Wales need to play with smiles on faces - Cox

Women's Rugby World Cup 2025: Canada v Wales

Venue: Salford Community Stadium Date: Saturday, 30 August Kick-off: 12:00 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport online and app, Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and BBC Sounds

Wales centre Carys Cox says her side "need to play with smiles on faces" and embrace every moment of their Rugby World Cup experience.

Wales were left in tears after defeat by Scotland last weekend, a performance which Cox said left them "absolutely gutted".

"The most disappointing part was that we didn't show what we were capable of when it mattered most," she said.

Welsh hopes of making it out of Pool B now rest on beating Canada on Saturday, a side strongly fancied to challenge tournament favourites England for the title.

They must also rely on Fiji defeating Scotland in the later game in Salford.

It is a tall order, but Cox is one of seven starting changes to a side seeking redemption.

"We are proud Welsh women, we're always proud to put on that jersey, we just want to put on a good performance and show everyone what we're capable of," said Cox.

"We're going to give it absolutely everything, we're going to turn up for 80 minutes and we're going to put our heart into it."

Despite last weekend's humbling, Cox said it was important players continue to enjoy the experience of being part of the biggest ever women's World Cup.

"We need to play with smiles on faces, that's something our captains always say to us," she said.

"We play rugby because we enjoy it and we put a lot of hard work into it, so it would be absolutely criminal to go out to that pitch and not enjoy every moment you can.

"Hopefully we'll go out with smiles on faces and produce some good rugby at the weekend."

Cox, 26, is realising a childhood dream in making her World Cup debut.

"It's something that I've worked for since I was a child, so to be starting at a World Cup is something that I'm super proud of," she added.

"It means absolutely everything, I was saying to the majority of my family this is probably my longest held dream."