Officials were moved to retrospectively award victory to Wales in their second match, having initially adjudged the scoreline between them and Russia to be 25-20 in the latter’s favour, instead of the correct 21-20.
This wasn’t before Wales, seeking to retain their crown this year, had an equally difficult opponent to overcome in Poland. Tries from Rhiannon Parker and Hannah Jones, both deftly converted by Elinor Snowsill, gave them a healthy half-time lead.
Parker was at it again at the beginning of the second half, before Poland struck back with a converted try in the tenth minute. A physically imposing side, Poland caused Wales several problems at close quarters, but the evasiveness of the Welsh players was exemplified in Laurie Harries’ efforts to draw the defence in order to put Jaz Joyce into space and away for Wales’ final try (converted by Snowsill) for a 26-7 win.
Against Russia, who had opened their account in Dubai with a convincing victory against a strong invitational side in Mo Sistas, Wales needed to be wiser still. It was the Russian who took the initiative soonest, scoring a try in the opening 90 seconds.
Their try was unconverted, so when Snowsill added the extras to another blistering Joyce try, Wales had the lead. Frustratingly for Wales, their opponents struck twice in quick succession before half-time. Pressure was heaped on them not long into the second half, when Russia scored again.
Russia’s inability to convert their tries would come back to haunt them when, with only a minute or so left on the clock, Shona Powell-Hughes barged her way under the posts to give Snowsill a straightforward two points with the boot. It took some conferring with officials after the final whistle, but Wales were duly awarded the win which would see them go into their final game of the day two from two.
Mo Sistas, a charity side featuring (among others) English and Canadian internationals, showed plenty of fight against Wales, but a dogged defence limited them to only two tries. Wales, in contrast, scored seven – including a brace apiece for the breathtakingly quick duo of Joyce and newcomer Lucy Packer. The rest came from Snowsill, Jones and Gemma Rowland, with Snowsill and Kayleigh Parker adding the extras for a 45-10 victory.
Wales will face the Royals at 07:00 GMT tomorrow morning in the knockout stages of the competition. Follow the Welsh Rugby Union on Twitter for updates.
