For 22 years the arch foes have been competing at international level and for 22 years the red rose army have always held the upper hand, until yesterday when underdogs Wales beat top dogs England 16-15 at Taffs Well.
“I’m really chuffed for the girls,” he said. “They worked really hard for each other and thoroughly deserved the win. They are a special group.”
Up front hooker Rhian Bowden had an outstanding game in the engine room while fly-half Naomi Thomas pulled the strings superbly behind the scrum.
Non Evans, who threatened throughout in her 75th international, showed nerves of steel to land the killer blow with the last kick of the match in a pulsating contest.
‘If I hadn’t kicked that last penalty I would have considered retiring,” said Evans. “I missed a few during the match but I would never have forgiven myself if I hadn’t made sure of that last one.
‘I’ve been playing for Wales since 1996 and we’ve never come that close to beating them before. We felt really confident coming into the match and a few of the senior players said to each other ‘its now or never’
“This win puts us in a good table position, now we want to build on that by beating France away from home in two weeks’ time.”
