Some real talent shone through from both teams in attack and defence. Wales managed to hold off a constant barrage of pressure until the thirtieth minute when winger Jocelyn Poirier crossed the line to give Canada a five point advantage.

Wales stepped up their game immediately and were rewarded just three minutes later when loose head prop Eleni Smith slotted a twenty metre penalty to claw back three points for the home team.

Canada piled on the pressure from the start of the second half and started to exploit their overlap, resulting in tries from Lisa Gauthier and Lauren Wizowski to take the score to 3-15. A tremendous amount of commitment was then displayed by the Welsh youngsters as they turned the game around and once again got the score back to within two points with two tries by fly half Mared Evans.

Hopes of a late victory were soon quashed when Canadian replacement Karlee Carbert broke through the Welsh defence just a minute later to score, making the final score 13-20.

Welsh U19 Coach Liza Burgess commented, “The girls were outstanding and showed real commitment. The Canadians are fantastic athletes and well drilled. It was a brilliant game of rugby and we look forward to playing them again next year.”

Wales U19: Kerin Lake, Elinor Snowsill, Adrianna Taviner, Ceri Redman, Samantha Hill, Mared Evans, Heledd Stephens, Eleni Smith, Amy Lawrence, Lowri Harries, Sian William, Beth Hawke, Carys John

Replacements: Kirsty Harrison for C John (sin bin), Bethan Preece for K Lake, Sioned Harris for B Hawke, K Harrison for A Lawrence , Cherry Morris for S Harris, Levi Hallett for C Redman, Hannah Lerwill for H Stephens

Canada U19: Brittany Benn, Jocelyn Poirier, Lisa Gauthier, Kendra Reeves, Genevieve Ahart, Becky Delaney, Susan Heald, Lauren Wizowski, Liz Sera, Ashley MacIntyre, Chelsey Minter, Brittany Freitag, Kaitlin Richard, Claire Harland, Sarah Verreault

Replacements: Jessica Belchos for L Sera, Liz Wilson for K Reeves, Alex Hendricks for G Ahart, Danielle Willhoeft for C Minter, Laura Russell for A Macintyre, Alex Hendricks for S Verreault