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

Lynn's squad has taken a battering during pre-season, with Donna Rose, 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?"