Wales injury blow as Harlequins' Kayleigh Powell ruled out of WXV

Wales have been dealt another injury blow before their WXV Global Series campaign with Harlequins' Kayleigh Powell ruled out of the entire tournament.

The 27-year-old sevens Olympian was a standout player at full-back during the Six Nations and impressed at fly-half when Wales ended their nine match losing streak against the Barbarians in June.

But she will sit out Wales' Tests against South Africa, USA and Japan after suffering a hamstring injury in training.

Powell wrote on her social media that she was "absolutely gutted" to be missing the campaign, but has "every faith that this team will do great things."

Wales open their WXV campaign against South Africa at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday (19:15 BST) before hosting USA at the same venue eight days later.

The squad will then travel to Japan for two Tests, on 23 and 31 October.

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Wales head coach Sean Lynn said: "Kayleigh was outstanding against the Barbarians, she brought another dimension to our attack.

"It's a big loss, but it's a big opportunity for individuals who've been training hard this pre-season to step up and enter the international arena."

Lleucu George could slot back in at 10, while scrum-half Keira Bevan provides another option having trained there during pre-season.

"I was really impressed watching Keira play for Bristol Bears against Gloucester-Hartpury at the tail end of the season, she went very well [at 10].

"Myself and [attack coach] Ashley Beck had a conversation with her and she's been slotting in at 10. She's just given us another dimension, another edge to our attack and has been looking really comfortable."

Lynn's squad has taken a battering during pre-season, with Premiership Women's Rugby (PRW) title-winning prop Donna Rose and uncapped centres Kelsie Webster and Hanna Tudor already ruled out.

Lynn said the growing injury list was an indication of the intensity in training.

"We don't want to be where we are ranked in the world [13th], we want to be more competitive and we've had to move the dial this pre-season," he said.

"The girls have said it's probably the hardest off-season, and that's what we have to do. It's now about getting depth in our squad, and we're getting that because of the competitive environment."

Backs Carys Cox and Nel Metcalfe have returned to training, but will not be in contention for Friday's opening game.

"Carys started doing some rugby this week and we're hoping she will go back into it again next week. Fingers crossed, and with all boxes ticked, we might see her come off the bench and get some minutes against USA," Lynn said.

"And for Nel, what we'll be looking for is can we take her to Japan?"

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Backs: Keira Bevan (Bristol Bears), Seren Lockwood (Brython Thunder), Megan Davey (Loughborough Lightning), Lleucu George (Gloucester-Hartpury), Courtney Keight (Sale Sharks), Freya Bell (Gwalia Lightning), Jenna De Vera (Brython Thunder), Hannah Dallavalle (Gloucester-Hartpury), Hanna Tudor (Unattached), Nikita Prothero (Gwalia Lightning), Jasmine Joyce (Brython Thunder), Amy Williams (Brython Thunder), Kelsie Webster (Gwalia Lightning), Lisa Neumann (Leicester Tigers), Carys Cox (Ealing Trailfinders), Nel Metcalfe (Gloucester-Hartpury), Seren Singleton (Brython Thunder)

Forwards: Gwenllian Pyrs (Sale Sharks), Maisie Davies (Exeter Chiefs), Katherine Baverstock (Leicester Tigers), Crystal James (Ealing Trailfinders), Shanelle Williams (Brython Thunder), Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning), Kelsey Jones (Sale Sharks), Elan Jones (Brython Thunder), Stella Orrin (Brython Thunder), Sisilia Tuipulotu (Harlequins), Gwen Crabb (Brython Thunder), Natalia John (Brython Thunder), Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder), Georgia Evans (Saracens), Alex Callender (Harlequins), Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning), Bethan Lewis (Bristol Bears), Alisha Joyce (Brython Thunder), Kate Williams (Gloucester-Hartpury), Jorja Aiono (Gloucester-Hartpury)