Cardiff under-18 have introduced two new faces into their squad as they prepare for the second round of the WRU’s Regional Women’s Under-18 tournament at Merthyr RFC.
After a promising opening weekend, where Darren Bool’s side won two, drew one and only suffered a single loss, there has been plenty of optimism as focus now turns to The Wern on Sunday.
Gwennan Hopkins will continue as captain, with Gabby Healan the nominated vice captain, as the Blue and Blacks once again go head-to-head with their fellow Welsh sides.
Both Sophie Morgan and Emily Rees have been drafted into the matchday squad for Sunday, and are set for their first competitive outings for the Blue and Blacks.
Head coach Darren Bool said: “We’ve had a good week of training, which has allowed us to look back at last week’s performances in Ystrad Mynach and analyse what went well and what needs to be worked on.
“It was really productive in that sense, but heading to Merthyr, every team will step up a level this weekend and we need to be fully aware of that.
“Last week was really enjoyable and we’ve got five really competitive sides going head-to-head over these three weeks, which makes for a really exciting competition.
“The format allows us to rotate the squad and give us more time to look at everyone, including Sophie and Emily who come into the squad this week.
“We want to finish strongly next week at the Arms Park, and hopefully we can generate some momentum this week before going into the final week.”
Play will once again kick off at 11am at The Wern. The final round of the tournament will take place at Cardiff Arms Park next Sunday, February 20, where the overall winners will be crowned.
Cardiff Rugby under-18: Grace Bellamy, Manon Blackford, Seren Carson, Raylee Caviell, Fern Cumine, Chloe Davies, Lowri Davies, Mia Davies, Mya Dixon, Libby Edwards, Gabby Healan (vice capt.), Gwennan Hopkins (capt.), Katie Hudd, Carly Lloyd, Georgia Morgan, Sophie Morgan*, Jasmine Owen, Nia Powell, Molly Reardon, Emily Rees*, Katie Sims, Rachel Thomas-Evans, Layla Williams, Izabel Wing, Jasmine Young