NATIONS COLLIDE
The TikTok women's Six Nations gets underway this weekend.
Ahead of the big kick-off, we bring you the captain's views on their side's hopes for the tournament ahead.
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ENGLAND
ABBY DOW dreamed of Olympic gold in the pool - but is now ready to make a splash in the Women’s Six Nations.
The Wasps winger, 24, was a handy swimmer as a teenager, sharing a training pool with Tokyo double gold medal-winning hero Tom Dean.
Dow joined Wasps in 2016, aged 18, and jumped into the deep end with England a year later, marking her first two caps with five tries. It is all going swimmingly for Dow, who has 23 tries in 22 Red Rose games after being mentored by legendary World Cup-winning full-back Danielle ‘Nolli’ Waterman.
And she does not regret swapping diving into the pool for diving in at the corner.
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Dow said: “I had to make a decision about the time when I joined Wasps. I swam more than I played rugby for a long period in my childhood and I got to national level but I didn’t quite make the Olympic trials.
“You can definitely take things into rugby from swimming but a lot of respect to the swimmers who carry on. I was awful at early mornings.
“I was very proud of Tom Dean – I used to swim with him at my club in Berkshire, Maidenhead Marlins. I’d see him pretty much every day and then I stopped and he carried on.
“When you’re so experienced as a ‘15’ (full-back), like Nolli, you’re able to coach and still do your role properly.
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“She helped me understand more niche parts of being a winger.
“You watch a men’s game and you think ‘why did they do that?’ and it is because they didn’t have a world class 15 coaching them when they were younger.”
Deep-thinking Dow completed a degree in mechanical engineering from Imperial College last January and did not get an England contract until 2020 after being advised to study.
She added: “After school my parents said ‘you’re not doing a rugby contract you are doing a degree’ and I see why they said that.
“I would do it again. I enjoyed maths and physics so I went into mechanical engineering at Imperial College and fell in love with it. It was nice to have that passion outside of rugby.
“I did that for four years and got a Masters. Because of Covid, I only graduated last week.
“I only lost about three months of university but it was the hard lockdown time. When everyone had a lovely lockdown in nice weather I was stuck inside revising.”
England have won the last three Six Nations including the Covid-shortened affair of 2021 when they beat France in the final of a reduced tournament.
This year they are playing in the shadow of the men’s tournament and have one eye on this autumn’s delayed World Cup in New Zealand – which England last won in 2014.
She added: “It is at the back of everybody’s mind - everything we are now doing is in preparation.
“We are at the point where we have got a couple of months left and we can still learn and develop how we play.
“Everything is prep for that World Cup but we are also going to take these games and opportunities that are here.”
And water moment it would be if Dow joins old swimming pal Dean in ruling the world.
But first, it is fellow World Cup qualifiers Scotland in the Six Nations in Edinburgh on Saturday as England look to defend their trophy.
Dow said: “Having teams in the Six Nations like Scotland, who are improving and fierce opposition, is brilliant.
“We want to be challenged in every aspect of our game.”
FRANCE
GAELLE HERMET is pumped up at the prospect of a final day showdown with red-hot rivals England.
The French skipper, 25, leads her team into the TikTok Women’s Six Nations off the back of an all-conquering autumn, in which they sank reigning world champions New Zealand twice in quick succession.
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That helped ease their pain of last year’s Six Nations, when Les Bleus slipped to a gutting 10-6 final defeat against the Red Roses.
The French welcome the three-time defending champions to Bayonne in the last round of fixtures.
The two heavyweights have racked up all six titles since 2016 — England four, France two — and Hermet can’t wait to exchange blows on home soil in the Basque Country again.
The Toulouse back-row ace said: “England are one of our biggest rivals as in the past, we have lost a lot of games against them.
“It’s the last match of the Championship for us and it will be played in France.
“It’s in proper rugby territory in the Basque Country — right in the south-west of France.
“There will be a lot of people there, the atmosphere will be so loud. As with all England-France clashes, it will be intense.
“It’s made even bigger as it is possibly the decisive match for the Championship.”
France last grabbed glory back in 2018 as a nerve-jangling 18-17 win over England helped them to a Grand Slam.
But the bragging rights have gone the way of Simon Middleton’s side since, who completed clean sweeps in 2019 and 2020.
Last year’s adapted format led to more French heartbreak at Twickenham Stoop but a resurgent autumn means Hermet’s side have major momentum.
And ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations opener against Italy in Grenoble, the French captain added: “It’s all about continuity after November and those two wins against the Black Ferns.
“We want to go and win the Six Nations.”
SCOTLAND
SCOTLAND skipper Rachel Malcolm reckons her World Cup qualifiers are buzzing.
The Scots kick off against TikTok Women’s Six Nations favourites England on Saturday in Edinburgh and have been boosted by making it to New Zealand this autumn.
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They beat Colombia 59-3 in Dubai recently to make it to the global showpiece for the first time since 2010.
The Scots were paraded at Murrayfield straight afterwards ahead of their men’s game against France.
And back row Malcolm reckons Scotland have never been in a better place after breaking their World Cup hoodoo.
The 30-year-old said: “It is finally off our back.
“We were almost getting a bit stale talking about qualifying for the World Cup so to have something new to focus on is so refreshing.
“I feel like I have a got a new lease of energy — we were in camp at the weekend and everyone was so eager to get going.
“Everything seems to be buzzing and as soon as we came into camp we said, ‘Let’s get ourselves in the best position to compete’ and focus on the next job.
“The Six Nations is the focus.”
Scotland’s 35-player squad features 22 women who play in the English league.
That, coupled with the time the Scots spent together around the olombia win, gives them a leg up as they attempt to knock over the Auld Enemy.
Malcolm added: “We have had a huge amount of time together and an exposure to Test match rugby.
“With the number of the girls playing in the Premier XVs everything is starting to come together. I think we are in a brilliant place.
“It’s a responsibility not a chore for us as players to leave the shirt in a better place than where we found it.
“We speak all the time in camp about ensuring the programme is in a good place for the next generation to pick it up.”
WALES
SIWAN LILLICRAP hopes the First Minister can inspire Wales to Six Nations glory.
Skipper Lillicrap, 34, is one of 12 new full-time internationals bankrolled by the WRU as the Welsh look to instil professionalism on and off the pitch.
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Last year’s bottom side are bidding to propel themselves up the table after hosting a VIP visitor at training — First Minister Mark Drakeford.
And ahead of Saturday's TikTok Women’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, Lillicrap said: “We are an excited team, we can’t wait to play some attacking rugby.
“I hope you see some flair out there and us executing exactly what we’ve been working on.
“It was super to see the First Minister here at the Vale watching us train and it was really nice to get the Welsh Government’s support - they are really buying into what the WRU are doing. Being professional is huge, it allows us to look at our individual work-ons.
“How we look at the game, how we review our training and our performances is all part of our [working] week now, which is which is absolutely massive.”
In 2021’s shortened tournament, Wales went down to a heavy 45-0 defeat by Ireland.
Lillicrap is determined to right that wrong in round one, before hosting Scotland and then travelling to champions England.
Home games against France and Italy then round off the championship for the Dragons.
Lillicrap admits there will be added pressure now her side are being paid to play but intends to play with a smile.
She added: “There’s going to be a lot of external noise. It’s the start of the Six Nations, so people are going to put pressure on but we need to stay focused.
“But keep that excitement as well, enjoy training and love what we do. When we play with smiles on our faces, that’s when we play our best.”
ITALY
MANUELA FURLAN urged Italy to show they belong with the world’s best.
In last year’s Covid-shortened Six Nations, the Italians beat Scotland in Glasgow during the pool stages before losing 25-5 to Ireland in their playoff game.
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Captain Furlan scored three tries, only bettered by French wing, Caroline Boujard, in the scoring charts.
For Italy, 2021 peaked with qualification for the Rugby World Cup last September, as wins over Scotland and Spain secured their place in New Zealand.
Ahead of their TikTok Women’s Six Nations opener against France, Furlan said: “Qualifying for the World Cup improved our confidence, that’s for sure.
“But every game, and every tournament is a standalone competition, and we have to stay focused.
“Even though we are already qualified (for the World Cup), this doesn’t mean that we can just wind down and relax.
“It is exactly the opposite, because we are obliged to stay focused and to keep on improving.”
Unlike in the men’s Six Nations, Italy have consistently finished mid-table and have lots of seasoned campaigners in their ranks.
Scrum-half Sara Barattin, 35, is the first woman to collect 100 caps for the Italians, while Furlan, 33, has been involved with the setup for over a decade.
And the Italy skipper added: “We are already thinking about the Rugby World Cup.
“But this is the first step and the most important moment, and it is the Women’s Six Nations.
“We are aware that the path is long, that there is a lot of work to be done.
“I won’t speak about our hopes, but we are so aware that it will take us a lot of work and a lot of concentration to get the results we want.
“Last year, we ended up in fourth place, and like every year we will be focused not only on the results, but especially on the performance.”
IRELAND
NICHOLA FRYDAY has buried the hatchet with the national bosses — after being named captain.
The second row was last year one of 62 Ireland internationals past and present to sign letter to their government blasting the lack of support from their governing body, the IRFU.
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But the new skipper, 26, insists that is water under the bridge as Ireland kick off their Women’s TikTok Six Nations campaign against Wales in the opening round.
She said: “We’re in the mindset that what has happened is a positive experience for us.
“The IRFU accepted our recommendations and our focus is now to put in a strong performance.”
Ireland have not lived up to expectations over the past few years in the tournament.
But Fryday said: “We have had a good few camps and have a good buzz among us, we can’t wait to start against Wales this weekend.”
Fryday’s side go into this tournament with everything to prove, as they missed out on World Cup qualification earlier this year.
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That makes them the only team in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations who will not be travelling to New Zealand to compete in the rescheduled competition.
Given the scrutiny the squad has received over the past 12 months, all eyes will be on the team’s performance on and off the pitch throughout the next five weeks, as they try to claw back something like their best form.
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