Why Wales left Cardiff feeling different after narrow WXV defeat

Wales were beaten 26-24 by the USA in a WXV match at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, a result that left the three thousand-plus fans leaving the ground with a sense of optimism rather than the usual doom and gloom.

In just six weeks of pre-season, head coach Sean Lynn and his staff have reshaped a squad that emerged from a winless World Cup and Six Nations into a more competitive 80-minute side capable of producing 12 tries across their first two WXV games at Cardiff Arms Park. Welsh Rugby Union women's rugby director Nadine Griffiths had described the WXV series as the real "litmus test" and a "brilliant opportunity to test our progress", and Wales followed a comprehensive win over South Africa by pushing a USA team ranked inside the world's top six to the final stages.

Wales hooker Kelsey Jones summarised the players' reaction as "disappointed and frustrated" with the result and added: "We left loads out there. Credit to the USA, they were class, but I also think a lot of their success came from our mistakes. The girls put in such a shift every week and they are absolutely class. We want to go out, we want to play rugby, that's the most exciting part. We're playing a brand of rugby that we haven't seen from a Wales team in a while. It's now about the little fixes, and we've got a big few weeks leading into Japan. Hopefully you've seen that change in the performances."

Co-captain Kate Williams said the "overall feeling was just gutted" and warned errors cost them late on: "The Test match was there for the taking. But when we're making that many errors in the championship minutes at the end of the game, we're never going to come out on top. We're in these Test matches and we believe that we can win these Test matches. It's going to come right from us. We're going to learn and the next time this happens, it's not going to end like this."

Lynn pointed to a growing squad identity, saying "you can see the squad that is building", and highlighted leadership and positional discoveries including co-captains Alex Callender and Williams, the emergence of Amy Williams on the wing and Keira Bevan's ability at 10. He also referenced young forwards Branwen Metcalfe and Bryonie King alongside established players Georgia Evans, Lisa Neumann and Sisilia Tuipulotu, adding: "It's a stable coaching team that we've got now, Gareth Harris coming in as S&C [strength and conditioning]; we've just got to believe in the process. I definitely know that we're a lot more competitive and we're being more clinical when we are in those 22 areas."

Former Wales internationals responding on BBC One were largely positive despite the loss. Philippa Tuttiett noted "Wales were on a run of nine international defeats" before adding: "The turnaround that they have done to beat South Africa and push the sixth-ranked team in the world to the end is incredible. It was a tough innings, but still a really proud performance." Dyddgu Morgan-Hywel said: "We did see the momentum from the South Africa win. I was a little worried, but Wales put another performance in. Yes, they're disappointed, but there was only two points in it." Siwan Lillicrap commented: "I was stood up in commentary and I felt gutted and proud all at the same time. I was gutted because they stayed in the fight and could have won it, and proud of the fight they had. There were errors; Test match rugby isn't always going to be perfect, but you've got to remember USA are sixth in the world. They had an outstanding performance last week, but you learn when you win and you learn when you lose. We're still seeing really good stuff and growth from what we've seen previously."

Wales are currently ranked 11th in the world, having last month slumped to an all-time low of 13th, while their WXV opponents the USA are sixth in the world. Wales will now have a week off before returning to camp for a two-Test tour of Japan, with fixtures scheduled in Tokyo on 24 October and in Kumagaya City on 31 October; Wales have won both of their two previous meetings with Japan, who are ranked one place below them in 12th, and will face humidity and travel as they prepare for those matches.