USA defeated Wales in an entertaining WXV match at Cardiff Arms Park, with number eight Freda Tafuna scoring a hat-trick. The result extended the Eagles’ winning run to three matches and underlined their emergence as a leading women’s side, while Wales’ promising campaign suffered a setback after their strong victory over South Africa.

Tafuna scored three times and Erica Coulibaly also crossed for USA, while Wales replied through Keira Bevan, Kelsey Jones, Sisilia Tuipulotu and Alex Callender. Wales led at half-time, but USA dominated the second half as Welsh handling errors and weaknesses at scrum and line-out undermined their challenge in front of 3,367 spectators. USA will next face Italy and England at home, while Wales travel to Japan next month.