It wasn’t so much that everyone was scratching their heads at the size of the Welsh defeat at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park last weekend, more that they were staggered by the standard of the English team’s performance.
Former dual-code international Phillips admitted he thought about some of the biggest defeats in his own career in the wake of his side’s Round 2 Six Nations reverse. They came in New Zealand in 1988 when Wales were beaten by the then world champion All Blacks 52-3 and 54-9.
“Looking back, I can draw some comparisons between 1988 and last weekend. The only way I could describe what happened to us in 1988 was it was like being in a ball in a pin-ball machine where we were knocked around and didn’t have time to think,” said Phillips.
“That was the way I felt then and although I can’t put myself in the place of my players at the weekend, the difference between the two sides was clear – the physicality and intensity from the opposition was at a level that we hadn’t experienced before.
“England’s performance was at a level from a women’s team that we haven’t seen before. It is difficult to pull out a list of positives from the game, but at least it was an opportunity for our players to play against the top end of women’s rugby and see what everybody needs to strive to become.
“I think that’s going to be invaluable to us moving forward. What we have to do now is try to close that gap.”
The process of closing the gap, and preparing for the trip to Scotland next week for Round 3 of the Six Nations, began last night. Every session is crucial as Phillips builds his team towards this summer’s World Cup in Ireland, when Wales kick-off with games against New Zealand and Canada.
“As a player, after a big defeat, the first training session was always a cleansing session. It will have been the same in Scotland after their heavy defeat in France and I’m sure that will lead to a very competitive game next week,” added Phillips.
“My job isn’t to sit here and paper over cracks and make excuses for performances and results. But I have to accept reality and part of that reality is England have a full-time, professional set-up and so they have a lot more time to put into training, previewing and reviewing their programmes and performances.
“We have to squeeze everything into two nights a week. Four or five of the players travel from North Wales and they have a four or five hour journey into training and then have to drive home afterwards – there are certainly some differences.
“Regardless of the facts around how many full time players England had, they had been in a full time training camp for three weeks coming into the Six Nations. We were 38-0 down at half time and what you saw in the second half was a team that really fought hard and that fought right to the end.
“We had opportunities to get on the scoreboard. That might be little consolation to the fans, but it is good for the coaches to know that the team can show character in tough times because it looked really painful at half time and looked as though it was going to get worse.
“The pleasing side is that people are getting behind this team and understanding what the team is trying to do and appreciating the commitment and performances they are putting in. They went to Italy and put in a dominant performance and showed how they are progressing.
“The disappointing thing is that we didn’t give the 4,000 or so fans in Cardiff a better performance to cheer and a better view of where we are.”
