Siwan Lillicrap from Wales was seen looking distraught in front of Six Nations cameras less than 12 months ago.
Lillicrap said that “That was probably the dampest moment as you’re all conscious.”
“That upset was [because]”I didn’t know what to do next.”
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), which was outraged by the results, decided to increase funding for its women’s programme. This triggered a public backlash from more than 100 ex-internationals. said “enough was enough”.
Nigel Walker was appointed performance director. This proved to be a powerful catalyst for positive change. Wales now has 24 contracted players six months after Nigel Walker took up his position. 12 fully professional12.
Performance pathways are also on the verge of being restored.
Lillicrap was unveiled as a professional runner at the beginning this year.
“I was upset at the January press conference because someone asked me a question about the Waunarlwydd 17-year-old girl who didn’t have any team.
“That was me. Take a look at where I am now. Everything is possible.
Lillicrap lauds the WRU’s chief Executive Steve Phillips and Walker for making “huge improvements” in such a short time.
They now look forward to their Six Nations debut as a professional team – though Lillicrap will be trying to overcome Covid-19, having tested positive for the drug 10 days prior to Wales’ opening in Ireland.
Lillicrap declared, “The excitement has gone through the roof.”
“Our skills and all other aspects have been flourishing in the past three months, and we hope everyone can see improvement.
“The other thing we want is to measure how hard you work during those games, and how hard you work for each other with that team-first mentality.”
Contracts come with expectations, but Lillicrap says that performance is what matters most.
“We don’t put pressure on wins…we need to keep that in mind as players, because we’re only three month into this.
“Hopefully, performance can be turned into results, as we saw in the autumns.”