Sioned Harries admitted Wales’ women have a tough week ahead after a crushing 63-0 whitewash by England at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Scarlets back-row forward said the squad will have to pick themselves up before facing Scotland in their next Six Nations clash.
Rowland Phillips suffered his first defeat as coach as the reigning world champions produced a masterclass on Saturday.
Harries admitted: “No-one would have predicted this. The main thing now is to keep our heads up and look forward to Scotland.
“Next week is going to be tough for us to put our wrongs right.
“We have got to put this behind us and focus on Scotland.
“Rugby is a game played on the day and today it fell perfectly to England.
“There were positives. We powered on through to the end and our heart, when things went wrong we just kept going.
“We have to acknowledge that we played against a world class team and to get to the same levels as them we are going to have to work hard.
“For some of the girls, this is their first taste of international rugby and it could be enough to break hearts.
“I know it has a couple, but the main message is to keep our heads high and move forward.
“We cannot use as an excuse that they are a fully professional side.
“The maturity and the experience in their play, how often they play together, shone through.”
Welsh spirit was high after the victory over Italy in the opening game, but up against the fully-professional Red Rose it was difficukt right from the start.
Lydia Thompson’s hat-trick helped England to a total of 11 tries and a bonus-point victory which puts them top of the table.
In their first Six Nations game back in the Welsh capital, a crowd of 4,113 was fully behind the home side despite an early 11.30am kick-off time.
But a fast start from the visitors saw them make the most of space in the wide channels and score three quick tries. It allowed them to quickly stamp their mark on the encounter.
Amy Wilson Hardy, hooker and namesake Cokayne and scrum-half Natasha Hunt all crossed for tries inside the first quarter, with centre Emily Scarratt booting two of the three conversions.
Head coach Phillips would have been disappointed with Wales’ failure to stop England in the wide channels, but the visitors deserved a great deal of credit for the way they moved the ball across the field.
Thompson scored their fourth try to seal the bonus point and Katy McLean and Sarah Hunter added two more scores before the break.
Fly-half McLean dotted down in the corner, while No 8 and captain Hunter emerged with the ball over the line following a driving line-out.
Wales had struggled to implement any form of attacking game plan in the first period, spending almost the entire 40 minutes focusing solely on defence.
Phillips’ side weren’t helped by losing full-back Dyddgu Hywel and back-rower Rachel Taylor to injury at the start of the second half, leaving them without two of their most experienced campaigners.
It meant replacements were necessary, with Wales quickly emptying their bench after the break to try and breathe new life into their challenge.
Sadly, England’s tries kept coming.
Wing Thompson added her second and two quick tries from impressive full-back Danielle Waterman took the visitors past the 50-point mark.
Wilson Hardy was next to cross and Thompson then completed her treble to wrap up the scoring.
Wales finished the game the stronger of the two teams, which was a credit to the fitness of their side.
But they were kept out by England’s defence, with Wales’ attentions now turning to the trip to Scotland’s Broadwood Stadium on Friday, February 24.
