The gap between England and the five other nations has widened, but the competition for places intensifies. First, the three Celtic nations. They share much in common: a past neglect by their unions that amounted almost to contempt, a belated reaction, the introduction of the Celtic Challenge, and, in Ireland’s case, a change of management.
Cymru v Italy This was the start of a thrilling three-act play. For once the soupy title “Super Saturday” lived up to its billing. Lucia Gai appeared first, to celebrate a well-deserved 100 caps. Two early box-kicks didn’t bode well, and as we look back with hindsight, we can see that the game was more
Wales v France It was do-or-die time for the Welsh. I hesitate to cast blame in one direction, but I feel the coaches have a lot to answer for. Why were the backs so limited in their attacking options? Why did players mass close to the breakdown without any obvious plan for exploiting the next
Wales v France – Preview Sunday 21 April, Cardiff Arms Park Teams are shown below The alarming prospect for Wales is a drop from WXV1 to WXV3 within one year. That is the reality of their current position. They face France at home in Cardiff, a game they can only dream of winning. Then a
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
Ireland v Wales The most remarkable of all the results so far. Ireland played like souls possessed, to leave the Welsh looking distraught. Scott Bemand’s side showed a conviction and fluency we haven’t seen in a long while. Their last win, back in WXV3, was a hard-fought slog. This one – for most of the
Round Two Saturday Games There are two Saturday games this weekend Scotland v France, The Hive, Edinburgh; KO 14.15 Teams Scotland 15 Meryl Smith 14 Rhona Lloyd 13 Emma Orr 12 Lisa Thomson 11 Coreen Grant 10 Helen Nelson 9 Caity Mattinson 1 Leah Bartlett 2 Elis Martin 3 Christine Belisle 4 Emma Wassell 5
University of Bath sporting scholar Jenny Hesketh became the latest student to make her senior international debut this season when she started for Wales in their Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener against Scotland. The Sports Management and Coaching student, who is supported by a Trendell Sports Scholarship, played the full 80 minutes at full-back as
Six Nations – Round One This was the game that would tell us so much about the way the 6N was heading. The Scots hadn’t beaten the Welsh on Welsh soil for 20 years, and a large crowd turned out hoping to see them fail again. They cheered when Keira Bevan struck an early penalty
The one big surprise in Ioan Cunningam’s choice of 47 players to bid for a place in the final 6N squad is Jenny Hesketh, who despite having captained England’s Under 20s side and playing for Bristol Bears, has every right to play for Cymru; she has a Welsh mother. She offers a pattern that we
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