BBC Sport

Wales make five changes as Lynn rewards bench

Q: What is this sports story about?

Head coach Sean Lynn makes five changes for Saturday's WXV Test against Japan following last week's impressive second-half performance.

Q: Who published this story?

This story was published by BBC Sport on October 29, 2026 and curated on Africa Front.

Q: What related topics does this story cover?

Security & Conflict, Trade & AfCFTA, Infrastructure, African Technology, South Africa News

October 29, 2026

Share Report:

Wales make five changes as Lynn rewards bench

Published29 October 2026, 07:59 GMT

Wales have made five starting changes for Saturday's second WXV Test against Japan.

Flanker Bethan Lewis will make her first start of the campaign, having been one of Wales' impressive impact players in last weekend's 17-0 victory in Tokyo, with co-captain Alex Callender moving to number eight.

Gwen Crabb and Gwenllian Pyrs are also promoted from the bench to join the pack, while Lleucu George is preferred to Keira Bevan at fly-half.

George will partner Seren Lockwood, who crossed for two tries last weekend, as Wales seek back-to-back wins (07:00 GMT).

Courtney Keight comes in for centre Freya Bell, who looks set for a lengthy lay-off after suffering a serious knee injury in the opening Test.

Head coach Sean Lynn has again opted for six forwards and two backs on the bench.

"We have made the changes to reward the players who finished the job in Tokyo," said Lynn.

Wales are looking to finish their WXV campaign on a high at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, having previously beaten Japan and South Africa and narrowly lost to USA.

They are ranked 11th in the world after overtaking Saturday's opponents with last week's victory.

Japan v Wales

WXV Global Series

Saturday, 31 October at 07:00 (GMT)

Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Saitama Prefecture

Live on iplayer and BBC Sport website & app. Audio commentary on Sounds, BBC Radio Wales Extra & BBC Radio Cymru.

"The players know our DNA is 'team first'. Competition for places drives standards and performances and will only help us improve and get better as a team," Lynn added.

"We are obviously disappointed with the injury to Freya Bell, but she will get the best care and we hope to see her back soon."

While last weekend was another welcome win for Lynn, Wales made hard work of the victory in testing conditions.

"We found a way in the first Test in Tokyo and the way the players problem-solved during the game was key for all the coaches," said Lynn.

"But we know we have to be much more accurate and produce a consistent, 80-minute performance to beat a resilient Japan side that we know will be hurting."

How they line up

Japan: Imakugi; Tsunokawa, Langford, Kataoka, Havili Kagawa; Harada, Tsukui (capt); Komaki, Nagaoka, Kitano, Kawamura, Sato, Asari, Nduka, Bodman.

Replacements: Kuge, Mine, Fuji, M Nishimura, Korai, Seo, Ito, S Nishimura.

Wales: Neumann; N Metcalfe, Cox, Keight, A Williams; George, Lockwood, Pyrs, K Jones, Tuipulotu, B Metcalfe, Crabb, K Williams (co-capt), Lewis, Callender (co-capt).

Replacements: Reardon, Davies, E Jones, Aiono, Evans, King, Bevan, De Vera.

Referee: Julianne Zussman (Canada)

Assistants: Sunny Lee (Hong Kong China), Hibiki Ikeda (Japan)

TMO: Matt Rodden (Hong Kong China)

FPRO: Koki Yamauchi (Japan)