Callender to win 50th Wales cap as Metcalfe sisters start against Japan
Alex Callender will win her 50th cap for Wales in Saturday's WXV Global Series game against Japan in Tokyo, while sisters Nel and Branwen Metcalfe will make their first Test start together, the Welsh Rugby Union announced ahead of the match on 24 October at 10:30 BST.
Callender, who joined Harlequins in 2024, is co-captain with Amy Williams and is named to lead Wales in Tokyo at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium. Head coach Sean Lynn made three changes to the starting XV from September's narrow defeat by USA at Cardiff Arms Park, bringing Nel Metcalfe back on the wing, Seren Lockwood at scrum-half and Jorja Aiono into the second row; Carys Cox moves to centre and Keira Bevan starts at fly-half.
Callender won her first Wales cap in 2019 and reaches 50 after a return from injuries sustained before, during and after the 2025 World Cup; the 26-year-old returned in June's uncapped fixture against the Barbarians, was named player of the match against South Africa and scored against USA. "Whenever you talk about a Welsh person everything is about calon and passion - that's her in abundance," said Lynn. "Whenever she puts that jersey on she wears it with pride and wants to represent the nation. She galvanises this group incredibly, on the pitch and off it."
On Callender's playing development Lynn emphasised her expanding skill set. "Everybody has always seen Alex as a very passionate individual with phenomenal tackling and breakdown work," said the head coach. "But she has grown her game and is a really good operator in the line-out and the attack. "We've been trying to play her as a forward on the edges and she is excelling after working hard on her handling ability over pre-season. "We're looking to play an expansive game and having a back-row forward who is just like another back brings another dimension."
Keira Bevan returns to fly-half after her promising outing alongside Lockwood was curtailed when the scrum-half suffered a head injury against South Africa; the score was already 26-5 when the 19-year-old went off, which prompted the introduction of outside half Lleucu George. "They were super exciting in the first 30 minutes in South Africa game," said Lynn. "Keira just wants the ball in her hands, she wants to move the ball and her maturity with the kicking game is developing. "Her performance against USA as a scrum-half was very good as well but we saw the damage that Seren can do against South Africa, and also in the Barbarians fixture when she stood out."
Branwen and Nel Metcalfe both featured at the 2025 Rugby World Cup, with Branwen winning her first cap off the bench against Canada and the sisters having started the uncapped fixture against the Baa-Baas; Saturday will be their first Test start together. Branwen, 20, starts her sixth successive Test alongside Aiono, while Nel, 21, returns on the wing for her first cap since the World Cup after a knee injury forced her out of the Six Nations. "She was a shining light at the World Cup, which was tough for us," said Lynn. "Every time that she gets the ball, something will happen. She has got fitter, stronger and faster, and she's excited to go out there on Saturday."
Wales sit 11th in World Rugby's rankings, one place above Japan, who last month lost 55-21 to Italy and were beaten twice by Ireland, 31-24 in the WXV Global Series and 43-19 in an extra Test. "Japan ran Ireland close in the first Test and they are very efficient in what they do, very regimented," said Lynn, who has named six forwards among his replacements. The Wales starting XV is: Neumann; N Metcalfe, Cox, Bell, A Williams; Bevan, Lockwood; M Davies, K Jones, Tuipulotu, B Metcalfe, Aiono, K Williams (co-capt), Callender (co-capt), King. Replacements: Reardon, Pyrs, E Jones, Crabb, G Evans, B Lewis, George, Keight.
The match kicks off at 10:30 BST on Saturday, 24 October at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo and will be available live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, with audio commentary on Sounds, BBC Radio Wales Extra and BBC Radio Cymru.