We need a complete display to put a stop England, says coach
WALES attack coach Richard Whiffin says he wants to see his side dig in for the full 80 minutes when they take on England in the Tiktok Women’s Six Nations.
Wales go into today’s showdown in Gloucester (4.45pm) unbeaten and will be looking to win three games in one Championship for the first time since 2009, having beaten Ireland 27-19 in Round 1 and Scotland 24-19 in Round 2.
But they know they will have to do something special to stop Simon Middleton’s England, who are currently leading the pack after scoring 21 tries in a 57-5 win against Scotland and 74-0 win against Parma.
And Whiffin said: “Realistically, we want to see an 80-minute performance.
“We have seen bit parts in the first couple of games, and we want to trouble England with the ball.
“They have been comfortable defensively, so we have got a few little options that we think we can hurt them with.
“From an attack point of view, we want to trouble them with the ball, but defensively we need to work harder.
“If we can try and get the fast starts that we had in the Autumn and the strong finishes that we’ve had in the two Six Nations games, we will put the 80-minute performance that we’re after together.
“We are focussing on performance really and looking to improve from the autumn.
“Against England, we know it is going to be a tough challenge, but it is about us trying to execute our game plan and our process as best we can.
“We need to frustrate England and give them something to worry about that they haven’t had in the last two matches.”
History was made as the Welsh Rugby Union named its first 12 full-time professional players back in January.
But England Women players were handed 28 full-time professional contracts by the RFU three years prior in 2019.
Whiffin believes they are now reaping the rewards for leading the way, added: “It is hard to quantify how much the gulf is, but obviously, I think you can see the difference that the length of their professional contracts has brought about.
“They have been pro for a number of years, and their ability and training hours with the coaches through that period has resulted in an increase in their athletic ability.
“But it has also grown their depth, and you can see in the first two games, they have almost managed to play two different teams without seeing a change in performance.
“They have got a strong group that they can call on - I think the gulf with the other nations is about us and the other teams growing more depth and increasing the athletic ability of our squads so we can compete with them.”
For Wales, Donna Rose starts at loosehead prop after an impressive display off the bench against Ireland where she scored two tries and Sisilia Tuipulotu has been handed her first international start at lock.
In the back-row, Sioned Harries - player of the match and tryscorer against Scotland - comes in at No.8 after two strong cameos off the bench, meaning captain Siwan Lillicrap moves over to the blindside flank and Alisha Butchers shifts to openside flanker.
Robyn Wilkins and Ffion Lewis, pictured left, who sealed Wales’ win last time out with a 76thminute try, are the starting halfbacks as Elinor Snowsill and
Keira Bevan are named on the bench. England: Abby Dow; Jess Breach, Emily Scarratt, Helena Rowland, Sarah Mckenna; Zoe Harrison, Lucy Packer; Vickii Cornborough, Lark Davies, Sarah Bern, Poppy Cleall, Abbie Ward, Alex Matthews, Marlie Packer, Sarah Hunter. Reps: Connie Powell, Maud Muir, Shaunagh Brown, Rosie Galligan, Vicky Fleetwood, Natasha Hunt, Amber Reed, Ellie Kildunne. Wales: Kayleigh Powell; Lisa Neumann, Hannah Jones, Kerin
Lake, Jasmine Joyce; Robyn Wilkins, Ffion Lewis; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Donna Rose, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Gwen Crabb, Siwan Lillicrap, Alisha Butchers, Sioned Harries. Reps: Kelsey Jones, Cara Hope, Cerys Hale, Alex Callender, Bethan Lewis, Keira Bevan, Elinor Snowsill, Natalia John. ■■The Tiktok Women’s Six Nations is more accessible than ever before. To find out how you can watch the Women’s Championship visit: womens. sixnationsrugby.com/tv/