Lynne Cantwell

An electric first half display anchored by tactical adjustments at fly half carried the Welsh to a 38-5 lead by halftime, exploiting discipline issues that saw the Springboks down a player to a red card.

Sisi Lea Tuipu-Lotu crossed twice while Freya Bell contributed 15 points off the tee to launch a successful restart for head coach Lynn's squad ahead of their WXV clash with the Eagles.

Spain earned their inaugural victory in the WXB Challenger Series, powering past Samoa 61-21 in Hong Kong.

It was sweltering conditions, but Las Leonas unleashed a relentless attack, establishing a 33-0 lead by the break and finishing with nine tries.

Supported by five Bela Vogel conversions, the Eagles repelled a late Irish rally to seal the wind ahead of their trip to Cardiff.

Off the field, the RFU expressed frustration over the lack of linear television coverage for Ireland's WXV opener against the USA.

Lynn Cantwell emphasized that streaming platforms should complement rather than replace free-to-air broadcasting.

Despite coverage challenges, Irish rugby continues to build on landmark momentum following a record attendance of 31,294 at Aviva Stadium earlier this year, aiming to sell out the 52,000 capacity venue for their 2027 Women's Six Nations match.

I'm Cameron Hill.

Now coming up for you today, the Ireland team news ahead of Sunday's WXV opener against the United States.

John Muldoon opens up on the regrets he still holds about his playing career.

And could New Zealand Rugby face a Welsh-style overhaul of their professional game? First up today, Ireland head coach Scott Beaman has named his team for Sunday's WXV Global Series opener against the United States at Tallis Stadium.

I have loads of regrets about my career and that's one of them because I don't ever think I really put my two feet into it.

The other side of it is I'm not looking for sympathy here, I'm not looking for the quality of the players we have in the back row as well.

I was dreaming to think that I could get ahead of some of the names, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Hesip, and even at the start, Quinny and Wally and all these lads, Leamy, like Stephen Ferris.

There was just a phenomenal bunch of back rows, and I look back at some ways and go, just laughing, to even be in a squad with some of those lads was an achievement, but you always have regrets, so...

And I had a really interesting conversation yesterday with a few people in the know.

Lynne Cantwell, who is an absolute legend of the game, who worked for a couple of years as, um, head of strategic performance for South African Rugby.

She's back with Ireland now.

And I think the main point she and many others have made is, yes, four years ago when Wales played South Africa, South Africa were a developing nation-

So it's lovely to see it in place.

Let's praise Lynn Cantwell again.

Let's praise her.

Yeah,