Wales team bus involved in road traffic collision day before game against France
WREXHAM, WALES - 25 FEBRUARY 2025: a general view of the ST?K Cae Ras prior to the UEFA Womens Nations League, Group A4 match between Wales and Sweden at the ST?K Cae Ras in Wrexham on the 25th February 2025. (Pic by Ashley Crowden/FAW)
Wales’ team bus has been involved in a road traffic collision a day before they face France in their second game of Euro 2025.
Wales were due to do their training session at the Arena St. Gallen at 4:45pm local time, but at the start of their press conference, the FAW said the team bus had been involved in a road traffic collision on its way to the ground.
Thankfully, all players and staff on the team bus are ok. The scheduled training session at the ground was cancelled, but the FAW confirmed that the team will do their training at their training base in Weinfelden.
Manager Rhian Wilkinson and Angharad James were travelling in a different vehicle at the time of the collision, and the manager provided an update on what was going on.
“This is really developing right now so we’re trying to be as clear and transparent as possible. I think everyone from all the reports are ok. Our priority is to get them all away from the scene and reassess.
“We’ve got great staff and great support for them, and we will be checking in to continue to make sure they’re ok and also, just as importantly, make sure everyone in the other car is ok as well.
“Football is secondary. We are shaken because we’re away from the team right now and they’ve have had to experience that. Equally, I’ve been reassured that everyone is fine.
“We’ve practiced for the unexpected, that’s what we can call this, but we will check back in, make sure everyone is in a good spot.”
Wilkinson also praised UEFA for how they’ve helped Wales in the aftermath of the collision.
“UEFA has been brilliant. The incident happened literally as we were walking into the stadium. Angharad and I were in the media vehicle and then the rest of the team were near our hotel which is pretty far from the stadium.
“The first thing we wanted to do as staff was getting them away from the scene and get them back to a place where they can all be together. We’ve been in constant communication with the staff on the bus but equally the other vehicle.
“It’s not about overreacting. We need to make sure we’ve got the players together and have the right people around them to make decisions. What does our match prep look like? We will find out how our team is first.”
How Wales will transform after Euro 2025
France test
To talk about football after such an incident does feel ridiculous, but Wales have a very important game against France tomorrow night.
Wales were defeated in their first game of Euro 2025 against The Netherlands, but captain Angharad James says the team know what to expect from tournament football now after their opening game.
“Emotions were obviously high in the first game. We had waited a very long time for that moment, and the fans were unreal. To run out of the tunnel and experience that was something a lot of maybe hadn’t experienced before.
“Now we know what to expect, now we know what’s in front of us. We’ve got two big games left, with France being the first challenge.”
Opponents France defeated England in their opening game, stretching their run to eight consecutive wins.
Wilkinson was full of praise for Laurent Bonadei’s team, saying their depth is something that not many nations can match.
“France are a fantastic team with incredible depth. To not pick someone like Wendie Renard shows how strong the player pool is. France have been developing so much in the game and been at the head of the game for a long time.
“It’s been really interesting to study them, and for us as a staff, it’s about how do we set ourselves to nullify their threats but also give ourselves opportunities.”
However, Wales have come close against France before.
Despite losing both games in their qualification campaign for the 2023 World Cup, Wales gave the French two very stern tests and could perhaps call themselves unlucky not to get anything from the games.
James says that, despite three years passing since those matches, Wales know how to get at this French team.
“We spoke about it briefly this morning that we learn from past games, but three years has gone by and we’re a different side. We’ve come on leaps and bounds since the last time we played France.
“We know the areas to exploit in their team; we’ve adapted slightly to suit our gameplan and how we can get after them and get a result. We were very close last time but we learned a lot. To get so close is frustrating, but we know we can hurt them if we’re at our best.”
