“There is a lot of disappointment that we didn’t win, but as far as guts, determination and discipline are concerned, I thought they were outstanding,” said Phillips of his team.
“Both teams will feel disappointed they didn’t win it in the end. We had our chances to win and it was a shame that outstanding try from Jasmine was ruled out for a forward pass.
“To show the character we did in the last five or 10 minutes to keep them out was unbelievable and the real positive was how we defended our try line. We kept them out under massive pressure, and they are a big side.”
It was a magnificent response from Carys Phillips’ side in the wake of their record defeat in France the previous weekend, when they conceded nine tries, and now they can look forward to a calmer run-in to their next assignment, against England at Cardiff Arms Park on Sunday, 24 February.
The games against France and Italy were both away from home, and involved some complicated travel due to the weather, and they will now have two weeks to prepare to take on one of the favourites for the overall Six Nations title.
“We knew before the tournament that England and France would be the stand-out teams. We had a lot of travelling in the first 10 days, so it will be nice for the girls to have a calmer week and to then enjoy playing at home,” said Phillips.
“We know the strength of character and culture in this team, but we need to learn how to finish teams off. We got into some strong positions in Italy, but our inaccuracies let us down and a lot of the pressure we were under was self-imposed.
“We went into the game in Italy on the back of a huge defeat in France and they had won in Scotland. They were full of confidence, and are a good side, so we were pleased to get something out of the game.”
