U21 Series will correlate with Round Two of the Women’s Six Nations, offering an exciting double header in Cardiff when Burgess’s side will play after Sean Lynn’s team have played France in the senior game on Saturday 18 April.
A further tweak to the competition allows teams to select a limited number of players up to the age of 23 which gives additional players the opportunity to represent their country on the pathway to full international honours.
“The format has changed this year so that is exciting for the girls,” said Burgess. “The Celtic Challenge has given the girls great preparation for the series – fly, you go away, play, fly back so they are pretty used to that routine which is helpful.
“On the back of some great preparation, I’m really excited to see how the girls go. We are mirroring what the women do in terms of training on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday off, Friday evenings training.
“We have an exciting mix of players. We’ll be able to call on those U23s when available which will bring experience to the squad while we have some girls who have progressed up from the U18s and we also have girls coming back from last year who have been playing well for Brython and Gwalia in the Celtic Challenge,” said Burgess.
With two home games Burgess is hoping fans turn out in their numbers to support her young side.
“The draw is brilliant for us,” she said, “We’ve got our first game at Cardiff Arms Park which will be an historic occasion – playing after the women for the first time and then we are away in Italy before playing the final game at home against Ireland at Ystrad Mynach.
“The girls know the pitches really well – it’s nice to play in your capital and Ystrad Mynach always gets a great crowd there so we’re hoping everyone gets behind us.”
Wales Women U21 squad for Six Nations
Forwards (18)
Chloe Thomas-Bradley (Gwalia Lightning)
Megan Lewis (Brython Thunder)
Salome Tuliakiono (Hartpury University)
Crystal James (Gwalia Lightning)
Allie Watkins (Brython Thunder)
Shanelle Williams (Brython Thunder)
Molly Wakley (Gwalia Lightning)
Chloe Gant (Brython Thunder)
Robyn Davies (Brython Thunder)
Lily Terry (Gwalia Lightning)
Mia Haf Bowen (Brython Thunder)
Lucy Isaac (Brython Thunder)
Gwennan Hopkins (Gwalia Lightning)
Chiara Pearce (Gwalia Lightning)
Catrin Stewart (Gwalia Lightning)
Lottie Buffery-Latham (Gwalia Lightning)
Hermione Farmer (Leicester Tigers)
Lola Mitchell (Hartpury University)
Backs (14)
Katie Bevans (Gwalia Lightning)
Maisy Herbert (Old Albanians)
Hanna Marshall (Brython Thunder)
Carys Hughes ((Gwalia Lightning)
Freya Bell (Gwalia Lightning)
Hanna Tudor (N/A)
Isla McMullen (Gwalis Lightning)
Gabby Healan (Brython Thunder)
Mabli Evans (Brython Thunder)
Saran Jones (Brython Thunder)
Ffion Davies (Brython Thunder)
Aimee Bush (Brython Thunder)
Mollie Wilkinson (Brython Thunder)
Amy Williams (Brython Thunder)
Noh Noh
Sport Trivia: Ghana boycotted the Olympic Games in 1976, in protest at the participation of which country? Answer: New Zealand – The 1976 Games were held in Montreal, Canada. The Ghanaian team, along with almost 30 other African nations, joined in a boycott of the Games to protest at New Zealand\’s All Blacks rugby team having toured South Africa under apartheid.
Rope
Shahid Afridi used Sachin Tendulkar\’s bat to hit the fastest ever ODI century – Shahid Afridi was flown in to play for the Pakistan team from West Indies to Nairobi in 1996 and didn\’t have a proper bat. That\’s when Waqar Younis gave \’Young Afridi\’ Sachin Tendulkar’s bat. Afridi hit 11 sixes and six boundaries with the bat and scored a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka which was the then fastest ODI century. The record, broken later by Corey Anderson (36 balls), now belongs to South Africa\’s AB de Villiers (31 balls).