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Wales boss Phillips already looking ahead after superb World Cup finish

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Wales head coach Rowland Phillips is already planning for the next Women’s Rugby World Cup after steering his side to their best-ever finish in Ireland.

Wales head coach Rowland Phillips is already planning for the next Women’s Rugby World Cup after steering his side to their best-ever finish in Ireland.

Wales beat the hosts 27-17 on Saturday to secure their spot at the tournament in four years time, with tries from Carly Thomas, Sioned Harries, Carys Phillips and Shona Powell-Hughes.

And Phillips was delighted with the spirit they showed to beat their Six Nations rivals in their own back yard.

“I was really proud of the girls. They’ve achieved something that hasn’t been achieved in a while,” said Phillips.

“To get this finish and to qualify for the next World Cup is a real success for us. Now we can look to continue building and prepare for the next World Cup.”

Phillips made six changes to his team after a heavy loss to Canada, and a mixture of experienced heads and fresh talent produced a stirring display.

Wales controlled much of the match, although Ireland did finish strongly by scoring two late tries.

“It was a nail-biting finish,” he added.

“We got ourselves into a really commanding position and were quite controlled. We then made some errors and put ourselves under pressure, but we defended so hard on our try-line.

“We knew Ireland were going to fire out from the start. We had a couple of discipline issues, but we settled down and for the rest of the half we absolutely controlled it.”