The weeklong tournament, which involved over 1000 players, is hoped to be the foundations for a World Championships at Under 19 level.
The tournament saw Wales beat Canada 5-3, with centre Jess Kidley scoring the only try of the game. It was a tough match with Wales trailing at half-time by 3-0 after being penalised for offside.
Canada replaced their front row at the break reflecting how physical the game was, but their enthusiasm to take the game to Wales was costly as they were penalised for charging in the scrum.
Welsh pressure drove the Canadians back to their own five-metre line. Even though the Canadians won their scrummage, a series of static passes behind their own try line ended in a dropped ball, which Welsh Centre Jess Kidley pounced upon for a try. The conversion failed, leaving the score at 5 to 3 for Wales.
Both sides substituted freely as fatigue and the heat took their toll. Wales brought on Rhian Rees and Amy Jones in the front-five. Wales continued to attack out wide with winger Gemma Williams rounding her opposite number on two occasions to drive deep into the Ontario defence. However, the Ontario cover defence arrived in the nick of time.
Furious attacks came from both sides, but fatigue continued to play its part with dropped passes and some poor decision-making. Fresh legs were injected with Paula Mullen replacing Amy Baker and Stacey Saunders on for Michaela Reed. However, the stalemate on the field continued.
The Welsh team then mounted enormous pressure, but the Ontario defence held. The Welsh ran a series of short penalties from within the Ontario 22 meters, but this red tide failed to cross the Ontario line. There was one last Ontario attack, but referee Bob Toomey’s whistle ended the game at 5 -3.
The second challenge for the Welsh girls came in the form of the USA U19s in the final of the Crystal Cup. The game kicked off in very strong winds and with ten minutes played a tropical storm, nicknamed Hurricane Cymru by the Welsh supporters, was in full flow! The Welsh girls, playing into the wind, weathered the storm in the first half trailing by 3-points from USA winger Sara Edwards at the break.
The rain eased in the second half and Wales now had their backs to the wind. Wales were awarded a penalty, and Stacey Saunders made no mistake in equalizing the scores at 3-3. Now it was all Welsh attacks.
Wales won a scrum and spun the ball wide for Becca Stillwell to score in the corner and send the travelling fans into raptures as they took the lead at 8-3.
More Welsh attacks followed, with strong runs from Jess Kidley supported by captain Eirlys Lougher, but they were stopped short.
The United States also tried to run out, but preferred strong drives down the middle. One such period of recycling took them right downfield to the Wales 22, but a turnover saw Elen Evans link with Becca Stillwell and then the ball was dropped near the try-line.
The Americans had one more strong drive and it appeared that they had driven a maul over the Welsh try-line, only for the referee to penalize them for collapsing the maul. From a penalty awarded to Wales, they moved the ball wide left for winger Gemma Williams to score and put the game beyond reach at13-3.
The unbeaten squad now face England U19s at Caerphilly on 23 March.
