Wales’ Keira Bevan: ‘Taking our kicks closer to the posts was a bizarre suggestion’

“These are games you love to play,” the Wales scrum-half Keira Bevan says, looking ahead to a sold-out match against England in Cardiff this weekend.

Both teams are on unbeaten runs, with Wales up for a Triple Crown, and the 25-year-old, who is in the form of her life, does not even pretend that games against England are not always circled on the calendar. “England v Wales always has that niggly edge. It’s just a great game and occasion to be a part of. And in Cardiff? It doesn’t get much better than that does it?”

Bevan won her 50th cap against Scotland, having won her first back in 2015 against England – the last time Wales won this fixture. She recognises that her team’s form means this weekend’s game probably represents the best chance they have had since.

The advent of contracts has been key to closing the gap – Wales have gone from bottom of the Six Nations two years ago, to being likely disappointed if they finish below third this year.

“It’s been massive. I’m able to work on the 1% a lot more now – my kicking game for example. You had to put things like that on the back burner before as you only had time for certain things. I think all our body shapes have changed as well for the better – we’re fitter and stronger.”

On kicking, Bevan is bemused at the suggestion the England coach Simon Middleton made this week that women’s players should be allowed to take their kicks closer to the posts. “To be honest I thought it was a quite bizarre suggestion as he has got some of the best kickers in the world in his team. Emma Sing slotted one from the touchline against Italy and that had another five or 10 metres in it.

“I saw former England coach Gary Street saying that players like Emily Scarratt and Katy Daley-Mclean, who