Thomas, who is in his second year with the squad, is confident Wales can pose the tournament favourites a real threat but says it would be so much easier with a vocal crowd behind them.
“It would be great if we had a great Welsh crowd behind us,” he said. “It would give us that extra boost. It provides fans with the ideal warm-up before the main game at the Millennium Stadium. All fans need to do is catch a train and they could easily be back in time for the 5.30pm kick off at the stadium.”
Wales got their campaign off to a great start last weekend with a satisfying victory over Scotland which gave Jason Lewis’s side the ideal preparation for Saturday’s major assignment.
“The victory over Scotland was very pleasing as we didn’t have a warm-up game going into the championship,” added Thomas. “We’ve got to be very confident of doing well against England who will bring a good all-round team to Taffs Well. Their pack is traditionally strong and they’ve got good backs but if we play the way we did in the first half against Scotland, we stand a good chance.”
Thanks to tries by captain Mellissa Berry, Non Evans and Ali Wright, Wales led 25-10 at the break against Scotland before eventually prevailing 31-10.
“We’ve made one change with Rachel Taylor coming into the second row which will give us another line-out option. We’ve got a nice balance in the side so we should be able to ask a few questions of the English defence,” added Thomas.
Wales Women v England
15 Non Evans (Cardiff Quins)
14 Ali Wright (Lichfield)
13 Rachel Poolman (UWIC)
12 Clare Flowers (Bristol – vice-capt)
11 Louise Rickard (Woodbridge)
10 Naomi Thomas (Bristol)
9 Amy Day (UWIC)
1 Hannah Roberts (UWIC)
2 Rhian Bowden (UWIC)
3 Jenny Davies (Waterloo)
4 Louise Horgan (Saracens)
5 Rachel Taylor (Cardiff Quins)
6 Catrina Nicholas (Cardiff Quins)
8 Mellissa Berry (Bristol – capt)
7 Jamie Kift (Bristol)
Substitutes
16 Claire Horgan (Saracens)
17 Gemma Hallett (Pontyclun)
18 Claire Donovan (Saracens)
19 Carys John (UWIC)
20 Laura Prosser (Pontyclun)
21 Awen Thomas (Cardiff Quins)
22 Aimee Young (UWIC)
The Women are next up at Taff’s Well on Saturday 14th February with a kick off time at 1pm. Tickets are priced from £5 and are available from the WRU shop at the Millennium Stadium and also on the gate. The Taffs Well clubhouse will remain open to watch the RBS 6 Nations clash at 5.30pm.
