Women’s Six Nations 2024: Captain Hannah Jones says Wales ‘really have to look at ourselves’

Wales captain Hannah Jones says their Six Nations defeat to Ireland was “right up there” with one of the most painful of her international career.

A resurgent Ireland ran in five tries in an almost reverse of the score in Cardiff last year.

“It’s disappointing, it’s going to hurt, we’ve really got to look at ourselves as individuals,” Jones said.

“We didn’t turn up today, we weren’t good enough.

“It’s about the want as well, you can talk about technical and tactical all day, but if the want isn’t there, we’re not going to win games.

“I thought Ireland came out really well. We knew they were going to come out with emotion, a home game with the crowd, you look up and it’s all green, but we’ve got to counteract it, we’ve got to be able to deal with the pressure.”

This was a must-win game for both sides who had lost in the opening two rounds, but there was only one team in it as Ireland dominated from the first whistle.

Wales had targeted a third place finish at the start of the campaign, a position which would seal qualification for the 2025 Rugby World Cup and a place in the top tier of WXV this autumn.

Chances of that are now slim with two home games remaining, the first against France.

But Jones is determined to “finish the campaign on a high”.

“I don’t think we’ve shown our best at the moment,” she said.

“We’re going to be desperate for a performance in both games at home.

“It always gives us an extra boost seeing the home jerseys in the crowd and we want to thank the supporters that have come out today, it means a lot.”