Kelsey Jones insists Wales can take positives from their Women’s Six Nations defeat to Italy, as they prepare to take on Ireland on Sunday.
Hooker Jones, who is Cardiff Blues Community Foundation’s Disability and Inclusion Officer, capped her first Six Nations start for Wales with a try, but it wasn’t enough to topple the Italians, who battle to a 19-15 win at the Arms Park.
Jones, who plays for Ospreys, admits it was a dream come true to wear the number two jersey for the first time in the Championship, but insists focus now turns to the trip to Donnybrook.
“It’s always exciting to get that number two jersey on my back and it was my first international start in the Six Nations, so it was really something special for me,” she said.
“But as players we have to remember there’s a job to do, so as soon as you cross that white line, the tactical head is on and emotions have to be put to the sides.
“The end result was disappointing but we have loads of positives to take from this, and our defensive set was second-to-none.
“It’s about pushing on from here, getting into training and looking forward to playing against Ireland.”
Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues outside half, Robyn Wilkins, says the team have identified what they need to improve, and she is confident they can make those changes before travelling to the Irish capital.
Wilkins added: “There were plenty of positives that we can take into next week, but also plenty of work-ons.
“Fortunately they are quick fixes so we can still be confident heading into the game against Ireland.
“We’ll need to work on our accuracy and particularly how we’re looking after the ball.
“In those conditions, we needed to look after the ball and unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that.
“We gave them territory and they took advantage, so we definitely need to look at the contact area and our accuracy in attack.”