By Hannah Blackwell
Wales wing Lisa Neumann reckons England will prove the acid test for unbeaten Wales in Saturday’s sell-out TikTok Women’s Six Nations clash.
Two games played, two bonus point wins and 10 points – that’s the record of both teams to date ahead of the Cardiff Arms Park clash.
England lead the table thanks to a superior try count and points difference, but whoever wins the Anglo-Welsh clash will be out in front in the battle to win the title. France are also unbeaten, on nine points, but don’t play their round three match against Scotland until Sunday.
“Every time we come up against England, we know it’s going to be a huge physical challenge. They are one of the best teams in the world,” said Neumann.
“This is going to be a test for us to see where we are in our second year of professionalism. For us, it is all about closing the gap on England and we are excited by the prospect of seeing if we have done that.”
There was optimism last year when Wales went into this fixture. Like now, Ioan Cunningham’s team had won their opening two games but at Kingsholm they crashed to a 58-5, 10 tries to one outcome that saw the Red Roses take another step towards a Grand Slam.
https://twitter.com/WelshRugbyUnion/status/1386009553045803010?s=20
The England team went pro in 2018 and are ahead of the curve in that sense compared to their Celtic cousins. They also have far greater playing resources, although the Allianz Premier15s is full of Welsh players who week in, week out show themselves to be the match for some of the most accomplished of professionals in the game.
“We aren’t as physically big as the English side, but technically and tactically we hope to come through. What we lack in size we more than make up for in heart and mentality,” said Wales back rower, Beth Lewis.
“We have built up momentum in the opening two rounds and we want to build on that against England. We are all confident in our roles and we can’t wait for the challenge,” said Lewis.
Lewis is one of 14 Welsh players who play for Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier15s, and she shares a house with the England centre Tatyana Heard. Heard helped Cardiff Met win the BUCS title in 2016 and also played for Pontyclun Falcons during her time in Wales.
Club and house mates they may be, but the channels of communication have been down since the tournament started.
Premier 15s: Gloucester-Hartpury beat Harlequins to stay top; Exeter defeat Bristol – https://t.co/GjzdCRDM9p{
Wales international flanker Bethan Lewis scored one of Gloucester-Hartpury's four first-half tries against HarlequinsGloucester-Hartpury maintained their 100% winnin… pic.twitter.com/MJU9CkE3MC— Eric Thompson (@isearch247) January 22, 2023
“We have had professional contracts for just over a year now, but we are realistic in our goals,” adds Lewis.
“They have allowed us to spend more time together as a team, have more recovery time and delve deep into analysis.
“We won’t be looking at this game any differently to any other, the process will stay the same. The win in 2015 has been mentioned a few times in the build-up and we all know we have to front up and take the challenge to them.”
Once again, the Triple Crown is up for grabs for Wales and a third win over the English would bridge a gap between their last success in 2015 and today.
There have only been two wins over England in the past, in 2009 and 2015.
2023 TikTok Six Nations – Results To Date
ROUND 1
WALES 31 (26) – (0) 5 IRELAND
ENGLAND 58 (31) – (0) 7 SCOTLAND
ITALY 12 (7) – (15) 22 FRANCE
ROUND 2
IRELAND 3 (3) – (27) 53 FRANCE
SCOTLAND 22 (10) – (12) 34 WALES
ENGLAND 68 (27) – (5) 5 ITALY
ROUND 3
WALES v ENGLAND – Cardiff Arms Park
ITALY v IRELAND – Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
FRANCE v SCOTLAND – Stade de la Rabine
