If you know anything about Wales, you will know that rugby is a big part of our identity which unites our nation. So it’s no surprise that we can’t wait to hear ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ echoing on the shores of Nova Scotia and to cheer on Wales as they take on Canada, currently ranked fourth in the world.
With the Women’s Rugby World Cup just around the corner – taking place in New Zealand in October – this will be the perfect warm up for both teams. Wales will also take part in a week's training camp before taking on the Canadian national team.
Their week-long trip to Canada will include a competitive training session against the Canadians and a Test match against the home team. The two teams met in Cardiff, Wales last November, Wales led 7-0 at the break before going down 24-7 in the end.
Wales Women head coach Ioan Cunningham said, “We’ve told the group that we want them to be known as one of the fittest teams around, which means they have to work hard every day. We don’t want anyone to out-work us.
“Going to Canada will give us a chance to look at the gains we have made in that department. We had a good game against Canada in the autumn in which we did really well for about 60 minutes.
“Then Canada pulled away in the end. That’s something we’re looking forward to seeing – how we finish games, how we stay in the fight and being away from home with 36 players is going to pull us even closer together as a group.
“Going to Canada is like experiencing a mini-World Cup - we’ll have to get on a plane, fly to a different country, adapt quickly and get used to new training facilities.
“That’s going to be tough, but it will be great preparation and give the 36 players another chance to bond. We finish with a Test match which will be great for us as ahead of the World Cup.
“We’re excited to see how they deliver against a top nation.”
Watch the game
If you’re in Nova Scotia then come along to the game! The game will be taking place at Wanderers Grounds and tickets can be purchased here:
You can also watch the game on TSN (17:00 ADT) or S4C (21:00 BST)
Wales squad for Canada:
Keira Bevan
Alisha Butchers
Alex Callender
Gwen Crabb
Georgia Evans
Kat Evans
Abbie Fleming
Lleucu George
Cerys Hale
Sioned Harries
Eloise Hayward*
Cara Hope
Natalia John
Manon Johnes
Hannah Jones
Kelsey Jones
Jasmine Joyce
Kerin Lake
Bethan Lewis
Caitlin Lewis
Ffion Lewis
Siwan Lillicrap
Lisa Neumann
Lowri Norkett*
Carys Phillips
Lilliana Podpadec*
Kayleigh Powell
Gwenllian Pyrs
Donna Rose
Elinor Snowsill
Niamh Terry
Caryl Thomas
Sisilia Tuipulotu
Meg Webb
Robyn Wilkins
Carys Williams*
*uncapped