They played two thirty minute sessions under match conditions at the Hazelwood Centre, the London Irish training ground. The Black Ferns also had a run out against England Under 20s as part of their autumn campaign preparation.
Wales Women head coach Ioan Cunningham said, “It was an excellent exercise – great to have such quality opposition in order to put our players under match-like stress and pressure in order to test our skills and structures.
“We wanted to see what the best looks like so we can improve and build towards Japan in two weeks’ time.
“The run-out has certainly given us players some selection headaches and that’s exactly what we want as coaches. The new players have slotted in well and will have learned a lot from this exercise.”
Captain Siwan Lillicrap was equally buoyant about the experience.
“The girls put in a hell of a shift in every aspect of the game, so if that’s our starting point, I’m excited to see where we go from here. That was probably our best performance in 12 months, albeit in a training game.
“The Black Ferns are outstanding rugby players, they brought great team morale and skills, occasions like this are what you strive for as international players.
“Most of our players haven’t played New Zealand before, so a year out from playing them on their home turf in a home Rugby World Cup, it was fantastic experience for all of us.”
