Kayleigh Powell ruled out of Wales' WXV campaign with hamstring injury
Harlequins full-back Kayleigh Powell has been ruled out of Wales' entire WXV Global Series campaign after suffering a hamstring injury in training before the tournament, Wales confirmed on Tuesday.
Powell, 27, is a sevens Olympian who topped Wales' stats for defenders beaten and metres made during the 2026 Six Nations. She featured primarily at full-back in that championship and also impressed at fly-half when Wales ended a nine-match losing run against the Barbarians in June. Writing on her social media, Powell said she was "absolutely gutted" to miss the campaign but has "every faith that this team will do great things."
The injury will keep Powell out of Wales' Tests against South Africa, USA and Japan in the WXV Global Series. The hamstring problem occurred in training and has ruled her out for the entire tournament.
Head coach Sean Lynn was already without Premiership Women's Rugby title-winning prop Donna Rose for the WXV squad, and backs Carys Cox and Nel Metcalfe have only just returned to training. Lynn can consider Lleucu George at 10 and has Keira Bevan as another option at fly-half after Bevan trained there during pre-season.
The Wales squad's backs named for the WXV campaign are: Keira Bevan (Bristol Bears), Seren Lockwood (Brython Thunder), Megan Davey (Loughborough Lightning), Lleucu George (Gloucester-Hartpury), Courtney Keight (Sale Sharks), Freya Bell (Gwalia Lightning), Jenna De Vera (Brython Thunder), Hannah Dallavalle (Gloucester-Hartpury), Hanna Tudor (Unattached), Nikita Prothero (Gwalia Lightning), Jasmine Joyce (Brython Thunder), Amy Williams (Brython Thunder), Kelsie Webster (Gwalia Lightning), Lisa Neumann (Leicester Tigers), Carys Cox (Ealing Trailfinders), Nel Metcalfe (Gloucester-Hartpury) and Seren Singleton (Brython Thunder).
The forwards selected are: Gwenllian Pyrs (Sale Sharks), Maisie Davies (Exeter Chiefs), Katherine Baverstock (Leicester Tigers), Crystal James (Ealing Trailfinders), Shanelle Williams (Brython Thunder), Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning), Kelsey Jones (Sale Sharks), Elan Jones (Brython Thunder), Stella Orrin (Brython Thunder), Sisilia Tuipulotu (Harlequins), Gwen Crabb (Brython Thunder), Natalia John (Brython Thunder), Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder), Georgia Evans (Saracens), Alex Callender (Harlequins), Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning), Bethan Lewis (Bristol Bears), Alisha Joyce (Brython Thunder), Kate Williams (Gloucester-Hartpury) and Jorja Aiono (Gloucester-Hartpury).
Wales open their WXV campaign against South Africa at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday, kick-off 19:15 BST. The match will be shown live on BBC One, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, with live text coverage.