WALES are boosted by the return of captain Hannah Jones for their WXV2 opener against Australia in Cape Town but powerhouse prop Sisilia Tuipulotu misses out because of a visa 'oversight'.

Ioan Cunningham’s side head into Saturday’s clash at DHL Stadium (kick-off 11.30am) in high spirits after edging out the Wallaroos in a classic at Rodney Parade last weekend.

However, they have suffered a blow with Gwent tighthead Tuipulotu “unavailable for selection due to an administrative oversight regarding her visa”.

Donna Rose starts in the 3 jersey in the strong-running prop’s absence with uncapped Jenni Scoble on the bench.

Keira Bevan captains the side for the third time and leads a side made up of the bulk of the squad that recorded a historic first win over the Aussies in Newport.

Normal skipper Jones is back from injury but the centre has to be content with a place on the bench.

Experienced hooker Carys Phillips returns to the front row, alongside props Gwenllian Pyrs and Rose. Natalia John and Georgia Evans are selected at second row.

Flanker Alisha Butchers joins Kate Williams and Bethan Lewis in the backrow.

Bevan partners fly half Lleucu George at half-back, with experienced centre Kerin Lake and Carys Cox in the Welsh midfield.

Jenny Hesketh, Jasmine Joyce and Nel Metcalfe form an exciting back three for Wales against the Wallaroos.

Head coach Cunningham said: “This selection shows we are starting to build the competition for places and the strength in depth that we need as a squad.

“Australia will be hurting after our first historic win at Rodney Parade, and we expect them to come out firing and with a point to prove in Cape Town.

“We can take confidence from the performance last time out and we will need to show the same calmness and composure against one of the top six teams in the world.

“We welcome back Hannah Jones and Alex Callender back into the matchday squad and the fact we can introduce them off the bench shows the depth we are building.

“While Sisilia was unavailable for selection, Donna Rose has been pushing for selection and deserves this opportunity.

“All the players know international rugby is about the whole squad and we expect them to fulfil their roles and make an impact in what we expect to be an intense Test match.

“We are an ambitious group of players, coaches and staff and WXV2 is the first real test of where we stand in an exciting and demanding season.”

The Wallaroos beat Wales 25-19 in the inaugural WXV and are hunting revenge after their last-gasp loss at Rodney Parade.

“We get the opportunity of playing them again the week after so it's like a quick turnaround in a new country with no home advantage,” said back rower Tabua Tuinakauvadra.

“It’s really like another clean slate and we're ready to throw everything at them this time around,"

“I think once we take the discipline issues out of our game, it'll be a whole new team and we can really get the ball rolling in terms of the game that we want to play and the style that we've been training as soon as we just rid those silly penalties."

Wales kick off against the Aussies then face Italy on Friday, October 4 and Japan seven days later, with both those games kicking off at 3pm at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.

Wales: Jenny Hesketh, Jasmine Joyce, Carys Cox, Kerin Lake, Nel Metcalfe, Lleucu George, Keira Bevan (captain); Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Donna Rose, Natalia John, Georgia Evans, Alisha Butchers, Kate Williams, Bethan Lewis.

Replacements: Molly Reardon, Abbey Constable, Jenni Scoble, Abbie Fleming, Alex Callender, Sian Jones, Kayleigh Powell, Hannah Jones.