Having suffered a similar defeat in the same fixture last year (albeit this time with an 11-point improvement), the head coach has taken more heart from this latest performance at the Twickenham Stoop.
“Having gone through it in more detail, we were in the game a lot more this time,” says Phillips. “We were more competitive around some parts of the game against the standout team in the competition. The things we need to work on are clear, but the things we did that were effective have also been highlighted.”
In the post-match debrief, he says the team was in no doubt about the areas that needed improving. “It’s always going to be difficult after losing 52-0, but we know we’re moving in the right direction,” he says. “We made some mistakes as far as some of our decisions were concerned. It wasn’t an eye-opener by any means, because we knew what was coming with England.”
Phillips, ever the realist, acknowledges that England were always going to prove difficult to overcome, referring to their “relentless pressure and physicality”. However, he and his coaching staff are looking to augment the positives.
“In isolation, there were a lot of good things from us in that match,” says Phillips. “A good scrum here, a good catch-drive lineout there. Parts of our game at times were effective. Against England, though, you have to be consistent over a long period of time with those moments.”
His confidence in youth has paid off when you take into account the performance of Beth Lewis – “our best, most industrious player on Saturday” – taking on the second-ranked team in the world in only her second international appearance.
“Beth is one of the new breed who’s played a lot of rugby in her life, but not at this level,” Phillips says of the 18-year-old from Carmarthen. “So she has no lack of self-belief, or preconceived notions of who she’s coming up against. She backs herself and doesn’t carry that negative emotional baggage that others might have.”
One of the most important lessons he hopes his players have learnt came last year, after that previous encounter with England: “When we had that result at Arms Park, our next game was in Scotland and we carried an emotional hangover into it. We need to refocus, move forward, and recognise that when we travel to Dublin next week, it’s a separate game altogether.”
