WELSH rugby boss Belinda Moore has defended the decision to prepare for the 2025 Women’s World Cup in England on the other side of the world.

Wales travel Down Under on Thursday for a two-Test series against Australia, with matches in Brisbane on July 26 and Sydney on August 1.

Sean Lynn’s squad will have clocked up 20,000 air miles before returning for their tournament opener against Scotland in Salford on August 23 — a contest crucial as far as qualification for the knock-out stages is concerned with world number two-ranked Canada in their pool.

Moore said the decision to prepare for the World Cup in Australia was taken before her appointment as head of women’s rugby in Wales in January, but insisted there are positive factors to the exhausting trip.

“This is part of a reciprocal arrangement as Australia came here before WXV on their way to South Africa,” Moore said as Wales’ World Cup kit was unveiled in Carmarthenshire.

“We covered the hosting costs there and we have to go to camp somewhere, so this is cost-effective, oddly.

“It gives us a chance to play a team ranked two or three places above us who are going to provide stern opposition, and see how much the work we have put in has paid off.

“We’ve got two really strong matches and a three-week block in camp. There will be a good training environment with the Australians giving us good facilities.

“We get back early in August three weeks ahead of the tournament. Southern hemisphere teams are coming over later than that and no-one’s suggesting New Zealand won’t be ready to play.

“We’re back in time for full recovery and we’ll be ready for the World Cup when it comes.”

Women’s rugby in Wales has been in turmoil in recent years, despite the Welsh Rugby Union handing out its first professional contracts to female players in 2022.

The WRU faced a series of allegations and scandals relating to the treatment of its women’s national team, including claims of sexism and misogyny.

WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood and chief executive Abi Tierney apologised last autumn over the way contract negotiations were conducted with the national women’s squad.

Players had been threatened with withdrawal from WXV2 and the 2025 World Cup if they did not agree to a “final offer” ultimatum within a three-hour deadline.

Moore said: “We’re absolutely looking forward to the future. Do I think the team is in a better place? Yes. 100 per cent.

“The feedback I get from the players is positive and these are all steps in the right direction.”

Wales finished bottom of the Six Nations for the second successive season in April, losing all five matches in the tournament for the first time.

Asked whether Wales’ World Cup objective was to get out of the group, Moore said: “If we put in performances in all three matches that we are incredibly proud of, given where we were in the Six Nations, that’s a massive step forward.

“It’s always dangerous to put targets on things because you’re then setting the team up for failure.

“We had a tough Six Nations and the players were really honest in our review. We didn’t do ourselves as proud as we would have wanted.

“The World Cup is an opportunity. Results always matter, but let’s focus on the performance.”