Wales Women’s head coach Rhys Edwards has stuck to a winning formula by naming an unchanged starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against England at Twickenham Stoop.
There is only one change from the side which defeated France at the Gnoll, with Mel Clay replacing Jenny Hawkins on the substitute’s bench.
“We had a specific game plan against France, which worked well with the selections we made. It’s the same case for England. England are a similar proposition to France – they are very strong up front, very well coached and well organised,” said Edwards.
“We didn’t have much possession against France – this is something we are looking forward to improving, and give our backs the opportunity to show what they are capable of against England. It’s important that we don’t get carried away with the result last week, and focus on the next challenge. The win against France was the result of good preparation, hard work and belief. This weekend can’t be any different!
“Going in to the championship it was always our target to beat England away, as we have never achieved this in the past. We have taken confidence from our result last year in St Helens, and the way we have developed this year. We’ve shown that when we perform we can compete against anyone. We now have to be confident that if we focus on our own processes we can beat anyone,” added Edwards.
Wales Women v England, at Twickenham Stoop, Saturday 12 March, KO 6.05pm
15 Dyddgu Hywel (Scarlets / Pontyclun)
14 Bethan Dainton (Dragons / Bristol)
13 Hannah Jones (Scarlets / Penybanc)
12 Robyn Wilkins (Ospreys / Llandaff North)
11 Elen Evans (Scarlets / Caernarfon)
10 Elinor Snowsill (Dragons / Bristol)
9 Keira Bevan (Ospreys / Skewen);
1 Catrin Edwards (Scarlets / Llandaff North)
2 Carys Phillips (Ospreys / Skewen)
3 Megan York (Dragons / Ynysddu)
4 Rebecca Rowe (Dragons / Richmond)
5 Shona Powell-Hughes (Ospreys / Skewen)
6 Rachel Taylor (Dragons / Caernarfon – Captain)
7 Sian Williams (Dragons / Worcester)
8 Alisha Butchers (Scarlets / Penybanc)
Replacements:
16 Amy Price (Ospreys / Skewen)
17 Cerys Hale (Dragons / Pontyclun)
18 Amy Evans (Ospreys / Skewen)
19 Siwan Lillicrap (Ospreys / Skewen)
20 Gemma Rowland (Dragons / Wasps)
21 Mel Clay (Ospreys / Pencoed)
22 Kerin Lake (Ospreys / Skewen)
23 Adi Taviner (Ospreys / Skewen)
Header photo shows Bethan Dainton of Wales showing a clean pair of heels to the French defence.
Report courtesy of WRU via RBS 6 Nations
