Rugby World Cup: Siwan Lillicrap to lead Wales women in New Zealand

Wales will send a squad to the Rugby World Cup.

In the last two matches against Canada and England, centre Hannah Jones was the leader.

Jones has been named as a vice- captain.

"Siwan is a great leader on and off the field," said Cunningham.

She has a good tactical mind and knows what to do at the right time.

Her communication with referees is second to none. She is beneficial to the team in a number of ways.

Cunningham thinks that Lillicrap and Jones will complement each other and lead the squad.

Cunningham said that Hannah has led the team by example against Canada and England.

She is going to be a good leader because of her work ethic. Hannah and Siwan have worked together recently.

Wales opens their Pool A campaign against Scotland on October 9th, then face New Zealand and Australia in October.

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the quarter-finals, as will the teams with the third- and fourth-place finishes.

Fabulous four

Number eight Sioned Harries, fly-half Elinor Snowsill and prop Caryl Thomas are going to the World Cup.

Harries was left out of the squad in 2020.

It's important to get to New Zealand.

Being away from the squad for three years will make it taste better.

It's a World Cup where I have high expectations for myself and I want to make myself, my team-mates and my friends proud.

Nineteen players are eligible to make their tournament debut.

The sister of Lowri Norkett, who played in the World Cup before she passed away, could also make her World Cup debut.

Norkett accepted the offer of a full-time contract until the end of the year, as well as moving from part-time to full-time contracts.

Norkett said it had been a bit of a rush.

It's been an amazing month, from getting my first cap in Canada to booking my ticket to New Zealand.

Even though I didn't get a contract the first time around, I continued to work hard and it paid off.

When she was 17 years old, I went to France to watch her in the Rugby World Cup.

I am going to do the same thing now. I've been inspired by her every time.

I had to work very hard to achieve this, whereas she was very easy to get along with. I'm not sure what to say. My family and I are very happy.

Kerin Lake, Lisa Neumann, and Georgia Evans have been recovering from long-term injuries and can be selected by Wales.

Lake missed out on two chances to make it to the World Cup, the first after giving birth to her son, but this time she's going to get her chance.

Lake said it was a bit strange.

The coaches have gambled on me as I've been fighting back from injury for most of the summer.

I want to do everything I can to get on the pitch for the team now that it's sunk in.

If I hadn't been part of the full-time programme, I wouldn't be here today.

The players who have missed out are:

Testing build-up

Wales went into the World Cup with a 73-7 defeat to England.

"We had two tough warm-up matches, which was exactly what we needed, and we're very excited at what's in front of us," said Cunningham.

We are excited to see what we can do when we arrive in New Zealand next week, we are delighted with the group we've settled on.

You are always looking at combinations, scenarios we could face over a long period in New Zealand and how you can get the best players on the pitch. Overall, we're happy with where we are.

Wales Rugby World Cup squad

Lleucu George, Hannah Jones, Jasmine Joyce, and Kerin Lake are in the backs.

Cerys Hale is a forward for the Gloucester-Hartpury team.