Wales must back up win against Ireland, says Butchers
WALES star Alisha Butchers has urged her team to repeat their strong opening Six Nations win in Dublin when they face Scotland today (4.45pm) amid hopes the side’s success can be the catalyst for a better future for Welsh women’s rugby.
Bristol Bears flanker Butchers, 24, was named player of the match after the 27-19 rout of the Irish last Saturday, being at the centre of everything that was good about her side’s performance.
She is one of the 12 full-time contracted professionals who signed WRU contracts in January.
Butchers said: “We never once thought last weekend that we weren’t going to come away with the win,” she said of the opening-round victory, which ended Wales’ seven-game losing streak in the Six Nations.
“It was a change in mentality and a change in how we approached games.
“We’ve worked extremely hard on fitness. One of our main goals was to become physically better athletes and that’s exactly what we’ve done.
“In the autumn, last 20-30 minutes of games we’d be dropping off. We’ve shown that we can actually build through games. Before we went professional we’d have two evening sessions a week and then play on the weekend.
Ioan has now created an elite environment here where we’re able to grow and become better players every day.
“I do believe that win on Saturday was definitely needed and that the only way is up from here. We’re doing everything we can to change the sport.”
Butchers said: “The crowd is going to be unreal, I’m so excited about it. After Saturday it took us half an hour or an hour to say ‘we’ve done this now, but in seven days’ time we’re going to be facing a strong Scottish side,’ and good teams back it up.”
This tournament is the first standalone full round-robin Women’s Six Nations, and the back-rower is hopeful
Wales’ successful win, and hopefully an overall success campaign, will help to provide a springboard for a better future for Welsh women’s rugby.
“I hope this is the spark of a completely different future for women’s rugby in Wales,” she added. “We’re doing everything we can. We’re pushing ourselves every single day to be that group of people that changes the sport in the future in Wales.
“It’s great to have our own spotlight, and not be in the shadow of the men’s or the under-20s. Record-breaking crowds over the weekend and the amount of social media attention we’ve been having has only grown the game further and is a positive thing for the sport.”
Wales coach Ioan Cunningham has named an unchanged starting side and bench for the clash at Cardiff Arms Park. Wales: Kayleigh Powell; Lisa Neumann, Hannah Jones, Kerin Lake, Jasmine Joyce; Elinor Snowsill, Keira Bevan; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Cerys Hale, Natalia John, Gwen Crabb, Alisha Butchers, Alex Callender, Siwan Lillicrap (capt). Reps: Kelsey Jones, Cara Hope, Donna Rose, Sioned Harries, Bethan Lewis, Ffion Lewis, Robyn Wilkins, Sisilia Tuipulotu.