Wales have slumped to 12th in the world rankings after a poor run of results

Sweat is pouring off Alisha Joyce and Georgia Evans as they emerge exhausted from the spin bike chamber at Wales' training base.

They collapse to the floor fighting for breath as head coach Sean Lynn gives them an encouraging tap on the back.

Next door in the gym Maisie Davies changes the playlist to "It's my birthday" while the forwards go about completing their sets in search of personal bests.

And out on the artificial pitch, Ashley Beck is putting the backs through their paces, with uncapped Amy Williams catching the eye.

This is just a glimpse of life in Wales' camp and for the players three weeks of pre-season pain is almost over.

But for Lynn and the other coaches the hard work continues as they must whittle down the squad for next month's WXV Global Series.

Neumann back in Wales' extended WXV training squad

New-look Wales end losing streak with Barbarians win

Wales kick-off their campaign against South Africa at Cardiff Arms Park on 18 September before hosting USA on 26 September. They will then head out to Japan for two further Tests on 23 and 31 October.

All three opponents are ranked above 12th-placed Wales, who have lost their last nine competitive fixtures.

And despite a welcome victory over Barbarians in June, Lynn's side know they are still lacking in a number of areas, notably fitness.

It is a key focus for strength and conditioning coach Gareth Harris who is out on the main pitch encouraging the players through an intense set of interval runs.

Keira Bevan is rigged with a social media microphone as she races her opposite number to a marked cone.

"We need to work harder," Harris said.

"We know where we are from a physical perspective and it is about moving that dial forward. A lot of the girls are pretty sore, but that's okay, it's all in the plan."

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Wales 'need to work harder' to be an 80 minute team in WXV

The 46-strong extended squad has been in camp since 3 August, and trained through soaring temperatures, but Harris - who linked up with Wales before last summer's Rugby World Cup - says the attitude has been "exceptional".

"You really see the girls going 'this is important for us'," Harris said.

"We want to be better. We want to be the best team we can be. We don't just want to turn up to the international stage, we want to dominate games.

"There's ownership of the work that they're doing and ownership of our standards and how we elevate those standards and accountability to each person.

"Everybody is going 'this is what I expect of you', which is perfect for us.

"I think we'll see a different Wales this time round."

Harris' optimism is echoed by forwards coach Steve Salvin who has come up to the vantage point of the barn balcony.

He clearly feels at home here having joined Lynn's backroom staff on a permanent basis with Ashley Beck in the summer.

"The four of us [coaches] were thrown together a little bit for the Six Nations, firefighting would be the wrong way to put it but obviously we were working in silos to get things sorted. Now we can be much more cohesive and collective around the way we go about doing things," Salvin said.

"We feel like there's growth in our set piece, our attack, our defence, we're essentially trying to cover all bases.

"During the Six Nations we performed reasonably well for probably 50 to 60 minutes, so one of the things we really need to go after for this series of games is performing for 80 minutes.

"If we do that, we'll give ourselves a much better chance of coming out the right side of the results."

Backs coach Ashley Beck, head coach Sean Lynn, defence coach Tyrone Holmes and forwards coach Steve Salvin have been working together since the 2026 Six Nations

Wales have only tasted success twice since Lynn took over in March 2025, the aforementioned Barbarians game and the first Test against Australia last summer.

But the autumn series will be seen as a major opportunity to get some wins on the board and climb back up the world rankings, where Wales were as high as sixth just three years ago.

And with the new-look WXV feeding into 2029 Rugby World Cup qualification - and a first ever Women's British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand next September - there is plenty at stake for this group of pre-season players.