Women's Six Nations: Gwenllian Pyrs backs Wales to build on positives in France clash after England loss
BySportsbeat
Updated 21/04/2023 at 07:25 GMT
Wales are two wins from three in the Women's Six Nations Championship after defeat to England in Round 3. A 59-3 defeat to the Red Roses looked a wider gap than it was, with Wales troubling their opponents in the early stages of the match. "We definitely rattled them for about 25 minutes, but we need to keep that up for the full game and not just for spells," prop Gwenllian Pyrs said.
Holly Aitchison of England is tackled by Bethan Lewis and Gwenllian Pyrs of Wales during the TikTok Women's Six Nations match between Wales and England at Cardiff Arms Park on April 15, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales.
Image credit: Getty Images
Gwenllian Pyrs believes Wales can take confidence from the way they took the battle to England as they prepare for another tough TikTok Women's Six Nations clash against France.
Wales were in front for much of the first half against the Red Roses, who have won each of the last five TikTok Women's Six Nations Championships, before a late flurry saw the visitors take a 17-3 lead in at the break.
The home side were causing England problems rarely seen in the Championship in recent years on both sides of the ball and especially in the scrum, with Pyrs making her mark against one of the best front rows in the world.
A second-half surge saw England ultimately run out 59-3 winners but now all attention turn to the Round 4 fixture with Les Bleus, with the prop hoping her side can put their lessons from Saturday into practice.
She said: "We have reviewed the game and we are just looking forward to France now, concentrating on that and how we can get better.
"There were a lot of positives. In the first 25 minutes we were 3-0 up, we definitely rattled them for about 25 minutes, but we need to keep that up for the full game and not just for spells.
"We worked on our scrums in the week before that game, which are one of our strong points, so we wanted to take that to them and we felt like we did that well. I don't think England lost a scrum before our game, so that was pleasing.
"Now our focus is France. We played well against Scotland and Ireland, so we just want to try and keep our heads up and go again."
Such has been the progress and exposure of the Wales side that there was a bumper crowd of 8,862 at Cardiff Arms Park, producing an atmosphere that reflected the quality rugby on the field.
This week Wales will travel to the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble to experience the famous French atmosphere and after getting a taste of a big crowd last week, Pyrs is relishing the prospect of something similar on Sunday.
She added: "It was amazing, we haven't had crowds like that at home before. The crowds definitely kept us going in the first half, and that is credit to them as well.
"I just want to thank them for coming and supporting us and hopefully we will get big crowds again in future.
"I have heard about the French crowd but I have never played in front of one myself - it will definitely add to the challenge.
"But it is going to be a good atmosphere again for us and it is a really exciting game for us to play as well."
Wales' target pre-Championship was clear - to close the gap with England and France.
This weekend's clash will therefore be another useful barometer before they end their TikTok Women's Six Nations campaign away to Italy - a challenge Pyrs is excited for.
"Against Ireland and Scotland, we were better, and we did close the gap with England from where we were in the summer," she said.
"We are definitely improving, but now it is a case of continuing to improve and show that we can do it against another of the best teams in the world.
"Both our remaining games are away from home, so that is going to be tough as well with two big games, so we are going to focus on ourselves, and just try and close the gap from last year's score."
For all the latest TikTok Women's Six Nations news, information, and details on how to watch the Championship, visit: https://womens.sixnationsrugby.com/
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