England’s Lark Davies puts Welsh family ties aside amid bid for ‘special legacy’

National allegiance will be temporarily suspended amongst Lark Davies’ relatives when England step up their pursuit of a fourth successive Tik Tok Women’s Six Nations title.

The Red Roses play their first home game of 2022 when they host Wales in front of a 12,000 crowd at Kingsholm on Saturday with one team poised to lose their perfect start to the tournament.

But while the Anglo-Welsh rivalry will burn as fiercely as ever on the pitch, Davies’ nearest and dearest will come out in full support of the Loughborough Lightning hooker as family loyalty trumps patriotic ties for one weekend only.

“My mum’s side are all Welsh and then my dad’s family go back to being Welsh too,” Davies told the PA news agency.

“But a lot of our family members will definitely be supporting England because that’s where their alliances lie!

“My mum and my sister would probably call themselves Welsh, but not when it comes to women’s rugby.

“My eldest sister swam for Wales and she still lives in Wales. My 92-year-old granny lives in Wales too.

My 92-year-old granny lives in Wales too. She gets a bit confused sometimes in terms of what team I'm playing for so I have to remind her – 'I'm definitely English granny!'. They will all definitely be supporting us on Saturday- Lark Davies

“She gets a bit confused sometimes in terms of what team I’m playing for so I have to remind her – ‘I’m definitely English granny!’. They will all definitely be supporting us on Saturday.”

England are aiming to record a 21st successive victory in a sequence that includes two victories over world champions New Zealand.

In two rounds of the Six Nations they have amassed 21 tries and history points to a third victory being delivered in Gloucester against resurgent opponents