When up-and-coming Welsh second-row Tilly Vucaj received a phone call from Sean Lynn in late May to tell her that she was in the 45-strong extended national team training squad she thought he had rung her by accident.
But it was no accident as head coach Lynn had been impressed by what he had seen from her while she was playing with Wales under-18 at the end of the 2023/24 season and during 2024/25 while she was turning out for Hartpury and Gwalia Lightning.
Fast forward a few weeks and Lynn and his wider coaching team have been even more impressed with 19-year-old Vucaj having worked with her up close during the recent training block and that has seen her picked for the tour to Australia.
Along with fellow uncapped players Katherine Baverstock and Seren Lockwood, Vucaj is part of the 30-strong squad heading down under and she will look to make her debut against the Wallaroos on July 26 or August 1 and then push on for Rugby World Cup selection, a tournament which sees her country open against Scotland on August 23.
And while Vucaj is excited just now, her mum is even more excited given that she is her biggest supporter.
“When Sean called me about the opportunity to link up with the wider Wales squad a few weeks ago now I genuinely thought he had called me by accident,” Vucaj explained.
“As soon as I realised it wasn’t an accident, I calmed myself down after the call and then I called my mum and she was so excited, we were both over the moon.
“She has been my biggest supporter ever since I took up the sport as a youngster so to hear how happy she was made me happy too.
“Coming into camp for the first time was a bit surreal to be honest. Obviously, I know a lot of the players from Celtic Challenge and things like that, but to be a part of the squad took a little bit of getting used to.
“Straight away though Sean and the other coaches along with the senior players made us feel really welcome and not like newbies and that put me at ease and I just got my head down and started training hard.
“Being in this environment has been great for me. As a young player you are always learning and as a second-row you are always learning so this has been the best place for me to do that for sure.”
Vucaj was born in Surrey, but moved to Wales where her mum is from and began her rugby journey aged seven at Gwernyfed RFC in Talgarth near Brecon and in the Minis section was playing in mixed teams with the boys.
Then, around age 10, came the opportunity to join the Red Kites – the South Powys female rugby hub for players up to the age of 18 – and it was there that here love for the game was solidified.
“The Red Kites was really great fun and I played there up until the under-18s and have a lot of people to thank who are involved there for where I have got to now with my rugby,” she said.
“Obviously when you are growing up there are lots of other sports and activities on offer too, but rugby and the physicality of it always captured my interest and I was always pretty tall so I think second-row was always going to be my calling!
“The Red Kites led to me getting an opportunity with Cardiff at under-18 level and that was another step up, but I enjoyed it and it led me on to being picked for the Wales under-18s.”
Vucaj, by that stage studying at Hartpury College, was part of the under-18 squad at the 2024 Six Nations Festival which was held in Colwyn Bay and it was a special moment for her representing her country on home turf, especially with her mum cheering on from the stands.
She also had to deal with a hamstring injury in that season, but in the campaign just gone she went from strength-to-strength and played BUCS Super Rugby for Hartpury and them, after a taste of things with Gwalia the year before, was more regularly involved with in the Celtic Challenge this time around.
“I think the season just gone has given me quite a bit of confidence because I managed to get a lot of minutes under my belt in different environments,” Vucaj concluded.
“At the end of the season I was expecting to be a part of the under-20 squad that is currently playing in the Six Nations Women’s Summer Series in Wales, but then Sean’s phone call came and here we are.
“It is a really exciting time to be a young female rugby player in Wales because Sean wants to give young players a chance and I just have to keep on learning and taking in these experiences and see where it takes me.”
Tilly Vucaj is pictured training with Wales – thanks to the WRU
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