England Women may be firm favourites, but Wales backs coach Dan Cottrell is hoping to cause the Six Nations favourites a few headaches at Esher on Saturday (KO 7pm).
A confident Cottrell says Wales are looking to take England head on and not back down on a side who are on top of their game after beating New Zealand earlier in the season at Twickenham.
“I think there is a quiet confidence in the side,” said Cottrell. “The girls have trained well, we are better prepared than in previous years and things are starting to come together. We need to get going, we’re desperate to play and having England first up is a fantastic start.
“There’s no doubt it is going to be a tough challenge. England are on the up from their New Zealand victory but we beat them last year in the Six Nations and we think there may be a couple of weaknesses in the team we can exploit.”
Wales will field a settled side with winger Caryl James the only player in the starting XV yet to experience Six Nations action. Last season’s Triple Crown victors are once again setting their sights high for this season.
“We want to win it (the Six Nations), we’re going in to every game with the intention of winning it because we know we will have to do that in the World Cup. Everyone knows momentum is key,” added Cottrell.
“We very excited about the championship. We’re lucky we’ve got a bigger pool to choose from and we have got some very exciting young players coming through who are pushing for players. Hopefully we’ve got something a little extra up our sleeves which can cause a few people a few headaches.”
Wales Women (v England, Esher RFC, Saturday 6th Feb, 7pm KO)
15 Non Evans – Cardiff Quins
14 Aimee Young – UWIC
13 Naomi Thomas – Cardiff Quins
12 Clare Flowers – Bristol Ladies
11 Caryl James – Cardiff Quins
10 Awen Thomas – Unattached
9 Amy Day – Bristol Ladies
1 Catrin Edwards – Cardiff Quins
2 Jenny Davies – Waterloo
3 Hannah Roberts – UWIC
4 Gemma Hallett – Pontyclun
5 Rachel Taylor – Cardiff Quins
6 Catrina Nicholas – Cardiff Quins
8 Mellissa Berry – Blaydon (captain)
7 Jamie Kift – Bristol Ladies
Substitutes
16 Clare Horgan (Saracens) 17 Becky Newton (Cardiff Quins) 18 Claire Donovan (Saracens) 19 Louise Horgan (Saracens) 20 Laura Prosser (Cardiff Quins) 21 Elinor Snowsill (Loughborough) 22 Ceri Redman (UWIC).
