Sean Lynn was quick to let his players know how unhappy he was with the latest loss to Ireland at Rodney Parade and how much he expects them to respond in the final round of the Guinness Six Nations against Italy in Parma.
There were 25 handling errors and 18 penalties in the 40-14 defeat to the Irish, who were beaten by Scotland in Round 5, and Lynn could only watch as the women in green made twice as many metres, carries and line breaks.
“We’ve reflected on Ireland and we’re disappointed as a team that we lost by that margin. I was disappointed, full-stop,” said Lynn.
“The performance against Ireland wasn’t good enough and the players and staff are aware of that. We should have been far more competitive.
“Most of the penalties against us were down to us, and individuals trying to fix problems that weren’t theirs to fix. That resulted in putting the team under pressure, and when we talk about learning from games, that was a massive area for us.”
Lynn has made three changes to the side that lost to Ireland, with Kayleigh Powell ruled out with a hamstring and Lleucu George returning at No 10. Georgia Evans drops back to No 8, with Alex Callender switching to the bench, and Gwen Crabb coming in at second row.
Donna Rose will make her first start of the season at tight head prop. Jenni Scoble drops down to the bench.
Wales captain Hannah Jones is hoping she can lead her side to a first win of the season to avoid finishing bottom of the table for the fourth time in six seasons.
“We’ve reflected on Ireland and we’re disappointed as a team that we lost by that margin. Our discipline wasn’t the best, the set-piece – we’re normally better in that area,” said Jones.
“Italy like to play a running game, they don’t kick that often, so we’re definitely going to have to work hard. We have to turn up in all areas, do our individual roles to come together as a squad, said Lynn.
“We’ve talked about the journey and where we’d like to head going into a World Cup. I think having a win on the weekend will definitely give us confidence going to Australia in the summer.”
“We have had small wins during the campaign so it’s not all doom and gloom.”