It’s not a new story, a national side’s fortunes can go up and down. At the Stoop In 2020 I recall Siwan Lillicrap looking distraught as she faced a battery of reporters, asking her opinion of the latest Welsh perfomance (7-66) – alternating in two languages.
The neutral observer could only sympathise with her. The team simply wasn’t being given the support they had a right to expect.
It was a similar story for Hannah Jones after the recent Ireland match. A convincing win 31-5 in 2023 had dissolved into a 36-5 loss in 2024. Post-match she was disarmingly honest, saying the team simply wasn’t playing well enough.
In the four years between those two interviews, Cymru seemed to be on the mend; contracts were in place, board membership was changed radically, twice they came third in the Six Nations and qualified for WXV1. Who could want more? Well, supporters who were half expecting three wins out of three in New Zealand could. It now transpires that the experience of mixing it with the top dogs in the kennel (Australia, Canada, New Zealand) was not a recipe for ongoing success.
Public Property
The women’s game has become public property as never before. So opinions have been thrown at the Welsh team and management from all corners.
The weaknesses of Welsh rugby affect far more than the women’s team alone. The WRU is suffering from a lack of funding that is seen as due to unwise governance at the top. Men are leaving their national side in droves for a better paid future abroad.
For the women the lack of a strong home-based league is a central issue. Ioan Cunningham, himself under fire, has said he has told the board that a strong reformed league is an urgent priority. It is a nonsense that nearly all Cymru’s best players have to play abroad (that is, in England) to achieve the playing standards they know they need. Even with the best will in the world, this sensible move cannot mature for a long while.
The terms offered to the test players would need to be more enticing than what they are already receiving across the bridge – and that is not necessarily a fortune.
Younger players, not spotted or required by PWR clubs, are left in a wilderness. Calling Gwennan Hopkins, Molly Reardon and Sian Jones on to the bench (Jones started against England) for a 6N match is asking a great deal. Where do they learn their trade? Under the present set-up they have the brief Celtic Challenge programme and the Under 20s. That they have achieved so much against the big guns is a great credit to them, but it’s an unequal challenge.
In his defence Cunningham makes the contrast between his squad and England and France; the public shouldn’t expect too much. But the public responds by questioning their performances against Ireland and Scotland, who are in a very similar position to them.
Next on the schedule come France, whom they haven’t beaten since 2016. Then the crunch will come with another home game against Italy. If they fail to beat them, it will mean a wooden spoon to match the one gained by their menfolk in their 2024 Six Nations.
Others have phrased the position more pithily than me. Walesonline’s headline reads: ‘Wales Women heading for Six Nations disaster.’ I’m not sure that will help to fill the players’ sails.
