Warriors Women second-row Gwen Crabb is delighted to have been named in the Wales squad for the upcoming Women’s Six Nations.
Crabb, 20, who made the switch to Sixways last summer, is one of seven Warriors players in the 34-strong group as they prepare to face Italy in the opening round of the showpiece competition next month.
Proud to see an abundance of Warriors talent in the Welsh camp, Crabb said: “It’s really good for the club to have seven players representing Wales.
“A lot of us have come across the border to play at a higher level in the Tyrrells Premier 15s, so hopefully the experience that we’ve had playing at a top end club will transfer into good performances in the Six Nations.
“Also, when you’re used to playing with each other at club level, you get used to knowing what each other’s strengths are, which is certainly a positive.
“We played five games in the autumn, so we’re building as a team coming into the Six Nations and we want to pick up where we left off.”
Alisha Butchers, Alex Callender, Jasmine Joyce, Caitlin Lewis, Ffion Lewis and Hannah Bluck are the other Warriors to get the chance to pull on the famous red jersey.
With the Six Nations training camp in full-flow, Crabb and the rest of her teammates will be keen to be included in the Wales squad for this Sunday’s warm-up match with Ireland Women.
The perfect opportunity to stake their claim for a starting berth against the Azurri in February, Crabb, who is currently studying Strength and Conditioning at Cardiff Metropolitan University, added: “We had a camp on Saturday where we refreshed ourselves and went through a few things on the back of the autumn tests.
“We had a good session last night and this weekend’s game against Ireland will be good for us in terms of blowing off the cobwebs.
“It’s been a month since we all played together internationally, so it will be great to get back out there. We’ve worked on a lot of technical stuff this week and over the Christmas period we all had pretty rigorous conditioning programmes, which has enabled us to come into the Six Nations camp with a high intensity approach to training.
“We have got back into things from a set-piece and set play point of view.”
Keen to build on last year’s fourth place finish in the Six Nations, the Swansea-born lock said: “Unfortunately, we drew 3-3 with Italy last year, which was actually my first Six Nations game and we have them first at home, so we’re hoping to get a really good start against them.
“We just want to hit the ground running.”
Wales Women Six Nations fixtures 2020
Sunday, February 2: Wales Women vs Italy Women (Cardiff Arms Park – kick-off: 1pm)
Sunday, February 9: Ireland Women vs Wales Women (Energia Park, Donnybrook – kick-off: 1pm)
Sunday, February 23: Wales Women vs France Women (Cardiff Arms Park – kick-off: 12pm)
Saturday, March 7: England Women vs Wales Women (Twickenham Stoop – kick-off: 12.05pm)
Sunday, March 15: Wales Women vs Scotland Women (Cardiff Arms Park – kick-off: 1.10pm)
For tickets to Wales Women’s 2020 home Six Nations matches, including a 3 4 2 offer, click here: http://www.wru.wales/waleswomen