Wales back each other 100%, says lock Evans

WALES lock Georgia Evans says she and her team-mates “back each other 100%” after Saturday’s hugely disappointing defeat to Scotland.

Wales were beaten 20-18 in their Women’s Six Nations opener having missed the opportunity to draw with a final conversion.

Individuals were later called out on social media, but Evans said Wales take their criticism as a team.

“We’ll always stick together as one, there are no I’s,” she said.

“That’s what we’re taking from that game... we win and we learn together.

“We’ve got to take those lessons on the chin and put them right.”

Lleucu George had come in for some criticism after missing a relatively straightforward conversion after Alex Callender’s 79th minute try.

Head coach Ioan Cunningham’s decision to bring debutant Sian Jones on in place of regular goal-kicker Keira Bevan in the dying minutes also raised a few questions, especially after Jones kicked the ball dead with the clock in the red.

And while Evans agrees the Welsh players should be held to a higher standard now they are a professional outfit, she was quick to defend her team.

“People can criticise, it’s everybody’s right to have an opinion, but most of those people haven’t stepped foot on an international stage and haven’t worn the jersey,” she said.

“What we’re doing is pretty special, we have earned the right to be here and criticism is part and parcel of playing on the international stage.

“We have to be able to take that to toughen ourselves. We focus on ourselves and we want to make sure we’re doing right by each other and not listening to that outside noise.”

Wales face defending Grand Slam champions England in round two.

The Red Roses began their campaign with a 25th successive win over Italy, but while Wales are clear underdogs Evans says there is no lack of motivation.

“I don’t think any Welsh side needs a push to get excited for the England game,” she said.

“It is always a battle, when we’re against them it’s exactly the same rivalry as the men. We’re just across the border from each other.

“The loss has made us hungrier, we know that we’ve got a lot of wrongs to right and we know that individually we have to perform better to be able to put a competitive performance in.”