The Bristol Bears back row dynamo pushed the disappointment of losing out to Gloucester-Hartpury in the Professional Women’s Rugby Cup final the previous weekend by producing another top-class effort alongside fellow back row stalwarts Beth Lewis and Alex Callender.
She picked up two tries herself and was at the heart of another power-packed performance from the Welsh pack that helped to turn a one-point game at the interval into a second half romp.
“It was a great game and a great way to end the season after a pretty tough season in a Welsh shirt. It makes us very excited to take on WXV2 tournament in the autumn,” said Joyce-Butchers.
It was disappointing last weekend to lose in the cup final, but really pleasing to bring that form into the game against Spain. All credit to the PWR for the quality rugby it provides us.
“It is the best league in the world and having 11 players across the two teams in the Premiership final shows the standard we have in Wales.
“I never thought we were out of control in the game even though there was only one point in it at the break. Even though they came back into it when we got a yellow card we always felt in control.
“We had no doubt we could go on to win. We embraced the second half and our fitness really showed – it was great to keep them to nil in the second half.”
The Welsh pack has been the main source of tries for the side in recent years, but this time the scores were shared around the team with four coming from the back division. That was something that pleased everyone.
“It’s so nice to get up from a set piece and see the backs scoring in the corner. You can’t beat that,” added Joyce-Butchers.
“It’s very exciting to see what we can do when we spin the ball, especially with Lleucu George in our side who is one of the best No 10s in the world.
“We have stayed very close and maintained belief in ourselves. WXV2 is where we should be, it’s where we belong and we will get some great competition there, rather than in WXV1.
“We have yet to show an 80 minute performance and we know we need to be a little bit more disciplined. We need more game understanding, and if we can nail those things we will be very difficult to beat in WXV2.”
Wales will be in WXV2 with Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland and South Africa and have arranged arm-up games against Australia and Scotland before heading to South Africa for the tournament. If they can continue to evolve their game, then they could do well.
And if they can continue to provide their back division with quality possession, they could continue to reap the rewards like the hat-trick scored by Cox and the extra try from full back Jenny Hesketh.
“Our game plan was aimed at creating opportunities on the edges and it was a pretty special day,” admitted hat-trick hero Cox.
“Our mentality was the best it has been, and we knew we were always in charge. I was gutted with the yellow card but pleased to score three times in the second half.
“We were in control, and we knew what we wanted to do. There was a consistency in knowing what we wanted to do all over the pitch, even though at half-time the result could have gone either way.
“We needed a more balanced game plan, and it was a massive relief to get the job done. Coming into the Six Nations we had a good mindset, but things didn’t come off for us.
“Hopefully this will put us on an upward trajectory. The World Cup in England is going to be massive for the game and for Wales.”
WELSH WOMEN’S HAT-TRICK HEROES
PLAYER DATE AGAINST Louise Rickard 5 May, 1998 Russia Sian Williams 9 May, 1998 Germany Naomi Thomas 14 January, 2001 Netherlands Louise Rickard 14 January, 2001 Netherlands Non Evans 14 January, 2001 Netherlands Clare Flowers (4) 17 May, 2002 Germany Louise Rickard 17 May, 2002 Germany Mel Berry 17 May, 2008 Scotland Elen Evans 13 February, 2011 Scotland Sioned Harries 9 August, 2014 South Africa Carys Phillips 13 November, 2021 South Africa Carys Cox 29 June, 2024 Spain
