The United States women’s rugby team continued their impressive rise by edging out Wales 26-24 in a tense WXV Global Series encounter at Cardiff Arms Park. The result dealt a blow to Wales’ resurgence ambitions, while the Americans extended their winning streak to three matches.
Forward Freda Tafuna was named player of the match after scoring a hat-trick, marking a strong follow-up to her standout performance against Ireland the previous week. Erica Coulibaly also crossed for the visitors, who dominated the second half despite a spirited fightback from the hosts.
Wales responded with tries from Keira Bevan, Kelsey Jones, Sisilia Tuipulotu, and Alex Callender. However, handling errors and a lack of fluidity haunted the home side, contrasting sharply with the dominance they showed against South Africa earlier in the tournament.
The match was defined by physicality and occasional controversy. A potential obstruction by Emily Henrich went unpunished by referee Amber McLachlan after video review. Later, Wales appealed for a yellow card following a high tackle on Tuipulotu but were only awarded a penalty.
Despite leading briefly after Callender’s late first-half try and Freya Bell hitting the post from the conversion, Wales could not maintain their momentum. Tafuna’s second-half score sealed the win for the Eagles, who are now firmly established as a top-six side in the women’s game.
Wales will now regroup ahead of their next fixture in Japan, while USA prepares for upcoming home games against Italy and world champions England.
Heartbreaking loss at home. We showed heart but those handling errors and missed calls really hurt us in the end.
Freda Tafuna is absolutely unstoppable right now. That hat-trick in Cardiff was pure class and sealed the deal beautifully.