Wales Women slipped to a 29-15 defeat to the Barbarians at the Principality Stadium in what was an entertaining encounter.
The Barbarians scored five first-half tries as they dominated the first 40 minutes. But Wales responded in the second half with Alex Calendar, Lisa Neumann and Keira Bevan scoring three tries for the Dragons as they shut out the Barbarians from any further scoring action.
Dyddgu Hywel – scorer of Crawshay’s only try last week – scored against Wales for the second consecutive week while Anna Caplice, Charmaine McMenamin, Lauren Harris and Jenny Murphy were also among the try-scorers. Patience paid off for the Barbarians as Charmaine McMenamin forced her way over the line for the opening try on 11 minutes. Tess Gard’ner’s benefiting from McMenamin’s try under the posts.
Dyddgu Hywel – capped 31 times for Wales before retiring earlier this year – scored the Baa-Baa’s second-try straight from the kick-off. The left-wing broke with a marauding run after dumying a pass, allowing for time and space to score.
Former Scotland international Lauren Harris got in on the scoring act as she sprinted into the corner before touching it down underneath the posts after Ruahei Demant’s pass over the top. Anna Caplice scored a try before the interval for the Barbarians as Ireland teammate Paula Fitzpatrick offloaded to Caplice before she placed it down in the corner.
Wales started brightly in the early stages of the second-half and were rewarded for their efforts. Lisa Neumann keeping the ball in play despite pressure from the backs on the wing to score the Dragons first try of the match.
Barbarians were denied a try in the 56th minute as the Wales backs defended resolutely to block Eloise Blackwell from placing it down over the line. Keira Bevan scored Wales’ second try of the half as Wales continued to show a strong second-half performance.
Wales went short from the line-out and Amy Evans offloaded quickly to Bevan in a set-piece move from the training ground. Five minutes from time Alex Callender crossed for Wales’ third try with an interception.
