It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Rivalries reignite, players defy physics with flair and skill and iconic venues are treated to unprecedented crowds. Yes, it’s Women’s Guinness Six Nations season and the build-up to the tournament, which starts on 22 March, is already under way.
The hot topic on everyone’s lips at a Vodafone event in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is the three-year appointment of Wales’ new head coach, Sean Lynn, who as head of women’s rugby at Gloucester-Hartpury won back-to-back Premiership titles in 2023 and 2024.
“I couldn’t think of a more deserving person for the role,” says Wales and Gloucester-Hartpury hooker Kelsey Jones, 30, who was joined at the event by fellow Wales players Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, 29, and Keira Bevan, 27, both part of the Bristol Bears set up.
“He’s an amazing person as well as an amazing coach,” says Jones. “It’s nice to have both. I am really, really excited to see what he can do in an international set-up. I’ve been at Gloucester-Hartpury for years and he has always spoken about the family environment, building that culture as well as one on the pitch.
The players put presenter Roman Kemp through his paces at the Principality Stadium
“I think he’s going to implement that for us [Wales]. We are a close group as it is – having him onboard as well and having that trust throughout the whole process is really exciting. I can’t take the smile off my face.”
Lynn’s first game in charge will be the Wales women’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland on 22 March. This will be the curtain raiser on a new Welsh era in a year that also includes the Rugby World Cup.
Training is where the team strengthen their cohesion and tactics – helped by Vodafone PLAYER.Connect – a platform where every athlete is able to enter information about their health, menstrual cycle and mood. This information is available to coaches, physios and strength and conditioning staff, so they can moderate the training to manage workload and injuries.
Physios constantly monitor the information, says Joyce-Butchers, particularly that on the menstrual cycle, which can have an impact on soft tissue injuries. “It’s massive for us to use the tech daily to monitor our training to push us a little bit more or to hold us back, to be able to say: ‘I’m struggling today for this reason or that.’ If coaches and strength and conditioning look at that, they will hopefully moderate our training.”
Clockwise from top left: Kelsey Jones; Keira Bevan; Jasmine Joyce-Butchers
For Jones, the technology has been “vital” and is now a part of her daily routine, while scrum half Bevan finds that it helps her have conversations with coaches about her training.
Admitting that Wales women probably weren’t in the best form last year, when they finished bottom of the Guinness Six Nations table, Bevan says: “Especially with the announcement of the new head coach, we’re all just really excited to get going now.”
The Principality Stadium, in the middle of Cardiff, is one of the venues that will take centre stage at the Guinness Six Nations. Its presence can be intimidating to teams that come to play and occasions don’t get much bigger than the first home game on 29 March, when England’s Red Roses come to town. Not only is it where Wales will welcome the defending champions and their fans, it is where the three leading players put Vodafone brand ambassador and TV presenter Roman Kemp through his paces in a series of rugby challenges as part of a social series called Roman v Rugby filmed by Vodafone. The company is the principal partner of the Wales men’s and women’s teams – a deal was announced in 2022 for women and 2023 for men, to support elite players and the pathways system for younger players.
‘We’re all just really excited to get going,’ says Bevan
When asked how Kemp got on in the challenges, both the players and the team at Vodafone admitted they were surprised by the skill Kemp showed, particularly impressing Jones, who had a crossbar challenge with the presenter. “It was really fun and great to have him onboard,” she says.
Every year nowadays is a big one when it comes to women’s rugby, but 2025 feels particularly significant – a gamechanger – with the international schedule leading to a reported sold-out Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. Joyce-Butchers, a back who plays sevens for Team GB alongside her other commitments, says Wales are embracing the pressure that comes with it. “We want that pressure, we want people watching us. I would prefer to play in front of 20,000 rather than two. It definitely comes with pressure but I think a lot of people play better under pressure. It is more exciting,” she says.
Experienced hand Bevan, who has 68 caps already for Wales, describes her transition to being a full-time athlete as quite easy and says that the Wales contract may help her develop her future career when her playing days are over. “I am trying to stay in the game and that is going to be the aim. Whether that be through coaching or commentary.
“If we want to do a coaching course, the WRU would help us sort that out. We have support in our media team and can ask for media opportunities as well,” she says.
Bevan still has plenty of rugby to play before she hangs up her boots – and will be a central figure in the Wales Women’s Guinness Six Nations campaign. She and her teammates have a lot ahead of them, and with the hotly anticipated Guinness Six Nations about to kick off, there’s never been a more exciting time to be in the women’s game.
Find out how Roman Kemp fared when the Welsh national women’s team put him through his paces at @vodafoneuk
