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Outside half Wilkins has eyes set on half century of caps in 2021

Women | 16th December 2020


Cardiff Blues and Wales outside half, Robyn Wilkins, has her eyes set on a significant milestone as she set out her plans for 2021.

The playmaker, who also features for Worcester Warriors in the Allianz Premier 15s, has racked up 48 international caps since her Wales debut against Italy in 2014, aged 18.

However, a series of Covid-related cancellations of Test matches has seen Wilkins wait longer than expected for the half century.

The Wales Women side have recently welcomed a new coaching team which includes former USA Sevens coach, Warren Abrahams, and former Wales skipper, Rachel Taylor.

Wilkins, who has become one of the most experienced player in the Wales squad, is excited by the new regime 

“The 50 caps is a personal goal that I’d hoped I would’ve completed in 2020, but that still remains a long term goal for me,” said Wilkins.

“But first and foremost it’s about doing everything I can to be selected for number 49 before that 50th.

“Warren has already put his stamp down and obviously we already know Tayls really well. 

“It’s been good to have both of them coming in along with the whole set-up in general.

“For us as players, of course it’s a case of wanting to impress but they’ve already been active with constantly sending videos through, which has been good.

“Even though we’ve only trained a handful of times as a squad, he’s really had an impact which feels like he’s been here longer.

“I’ve always enjoyed the regional side of the game. You play with your mates that you’ve played with for many years.

“But there’s also that real competitiveness and everyone is vying for a place in that Wales squad.

“That’s even more the case now that the World Cup is just around the corner, we know that these games will be really competitive.

"They always put us in good stead to head into the international camp. They’re usually played in the build-up to the autumn games, and you can see that we’re firing heading into those Tests.

"Hopefully, if we time it right, we can really use the regional games as a platform to get us kick-started before the World Cup."

Wales Women’s last fixture came against England during the 2020 Six Nations, with an autumn clash against their Scottish counterparts postponed.

Wilkins, who is back in action with Worcester, admits there’s been plenty of challenges in recent months but insists on looking at the situation with her glass half full.

The outside half added: “Obviously it hasn’t been easy for the game here in Wales. We’ve had games being cancelled after training in the autumn.

“That’s always hard to take when you train and there’s no end goal or end game, it does make it difficult.

“But personally, having that time away from it allowed me to go away and work on key skills, fitness so there has also been benefits to this period as well.

“So when we came back in September to the club games in England and training with Wales had started back, a lot of us found that we were ready to go, fresh and well trained.

“I had planned to play in England for the season, and I’ve turned out to be very lucky with doing that because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had a game since March.

“That’s a long time to go without actually playing rugby, so there’s been a massive benefit to playing in the Premier 15s.

“I’ve been well supported by Worcester and everyone’s been really welcoming. It’s been a new challenge but one I’ve enjoyed so far.”