Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham has named his side to take on Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park in the opening Women's Six Nations match on Saturday (2.15pm kick-off).
Wales, who now have 25 full-time professional players in their ranks, will be bidding to build on their third-place finish last year, which marked their best in 13 years and came just months after historic WRU playing contracts were first awarded.
But that task has been made more difficult by Ireland, Scotland and Italy all following in Wales' footsteps by professionalising their women's programmes since the 2022 championship. While England and France remain more than a few steps ahead having been pro for a considerable length of time, this is set to be the most competitive tournament so far in terms of the rest of the table.
